“You sound like a taller Keely.” His gently teasing comment had the effect he’d hoped for. She smiled and chuckled, a watery sound, but still better than crying in silence.
“Why thank you. I want to make a difference in the world.”
“Tired of modeling, huh?”
He took a turn which would take them the long way back to the hotel—and his tails followed, closing in just in case he hopped onto Route 25. A third vehicle, a black town car with tinted windows, joined the parade. Cruz had arrived. If Risto had any doubts about the para-leader’s seriousness in obtaining Callie before, he had none now.
He made a command decision. She wouldn’t be at the photo shoot tomorrow. They needed to get out of Colombia as soon as possible. He’d advise his SSI back-up team of the change in plans once he got Callie safely back to the hotel so they could move the schedule forward. Cruz wouldn’t make his move in broad daylight, he’d wait for darkness. By this evening, he and Callie would be safely tucked away at an SSI safe house in Cartagena where they’d get equipped and grab some sleep before setting out early in the morning to meet up with the SSI helicopter. Travelling the treacherous Colombian roads after darkness fell was not something he’d willingly put Callie through.
“Never wanted to model to begin with,” she answered his question, “but the money was obscene. I had two younger brothers to house, clothe, feed, and put through college. Dad’s marine survivor benefits and insurance didn’t go far in Chicago which is where I was attending college on a full scholarship when he died.” She absently stroked his thigh.
He clutched the steering wheel more tightly to resist the temptation to grab her hand and move it to the strained crotch of his jeans. Callie was very touchy-feely—a trait he highly approved of in women in general and her in particular. Her ease in touching him also led him to believe she might be open to return touching. He’d have to make it clear if she continued to pat him, she’d have to pay the consequences, pleasurable consequences for both of them.
“The boys agreed to move north so we could stay together as a family and I could continue my studies. Our Mom died after the twins were born. I was seven at the time so I was always more than a big sister.”
He must’ve made a sound, because she reacted by petting his leg. His cock jerked and he mentally went through the procedures to field strip and clean his Barrett to keep from pulling over and taking her in the back seat of the Hummer. And the fact he even considered doing her in the vehicle with the enemy on their tail told him just how fractured his vaunted self-control was around this woman.
“Hey, don’t feel sorry for me. Things weren’t rough for long. Within a year of Dad’s death, Evan discovered me at the place I waitressed. I was keeping things together, but I admit he really saved our lives. The modeling money kept us in our little bungalow and provided the boys with opportunities and a great private school education. I promised myself to model only until I didn’t need the extra money any longer or I had finished my graduate education. Both those events happened earlier this year. I’d already given notice on all my cosmetics contracts and to Marv.”
“When you find out how much he sold you out for, I’d be interested in knowing if it was more than thirty pieces of silver.”
“I’ll let you know. I expect it was far more than that.” She moved her hand from his thigh to his arm. He let out a small sigh of relief and willed his cock to relax. “Um, we’re being followed by two Ranger Rovers and a dark sedan of some kind. Is this why we’re taking the scenic route back to the hotel?”
“Yeah. So, you noticed them, did ya?” She nodded, her face solemn. “They’re making sure we don’t hit Route 25 and make tracks to Bogotá and the US Embassy.”
She raised a delicately arched brow. “We’d be safe there, yes?”
“If we could make it, there’s a small squad of marines, plus some intelligence types on the embassy compound. We could hold off Cruz until the US Military came to chase them away.”
“That’s what I’d guessed, even though the Embassy told me they couldn’t help me. Dad was stationed in Colombia before the twins were born. I was five and I remember living in a military-protected compound outside of Bogotá and Mom and Dad talking about the Embassy as the place to retreat to if we were attacked.”
She paused and sighed. He glanced over to see her lay her head back against the headrest. Her eyes were closed, moisture coated her long lashes. Obviously, too many sad memories. He brushed a tear off her cheek with the back of a finger. She opened her eyes and stared at him.
“You wouldn’t have made it, Callie.”
“Yeah, that’s what Cruz’s terrible twosome told me when I went to the lobby to see about leasing a car. They said it wasn’t safe for a beautiful señorita on the roads, especially at night.”
Risto shuddered. The idea of Callie, alone, on a Colombian road, if you could call most of the tracks they had roads, exposed to any Tomas, Ricardo or Harry terrorist group scared him shitless. He didn’t fear much in this world, but that scenario would rank right up there at the top of what did. “It’s not. It’s not safe for anyone on Colombian roads most days, but especially at night.”
“I bet I’d be safe with you, right?”
“Yeah, you’ll be safe with me. We’ll be heading out early tomorrow morning to a small finca SSI uses as a safe house for operatives. We do a lot of work in South America. Our transportation out of Colombia will meet us there.”
“What about the shoot and Evan and his crew?”
“No shoot. Cruz is moving faster now that another man is in the picture. Hence, the three vehicles following us. We’ll be changing hotels tonight, also.” For more reasons than the one he’d just told her about. “Once I have you safely tucked in with Conn Redmond at the SSI safe house, I’ll inform Evan and Chad about their US military escort to the airport. Keely booked them a private charter flight out tomorrow night, but we’ll need to bump that up to this evening. Once they get through Customs, they should be safe. If everything goes smoothly, Cruz won’t even miss them until after their flight is in the air. He’ll be too busy trying to find us.”
“What about the charter departure area?” She scrunched her forehead and began twisting her hair again. “Won’t there be some risk there?”
What a sweetheart. She was more concerned for her friends than herself. “We have some local contract operatives who’ll stay with them until their plane takes off. They’ll be fine.”
“God, Evan and Chad will dine out on this story forever.” She grinned briefly, then frowned, a puzzled look in her eyes. “Why can’t we go with Evan and the rest if the US Military…” She shook her head and waved her hand in the air. “Enh, erase that. Stupid question. We need to be the diversion. Where I go, Cruz and his merry band of murderers will follow. Plus, Cruz is just stupid enough to attack a military escort. Casualties would then occur and the US would be drawn into an international incident. The US military might operate here, but we aren’t supposed to be here.”
“Basically. Most people know we have a large military and intelligence presence in Colombia, but we don’t hit everyone over the head with it.”
“Plus, we can’t embarrass the Colombian government, shaky as it is.” She swore under her breath. “I never expected that class on South American terrorism and real world politics would ever have applicability in my life. I just took it because Colombia has always been one terrorist group away from being a failed state and is a fertile ground for tracking drug and terrorist money trails.”
“We’ll get out of here.” Risto patted her knee. “Trust me?”
“Yeah. And I think after I find all Cruz’s laundries, Ren will have to offer me a job at SSI. Keely and I would be a super-analytical team and could prepare intel analysis for the NSA and other SSI clients.”
Risto said nothing. Having Callie around 24/7, within arm’s reach, at Sanctuary might be more than even his iron will could handle. Good thing Ren had okayed him heading up an SSI-
East in Upper Peninsula Michigan.
Chapter Three
The Sofitel Santa Clara Hotel was situated in the core of the ancient city. Adapted from a seventeenth century monastery, it was the perfect blend of old and new, and if Callie had been here for any other reason, she would’ve enjoyed staying longer and exploring everything the ancient city had to offer.
She shot Risto a curious look when he pulled the Hummer into a temporary guest parking spot instead of driving up to the entrance and allowing the valet to park the vehicle. “Why are we stopping here?” She looked in the side mirror and saw the trail of vehicles following them had parked on the street illegally, hovering like predators to see what the prey would do next. “They’re still there.”
“We need to talk about some things while we have absolute privacy. Don’t worry, I have my eye on them.” He left the car running and turned toward her. “When we get to the valet, we need to put on a show for our friends back there. I suspect Cruz is in the town car.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Exactly what kind of show?”
“I want you to kiss me as you’d kiss a new husband you hadn’t seen in four days. You did okay back at the shoot location, but I’m pretty damn sure Cruz’s men have given him a blow-by-blow, word-by-word description by now.”
“And he might suspect the display was not lover-like enough. Gotcha. I can do that.”
Boy howdy, could she. Her lips already tingled anticipating it. The last kiss hadn’t been nearly long enough and she’d only gotten a hint of how he tasted. Hell, she was aroused just inhaling his scent in the short drive from the shoot location. A real kiss might push her over the edge into jumping his bones. It had been a long—a really long—sexual dry spell for a myriad of reasons. “Then what?” she asked.
“We’ll go to the suite and get ready to go to a late lunch … out. Then we’ll lose the tail and go to Conn’s place.” His formerly shuttered expression fell away. He hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hand, displaying the first real emotion she’d seen from him. “Callie, fuck it. I wasn’t going to tell you something since I’d already given you a good reason for moving, but you have a right to … shit, there’s no easy way—”
“What is it? You’ll find it’s easier to give it to me straight, Risto. I’m tougher than I look.”
“The fucker has eyes and ears in your suite. Probably has had since you checked in.”
“You mean,” she massaged the too-tight muscles over her throat as she attempted to speak, “…h-he’s … he’s been watching me? V-videotaping m-me?” She thought of all the times she’d strolled around the casita naked. Hell, she’d used her vibrator the other night for a little stress relief, hoping it would help her sleep. And Cruz … his men … watched her!
“Not just taping, but real time, live eyes. When I scouted around earlier, I found their setup in the next casita.” Risto’s tone was coldly furious. Well, hell, he could join the friggin’ club. She wasn’t feeling exactly all happy-happy, joy-joy, either. And now she knew why he’d sounded odd about stopping at the hotel before coming to get her at the shoot.
“Where did you make the call to SSI from, Callie?” He smoothed his hand over her arm, halting her fingers as she twisted her hair into corkscrews. His hand was warm and comforting.
“Not the suite. No clusterfuck in the making there.” If she had, Cruz’s guards would’ve known he was an SSI operative and shot him on sight. “I had a bad feeling after Cruz approached me two nights ago.” After he man-handled me and threatened my brothers. “So, I made the call on the street as Evan, Chad and I walked off dinner and discussed the situation.”
His lips twisted into a slight smile and the thunderclouds in his dark eyes lightened. He gave her hand a little squeeze. “Good girl.”
She flushed with pleasure at winning his approval once again. She had a feeling it took a lot for a lay person to please him. “And you’ll also be happy to know, Keely and I used a code we made up when we were kids,” at his raised eyebrow, she added, “for when we played war games with her brothers and their friends.” Her lips quirked. “Drove the boys nuts. As soon as I used the code words about big ears, we switched to Russian. We’re both very fluent. I wasn’t taking any chances one of the goon squad could overhear my side of the conversation.”
She’d been intensely aware of the two men tailing her and her friends. That’s also when she’d warned Evan and Chad about Cruz; they hadn’t been present when the bastard had tried to intimidate her.
“That’s good, excellent.” He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips, then released it. “We’ll still have the advantage. They don’t know who or what I am. They’ll underestimate me … hell, Cruz fucking underestimated you, sweetheart.”
She blushed and wished she was his “sweetheart” for real and not just for the job. “If Cruz thought you were muscle, he’d come in, guns a-blazing, and just snatch me. For now, we just get shadowed.”
“Exactly, though his patience is waning.”
She swallowed. “Um, where were the cameras?” Her face flushed rosy pink, a combination of fury and embarrassment.
“Everywhere. Full coverage.” His voice was calm, but the look in his eyes verged on stormy again. It made her feel better to know he was furious on her behalf, that she wasn’t alone in her anger.
“Shit. Fuck. Crap. I want … want…” She hissed. “I’ll kill the asswipe.” A look of shock swept over Risto’s face at her threat. She choked back laughter. He had totally the wrong idea about her. Better he learn who she really was sooner rather than later. She wasn’t a prude or a pacifist. “Does it bother you that I want to kill him?”
“Not a problem, it’s just you look so lady-like…”
“Get over that notion. While I may not look like soldier material, and it’s been some time since I lived on a marine base, I can think and act like one when the occasion warrants.” And this occasion does. She gave an abrupt laugh. “You need to know that Keely’s brothers, their dad and mine trained me to defend myself. I excelled at the use of weapons. But while I’m coordinated enough and had the desire to learn martial arts, I just couldn’t hit or kick people. Hell, I can’t even punch a practice dummy. Wimpy, right?”
Risto’s lips twisted into an amused grin. “No. Normal, I’d say.” He looked in his side mirror. She did the same on her side and noted the Rovers and the town car hadn’t moved. “Callie, Cruz will approach us while we’re having lunch, you know that?”
“Yes. Why are we going out? Why not stick close to the hotel until it’s time to move to the new place?”
“He could pay, or more likely coerce, someone to put something in our food.”
“You really think he’d drug us?”
“Me, he’d poison. You, he’d drug. As you said, he wants you alive.” As if he couldn’t stop touching her, he lifted a hand and stroked a finger down her arm. She inhaled, goose flesh arising along his finger’s path. She bit her lip to smother the gasp threatening to emerge.
“You’re lucky he wants this photo shoot to come off for reasons of his own—or he would’ve taken you the first night.” She shivered, not from his touch this time, but relief that she’d had the chance to call for help. “Hey, it’s okay.” His voice was just as gentle and soothing as his touch. “It didn’t happen. Don’t think about it. The fucker screwed up and now I’m here. He won’t get you. I promise.”
“I know. Keely and her husband trust you. I trust you.” She worried her lower lip with her teeth. “Will you get rid of the eyes and ears … in the room? When we go to change? Please.” She leaned into his hand as he moved to caress her neck. His words and touch warmed her, chasing away the throat-clenching fear she’d lived with over the past two days. On the surface, she’d called upon all her modeling skills and put on the performance of her life, but inside she’d been a quivering puddle of goo. Just having Risto here made her feel safe, feel as if she’d make it home and back to her life.
“Sorry, can
’t. It would tip him off…”
“…that you were more than just a husband.” She nodded. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I’ve had some training about potential abduction. My dad saw to that. There was always the chance we military dependents might be kidnapped from the base housing in foreign countries. I have some survival skills, but nothing like what you’re used to with Keely.”
“Keely’s unique. Don’t compare yourself to her. From what she tells me, you’re talented, just in a different way.” He massaged the knots in her neck with a firm, but gentle motion. His touch, while it eased the tension in her neck, created new tension farther down her body. It was all she could do not to rub her thighs together to ease the aching in her sex. “As far as I can tell, you’ve done everything right to this point,” he said. “You figured out you were in big trouble as soon as you saw Cruz and you called for your extraction and protection for your brothers. You held up.”
“Thanks, I needed to hear that. I’ve been so afraid.”
“Hey, fear keeps you sharp.”
“Then I’m a Ginsu knife.” She sliced the air as if she held a knife.
Risto grinned as he switched from massaging the back of her neck to feathering her hair through his fingers. It felt wonderful, and she wondered if he was acclimating her to his touch for the act they had to put on for Cruz or if he did it because he wanted to. “Callie, you said you had some training. What kind?”
“I told you about the failed attempts at teaching me how to take down an attacker. I couldn’t even knee a guy in the balls.” She frowned. “Although I think I have the proper motivation now. I’m pretty sure I could emasculate Cruz, the scum-sucking, Peeping Tom, lowlife fucktard.”
Risto’s lips broke into a full smile and he chuckled. Jesus, he was gorgeous when he smiled—not GQ, metro-sexual attractiveness, but more Field and Stream masculine ruggedness. “Go on … what else?”
Cold Day In Hell Page 4