Maddy Lawrence's Big Adventure

by Linda Turner

  When his fingers slid up her ribs in search of the sweet fullness of her breasts, he was blind to everything but the desire heating his blood. Then he heard her moan, felt her stiffen, then shrink away from him, and the events of the day came flooding back in a rush. Swearing, he jerked his hands back, releasing her with a speed that would have been comical if he hadn’t been so disgusted with himself.

  “Dammit to hell! I didn’t mean to hurt you. Are you okay? Honey, let me take a look—”

  “No!”

  She stepped away from him with a speed that was like a slap in the face, and suddenly he was furious—with himself, with her, with the entire situation. This had started out as a simple surveillance and tracking job. The kind he did all the time without breaking a sweat. How the hell had it gotten so complicated so fast? Cursing in seven different languages, he growled, “I don’t know what you thought you were doing, but that was a stupid thing to do.”

  “Me? You kissed me!”

  “I might have started it—because you pushed me—but you weren’t just standing there like a piece of dead wood, lady. You kissed me back!”

  It was a ludicrous accusation, one she immediately pounced on. “Well, of course I kissed you back, you big lug! Wasn’t I supposed to?”

  “Hell, no! I mean, yes!” Swearing, he speared an impatient hand through his hair. “Let’s just get something straight right here and now, Little Miss Innocent. We might set off fireworks every time we touch, but that’s as far as it’s going to go. So don’t get any ideas about me. Okay?”

  It was a warning, pure and simple, a slap in the face he never meant to just blurt out. Damning his fool tongue, Ace opened his mouth to backpedal, but it was too late. Standing proudly before him, she somehow managed to look down her nose at him even though she was nearly a foot shorter than he was. “I beg your pardon?”

  She was as snooty as a queen questioning a commoner, and even though he knew he was the one in the wrong, it rubbed him the wrong way. “You heard me,” he snapped. “I’m nobody’s hero. Is that clear enough? I may have saved you from Cement Johnny, but that’s the closest I’ll ever come to looking like a bloody knight on a white horse. So if you think a few kisses and a hot little romance in the jungle is going to lead to happily-ever-after, I’ve got news for you, baby. It’s not ever going to happen. I tried that once, and once was enough.”

  He practically threw the words at her, but to her credit, she didn’t so much as flinch. “You were married?”

  “Oh, yeah,” he said bitterly. “To a woman I was nuts about. I would have trusted her with my life. The only problem was I shouldn’t have trusted her with my best friend.” His mouth twisted in a travesty of a smile. “But, hey, live and learn, right? Believe me, honey, I learned. There’s no such thing as Santa Claus or the tooth fairy or the twelfth of never. So don’t look to me to put stars in your eyes and promise you forever. It’s not going to happen.”

  He saw the hurt in her eyes and had to clamp his teeth together to keep from taking it all back. No, a good clean blow was always for the best, he decided grimly. If this didn’t strip those rose-colored glasses from her eyes, nothing would. He was too hard, too callous, for the likes of her. He’d stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago, and she was a woman who thrived on them. Anyone with an ounce of perception could see that she needed a man who could give her hearts and flowers. He wasn’t that man. Better she see that now, than later, after she’d made the mistake of thinking herself in love with him.

  Pale, each angry word striking her right in the heart, Maddy never knew where she got the strength to face him without crying. She just knew she couldn’t let him see how he’d hurt her. Her eyes stinging but dry, she said stiffly, “I don’t remember asking for forever or anything else. Just because I’m not as experienced as you obviously are doesn’t mean I’m going to lose my head over a few kisses. And that’s all they were…a few kisses. Nice, but nothing to write home about,” she lied. “You might be a great lover—but frankly, I don’t ever plan to find out for sure. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to bed. Please put out the light before you turn in.”

  Ignoring the pain that flared in her side and shoulder—it was nothing compared to the one that squeezed her heart—she turned her back on him and dropped down to her sleeping bag. She heard him swear, but she only closed her eyes and waited for the oblivion of sleep. It was a long time coming.

  Dawn was just a glint on the horizon the next morning when the alarm on Ace’s watch woke them both. Outside, the rain had finally stopped, but the trees were still dripping, and there was no question that their trek through the jungle on foot was going to be a soggy one…and slow going. And they were already running short on time.

  Grabbing his clothes, Ace tugged them on in the dark. “Breakfast is on the run this morning,” he told Maddy tersely. “Get dressed while I make sure Dominic’s up. We’re leaving as soon as we can break camp.”

  He was gone before Maddy could even lift her head. Burying her face deeper into her arms, she groaned as every muscle in her body seemed to tighten in protest. “Good morning to you, too,” she muttered huskily. “God, how am I going to get up?”

  It wasn’t easy. Her teeth clamped tight on a curse, her heart pounding and her palms damp, she inched her way up off the ground like an old man with rheumatism on a cold morning. It seemed to take forever just to sit up, but at least the contusions along her ribs weren’t burning like they had last night. Now if she could just manage to hook her bra by herself, she’d have it made in the shade.

  She’d just barely reached for the hem of the T-shirt Ace had dressed her in last night, however, when he burst back into the tent, cursing like a sailor. “He’s gone! Dammit to hell, I should have known he was planning something like this last night. He all but told me—”

  “What? Who? What are you talking about?”

  “Dominic,” he said flatly. “He’s taken his tent and the canoe and just left us here high and dry.”

  “What? But he couldn’t! He wouldn’t do that.”

  Switching on the flashlight, he tossed a crumbled note into her lap. “Here. Read it for yourself. I found this in a plastic bag under a rock where his tent was. He must have left in the middle of the night after he was sure we were asleep or I would have heard him. Dammit, how the hell could he do this?”

  Lifting the wad of paper with trembling fingers, Maddy smoothed it out and frowned down at the barely legible message that was a mix between a humble apology for leaving them in the lurch and a dire warning of danger. “It sounds like he was really terrified of Barrera. But if that was the case, why did he agree to be our guide in the first place? You would have found someone else if he’d turned us down.”

  Ace sighed in disgust. “Who the hell knows? Maybe he needed the money for his family and thought we’d turn back when things got rough. Or maybe he thought he could handle it. Last night, he told me this would be the last chance to turn back—once we left the river behind, we could run into Barrera’s men at any time. I guess he got to thinking about it and decided that was a risk he didn’t want to take.”

  Setting the note down, Maddy glanced up at him, her expression somber as her eyes locked with his. “So now what do we do? He left directions to Barrera’s stronghold. Do we go after Lazear or head back upriver?”

  “That’s up to you.”

  She arched a brow at that. “Me? Why me?”

  “Because you haven’t had much say in any of this up to now,” he retorted honestly, surprising her. “Yesterday, you could have been seriously hurt, and today things could get even dicier. For all we know, the devil could be just over the next ridge. You’ve got a right to say if you want to go on or turn back.”

  Her eyes searching his, Maddy hesitated, torn. If they turned back, her time with him would end as soon as they got back to Caracas and he could book her on a flight to New York. If they went on, there was no telling what kind of danger they would be walking into. She did
n’t doubt for a minute that he would protect her with his life, but as safe as she felt with him, he wasn’t Superman.

  “What would you do if I wasn’t along?” she asked.

  “That’s beside the point.”

  “You’d go after Lazear.” It wasn’t a question, but a flat statement of fact that she knew he couldn’t deny. He didn’t even try. “Even knowing that you might end up in Barrera’s hands, you’d go on.”

  “That’s what I get paid to do. You don’t. And, anyway, I’ve ended up in tougher spots.”

  Maddy couldn’t imagine anything tougher than being in Barrera’s clutches—his name alone was all it had taken to send Dominic scrambling downriver—but if anyone could handle him, it was Ace. She’d seen with her own eyes how he thrived on danger. Against all odds, he continued to outwit ruthless thugs who wanted nothing more than to put a bullet between his eyes. If he thought he could take on Lazear and Barrera single-handedly and still come out the winner, who was she to doubt him?

  “And you lived to tell about it,” she reminded him as she ignored her stiff muscles and pushed to her feet. “You will this time, too. Are we leaving the stuff here or taking it with us? We can move faster without the backpacks.”

  “Dammit, Maddy, don’t do this because of me—”

  “That’s the only reason I’d do it,” she said simply. Stepping around him, she put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him toward the tent entrance. “Give me a couple of minutes to get dressed and we can hit the trail.”

  Wanting to shake her, Ace dug in his heels and scowled over his shoulder at her. He shouldn’t let her do this, dammit! She didn’t have a clue what she was agreeing to. Even if they were able to catch Lazear before he sought sanctuary with Barrera, he wouldn’t just throw up his hands and surrender like a good little boy. He’d fight like hell and wouldn’t care who he hurt in the process if it meant getting away. And then there was Barrera. A snake in the grass if there ever was one, the man had a reputation for being a real bastard who had sold his soul to the devil long ago. No depravity was too low for him, no vice too sick. With more money than God, and an army of paid assassins to protect him, he was a virtual dictator in his little corner of the world.

  Given his choice, Ace wouldn’t have taken Maddy anywhere near either man. But he couldn’t leave her there at camp alone while he went after Lazear, and Dominic had made it impossible for him to send her back to Caracas with him. He either had to let her go with him or give up. And she would fight him on that.

  His jaw clenching, he told himself he could take care of her and prayed it was true. “Okay. We’ll go on…on one condition. You carry a gun at all times, and if you have to, you use the damn thing.”

  Her eyes wide, she blanched. “But I’ve never even held one. I wouldn’t know what to do with it.”

  “Just point the damn thing and squeeze the trigger. You’ll hit something. Just make sure it’s not me.”

  Ten minutes later, they took off into the jungle. Loaded down with nothing but food and water and all the ammunition they could carry, they took off at a brisk pace with Ace in the lead, following the directions Dominic left them. But as soon as they were out of sight of the river, just walking became a chore. So far from civilization, the jungle was virtually untouched by man. The vegetation was so thick it had to be chopped away with a machete, and because of the heavy rain overnight, they found themselves up to their ankles in mud. Forced to slow down, their chances of catching up with Lazear grew dimmer and dimmer as the morning dragged on.

  Then they came across signs of a camp that looked as if it had just broken up.

  “It had to be Lazear,” Ace said as he knelt down to examine the vegetation that had been flattened recently by tents. “Nobody else would be stupid enough to come this far into Barrera’s territory.”

  Her breathing ragged and her heart jumping in her breast, Maddy glanced around nervously, but the jungle around them seemed deserted. “How far ahead of us do you think he is?”

  “Fifteen or twenty minutes judging from the condition of these plants,” he said grimly, pushing to his feet. “He couldn’t know we’re behind him or he never would have left this for us to find.”

  Maddy closed her eyes on a quick prayer. The nightmare was almost over. “What about Barrera? How close is his place?”

  “An hour, no more.” Pulling his gun from where he’d shoved it into his waistband behind his back, he checked to make sure it was loaded, then shoved it back into place, this time within easy reach at the front of his jeans. He then did the same thing for Maddy, his eyes locking with hers as he eased the weapon between her waistband and stomach. “Keep your eyes peeled, Red. Things could get sticky fast. If you hear anything, see anything—hell, if you just get nervous—don’t be afraid to draw your gun. Okay?”

  Her mouth dry, the barrel of the revolver like a fist against her stomach, Maddy nodded. But deep inside, she was wondering what in the world had possessed her to think she could do this. She was a librarian, for heaven’s sake! She didn’t know anything about guns or men who handled them as casually as Ace did. She had no business being out here in the wilds of Venezuela pursuing anyone, let alone a man like Lazear who probably wouldn’t think twice about shooting her if he got the chance.

  But it was too late to change her mind. Ace had caught his quarry’s scent and there would be no turning back now. Stiffening her spine, she forced a smile. “I’ll shoot anything that moves…except you.”

  “I’d appreciate that,” he said dryly, his mouth quirking in a smile. “Let’s go.”

  He picked up the pace then, just as she knew he would, and it took all her concentration not to lag behind. Her sore muscles had thankfully loosened up with the exercise, but she had what felt like at least five pounds of mud caked to her shoes, weighting down every step.

  Breathless, her legs starting to quiver, she glanced up to see how far ahead of her Ace was and took a step. In the next instant, her left foot caught on something and she went sprawling into the mud with a startled shriek.

  Ace whirled, swearing, his gun already in his hand, to find her on her hands and knees, her clothes and face splattered with mud. “What the hell! Are you okay? What happened?”

  “I tripped.” Muttering at her own clumsiness, she lifted a hand to wipe a soggy blob away from her cheek and left a streak of mud instead as Ace shoved his gun back into his jeans and hunkered down beside her. “It must have been a root or something…”

  They both turned to look down at her feet, but instead of finding a root or a branch hidden in the undergrowth, they saw a thin black wire that was stretched across the path and almost invisible in the vegetation.

  “What the—” Not liking his sudden suspicions, Ace jerked out his gun. Something moved in the bushes. He fired, lightning quick. Instantly, six men materialized out of the shadows of the jungle as silently as ghosts. Dressed in camouflage and armed with the latest thing in semiautomatic weapons, there was no question that they were Barrera’s men…or that they had them surrounded.

  Beside him, Maddy gasped and fumbled for her own pistol. “Oh, God!”

  Just as it went off, firing harmlessly into the air, Ace wrenched it from her hands before she got them killed. Furiously, he cursed himself. He should have known that a man like Barrera wasn’t going to let anyone just walk up to his stronghold without having traps and surveillance devices all over the place to warn him of intruders. Not even a rank amateur would have been that careless, and he had no one to blame but himself. When Maddy fell, he’d been so sure that she’d just tripped over a log that he’d let his guard down. And that was an unforgivable mistake.

  Carefully inching his fingers around her gun, he murmured, “Don’t panic. We might be able to talk our way out of this-”

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, señ;zor,” a mercenary who seemed to be in charge said coldly in Spanish. “My men would have to shoot you, and then where would the señ;orita be? Your weapons, please.”r />
  It wasn’t a request, but an order, one that Ace would have given anything to defy. But there was a time to fight and a time to step back and think reasonably. Beside him, he could feel Maddy start to tremble, then stiffen as she tried to hide her fear, but there was nothing he could do to reassure her. Slowly he started to band over their weapons.

  “What are you doing?” she cried, grabbing at his hand. “You can’t just give them to them. They’ll kill us for sure then!”

  “That’s what I’m trying to avoid, sweetheart,” he murmured in a low voice that didn’t carry beyond her ears. “You’re going to have to trust me.” For a second, her fingers tightened around his, her eyes pleading with his while the mercenaries surrounding them visibly tensed. She never spared them a glance. Then, just when he thought she was going to really create problems for them, she released her hold on his wrist.

  Relieved, he let out his breath in a rush. “Good girl,” he said approvingly, and helped her to her feet.

  “Come,” the tough-looking hombre in charge said coldly, and urged them down the path they’d been following only moments before. Surrounded, they had no choice but to do as they were told.

  Chapter 9

  Barrera’s stronghold was like something out of a Steven Spielberg adventure movie. Built of stone, it rose up out of the jungle floor with no warning whatsoever, a huge, towering, impressive structure that was as silent and cold as a tomb. There were few windows, but there was little doubt that there were eyes watching from somewhere—the second their guards prodded them toward the fortress’s narrow entrance, the solid steel gates blocking their passage silently swung open.

  Maddy’s hand tightly held in his, Ace looked around with pretended nonchalance, memorizing every door and possible avenue of escape. When he turned back to the burly, granite-faced man in charge, his grin was deliberately cocky. “Not a bad place you’ve got here, Bubba,” he drawled mockingly in English. “A little cold for my taste, but I guess you sun yourself on the battlements just like the rest of the snakes whenever the chill gets to you.”