Hidden Agenda

by Lisa Harris

  The worry on José’s face lessened. “Honestly, I wish I could join you instead of being stuck on guard duty. It’s not as if anything ever happens around here. You’re not headed to get some pizza, are you?”

  Olivia forced a chuckle. “We haven’t had dinner yet.”

  “I won’t tell anyone you’ve gone if you promise to bring me back a couple slices if you stop to get some.”

  She smiled. “Pepperoni and mushroom, if I remember correctly.”

  José’s phone rang.

  Olivia glanced at the clock. Ivan was going to start worrying if she took much longer. “The keys, José. Do you know where they are?”

  “Keys … yes … Sorry. I went into town this afternoon and forgot to put them back.” He dug in his front pocket, then tossed her the keys.

  Olivia moved as casually as she could toward the door as José answered his phone.

  God, we can’t do this alone. Please, please let us get off this island safely …

  Finally outside, she headed toward the cottage where Ivan waited for her. An owl hooted in the distance, its call eerie and haunting. Tree limbs danced in the salt-filled air, leaving dark shadows against the lawn. There was just enough light from the moon filtering through the trees for her to see the small cottage at the end of the path. She and Ivan had played hide-and-seek there as children, built hideouts, and played Monopoly hour upon hour. But those days had long since passed.

  Ivan was waiting for her in the shadows of the cottage, tension clear on his face. “I got the door open, but I thought something happened to you.”

  “I almost got caught. José thinks we’re going out for pizza.”

  “So he knows we’re leaving the island?”

  “He had the keys to the pontoon. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  Her brother nodded. “You did fine.”

  She knew what Ivan was thinking, because she was thinking the same thing. Getting caught going to get pizza on the mainland was one thing. Trying to smuggle a prisoner out from under the nose of a presumed drug cartel leader was completely different.

  Michael’s head jerked up at the sound of footsteps outside the cottage. The door creaked open slowly, letting a sliver of moonlight sweep over Kendall’s body. Pain radiated through Michael at the sudden movement. Besides the bruising along his sides, he was worried that some of his ribs were cracked. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it was still dark outside, which meant that for some reason Tomas had returned early. And he knew that this time he hadn’t come back to simply scare him. This time he—or Valez—would make his final breaths as painful as possible before ending his life.

  He fought to wipe away the cobwebs cluttering his mind. He needed to think. Still needed a plan. But his entire body ached, and the nausea had yet to lessen. Loosening the zip ties had proved impossible. He’d never been one to simply give up, and close calls came with the territory, but this time death felt inevitable.

  I need a miracle, God, or I’m not getting out of this alive.

  Someone stepped into the room. His vision blurred, Michael tried to focus on the two figures. They hovered above him, whispering softly.

  He blinked, confused. “Who are you?”

  The young man got busy cutting away the zip ties while the woman asked him if he could stand. So much for his own masterful attempts to escape. This had to be a trick, or maybe it was just a dream. One of those that started out pleasant, then twisted into an ugly nightmare. Kendall was dead. That part he knew was true. He was miles from civilization, with no one out there who could come to his rescue. Which led to the only conclusion he could make. The beautiful woman standing over him must be an angel. Which meant he was dead. Or she was a part of Valez’s plan to kill him.

  “Who are you?” His question came out raspy.

  The woman placed a finger against her lips. “Don’t talk.”

  He studied her face in the dim light. Mid to late twenties. Beautiful, in an exotic way. Part Caucasian, part Hispanic would be his guess. Large almond eyes, perfect tan, long dark hair pulled back in a neat ponytail that brushed across her shoulder. He shifted his gaze back to her eyes. There was something familiar about them, but he was certain he’d never seen her before. He would have remembered her face.

  The boy popped the zip tie off Michael’s ankles, allowing him to move his feet slowly in circles and get the blood circulating again.

  She gripped his arm. “Can you walk?”

  “I don’t know.”

  His gaze shifted to the boy. He looked as if he were eighteen or nineteen. Strong. But not strong enough to carry him out. He was going to have to walk if they actually intended to get him out of here. Pain rippled through his side as he tried to stand. He fought to catch his breath. Maybe this wasn’t a dream.

  “You need to try and walk. Please.”

  He focused on the soft lilt of her voice. On the subtle movement of her hair across her shoulder. On the crazy thought that the finish line—getting off this island—might be closer than he thought.

  She pressed her hand against his arm. “We know you’ve been injured, but you’re going to have to help us if we’re going to have any chance of getting you off this island.”

  Getting him off the island? Was she serious?

  Part of him wanted to laugh at her statement. He’d prayed for a miracle—a Navy SEAL rescue or an extraction team that would take down Valez and his people while they were at it. He’d prayed for it even though he knew such a miracle was ridiculous. No one knew he was here. But being rescued by a guardian angel was just as ridiculous. He had to be dreaming.

  Still, he might as well play along.

  “Getting off this island is impossible,” he said.

  “Maybe, but if we don’t get you off, they’ll kill you. There’s a pontoon waiting for us at the dock.”

  She was serious?

  Michael’s mind began to clear. He had no idea how she knew Valez was planning to kill him, but he did know one thing. She was crazy. Getting out of the ten-million-dollar compound would be difficult enough. But off the island? No one crossed Antonio Valez without paying the price. No one who wanted to live another twenty-four hours, anyway. He drew in a deep breath, still expecting to wake up. He might have prayed for a miracle, but reality told him his fate was already sealed. Even if this wasn’t a dream, they’d be caught trying to escape. And these two, whoever they were, didn’t deserve to die because of him.

  He shook his head. “It’s not worth the risk. They will kill you if we’re caught.”

  “Trust me, I’ve thought through that scenario, but my brother can be pretty stubborn.”

  “Okay.” He forced himself to stand, too weak to argue. He’d have to deal with her crazy arguments—and the pain—later. “How are we going to do this?”

  “We have a plan.”

  A plan? Right.

  He’d had a plan and a backup plan. He knew the property better than most, but he also knew that even with the best of plans, the odds of escaping this situation were practically nil. There were guards who made their rounds about the property, and then there was the matter of all three of them getting past the front gate security … past the guards and dogs …

  Whatever their plan was, it was never going to work.

  “There are two guards at the front gate.” She was talking again, with that sweeter-than-honey voice of hers. “Ivan knows a shortcut to the dock that bypasses the gate. The main thing is that we have to get there before the other perimeter guard makes his rounds.”

  Michael nodded. After visiting the property a half-dozen times over the past eight months, he’d studied the guard’s routines. Found alternative routes off the island if necessary. Being rescued by a couple of strangers had never been the plan, but from the looks of things, he didn’t have a choice.

  “How do you know so much about this property?” he asked.

  His guardian angel hesitated. “You’re just going to have to trust us. The good thing
is that they’re worried about people coming into the compound uninvited. Not getting out.”

  “And the dogs?” He liked dogs, but these German shepherds helping to guard the property weren’t here to play catch.

  “My brother’s always been able to make friends with just about every animal he runs into, including Goliath and Caesar. They won’t be a problem.”

  Michael bit back a wave of nausea stemming from the pain. “What happens if we get caught?”

  “We’ll deal with that when the time comes.”

  She clearly didn’t know who she was dealing with. “You know what they’ll do to you … if we’re caught.”

  She jutted her chin toward Kendall’s lifeless body. “I think I have a pretty good idea.”

  He turned toward the door. “You never told me your names.”

  “I’m Olivia, and this is my brother, Ivan. He’s deaf, but he can read lips and speak.”

  Ivan nodded. “We’re going to get you out of here.”

  He caught the intensity in the boy’s voice, surprised at how well he spoke.

  “And you?” she asked. “What’s your name?”

  “Liam … Liam Quinn.”

  He paused at the fake name he’d just thrown at her, but she didn’t need to know who he really was. They’d help get him off the island, then the wisest thing for them would be to put as much distance between him and themselves as they could.

  “We can chitchat later,” she said, “but for now we have a short window to get you from here to the pontoon before the guards show up.”

  Michael took a painful step, wondering how it was he’d never met someone so familiar with the property. But she was right. He’d ask those questions later. For the moment, it took all the energy he could gather just to put one foot in front of the other.

  Biting back the pain, he gritted his teeth as they wrapped their arms around his waist and started toward the door. Kendall’s lifeless eyes stared up at him. The nausea returned. No man deserved to die without a proper burial, but there wasn’t anything he could do at the moment. All he could hope for was that the authorities would find the body before Valez fed it to the sharks. That was the least his wife and two children deserved.

  “Wait a minute.” Michael reached down and quickly ran through Kendall’s pockets. Nothing. Tomas was telling the truth. They knew now who he was. They knew he’d betrayed them all.

  Olivia looked up at him as they crossed the threshold of the cottage. “Do you pray?”

  Michael nodded as dread began to envelop him.

  “Good.” She tightened her grip on his waist. “We’re gonna need it.”

  4

  Olivia felt Liam’s fingers grip her shoulder. She could tell by the heaviness of his breathing and the unevenness of his gait that he was in a great deal of pain. He needed medical care to determine if there was any internal damage, but they’d have to deal with that problem after they made it to the mainland. For now, her only concern was ensuring they didn’t get caught. Because if they were discovered, the man lying dead on the cottage floor wouldn’t be the only one with a bullet in his head. She had no doubts now that her father’s henchmen would kill all of them without thinking twice.

  They moved slowly toward the dock, beneath the canopy of oak trees with their woody vines, while accusations from the email messages ran through her head. Her father was involved in money laundering and the cartel. This man—along with the one inside the cottage—was proof of everything she’d feared.

  Olivia heard a twig snap behind them and paused midstep. She turned around as Goliath ran up and pressed against her leg. She let out an audible sigh of relief at the sight of the dog. Ivan reached down to pet Goliath with his free hand.

  Liam’s voice was raspy. “How much farther?”

  She caught the fatigue in his voice and realized he wasn’t going to be able to go on much longer. “Not far, but we need to keep moving.”

  “And the guards?”

  “One should pass by here in the next few minutes.”

  Which meant they were running out of time.

  Goliath padded beside them, making too much noise. Olivia glanced back toward the house as they continued, searching for any signs of movement in the trees, while Ivan led them along the shortcut that bypassed the front gate and led them outside the property, leaving the dog behind.

  Olivia tried to ignore the fear gnawing at her stomach. Wondering how long it would take them to get to the dock. Wondering what would happen if they needed to shift to plan B—when she had no idea what plan B was. She glanced at Liam. His lips were pressed tightly together. Her father didn’t have to know she and Ivan had orchestrated his escape. Once on the mainland, she would simply call the police anonymously, then leave her father to deal with how his prisoner had escaped.

  She repositioned her arm around his waist. “The dock’s just ahead. How are you holding up?”

  “I don’t know, I …” He stumbled. “My head … it’s spinning.”

  Olivia tightened her grip. The muscles in her back and arms were beginning to burn. She could see the outline of the dock and the water in the distance. The pontoon bobbed in the water along the shoreline. Fifty more yards. Thirty. Fifteen.

  Liam stumbled again. Olivia strained beneath the extra weight, somehow managing to lean into him and help Ivan support him. But they were running out of time, and she was running out of strength.

  You can do this, Olivia. One step at a time.

  She glanced back one last time to see if anyone had followed them, but all she could see were the now distant lights of the house. In front of them, waves gently lapped against the shore. Another few feet and they would be in the boat, heading for the mainland … and safety.

  A minute later, she and Ivan dragged Liam into the bottom of the boat before he passed out. Ivan started the engine, leaving off all but one front light so they wouldn’t be as visible from behind, then steered the boat away from the dock. The hazy yellow lights of the house began to fade in the distance, making her suddenly wonder if she’d ever return. Wondering if she’d ever see her father again. She’d spent a dozen summers here. How could she have been so wrong about someone she’d loved so much?

  Shadows moving along the shoreline caught her attention, deepening the fear welling up inside her. She grasped the side of the boat as Ivan steered them into deeper waters. No. The guards hadn’t had time to discover that their prisoner was gone. Not yet. There was no reason why José wouldn’t have bought her story about going to the mainland for pizza. Everything she’d said was true. No one would think twice about their leaving …

  But the unmistakable sound of another motor changed her mind. A second boat was leaving the dock. Her gaze shifted to where Ivan sat at the steering wheel. Water slapped against the sides of the boat. She tried believing all the legitimate reasons someone else might be out on the water, but her gut told her that this was no coincidence.

  And while Ivan truly was a natural in the water, maneuvering during the day was one thing. Navigating at night—without getting lost or running into an underwater obstacle—brought a whole other set of complications. Let alone being chased by a bunch of drug runners.

  Olivia moved to the front of the boat beside her brother and pressed her palm against his arm before signing. “They’re behind us.”

  Ivan looked back toward the horizon, then pushed on the accelerator, shifting gears as the boat rocketed forward. Seawater splayed against their faces, leaving behind the familiar taste of salt water on her tongue. He motioned for her to get down on the deck.

  She heard the first shot ping against the boat.

  Adrenaline rammed through her as she stumbled across the rocking deck toward Liam. He groaned as the boat tipped to the left, rolling him onto his back. She grasped his shoulders, holding him steady, as they flew across the water.

  The moon cast just enough light for her to see the outline of his face and the shadow of a beard. Cuts and bruises marred his cheek
and jawline. She couldn’t help but wonder who he really was. What he had done to cross her father. And if she’d done the right thing in saving his life. Because now she knew the kind of men who worked for her father. The kind who didn’t hesitate with an order to assassinate.

  A second shot ricocheted off the side of the boat. Olivia looked back and saw the light of the other boat running behind them. The anger that had begun seeping into her soul when she’d read those emails continued to spread. She’d spent her life taking care of her brother, and now, because of her father’s betrayal, she’d managed to put Ivan’s life at risk for the sake of someone they didn’t even know.

  What if doing what was right turned out not to be worth the cost?

  Olivia stared at the wake of water behind them. As soon as they got to the mainland, she would demand answers from Liam to the growing number of questions spinning through her mind. Ivan might have had a compelling case when he’d first come to her, but the men shooting at them erased it completely. They should have left Liam Quinn where they found him. Should have gone into town and alerted the authorities and let them come in and clean up the mess. Trying to handle things themselves had been foolish. This wasn’t just about a man slated to be executed. If everything she now believed to be true really was true, their actions tonight might have very well signed their own death warrants. It wouldn’t make one whit of difference that they were Antonio Valez’s children.

  Water sprayed across the deck as Ivan pushed on the accelerator and increased their speed, but she could still hear the rumble of a second motor behind them. Whoever it was, they were gaining on them. Their own boat swerved to the right. Olivia braced herself and Liam against the movement, as Ivan took them into one of the narrow waterways where seawater mixed with freshwater from the coastal rivers and runoff.

  The sound of the other boat faded as they meandered through the maze of the salt marshes. A minute later, Ivan shut off the engine, leaving them to bob beside the sea grass in the eerie darkness of night. All was quiet for a moment as Ivan crouched down beside them.

  Olivia held her breath as the sound of the other boat’s engine buzzed in the distance, mingling with the nocturnal sounds of the marshland. She forced herself not to move, using only her sense of hearing to tell her that her father’s men had slowed down to search for them.