by Beth Rhodes
“We must head out right away. They could not have gotten far.”
“My men tracked them as far as they could but were called back by Martinez. Apparently, there was an uprising at one of the plantations early this afternoon.”
“Damn it,” Antonio muttered. Martinez hadn’t even mentioned that to him. More people will have died. “We have told them to stand down.”
“They are unhappy and gaining strength in numbers. The Patriot Union encourages unrest.”
Antonio pressed his lips together. He would work with them, if they weren’t so damn volatile and unpredictable. They would not win this war with temper tantrums and weak leadership. Their activities had only tightened Martinez’s grip on the community and caused more deaths.
“Get two of your most trusted guards. We leave in twenty minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
***
Jamie turned down the road to Nina’s, relief flooding through him.
He wouldn’t be alone in convincing Missy to leave. Her grandmother would be able to help. The fact that Missy also seemed relieved to be here was encouraging. Lord, he needed a miracle.
Missy was up and out of the Jeep before he stopped. He threw the vehicle in park and slowly followed up the steps.
Tancredo met him at the door.
“Did John make it back?” he asked.
“On his way,” Tan answered. “Martinez had men patrolling the street. He circled around to take care of that and then waited for Bobby to pick him up. Another ten minutes, and we’ll debrief.”
“Good.” Jamie went through the door and found Missy in Nina’s arms.
“I knew you would find her,” Nina hurried toward him and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him so tightly he grunted.
Missy watched him, pale face, bags under her eyes, hair a bit messed up.
“Missy needs a place to lie down, Nina.” He said as he patted grandma’s back.
“I do not,” Missy quickly denied. “Besides. I have to look around for the photos.”
“You can’t take thirty minutes to make yourself feel better? To make me feel better?”
“I feel fine.”
He lifted a brow.
A blush rose on her face.
“You’ve been sick. Please,” he asked nicely this time. “I promise. I won’t make any plans without talking to you first.”
Her eyes never wavered as she nodded. “Okay.”
A silent breath escaped him. Finally, geez, when had she gotten so strong-willed? He both liked it and hated it, all at the same time.
Nina led her back toward the bedrooms, and he wasn’t the least bit convinced they wouldn’t spend the next thirty minutes looking for photos.
The front door opened, and the rest of the team entered. Bobby and John quieted right away.
“What’s up?” Bobby said.
“Let’s meet in the dining room.” Jamie took a seat at the old, scarred wood table. Light streamed into the room from the one, big window
Malcolm and Marie were already there, heads together over a laptop.
“Casualties?” he asked.
“One guard injured at the gate—nonfatal,” Bobby answered. Jamie had to look at his team mate again. The oddball change in Bobby was still freaking him out a bit. He was so serious, so…in charge. Calm, cool. “His men were looking after him when we left the area.”
“There was one thing, though,” John added. “There was a woman, who was watching the car. I circled around and caught up with her. She’s one of the rebellion group members. Said she was waiting for Marguerite to arrive.”
Jamie froze. “She knew Missy was going to be there, at the compound, today?”
John shrugged. “I would assume so. She was nervous. Didn’t want to be seen with a foreigner.”
“Did she give you a name?”
“Andrea.”
Shit. Had Missy planned to slip out from under his protection? He ran a hand through his hair, scratched his scalp, and then squeezed the tense muscles of his neck.
“She said to give you a message.” John handed a piece of paper to Jamie.
On it was the address, a direct reminder of the coming meeting. He shook his head. No way in hell. “Talk to me about the uncle. He’s the one who came for her.”
Tan handed over another file. “I had to do some digging but, he’s working for Martinez as a security agent. The day after Missy made headline news,” Tan snapped his fingers, “he dropped off the map.”
“He went for her. Missy wants to believe ‘to protect her’,” Jamie added. “I don’t know whose side he’s on.”
“Actions speak louder than words,” Kiana spoke from across the room. The bruising on her face gave him pause. She was right. Antonio hadn’t gone to Belize with good intentions. He’d killed a man. Hurt both Missy and Kiana.
“Antonio is the enemy at this point; as is Martinez.” His priority was her safety. Not some cause for the underdog. Anger spiked deep inside. “And we need to get out of Mexico.”
Kiana glanced his way, nodded in agreement and gave him a brief encouraging smile. He found his hand clutching the paper with the list of numbers.
“But I gotta talk to Missy.”
Tan rose from his seat. “You do that. I need to send the team back to Raleigh on an afternoon commercial flight.”
“I’m not going anywhere, sir.” Kiana spoke, defying the plan. Jamie turned to stare at her. She looked at him and then at Tan. “Until Missy is safe in Belize where she belongs, I’ll stick around…if you don’t mind,” she added.
Jamie’s heart pounded. He wasn’t even sure what Missy would do, what she would insist on. Would she leave, if asked? It was like Kiana had just cursed him. Or given him a gift.
“Anyone else?” Tan asked, a bit of annoyance in his voice.
Bobby spoke next. “Sure. I’ll stick it out as well.”
Made Kiana scowl, though didn’t it? And that was interesting.
“Luke and I are on the Broadmoor assignment in upstate NY this weekend,” John said. “We’ll need a ride to the airport.”
“Got it,” Bobby answered, and the three of them moved. “Be back in forty-five minutes. Kiana, want to take a ride?”
She blinked up at him from her spot at the table. “Um, okay,” Kiana answered too brightly and got up. “Sounds like fun.”
Jamie turned to Tan as his teammates left. “We should get out of here as soon as possible.”
“When Bobby gets back, we’ll pack out. Tom still owes us a favor.” Tan hesitated. “But you know Hawk Elite won’t get involved in cartel politics—”
“I know,” Jamie cut him off. “If Missy is going to pursue this, you have my resignation.”
Tan scoffed. “I don’t want that shit. Give it to Hawk, if you must.”
Hawk had never left anyone behind, despite what it looked like on paper.
Jamie should be relieved, yet there was something about Martinez, about being in Mexico that set his clusterfuck sensor into overdrive. He kind of wished the sensor had been as attuned in Colombia.
He had to wish she’d never—
He cut the thought off. He couldn’t blame her.
Maybe this had been their destiny all along. Most people never escaped the cartel and ended up dead, gone without a trace. He stood in the doorway to her bedroom. She was laid out, dead asleep with her mouth hanging open on the twin bed.
He walked over and flipped through the pile of old yellowed photographs on the nightstand. Just old family photos, nothing that would incriminate Martinez. She and her grandmother had looked but hadn’t found anything.
Jamie’s leg leaned into the bed and he brushed a hand through her hair before he turned to go. Tan stood in the doorway. “Want to do a quick recon and circle the house?”
He gave a nod.
Going out the kitchen door at the back of the house, he skirted the large garden, noting the straight rows and well-tended dirt. It reminded him of his mother’s
efforts to garden throughout his childhood. Complete failure most years. It wasn’t until he was twelve that his dad had stepped in and convinced her to downsize.
Just off the garden was an old shed. He scanned the wood line close by then opened the door. The hinges were oiled and swung with ease. Inside, he found gardening tools on one side, piles of old brick straight ahead, some of it crumbling on the corners. It had been there a while.
He noted some two by fours leaning against the wall and at least one sheet of plywood.
Thinking about the disrepair of the front porch, he got a closer look at the wood and found it in decent shape. He moved to the small shelf in the corner and found tools and a couple cans full of nails. He dug around through an open, red toolbox, looking for screws.
But in the end, there wasn’t a screw gun, either.
He grabbed what he needed and took it to the front of the house.
There was the problem in the corner, a huge hole. And the top step was starting to degrade as well, so he went back for the wood. He scrounged around until he found an old saw. “Shit,” he muttered to himself. The wood handle had cracked. He held it, judged it, and decided it was better than nothing.
He’d have to come back.
That made him stop. He had no plans to come back, no plans to bring Missy back. He wanted to get them out and remain out. He groaned when those feelings of family and obligation overwhelmed him. Nina was their saving grace. He couldn’t ignore her needs any more than he could ignore his mother’s…or Missy’s.
“Damn it,” he said as he dragged the rest of the supplies to the front porch.
“Trouble?” Tan said from the doorway.
Jamie looked up and shook his head. “Just keeping busy,” he answered.
Tan took the plywood and headed for the corner with the hole.
“Keep it simple. I was just going to cut out the corner and cover what I could for right now. Later—” Jamie shrugged again. “Later, we’ll get someone here to do the whole job.”
Tan didn’t answer just did as he was told while Jamie started on the rickety steps.
They worked solidly for half an hour.
Jamie took a deep breath and the scent of food wafted through the window. His stomach growled. He pounded the last nail through the wood and set the hammer down. When he looked up, Missy stood in the doorway with her camera in her hands.
Shocked, he looked up into her eyes.
She blushed, shrugged. “It just happened.”
“I’m glad,” he answered. “Did we wake you?”
“Maybe.”
He grimaced. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I only just woke up. Obviously, you’ve been going at this for a while.” She waved her hand, her words choked off by emotion.
Jamie went to her. “What is it? Did you have a bad dream?” He put his hands on her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head, and tears filling her eyes. “You’re fixing her porch.”
Heat rose on his neck. “Well, yeah. It’s unsafe.”
Missy cleared her throat as she nodded again.
“Come on,” he said as the embarrassment faded, and he pulled her into his arms.
She hugged him back. “Thank you,” she whispered and kissed his neck.
“Come eat,” Nina said from behind them. “I made food.”
“I got this,” Tan said, as he began picking up what was left of their project. “You go ahead.”
“No. I’ll help.” Jamie and Tan hauled it back to the shed.
“Pretty secluded back here.” Tan put the can of nails on the shelf.
“I was thinking the same thing. Good and bad.”
“Where you going to head when you leave here?”
“Need to get over to Padre Franco’s first,” Jamie answered honestly. No point in beating around the bush.
“So, you’re going to do it.”
Jamie glanced up from where he was laying the two by fours back on the floor. Had there been reservation in Tan’s voice? “Do what?” he asked.
“Go up against the cartel.”
He chuckled, resignation and pride mixing together as he shrugged. “She already did it. I’m just going to help her finish.”
Chapter Fifteen
“This is the best food I’ve had in a long time,” Jamie said, at the table next to her. He glanced her way, a blush coming to his face. “I mean…”
“It’s better than mine. That’s okay.”
“Maybe, but only barely, and you obviously learned to cook at your grandmother’s elbow.”
Nina looked over Jamie’s shoulder then patted it while he ate, a satisfied sound in harmony with the nod of her head. “Good.”
Jamie glanced over and grinned.
She shoveled a forkful into her mouth, even though her stomach was flip-flopping again. “So good, Nina.”
Nina looked from her to Jamie and back. She frowned, and turned to go into the kitchen.
“What?” Missy asked. “What did I do?”
“You’re not eating.”
“I ate when I got here. It’s only been a couple hours.”
“You should eat. We have a long road ahead of us…”
“Figuratively,” she said and rolled her eyes. “I mean, we’re not actually going that far, and we aren’t exactly disappearing into some undeveloped country or something. There will be people and places—bathrooms, food, water.”
Jamie studied her, too long, in her opinion. “True,” he agreed. “Just eat what you can.”
He reached over with his fork to eat off her plate.
“Hey.” She stabbed at his hand, making him laugh. He tugged on her elbow and pulled her into a kiss.
Tan’s groan from down the table had a mischievous glint appearing in Jamie’s eye. Her heart pounded.
“I really missed you,” he whispered against her ear, and there was desperation in his touch, too. He could have died. She’d been kidnapped. “We’ll do this one together.”
He loved her.
She nodded, too choked up for words—again.
She patted his face and dug back into her plate of food.
“Incoming,” Malcolm’s voice rang out from the living room. “Two vehicles. Ten minutes out.”
“Shit.” Jamie hissed as he set his silverware on his plate and stood. “Time’s up,” he said. “Grab your bag, babe. I’m right behind you.”
They both changed into sturdier clothing. “Put on the hiking boots Nina gave you.”
“Oh.” It was a nonword, just the sound of her disappointment, escaping. She didn’t want to leave. Being with her grandmother made so much of the situation bearable; she’d hoped to use this as base, to come and go as they navigated finding those photos.
“We’re leaving, Missy,” he ordered sharply.
Her brain stuttered at this order-giving persona directed at her. Wowza. The misfiring seemed to be correlated to her flash of attraction—bad timing!
“We can talk on the way,” he reassured her. “Your uncle is an unexpected variable that I’m not willing to mess around with. If we’re going to stay in Mexico and fight, we’re not going to do it from the viper’s nest.”
He was afraid—for her and for them.
But the fact that he was talking about staying in Mexico was exactly what she wanted to hear, so she didn’t hesitate.
“Got it,” she answered. He’d packed a bag for her. She slipped on the boots, which were a perfect fit, and he was standing in the doorway when she picked up the bag.
He took her hand, and they hurried down the hall to the kitchen.
At the kitchen, they met up with Tan and Nina.
“There’s an extra battery pack in your bag.” Tan held a radio out to Jamie, who took it, his grip never letting hers loose. He seemed so big, so in charge as he tucked the device into his cargo pocket. He lifted a smaller rucksack from the table and slung it over his shoulder.
Nina came over and kissed her on both cheeks. “Do
what he says. Go home, my granddaughter.”
Missy kissed her back and then hugged her. “Te amo.”
Nina squeezed Jamie’s hand next. “Go. Take the road north. Three kilometers only. Then another back road south to the next town. It is old passage. No one uses it anymore. It is much…broken.”
When Jamie nodded, leaned in, and kissed her grandmother on the forehead, Missy’s heart melted. Shoot, this man. She didn’t want to fight with him or defy him.
“I take care of these others,” Nina announced, “but you must leave. Hurry now and go before Tio Antonio returns.”
“Contact me as soon as you reach Tom’s,” Tan said.
“Yes, sir.”
Missy breathed a sigh of relief. They weren’t leaving Mexico and heading to Belize.
She didn’t have to defy, fight, or run away.
***
Kiana eyed her newest companion—teammate Bobby Bates. He hadn’t spoken since they’d left the airport. Almost like he was sleep-driving. She’d heard some crazy shit about guys who could do all sorts of stuff in a light sleep-mode. Maybe that’s what happened when they’d been trained to go for hours and days at a time, ever-vigilant and not wanting to get dead.
“You okay?” she finally asked, the silence starting to drive her crazy.
He kept his eyes on the road, flicking his glance to the rearview mirror every twenty seconds or so.
“Hello,” she pressed for a response, still getting nothing from him. Frowning, she gave him a nudge. “Hey.”
“Huh?” He took a small device from his ear and turned to look at her. “I’m sorry. Were you saying something?”
She lifted a brow. “What are you…do you have…earbuds?”
“Sorta.” He took it out and showed her the tiniest device she’d ever seen for an earbud.
Had she missed something? “Radio chatter on the teams?”
“Oh, no.” Bobby shrugged. “Bluetooth, connected to my phone.”
“It’s tiny.”
“Heh, heard that in the back seat,” he said then stopped, “No, wait.”
Kiana snickered. “That’s not how you want the joke to work.”
And then he handed her the device. “Go ahead.”
She went to put it in her ear.
“Be careful!” he said quickly, making her jump. “Just kidding.”