by Debra Webb
That person no longer existed.
She’d seen too much. Realized how petty her problems were in the overall scheme of things. There were people like Logan who died every day to make sure people like her were safe and could live their lives the way they chose.
As angry as she was at Logan and Mission Recovery, she could never look at things the way she had before. Things simply weren’t black and white. There was lots of gray. And she was in the middle of about the grayest moment she’d dreamed could exist.
She would see this thing through. She would not turn her back on Logan—could not. She loved him, dammit. Their lovemaking, scandalous as it was in the back seat of that limo, had sealed her fate, physically and mentally. Of course, she understood that he didn’t love her, that a woman like her wasn’t in his plans. And that was okay, she would live with it. Well, maybe it wasn’t okay, but she would learn to live with it. No matter what she thought she read in his eyes or in any action he had taken since this whole thing started, it was all about the mission for him. Yesterday didn’t change anything. In fact, he’d tried to get her to stop.
He had wanted her physically, but that was all.
She still wanted him. No matter how angry he’d made her. No matter that he would never love her…
Enough, she ordered silently. She might have thrown Esteban’s suspicions off track last night, but she was not stupid. The driver or someone who just happened to oversee what really happened could blow their cover. Suspicious or not, Esteban would be watching them closely now. She had to focus…to play the game.
It was the only way to cheat death. To rescue Esteban’s sister.
To help Logan accomplish the mission.
POUNDING ON THE DOOR snapped Logan from his own worrisome thoughts. He was pretty sure Erin was awake, but she’d remained quiet, so he had, too. They were both up now.
He grabbed his weapon and tugged on his jeans, stumbling toward the door as he did. He flipped the light switch and jerked the door open. “What?”
It was Cortez.
“There is a briefing in five minutes.”
“We’ll be there.”
Cortez stared pointedly at him. “Only you.”
Logan swore silently as he watched the man amble away. He slammed the door and plowed his fingers through his hair. What now? There weren’t any runs scheduled for a couple of days. Tension coiled inside him. What was Esteban up to? Had he found out what really happened in L.A.? If he intended to execute Logan this morning, that would leave Erin at his mercy. Logan had to find a way to get her out of here.
Logan turned to find her waiting in the bedroom door, fear etched across her face.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” He wanted to say so much more, but couldn’t.
“I’ll get dressed.”
“No need. He only wants me.”
Her gaze connected fully with his. He saw the worry there. “Fine, I’ll take a shower then.”
“Fine,” he said stiffly.
She crooked a finger for him to follow her. As he did, she snagged a writing pen from the dresser and then went into the bathroom. She turned on the shower and sat down on the closed toilet lid. After tearing off a long section of white toilet paper, she started writing.
She offered him the note. He took it, their fingers brushed, sending an electrical charge straight to his loins, clenching his gut. He flinched before he could stop himself. The note read: Don’t go! What if he plans to kill you?
He took the pen from her and scribbled his response.
I have to go. You know that. Keep your head down. I WILL be back for you.
She shook her head adamantly when she read the note, then started writing again. DON’T GO! she penned in huge letters.
He just looked at her. She knew he had no choice.
Her hands were shaking now, but she wrote furiously. When she handed the note to him tears were brimming in her eyes. God, he wanted to hold her. To promise her it would be all right. He blinked, startled by the strength of his own emotions.
He stared down at her handwriting. Swear to me that you’ll come back. Swear that you won’t let him kill you.
He crumpled the toilet paper. So many feelings bombarded him at once that he couldn’t sort them…couldn’t understand.
She pushed up, forced him to look her in the eye, took the paper from him and placed his right hand over her heart and then waited for his response.
He stared into those shimmering violet eyes, felt the beating of her heart beneath his palm and knew that no matter what it took, he would be back for her. He pulled her into his arms, held her tighter than he ever had before. He felt her tremble…or maybe it was him.
He pressed his lips to her ear, “I swear I will be back for you.”
He kissed her hard and fast, then walked out. He grabbed a shirt and his shoes on the way to the door. He didn’t look back. Knew better than to look back.
One backward glance and he’d never be able to leave her.
Erin stood in the bedroom doorway, the crumpled length of toilet paper in her hand, and watched him go.
Her heart raced in her chest. She had to find Maria and try to figure out what Esteban was up to this morning. Maybe, together, they could escape and somehow help Logan.
Erin turned off the shower, then ripped the paper into smaller lengths, rewadded each piece and flushed them down the toilet. She had to hurry. She finger-combed her hair and pulled on some clothes.
First up, she had to find Maria.
OVER HALF AN HOUR had passed and Erin hadn’t been able to locate Maria.
Logan had left in the SUV with Hector and Carlos. Erin had watched from one corner of the garden wall. All appeared to be in order. Logan was armed. She’d seen the butt of the weapon protruding from his waistband at the small of his back. That was a good sign, wasn’t it?
Then again the Caldarone brothers could gang up on him. She sighed wearily. Okay, one thing at time.
Maria wasn’t in her garden, but then it was early, it hadn’t been daylight an hour yet. She had to be in the house somewhere.
So, Erin would go in. If she ran into Esteban, she would simply say that she was hoping to have breakfast with Maria to get to know her better. Hadn’t Esteban asked her to nurture the relationship?
That was the ticket. She had a perfect excuse to be looking for his sister, despite the early hour.
The house was eerily quiet. Thankfully her sneakers were silent on the extravagant marble floor. Maria’s room would not be on the first floor, Erin knew the layout pretty well now, but she would check just in case.
All the rooms, including the terrace out back, were empty. She had to go upstairs. Pausing at the bottom of the staircase to take a couple of bolstering breaths, Erin dug way down deep for every ounce of courage she possessed.
She could do this.
She climbed the stairs slowly, the lush runner keeping her footfalls silent. When she reached the second story landing, she considered her options. Esteban’s private room was to the right, the east wing of the house. Maria’s was likely in the west wing.
She moved quietly down the carpeted hall. She eased open each door she passed. A couple of guest bedrooms which were empty. At the end of the corridor was a set of double doors, much like those that led to Esteban’s suite. This had to be Maria’s suite.
Erin paused outside the door. Drew in another breath of courage and reached for the door handle. Her hand shook. She clenched her fist and struggled to keep it together. Silence screaming around her, she ordered herself to calm. She reached for the door handle and opened the door. It swung inward without so much as a creak.
The large sitting room was empty. Quiet as a tomb. But Erin was sure anyone within fifty feet of her could hear her heart pounding.
Holding her breath, she eased into the semi-dark room. A table lamp threw out enough light for her to see her way around. She closed the door behind her with a click that seemed to ech
o like a shotgun blast.
When no one came rushing into the room or no alarms wailed, she allowed herself to breathe.
Like Esteban’s, the sitting room was large and elegantly furnished, a bit more femininely, of course. Erin moved toward the bedroom door. Maybe Maria was still asleep.
As she passed the intricately carved mahogany desk, something snagged her attention. Erin paused, studying the items on the desk. A personal computer system. Papers, books, headphones that were attached to a rather elaborate-looking tape or CD player. Erin rubbed her forehead, hoping to erase the insistent ache there. Nothing so unusual. Lights on the CD/tape player flickered once, twice, then the bar of lights hovered at midrange, finally dimming. Music. Maria must have left it on when she went to bed.
When Erin would have turned away, the title of one of the books drew her gaze back. Her heart bumped against her rib cage. She knew that title, had one back home in storage just like it. One of the top hackers on the planet had written that book. What did Maria know about hacking? Or need to know?
Curiosity overriding all else, Erin leaned down and switched on the brass desk lamp. She skimmed the papers scattered on the desk. Stared at pictures of herself and Logan. Erin pivoted abruptly to stare at the books on the shelves behind her. Dread sank into her bones. Every book, every software program—she turned back to the computer system on the desk, nudged the mouse to shut down the screen saver, allowing a blue screen filled with icons to appear—every electronic tool one would need to break into any system that existed was there.
Her thoughts oddly still, she focused on the details. The system had two hard drives. One for the Net; one for files. Files the owner didn’t want exposed to the cyber world, to the possibility of a security breach.
The flickering lights drew her attention once more. Her fingers numb with fear and disbelief, Erin reached for the headphones. She pressed one side to her ear. Her voice. Magnified so loud she almost flinched. Feigned cries of ecstasy and Esteban’s name…urging him on when he actually lay passed out on the bed. The undeniable click of computer keys.
Erin slowly laid the headphones back on the desk.
This couldn’t be.
She shook her head in denial. Clenched her jaw in defiance. How could this be?
“I see you have discovered my secret.”
Maria.
Erin turned toward the double doors that opened into the corridor. Maria stood there, fully dressed, looking as regal as ever. Coming closer, she seemed to float across the room, the epitome of grace and elegance.
“What is this?” Erin barely recognized her own voice. The sudden image of the rose with no thorns loomed large in her mind, nothing to mar its beauty. Nothing to mar this woman’s…no hint of evil.
“I wanted to trust you, Sara.” Maria’s expression hardened. “If that’s your real name, which I doubt. But you let me down. You’re even worse than the others.”
Erin shook her head. “What do you have to do with this?” She gestured, confused, to the papers on the desk…the books, then turned to the woman. “Who are you?”
Maria lifted her chin and stared directly into Erin’s eyes. “I am the one who makes everything happen.”
It took a moment for Erin to absorb the ramifications of that statement. Before she could regroup, Maria went on.
“I have the contacts. I make the rules. I make the decisions. Esteban is merely a figurehead, shall we say.”
“But why?” Erin couldn’t grasp the concept. “Why be so secretive? Why not run the show openly?”
Maria sniffed rather indelicately. “In this male dominated, macho society? You must be joking? Or perhaps, like most Americans, you are simply naïve. Women are not permitted such respect. No one would take me seriously…certainly they would not take orders from me.”
Dear Lord. This was why Esteban had never been caught. He simply did what his sister told him. She had the contacts, she’d said. No one could finger him because he wasn’t involved on that level. She did the traveling, made the contacts. All under the guise of buying flowers.
“Ingenious, no?” Maria suggested, as if she’d read Erin’s mind.
Oh, yes, very ingenious. “This gave us away?” She pointed to the headphones and the recording.
“Unfortunately, yes.” Maria shook her head. “It concerns me greatly that the two of you slipped under our security net. We are usually much more cautious.”
“You’ve known all this time?”
“Not until early this morning,” Maria said candidly. “Cortez was the first to note that the recording sounded somewhat forced. So I listened for myself.” She laughed softly. “I have listened to my brother’s distasteful performances before, you were most definitely acting.”
Great, this was her fault.
“That alone was not enough to sway me, however.” Maria moved closer still. “Out of curiosity, I had the tape magnified again and again until this last time I heard clearly the sound of typing.”
She paused only inches from Erin and shook her head slowly from side to side. “And then the grind of files being downloaded onto disk. I knew what you’d done—for the good it did you. There is nothing on Esteban’s computer, because he is nothing.”
A new kind of fear snaked around Erin’s chest. “Where’s Logan?”
Maria smiled. “Ah, your husband. Not to worry, he isn’t dead yet. He is being taken to one of our close friends. A man who served Castro for many years as his intelligence officer. A man who now serves me. He will extract all relevant information from Logan and then he will kill him.” Maria glanced at the gold wristwatch she wore and sighed. “He has some time yet, I am certain. Unless, of course, he breaks more quickly than estimated.”
Erin had to stop this somehow.
“Venido!”
On Maria’s command, two guards rushed into the room.
“Now,” Maria said to her. “Let us see what you know.”
HECTOR HAD INSISTED that Logan drive.
Logan was unfamiliar with the route they’d instructed him to take, but then he’d expected to be. Esteban had ordered the three of them to check out a couple of his factories and Logan had not been privy to their locations as of yet. Esteban had gone on to explain that several reports of incidents at the cocaine processing facilities had prompted him to make this unscheduled inspection.
Logan wasn’t buying it. Something was going down, and it likely included executing him. He hoped like hell Erin would stay clear of Esteban until Logan could dump his silent partners.
The brooding Caldarone brothers looked about as happy as Logan felt, but he was sure it was for totally different reasons.
“Turn left here,” Hector said abruptly, almost waiting too late for Logan to make the turn.
He cut the SUV hard to the left. Spanish curses accompanied the two men’s attempts to stay upright. Logan decided to use their careless habits to his advantage. Unlike him, neither of his two passengers wore their seat belts. Gain some speed, slam on the brakes, throw Hector against the windshield and try to put a bullet in him and his brother before one of them did it to him first. Sounded like a good plan to Logan.
“Slow down, you fool!” Carlos shouted from the back seat. “This road is treacherous.”
“There is another turn—”
Glass shattered. Mid-sentence, Hector slumped forward onto the dash.
Logan glanced at the bullet hole in the windshield and the spiderweb of broken glass around it.
“What the hell?” he muttered. Maybe Esteban had decided to kill three birds with one stone, so to speak.
“Faster,” Carlos screamed, obviously no longer concerned with the ruggedness of the road. “Find some cover!”
Another bullet piercing glass sounded right behind Logan. Carlos collapsed into the seat. Logan swore and pushed the SUV for all it was worth. If Esteban wanted them all dead, why hadn’t he saved time and done it himself at the briefing?
A dark figure stepped into the road jus
t ahead. Logan braced for a hard swerve.
Ferrelli.
Logan skidded to a stop mere inches from the cocky son of a bitch. He should have known from the perfect hits that it was Ferrelli.
Ferrelli rounded the hood, jerked the passenger side door open and dragged Hector out, then climbed into the seat next to Logan.
“I think you’re taking this angel gig a bit too seriously, Ferrelli. I barely stopped this thing in time.”
“You’ve been made,” Ferrelli explained, ignoring the jab. “Tech Ops intercepted a cellular telephone call from Esteban to a nasty fellow named Cruz. One of Castro’s former cohorts. These jokers—” he hitched a thumb toward Carlos in the back seat “—were taking you to Cruz for a little intense one-on-one interrogation.”
Logan rammed the gearshift into Reverse and punched the accelerator to the floor.
Ferrelli braced himself. “Backup’s on the way. We’re supposed to rendezvous with them at—”
“There’s no time.” Reaching a wide enough spot in the road, Logan hit the brakes hard, doing a 180-degree skidding turn. “We have to get Erin out of there.”
Ferrelli held his gaze during the fraction of a second it took the SUV to lunge forward after Logan stomped the gas pedal. “We may be too late. If we aren’t, getting past the guards without alerting Esteban will be tricky. May even do more harm than good.”
“I’m going back,” Logan repeated. “Now.”
Chapter Fourteen
With Carlos strapped into the front passenger seat and Ferrelli lounging low in the back, the gate to Esteban’s compound opened without hesitation when Logan neared. Apparently not everyone had been briefed as to Logan’s new standing with their leader.
Logan sped through the gate and parked near the guest house. As he’d feared it would be, it was empty. With both his weapon and Carlos’s, Logan had all the firepower he would need. Like all Specialists, Ferrelli was prepared as well.
“There’s two at the gate, six patrolling the grounds and another two around here somewhere,” Logan explained quietly as he scanned the perimeter around their position for any movement. “I’m going in after Erin. Esteban’s personal bodyguard and a couple of the guards I mentioned may be inside.”