Killer Countdown (Man on a Mission 6)

Marsh started his engine and put his truck into gear as soon as the senator’s car pulled away from the curb. Then quietly...from a safe distance...followed his targets.

* * *

The reception was in full swing when Shane handed his invitation—along with his Beretta M9—to one of the guards on the door at the Zakharian embassy. He glanced at Carly, who handed over her .22 without a word...and without having to pull up her skirt.

His eyes asked the question, and she whispered in his ear, “I put it in my coat pocket when we were in the car.”

After they checked their coats, she placed her hand on Shane’s arm and they both passed through the portable metal detector without setting off any alarms. They circulated for a couple of minutes, then joined the receiving line. At the far end stood a tall, regal-looking man in a white dress uniform with a diminutive, dark-haired woman at his side, also in white, wearing the most spectacular diamond tiara Carly had ever seen atop her raven tresses.

Her mouth dropped open for a moment, then she closed it. “That’s not—you didn’t tell me the King and Queen of Zakhar were going to be here.”

The corners of Shane’s mouth twitched into a half smile. “Don’t you stay abreast of the news?”

That had been strictly true when she’d been a national correspondent—everything had been connected, and her job had depended on her being in the know. Always. But she’d switched to investigative journalism last year, which had freed her to concentrate on one story at a time, and she’d quickly grown to love it. “I usually do,” she explained to Shane, “but not when I’m focused on another story.” She didn’t have to tell him what story that was.

“He was here to meet with the president—there was a state dinner on Friday to which I was invited...but had to decline for reasons you already know. She’s here because she goes almost everywhere with him, although they don’t travel with their son.”

“I understand why, but it must be difficult for her—for them,” she corrected quickly, “to be away from their baby.”

“They don’t do it often. This is the rare exception. After they leave here he’ll address the United Nations tomorrow before they head home to Zakhar.”

“How do you know so much about them?”

“Unlike you, I do keep abreast of the news.” When she shot him a dagger look, he chuckled. “Okay, I’ll confess. My brother Alec, who’s the regional security officer at the US embassy in Zakhar, is friends with the king.”

Carly blinked. “Alec Jones is your brother?”

“You know him?”

Her brain was working furiously. “No, but my sister, Tahra, works for him in Zakhar, and I covered a major story he was involved in—the human trafficking case.”

“Small world.”

“Then that means Liam Jones is your brother, too?”

“Right again.”

Her respect for Shane grew. “You have an amazing family.”

“You know Liam?”

“I interviewed his wife after the trial. She was the primary witness in that case and an incredibly brave woman. I don’t know if I would have had the guts to testify in open court to what she went through.”

“Yeah, Cate’s pretty terrific.”

“I only exchanged about ten words with your brother during that interview. What I remember most about him was how he sat quietly beside his wife, holding her hand the entire time. Her story had to have sickened him just as it did me, but he didn’t flinch once. Just held her hand and squeezed it reassuringly from time to time.”

“Sounds like Liam.”

“Didn’t he save her life twice? Once by taking a bullet meant for her?”

He chuckled. “Yeah. Liam always was a bit of a white knight.”

Her tone was dry when she drawled, “It must run in the family.” Shane had no snappy comeback, and Carly got the impression compliments of that nature made him uncomfortable. She filed that little tidbit away to consider later and changed the subject. “I had no idea you were related to Alec and Liam.”

“I didn’t know your sister worked for Alec, either.”