Finally Cole said, “Damon, try your phone again. Call Thaddeus and have him arrange a flight—”
“I texted him about a mile back, when I got service,” Damon said.
“Good. I think we should stick to the cover of the trees instead of walking along the open road. I—” Cole fell quiet.
Madalina straightened when she heard the rumble of an engine. A chug-chug-chug that made her think it couldn’t be military or the authorities, but a civilian. She crouched as the men did, peering through the edge of a bush at an angle that allowed her a good view of the road. An old truck with a hood that resembled a hooked beak cruised around the bend. Madalina estimated the vehicle’s speed to be around five miles per hour, hardly in any hurry. Scratched blue paint, a missing headlight, and a crooked bumper gave the vehicle character. The sun gleamed off the windshield in a way that made it difficult for her to view the driver. It could have been anyone—a civilian or Lance and his men. She wouldn’t put it past the bastard to commandeer a hapless citizen’s car.
At the last second, as the truck chugged past, Cole burst from the seclusion of the bush and jogged up to the passenger window. With the window already rolled down, he was able to easily get the driver’s attention. Madalina watched Cole engage the driver with gestures of appeal. The truck slowed to a stop.
Damon urged her from cover and onto the road. She felt uncomfortably exposed the second she moved from dappled shade to full sun. Brandon appeared at her other side and helped her into the back of the truck when Cole ticked his chin toward the truck bed.
Clambering up, Madalina wrinkled her nose at the lingering scent of hay, farm animals, and urine. Perching on the wheel well, she held on to the side and was prepared to ride just like that until Cole vaulted into the bed and pulled her flush to the floor.
Disgusting. It was bad enough that she was still wearing the same clothes twenty-four hours on, but now she had bits and pieces of the farm on her as well. The smell this close to the truck floor was overwhelming. She didn’t argue or complain; this wasn’t the time or place for prima-donna antics. A large part of this business, she’d learned, was doing exactly what they were doing right now—putting themselves in difficult or unwelcome circumstances to avoid danger. Cole, Brandon, and Damon hardly blinked an eye. She realized this was nothing on their scale of “difficult” or “unwelcome.” Grenades, gunfire, torture—those were unwelcome circumstances.
Cole crouched next to her, one hand on her shoulder, only his forehead and eyes above the level of the truck bed. He watched one way while Damon surveyed the other.
Along the bumpy and jarring route, Madalina experienced a fresh wave of relief. The terrain leveled out, and the forest thinned until just a few trees dotted the landscape. They’d left the base of the mountain and were entering the outskirts via a different road than they’d taken up.
Just when Madalina was sure they were out of danger, that they’d slipped past the authorities and Lance’s net, Cole uttered a dark curse and tapped on the pass-through window to get the driver’s attention.
The truck once again slowed to a stop.
Brandon cursed, too. A colorful mutter that turned into a contemplative hum. Then he said, “Well, now what?”
Unable to stand it, she peered up past the bed of the truck, through the pass-through window, to see what had caused such a reaction. Her stomach tightened to think Lance and his men had found them.
As it turned out, what greeted her gaze was much worse than that.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Cole had only seconds to decide what to do. Running might make the Nepalese police officers fire upon their group, a risk he refused to take. Having the truck turn around—even if he could convince the driver to do it—would look suspicious and likely result in pursuit. Cole considered pretending they were American tourists who had hitched a ride back into town—except he and his brother’s clothes and guns gave that away. The officers, who were guarding the roads leading into town after the explosion, would no doubt recognize military gear if they saw it. Stripping naked clearly wasn’t an option.
There was one other alternative; it was an enormous risk as well.
“Dump all your weapons,” Cole whispered to his brothers. He shoved his gun, extra magazines, stun grenades, smoke grenades, and the rest under a heavy net coiled in the top corner of the truck bed. Throwing them into the brush would make the officers suspicious.
“What are we going to do?” Madalina asked.
“We’re going to try to take the upper hand. Beats sitting in jail until someone can bail us out. They’ll know we were involved with the Jeep; there’s no getting around it. They’ve probably got all the roads leading into town blocked off. All they have to do is check for fingerprints anyway to know for sure. It’s better to admit we were there than to lie and make them more suspicious.” Cole gestured for the driver to continue.
“How do we take the upper hand?” Madalina asked, frowning.
“I’m going to tell them a modified version of the truth. That we were here to locate important artifacts and that we were attacked on our way back into town. I’ll say that the officers can check our credentials with the firm—Thaddeus will back everything up. We need to coerce the officers to be on our side, to be sympathetic to our plight,” Cole said. He glimpsed Damon texting and knew his brother was in contact with Thaddeus. Their father’s company would get in touch with the Nepalese authorities and lobby to expedite a release. A hundred things could go wrong with this plan, but Cole thought it was the best play they had. It would get them away from Lance and his crew, give them a buffer between hunter and prey.
If the officers cooperated. Just because he had pull with the US government didn’t mean that foreigners would immediately jump to do their bidding. It depended on the country, the situation. Right now, all the Nepalese officials knew was that an explosion had occurred just outside the city limits. It was within their rights to detain suspicious persons until they completed an investigation.
As the truck rumbled toward the blockade, Cole helped Madalina to a sitting position at his side. He smoothed a hand down her back and tilted his mouth close to her ear. “If we get separated, just keep repeating what I told you. Put the emphasis on you being the victim, that someone else instigated the attack. The Jeep was disabled, or so you thought, and besides that, you were too afraid to go back after the explosion to talk to authorities. So we sought a ride into town.”
“Okay. Are you going to take the dragons, or should I?” she asked, glancing at his eyes.
Cole looked away from the approaching roadblock and bent to kiss her temple. She was holding up remarkably well considering the circumstances. “Damon and I will keep them. I don’t want the authorities here to know we have the dragons on us. Hopefully they won’t search our pockets.”
“What if they take the dragons? Use them as bargaining chips of their own?” she asked.
“We’ll have to cross that bridge when, if, we come to it. Chin up. We’re almost there.” Cole gave Madalina a squeeze, then prepared to confront the authorities. Already he could see the officer’s posture had become more alert. Most of the officials were carrying weapons right in the open, indicating they weren’t in the mood to mess around.
Before the ancient truck came to a full stop, the officials were calling for Cole and the rest to get out of the truck. Their voices were tense, their eyes filled with suspicion.
“Steady,” Cole whispered to Madalina before helping her out of the truck. Once her feet were on the ground, he slid over the edge and landed with a quiet thump. He knew his dark clothes and the militaristic-style vest weren’t helping with appearances. Taking the lead, he stepped forward to engage the official in charge. The man was easy to pick out from the way he ordered everyone else around.
Aware that he needed to scale the tension back in a hurry, Cole ascertained that the lead official spoke English and began, in as calm a voice as he could manage, to explain their situation. He
emphasized the importance of their visit to Nepalese shores, and that they had come under attack on their way back to the city.
Did they have papers? The question caught Cole in an unguarded moment. He had a passport, as did his brothers, but he doubted Madalina did after being abducted and then escaping on her own. Improvising, he showed his credentials and said that he could get Madalina’s up on his phone, a photocopy, to prove she was who they said she was.
The lead official stepped away, talking rapidly into a phone. Cole glanced over his shoulder, seeing that Madalina was engaged with two other officials, while his brothers were presenting their passports.
Moments later, after a terse command from the lead official, Cole found himself herded toward an armored vehicle sitting behind the blockade.
No amount of coercion would make the authorities seat Madalina with him. While he and his brothers got into one vehicle, the officials guided Madalina into another.
Exactly what he didn’t want to happen.
“Wait, but I’m sure we can—hey.” Madalina struggled at first against the firm hold on her arm. She glanced at Damon, unable to see Cole thanks to the tall official at her side. Damon shook his head, as if to say, Don’t fight it. We’ll clear it up as soon as we can. Easing her posture, she allowed the officials to put her in the backseat of a vehicle that she would have otherwise thought of as a tank. The gray metal interior was as utilitarian as the exterior, with little in the way of comfort or luxury.
Nervous to be separated from Cole, Damon, and Brandon, Madalina sat in silence as the vehicles made their way from the outskirts to the inner city. The streets had finally come alive with pedestrians, tourists, and vendors. Bikes zipped along the thoroughfares next to Vespas and small cars. The buildings in this section of town were old but not ancient and were connected together to make one long line of storefronts. Colorful signage in two languages declared each store’s specialty. Food, clothing, and tourist information were all represented. She imagined Walcot wandering down from his modest abode to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables from the many stands, could easily see him settling into a temporary life here, with the mountains as a backdrop overlooking the stunning lake. It helped her to think of him, to distract her from being detained in a country whose authorities might or might not believe her story.
The vehicles pulled behind a rustic-looking building and parked in large slots that seemed specifically designed for the tanklike vehicles. Madalina saw Cole, Damon, and Brandon disembark and grew frustrated at her inability to make eye contact with any of them. Only after the brothers had passed through an open door inside did an official escort her from the vehicle. It appeared to Madalina that the authorities were doing their best to keep her totally cut off from Cole.
They escorted her through an entirely different door, too, which served to further darken her mood. Just stay calm. Remember what Cole said. He’ll get us out of here soon. She consoled herself that at least the brothers were still in the same building.
Bypassing cubicles and desks and officials in varying stages of work, Madalina took note of the white walls, generic posters, fake potted plants, and thin indoor-outdoor carpet that looked to have been trampled within an inch of its life. Most of the desktops were neat and clean, the papers and folders stacked at the edges. Encouraged by the inquisitive glances from other officials and the lack of cuffs or restraints, Madalina gave the officers no trouble as they led her to a room with the same whitewashed walls as the rest of the building. An ivory-and-hunter-green-striped sofa sat to the side, its cushions flattened with use, and a thin desk with two chairs sat directly in the center. A single window overlooked the parking lot, giving her an unimpeded view of the two tanklike vehicles that had brought them there.
“You wait here, please,” one officer said in broken English. He gestured first to the sofa, then the desk, clearly giving her a choice of seating.
Madalina nodded agreement. The second the door closed, she went to the window, uncaring if there was a security feed that allowed some hidden official to watch her every movement. She was desperate to see Cole, hoped that he would emerge from the building shortly and come over to free her. Phone calls take time; interrogations take time. He’s probably not even through answering questions, Madalina reminded herself. She couldn’t help her impatience.
Wringing her hands, she paced through the room, going through possible scenarios in her head and what she might do in each. Cole had taught her to plan ahead, to think about her actions in different situations. If she couldn’t produce paperwork or a passport, that could be a problem. She kept a photocopy on her phone, at Cole’s insistence, but her phone was—she didn’t know where. Lost somewhere in the chaos of being abducted.
Exhaling, she continued to pace the room, anxious for word. For someone to tell her something.
A flicker near the window—a body passing by in the parking lot—drew her gaze. Had that been Cole? Damon? Brandon? She rushed over, hope surging in her chest.
The profile of the man certainly didn’t belong to Cole or his brothers.
Instead, it belonged to the one person she didn’t want to see.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Cole spent thirty seconds appreciating that his father’s firm took so many precautions. They were ready at a moment’s notice to forward any paperwork the officials required. Thaddeus had also dropped the names of two high-ranking US officials who wouldn’t hesitate to pull strings to get Cole and the team released. Because of the nature of the business, and because Madalina had signed on to become a consultant for the firm, Thaddeus had access to her passport. In less than twenty minutes, Cole and his brothers were standing before the information desk near the front door, waiting for the final approval to come through for Madalina’s release. He didn’t know where she’d been taken and didn’t like that she was still out of sight. The sooner he had her at his side, the better.
After a brief handshake, Cole and his brothers were free to wait outside for Madalina. The officer in charge assured him that she was just “next door” and that she should be with them shortly. Anxious to have his team together again, Cole pushed open the smoked-glass door—and came face-to-face with Lance. For the briefest of seconds, Cole thought that Lance was behind the entire charade, had orchestrated the attack, the capture, everything. His muscles tightened, instinct kicking in that prepared him to fight. Then he glimpsed no less than eight Nepalese officials crossing the lot with members of Lance’s crew in handcuffs. He realized that Lance wasn’t behind anything at all, or in charge of the scene. Lance and his team had been caught with their weapons still on them and were in quite a bit of trouble with the police.
Had Cole been a lesser man, he might have taken the opportunity to smirk, rub in Lance’s demise. But he only stepped to the side, as did Damon and Brandon, while Lance leveled a somewhat sly, calculating look his way. The look gave Cole pause, sent an uneasy feeling down his spine. It wasn’t exactly the kind of expression Cole would have thought a man facing serious authoritarian consequences should wear.
When he glanced at his brothers, Cole recognized puzzled looks on Damon’s and Brandon’s faces as they traded eye contact with Beau and a few other men from Lance’s group. In the span of a heartbeat, Cole had to reassess his opinion of Lance’s team and their presence here.
“Excuse me,” Cole said, taking one of the officials aside. “Those are the men that attacked our Jeep. Are they being taken in for questioning? Will they be held on charges?” Cole asked.
The official paused, then issued a curt nod. In broken but understandable English, he said, “Yes. They will be held here overnight and transferred to another, stronger facility tomorrow morning after interrogations.”
Just as the official turned to follow the group into the building, Cole stopped him one more time. “Officer—did you find them on the road or in the forest?”
The official frowned and cocked his head at Cole, as if he wondered over the intent behind the question. “On
the road.”
“At the roadblock?” Cole pressed.
“No. Walking on the road not far from the explosion. Why?” the official asked.
Cole glanced at the door as it closed behind the group. “Nothing. Just curious. Thank you.”
The official hesitated only one more moment, then followed the rest inside.
“Lance and his group knew they couldn’t slip past the police roadblocks without being stopped. They didn’t fight being captured—but that’s because they don’t intend to stay,” Brandon said in a low voice, already on the move away from the building.
“You’re damn right they don’t,” Cole replied in complete agreement. He stalked toward another door, which opened to admit Madalina into the bright day. A look of alarm colored her features, and she broke free of her escort to jog across the asphalt toward him.
She must have seen Lance, although he doubted she’d come to the right conclusion about what the man planned to do next. He caught her around the waist as she hopped into his embrace.
“Lance and his men—”
Cole cut her off, spinning her away from the building toward the parking lot. “I know. And we’ve got only a little time, so follow my lead.”
“What do you mean, we’ve got only a little time?” she asked as he herded her toward an officer hovering near one of the tanklike vehicles.
“Just follow my lead.” Cole approached the official and gestured back toward the door he’d come out of. “Your superior said that you’d give us a ride into town, drop us near a hotel. Mind if we get going?”
It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that the authorities would have arranged transport to a local establishment after the release. Even if the officer checked with his superior, it was a good bet that the superior would agree, if only to bring an end to the situation. He could ask the driver to change course to the airstrip anytime during the ride. All Cole cared about right then was getting away from the building before Lance and his men wreaked havoc.
A Dangerous Tryst (The Inheritance Book 3) Page 16