Page 65 of Secrets Along the Shore

The pivot door opened, and a woman emerged from the house.

Time to meet his teammates. Tyler got out of the SUV. He’d leave his bag in the backseat until he figured out where he was staying. A few steps brought him onto the front porch.

The woman pulled her hands from her black slacks. She wore a simple green blouse that didn’t show off any figure. But she was slim and probably fit. She held out a hand to him. “I’m Von Khatri.” She spoke with an accent. Arabic, but it also held a hint of a French accent. An interesting combination.

“Tyler Reid.” He shook her hand, surprised for a second by her firm grip. Koen told him that she was the boss, but she didn’t have a military vibe. Her outfit, while simple, made him think businesswoman, not soldier.

Maybe that was the idea.

A light breeze tossed the short brunette curls that hung around her neck. She stepped back and gestured to the door. “Please, come inside. If you’re ready, we can get straight into work.”

“Sounds good.” He followed her inside. The interior had been simply decorated, but was as modern as the outside. A spiral staircase on the left led up to the second floor. He strode through the foyer that had a few pieces of furniture against the walls. He glanced to his left where a large room stood empty, except for the paintings covering the walls. A room on the right had to be someone’s office, given the desk cluttered with a laptop and stacks of files, Tyler glimpsed through the open door. As they approached the back of the house, he stepped into the living area. The back wall had an excellent view of the sea through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Von stepped past the couch and entered a room on the left of the living area. A few voices came from the space. “Is everything set up?” she asked someone.

Tyler entered the room. Six people, besides Von, stood or sat around a table. Five men. One woman. This wasn’t a small team. His unit in the military had only three guys besides himself.

Von turned to him. “Tyler, meet the team.” She gestured to a man with short black hair standing in front of a long monitor by the entrance. “This is my brother, Amir.”

Tyler shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you,” Amir said.

Turning to an older man seated behind a computer, Von said, “This is Patrick Acosta. He handles the technical computer stuff and hacking.” She then pointed at the woman with her brunette hair in a ponytail and the dark-haired man at her side. “Adam and Adele Mitchell. Intelligence and sniping.”

Tyler nodded to them.

The woman eyed him for a moment, as if trying to decide if he was trustworthy, before returning the nod and giving a slight smile.

“Man, you’re young.” Adam crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. His wife elbowed him in the ribs. He lifted his hands in surrender.

Tyler ignored him. It wasn’t the first time people were surprised. He might have been twenty-six, but he acted, at least, thirty. That’s what happened when you lived a tough life.

“Mechanic and former US Army Ranger.” Von gestured to the guy with a mountain man beard leaning against the wall on the left of the table. “Gage Hunter.”

“That’s spelled G-A-G-E. No U. Even though he’s a mechanic,” an American guy in his late thirties said with a chuckle from his seat near Adam.

“That was a really lame joke,” Gage muttered.

“Can that even be classified as one?” Adele asked.

“Hey, that is one of my b—” the American started.

Von lifted a finger and silenced them, then pointed at the last guy. “Paul Harraway. Also, a former Army Ranger. But pretty much useless nowadays, if not for his contacts.” The Ranger seemed to take no offense to that as he laughed.

Tyler nodded. Each member had a purpose here. But none sounded like they wanted to go in and get involved in extracting hostages. Things got messy. Adele would probably handle assassinations. Gagemightgo in. Was that why Koen wanted Tyler here? Because, yeah, maybe they had the skills to do it, but probably didn’t want to get into those kinds of situations. Koen said he didn’t want to risk his daughter’s life. So he felt that letting them handle it was more of a risk than Tyler going in.

“Now that the introductions are done. Let’s get to work,” Von said as she sat at the table. Tyler pressed his back to the wall by the doorway, his attention on the monitor.

Amir turned to the screen behind him that had Elara’s info. “Here’s all the intelligence we have on our target and her location. Elara Atkinson. Twenty-nine years old. We have no knowledge of any notable scars or marks. She’s been staying in Dubrovnik for the last ten years.”

Another picture popped up of a kid. A boy. Close to ten.

The kid was trapped, too, wasn’t he? Tyler clenched his jaw. He kept finding kids in bad situations. It tore him up inside. Some people were cruel and ruthless, and didn’t give a second thought about hurting a child.

“After a few calls and a little digging, we have confirmed that she has a kid with her. We’re ninety percent certain that the boy is hers.”

Tyler folded his arms. Did Koen know? He’d never mentioned the boy. Just Elara. He wasn’t one to be ashamed of that kind of thing. Elara must not have told him, and Von neither, apparently.