Betrayal (19 page)

He lifted her off of him. “Get dressed. We need to sleep.”

“Kai?”

He grabbed his clothes and rolled clear of the mosquito net. There was still enough light from the chemical stick to allow him to pull his pants and shirt on without fumbling. “I’m going to check the perimeter,” he mumbled. He picked his flashlight off of her hammock where he’d left it, then bolted across the camp and ducked into the trees.

Where had all the oxygen gone? His lungs labored to breath and his heart beat a panicked rhythm. Because he’d done the unforgivable. He’d allowed himself to care about Susana.

Another person he could fail. Another person vulnerable to the dangers of his job, because all his promises of protection were a lie. Against a strong enough enemy, nothing he did would keep Susana safe.

Just as he’d failed to keep his parents safe. The twins. Jenna.

For the rest of his life he’d have nightmares of walking into his childhood home. Finding his parents with their throats gaping wide enough to show vertebrae, their scalped heads shiny with blood. His own hands turning red as he desperately performed CPR, even though he’d known he was too late.

He’d thought there was no way his undercover assignment could touch them.

He’d been wrong.

His work had killed them. If Susana became part of his life there’d always be the chance his work would get her killed, too.

He would
not
allow Susana to become another one of his nightmares. Once the chip was safely removed, he had to walk away. The criminals he came in contact with were ruthless. He couldn’t afford to care for anyone.

But until he set her free, he would do whatever necessary to keep Susana safe. Even if it meant unleashing the savagery he’d been fighting against.

T
he next morning Susana stared into the jungle and shook her head, frantically trying to ease the need to bolt. Pressure built inside her chest. Panic spread rapidly, nearly crushing her lungs as it fought its way through her body.

Get away. Run away.
The refrain became increasingly persistent.
Get away. Run away.

She took three steps into the jungle before she stopped, fully realizing what she was doing. And why.

She was leaving Kai. Because after a night of sex, particularly fantastic sex that touched her deep inside where her heart slept, she always left. One time too many a lover had oh-so-casually asked her to get him an appointment with an agent, even though she no longer modeled. Or asked her to accompany him to an event, “Because my friends will die with envy to see you on my arm.”

Sick and tired of being used by men she’d believed wanted her for herself, not what status and connections she brought them, she’d vowed never again to stay in a relationship long enough to let her emotions get involved. Because it hurt too much when she found out her lover didn’t have any feelings for her at all.

Depending on her connection with a man, she might leave after one night or one month, but she always left.

Yet she couldn’t leave Kai. Just the thought of never seeing him again sent a shaft of pain straight through her heart.

No, this couldn’t be happening. It…

She glanced around, as if the trees and vines would suddenly spell out the truth. Tried swallowing past the lump in her throat.

It had to be just the circumstances. That was it. No matter how connected she’d felt to Kai when they’d made love, no matter how much her life depended on him, or how much she wanted to ease the hurt he carried from losing his family, she could still walk away when this was over.

Because she knew up front what he was using her for. The microchip. Once he had the damn chip, he’d be out of her life.

That knowledge would protect her heart, right?

Of course. This panicked fluttering in her chest wasn’t caused by the thought of never seeing him again. This ice filling her veins wasn’t because she could lose him to malaria or a bullet.

Liar.

“Susana? You ready? We need to head out.”

Just the sound of his voice sent warmth spilling through her. Susana put her head in her hands.

Damn him. What had he done to her?

“T
hey’ll be worried to death about me,” Susana had told Kai. And she’d believed it with all her soul. Now, lying on her stomach on a hill overlooking her dig, she fought to breathe past the lump in her throat. She’d been so sure that after she fell in the river her colleagues would look for her. That when they didn’t find her body, they’d think the saboteur had her and contact the authorities. Or maybe mourn her for dead. She’d expected to find all activity at the dig halted.

But no. Activity appeared normal. Clusters of people knelt or sat around three open pits, digging, sorting or brushing off items pulled from the earth.

Just another day. Never mind Susana’s disappearance.

Traitors. All their words of support and friendship had been lies. Her throat tightened and tears stung her eyes. Her colleagues didn’t even care she was missing.

She swiped the back of her hand against her cheek, then wiped her damp hand against her pants. A quick sidelong glance at Kai showed him facing forward, eyes pressed to his binoculars.

Good. At least he hadn’t noticed her tears.

Susana focused on the dig, and gradually her hurt over having been so easily forgotten was replaced by puzzlement. Who was running the dig? No matter how devoted her coworkers, they wouldn’t continue working without guidance. And her funders had very specific criteria for leadership.

Which meant someone had replaced Susana as dig supervisor.

Down below, a woman walked out of Susana’s tent. Her dark red hair, bobbed to chin length, glowed like banked fire in the late afternoon sun.

Jacie.

Suddenly Susana missed her friend’s common sense. She wanted to talk this over with Jacie. Ask her what was going on.

But as Susana watched, Jacie strolled over to a shallow pit at the far right of the dig. From underneath the shade of a tree, a camera crew stepped into view. Susana’s stomach cramped. “No,” she breathed.

Jacie walked to the very edge of the pit, said something over her shoulder to the lighting technician, then stepped further along the rim a few feet. The sound man approached her and clipped a mike to her shirt.

With a coy smile, Jacie turned her back to the pit, nodded at the cameraman, and began to talk. At that moment, Susana’s stomach drew into a knot so tight she didn’t think she’d ever get it unwound.

“That sow-eared…hairy-faced…rat-whore! Jacie’s taken over my television show!”

Susana didn’t even realize she’d pushed to her hands and knees until Kai’s hand yanked on her arm.

“Get down before they see you,” he warned.

Susana fought him. “That’s my assistant. Taking over my spot. Stepping into my life!”

“And if there are mercenaries waiting for us to show up, it could mean our deaths, Susana. Now get the fuck down.”

She dropped to her stomach, but not before shooting a deadly glance in the direction of her former friend.

The pieces starting forming a dark picture in her mind. Jacie had sent her onto the supply boat that day. Had Jacie also pushed her into the river? What lies had she told the crew since then?

Susana pressed her forehead against the ground, well aware that Kai was looking at her with sympathy. She wished she were in the middle of nowhere where no one could hear her, instead of hidden in this clump of bushes so close to camp. She needed to throw something. The physical act of swinging her arm would help release some of this god-awful tension. Then she’d scream her anger to the skies until she felt empty, cool and ready to return to business.

Instead, she gritted her teeth and dug her fingers deep into the soil, waiting until the muscles in her fingers cramped before letting go.

It would have been better to find out one of the men on the supply boat had pushed her into the river. Animosity from strangers she could deal with, because it wasn’t a betrayal.

But Jacie’s actions… Susana bit her tongue to stop from screaming. This was worse than when she’d found out Elena had started the rumors about Susana selling artifacts on the black market. She’d never formed a close bond with Elena.

She’d considered Jacie her friend. She’d trusted her.

Would she never learn? She was just a means to an end for the people in her life. Her mother used her as free labor as a child, then pumped her for money once she began modeling. People in the modeling world used her to further their careers, either by hanging onto her coattails or by trying to push her down. Elena had used her to attract the financing of a prestigious institution.

God. Why did she still keep trusting people when she knew better? Each time, she believed she’d found someone who liked her for who she was on the inside, not because she was beautiful or famous. And each time she’d had her trust betrayed and her heart broken. No one ever looked out for her interests. No one wanted to just be friends with her. Everyone had an agenda, and once that agenda was met, she no longer mattered.

Jacie’s betrayal cut deep, though. Susana had worked with Jacie for years. She’d proven herself to be a true friend.

Or so Susana thought.

“Which tent is yours?” Kai asked.

She blew out a heavy breath, imagining her anger hurtling like mud across the air and hitting Jacie in the face. “The one with the green patch to the right of the door. Closest to the east edge of the dig.”

“Got it.”

She’d told Kai that she didn’t know where in her tent the letter was. She’d tossed it aside when she heard the sound of the canopy supports collapsing.

“Supplies?”

“The brown tent on the opposite end of the dig. The kitchen tent is the bright orange one. Don’t ask about the color.”

“Hmm,” Kai responded.

A few moments later, he nodded his head toward the deeper woods behind them, indicating his surveillance was finished. In sync, they scooted down the slight slope until they were hidden from view of the camp.

Her mouth twitched as she scrambled to her feet and followed Kai into the jungle. At least she knew up front what Kai wanted from her. The chip. Sex.

No chance of betrayal here.

R
afe lowered the anti-glare binoculars he’d been using to watch the man and the woman on the other side of the dig. The man was good at keeping a low profile, but Rafe was better. He knew how to wait with inhuman patience, his mind empty and his body so still the enemy never noticed him.

When the pair was out of sight, Rafe climbed out of his tree. His orders were to call his handler and report that the two had arrived, but this position was too close to the camp. He might be overheard. So he headed toward the river.

With every step, Rafe’s head pounded. Something about the man’s face teased at his brain. Something that had nothing to do with his mission.

Your life is ours to command.
The phrase ricocheted inside his skull, knocking free bits of memory.

Chains digging into his freezing flesh…needles that set every cell of his body on fire…hallucinations of bugs and snakes crawling over every inch of him…more pain…

Rafe stumbled.

No. Weakness was not allowed. The weak were killed.

He squeezed his eyes shut. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t supposed to feel pain. The men in the white coats had promised. As long as he obeyed them, the pain would stop. Only if he failed would the pain return.

He was fulfilling the mission. So why did he hurt?

Chapter 16

S
usana looked ready to commit murder. She turned and started to move off, but Kai put a hand on her arm. “We’ll go into camp just after twilight.”

She spun to face him. “Why? What’s wrong with right now?”

“First, the camera crew is filming.” Christ, if anything could point out to him the hopelessness of a future with Susana, seeing the cameras was it. Being caught on film was one of the worst things that could happen to an undercover agent.

Since when did you start thinking of a future with her?

Shaking his head, he continued, “You don’t want the meeting with Jacie on tape. We need to wait until all the filming equipment is packed up for the evening. Second, at twilight people will be thinking about cleaning up. Looking forward to dinner and maybe a drink. Their reflexes will be slower and their attention not as sharp. Plus, there will be deeper shadows for us to hide in.”

Her eyebrows arched regally. “This isn’t a war camp. I don’t see why we have to sneak in. No one down there is my enemy—except for Jacie, that two-faced, traitorous, lying sack of goat turds.” She pulled her arm out of his grasp.

“You’re assuming Jacie’s actions have nothing to do with the chip. What if you’re wrong and the mercenaries are waiting in one of the tents for you to arrive?”

Her eyes widened. “But—”

“Someone put a tracking device in you while you were on site. Someone pushed you into the river. You can’t assume it had nothing to do with the chip. Trust no one and your chances of surviving improve.”

“That’s a terrible way to live.”

The pity in her voice ignited a fire of resentment in him. He tamped it down. He needed her cooperation now more than ever. He’d seen no sign of the mercenaries, but cold reason said they had to be nearby. This was the only logical destination for Susana. The nearest city was several more days by foot.

If he was tracking Susana, he’d wait in one of the tents.

He rubbed the back of his neck. His instincts screamed at him to grab Susana and run. He’d do it, except they needed a way to call for extraction and the camp’s radio was their only choice. Besides, he wanted to see what her father had said in his letter. Perhaps the scientist had written instructions for decrypting and uploading his data.

Kai thought about waiting until full dark and sneaking into camp by himself, but he didn’t trust Susana to stay put. Her temper was up and he was lucky to have stalled her so far. If he let her out of his sight, she’d go storming after her traitorous assistant.

“Here’s the deal,” he said. “If the mercenaries are down there, they’ll expect us to hit the communications center first, so once we’re in camp we’ll instead head to your tent and retrieve your father’s letter. Do you keep a first aid kit there?”