Heatseeker (Atrati)

by Lucy Monroe

  The Marines had taken him from her; she wasn’t about to have fantasies of him dressed like a soldier.

  “No.” He brushed her cheek with a black-gloved hand. “You’re not dreaming.”

  That voice again. It could not be, and yet, somehow, her nearly broken mind kept insisting that it was. “It’s you. Really.”

  “Yes.” Never one for long speeches, her Kadin.

  No, wait. Not hers anymore. Not for a very long time.

  “How?”

  “It doesn’t matter. We have to get you out of here.”

  “ No. ”

  He made a sound a cross between shocked gasp and growl. “Yes.”

  “No. Two of the top guys in the organization are coming tomorrow.” One of them was an expert in interrogation. And she was sure she knew which one held that dark claim to fame in his underlings’ eyes. “I know one of them but not the other. We need that information.”

  So, okay, her brain was still functioning. Which meant this man really was Kadin Marks, because she wasn’t so far gone that she was turning fantasies into reality in her mind. She hadn’t done that for almost as long as Kadin hadn’t been hers.

  “Then get it another way,” he growled in an almost subvocal whisper directly against her ear. “You are not staying here to be tortured anymore.”

  “They’re finished for the night.” At least, she hoped they were.

  “Bullshit. They’re giving you a chance to think it’s over before coming back and trying to break you.”

  A more experienced interrogator might do that, but these guys? She was hopeful not. “They haven’t broken me yet.”

  The sound of plastic snapping came from behind her, and then Kadin’s big hands were on her arms, massaging them as he slowly allowed them to relax downward. “Your limbs are going to hurt like a sonofabitch, but you can handle it, angel.”

  The pain started then, and she didn’t bother wasting breath on trying to argue or demanding that he never, ever use that endearment again. She had to handle this, and a lot more quietly than she had her torture. Yelling out Kadin’s name right now could get them both killed.

  Once her arms hung at her sides, he made quick work of the ties holding her legs to the chair, and then he swept her up into his arms. “They aren’t getting the chance.”

  “Chance for what?”

  “To break you.”

  “And I won’t get the chance to identify the other major player, either.”

  “I’ll leave a team to do surveillance.”

  “There’s no guarantee the head honchos will show once it’s discovered I’m gone.”

  “Is she for real, boss?” someone asked, and Rachel realized Kadin was wearing an earbud communicator.

  She wouldn’t have heard the voice through the comm-link except her head was right next to Kadin’s. He should be carrying her in a fireman’s lift, so he had one hand free.

  The fact that he wasn’t messed with her head in a way the torturers hadn’t been able to.

  “Boss?” the voice asked again.

  “Yes.” Kadin didn’t sound happy when he said it, either.

  “Tell her we’ll take care of it,” said another voice, this one with a distinct Texas twang.

  Another day, another time, Rachel would have demanded to know how, but right now? It was taking every single one of her stay-with-it molecules to keep from passing out, puking, or ignominiously doing both.

  Chapter Two

  Rachel slept on Kadin’s bedroll in his tent while Cowboy briefed him on the nighttime activity at the enemy compound. “Looks like she was right, Trigger. Those sorry bastards are all sleeping, along with everyone else in that compound except for a single guard on the perimeter.”

  “They’re relying too much on their remote location for security.”

  “Don’t sound so disgusted. If they were as good as we are, it would have taken a whole lot more effort to break in and rescue your girlfriend.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend.” There was a time when she’d been even more, but those days were gone.

  And it had been his choice to jettison their relationship. He’d done it for her sake, but he doubted she’d ever believed that. Women didn’t. And Rachel was more convinced of her own invulnerability than most.

  “Sure sounded like your girlfriend, screaming your name.”

  Kadin surged to his feet, ready to deck his friend.

  Cowboy stepped back, hands up in surrender. “Don’t get pissed at me, Trig. You know I didn’t mean it that way.”

  Kadin nodded once, his throat too raw to speak for a second.

  “All I’m saying is, she sure looked like your girlfriend, too, the way you were carrying her and all.” Cowboy had taken a few steps back before adding that bit of opinion to Kadin’s already screwed-up night.

  He was never going to get the sound of Rachel’s screams out of his head.

  “Why? Is that the way you carry your girlfriends?” Spazz asked Cowboy with an edge to his voice Kadin didn’t get but had no interest in figuring out right now.

  Cowboy frowned, all evidence of humor gone from his expression. “I don’t have any girlfriends.”

  “Right.” Spazz didn’t sound as if he bought that.

  Kadin wouldn’t, either, except he knew something about his old friend and former fellow MARSOC soldier that Spazz clearly wasn’t privy to.

  Cowboy’s shoulders bunched, and he sat down away from both of them. “Leave it alone, Neil.”

  “Spazz. Everybody calls me Spazz.”

  “I like Neil.”

  Well, piss and damn. Maybe Spazz had more of a clue than Kadin thought. It didn’t matter.

  “I do not need my team sniping at each other. Knock it off.” Kadin raised a hand when it looked as if Spazz would argue. The little guy had guts. Most wounded grizzlies would know better than to argue with Kadin right now, and a sane man should. “Both of you.”

  Spazz subsided with a muttered, “Sorry.”

  Cowboy didn’t apologize, but he didn’t open his trap again, either.

  “Spazz, you got one of those tech-dealies that can jam signals?” Kadin asked the wiry blond.

  Former Navy, the guy could do anything and everything with a computer and most technology. He was a kick-ass fighter, too, though, which was why the Atrati had recruited him.

  “I do.” Spazz went all-business, the man a soldier first. Just like the rest of them, even if they didn’t technically answer to Uncle Sam anymore. “My newest little toy will even work on a satphone transmission.”

  Kadin nodded. Given the remoteness of the location, satellite phones were likely in use. “What’s the radius?” he asked.

  “Half a click, but it will block everything, including our own transmitters.”

  Kadin nodded again. That was to be expected.

  “Why?” Cowboy asked.

  “In the morning, someone is going to figure out that Rachel isn’t in that room. We don’t want them communicating that fact to the men coming. She wants them identified.”

  “I heard. That little gal is as crazy as you, Trig,” Cowboy said, his voice laced with admiration.

  Even knowing what he did about his teammate, Kadin had to stifle a growl welling up inside.

  “You don’t think the brass are going to get suspicious when they can’t get through to their little compound in the mountains?” Cowboy asked.

  Kadin hoped not. “Areas like this, technology is spotty, even satphones.”

  Spazz agreed with a nod.

  “Wouldn’t it be best to make sure Rachel’s disappearance isn’t noticed in the first place?” Cowboy asked.

  “You have a plan to make that happen?”

  “Drug the guys who were doing the interrogation. While they’re sleeping. They won’t wake up early, and by the time their bosses arrive, no one’s had a chance to figure out that the prisoner isn’t in her cell.”

  It wasn’t a bad plan, but it left a hell of a lot up to chance. “And
if someone else checks on her or wakes the kidnappers?” Kadin asked.

  “Besides the three guys doing the interrogating, there are only two guards. One’s on watch. One is asleep. SOP would be for them to switch places sometime in the night. It’s not likely that either of them is going to check on the others.”

  Was standard-operating-procedure among terrorists enough to rely on? “What about the old woman who feeds them?” he quizzed Cowboy.

  “She’s not going near that cell without orders.”

  “And if she does?”

  “Then Neil’s little gizmo stops them from raising the alarm.”

  Spazz pulled a protein bar from his pocket and opened it. “As long as one of the guards doesn’t hike out to spread the alarm,” he commented.

  “If he does, I’ll be waiting for him.” Cowboy was damn near as good with a rifle as Kadin.

  “Do it,” Kadin ordered.

  Spazz flinched and tried to hide it by taking a bite of his food. The look of worry he gave Cowboy wasn’t lost on Kadin, either.

  The tough Texan who’d let his hair grow shoulder length after leaving the Marines seemed oblivious, though, as he got up to gather what he’d need for the assignment.

  “I don’t think Cowboy should go in without backup,” Spazz said.

  The techno-geek was right; Kadin had had no intention of sending Cowboy in alone. “You go with him. We’ll want listening devices planted so we can track movements.”

  Spazz nodded, jumping to his feet.

  “You’ll both stay to jam the communications if necessary and take recon on the arrival of the men in charge. I want face shots and names if you can get them.”

  “You got it, Trigger,” Cowboy drawled.

  “We’ll maintain camp here until tomorrow night.” They were far enough away from the secret compound not to be detected, and Rachel needed rest before she was going to be up to the hike back to their transport.

  “No one will expect us to stay in the area after rescuing the prisoner, that’s for sure.” Cowboy’s tone made it clear he shared a little of that disbelief.

  “Unless they bring troops with them, they aren’t going to have the manpower to search for us, either,” Spazz added, both men giving their tacit approval of the plan.

  Not that Kadin needed it, but it was nice to know his team didn’t think he was an idiot. He’d only taken over lead when their former captain, Roman Chernichenko, got promoted to management.

  Being in management worked for a man who was getting married, but Kadin couldn’t imagine leaving the field. He had nothing to stay Stateside for, anyway. He’d given up on dreams of home and family a long time ago.

  About the last time he’d seen Rachel Gannon standing under the big oak tree outside her grandmother’s house in their hometown.

  “We’ll break camp under the cover of dark tomorrow.” By then, he hoped Rachel would be able to walk without passing out. If she couldn’t, he’d carry her, but he’d rather have his hands free in case he needed to protect her.

  “I’m going to check on Rachel and then grab a few z’s. Peace is on guard duty.” Maluakeakua was a man who said he fought for peace … with his fists. Kadin had seen the laid-back Hawaiian in action too many times to doubt it. “Check in with him every fifteen. Report to me when you’re done with tonight’s assignment and in position for tomorrow morning.”

  Spazz and Cowboy nodded, both men already putting together the gear they needed for the revised mission.

  As he crawled into his tent, Kadin didn’t think about the fact that there wasn’t another person besides Rachel Gannon who could have convinced him to change his mission directive from retrieval to espionage.

  He crowded the small space already occupied by Rachel and their team medic, Eva. “How’s she doing, Doc?”

  “Her vitals are good, but I’ll feel better after we get her checked out at a decent medical facility.”

  Kadin looked down at the woman who had haunted his dreams and waking fantasies for ten long years. There were a couple of livid bruises on her face, along with one on her neck that showed above the light blanket covering curves he could still feel in the palms of his hands if he closed his eyes and thought hard enough.

  She used to tease him about what he saw in her, calling herself average. But to him she’d been anything but. And still was. He supposed at five-foot-five she was average height, but she’d always seemed small beside his big six-foot-two-inch frame. Her light brown hair might not be considered exotic, but he had loved running his fingers through it.

  Her pale blue eyes meant she had to wear sunglasses even on overcast days, or she’d squint in that adorable way of hers, but he could see everything in them. Her eyes had never hidden anything from him, and he’d been determined not to fill them with the horror that knowing what he’d become would do.

  Her lips were what he remembered the most often, though, their bow shape curved in a smile or open just a tiny bit, inviting a kiss. Images of the lips that were now cracked with dryness used to wake him in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. And he’d ache for what he couldn’t have.

  Her hair was a frazzled mess around her face, but she smelled better than she had when he’d found her. The sharp scent of disinfectant indicated that Doc had bathed Rachel with wipes and had probably just finished.

  Kadin frowned at every little proof of what those bastards had done to her. “She won’t leave until we get the information she’s after.”

  If he wasn’t so pissed, he would smile. Even in sleep, Rachel’s slightly squared jaw was set in stubborn lines.

  “She’s obstinate.” Doc shrugged. “Like someone else I know.”

  “You mean every member of this team, right?”

  Doc smiled and saluted in a touché gesture. “Maybe.”

  “We’ll get the intel tomorrow, and then we’re out of here.”

  Unlike his other teammates, Doc didn’t look as if she approved of that plan. “Can’t Spazz get the pictures with one of his handy gadgets while we take Miss Gannon down from the mountain and get her proper medical treatment?”

  “I suggested that to her.” When they’d gotten back to camp. “You were there.”

  It hadn’t been a suggestion, either, but Rachel had argued with what little strength and voice she had left. Batting away his hands and those of the medic, Rachel had refused medical treatment, or to even lie down, until he agreed she could stay until the men were identified.

  He’d finally given his promise. Something he would not break unless he had no choice.

  “Acho men. So she refused. Since when do you let the extractee tell you how to do your job, jefe?” Eva demanded.

  The woman was seriously irritated when she broke out the Spanish cuss words. Though damn it, chief was pretty mild.

  But Kadin’s answer was a simple one. Since that extractee had become Rachel Gannon, the one woman—hell, the one person—on the planet he didn’t know how to say no to and never had. Except the one time he’d made it count.

  He reached out, wanting to touch Rachel but knowing he shouldn’t. His hand hovered just above her arm. “She’s not up to the hike out, anyway.”

  “One of you could carry her.” Eva gave his immobile hand a worried look. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

  “It will be better for her if she gets some rest first, even if I do end up carrying her.” The idea had sounded reasonable in his head but not as convincing out loud.

  The look on Doc’s face said she was of the same mind. “It will be better for her to get to safety.”

  “Rachel came to Africa to do a job. She’s not going to leave without doing it.”

  “If you indulge her.”

  “She deserves a little indulgence after what she’s been through.” Damn. What the hell had the woman been thinking, taking this assignment?

  But that was a question he’d been asking himself ever since discovering that the agent who’d come to Africa to pretend to be Tanya Ruston six m
onths ago was Rachel. And he didn’t expect to get an answer anytime soon. Not that he wasn’t going to ask her when she woke, but he had a feeling Rachel wasn’t going to think she owed him any explanations.

  Doc sighed, her Latin temper calming a little. “I can’t argue with that.”

  “Good.”

  “Damn it, Trigger, I didn’t mean—”

  Kadin cut Eva off. It was really bad when she started swearing in English. “You’re the medic. Tell me she wouldn’t improve with some rest and nourishment.”

  “That’s not the point. Until we get her on a plane back to the States, she’s at risk for recapture. This organization she’s been gathering intel on isn’t some fly-by-night operation. They had an in with the Zimbabwean army and no doubt have all the connections they need here in Morocco.”

  “Then I’ll just have to keep her safe, won’t I?”

  “We, Kadin. We’re a team. Remember?”

  “I remember.”

  “Fuche!” That meant phew, or something like it, and Kadin let out a breath of relief, but Eva wasn’t done. “Roman wouldn’t have let the mark dictate the plan for evac.”

  “Roman isn’t our captain anymore. I am.”

  “Then act like it.”

  “I am. I made the call. We’re leaving tomorrow. Deal with it.”

  Eva frowned, no doubt cursing him out in Spanish in her head, but not a word of it passed her lips.

  He forced himself to say, “If you’re okay in here, I’ll go get some shut-eye.”

  He didn’t want Rachel out of his sight.

  “This is your tent, and don’t think you’re going to take over mine. She’s stable. You can watch over her while she sleeps as easily as I can.”

  “You’re the medic.”

  “And you have a calming influence on her.”

  “She looks plenty calm.”

  “Exactly.” Doc sighed. “Ten minutes ago, she was having nightmares. She was so tense, she looked like she was having convulsions. I tried to calm her, but I didn’t want to sedate her, you know? Her entire body went lax when she heard your voice, telling the boys to chill. And she’s stayed calm the whole time we’ve been talking.”