Once the dawn light started filtering over the horizon, it didn’t take them long to hike to a spot that had reception. Isiah stood close enough to Alexis so that he could hear her call with Shah without having to put the phone on speaker. When Shah answered, Alexis gave her boss a succinct summary of the situation, answering a few questions along the way and providing specific data—like GPS coordinates of the camp—when needed. When Alexis finished, Shah quickly assured them that she’d reach out to her contacts to see what they could put in motion.
But what Shah didn’t do was issue a direct order for Alexis and Jake to stand down. And she hadn’t said a word about him or Yael.
By eight that morning, they were on their way back to Yael and Jake. As they left the outskirts of the village, they detoured a half-mile to the west to meet up with the road they’d driven in on the day before. It was a little longer, but they’d agreed that the time they’d save walking on the road more than made up for the additional distance they’d add to the return trip.
They traveled quickly and it was not yet ten when they left the road for the final mile walk through the jungle that would take them to Yael and Jake. Neither spoke the words, but judging by the way they were hoofing it, both he and Alexis were anxious to get back.
Finally, they approached the encampment, slowing their progress and softening their footsteps. By his calculation, they were approximately a quarter of a mile away, or less than ten minutes.
He started to confirm his estimate with Alexis, when, in a heart-stopping moment, an explosion sent vibrations rocketing through the air, shaking the ground under their feet.
Alexis swung around in surprise and the questions he saw written in her expression were probably the same as the ones running through his mind. The explosion wasn’t close enough to them to put them in danger, but it had come from the direction of the encampment—the direction of Yael and Jake.
“Shah worked fast,” he said.
“I don’t know if she worked that fast,” Alexis countered, then they both started running, not bothering to stifle their footsteps. As they arrived, a second explosion ricocheted through the forest. In addition to the blasts, the sounds of men shouting, women screaming, and gunshots being fired also echoed between the mountains.
They rounded a boulder and started up the hill where they’d left Yael and Jake. And to his surprise, both were still where he and Alexis had left them, flat on the ground, binoculars fixed on the encampment. When they started up the hill, Jake waved them over with a small flick of his wrist.
They crouched to stay below the ridgeline as they jogged up. When they got close, they dropped to the ground and inched their way next to Yael and Jake. Isiah dug the binoculars out of their backpack and handed a pair over to Alexis before focusing his attention on just what the hell was going on below them.
“Whoever it is, doesn’t look military,” Yael said.
Isiah did a sweep of the area before zeroing in on the unfolding scene. About fifteen people dressed in black had descended on the camp, and the men—and the woman—who’d been patrolling it were fighting back. There were two more guards than the day before, but even so, the fight was now fifteen to seven and Isiah understood why Yael hadn’t made a move. If the fighters in black—who appeared to be some sort of militia—were there to rescue the women and could do it on their own, then the four of them would be better off leaving them to it.
Another explosion rocked the hillside on the other side of the encampment and it distracted the man with the pockmarked face enough that someone fired a shot and brought him down. Isiah watched him fall, but then movement on the left side of the camp caught his attention. The accountant ducked into a tent then emerged with a semi-automatic.
“Damn, that might even out the fight,” Jake muttered. Until the accountant had emerged, the fight had mostly involved handguns.
“Oh, hell no,” Alexis said suddenly as she unholstered her weapon and started to rise. “He’s not trying to even out the playing field.”
Isiah moved to yank her back down but stopped when he saw what she’d obviously seen. The accountant wasn’t going for the fighters, he was going for the women.
In an instant, Isiah was standing beside Alexis as she raised her weapon.
“I’m not disagreeing with your intent, but make sure it’s what you need to do,” he said. She nodded, understanding that it might be better to wait until the accountant was about to pull the trigger because between right now and that moment, one of the militia might do the job for her and the four of them could remain out of sight.
“I hear you. Be my eyes,” she said, keeping her weapon trained on the man as he ducked and dodged the gunfire, skittering around the tents trying to keep cover.
Isiah didn’t hesitate and he started scanning the area. It was an incredible show of trust on her part to ask him to keep an eye on the scene while she kept her focus on the accountant. If he saw someone moving in to do the job she was prepared to do, he’d call it and she’d drop her weapon. If not, he’d call that too, and she’d take the shot.
He kept his attention on the encampment. The fighters who’d invaded were doing a good job of holding off the traffickers, but they’d taken a few casualties. From where he stood, Isiah could see four down. Of the six encampment guards, three were down—leaving three still returning gunfire. Those three were doing it well enough that the militia was too occupied to notice the accountant.
Shit.
He’d given orders to kill before but only to his own men. Alexis was trained for this, of course, and taking a life was always a possibility as an FBI agent, but damn did he hate having to make the call. It didn’t help that it had been more than a few years since he’d been in this position—a position he never thought he’d be in again. But the accountant was inching closer and the chances of a militia fighter taking him out were slipping with every second.
Isiah did another quick scan of the area as the man rounded the corner of the tent where the women were caged.
“Isiah,” Alexis said.
Taking a breath, and focusing on the women, he made the only call he could.
“Take it.”
Without hesitation, Alexis fired and the accountant went down. It was a head shot—a damn hard one to make—and the man wasn’t going to get up. Without thinking, he placed a hand on Alexis’s lower back as they surveyed the scene.
The one woman guard rounded the tent and nearly tripped on the accountant’s body. She looked down, then her attention jerked up. And up. Until she spotted them.
She was exposed and knew it, not making any move to raise her weapon as she studied them. Then very slowly, she turned her head toward her left.
On instinct, Isiah followed her line of sight to an old jeep. Energy rippled over his skin and he looked at the woman again. She gave a small jerk of her head in the direction of the ancient vehicle, then ducked out of sight.
“What the hell?” Jake said.
“We need to get the women out. And in that jeep,” Alexis said.
“It could be a trap,” Isiah pointed out, but more because he felt it needed to be said and not because he believed it. He was as certain as Alexis obviously was that the woman had been trying to tell them something.
“Alexis?” Yael asked.
“I can manage the lock, can you guys cover me? Jake, I may need you to translate,” she said.
Jake was coming to his feet, even as he spoke. “This is crazy.”
Yael joined them. “Where will we take them?”
“To the villa and then we can see what Shah wants us to do from there,” Isiah said.
“Did Shah do this?” Jake asked, gesturing to the encampment.
“We don’t think so,” Isiah answered. “Alexis talked to her, but she wouldn’t have had enough time to organize something like this. And as to why she wouldn’t have had time, we’ll tell you that story once the women are safe.”
“Okay, here’s the plan,” Alexis said, gra
bbing her backpack. “We’ll make our way to the women’s tent. Once there, you three stand watch and I’ll get the women out. It will take all four of us to cover them between the tent and the jeep and it’s not ideal, but we’ll do the best we can. I’ll drive the jeep, you three stand guard as we leave.”
“And what if there’s no key?” Jake asked.
Alexis snorted. “As if you don’t know how to hotwire a car. I sure as hell do.”
“And quickly, too,” Yael confirmed.
Isiah’s attention was drawn from the conversation back to the encampment as another round of gunfire filled the area. He didn’t like the odds, but he wasn’t going to leave the women’s lives to chance.
“They’re distracted right now, we should go,” he said. Alexis caught his eye and she nodded. Without waiting for Jake or Yael to confirm, they started making their way down the hill, taking cover from what trees they could.
When they reached the bottom, no one hesitated and surprisingly, they fell into a natural formation, each of the four covering one direction. They made it to the tent that held the cage without drawing attention to themselves and Isiah gave a silent thanks to the militia for keeping the guards occupied.
A few of the women let out soft screams and whimpers as they entered, but he kept his focus on the surrounding area, trusting Alexis to do what needed to be done.
“Jake, tell them what we’re going to do while I get the lock,” she said.
Jake started speaking in Spanish and the clunk of metal hitting metal as Alexis managed the lock filtered through the chaos. Not thirty seconds later, the squeak of a rusty door echoed through the tent. He glanced back to see Alexis opening it and a few of the women approaching the tentative freedom.
“Jake, we need to switch positions,” she said. “You need to give directions and I’ll take the lead as we make our way to the jeep so that I can hotwire it, if needed, while you all load the women.”
Isiah didn’t think it would be that easy. Oh, the hotwiring would be, but convincing seventeen women—the original four plus the thirteen that had arrived while he and Alexis had been gone—who’d been kidnapped to go willing with four people they didn’t know wasn’t going to be easy. And sure enough, he didn’t know what the women were saying, but he definitely recognized tones of protest emerging from a few.
“Jake?” Alexis said.
“I got this,” he replied, then started speaking in rapid, but soothing tones. It took longer than Isiah would have liked, but finally Jake updated them.
“They are wary, but I’ve told them our plan—to bring them to the villa and then either return them home, if it’s safe, or find them somewhere to go—and I’ve pointed out that they could overpower us, if needed.”
“Ask if any of them know how to handle a weapon,” Isiah said, sensing a continued caution on their part. He could understand it, but if they weren’t committed to the plan, any hesitation could get them all killed.
“Isiah,” Yael said.
“Do it,” he snapped. As Jake asked the question, Isiah looked over to see Alexis regarding him, her expression filled with a mix of curiosity and respect.
“I do,” a woman answered, stepping forward and speaking English.
Not wasting a moment, he motioned her forward. She took a tentative step and then another until she was beside him.
“Can you work this?” He handed her his Glock. She took it, turned it over in her hand, and when she checked the safety, he let out a deep breath. She’d do fine.
She nodded.
“Good,” he said. “Will the rest of the women trust us, at least enough to get you all to safety now?”
The woman with long black hair and pale brown eyes said something in Spanish to the rest of the women. Another bit of weight lifted from his shoulders when he saw them nod.
“Yes, we will go with you,” she answered him.
He swung his attention back to Alexis. “Ready?”
“You have your back-up?” she asked.
He grinned. “Even better. I’m going to take that semi-automatic from the accountant when we leave the tent.”
A beat passed then she smiled. “Nice plan, Clarke. Now everyone, let’s move out!”
He snagged the semi-automatic as he passed and then he, Jake, and Yael, surrounded the women as best they could as Alexis led everyone toward the jeep.
They didn’t go unnoticed, but the militia managed to engage the remaining guards enough that they were able to get the women loaded into the jeep with only a couple of shots fired by Jake. It was a tight fit getting everyone aboard, but the women sat on laps, on the floor, and anywhere they could squeeze in.
Isiah and Yael took up position, standing sentry on the back corners of the jeep, each with one leg on the bumper and the other inside the back bed. The jeep rumbled to life, and Jake hopped in front. A second later, they were making their way down the pitted and barely-there dirt road that led out of the encampment.
The last twenty-four hours had been more intense than Isiah had anticipated and his body—which was no longer primed for the kind of action they’d seen—was starting to feel the post-adrenaline let down a lot sooner than it should have considering they weren’t out of danger yet.
Which was the only explanation he could come up with as to why he missed the guard who stepped out from the trees behind Yael and took aim at the jeep. Isiah’s weapon was down, but before he could even raise it, a shot rang out.
He flinched in surprise as the man at the trees dropped, then jerked his head toward the direction from where the shot had come—right beside him. The woman to whom he’d given his gun had her gaze fixed on the place where the man had stood. She was twisted in her seat, and her hands that held the Glock were resting on the back tail of the jeep.
After a beat, she raised her eyes to his. Slowly, he smiled. Tentatively, she smiled back.
“That was a hell of a shot. Thanks.”
She blinked and handed the gun back to him. “You’re welcome, but I don’t think I need this anymore.”
Chapter Eleven
Isiah followed Alexis and Jake into the FBI office exactly three days to the hour after they’d left. It was good to be back on Tildas Island. They hadn’t been gone that long, but it had been a hell of a three days. He understood why Shah needed to see them, but he was definitely looking forward to some downtime on his balcony once the debrief was over.
“Alexis, Jake, Isiah,” Shah greeted them as they entered the bullpen. Beni, Damian, and Dominic were all present as well, each looking grimmer than the next.
“I’m sorry you didn’t have a chance to head home before coming in, but I thought it might be better to get this meeting over and then you can have the rest of the evening off. Tomorrow, too, barring any unforeseen events,” she continued.
“Sounds like good news,” Jake said, throwing himself into a chair. But he popped back up again. “I need a drink. Is there any of Alexis’s juice left in the kitchen?”
Damian nodded and Jake bounded out of the room. That was the second time Jake had referred to Alexis’s juice, Isiah filed that random piece of information away as something to ask her later.
They waited in silence while Jake made a run to the kitchen. And even though Isiah wanted to get home, he was hard-pressed to give Jake any grief.
It had taken less than twenty-four hours for an advocacy group to come to the villa in Honduras and take charge of getting the kidnapped women back home—if that was safe—or to wherever they felt they needed to be. It was a complicated process and for the few that didn’t have a place to return, the foundation Alexis’s parents ran had offered to pay for housing and, if desired, education for the next year. All of the women were offered therapy as well.
It was the best outcome they could have hoped for, but it was still beyond shitty that it had happened and the fact that all Jake wanted was two minutes to get some juice seemed a minor thing. Isiah would have gone for a double whiskey, himself, if he weren’t
sitting in the FBI offices.
Beside him, Alexis glanced around the bullpen then suggested they move to a conference room where they could all take a seat. She was cool; neither her voice nor her body betrayed any of the stress of the last day, but there was a tightness in her eyes that belied her composure. It was going to take a while for any of them to stop seeing those women in that cage.
A few minutes later, Jake returned with a tall glass and took a seat beside Dominic. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t look good, so just lay it on us,” he said, speaking to Shah.
A ghost of a smile appeared on Shah’s face, then it quickly disappeared. She handed Alexis and Jake each a file. “Sorry, Isiah, I don’t have one for you.”
He waved her off. He was surprised he was even allowed in the room and he wasn’t going to do anything to call attention to the breach of protocol.
Shah leaned back in her seat. “The summary is that while you were in Honduras, we were doing some digging into Angela Rosen. The man who Huck overheard that day in her office, but didn’t see, was Duncan Calloway.”
That name obviously meant something as Jake swore under his breath and Alexis went still.
“Calloway?” Isiah asked.
“How sure are you?” Alexis asked.
“Sure enough,” Damian answered Alexis first then turned to Isiah. “Calloway was the lead on a World Bank project here in the Caribbean that wrapped up recently. His name came to our notice in an investigation earlier this year. There appeared to be some potential financial misconduct with the project. We didn’t find any actual misconduct, but there was enough evidence to raise some flags on our part.”
“He’s an international businessman, though what his precise business is, no one can pin down. He was an odd fit for the World Bank job,” Alexis added.
“He was also a fraternity brother of the Vice President and, now we know, in business with Rosen, a traitor,” Beni said.
“So, based on Huck’s information, we know Calloway and Rosen are working together to orchestrate the sale of The Gentleman’s identity. Calloway is connected enough that he could have been the one who found the buyer,” Alexis suggested. “Or, I suppose, the buyer could have sought him,” she added.
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