CHAPTER FOUR

"L-Leif," she stuttered, tears streaming down her face as all of her emotions flooded to the surface.

"Ellie? What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong," he said, gripping her arm. The waiter stared at her, and she attempted to smile, waving him off.

"S-sit down. You're attracting attention."

"I'm attracting attention," he ground out. "What the fuck are you doing here, Ellie? Why in the hell are you in Cairo? You're supposed to be at a nice cushy desk job somewhere, and this is where I find you."

"I'm working," she sniffed. "I'm working a c-case, and I just learned… Oh, God, I just learned that the asset that's being held is Mags. They have Mags, Leif."

He stood once again, gripping her arm and pulling her across the street with him. She didn't bother to fight him. She was numb. Terrified. As he shoved her into the back of the white van, she stared at the familiar faces of her family and friends. It only made her want to cry more.

"Son-of-a-bitch, it is you," said Alistair. "I thought it was a glitch on comms."

"Why are you here?" growled Leif.

"I'm with the agency."

"Yeah, we know. You're supporting intelligence at Langley," said Walker. Ellie shook her head.

"No. I'm an agent. A field agent and a good one."

"Why are you crying? Did that asshole say something to you?" asked Walker, giving a fierce expression to his friend.

"No. No, my contact did. He said they found the asset. She's being held at a prison for alleged spying."

"She? Jesus, what do we have, a teacher, a journalist, photographer? What now?" asked Alistair.

"It's Mags," she whispered. "They have Magnolia." Walker stared at her, shaking his head. The other men all said nothing, but she could see the fear and terror on their faces.

"Why? Why would they have her? How would they have her?"

"She's with Quantico. She specializes in counterterrorism and sometimes goes into the field with other agents or even MARSOC units. She's also been known to help train our allies," said Ellie.

"Jesus," muttered Sebastian. "What about the other two? If you two are doing something this fucking crazy, what about the other two?"

"It's not crazy! What we're doing is no different than what you're doing, so don't feed me your macho bullshit, Sebastian. Emelia is with the bureau, also as an agent." She looked at Forrest and shook her head. "Madison is at the Pentagon in intelligence."

"Holy shit," muttered Alistair. "You four are going to have some explaining to do with Daddy."

"I have to get to Mags," she said, trying to open the door.

"What the fuck is happening in there?" growled a voice.

"We've got our agency contact, sir, but it just got complicated," said Leif. "We're headed back to base now."

"To hell you are," he growled. "The agency intelligence here at base is saying the asset is now on the move from Abu Simbel toward Luxor. Get your asses down there now. They're asking a hefty price for this person, so we think they won't do anything stupid right now."

"We need to drop off our agency contact, sir," said Leif. Ellie gripped his arm, shaking head.

"Whoever the fuck it is, she's agency, take her with you, and for fuck's sake, don't let her do anything stupid."

"But, sir," he started.

"It's an order, Viking! Just fucking do it, or our asset will be dead." Ellie bit her lip, trying to hold back tears. Forrest reached for her hand, squeezing.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay, Ellie." She shook her head.

"No. No, Mags has been acting weird lately. Something is going on, I just know it," she said.

"Seems like you all had something going on," said Leif as he got into the driver's seat.

"What the hell does that mean?" asked Ellie. She suddenly didn't care who was around her and what should or should not be said. This was bubbling to the proverbial head, and it was about to explode.

"Obviously, you had a lot going on in your life that you didn't want anyone to know about. I mean, you're some big secret spook, which I get is a very important job. But you didn't even have time to drop an old friend a fucking line in the last five years!" he screamed.

"Leif," muttered Alistair, shaking his head in warning.

"No. No, it's okay, Alistair. This is a long time coming," said Ellie. "You walked away, Leif. I said you going to boot camp and me going to college was a good break for us. Not break up! You did this, not me. Now, I'm sure you've been pure as the driven snow in your big-ass Ranger gear as all the women swarmed you and your big body."

The other men all raised their brows, trying not to listen while listening.

"I'm sure women just flocked to have a piece of what you offered. I've seen men like you in action. I know what you do on your days off, so don't play pious with me.

"I learned about how you were doing from your parents. From your sweet, wonderful parents who let me know you were still alive! So, don't you fucking dare point fingers at me."

"Fine. Fine, you wanna play that game, Ellie."

"Leif," muttered Alistair again.

"No! Shut the fuck up! You didn't reach out to me, Ellie. I knew you spoke with Mom and Dad, but you didn't fucking once send me a letter or ask to come and visit me. What the fuck was I supposed to think? I thought you'd moved on.

"You're right. I've had other women. I'm fucking human, Ellie. You can only stroke your own dick so many times and not need human contact, flesh on flesh. I'm sure you know what that's like."

The other men in the van groaned as the vehicle bounced and swerved through the streets.

"So, yeah. I got my rocks off. Protected. But I never promised shit to anyone. What the fuck did you expect? That I'd stay a virgin for you?"

Ellie stared at him, tears streaming down her face. This needed to be said, but here in front of their friends seemed wrong. In the end, it didn't matter.

"I expected that you would be respectful of me and honest. I expected that you would communicate with me like an adult. I expected that you would tell me if you were moving on. Should I have communicated more? Yes. I admit I was wrong in not being more open with you. But when you didn't call or write any longer, I figured it was over.

"Did I date? Yep. Did I fuck around? Nope. It might not have been your expectation, Leif, but I did stay a virgin, hoping that the only man I ever loved would open his fucking eyes and call me. I'll make sure to rectify that mistake once I'm home."

He turned to speak to her, and she moved to the back of the van, curling in the corner, sobbing. Forrest frowned at his friend, shaking his head at him.

"Uncalled for, brother. Seriously fucking uncalled for."

He scooted to the back, putting his arm around their friend letting her cry it out. It wasn't long, and she'd cried herself to sleep. Forrest lay her head on his pack, making sure she wouldn't roll around the van as they left the city.

The evening light was fading over the desert, and the men needed to get fuel and supplies if they were going south.

Stopping in a small city on the outskirts of Cairo, they filled multiple spare fuel tanks and bought food, blankets, tents, and other supplies. When asked what they were doing, they told the man they were camping in the desert and walking to see all the magnificent ruins.

It was another three hours before they could stop and gather more intel from base and finally discuss a plan.

"Maybe we need to let the VG crew know," said Walker. "We could use some technology help."

"We can't do that," said Leif. "Not yet."

"You can't, but I can," said Ellie, staring at Leif in defiance.

"No. You can't," he ground out, gripping her arm. "If we put too many people in the area, we risk your sister's life. For now, it's just us. They don't know we're here, and they don't know that you're here. We have the advantage."

Ellie walked away from the van, hunching beside the newly constructed tent. She'd never cried so much in her entire life. She had to tell them about the others. They could help. Returning to the group, she wiped her eyes.

"Let me call Maddie and Emelia," she said.

"No. Too many…"

"They can help! Christ, will you just shut up and listen to me! Maddie and Emelia are in the field more than the office. They can help."

"Un-fucking believable," he snarled, shaking his head.

"Call them," said Walker. All eyes turned toward him, staring. "I said fucking call them. You can do this pissing match with her all you want, Leif, but you don't get to make the decision on this. You're both so damned stubborn you can't see what you have. Well, I can! I know what I have. This is Mags we're talking about! My Mags!"

Ellie stared at the man, realizing that he still had feelings for Magnolia. They'd been sweethearts all through school, and when they left for college, she thought they had stopped seeing one another. He looked at her and shook his head as if apologizing to her.

"We wanted to tell you. All of you, but we were both moving in opposite directions all the time. Mags and I never stopped loving one another and never stopped seeing one another," he said, shaking his head in frustration. He pushed back his long hair, staring at those who knew him best. "We've been in love since high school. Call Maddie and Em. Please, Ellie."

"Okay," she nodded, walking toward him. She hugged him, holding him tightly for a moment. "Okay. I'm calling them now."

They listened as she spoke to her sisters. Both had the common sense to say they could do more good by staying stateside and using their own networks to help find their sister. In the end, they all agreed to not call their parents right now.

"We need to get some sleep," said Leif quietly, staring at the fire. "I'll take first watch." The others piled inside the tent, content to sleep in their clothes. Ellie stared at Leif as he poked the fire, then sat back on a rickety camp stool he'd purchased.

"Leif?" she whispered, walking toward him.

"I'm too tired to fight tonight, Ellie. Let's talk tomorrow."

"No. We've been dancing around this for more than ten years. I know I should have contacted you, but you have to admit you waited too long as well." Leif let out the longest sigh she'd ever heard from a human.

"It was my fault. All of it was my fault. I let my ego get bruised thinking that you were just going to say, ‘bye-bye,' and everything would be cool. I was a stupid kid, and I'm sorry."

"It was both our faults," she said, kneeling in front of him. "I'm sorry, Leif. I know this sucks being here and everything that's happening, but I'm sorry. I've wanted to reach out to you for years now, and I should have."

Lief reached out, rubbing a rough, dirty hand over her tear-stained cheek. She closed her eyes, leaning into him, absorbing his strength. Ellie was always beautiful, but now she was the kind of beautiful that only a woman could obtain. She was fuller, wiser, more confident, womanlier.

"Did you mean what you said? Didn't you ever spend time with someone, Ellie?"

"Time," she smiled. "Yes. I spent time with men, but none that I wanted to sleep with. How could I when I loved you? I just said to my director that I was thinking of leaving the agency and going home to start a family."

"What?" he frowned. Ellie laughed, shaking her head.

"I was hoping that would be with you, Leif. If you had someone, if you were serious with a girl or engaged or worse, married, well then, I'd move on. But I waited too long."

"No, you didn't," he whispered, leaning forward, touching his lips to hers. He didn't ply her lips apart; he didn't force his tongue down her throat. He just touched her, kissed her, remembering the sweet kisses of their youth.

Except this was vastly different. This wasn't lust. This wasn't teenage hormones. This was a fire in his gut that he wouldn't be able to ignore ever again. This wasn't something he would be able to walk away from.

"I love you, Leif. Am I too late?" she croaked through her tears.

"Never, baby. You are never too late. I was a fool, and I'm damn sure going to correct my mistakes starting now." Seven men applauded from the tent opening, and the two of them laughed, shaking their heads.

"Can we now get some sleep?" asked Garr.

"Yeah. Yeah, let's get some sleep," said Leif. "Tomorrow, we find Mags."