Hunted

by Velvet Vaughn

  “He doesn’t know who I am.”

  “Are you sure? What about your friend Carmen or Valeria? Could they have told him?”

  “Valeria doesn’t know. I use my middle names to teach classes. I don’t advertise the connection, but I’m not ashamed, either. I don’t think Carmen would tell anyone. She knows how important anonymity is to me.”

  She heard someone talking in the background, then Sawyer said, “Harlow, we’ve got a bead on your phone. Stay where you are. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

  “Wait, Sawyer?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Can you…can you stay on the line until you get here? I’m one loud noise away from totally freaking out.”

  “Oh, honey, absolutely I can stay on the line.”

  #

  The relief Sawyer felt hearing Harlow’s voice was staggering. Knowing she was alive and unharmed calmed his nerves. Now he just had to get to her and bring her home safely.

  “I’ll stay on the line, but I’m going to put you on hold for one minute while I call your sister and let her know that you’re okay.”

  “Oh, thank you, Sawyer. I would appreciate that so much. I should’ve called her but I needed your help.”

  “She’ll understand.”

  Sawyer dialed Zoe’s number and explained the situation, then he arranged a three-way call so the sisters could talk. He had to hold the phone away from his ear when one or possibly both squealed in joy. Harlow downplayed her tenuous situation and thankfully she left out the part about sharing a room with a corpse. While they chatted, he borrowed Grant’s cell and called Kai and his parents to let them know he’d made contact with Harlow. Kai made him pinky swear to keep him informed. When he returned to the sisters, they were laughing and the sound warmed his heart.

  After several reassurances, Zoe hung up. Harlow’s sigh cut through the line. “I hate worrying her.”

  “We’ll get you home safely,” he assured her, fully intending to keep the promise.

  Sawyer settled deeper into the leather couch to keep Harlow company. Grant watched a movie and pretended he wasn’t eavesdropping. They talked about their lives and careers, their favorite movies and television shows. They had so much in common. She lived in New York and he’d grown up there.

  He was already more than a little fascinated by the woman, getting to know her better was only deepening the feelings. They talked through the night. He should be dead on his feet after wrapping up the last case and diving straight into this one with no rest, but he felt wired and raring to go.

  “Uh, Sawyer?”

  “Hum?”

  “I don’t think I can stay here any longer. The smell…”

  He’d been around enough dead bodies to know what she was dealing with. That she’d managed to spend the night there was incredible.

  “Can you hang on a little longer? We’re almost there.”

  “I don’t kn—” The wail of sirens sounded through the line. “Oh God, Sawyer, the police! They’re stopping outside the hotel. I have to get out of here.”

  There was shuffling noise and static crackled.

  “Harlow, wait.” He sat up.

  Alerted by his tone, Grant clicked off the television screen.

  “I can’t be caught in here, Sawyer. They’ll think I killed him. If they take me to jail, Andrés might find me.”

  She was right. But it could be a trap to get her outside. “Did you touch anything?”

  “His wallet and suitcase.”

  “Wipe it all down. Grab some of his clothes so you have something different to wear.”

  “Okay. I’m putting you down for a second.”

  It made him nervous for her to wander out of the hotel by herself. They didn’t know how Andrés found her the first time or how big his reach. He could be waiting for her outside now. He motioned for Grant. “Can you pull up the blueprints of the hotel and a satellite map of the city?”

  Grant turned on the giant screen and split it in two, quickly accessed the information they’d studied earlier. “She needs to leave?”

  Sawyer stood and walked closer to the map. “Yeah, the police arrived. We need to get her someplace safe until we get there.”

  “How about here.” Grant pointed to an open plaza then glanced at his watch. “They should be opening their booths soon. It’d be harder to find her in a crowd.”

  “That’s good. If she leaves the hotel through this exit,” he pointed to a door off to the side, “then she just has to walk across the street and down a half a block.”

  “I’m back,” Harlow said. “I’m leaving now.”

  “Check the hallway before you step out.”

  “It’s clear. Steps or elevator?”

  It did funny things to his heart that she trusted his advice. “Stairs. Just be careful. When you get to the first floor and push through the door, turn left instead of right, which would take you to the lobby. You’re going to leave through a side exit.”

  “Okay.” Her footsteps echoed as she descended the stairs. “I turned left and I’m at the door. I’m going outside.”

  “There’s an open-air market across the road and down the block that should start to get busy very soon. You can mingle with the tourists until we get there.”

  “Okay, I see it. I’m headed there now. The sidewalks are already filling with people, and the streets are crowded with traffic and…oh, my gosh, there’s Valeria!”

  “Harlow, wait—”

  She didn’t hear his command as she called out for the woman.

  #

  Harlow was so thankful Sawyer stayed on the line with her all through the night. She didn’t think she’d have held it together otherwise. His deep soothing voice and calm competence gave her the strength she so desperately needed. She wasn’t kidding when she said she was close to freaking out.

  She already nursed an unhealthy fascination with the former FBI agent. Getting to know him better only added to his appeal. They shared many likes and argued good-naturedly over their differences. He was strong and smart, confident and capable. And so damn sexy. She remembered the feel of his lips on hers and ached to feel them again.

  From the moment she met him, she knew he would be special to her. Not just because he helped bring her sister home safely, it was as if her soul recognized him. She knew that sounded lame. Just because she taught yoga didn’t mean she was in to reading auras or such. But some part of him called to her. She didn’t know if it was destiny or just plain old chemistry, but there was a connection that couldn’t be denied.

  Could they be more to each other? She wanted to explore the possibility, but there were so many roadblocks in the way, the biggest being distance. If she got home safely—no, not if—when she returned to the US, she made a vow to find out if there was something deep and meaningful between them, whatever it took.

  She trusted him implicitly, and she didn’t trust many people. She’d been betrayed so many times in her life by people wanting things from her. She learned to build a hard shell around herself and very few penetrated. She didn’t even let her friends close. Case in point in that Carmen was the best friend she had in the city and she’d never shared her fascination with Sawyer with her.

  As soon as she stepped into the hall, the air was fresher and she took her first deep breath of the night. She hustled down the corridor, keeping her head down in case there were cameras. She jumped once when a door opened, but it was only a maid gathering cleaning supplies from a closet. She didn’t even spare Harlow a glance, which was good since the woman wouldn’t be able to identify her once the body was found.

  When Sawyer told her to go to the open-air market, she followed his instructions without question. She was surprised the city was alive and kicking so early on a Saturday morning. The sidewalks were rapidly filling with people and cars already clogged the streets. She spotted the swirling blue and red lights of the police cars that had prompted her early exit from the hotel. The cops were standing around, not stormin
g the hotel as she imagined. She might have been safe to stay in the room until Sawyer arrived, but she didn’t want to risk it. She turned away, looking for the market. As she scanned for any threats, she was shocked to see Valeria’s familiar face. As she jogged over to the woman, she heard Sawyer’s shouted warning. It was too late. Valeria had spotted her.

  “Liz! Oh, thank God! We’ve been worried sick.” Valeria rushed over and hugged her, then gripped her arms. “You just disappeared without a trace. What happened to you? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, but I had to get out of there.” She wasn’t sure how much to share with the other woman. “How well do you know Andrés?”

  “Andrés? I’ve worked with him for months on this project. Why?”

  A cell phone rang. “Hold on,” Valeria said, one hand releasing her arm to pull her phone from her pocket. She looked at the display and a slow smirk spread across her face as she put the phone to her ear. Warning bells rang in Harlow’s head. Valeria’s next words confirmed her worst fears. “I’ve got her.”

  Something sharp poked into Harlow’s side as Valeria’s words registered. She glanced down to see the gleaming blade of a knife shoved against her shirt. “Valeria, what are you doing?”

  “I’m taking you with me.”

  Chapter Seven

  Harlow realized a fraction too late the crucial mistake she’d made by revealing herself to Valeria. The woman who claimed to be a friend had been in on it all along. All the evasive maneuvers she’d taken, including spending the night with a dead man, were for naught.

  This put a new spin on things. If Valeria was involved, that meant she’d pretended to need assistance, befriended her and then lured her to this country thousands of miles from home under the guise of volunteering.

  Valeria had the upper hand with a knife pressed against her side, but Harlow refused to be a victim.

  “Can you get away?” Sawyer asked in low tones.

  I think so, she thought. “Yes,” she replied. There was an intensity to his question. She hated that she’d worried him. He tried to stop her from going to Valeria, but she hadn’t listened. Now she was in trouble.

  “What did you say?” Valeria asked.

  “Oh, nothing, just this.” Harlow swept her leg out to trip Valeria. She barely registered a sharp pain in her side as Valeria gasped and went down. She grabbed for Harlow, catching her arm. Her borrowed cell phone went crashing to the pavement and shattered. Sawyer! She didn’t have time to lament the loss as she kicked out, catching Valeria in the temple. The woman’s eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed, her skull making a sickening crack against the sidewalk. She wanted to get away, not kill the woman, but she didn’t bother to see if Valeria was still breathing.

  Scrambling to her feet, she took off, her breath sawing in and out like she’d ran a marathon. She placed a hand against her aching side, shocked when it came away wet. She looked down at her hand to see it covered in red. Blood.

  #

  “Dammit!”

  Sawyer cocked his hand back and almost hurled his phone through the fuselage. They’d managed to keep Harlow safe for hours. If she’d have just stayed inside the hotel like he wanted, she’d have been safe.

  He understood her need to leave. If the police had arrived and if they found her hiding out in the dead man’s room, she would’ve been questioned, possibly detained for the man’s murder. Who knew the procedures of a foreign police department? They might or might not check for gun-shot residue. They might simply decide they had their suspect and toss her in a cell. And there was no way of telling if Andrés had someone inside the force.

  Still, sending Harlow into the street had been an error of judgement. He failed her. She’d lost the cell phone in the struggle with Valeria and now he had no idea of knowing where she was or who had her. Or if she was unharmed.

  “Landing in ten,” Wyatt’s voice crackled over the speaker. “Buckle up.”

  They’d acquired permission to land at a private airstrip closer to the city, thanks to one of Grant’s contacts. A rental car would be waiting for them when they landed, also thanks to Grant. The twenty minutes or so it would take to arrive at Harlow’s last-known location would seem like an eternity.

  “We’ll find her.” Grant’s voice was sure with conviction. Sawyer wished he felt the same way. Acid burned a hole in his gut and nervous energy made him unable to sit still. He needed to be on the ground and searching for her. If anyone harmed one hair on her head, theirs would roll.

  Wyatt wasted no time touching down, cutting his estimation down to seven minutes, and then rolling to a stop. Sawyer cracked the door open before the engines shut down, Grant on his heels. Wyatt joined them, and they geared up, each donning their bullet-proof vests and grabbing the backpacks they’d pre-loaded with supplies. He added a vest for Harlow, enough ammo to take down an army and then they jumped into the rented Jeep and took off for the city.

  Grant drove while Sawyer navigated to the last spot they had for Harlow’s location. The roads…if you could call them that…leading from the airport were narrow and unpaved. The older Jeep didn’t come equipped with seat belts, so his death-grip on the roll bar was the only thing that kept him inside when they bounced and dodged boulders and deep ruts and at one point, Sawyer was sure they were driving off a cliff. As precarious as the drive was, Grant handled the jeep with NASCAR-like precision, using his driving skills to narrowly avoid plowing over a young boy and his herd of goats that completely blocked the path. The horn hadn’t even budged the obstinate creatures as they stared lazily at the vehicle and bleated loudly. The boy had taken one look at Sawyer’s face and he herded them along. When they finally entered the city limits, the streets were paved, but the roads were still narrow and filled with pot-holes. Harlow had been right about the city rapidly filling up with weekend traffic. Sawyer pounded on the dash, urging the pedestrians to get the hell out of the way.

  In the city that was the definition of a concrete jungle, parking was at a premium. Sawyer was just about to jump out to start looking for Harlow when Grant swooped into a narrow spot with pinpoint precision. Armed with their backpacks, they took off at a rapid clip.

  “We lost contact in this area,” Sawyer said. “I’ll head in this direction, you two head that way.”

  “Are you sure we should split up?” Grant asked.

  “It will be the quickest way to find her.”

  “Keep in contact,” Wyatt said, tapping his ear to indicate their comm devices.

  Sawyer headed down the sidewalk, dodging people in his haste. He spotted a sign for the hotel where Harlow spent the night. He spun around and canvassed the area. An object in the street caught his attention and he jogged over. “I found the cell, or what’s left of it,” he told his coworkers. The phone was damaged beyond repair, but that wasn’t what had him freezing in his steps. It was the pool of red nearby. Blood. His heart picked up speed. It didn’t mean it was Harlow’s blood. His gaze lit on another drop, and another. Whoever was hurt had left a trail. “I’m following a trail of blood.” Sawyer spoke softly through the comm.

  “Do you want us to come back?”

  “No, keep searching that direction. It might not be Harlow’s.” He prayed it wasn’t. She might’ve injured Valeria. Or it could be from someone else. Just because it was near the phone Harlow had been using meant nothing. He kept following the drops.

  “Uh, Sawyer? We’ve got a problem.”

  “Just one, Grant?”

  “This is a pretty damn big one. It looks like a military parade or something.”

  Sawyer jerked his head up and glanced around. “What?”

  “Armed troops are storming the streets.”

  Just then the ground shook and rumbled and a loud boom rocked the area, sending bits of brick and rock tumbling to the streets. Sawyer fell to his knees, his hand coming close to one of those red drops. People were screaming and running in all directions.

  The rapid-fire staccato of gunfire p
ierced the air just before another boom.

  “This isn’t any military parade,” Wyatt said.

  Grant’s voice was grim. “It’s a coup.”

  Chapter Eight

  Grant Colton searched the streets, looking for any sign of Harlow Duquesne. He’d met the dark-haired beauty when she attended his sister Kaitlyn’s wedding, officiated by her grandmother. Though she was drop-dead gorgeous, he knew she was off-limits. The way Sawyer talked about her was enough to clue him in. The guy had it bad for her. He didn’t blame him.

  Even if he was interested, he was too messed up right now to consider pursuing any woman. After his last mission as a member of SEAL Team Six, or DEVGRU as it was commonly called, where he’d lost three teammates, including his training buddy and best friend John, he had a hard time adjusting. His term was up and instead of relisting, as his remaining teammates had urged him to do, he’d walked away.

  He knew he’d eventually leave the Teams to join his brother’s security company, but he thought it would be a few years down the road. He loved being a SEAL. The missions were extremely dangerous, highly classified, and as the last one proved, deadly.

  Every member of his team wrote letters to loved ones before missions. It was a way of telling family and friends how much they loved them if the worst happened. For John, DeAndre and Hector, the worst had indeed happened. When they returned home, Grant hand-delivered those letters to his teammates’ loved ones. It’d been the hardest thing he’d ever done.

  Families knew the risks involved with being in the military, but no one ever expected the news that their son or daughter or husband, wife, brother, sister, had made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. He hadn’t been the one to break the news. That would’ve been gut-wrenching. But he delivered the letters and spent time with the families, letting them know what amazing men they had buried. They all wanted details that he wasn’t allowed to give, but he shared stories and pictures instead. They’d been extremely grateful to him for personally visiting, but it took a toll on him.

  Adjusting to becoming a civilian again had been difficult. His brothers Luke and Ben had stood by him. Having his sister’s wedding to focus on had helped. He’d been slowly working his way into the fold of the company, learning the details of the operation. This was his first official hands-on mission.