Mountain Retreat. Cassie Miles

took Hawthorne’s seat at the table, opened a folder and took out four photographs of men in camouflage fatigues. Three of them had beards. “Recognize anyone?”

      “Do you think she’ll let me talk to Hurtado?”

      “I can’t rightly say,” he said in a Texan drawl.

      Over the months, she and Phillips had developed a bit of rapport. He’d seen her at her worst when she broke down into hysterical tears, and she sensed that he was more sympathetic toward her than the other agents.

      “I could negotiate with the rebels,” she said. “I know it’s against CIA policy, but I could—”

      “C’mon now, Sidney girl.” He poked at the photos. “Let’s do this thing.”

      She didn’t want to be a good girl. A lioness would tear these photos to scraps and throw them in his face. She was too docile. Nothing was getting done.

      But what choice did she have? Could she single-handedly take on the whole intelligence community? She huffed a frustrated sigh before picking up the photos. This was part of their routine. Because of her memory, the CIA used her to identify men whom she might have met when she visited the country. Thus far, there had been only four familiar faces.

      These unposed pictures had been taken in a forested setting. “It’s hard to tell with the beards. I don’t think I know them. Who are they?”

      “Rebels,” he said.

      “When I was in Tiquanna, I never left the palace grounds. Why would you think I’d know rebels?” She didn’t expect him to answer. “Is it because the palace guards are defecting? Are they joining the rebels?”

      “Let’s just say that Señor Hurtado ain’t exactly winning any popularity contests.”

      And the CIA wanted to keep Hurtado on their side. Though the dictator had a terrible record on civil rights for his impoverished people, he supported US programs and happily accepted our aid. More important, he was working with neighboring countries to form an oil and natural gas distribution system functioning with US companies.

      When Phillips pulled out several aerial photographs of the palace grounds, she groaned. “Not again,” she said. “I’ve told you everything I could about the palace.”

      “Focus on this area.” He pointed to a far corner in the walled compound.

      She stared. “It looks like the wall is broken. Was it an explosion?”

      “Yep.”

      A wave of guilt washed over her. In a similar tactic, Nick had disappeared. Six months and four days ago, there had been an explosion targeting the front gates. Two marines had been injured. The last anyone had seen of Nick was when he was trying to rescue them.

      Before he left on this deployment, she’d told him not to be a hero, which was impossible advice for a marine. The man lived to protect others. His courage was as much a part of him as his arms and legs. Oh, God, she missed him so much. Without him, her life was empty.

      Her fingers gripped the back of the chair. Her knees were weak. Though she wanted to be fierce, the weight of her sadness dragged her down. She sank into the chair.

      “Please,” she said, “you’ve got to tell me something about Nick. Those pictures you showed me are snapshots. They were taken from surveillance at the rebel camp, weren’t they? Your people have infiltrated the camp.”

      The corner of his mouth twitched. For Phillips, that slight change of expression was more than she’d seen from him in weeks. Sensing a possible crack in the stone wall that kept information from her, she asked, “Do you have photos of Nick?”

      “You know how this works, Sidney. I’m here to get intel from you.”

      “I just want to know if he’s all right.”

      “There’s reason to believe that your fiancé is well.”

      The tiny flicker of hope burst into full flame. Something was different about Phillips. He knew something.

      She asked, “Is Nick well enough to be rescued? What do you CIA people call it? Extracted. Can he be extracted?”

      He pushed the aerial photo toward her. “We need to know about this part of the compound.”

      There was nothing to tell. She hadn’t visited that part of the palace grounds, hadn’t noticed anything about the far corner. For the first time, she wondered if it would serve her better to lie and build up the importance of that corner in the hope that she could get more information. But she wasn’t about to play games with the CIA. They were on the same side. She needed to cooperate.

      “I was never near that part of the grounds.” She rose from her chair. “I’ve got nothing against you, Phillips. But I need more. Is there anybody else I should talk to? Anything else I can do?”

      He leaned back in the chair and folded his arms across his chest. “If you left the room right now and went down the corridor to your left, I wouldn’t stop you.”

      “Why? What does that mean?”

      “You heard me.”

      She took the cue, not knowing what she’d find. Hoping for the best and fearing the worst, her fingers closed on the doorknob and she yanked the door open. Had it always been unlocked? She didn’t know; she’d never tried it before.

      After hours, there was no one else in the hallway. One side was all windows, and the other was closed doors. The route she’d always followed when escorted into the building was in the opposite direction. She’d never been this way before.

      Moving fast before Phillips changed his mind, she rushed down the carpeted corridor. At the far end, a double doorway opened into a honeycomb of cubicles encircled by offices with glass walls. She heard voices to her left and turned.

      In the farthest office, Special Agent Hawthorne stood behind a desk and spoke to four men. One stood apart from the others. His left hand was in the pocket of his gray suit jacket. He was tall with black hair and wide shoulders. Sidney couldn’t see his face, but she knew him.

      She took off running. Dodging around file cabinets and desks, she flew across the room. Her feet barely touched the floor. She crashed into the glass wall. Her palms splayed against it. “Nick.”

      He turned. His hands met hers against the glass.

      Sweet lord, was this possible? She stared, unblinking. If she closed her eyes, she was afraid he’d disappear.

      He came around the wall through the door and reached toward her. She latched on to his hand, laced her fingers through his. He was thinner than the last time she’d seen him. His complexion was pale, as though he’d been ill, but this was definitely her fiancé. She lifted her hand toward his face and touched the V-shaped scar on his jaw.

      “Oh, Nick, I missed you so much.”

      “It’s okay. I’m here. I’m back.”

      But there was something different. When she peered into his eyes, she didn’t see the man she had once loved with all her heart. Nick Corelli looked back at her with the eyes of a stranger.

       Chapter Two

      Nick folded his arms around her and held her in a warm embrace. Tucking her head beneath his chin, Sidney gasped, trying to suck oxygen into lungs that felt paralyzed. She was frozen in time. Her world had stopped spinning.

      “You’re trembling,” he said.

      “I know.”

      She desperately wanted to kiss him, but she was afraid to look into his eyes again. What if he’d changed? What if he was no longer the Nick she’d built her life around? She needed reassurance, needed to know that this was her Nick, her fiancé, her lover.

      “They told me