They arrowed toward the base, but once again McNally ordered a change in direction, leading them back around the heart of the city, so their approach was obscured. “Don’t want them to find us easily.”

  Daniella stayed silence during the fraught circuit and finally they were opposite the entrance to the base. The gate opened, and they shot within, the egress closing behind them. Tears of fright dribbled down her face as the vehicle slowed then rolled through the streets.

  * * * *

  Jonah waited, anger boiling as he prowled the office. The children had almost caught her. They’d had to use resources to pull her and McNally out. Did McNally know what Daniella had planned?

  Instinctively, he was sure the agent had been duped, just as he had. The knowledge fed the fury surging through his veins.

  When the door opened and Daniella stepped within, he stilled, holding the vicious emotion to himself, warring for mastery of himself.

  He bared his teeth. “What the fuck did you think you were doing?” He stalked closer, stopped just out of arm’s reach, and let the heat of combined terror and rage engulf her. “You took unnecessary chances. You put everything at risk. They almost had you.”

  She waited, pale yet contained as he flayed her with his words.

  “Didn’t it occur to you that they’d be monitoring all transmissions? That they’d expect something like this? All our work—the misery and pain and loss—would have been for nothing.”

  “You’re right, Jonah. I thought I knew but—”

  He shut her down, waving an arm in a cutting fashion across the air. “No. You didn’t know. You promised me you’d follow the rules.” He took one step closer, and she paled further, her eyes large in the too-white face, but he had to impress it on her. Needed her to see how much was at stake.

  Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I did.”

  The thickness of her words and the way she wrung her hands as she apologized started to douse the flames licking at his insides. Not entirely, but the conflagration banked, watching and waiting.

  “I was wrong. I should have told you, but I didn’t. I didn’t even tell McNally. I’d calculated I had a good ten minutes to get the broadcast done and on air. I only meant to get in, get done what I needed to do on-site, then get out.” She stepped forward, lips quivering. “I was so wrong. We almost died because I was arrogant. I thought I knew better, and I didn’t. I know we used valuable resources, and it’s pure luck that I’m still here. I’m so sorry, Jonah.” Her hands fluttered in the air as if she wanted—needed—to touch him but wasn’t yet game.

  Jonah opened his arms, and she rushed in, sobbing. She clutched at him, and he slid his arms around her, hauling her close. His eyes closed for a moment before blinking back open. He swallowed a lump in his throat, eyes burning a little as he savored what he’d nearly lost.

  Holding her close, the final flame of violence guttered out, like a candle. The quivering started in Jonah’s belly, and he tried hard to ignore it. “I nearly lost you. I can’t. I won’t, Daniella.”

  Jonah waited, knowing the storm would pass soon, but it took every ounce of willpower not to haul her up, to strip her naked, and settle himself within her body. The thin layer of veneer he wore about him cracked. The fear—no, terror—had gripped him, stripped him down so all that remained was a man in danger of losing the woman he loved.

  It was time to acknowledge that.

  When Daniella stilled, he sighed. “I was so afraid you wouldn’t get back, Daniella. I don’t have the words to describe what I felt…” He ran shaking fingers through his hair. “All I could think was you’d be dead, and I would never have told you I love you.”

  Daniella nudged him, and he released her. “You what?”

  He shifted his legs, shoved his hands in his pocket, and gathered his courage. “I love you, Daniella. I can’t conceive of a world without you in it. When I lost contact, a bit of me, something I’ve ignored for a long time, felt like it was trying to tear me apart from the inside. It hit me like a ton of bricks, and to be honest, I could have done without it.” He inhaled deeply. “But it’s there, and I can’t change it. Don’t want to, because you make me whole when I didn’t realize I wasn’t.”

  Daniella swiped at her eyes, and he found the handkerchief in his pocket and handed it over. “So, I look like a wreck and—”

  His laugh echoed. “You could never look like a wreck.”

  She snorted. “Let’s go back to our quarters. I need a shower and to think some things over.”

  Jonah reached up and scratched the top of his head. “I can’t. I need to work out who tipped them off. Someone from my office or this building has access to our tactical advice and is sharing it with the other side.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “During the attack, only one building was shelled. Only my office. They knew where I worked and where I was keeping my files.”

  She blanched. “You lost all the files?”

  His smile bloomed, but he guessed it wasn’t a happy expression when her mouth dropped open with shock. “No. I keep a third backup, they’re just the paper copies, but only I, and now you, know that.”

  “Oh!”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re going to lay a trap?”

  Jonah nodded. “I sure am. But we also need to talk about who you saw and what you heard in town today as well. But go take a shower, change, and come back for coffee and debriefing.”

  “Don’t you usually do it straight away?”

  “Normally. But I’ve noticed that you work better after you consider things, so take that break, but be quick.”

  She kissed him gently on the lips. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Then she was gone.

  * * * *

  The hard chair and bare room reminded Daniella of a cell. “So, after you spoke with Liv, you knew that the only option was to go to the assembly site and broadcast direct?” The general hunched over his notepad, rubbing his brow.

  Jonah remained quiet in the corner of the room, observing the interaction but not actively participating in the debriefing session.

  “General, Liv has given us an insight, the details of her training and the eventual plan they have for her.”

  The general peered at Jonah, and Daniella observed the general. Something in his manner felt disconnected, and it increased her disquiet. “General, we’ve been over this all before. It’s simply a case of she’s given us everything she can, and I felt it was better to get the footage so people would know I’m still here. They’ve been sending messages through the media to destabilize people’s belief in me.”

  “Hmm.” He made another notation.

  Jonah rose. “I’m going to grab a coffee. Senator? General?”

  The man glanced at Jonah and nodded. “Yes. Go get coffee.”

  As soon as the door closed behind Jonah, the general rose. He walked to the far wall and returned, as if laboring under some significant weight.

  “General, is everything okay?”

  When he turned, she spied an emotion on his face she’d never seen before. Fear.

  What the… “General? What’s wrong?” She stood and advanced while he backed away.

  “Uh, nothing, senator. Nothing of any consequence.” He lied; the way his eyes darted back and forth told her. She’d seen staffers and senators with that same look on their faces when trying to prevaricate in the assembly rooms over the years.

  “There is.” A seed of doubt rose and refused to be squashed down. “You didn’t…”

  He turned away, and she knew. Or at least thought she knew. “You sold us out.”

  His shoulders slumped. “No.”

  The door re-opened, and two guards and McNally followed Jonah.

  “You knew?” The squeaky words erupted as she stared at her lover and friend.

  “We guessed. He’s been oddly quiet since the planning meeting. They knew which building. The exact window. They only attempted entry at one point—the only completed minefield—to distract us from the placement of their guns. Three missiles only. All hitting the one building. It was too careful. Too well planned.”

  Daniella began shaking, biting her lip to stop herself from crying out as she turned back to the general who’d aged nearly ten years in the two to three minutes since she’d worked it out.

  “He betrayed us because they have his family. But who was it, General? Who was it that ordered their arrest? Who brought you into the fold?” Jonah stepped forward, his eyes shining bright with condemnation.

  The older man shook his head. “They’ll kill my family.”

  “We’ve already got them in custody, General. Our people were already planning on bringing them to the base when we worked out what happened. Jonah ordered a team to snatch them and take them to a remote location under full guard.” McNally laid a soft hand on the general’s arm. “They’re safe now. Tell us what you know. We can’t bring the bad guys in until you do. The longer they have to plan and undermine, the harder it will be in the end to undo what they’ve achieved.”

  The general stared at Daniella. “You’ll arrest me, won’t you?”

  Daniella nodded. “We’ll have to investigate. Even if everything you tell us is true, that they held your family hostage, there have to be repercussions. You gave them information about us, the base, and who knows what else. We’ll need to convene a court, and we don’t have time right now. Tell us who you gave the information to, General. Start to undo the wrongs you’ve personally done.”

  He staggered to the chair, slumped with head in his hands. “Major Olante. He’s one of their top-level military advisors. He didn’t return to the base when the call came out, said his family needed him or something like that. That’s when he asked about you, Daniella. Your office. Who was here and about the senator. He inferred he knew about my family. Where they were and their safety. I took what he said at face value because I know war finds its mark, sometimes among the innocent. In the past I didn’t take any notice of his comment about being an orphan and raised in one of the institutions near Eastcliffe.”

  Now she started. “The orphanage in Eastcliffe? Jonah? Wasn’t the director—what was his name?” She cast around in her mind.

  “Corwin? Cording?” McNally was on the same track.

  “Corvino. Ellis Corvino,” Jonah interrupted.

  “I wonder if there’s some—kind of connection? Jonah, it needs to be—”

  “Followed up. McNally, get hold of David and put him on that immediately.”

  “On it.” The little woman raced from the room, the door slamming behind her.

  “What else can you tell us?”

  The general shook his head. “Not much. Olante doesn’t have a partner, and he lives in a small house in Ironswood.”

  “That’s a bit above his paygrade, isn’t it?” Daniella couldn’t help the words, and Jonah smiled at her as she turned to look at him.

  “I’d say. We need to send a team down there.” Jonah advanced on the general. “I need a list of known associates, places he visited, and dates. We need to build a profile and quickly.” Now Jonah’s eyes softened. “These guards are as much for your protection as to arrest you. You’ll be confined to quarters until I’m satisfied with our findings.”

  Jonah reached out to Daniella, and she gripped his hand tight. Together, they turned and headed for the door.

  “For the record, in every other way, I’m loyal to the government. It’s not an excuse, just an explanation.”

  Daniella nodded without looking back at the general, and they left the room.

  Chapter 20

  Jonah watched Daniella push the food around on her plate. “You’re not hungry?”

  “It’s not that so much as I’m thinking. If the major is a traitor and feeding information, then he knows about our firepower, capabilities, and weaknesses. Could he possibly work out our strategy though?”

  Jonah covered her hand, letting his fingers rub in tiny circles as he considered her words, evaluating her unspoken fears. “He could, but I called up his records after we’d finished with the general. He’s been in the army for over twenty years yet not progressed past major. There are bumps on file. Misdemeanors. Nothing enough to get him discharged but…”

  “Oh. So, he’s not totally unknown in these kinds of circumstances. Connections?”

  “Not much. The only thing of interest is his nominated NOK.”

  She squinted. “NOK?”

  “Next of kin.”

  “Oh. And who would that be?”

  He couldn’t contain his grin. “The director of Eastcliffe. Corvino.”

  “The connection.” Daniella nodded as Senna trotted up to the table and slumped down in the empty seat. Jonah sighed.

  “So, I didn’t think you’d mind me popping by to say hi. Good work on the general. It’s the talk of the base.”

  Daniella pulled back, sitting straight in her chair. “He was under duress.”

  “Oh, yeah. Coercion is something I know a little about. See, there’s some chatter about Major Olante. Is it straight?” Senna had always been a straight shooter and only appreciated reciprocity.

  “Yeah,” muttered Jonah.

  Senna nodded. “Okay then. I have something you might want to know. At the station, before I got kicked, there was a visitor—a stranger with sandy hair and thick glasses. I kind of recognized him but the name didn’t twig until after I heard about the major. See, he had this ‘friend.’” Senna made quotation marks with her fingers, and Jonah frowned.

  “He was gay?”

  “What? Oh, I think he dabbled in a bit of everything, to be honest. Liked wild parties and other stuff far too much to allow anyone to label him. But no, while I’m sure the guy was significant to him, there was something odd. He had scars, some deep though he tried to disguise them. Walked oddly, like he was stiff, and kept his gloves on even in summer. It was about the time when Colvert was prevented from practicing. It was in the news night after night there. Anyway, he and the major closeted themselves in the office with the chief. When he came out, the man were talking about the kids. At the time, I honestly didn’t think anything of it. I’d known the major only briefly, so it took ages for it to twig.”

  Jonah opened his mouth, but Senna shook her head before he could speak.

  “No, he didn’t see me. I was cleaning the truck at the time.”

  “Oh, what a tangled web we weave,” Daniella murmured.

  “Huh?” He glanced at Daniella as she stared into the distance, a tiny smile on her lips.

  Daniella laughed. “It’s an old line. From a poem, I think. I don’t remember who wrote it, but it talks about deceit.”

  “We’ve got that in buckets,” Senna said wryly then rose. “Well, I should leave you two lovebirds to it. Glad you’re in one piece, senator.” Senna sashayed off, leaving him watching her retreating back.

  “She’s nice. I like her. It’s a good thing she doesn’t have designs on you.”

  “What?” He swooped back, taking in her smile.

  “Nothing more than a jest.” She speared the bean with her fork. “We should eat before the food gets cold.”

  * * * *

  This time it was Daniella watching Jonah suiting up, her stomach knotted with worry. “You’re sure it will be an easy mission?”

  “Find one bad guy. Bring him back here. Sure.” He grinned, but even with his light tone she wasn’t so sure it would be all that easy.

  “Take care then. Don’t do anything heroic and get killed. We have things to talk about and decisions to make, okay?”

  He grinned at her, then kissed her softly. “I know. When we get back, we need to sort out where we’ll live, who takes whose name, stuff like that.”

  His comment blindsided her. “What do you mean?”

  The grin melted away, replaced with intensity and heat. “This isn’t a short-term thing. We love each other, and I intend to marry you. Have kids and a house with a white wrought iron gate and look after your security while you take up the position of president.”

  “I… Uh… You’ve surprised me.” He had indeed, the thud of her heart speeding up. She reached up to her chest, as if to calm the thunder within. “I didn’t have any expectations about anything except being together.”

  Jonah cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing over her lips. “We’ll talk when I get back. When we’ve both got time and privacy.” He kissed her again, soft and light, brushing her lips. “I love you.” The whisper of his breath slid over her skin, making her shiver as the sensual hunger bloomed.

  In a whirl, he turned on the ball of his foot and left her. The room around her stilled. She ignored the sets of eyes and settled into the seat before the screen where they’d watch the feed direct from the action.

  Jonah had climbed into the truck, the camera on his helmet now settled into place, and Daniella watched as they rattled back and forth. He hadn’t yet engaged his earpiece, so the silence felt eerie.

  It seemed to take forever. Then the sound crackled to life. “Can you hear us, base?”

  “McNally here. Reading you clear, McDowell. Evidence suggests that the building to the right is his house. Be careful. I see some red on the scanner.”

  “Red?” Daniella turned to McNally as she fiddled on the tablet on her knee.

  “Devices. Likely tripwires, scanners, and the like.”

  She rested her hand on her stomach and turned back to the viewing screen. Men and women streamed around Jonah on the screen, silent except for urgent hand movements. She knew Jonah was waiting by the vehicle, exactly as they planned.

  She caught sight of something from the corner of her eyes. “Jonah?”

  “What?” He spoke with a terse voice, but she plowed on, undeterred.

  “There’s someone there. Window to the right. It…” She swallowed hard, taking in the small face and angry eyes. “It’s a child!”