Erika held her breath, she knew what was coming. Without being told, she saw it in Aiden's eyes.
"I thought he was alone. I thought we had him cornered in a back office. I called in the SEALs and went in. Natalie followed. All I could think about was getting home. Have you ever been to Cancuen? It's an armpit of a shithole country. A hotbed of terrorist activity and drug trade. The place needs to be turned into a fucking parking lot.
"I saw what I thought was Sonny and advanced. Then I heard Natalie call out my name. Sonny had one arm around her throat and a gun to her head. I tried to hold him off until the SEAL team arrived. We were under orders to bring him in alive. I couldn't risk shooting to disarm him, the possibility that he could react fast enough to pull the trigger and kill Natalie terrified me. The pro-American government wanted to put him on trial, to make an example of him. I knew one of the SEALs was a sharpshooter with the precision to knock the Glock right out of Sonny's hand. I just had to buy some time."
Aiden shuddered and curled his body inward. “I must have given something away, clued Sonny in somehow that I had backup. I thought he was dropping the gun. Instead, he shot Natalie in the back. Oh, God, the blood and who knows what else.” His voice shook as he continued. “Sonny threw her at me. Threw her, like a piece of trash. I held her as she died. She asked me to tell her parents that she loved them and to inform her boyfriend she was sorry she wouldn't be able to marry him.” Tears shimmered in his eyes, but he blinked them back.
Now she understood. Why he left the Air Force. Why he needed to recapture Sonny. Why he feared for his daughter. “It was not your fault. Sonny is solely to blame."
"It was my fault. I should have known he'd never slip up and allow us to intercept a cell phone call. I should have known it was too easy to trap him. And I never should have let him know I had backup coming. I never should have gone in the first place without goddamned backup in place. I was a fucking intelligence officer. Who the hell did I think I was trying to capture Sonny?"
Erika mustered her best I'm-an-officer-and-you'd-better-damn-well-listen-to-me voice. “It was not your fault."
"I knew Sonny better than anyone. I should have known. I failed Natalie. I won't fail Samantha."
* * * *
He'd said the words out loud for the first time since he'd broken down in the shrink's office. The air rorce had required him to pay a visit or five to a psychologist who'd diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder. Sheesh, any idiot who'd taken Psychology 101 could have managed that diagnosis. Still, he'd done as his CO ordered and gone to therapy.
Then he'd kept his promise to Natalie and honored her dying wish. Meeting her parents and her fiancé had been the hardest thing he'd ever done. Her parents were grateful for the visit, relieved to know she hadn't been alone or tortured or violated at the end. The visit had been a dab of balm on a blistering, festering wound, too little, too late.
He'd fulfilled his obligation to the United States Air Force and the taxpayers who'd put him through the Academy. He left active duty without looking back. For the first time since he was a sophomore in high school, he had no idea what he was going to do with his life—no goals, no focus, no drive.
He sat staring at Erika's sensible blue pumps, every inch of her the Air Force officer, down to her Academy ring. He realized that he'd wandered through his life since then. Oh, sure, he'd gone to law school and graduated at the top of his class, then he'd joined the most successful firm in Cincinnati. He'd married and had children. But he'd been a spectator in his own life, not an active participant.
Only after Erika knocked him on his ass, literally, figuratively, and every way in between, did he wake up. He'd be damned if he'd allow Sonny to take that away from him again.
Aiden tilted his wrist so the face of his watch was visible. Twenty minutes before the start of class. Twenty minutes before show time. A thrill rippled through him, one he hadn't felt since long before he signed the papers that ended his military career.
Looking up, he found Erika staring at him. He expected to find disgust or pity. Instead, he saw compassion, tenderness, and something unidentifiable. Bracing his hands on the arms of the seat, he pushed to his feet.
"We need to get in place.” He jerked his head to indicate the few students trickling in.
She nodded, taking up a position off to the side of the door. He made his way to the entrance, careful to make sure he stayed in her line of sight. He scanned the faces of the incoming boys, watching for the one who bore a striking resemblance to Sonny. If the little shit cut class, Aiden swore he'd track him down at his apartment and smack him around for dragging this out.
The flow of students picked up, putting a strain on Aiden's abilities. It had been a long time since he'd done this sort of work. Then he saw him.
"Hey, Tonio,” Aiden called out. “Over here, man.” And prayed the kid fell for the ruse.
Antonio Ramos turned in his direction with a wave of acknowledgement, and swam through the growing throng in Aiden's direction. Erika moved in behind him.
"Do I know you?” The accented English bore the faint sounds of Cancuen.
"We've never met, but I know your father and he asked me to—” Aiden led Antonio to the door. The muscles in his body jumped and tensed, prepared to use physical force if necessary. The ticket to getting his daughter back safely was in his grasp and he had no intention of letting it slip through his fingers.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. What did you say about my father?"
Erika snapped a handcuff to Antonio's wrist. The other end was already attached to hers. “We need you to come with us. I'm going to take your hand. You can either walk away with me, holding hands, or we can cuff you behind your back and make a scene. The choice is yours. Either way, we won't hurt you.” The tone in Erika's voice was deadly serious.
Apparently, Junior heard the ominous warning as well. “Where are we going?"
"Back to our hotel so we can have a little conversation with your father.” She dropped her jacket over their joined hands, covering the handcuffs from casual view.
"I haven't seen or heard from my father in years. I can't imagine why he'd even care.” A range of emotions crossed Antonio's face—fear and confusion chief among them.
"Oh, he'll care, all right.” Aiden allowed Erika to take the lead and followed behind, ignoring the knot in his gut at seeing Erika hold hands with another man, even as a part of her duty.
Thanks to Erika's skill and professionalism, they managed to transport their “guest” back to their hotel room without incident. She handcuffed him to the desk chair and sat on the bed, watching him.
Aiden's mind raced through the next steps in the process, anxious to keep the ball rolling now that they had significant leverage in the game. Junior over there may have thought his father didn't care, but Aiden knew better. Men like Sonny were predictable when it came to their heirs. Male children were important for their place in the organization. They were the future leaders. Aiden harbored no doubts that Sonny planned to groom Antonio to take over for him and would, therefore, do just about anything to keep his son safe. It was a weakness Aiden counted on.
Why was Erika just sitting on the bed, waiting? “Do you plan to call the colonel?"
"Are you sure this is the way you want this to go down?"
"Do you have a better idea?"
Erika moved to the window, pulled out the satellite phone and punched a few buttons. “Dalton, here. We have the target in custody. Yes, sir. We will, sir.” She clicked the device shut after the brief conversation.
He waited for her to fill him in on the details.
"The colonel will get in touch with the contact and then get back to us. In the meantime, we're supposed to sit tight and not do anything stupid."
Laughter erupted from Aiden. As hard as he tried, he couldn't imagine the colonel saying, “Don't do anything stupid.” More likely than not, that was Erika's way of putting in her smart-ass opinion.
"Woul
d someone please tell me what is going on here?"
Aiden had wondered how long it would take for Junior to ask questions. There was no point in being anything but honest. “Your father has kidnapped my daughter. My three year old, very innocent, very helpless daughter. You are my guarantee that he'll return her to me safely."
"I haven't seen my father since I was fifteen years old. He was arrested and sent to prison. My sisters and I moved to Puerto Vallarta with our mother and I haven't heard from him since. So I don't know why you think he'd care one way or another about me."
"He'll care, trust me.” Aiden directed his comment as much at Erika as at Junior.
"Who the hell are you to think you can predict my father's actions?"
Stiffening his spine and his resolve, Aiden faced the son of the man he hated most in the world. “My name is Aiden Greene. Perhaps you've heard of me."
Antonio's face mottled with rage. He never looked more like his father than he did at that moment. “Dios mio. You're the man who turned my father over to the Cancuen authorities. The man who destroyed my family."
Aiden didn't flinch from the derision and disgust he heard in the young man's tone. “Your father deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars. If I have anything to say about it, when he's arrested this time, he'll spend the rest of his miserable life in solitary confinement at the United States supermax facility in Colorado. It's the least he has coming to him for the countless lives he's ruined."
Antonio struggled against the handcuffs securing him to the chair. For his effort, he bounced himself around, but wasn't able to break free. He spit at Aiden, missing him by several feet and launched into a stream of invectives in Spanish that Aiden was hopeful Erika couldn't understand. But, knowing her, she spoke the language fluently.
Well, they probably wouldn't have a complacent “guest” any longer.
Grabbing the complimentary copy of the local newspaper, Aiden made himself comfortable on the bed. He tossed the pillows to the side and reclined back against the headboard. It felt as if half an hour had passed before he glanced at the alarm clock on the night stand, only to find that ten minutes had elapsed. His skin crawled, his muscles twitched. He needed to do something, anything. What he had to do was play it calm, cool, and collected for Junior's benefit. Even if it drove him fucking goofy.
He looked over at Erika, who browsed through a copy of a local magazine. Her foot tapped a steady beat on the carpet. Almost as if she felt his eyes on her, she looked up, her frustration evident in her scowl. At least he wasn't alone.
The words on the newsprint jumbled before his eyes as he attempted to go back to reading the paper. He couldn't focus, couldn't concentrate. The air in the room grew warm, stuffy. He paced to the thermostat and cranked up the air.
Out of the corner of his eye, he kept catching even the slightest movement Junior made. Every time he noticed the young man, his thoughts sprang to his daughter. How was she? How was she being treated? Was she scared without her mother? God help Sonny if he laid so much as a pinky finger on Samantha. He wouldn't have a chance to rot away in a hell-hole prison. Aiden would send him there on the express bus, driving the damn thing himself if he had to.
"It's almost lunch time. Do you want to go grab some burgers or would you like me to?"
Erika's voice saved Aiden from diving deeper into the grizzly thoughts of what could be happening to Samantha. “Why don't you go?” He didn't like the thought of her being alone in a room with Sonny's spawn, no matter how competent she was. God only knew how far that apple fell from the tree. He refused to think about the things she'd done that he didn't know about. Things that made babysitting a handcuffed twenty year old look like a breeze.
"Sounds good. I remember passing a couple of fast food joints. I'll grab something and head right back. Will you be okay?” She jerked her head in the direction of their “guest."
"We'll be just fine. Don't worry about us."
She gathered up her purse and scooted around Antonio. As she reached the door, her phone chirped. “Dalton here. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. We'll be waiting, sir."
Aiden was at her side before her phone snapped shut. “Well?"
"Sonny has made contact."
"And?” His stomach turned flips. If Sonny told them to go to hell, Aiden was prepared to offer himself in exchange for his daughter. After all, he was what Sonny really wanted. He'd rather trade one child for another and still have the chance to bring the bastard to justice. He'd do what he had to for Samantha.
"Sonny is willing to negotiate Samantha's return for Antonio's release."
Chapter 15
Erika sat at the table in the hotel room that served as a desk, among its other functions, searching the Internet. Much to her amazement, Aiden's plan had worked. Sonny caved like an old coal mine and was willing to negotiate. So she and the folks back at Bolling were searching for an out-of-the-way place to make the exchange. Sonny was still too much of a wild card to attempt the switch in a public place where an innocent bystander might happen to stroll by. As she'd suspected, the university and its surroundings were about the only civilized spots in the valley. The mountains rising around it offered a wealth of possibilities. They just had to locate the perfect site—a field suitable for a helicopter landing. They were going to insist that Samantha be brought in by chopper, with surrounding dense woods to allow the Special Tactics Team to secure the area and to provide cover for the Army Rangers Erika wanted on hand to capture Sonny, should he be stupid enough to come along with Aiden's daughter.
Sitting straight, she stretched her arms over her head in a futile attempt to relieve the tension in her neck and back. She'd been forced to pull the plush chair over to the table since Antonio remained chained to the desk chair. Her current seating arrangement left much to be desired. It was too low and too soft, wreaking havoc on her muscles.
Her skin broke out in a burning tingle, just like it did every time Aiden looked at her. Glancing up, her eyes locked with his, the connection intense and powerful. He quirked one corner of his mouth, the gesture accentuating the deep groove that set off his lips. His gaze told her he wished he could give her a backrub. She wished so, too. Since they'd brought Antonio into the room, they'd been forced to maintain a professional distance and it was killing her.
Not for the first time, she wondered how she was going to survive without Aiden once this whole ordeal was over. Because unless she managed to convince him that she could be an AFSA officer and a wife and mother, they'd go their separate ways once Sonny was back in custody. In a few short days, he'd stepped back into her life and wrapped himself around her heart. She'd never love another man the way she loved Aiden Greene.
Her computer chirped, forcing her attention back to her work. Aiden was at her side before she managed to open the secure message. In order to prevent Antonio from learning anything that could help his father, she'd switched to electronic communication to set up the details. Bolling Intelligence had located the ideal location, approximately twenty miles south of the town on land owned by the university. They'd been given the go-ahead to use the site. Special Tactics Officers were en route to evaluate. If they deemed it acceptable for the purpose, Sonny would be contacted and the exchange would take place at nineteen hundred hours. As requested, a SEAL team was on stand-by, prepared to insert on the word from the STO.
Tension radiated from every pore of Aiden's body as he read the message. His hair had long since pulled free of the tie, the dark strands hanging in wild disarray around his face as a result of having been repeatedly finger combed. Was it her imagination, or had the stress of the past days caused a gray hair or two?
Six more hours until he knew whether or not his daughter was safe, and he held her in his arms. Six more hours until they knew whether or not this was all over, or the hunt for Sonny had just begun. She chafed at the delay. Aiden must be ready to crawl out of his skin. Because of their “guest,” she wasn't able to comfort him the way her body longed to do.
Afraid she'd blurt out the wrong words at the worst possible time, Erika hopped to her feet and began scurrying around, cleaning up the remains of the lunch she'd picked up. Aiden took her place in front of the computer and began tapping at the keyboard.
Erika jumped, her heart slamming to a stop, at the shrill jangle of her cell phone. “Dalton here."
"Sonny would like to talk to his son, to make sure he's being properly treated,” the colonel's voice boomed in her ear.
"I can arrange that. But if that's the case, I think Aiden should be allowed to talk to Samantha. Fair is fair.” She turned to watch as both men sat up straighter, all their attention focused on her.
"I'll make it happen. Sonny is calling back in five minutes. I'll patch him through if he is willing to meet the demand.” He disconnected the call, so she clicked her phone shut.
Aiden waited for her to speak, perched on the edge of the chair. Antonio sat as straight as possible with his hands locked around the arm of his seat.
"Sonny has asked to speak with you, Antonio. He wants to be sure you're all right. We'll allow him to speak with you as long as he agrees to allow Samantha to talk with her father."
An almost imperceptible relief shined in Aiden's eyes. Thank you, he mouthed to her. Maybe this would help relieve a fraction of the stress. Not as much as a hot and sweaty sex session ... whoa. Now was not the time to be thinking about getting naked.
A breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding escaped from her when the phone rang a few short minutes later.
"I want to talk to my son."
She'd never heard Sonny's voice before. For some reason, she expected him to sound evil, maniacal. Instead, the cultured tones of a Latin American businessman came across the phone. “I believe Aiden should be the first one to speak with his child. He's been waiting much longer for reassurance."
The Class of '93 Trilogy: Deadly Briefs Page 19