Unmasking the Mercenary by Jennifer Morey Page B

know where my operatives are,” Cullen said.
    Haley heard the displeasure in his tone. But she didn’t need that to tell her he was on the edge. He’d come all the way to Monrovia himself. He hadn’t sent any other operatives. That meant one thing.
    Rem might get himself killed tonight.
    “Cullen.”
    His gaze shifted to her.
    “Wait.”
    “This has gone on long enough, Haley. It’s time for you to go home.”
    “This involves more than Ammar.” She didn’t know how else to tell him that Rem knew something and she wanted to find out what it was. “We could stop a much bigger cell than any of us expected coming into this.”
    “Then I’ll send a team to finish it.”
    “That isn’t necessary,” she said. “I can do this, Cullen.”
    “You can’t. You think you can, but you can’t.”
    “You underestimate me. You listen to Travis too much.”
    Travis.
    The reminder of him stopped her. “How is he?”
    “Under lock and key. If he could get away from his hospital room, he would come after you.” She saw the meaning in his eyes. “It’s one of the reasons I came here myself. Travis trusts me to bring you home.”
    She half-smiled at that. It was true. Travis wouldn’t trust anyone else. She could well understand how difficult it must be keeping him sedentary.
    “He must be all right, then,” she said.
    Cullen responded with a slight smile himself. “He’s going to be fine, no thanks to you.”
    Her smile fled. “Hey…”
    “You’re coming home with me, Haley. No more arguing.” He turned to Rem and extended his free hand. “Give me your weapon.”
    Rem slowly slid his pistol from his pants.
    Cullen took it and stuffed it in his own jeans. Then he motioned with his gun for Rem to move into the kitchen.
    With a glance at Haley, Rem walked to a kitchen chair and sat. Haley wondered if he was cooperating for her. She doubted Cullen’s gun intimidated him much, certainly not enough to stop him from trying to fight his way free.
    Cullen lowered his pistol to his side, finger still on the trigger. He must have picked up on Rem’s body language, too. Rem wasn’t going to fight him.
    “I know about your sister,” Cullen finally said. “I’m sorry.”
    Rem’s eyes remained steady.
    “You worked for Dane Charter, didn’t you?”
    Now Rem’s eyes flickered with emotion, as if he hated his ties to someone like Dane but there was nothing he could do about it. He’d spent so many years living under the perception that he was a man like Dane, he had stopped trying to correct anyone. He expected people to think that way about him. What he didn’t see was that he could change the perception if he wanted to. He could have a reputation like Cullen’s.
    “What happened to make you quit?” Cullen asked.
    Why did Cullen ask a question like that? It had nothing to do with Ammar. Or did it?
    “Dane was moving drugs for Ammar,” Cullen said. “Is that it?”
    And Haley grew immensely more interested. It didn’t surprise her that Cullen had uncovered Dane’s background, but she hoped he could get Rem to reveal more about his involvement with Dane and the connection to Ammar.
    “One of his many talents,” Rem said, sounding bitter.
    “Except his last deal didn’t go through,” Cullen said. “Know anything about that?”
    Rem merely continued to meet Cullen’s gaze, a clear sign he wasn’t talking, which made Haley wonder what he had to hide.
    “It happened right before your sister was killed,” Cullen said. “Are the two related?”
    Haley looked sharply at him. Why did he think Rem’s sister’s murder was related to a drug deal? She turned her attention to Rem. She’d wondered why he’d been so vague about his sister’s murder. What was he hiding? Apparently Cullen wanted to know the same thing.
    “You knew Dane was buying drugs from Ammar,” she said, drawing Rem’s gaze to her.
    He didn’t respond and she realized he was wondering if she’d turn out no different than anyone