but that was a discussion they could have after Ethan drove her to her apartment. “If somebody’s onto Sean and that package in his mailbox holds encrypted data, then you have nothing without what’s stored at my place.”
Ethan reached for his phone, stopped and banged his fist against the steering wheel. “This is where I wish I had more backup.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just me and Mitchum. I’ve got contact with my chain of command, but it’s limited to nonclassified communications and emergencies until we’re ready to move in. Believe it or not, this doesn’t qualify as an emergency, and me contacting them with where you are could land us in deeper danger.”
“Why just the two of you?” She’d assumed there was abundant help. If this was about to become a three-person team made up of Ethan, his pal Mitchum and her...
“Sean’s involved because we sent one man in already and he...was unsuccessful. Everything points to someone working on the inside. We don’t know how high this goes or who is helping who, so after what happened with our first guy overseas, my team has been whittled down to Mitchum and me with Sean assisting, keeping our information close until we can build this case.
“What we’re looking at is a well-funded group with some serious hacking ability. They’ve been able to manipulate secure computers. They’ve deleted files we were using to build evidence against them, accessed encrypted emails and planted some pretty nasty viruses on our secure servers, all while staying one step ahead of us. We’ve gone dark. Sean got involved because we knew we could trust him to be our boots on the ground as an established infantryman who already knew what was going on. He asked me if he could forward those drives to you for safekeeping if anything happened. I had reservations, but...” He flicked a glance her way and back to the road. “Neither of us ever thought something would happen to blow his cover and land you in danger on top of it.”
“What’s on those drives?”
“All of our evidence against them. They’ll want those drives to destroy them, Sean to find out what we know and what we’re planning, and you because they have no idea how deeply you’re involved.”
“So they’re after me not only to get to Sean, but because they think I have his intel.” Ashley’s fingernails dug into her palms. Danger. The last place she ever wanted to be again. That was why she loved her computers. They were safe. Nobody ever found a gun aimed at them because they built a tougher firewall. “We have to get the software.”
“You’re right. But you’re in danger as long as these guys are out there.” He eased over to the side of the road to turn around as his phone beeped. He pulled the device from his pocket, glanced at the screen, then gripped it tighter.
“What?” Ashley’s voice strained as she leaned closer, fingers trembling at the hardness in his eyes.
“It’s Sean.” His voice was matter-of-fact, but the expression on his face chilled the air in the cab. “Shortly after Sean contacted you, there was a breach on his FOB by insurgents posing as Afghan police.”
Ashley’s chest jolted with pain, the adrenaline aching in her veins. “And...?”
A muscle twitched in Ethan’s cheek. “They took Sean.”
Sean. Targeted. Taken by insurgents.
Ashley’s bravado wore thin. Winning the battle to go to her apartment had dampened the fear and given her a sense of control, but as they raced through Syracuse in the dark, the temporary sense of power didn’t last.
In just a few hours she’d gone from a network security consultant checking a friend’s mail to a hunted woman on the run with a man she’d hoped never to see again. This didn’t happen outside of Jason Bourne movies.
Ethan dropped one hand from the wheel and let it fall between them on the console. “You okay?”
“Why do you ask?”
“That was one mighty big sigh you just let out over there.” He sniffed. “Listen. It’s bound to not be easy right now, but we’ll figure out who’s behind all of this and find Sean. We have the benefit of knowing this wasn’t random. We have leads. It might take some time, but we’ll get it done.”
Something about the renewed confidence in his voice soothed Ashley. It washed over her in the soft darkness and made her believe he was right—it would all be okay. Eventually. She settled into the corner against the door, pulling the seat belt tighter in case anyone found them on the street and tried to take them out.
But nothing could keep the silence from pressing in. She wished there was something to talk about, but shock and weariness kept her mind focused on the monsters that could be lurking outside her home. Even that was better than letting her mind wonder if Sean was alive.
Her home. Her safe place. It would probably never be that again. Especially considering... “Have you been to my apartment before? Pulling surveillance on me?”
Ethan didn’t answer, but the fact he hadn’t asked for directions to her place spoke louder than words. The lights of his truck played across the front parking lot and he turned them off before they got to the side street of the building where her apartment was housed. He pulled into a space around a curve several buildings away from hers and cut the engine. “If you tell me where it is, I can go get it.”
And leave her here alone, a sitting duck for anyone who happened to spot her? No, thank you. Her best option was to go with him and face whatever giants might be lurking in her living room. “It’s too hard to explain, and you’ll need a screwdriver.”
His eyebrow arched, the shadow of the streetlights making him look like a supervillain in an old cartoon. All he needed was a mustache to twirl. It would have made her laugh under different circumstances.
Ashley reached for the door handle but a short grunt stopped her. Ethan flipped a switch by the steering wheel and popped his door open cautiously. When the interior lights stayed dark, he tipped her a nod and met her at the front of the truck, hand at his hip under his jacket.
Ashley’s eyes drifted closed as she wavered on her feet. She hadn’t considered he’d be armed. His reflexive movement as they faced danger spoke more than words. Even though they’d escaped the airport, she was still in a situation requiring weapons. She’d grown up around guns, been trained to use them, and still the irrational, stupid fear won every time. The memory of pain and stolen dreams overwhelmed her common sense.
Pulling in a deep breath, she released it slowly. Be strong. Focus on where you are right now. Ethan could never know how much the past still haunted her nightmares.
As much as she feared the gun at Ethan’s side, she edged closer. Right now, he was the one safe thing in her life. Ironic, considering his propensity for leaving when it suited him. Considering how her heart started to beat double-time when she’d realized he was her rescuer, it was best if she remembered that. Focus on the soft feel of the air... On the smell of smoke from someone’s fireplace... Anything other than guns and Ethan.
They slipped across the parking lot to the back, where a few feet of small yard stood between them and the protective wall that buffered the sounds from the road behind
