Amelia Autin - Black Ops Warrior

She paused for a moment, then continued. “But I... I couldn’t explain the real reason I’d resigned to the people at work. They didn’t want to listen, and I’m not very good at talking about personal issues with them, anyway, especially my section hea—”

She cut off the rest of what she’d started to say, and Niall filled in the blanks. Section head, by which he knew she meant her immediate supervisor at the internationally famous defense contractor—one of the top five in the US—where she’d worked up until a month ago.

Her sudden reticence in discussing her job made more sense to him than it might have to someone who wasn’t in his line of work. Employees of defense contractors were strongly urged never to talk about what they did with outsiders, for fear of security leaks. Savannah had been a missile guidance, navigation and control engineer. She’d held a top secret clearance granted by the Department of Defense and had designed weapons the US relied upon to stay ahead of its enemies militarily.

But he’d bet anything she’d resigned because she was fulfilling some kind of vow she’d made to herself and to her parents. Not because she was a potential traitor.

Between her confession and everything he’d learned by hacking into her computer and searching her hotel room last night, it all boiled down to one thing: his assignment was most likely a total bust. Whoever had gotten it into his head that Savannah planned to sell what she knew to the Chinese government and had dispatched him here was way off base.

If he didn’t need to worm his way into her confidence and compile evidence to arrest and convict her of espionage...if he didn’t need to worry about her betraying his country, either...that meant she wasn’t a security risk. Which also meant, even as a last resort, he wouldn’t have to kill her.

And considering his reaction to kissing her earlier, that revelation was a godsend.

Chapter 3

“Oops!” said a voice behind Savannah as someone bumped into her chair. “Sorry about—Well, hey there!”

She looked up and saw a face she recognized from their tour group, but she couldn’t immediately put a name to the face and searched in vain for a nametag.

“Savannah Whitman, right?” the vivacious blonde said. “I’m Mary Beth, remember? Mary Beth Thompson. And this is my husband, Herb.” She turned to the man who’d come up beside her, holding a full plate. “Herb, you remember Savannah, right? We were on the same plane from San Francisco.”

Mary Beth chattered away about the crowded conditions at the Great Wall. “All that pushing and shoving! So rude, too! Why, I could barely take a picture without someone walking right into the frame.” She moved on to discuss the factory they’d visited afterward. “Wasn’t that jade factory incredible? Did you buy anything? I could have spent a fortune. Good thing I had Herb with me,” Mary Beth said with a laugh, “or I’d have put a major dent in my credit card for sure! But I have to say, the food in the factory restaurant was just so-so, don’t you think? Not five-star like this restaurant.”

Savannah couldn’t get a word in edgewise. But apparently Mary Beth didn’t need an answer to any of her questions. She just kept rolling on, and Savannah was terribly afraid at any moment Mary Beth would suggest she and her husband join them for dinner. Savannah didn’t want to—not only was she already getting a headache listening to Mary Beth’s incessant chatter, she also wanted Niall all to herself. But she didn’t know how she’d say no if...

“Well, hello,” said another woman, stopping by their table, accompanied by a smiling man, both of whom looked familiar. “Weren’t you in our cable car going up to the Great Wall this morning?” she asked Savannah.

“Oh. Oh yes, I think I was. It’s...” Savannah surreptitiously looked for a nametag she didn’t find, then searched her memory. “It’s Tammy and...and Martin, right?” she said triumphantly. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your last name.”

“Williams,” the man threw in.

“That’s right. Sorry, I’m really bad with names.”

Niall had risen when Mary Beth and her husband had stopped at their table, and had stayed standing. But after one quick glance at Savannah’s face, he politely but firmly made it very clear the other couples were de trop.

Savannah smiled admiringly at Niall when they were alone again. “How did you do that?” she asked, leaning forward to make sure she couldn’t be overheard. “I mean, you weren’t rude, but you managed to get rid of them in no time at all.”

He shrugged, but a tiny smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Just something I picked up at my mother’s knee.”

“I want to meet your mother.”

His smile deepened. “You’d like her. And what’s more to the point, she’d like you.”

A sudden, sharp pain stabbed through her, so unexpected, so real she was afraid to look down in case she’d see blood somewhere. She tried not to let her smile fade away, but she wasn’t completely successful. Niall watched her for a moment, then said in a quiet voice, “Just tell me.”

The words slipped out. “My parents would have loved you.”

He didn’t say anything, just took her hand in his and stroked his thumb back and forth in a move that was both comforting and somehow erotic.

“I miss them so much,” she whispered in a desperate undertone. “My mom—she’s the one who got me interested in ancient history. I was thinking of her when I was standing on the Great Wall. Remembering lying on my bed, poring over books on ancient China with her. And my dad—he’s the one who introduced me to the pure beauty of mathematics. But I didn’t want to be a mathematician, like him. I wanted to be an engineer because it was applied math. I wanted to make a difference. Wanted to help keep the world safe. That’s why I became a—”

She stopped short because she suddenly remembered her numerous security briefings. Don’t tell anyone what you do, she’d been warned. You can say who you work for, but nothing more than that. And never mention your security clearance.

But Niall’s eyes held such understanding, she added, “I know people mock ideals these days. And patriotism seems passé, but that’s how my parents raised me. When I graduated college, I was recruited by...” She mentioned the name of her former employer, knowing Niall would probably recognize the name and make the connection to the Department of Defense. “Microsoft and Google recruited me, too, and a half dozen other companies. But I wanted to do my part in keeping my country safe.”

His hold on her hand tightened. “I understand, more than you can possibly know.” His voice dropped a notch. “That’s how my parents raised me, too. There’s this quotation from Edward Everett Hale my dad carved in wood before I was born, and hung over the fireplace mantel in the family room at home. It’s still there. ‘I am only one, but I am one,’” he recited softly. “‘I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. And by the grace of God, I will.’”

She gazed wonderingly at him. “Would you believe I’ve read that saying before? Not exactly those words, but close.”

“Yeah. I’ve seen variations on it, too. But it influenced me from the time I was old enough to understand what it meant. And I joined the Marine Corps when I turned eighteen. So did all my brothers and my baby sister when they were old enough. Not that my parents pushed us into it. It was just...” He seemed to search for the words. “A way of giving back, I guess. I know our country isn’t perfect. We’ve made mistakes. Grievous ones sometimes. But I wouldn’t trade the US for any other country in the world.”