Before dismissing the driver for the night, Alexis had told him what time they wanted to leave the next morning. She’d also given him the general direction of where they wanted to go—just enough information that if he were at all sketchy, as they all thought him to be, he’d know they were heading close to the encampment. But she imparted nothing so specific as to hint that they were doing anything other than exploring the area and local villages.
Much later that night, and unable to sleep, Isiah slipped out onto the terrace off his room. Clouds were scattered across the sky and they moved over the slim moon casting him, and the villa, into random shadows. But he didn’t mind the dark, never had. Many people believed that bad things happened at night, but daylight could be—was—as dangerous. And at night, there was something in the lack of light that calmed him. Oh, he’d been through his fair share of hellish nights, but in general, there was nothing quite like the blanket of darkness to soothe his frayed edges.
Unless, of course, Alexis Wright was standing ten feet away on her own terrace wearing nothing but a silk tank top and sleep shorts.
The moon emerged from the clouds and the pale pink of her pajamas lit up in the night. He was glad he’d thrown on a pair of athletic shorts before stepping out.
“Can’t sleep?” he asked quietly. She’d come out onto her terrace after him and judging by the slight jerk of her body, she hadn’t seen him.
Like him, she took a place at the rail and leaned her forearms on it. “I haven’t even tried yet. I was talking to my parents, then Beni called. I don’t feel like taking another shower tonight so I thought I’d step out to see if the still of the night would be enough to calm me.”
“Feeling anxious?”
She hesitated, then shook her head. “Not anxious. Just all the thoughts running around in my head. I don’t sleep well in general, but when I’m in the middle of something, it’s sometimes hard to get my head to quiet down.”
He smiled at that. His first few years in the service he’d been the same way. But then he’d learned to sleep any chance he got. In some cases, it was a matter of survival. But Alexis’s life as an FBI agent was different than his as a soldier, and given the potential machinations of what was going on—a spy, a missing CIA analyst, something with the Summit—he could see why she might have a hard time stopping her wheels from spinning.
“Do you like what you do?” he asked.
She turned her head to look at him, perhaps surprised by the question. Then she nodded.
“I do. I know it probably seems weird that someone like me would want to do a job like this, but I love it.”
“Someone like you?”
The clouds moved again, and he saw the hint of a smile. “Yes, someone like me. Someone who owns a plane, can drop ten grand a night on a villa without blinking, and has personal staff.”
“Is that why you hide it? Or, I guess ‘hide it’ isn’t the right phrase, but you certainly keep it to yourself.”
She looked back to the water. “That’s part of it. My teammates do know some of it, though. It was part of the dossiers that Shah gave us on each other when we joined the team. We actually have few secrets from each other. Shah wanted it that way, insisting that the team is only as strong as its weakest point—”
“She’s right.”
Alexis chuckled, the sound rolling through him. “I think she’s pretty much right about everything.”
He let out a quiet laugh, too. “Yeah, I think she probably is. But even though your team knows your background, you still keep mostly to yourself. Jake didn’t know about Yael until this trip and I’d wager I’m not the only one who you’ve kept your house a secret from. Why? Do you not trust them?”
She was shaking her head before he’d even finished his sentence. “No, the team is solid. The issue is with me,” she said bluntly. “There are reasons I’ve kept my life private, and I think at this point, it’s become more of a habit than anything else. At the risk of sounding like a cliché, it’s me, not them.”
She cast him a rueful smile, then faced him. The silk of her top hid very little and the sight was spectacular. But as he stared at her, what coursed through his body wasn’t just a physical pull. He wanted to be the one that she let in, to be the one that she let see her. He wanted to laugh with her, joke with her, love with her, and argue over what to have for dinner or who was going to take the trash out—not that the latter was likely given her staff, but it was more the thought than the reality. He wanted to be someone with whom she could just be her.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
He smiled. “That I’d like to take you on a date when we get done with all this.”
She blinked at him. “We’ve been attracted to each other since the first night I set foot in The Shack. With the tensions and emotions that run hot during an investigation, don’t you think that by the time this is all over, we’ll be beyond the ‘date’ stage?”
“Maybe,” he said, relieved that she hadn’t shied away from the heat between them. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t still want to do it.”
“Why?” She cocked her head and her long hair fell over her bare shoulder. He judged the distance between the terraces. If he jumped, he’d make it. Probably.
He wouldn’t do it, though. Now was not the time or the place. But that didn’t stop him from letting his mind fill with thoughts of her as he answered. “I have every hope of taking you to bed, or against a wall, or in the water, or wherever. In fact, in the last few days, you wouldn’t believe the number of fantasies I’ve created in my head about us being together. But that doesn’t change the fact that a good relationship starts with communication and going on a date is a good opportunity to communicate.”
“A relationship?” Her tone told him he’d gone from zero to sixty too fast, but he knew better.
He smiled. “You’ve already exhausted your cliché quota for the night, Alexis. Don’t bother telling me you’re not looking for a relationship. I see the way you look at me—I feel it—and it’s more than physical attraction that’s piquing your curiosity.”
She studied him for a long moment, the silence interrupted only by the gentle breaking of the waves. Then finally, she gave him a wry smile.
“Fine, maybe I am curious. About you and what might be between us. We both know there’s something there, but neither of us knows if it means anything more.”
He inclined his head. “Hence, the date. I have no doubt we’ll be more than compatible, physically. But it’s up to us to see if it’s more than that.”
She stepped up to the side of her terrace that was closest to his, and her gaze swept his body, lingering on his shirtless chest before tracing with her eyes the lines of his shoulders, down his arms, to his hands. He could see speculation written on her face—what could his hands do to her, how would they feel on her? His stomach tightened and her gaze jerked to his. Her blue eyes held his for an unwavering moment, then she licked her lower lip as she stepped back.
“I suspect you’re right about that.” Her gaze lingered a little longer. “I think I may need that shower after all.” And with that, she walked back into her room, closing the door on his laughter.
Chapter Nine
Alexis grabbed the ‘oh shit’ bar above her seat as they hit a particularly big pothole. Or could it even be called a pothole when the road was dirt? She bounced against Isiah, who sat in between her and Jake, and though he didn’t reach out to steady her, he stiffened his body, giving her something to brace against.
Luis, their driver, sat casually behind the steering wheel, looking for all the world like he was driving on a highway. Behind them, Yael and Oscar rode with their driver, Tomas.
Glancing at the map on her phone, they were twenty minutes out from the village closest to the encampment. They planned to grab some lunch there then head out on a hike along the river to a waterfall Tomas had mentioned to them. In reality, once they ate, they’d start in the direction of the waterfall, then swi
tch back and make their way to the encampment.
Closing her app down, she slipped the phone into her pocket rather than her backpack, and looked out the window. There wasn’t much to see other than jungle. It was green and vibrant, but so thick she couldn’t see beyond four or five feet from the road.
“Is there a lot of subsistence farming here, Luis?” she asked, curious to know if the soil was as good for food as it was for jungle flora.
“Si,” he answered, looking over his shoulder. “The land is very—”
But he never had a chance to finish his sentence.
A precise hole appeared in the windshield. The glass cracked in a small spider-web pattern, and Luis was thrown back against the driver’s seat. Instinctively, Alexis knew what had happened, even if her mind hadn’t fully processed it, and she, Isiah, and Jake all ducked to take cover from any more shots.
The SUV lurched forward, no doubt as Luis’s foot jerked against the gas pedal, and veered to the left. There was nothing to do but hope no more shots were fired and wait for the inevitable impact of the car with the jungle. If they were lucky, they’d hit the thick brush which would slow them down, rather than a tree.
As luck would have it, their collision was a little bit of both. The dense foliage slowed them down, but they all pitched forward as the SUV crumpled against a tree.
“Is everyone okay?” Alexis asked, when the car came to a halt. Her face was inches from Isiah’s who’d slid from his seat and was now squeezed between the back bench and the console.
“I’m good, just a little wedged in at the moment. You guys?” Jake asked.
Alexis looked up to see a spattering of blood on Isiah’s face. “You’re bleeding, Isiah.”
“It’s not my blood and I’m not the only one covered with it,” he answered. He managed to get a hand free and brushed it over Alexis’s shirt. It came away red. “Luis.”
She looked up to see Luis’s head canted toward them, blood dripping from an impressive exit wound. “That’s a hell of a bullet,” she whispered.
“Definitely not some farmer mad at trespassers,” Isiah concurred. “Jake, can you open the door? You’re closest to cover and I think we all need to make a break for it into the woods. What about Yael and Oscar?” he asked Alexis. As he spoke, Jake managed to get the door open and humid air rolled into the vehicle.
“I heard an engine roar as we started to drift. Alexis, are you sure she’s on the up and up?” Jake asked.
It was weird that the other car had taken off, but there were a hundred reasons that might have happened that didn’t have anything to do with Yael. Unfortunately, none of them boded well for her.
“First things first,” Isiah said. “Jake, how do you feel about being the guinea pig and climbing out? I’d offer to do it, but it would be a hell of lot easier if you did.”
Jake let out a dramatic sigh as he twisted from his position and started to inch his way out. “Always taking the easy way out. I don’t know Clarke, if this is how it’s gonna be, I’m not sure there’s much hope for us. After all, I need a partner who isn’t afraid to face the hard stuff.”
No one did gallows humor—or inappropriate jokes—quite the way Jake did. And despite the fact that their driver had just been shot, they were going to have to hoof it into the jungle, and Yael was nowhere to be seen, Alexis laughed. A tense, uncomfortable laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.
Isiah shook his head. “Get the hell out of here. And be careful.”
The lighthearted moment ended as she watched Jake wiggle his way out of the car. Facing her, Isiah couldn’t see Jake well, but he had his head tilted and an intense look on his face, as he listened. Jake slid out, grabbed his backpack, then stepped into the shadows of the jungle. Knowing time was of the essence—they had no idea if the shooter was still out there—Isiah quickly followed, pausing only to grab his pack and her hand as she crawled from the floor of the car and stepped out. Slinging her own pack over her shoulder, they joined Jake.
Together, they made quick tracks into the woods. If the shooter was watching, he—or she—would have seen them leave and so, in those first few minutes, they erred on the side of speed rather than stealth. But as they trekked deeper into the jungle, the softer they walked and the more careful they were not to leave too many obvious tracks.
There was generally no cell signal in the jungle, but being the smart agents they were, they’d packed compasses and had saved images of the area on their phones. With his compass in hand, Jake led the way, and because Alexis trusted him—despite his sometimes dubious sense of humor—she followed without question.
Thirty minutes later, they came to a river and Jake drew them to a stop while they were still in the cover of the trees, avoiding the small, but open, riverbank.
“This is the river that flows into the village we were originally headed toward,” he said. “If my bearings are right, the encampment is a mile that way.” He pointed in the direction of a ridge on the other side of the river.
“Are we going to talk about what the hell that was all about?” Isiah asked. At his sharp tone, Alexis looked over. He was facing the swiftly flowing water, his arms crossed, and his jaw tight. He was angry, but she wasn’t sure at what.
“Hard to talk about something when we have no idea what to talk about,” Jake shot back.
Alexis stepped into the conversation before Jake said something to really piss Isiah off. “We can surmise a few things. Luis was likely the target. It was a hell of a shot which makes me think that if the shooter had wanted to hit one of us, he—or she—would have hit us.”
Isiah inclined his head in agreement. “It was a military-grade weapon, too. Any chance it was The Gentleman?”
Alexis glanced at Jake who was looking at the ground. “At this point, anything is possible,” she said.
“And Yael?” Jake asked.
Isiah’s eyes flickered to her. Jake had no idea how long Yael had been working for her and he had a right to be suspicious. She took a deep breath and responded.
“It’s not Yael. She’s worked for my family for fifteen years. There was an incident when I was younger. I’ve had security travel with me ever since.” She glanced at Isiah to see his attention zeroed in on her. Unable to take the scrutiny, she switched her focus to Jake who wore an almost exact same look on his face.
“You’re going to have to do better than that, Lex.” Jake crossed his arms over his chest.
“There’s a reason,” Alexis said. “But now is not the time or place to get into it. I will say, though, that she goes everywhere with me and has for fifteen years. She’s married to my cook, who is also my dog trainer, and her mother-in-law has worked for my family since before I was born. Whatever put Luis in the crosshairs, it didn’t have anything to do with Yael other than the fact that she intentionally picked him because he was a little shady and she thought his loose lips might help get the word out about who we are.”
She took a deep breath and met Jake’s stare. For the first time since she’d met him, his expression was unreadable, and she had a sinking feeling that maybe she shouldn’t have kept so much of her life private.
“You have a fucking dog trainer, Lex?” he demanded. “I didn’t even know you had a dog, let alone a dedicated trainer. Do you have a little dog? Or is it a big one? I kind of hope it’s a big one and I kind of hope it’s poorly trained because if anyone needs to be dropped on their ass every now and then it’s you. What’s the big fucking deal about sharing this shit with us? And why wasn’t it in your dossier?”
“It wasn’t in her dossier because no one would take an agent seriously who had her own personal security,” Yael answered, stepping from the shadows. She’d been so silent in her approach that her sudden appearance startled them all and all three reached for the weapons they carried.
Yael chuckled. “At ease, everyone. Sorry I’m late.” She tucked her weapon into the holster at her side as she added, “Our driver heard the shot and panicked. It took me a little w
hile to convince him he needed to stop and let me out.”
“What kind of convincing?” Jake asked, his eyes narrowing on Yael.
“Nothing drastic,” Yael snapped back. “You okay?” she asked, turning her attention to Alexis. Alexis appreciated how Yael didn’t rush to her, but her eyes did do a full inventory. “Whose blood? Luis?”
Alexis nodded.
“How’d you find us?” Isiah asked.
“Alexis has a tracker on her phone that only her parents and I have access to.”
Isiah looked at her and Alexis nodded. She also had one embedded in her skin that she could turn on if needed. She always thought that one was a bit of an overkill on the part of her parents, but it was an easy thing to concede in order to give them peace of mind.
“All of this is a lot to process,” Jake said, holding up his hands. “So maybe we should try to focus on our original plan and head to the encampment? Granted, we might not have a ride back once we scout the area, but we all have our phones and Oscar and Tomas are still out there, so we can figure that out when the time comes.”
Anxious to get the attention off her, Alexis nodded. “I think that’s an excellent idea.” Isiah stared at her then slowly nodded, too.
She turned to Yael. Yael studied her for a long moment, but Alexis didn’t back down from the scrutiny. Finally, the former intelligence agent shook her head. “Your mother is going to kill me, Alexis, but what the hell. Any chance there’s a bridge nearby, McMullen?”
They never found a bridge, but they did manage to find a crossing that wasn’t too deep or swift—which had the added bonus of allowing her and Isiah to wash Luis’s blood off them. Having been prepared for a hike, and having the wherewithal to remember to grab their backpacks, which held water bottles and snacks, the mile they traversed toward the encampment could have been much worse. Oh, it wasn’t easy, by any stretch, walking through the jungle carving your own trail up and down hillsides never was, but it wasn’t the worst thing she’d ever done.
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