Dangerous Desires (19 page)

“Which would make our job a heck of a lot easier,” Annie said. “But on the off chance that he’s not there, how do you want us to proceed?”

“If he’s not in Puerto Remo, then the primary objective is to figure out where the hell he is, and get him out. I figure the most likely scenario is that he’s still upriver, working his way toward the coast.”

“So we head in that direction, and hopefully intercept,” Nash said.

“Unless Montague and Petrov beat us to it.” Annie was still studying the photographs on the wall. “And we’re assuming of course that Drake isn’t alone. In all probability, he’s found Madeline.”

“I think the very fact that di Silva’s brought in hired guns indicates that she’s still alive,” Avery said. “And if she is, then I think we can be fairly sure that Drake found her. And either way, di Silva’s got to know that if she
makes it out of the country his entire operation will be blown. I mean, ostensibly anyone who controls Madeline has automatic leverage over di Silva.”

“Which is why he wants her dead.”

“Well, at least if she’s with Drake, she’s got a chance,” Nash said. “There’s no way he’ll go down without a fight.”

“And besides, it’s not like he’s out there waving a banner.” Annie shrugged. “They’ve got to find him before anything can happen. And I’m betting he’s not going to make that easy. He’s bound to know there’ll be someone looking for them, even if he doesn’t know specifically about Montague and Petrov. Which means he’ll be on his guard.”

“And hopefully this time tomorrow you’ll be on the ground ready to offer support when he surfaces.”

“What about you and Tyler?” Nash asked.

“She’s been cleared to leave, so we’ll head back to Sunderland. And as far as anyone knows, you’ve already left to meet Annie in the Caribbean for a little R&R. We need to do everything we can to foster the belief that we’re sticking to Langley’s directive.”

“I still don’t understand why they’d order you to leave a man behind,” Annie said, shaking her head. “Not to mention a valuable asset. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“Politically, the relationship between our countries is tenuous at best. If the Colombian government finds out that we ran an operation against di Silva without their consent, there will be all kinds of trouble diplomatically.”

“So Drake gets sacrificed.” Nash crossed his arms, thinking that as always the price was too high.

“Well, we’re not going to let that happen.”

“I know. It just chaps me that the suits in D.C. expect us to deal with operations that nobody else wants to touch, but then when we get into trouble, they’re all about protecting their precious politics, the unit be damned.”

“It’s just part of the game. You knew the score when you came on board,” Avery said. “Hell, Annie knows firsthand what the cost can be.”

“And I also know that if it hadn’t been for you guys’ going off book to help me, I’d probably be sitting in a jail cell somewhere. Or worse—I’d be dead.” Annie’s somber gaze encompassed them both. “I don’t want that to happen to Drake.”

“It won’t—because we’re going to find him and bring him home,” Nash said.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Drake said, as he directed the boat down the river. They’d been lucky to find the damn thing. Montague had hidden it well, but with a little perseverance they’d found it concealed in the reeds behind the shed.

“I’m fine,” Madeline said.

“You’re sure?” he asked, his eyes following the shoreline as the skiff moved past. So far they’d seen no sign of anyone following them, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t somebody out there.

“More than fine,” she insisted with a bright little smile. “I mean, this is almost over, and I’ll be away from all of this.” She waved at the jungle, then her hand dropped back into her lap, and she sighed, her smile fading. “It’s just that so much has happened.”

“You’re talking about killing Montague. That’s what’s bothering you, right?”

“I didn’t have a choice.” She shrugged, but he could see the tension in her shoulders, the regret in her eyes. “It was him or you.”

“I’m glad you chose me.” His words were meant to reassure, but he knew there was nothing he could do to alleviate her pain. “I know it was necessary, but that doesn’t change the fact that you took a life. And that’s never easy. Particularly not the first time.”

“Except that it wasn’t the first time,” she said, still looking out at the passing landscape.

Silence held for a moment, the only sound the soft whoosh of the water and the birds calling from the trees.

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

“It was in Bogotá.” The words were barely above a whisper. He hadn’t really expected her to answer, but maybe there was something about being here on the run that made it easier to talk. To confess.

“What happened?”

“I told you I followed Jenny to Colombia. To try to get her to come home. To get help. But she was really far gone. We argued and she ran away. It took me about a week to find her. She was in this really run-down part of Bogotá. There were prostitutes and pushers. It was a nightmare.”

“I can imagine,” he said, wishing he could do something to make it easier for her, but also knowing that it was important for her to get it out.

“There was this building. An abandoned apartment building. It was like you see on television. People everywhere, shooting up, smoking crack. I’d brought a gun. But it didn’t really make me feel any safer.”

She swallowed once, then lifted her head, her gaze colliding with his. “Jenny was in a room on the second floor. And there was this man… he had her pinned to the wall, he was tearing at her clothes, and she was screaming for him to stop. I didn’t even stop to think. Jenny was so frightened. I just pulled out the gun and shot him.”

“You didn’t have a choice.”

“I know.” She nodded, her chin jutting out. “But after that it got complicated. I told Jenny to run, and she did, but before I could get out of the building the police came. The man I shot was a politician of some kind. I never worked out exactly who. I tried to tell them my side of the story but they wouldn’t listen.”

“And you wound up at San Mateo.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “You know about that?”

“It was in your profile. We didn’t know why you were there. Just that di Silva sprang you.”

“It was Ortiz, actually. He offered me my freedom in exchange for my going to work for him.”

“To pay off your sister’s debt. But it seems like there’d be easier ways to get his money back.”

“There was something more. Something unique I brought to the table. I had a relationship with a man who had information Ortiz wanted. I was working for Marton when I first went after Jenny.”

“Henri Marton, the former ambassador?”

“Yes. Ortiz wanted me to steal the documents he needed from Henri.”

“Using whatever tactics required,” Drake said, understanding dawning. “That’s what you meant when you called yourself di Silva’s whore.”

She nodded. “Only in truth it was Ortiz pulling the strings. And there were more men after Marton. But I did all of it to protect Jenny. And to get out of San Mateo. It was an awful place. I probably wouldn’t have survived at all if it hadn’t been for Andrés.”

“Andrés?” he repeated, curiosity roused.

“He was my friend,” she said, simply, a shadow passing across her face. “But friendships don’t work out so well in a maximum-security prison. So mostly I was on my own.”

“Couldn’t the American authorities help you?”

“I wasn’t given the chance. Apparently the man I shot had a lot of powerful friends. There wasn’t anything even resembling due process. Anyway, the point is I’ve been through all of this before. Shooting someone, I mean. And even though I regret taking a life, I’d do it all over again if it meant saving my sister—or saving you.”

She swallowed again and looked down at her hands, her teeth worrying her lower lip.

“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m really glad you came to my rescue.”

“You could have managed on your own, I’m sure,” she said, but her lips moved into a tiny smile, and he felt as if he’d just won some kind of prize. “The truth is that if I’d just stayed in Cypress Bluff, if I’d never left Jenny, none of this would be happening.”

“You can’t second-guess yourself like that. You did what you thought was right at the time. And that’s the best anyone can do.”

“Yeah, but you wouldn’t have made a mistake like that.”

“The hell I wouldn’t have,” he said, his mind turning
to Cass. He’d believed in her. Thought there was a future for the two of them. And all the while she’d been leading him down the proverbial path. And in the end he’d killed her. “I’ve done unspeakable things. And believe me, I’ve made more than my share of mistakes. And for what it’s worth, I’m sure wherever your sister is, she knows how much you loved her.”

“Do you believe in an afterlife?” she asked, her eyes hopeful.

He started to lie, then thought better of it. Somehow the moment demanded truth. “No. I don’t. In my line of work you see a hell of a lot of atrocities. And if there was really a God, surely he’d never let them happen.”

“But it’d be nice,” she whispered. “You know? A place where all the pain is gone. I want Jenny to have something better than she had here on earth.”

“She had you,” he said, his voice quiet. “And I think that probably meant more to her than you’ll ever know.”

“I hope that you’re right.” She sighed, pushing back her hair. “Did you ever tell your brother? How much he meant to you, I mean?”

“We were guys. We didn’t talk about stuff like that.”

“Not even after you grew up?”

“Especially then. But we didn’t know we were on borrowed time. You always think you have forever. And now, I guess I’m like you, I’d like to think his spirit is out there somewhere.”

“Maybe they’re together.” She smiled, the expression lighting up her face. “It’s a nice thought anyway. I bet they would have liked each other.”

“Maybe so,” Drake said, covering her hand with his, the gesture meant to be comforting. But instead he got
lost in the warmth of her eyes, something igniting deep inside him, and somehow he knew that in this moment, on a rushing river in the middle of the rainforests of Colombia, something had changed and there’d be no going back.

M
adeline relished the feeling of his hand against hers. She was acting like an adolescent, and she knew it, but then she’d never really had the chance to be young and carefree. And just for a moment, despite the situation, she felt something stirring. Something different from the usual rush of anger and resentment that dominated her life.

Hope.

She started to smile, then sobered, pulling her hand free as reality slammed home with a sickening jolt. “There’s someone behind us. Another boat.” It wasn’t a whole lot bigger, but based on the roar from the engine, even at this distance, she had the feeling it was faster and probably more efficient.

“Don’t borrow problems,” Drake said, revving the outboard motor, the gesture in direct opposition to the thought. “We don’t know that they’re hostile.”

“We don’t know that they’re not,” she countered. “And
at least so far in this little adventure of ours, company has meant gunmen.”

“Well, whoever they are, they’re closing fast.”

The boat was still trailing a good distance behind them, but Madeline could see that they’d already cut the distance by at least a quarter. “What are we going to do? We’re not going to be able to outrun them.”

“We’re going to give it a try.”

“And if that fails?” she whispered, her voice carrying under the sound of the straining motor.

“There’s always—”

“Plan B.” She nodded, her heart hammering, her gaze riveted on the boat behind them. “I know. Let’s just hope this one doesn’t involve jumping over a waterfall.”

“Whatever keeps us alive,” he said, turning to check out the boat behind them. “Looks like a cruiser.”

“Is that good or bad?” she asked, not certain she wanted to hear the answer.

“Good in that it’s slower than a jet boat. But bad in that it’s going to hold more people.”

“I don’t suppose there’s any chance of your friends riding to the rescue? A helicopter or something?”

“Grab the com link out of the bag. I don’t think it’ll work, but it won’t hurt to try.”

Madeline fumbled with the zipper in the backpack and then rummaged through the contents until she found the tiny earphone and corresponding transmitter. “I just talk into it, right?”

“There’s a button by the earbud.”

She pushed the button and stuck it into her ear, wincing as static vibrated through her head. “Hello?” she asked. “Is anyone there?” More static.

“Try switching to a different channel. Three maybe.”

She twisted the button to the requisite number and tried again. Still nothing. “There’s just static.”

“It was worth a try.” Drake shrugged, moving the skiff in a dizzying zigzag pattern through the water.

The cruiser behind them was closing fast. She could see people moving on a sun-shaded platform above the main deck. One was pointing. Another maybe steering. It was hard to tell for sure. But there was no mistaking the man by the railing with a gun.

“Grab the glasses,” he said, nodding toward the pack again.

She tossed in the com link and pulled out the field glasses. “I can see a gun,” she said. “The man above the deck. There are two others up there with him, but I can’t make out whether they have weapons.” As if on cue, the second man shifted and the fading sunlight hit the barrel of his gun. “Make that two of them armed.”

“Handguns or something more?”

“Rifles. At least I think so. They’re too long to be machine guns.”

“You recognize any of them?”

She turned the knob to tighten the focus, her heart hammering. “Yes. Definitely di Silva’s men. I recognize two of them.”

“Damn bastards are everywhere,” Drake said, his eyes back on the river in front of them. “Any sign of the old man or Ortiz?”

She moved the glasses in a slow arc. “I don’t see them. And it wouldn’t be like Ortiz to come on the hunt. He likes to keep a low profile. Always letting other people do his dirty work.” Like her. She pushed away the thought as
the cruiser’s engine changed timbre, the boat picking up speed. “They’re getting closer.”