by Katie Reus
“Get out and roll the fence back. Don’t do anything stupid.” As if to prove his point, he shifted his gun to his other hand, straightening it in her direction.
Without looking at him, she slid from the vehicle and did as he instructed. If there had been neighboring woods or any place she could run, she’d have taken the chance. As it was, there was nothing but a semi-demolished building across the street. The building might provide some cover, but it wasn’t likely she’d make it across the four-lane road, over the other fence, and into the building without being shot in the back.
And she really didn’t want to die that way. Okay, she didn’t want to die period. The only thing that gave her hope was the fact that he hadn’t shot her yet. He needed her for something, which meant he would keep her alive until then.
“Turn left and follow this road until you see signs for 95 South, then get on,” he ordered as she slid back into the driver’s seat.
Then he pulled out a phone and dialed a number before pressing SPEAKER and placing it on the dash.
When Jack’s familiar voice came on the line, her hands jerked against the wheel.
“Yeah?” Jack said.
“If you ever want to see your girlfriend alive again, you will do exactly as I say.”
“Who is this?”
“Thomas Chadwick. Now listen carefully. Sophie’s life depends on it.”
Sophie clutched the wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white. She thought about speeding up and trying to crash, but he was strapped in too and still firmly held the gun on her. If she tried, she’d probably end up shot.
“I’m listening,” Jack growled.
“You’re going to trade Vargas’s life for Sophie’s.”
“No.” Jack’s answer was automatic.
With that one word, Sophie’s heart cracked wide open.
“I don’t think you understand the situation.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie watched her captor reach into his pocket. Before she realized what he was doing, he flashed a knife in her direction. With the click of a button, the blade whipped open and he sliced into her arm.
“Aah.” Instinctively she swerved as he cut her. She cried out as the pain registered. Blood dripped all over the seat and her jeans. Her arm throbbed, but the laceration was shallow at best.
“Sophie?” Jack’s deep voice raked over her.
Thomas answered. “She’s fine. Just a little cut. If you don’t do what I say, she’ll have bigger cuts all over her body. Bitch won’t be recognizable by the time you get to her.”
Ice chilled her veins. She’d die before she let that bastard torture her.
“Why do you want Vargas?” Jack asked.
“He owes me a lot of money and I can’t get out of the country without it or him. I need that money. It was only a matter of time before he gave you my name.”
For a moment Sophie’s world went fuzzy. That meant Vargas had definitely been captured. Before she ran to the bathroom, he’d still been free. “Is Hannah alive?” she asked before she could think about censoring herself.
“She’s fine,” Jack answered.
“One more word out of you, and I’ll cut through your muscle.” Thomas didn’t yell, but his voice had a deadly edge to it that told her he’d have no problem following through with his threat.
Biting her lip, she focused on the road in front of her and tried to block out the pain in her arm.
“As I was saying, you’ll bring Vargas to a location of my choice and I’ll give you the girl. It’s a simple trade and no one has to get hurt.”
Jack was silent on the other end for painfully long. “You know I can’t give you Vargas. He’s too valuable.”
Thomas looked in her direction, but she stared straight ahead. Tears stung her eyes, but she fought them back.
“You don’t care what happens to the girl?”
“Vargas is too valuable, so if that’s all you’ve got, you’re barking up the wrong tree.” Jack’s voice was monotone, uncaring.
Then he disconnected.
All the air sucked from Sophie’s lungs. Tears blinded her vision, but she managed to keep the vehicle straight. There was a sign for 95 South, so she turned right as the man next to her cursed.
“How long have you known Stone?” Thomas demanded.
“A few days.” Her words came out scratchy and unsteady. She tried to ignore the jagged talons of the raw pain raking through her, but it was impossible. Jack didn’t care what happened to her. She was expendable. A sob built in her throat, but somehow she managed to shove it down. Just barely.
“Damn it! I thought . . .” He tapped the gun against his leg, then made another call. Thomas didn’t put him on speaker this time, but in the quiet vehicle, she could hear every word.
Jack answered immediately. “I told you I’m not making a deal.”
His words were just one more nail in her coffin and one more punch to the gut.
“I can give you information on Vargas, but, more important, on his contact, Abu al-Ramaan. No matter what he says, Vargas doesn’t know shit about the man. I’ve got a list of probable targets and a list of Abu’s contacts along the East Coast and some in California. He wants to unleash biological terror within the next couple months. I’m the only man who can help you.”
“How could you possibly have this information?”
“You think I keep all my eggs in one basket? Vargas would kill or betray me with no problem. Unfortunately I need my fucking money. I’ve worked too hard to get shortchanged now. I know you guys will hunt me down, but with enough cash, you’ll never find me. It always pays to have a backup plan.” He sounded so proud of himself. So smug and sure.
“Where do you want to meet?”
“Uh-uh. You get Vargas, then head south. Once you’re on the road, call me and I’ll give you further instructions. If I even think you’ve brought a team, I’ll put a bullet in her head before you can get within a mile.”
“Your information better be good.”
“Trust me, it is. Oh, and, Jack?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t waste your time trying to track me. I disabled the GPSs on all the vehicles earlier today.”
Jack hung up.
Thomas snapped the phone shut and glared at her. “Maybe you don’t mean as much to him as I thought.”
On one level Sophie understood national security was a priority, but this wasn’t just Jack rejecting her. She’d never say his name aloud, but this was Sam. Her Sam. And she wasn’t enough for him. A vise tightened and twisted around her heart, the screws puncturing so painfully it was all she could do to keep the vehicle straight. He might as well have reached into her chest and ripped her heart out with his bare hands. She meant nothing to Jack.
• • •
Jack slid his phone into his pocket with shaking hands. More than rage, raw fear snaked through his veins like liquid fire. Hanging up on Thomas Chadwick had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. It had been a huge risk and if Sophie hadn’t been part of the equation, he wouldn’t have second-guessed himself.
Chadwick needed Jack’s help, so Jack knew he wouldn’t kill Sophie. The only way to convince him of that had been to bargain. If Jack had given in too quickly, Chadwick would have realized just how important she was to him. Then he’d have had all the bargaining power and Sophie would be dead.
Jack exited the vehicle and pulled up the hangar door a few feet. The two other analysts still clacked away at their computer. Good. They didn’t know Chadwick was missing. Both glanced at him but just as quickly returned to what they were doing.
“Hey, I need Chadwick’s help. He’s over at Vargas’s hangar helping set up the interrogation room.” He casually dropped the information as he walked toward their table, trying to gauge their reactions.
The only female of the group frowned at him. “But Wesley said—”
“Change of plans. I’ve worked with Chadwick before and I requested him.”
; “Fine.” The woman shrugged, then returned to her computer.
While they were busy, he made his way to one of the farthest stations set up in the corner of the building. He glanced over his shoulder as he grabbed a tracking device. Not that it technically mattered. He doubted they’d question him, but he needed to be above suspicion for the next ten minutes. Just enough time to get the hell out of there. To get to Sophie.
What he was planning was illegal and if he failed he’d probably get thrown in jail. Okay, there was no probably. Letting Sophie die wasn’t an option, though. He’d sell his soul for her without question.
Without wasting time worrying about the consequences, he headed back to the other hangar. Instead of parking in the front, he parked in the back where there weren’t any other vehicles. Inside the building, everyone still had their guard up, but things had broken down into routine. Round up the bad guys, question them, and get ready to head home. That was the way things always worked, and the routine was the only advantage he could count on.
Plastic sheets were draped over the fallen bodies, and Vargas’s other men had been restrained and were being guarded by a few agents.
As Jack crossed the open floor, he kept his eyes open for any sign of Vargas, but didn’t see him. Wesley nodded in his direction and motioned Jack over to him and an agent.
“I was just telling Johnson I want you to take point on the interrogation. He’ll be standing by, but you make the calls,” Wesley said.
Jack glanced between the two men. “Where is Vargas now?”
Wesley pointed toward the back. “We put him in an office in the back. Once we get everything squared away here, we’ll transfer him.”
“Where are we taking him?”
“One of our satellite offices,” Wesley answered.
Jack nodded. He was aware of at least one office in Miami, but for all he knew, there could be more. The NSA had nondescript offices all over the country. Half the people who worked for them couldn’t tell their families what they did every day. Even Jack wasn’t privy to all their locations. That was the kind of information people would kill for.
As they headed to the back, Johnson cleared his throat. “Listen, man, thanks for earlier.”
“No problem.” Jack guessed the guy was embarrassed that one of Vargas’s guys had managed to disarm him and put a gun to his head in front of everyone, but there wasn’t much he could do about it now. Shit happened.
Johnson was silent for a moment before continuing. “I can’t believe that guy got the drop on me.”
“Don’t let it get to you. It happens to the best of us.” Jack pushed down the foreign twinge of guilt. He could ruin this guy’s career by what he was about to do. “Stay here for a second, will ya?”
Johnson frowned but nodded. Jack made his way back toward his boss. Wesley was talking to one of the Delta Force agents. Perfect.
“Is there a problem?” Wesley asked.
“No problem, I just want someone more experienced with interrogation, especially after what happened earlier.” He nodded at the other agent. “You’re with Delta Force, right?”
The man nodded. “Max Schaeffer.”
Jack looked at his boss. “I want him.”
Wesley’s lips pursed into a thin line as he studied Jack, but he nodded. “Fine.”
As they headed back to where Johnson waited, Wesley stopped him. “How’s Sophie?”
Jack didn’t bother turning around. “Fine,” he threw over his shoulder. Wesley had an uncanny ability for weeding out bullshit. As they neared Johnson, Jack slapped him on the shoulder. “Wesley wants to see you, man.”
Johnson would be pissed at first, but later when he realized what Jack had done, he’d probably thank him. Of course Jack would likely be in jail by then, so it wouldn’t matter. In order to get Vargas out of the building, he was going to have to take out the Delta Force guy. If he’d done it to Johnson, the man would be demoted and probably fired for screwing up twice within the same day. And Jack couldn’t have that hanging on his conscience.
“How do you want to work this?” Schaeffer asked as they turned down the small hallway.
“You can take the lead.” Jack held open the door for the other man.
Jack quickly assessed the situation. Vargas sat at a small desk with his hands cuffed in front of him. One agent leaned against the wall standing guard. He straightened as they entered.
Jack didn’t have any time to waste. In one swift move, he landed a sharp blow to the agent’s right temporal lobe. Near the eye, but not hard enough to inflict any lasting damage. It was a move he’d used too many times to count. Never on one of his own guys, though. Before the agent’s body hit the floor, Jack struck out at Schaeffer.
The guy started to turn as Jack slammed his fist, then elbow across Schaeffer’s back and neck. If he’d reacted a second sooner, things might have turned out differently. Thank God for small miracles. Tension thrummed through Jack, but he kept his focus on the goal.
Get Vargas out of the holding room alive. Get him out of the direct hold of the NSA. Free Sophie.
After that, he would worry about consequences.
Jack stepped over the unconscious body and roughly yanked Vargas up by the collar. When he did, he slipped a tracking device under his shirt.
“What the hell are you doing?” Vargas’s voice held a trace of fear.
“Getting you out of here.” Jack snagged the handcuff keys from the first man he’d knocked out, but didn’t release Vargas.
Easing open the door, he glanced down the short hallway. No one was there, but the men he’d knocked out wouldn’t stay down for long.
“What are you—”
Jack shoved Vargas against the wall, wrapping his hand around his neck. “Keep your mouth shut and you might get out of this alive.”
The other man’s dark eyes narrowed, but he nodded.
There hadn’t been a guard at the back door before, but Jack wasn’t taking the risk. They rushed down the rest of the hallway. When they reached the metal door, Jack opened it two inches.
Relief slammed into him. It was clear. Grasping Vargas’s upper arm, he jerked him outside. Once they were in the relative safety of the SUV, Jack secured the man’s cuffs to the side handle, then gunned the engine. Their window of opportunity to escape undetected was rapidly shrinking.
Getting Vargas out of holding was only half of his problem. Actually getting off the property undetected was going to be the hard part. Instead of driving parallel to the fence outlining the property, he drove behind two hangars, then made a sharp left and sped across the tarmac. The NSA had given orders that all flights be grounded. By driving this way he was putting them out in the open, but the path to the back gate was a lot shorter.
“Where are you taking me?” Vargas snapped.
“Your friend Chadwick wants to make a trade.” Fear for Sophie’s safety a living thing inside him, Jack glanced in the rearview mirror as he maneuvered around parked planes. No one was behind them.
“You know about him?” Vargas’s voice was cautious.
“I do now.”
“I take it from our escape that you are working alone.” It wasn’t a question.
“Your friend has something I want.” Jack’s fingers flexed around the steering wheel. The back gate was still open. No doubt from when Sophie and Chadwick left. Jack was counting down the seconds until he wrapped his hands around that bastard’s neck. When he’d heard Sophie cry out in pain, he nearly lost it. The knowledge that if he’d reacted he would have put her in more danger was the only thing that stopped him.
“Something or someone?”
Yeah, as if he was going to have that conversation with Vargas. “How long have you worked with Chadwick?”
He shrugged. “Long enough.”
Nice, evasive answer. “Who approached whom?”
Vargas shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “We approached him, of course.”
Somehow Jack doubted that. Jack was silen
t as he followed the signs toward I-95.
“Ninety-five South? Where are you taking me?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Intentionally, Jack jerked the vehicle sharply as he took the ramp onto the highway. When he did, he retrieved his phone from his pocket and held it down next to his left leg. His phone was usually set to silent, but he’d also set the tone to mute.
Wesley was going to be pissed, but texting him was the only way to communicate. Chadwick has Sophie. Wants 2 trade Vargas. Activate small tracking on V. C has info on Ramaan. Follow. No choppers.
The message was choppy at best, but Wesley would figure it out. Or at least Jack hoped he would.
After pressing SEND, Jack made a show of pulling his phone out of his pocket and dialed Chadwick. Even though Vargas looked uninterested, Jack knew the man was watching his every move. He redialed Chadwick’s number and waited.
He answered midring. “Do you have him?”
“Yes.”
“Good, put me on speaker.”
Jack did as the man ordered.
“Miguel?” Chadwick spoke.
“I’m here,” Vargas said.
“Is anyone following you?”
Vargas turned around as he answered, “Not that I am aware of.”
“Is anyone with you?”
“No, he’s working alone. Took out two of his men to free me.”
“Can you get us out of the country?”
By now Wesley would have grounded every flight in Florida. Something he had the power to do and something Chadwick no doubt knew. Chadwick’s order to free Vargas was a tricky bet, but Jack understood why he’d done it. He clearly didn’t have all the funds he wanted to live his life on the run, and a man like that, who’d betrayed his country, would never be satisfied without all the money he’d been counting on. However much it was, Jack could only guess.
Vargas looked at Jack, a smirk playing across his hard features. “Do not worry about the transportation. I have men on standby.”
“Good. As soon as we get off the phone, Jack, you’re going to throw your phone out. If you don’t, Miguel will tell me at the meet and your girlfriend will pay.”