After Midnight: (A Penguin Special from Signet Eclipse) (Killer Instincts) by Elle Kennedy Page B

if she knows where he’s holed up. You and Abby keep working on Aswad. I’ll see you at the hotel tomorrow morning, sooner if the ex gives me valuable intel.”
    Kane would’ve felt better if Morgan had some backup, but this gig had been so last minute that only the three of them had been able to take it on. Morgan’s other operatives were scattered around the globe on other jobs, and he couldn’t pull them out without jeopardizing their ongoing missions.
    “Roger that,” Kane said. He hung up and leaned against the rusted passenger side of the Jeep, tilting his head up at the inky sky. Not a single sound wafted out of the shack. A promising sign. If Abby had been using that deadly blade of hers, no way would Aswad be able to stay quiet.
    Kane tapped his fingers on the door frame, fighting the urge to go back inside and beat the information out of Aswad himself. But he had to trust Abby to get the job done. Their first few missions together, he’d driven her nuts with his overprotective caveman attitude, gluing himself to her side to ensure that nothing happened to the woman he loved. He’d wised up fast, though. Abby Sinclair was a skilled operative, and the former assassin hadn’t appreciated him going all alpha on her.
    It had taken a while, but he’d finally learned how to treat her like a teammate rather than his wife. Now, when they were in the field together, he trusted her implicitly, even if it meant waiting outside like a chump while she tortured a man for intelligence.
    Luckily, he didn’t have to wait long. A mere ten minutes later, Abby strode out of the shack with a rare smile tugging on her lips.
    As always, the sight of her sent a rush of heat spiraling through him. She was slender but curvy, rocking a pair of tight jeans and a wafer-thin tank top, with her copper-colored hair cascading over one shoulder. Her features were beautiful and flawless, but it was her eyes that drew him in. A deep honey-yellow, the unique color never failing to take his breath away.
    He cocked a brow at her approach, noting the trace of crimson staining the serrated edge of her knife. “Is he alive?”
    She nodded. “I barely nicked him before he caved like a cheap tent. But he doesn’t know where Nazara’s holding the kid.”
    “You certain of that?”
    “Yeah. Nazara kept Aswad and Bishara in the dark about the location, just in case they ever got captured by the police. Aswad gave me a list of safe houses Nazara has used in the past. Oh, and some names of former associates who have stashed hostages for Nazara before.”
    “Good work, soldier.” Kane dipped his head and smacked a loud kiss on her lips.
    Abby rolled her eyes. “Did you kiss your teammates like that when you were a SEAL?”
    “Nope. You’re special.”
    “What about our teammates now? Do you kiss D after he finds you a useful lead?”
    “Not unless I feel like getting kicked in the balls.” Kane laughed as he envisioned the look that’d grace Derek Pratt’s menacing face if he ever tried to kiss the surly bastard. “Like I said, you’re special. Deal with it.”
    He could see her lips twitching, and disappointment rippled over him when she didn’t release her laughter. After three years of marriage, Abby had become a lot quicker to laugh than when they’d first met, but that didn’t mean she’d transformed into a bubbly, easygoing woman who voiced her mirth at the drop of a hat. The cold, detached operative he’d once rescued from a Colombian prison still made frequent appearances.
    Despite her aloof tendencies, he was madly in love with her and knew she felt the same way about him.
    “Call our guy on the task force and tell him to pick up Aswad,” Abby said, all business again. “Unless we have the green light to eliminate him?”
    “Negative. The Feds want him behind bars, not six feet under.” He reached for his phone. “Go and keep watch. I’ll arrange for the pickup.”
    “Are we rendezvousing with Morgan