Page 30 of Two Hearts' Subterfuge
“I never got to thank the guy who saved my life,” Aylin said.
“There he is over there,” Dad replied, pointing to where Jake Loughlin was standing.
Still wearing the ski mask that covered his face, the man who’d saved her was waving goodbye.
Rolling down her window, Aylin held up her hand while Dad slowly drove by everyone to exit the parking lot.
Chapter Seventeen
After lecturing him for several long minutes about not doing what he’d been told, Dad had suddenly changed his tune, telling Ben how proud he was of him.
Unfortunately, Ash and his uncle, along with another man who’d appeared to be a bodyguard, had all managed to escape about ten minutes before the agents Dad had called in had arrived at the golf course, which had a wide enough clearing for the chopper to land. Dad had his feelers out, trying to gather information on the company that would have supplied the chopper.
There was supposed to be a meeting tonight in Dad’s private office upstairs at the Inn with Aylin and her father, supposedly to thank Ben for rescuing her.
“Poor Aylin. I’d hate to think what would have happened if you hadn’t seen her walking outside this morning,” Lara said.
She’d slipped into his room a few minutes earlier to get the scoop. Ben suddenly realized that he’d missed their heart-to-heart conversations, because they’d had them all the time when she was younger.
“I can’t believe that we still haven’t actually been introduced,” he muttered, his eyes meeting Lara’s in the mirror after he tugged a thick wool sweater over his head.
But Lara continued to look worried. “I can’t believe that they were actually shooting at you. Who are these guys that kidnapped her anyway?”
“From what I was able to overhear when Dad was talking to Aylin’s father is that they’re possibly linked to ISIS. Her half-brothersoldher to his father’s brother, Lara.”
Lara looked momentarily stunned.
But then she cleared her throat. “So that’s why she’s been laying low, and she’s never really left the Inn since she arrived. They could have been worried that something like this might happen.”
“Maybe,” he replied, becoming thoughtful. “Dad can’t get into much more than that because the situation is confidential.”
“Please be careful, Ben. I’m worried that they might find out who you are and come after you. I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you.”
“I feel the same exact way about you, Lara,” he said softly as he slipped his wallet into his pocket, glancing into the mirror one final time.
Lara smiled suddenly. “You look nice, Ben. You smell good too.”
Reaching for his dirty t-shirt, he gave it a quick whip her way.
“Eeww,” she said, holding her nose. “Is that the same shirt you were wearing when you rescued Aylin? Hopefully she didn’t get too close.”
He grimaced. “Is it really that bad?”
“No, you dope. Geez, I’ve never seen you act so stupid before.”
What could he say? His sister was right.
Smiling and giving her a wink, he rolled his eyes in acknowledgment.
When she laughed, his heart felt a little lighter, because she’d sure been doing a lot more of that during the past couple days.
Grabbing the rest of his dirty clothes from the bed, he headed from his room, stuffing them into the hamper in the laundry room.
“I’ll see you a little later,” he called out to Lara from the mudroom after he’d slipped into his winter coat.
“I’ll be here,” Lara said, now seated at the kitchen island with her laptop. “I really want to know how it goes.”
“Sounds good,” he answered, grinning as he stepped outside, locking the side door behind him.
