Unmasking the Mercenary by Jennifer Morey Page A

exploded. Outside, Rem hauled her after him, away from the building.
    Oh, God. They’d never make it to the helicopter. She spotted more guards running toward them. She aimed her P99 and fired, sending the guards ducking for cover. But the reprieve didn’t last. Shots pinged around her. Rem pulled her close to trees but they had to break away in the clearing where the helicopter sat.
    Haley dared a glance behind her. A man aimed his gun. Rem shot him and he fell.
    At the chopper, he yanked the pod door open and lifted her, throwing her inside and jumping in behind her. She skinned her knees. Bullets clinked and clanged against the door as he slid it nearly shut. Keeping his gun through the opening, he dropped three more guards.
    While he shoved his gun in the waist of his pants and rushed to the pilot’s seat, she sat in the seat beside him, still gripping her gun. Roughly ten more guards ran toward them, clearing the trees. The rotor revved to flight readiness and Rem lifted the chopper into the air, turning it away from the running guards.
    Bullets pinged and banged but faded as Rem flew the bird high into the air.
    Haley let her head fall back against the passenger seat and grew aware of her parched mouth, heavy breathing and flying pulse. She felt sick. She was shaking.
    “Are you all right?” Rem asked. He didn’t even look fazed.
    “Yes.”
    “You’re not shot?”
    “No.” But she did a quick check over her body to be sure. “No.”
    No thanks to him. She took a few moments to catch her breath and waited for her pulse to slow.
    The tiny village came into view, a small break in the thick vegetation. Rem landed the chopper and retrieved the duffel that now contained both of their weapons.
    “Are we going to stay here for a while?” Haley asked, as she walked beside him away from the helicopter.
    “No.”
    “What are we going to do?”
    “I need to meet with Habib.”
    What? “You want to go back to Monrovia?”
    He didn’t answer.
    “Ammar will be looking for us. Isn’t it kind of stupid to go there? What, are we going back to your villa?”
    “We’ll be safe there. I need to meet with Habib, and he’s in Monrovia.”
    Was he crazy? “One guard at the gate isn’t going to stop a man like Ammar.”
    “I won’t need the guard. In fact, I won’t even risk having him there. I’ll just lock it down until I’m ready to move.”
    “So it’s you and me against Ammar and his men.” Comforting. She shook her head.
    “If things go my way, we’ll be the only ones there tonight.”
    “Right. And so far things have gone exactly the way you planned.” She met his sidelong glance.
    “Everything except you.”

Chapter 6
    T he guard at Rem’s villa opened the iron gate when they approached. Haley looked around her, up one end of the street and then the other just before Rem drove the Jeep inside the walled area surrounding the villa. She faced forward and was reminded of the grandeur in such an impoverished city.
    When he parked, she got out and headed for the front door. Rem stopped her when she reached it. She let him go in before her, watching him pull out his gun. He checked the back patio door and then all the windows on the lower level. She waited for him to come back down from upstairs.
    He tucked his gun into the front of his pants and came to stand in front of her.
    “All clear?”
    Before he could respond, Haley caught sight of movement from the front entrance. She hadn’t shut the door. A man entered.
    Haley sucked air into her lungs and instinctively reached for the gun that wasn’t there. She stepped back. Then froze when she recognized the giant of a man aiming a pistol at Rem.
    Calm as ever, Rem stepped the rest of the way down the stairs and came to a stop in front of Cullen. “How did you get through the gate?”
    “I have my ways.”
    “I’ll have to remember to be more careful in the future.”
    “The good ones always do.” Rem smirked.
    “I don’t like it when I don’t