Hard Justice
Page 29
“I’m just glad she didn’t grab my balls.” Another voice chuckled. “Unlike you assholes, I’d like to expand my gene pool sometime down the line. But I am curious as to why she’s down here.”
“Me, too. And I’m sure as hell going to find out.” The familiar voice made Penny’s heartbeat stumble.
The tone was the same in Spanish as it was in English—abrupt and menacing even from its distance across the van. But why would Trey be in Honduras? And why the hell had he let his friend turn her into a pancake against the side of a Jeep?
* * *
If someone had told former Delta and current Alpha Security operative Rafael Ortega that he’d have someone tied up in the unit’s makeshift interrogation room, he’d have sworn it would’ve been the drug kingpin, Fuentes, or one of the cartel leader’s many henchmen.
Now, three hours after he and his team pulled the hood off the American woman in the privacy of their inner-city headquarters, Rafe still hadn’t entirely ruled out the redhead’s involvement. Something didn’t jibe, and when he couldn’t figure things out, it made him goddamned twitchy.
A body search he’d been a lucky enough bastard to perform revealed a single steel blade tucked into her boot and a burner cell phone that hadn’t sent or received any calls. No firearms. No identification. That was it, unless you counted breasts that would fit perfectly in the palms of his hands, and an ass that was made to be grabbed—or at the very least, ogled.
For the third time in as many hours, Rafe shifted himself in his pants and walked into the interrogation room. Instantly, he was bombarded with curses that would’ve had his fourth foster mother running to the nearest church.
“Ah. You missed me,” he goaded.
His comment earned him another round of expletives, each one more inventive than the last. He smiled, loving both the challenge and the murderous glint in her blazing green eyes.
Rafe met her glare for glare, not turning when the door opened to emit Trey Hanson, his best friend and former Delta brother. His own black mask still firmly in place, Trey took a position against the far back wall.
“Are you feeling any more talkative?” asked Rafe.
“Go. To. Hell.” The redhead tugged on her restraints with each word.
“I’ve been there. Too dry for my tastes.” Rafe let out a mental sigh. This was turning out to be more work than he’d anticipated. “Why are you in Honduras?”
She gave him an eat-shit-and-choke-on-it glare and he covered her hands with his, halting both the damage to her chafing wrists and assessing her sudden surge in heart rate. “I’m losing my patience, sweetheart. Let’s try this again. One. More. Time.”
Her gaze darted left, to where Trey stood like a six-foot wall ornament, flipping his KA-BAR knife in his hand like Rafe had seen him do countless times when bored. Something flashed in the redhead’s eyes, but when her gaze slid back to him, it hardened to green steel.
The slow, upward curl of her lips alerted him to the smart-mouthed remark about to be unleashed. “Maybe instead of asking me stupid questions you should put some ice on your boo-boo. Untreated swelling could cause permanent damage.”
He leaned to within an inch of her face. Fuck-and-him. Despite the layers of San Pedro Sula grime caked on her otherwise perfect porcelain skin, a vanilla scent clung to her body. It almost made him forget that her swift kick and good aim were the reason he actually did just get done icing his fucking balls.
“We have ways of making little girls talk,” he warned. “And trust me, it’s no day at the spa.”
Her gaze flickered over his shoulder. “I’ve never been a spa kind of woman. Ask your mute friend there in the back. After all, we were practically raised as brother and sister.”
* * *
Once Penny got over the fact that her surrogate big brother was lounging on the sofa across the room, it was easier to shift her focus—at least temporarily—to Mr. Tall, Dark, and Blue-Eyed.
Rafael Ortega looked like a walking sin stick, not a single ounce of softness anywhere on his body. His broad shoulders could perch a pair of economy-line sedans, and his snug shirt amplified a defined chest and quarter-bouncing set of abs. Everything about the man was rock hard and chiseled, but it was his biceps that had her close to drooling.
Nearly as big as her thighs, they bunched and flexed each time he staunchly folded his arms across his chest, the movement giving her a sneak peek of the tribal tattoo hiding beneath the hem of his sleeve. He was so not her type—too large, too intense, and way too brooding. But that didn’t stop the butterflies from forming in the pit of her stomach—and a bit lower.
Penny sat on the threadbare couch and forced a smile she hoped looked confident. “Nice place you have. A little compact for men of your size, but nice. Cozy.”
“Forget the sarcastic small talk, Penn,” Trey growled from across the room. “You owe me a few answers, so let’s get to why the hell you’re in Honduras.”
Fake it till you sell it. The words of her mentor at the bail enforcement agency had her lifting her gaze to Trey’s. “I don’t owe you a damn thing.”
“When you waltz your sweet ass into one of my missions, you most certainly do. You’re a goddamned social worker. You have no business walking the streets of San Pedro Sula as if you’re GI-fucking-Jane.”
“I can count the number of emails and phone calls I’ve gotten from you over the last few years on one hand, so don’t pretend to know my business. I’m not sixteen anymore. I don’t need your lectures, and I sure as hell don’t have to explain myself to you. The sooner that sinks into your head, the smoother this conversation will go.”
Rafe blocked Trey’s path in one step. In a low murmur, the two men exchanged words that pinched Trey’s lips into a tightened frown.
A few seconds later, Rafe turned, locking her in his sight. “I think we’ve gone about this the wrong way, Red.”
She matched his disarming half smile with one of her own and watched every line on his already chiseled face go still. “My name’s Penny. And you didn’t seem too concerned about stepping off on the wrong foot when you shoved a gag into my mouth, tossed a sack over my head, and hurled me into the back of a van.”
“Had to do something before you ended up injuring yourself.”
“Is that why you had me tied to a chair for hours, too? To protect me from bodily injury? You know what would’ve protected me even more? Not being manhandled at all.”
Penny, one point. Blue Eyes, zippo.
His eyes narrowed, taking her bait. “Then the next time you get the urge to take a stroll, do it during the day and not in a seedy part of a foreign city. The only people who trample through the San Pedro Sula warehouse district are either looking for trouble or they are the trouble. For all we knew, you could’ve been a human trafficker looking to make a sale. You were someplace you didn’t belong.”
“He knew who I was.” She tossed a blatant glare at Trey and got a stony look in return. “Isn’t that right?”
Trey’s continued silence turned Penny’s insides into a pinball machine. She shifted her eyes to the plans littering the coffee table—schematics, maps, photographs, and itineraries. Considering their dark-wing commando look, none of it was surprising, except for one photo tucked beneath all the others.
Her hand reflexively reached for it, a knot instantly forming in her stomach. Gleaming back at her from the black-and-white picture were a familiar pair of cold, dark eyes.
Someone called her name, but she couldn’t answer. Tunnel vision narrowed her focus, darkening the corners of her sight until the harsh stare of the man in the photo morphed into the concerned eyes of Rafael Ortega. Catching her chin between his fingers, Rafe gently forced her gaze upward.
“Talk to me, Red,” he demanded gently.
“He’s the reason I’m here.” She met Rafe’s gaze, lifting the picture up with a shaking hand. “Diego Fuentes has my niece, my best friend. And I’m not leaving Honduras without her.”
About
the Author
April Hunt blames her incurable chocolate addiction on growing up in rural Pennsylvania, way too close to America’s chocolate capital, Hershey. She now lives in Virginia with her college sweetheart husband, two young children, and a cat who thinks she’s a human-dog hybrid. On those rare occasions she’s not donning the cape of her children’s personal chauffer, April’s either planning, plotting, or writing about her next alpha hero and the woman he never knew he needed, but now can’t live without.
You can learn more at:
AprilHuntBooks.com
Twitter: @AprilHuntBooks
Facebook.com
Also by April Hunt
Heated Pursuit
Holding Fire
Fall in Love with Forever Romance
HERE COMES THE BRIDE
By Hope Ramsay
The newest novel in the Chapel of Love series from USA Today bestselling author Hope Ramsay will appeal to readers who love Jill Shalvis, Robyn Carr, and Brenda Novak.
Laurie Wilson is devastated when she is left at the altar. How long will it take her to realize that Best Man Andrew Lydon is actually the better man for her?
THE PLAYBOY BACHELOR
By Rachel Van Dyken
New from #1 New York Times bestselling author
Rachel Van Dyken!
Bentley Wellington’s just been coerced by his grandfather to spend the next thirty days charming and romancing a reclusive red-haired beauty who hates him. The woman he abandoned when she needed him the most. Bentley knows just as much about romance as he knows about love—nothing—but the more time he spends with Margot, the more he realizes that “just friends” will never be enough. Now all he has to do is convince her to trust him with her heart…Fans of Jill Shalvis, Rachel Gibson, and Jennifer Probst will love this charmingly witty and heartfelt story.
WHEN THE SCOUNDREL SINS
By Anna Harrington
When Quinton Carlisle, eager for adventure, receives a mysterious letter from Scotland, he eagerly rides north—only to find the beautiful—and ruined—Annabelle Greene waiting for his marriage proposal. Fans of Elizabeth Hoyt, Grace Burrowes, and Madeline Hunter will love the next in the Capture the Carlisles series from Anna Harrington.
HARD JUSTICE
By April Hunt
Ex-SEAL commander Vince Franklin has been on some of the most dangerous missions in the world. But pretending to be the fiancé of fellow Alpha operative Charlotte Sparks on their latest assignment is his toughest challenge yet. When their fake romance generates some all-too-real heat, Vince learns that Charlie is more than just arm candy. She’s the real deal—and she’s ready for some serious action. Don’t miss the next book in April Hunt’s Alpha Security series, perfect for fans of Julie Ann Walker and Rebecca Zanetti!
Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Hachette Digital.
To receive special offers, bonus content, and news about our latest ebooks and apps, sign up for our newsletters.
Sign Up
Or visit us at hachettebookgroup.com/newsletters