Dangerous Desires (34 page)

“It’s over here,” Madeline said, already heading to the west juncture between the prison and the wall. The ladder
was just as she remembered. Built like a fire escape, it dangled above the ground a good eight feet and was separated from the yard by a chain-link fence.

During the day, between the armed guards and the tower, the ladder wasn’t much of a temptation, but now, with the way cleared, it offered salvation. Or at least a Plan B.

“You two go first,” Drake said. “I’ll stay here and keep you covered.”

Madeline shook her head, her mouth already opening to reject the idea, but Tucker grabbed her elbow, propelling her forward instead.

“He knows what he’s doing,” he said. “You’ve got to trust him.”

“I do. It’s just that if anything happens to him—” she broke off.

Tucker’s eyes narrowed as her words sank home, and then surprisingly he smiled. “I see.”

“You don’t see anything,” she snapped, shaking her head, angry at herself for revealing too much.

“He’s going to be fine,
chica.
This is his kind of party. Besides, he’s got something to fight for, no?” The hint of Spanish in his voice was meant to soothe. And she nodded, knowing that this wasn’t the time to debate her feelings for Drake.

“Give me a boost,” she said, turning her back to the yard.

He offered his cupped hands, and in seconds she was up and over the fence. He followed just as the doors on the east side of the yard burst open, staccato gunfire erupting from the steps.

Tucker spun around, firing over the fence, giving
Drake cover. “Get going, Madeline,” he called over his shoulder. “We’ll be right behind you.”

Scrambling up on a garbage can for added height, she tensed her muscles, channeling her inner gymnast, and jumped for the bottom rung of the ladder, her hands closing on the painted metal, the ladder groaning as it slid downward. As soon as it was within range, she started to climb, risking a second halfway up to ascertain that Drake and Tucker were behind her.

Both men had made it over the fence, but only Tucker had reached the ladder. Drake was still at the fence, holding off the guards spilling into the yard. Scurrying upward again, she reached the top and swung herself over the ledge. Pushing to her feet, she moved to the yard side of the roof, dropping to her knees, pulling the gun from the small of her back, and firing down into the yard.

“Come on, Drake,” she yelled into her mic. “Move it.
Now
. It’s my turn to provide cover.”

Still firing, she heard Tucker moving across the roof, his gunfire joining hers as Drake worked his way up the ladder.

“I’m here,” he said. And with a last shot, she and Tucker retreated across the roof to the ladder and Drake. They moved to the far northwest corner, where the building was closest to the wall.

Beneath them, the barbed wire glistened lethally in the light from the tower. And below that Madeline could just make out the rocky drop off the edge of the mountain.

“Not exactly jumpable,” Tucker observed, keeping his gun trained on the edge of the roof closest to the ladder. “What do you propose?”

“Wings would be nice,” Drake observed dryly, “but since we’re not birds, I’m thinking we need a rope. ”

“My sentiments exactly,” Nash said, appearing from around the far side of a chimney stack. “Preferably one with a grappling hook.” He held out said item, a knowing grin on his face. “Never leave home without it.”

“Impeccable timing, as always,” Drake said, turning to scope out the area beyond the fence. “How did you get up here?”

“Hannah found another ladder. I figured you might need some help.”

“Anyone on your tail?”

“No. I’m in the clear.”

“Well, then we’ll concentrate on the yard,” Drake said, taking the poly-coated rope and hook from Nash. “Any chance that magic bag of yours runs to grenades?”

“I might have a couple I can spare.” He reached into his bag again, already moving in Tucker’s direction. “Let’s see if we can take these fuckers’ minds off the ladder.”

Madeline fought a wave of annoyance, thinking that the two of them were just like little boys playing a game of war. But then again maybe that’s exactly what they were up to, and she could hardly fault their ability to keep cool in the face of what seemed like extraordinary odds. Straining into the dark, she searched for a suitable tree.

“How about over there?” she suggested finally, pointing to a large black oak just visible in the distance over the top of the wall.

“Perfect.” Drake nodded, already swirling the rope above his head. The hook flew across the wall and unerringly twined itself around the tree, the rope pulling tight.
Then, using the chimney stack, he secured the rope from their side, the result a taut stretch of cord angling downward over the wall from the roof to the tree.

Beside them, below the roof, the exercise yard erupted with the sound of an explosion and flames shooting up into the sky.

“Hell of a grenade,” Drake observed.

“Had a little help from a propane tank,” Nash said, as he and Tucker returned to their side of the roof. “Should keep them busy for a while. You got our ride ready?”

“Taxi’s waiting.” Drake motioned to the rope. “Actually it’s more of an improvised zip line.”

“So where’s the zip?” Tucker asked.

“That’s where the improvisation comes in.” Drake produced two large D-rings and a couple of short segments of rope. “We can use these to rig up a pulley of sorts. But I can only manage two. Which means we’re going to have to travel in pairs.”

“Always more fun with friends,” Nash said, taking one of the rope segments and a D-ring from Drake. “I’ll take Tucker. You can take Madeline.”

Drake nodded as he worked to fashion the rope into a handle attached to the D-ring.

“You really think this is going to work?” Madeline asked, as he clipped the ring into place on the rope.

“It’s our best chance,” he said. “But we’ve got to go now. I can hear our friends on the ladder.”

A shot rang out and there was a yelp of pain followed by something crashing into the garbage can at the bottom of the ladder.

“Annie.” Nash nodded, peering over the edge at a fallen guard. “At least we’ve got cover. You ready, Tucker?”

“Yeah, just a minute,” he said, stopping beside Madeline, his voice full of concern. “You going to be all right?”

“She’s going to be fine,” Drake answered for her, his eyes meeting hers as he held out the improvised harness, his lips turning up in a grin. “Compared to the waterfall, this’ll be a piece of cake.”

D
rake was right. Except for the bullets, flying through the trees beat the hell out of jumping over the waterfall. They slowed as they neared the oak, and Drake used his feet against the trunk to stop their forward motion.

“I’m going to hand you my knife,” he said. “I want you to cut the rope and then just let go,” he said. “Nash will catch you.”

“What about you?” she asked. “How will you get down?”

“I can jump. It’s not that far. And we need to be certain the rope is severed so that no one can use it to follow us. You’ve got the better angle.”

“Okay,” she said, reaching up for the switchblade. “Nash, you ready?”

Below, Nash gave her a thumbs-up.

“You’re sure you’ll be okay?” she asked Drake, her gaze connecting with his.

“I’ll be fine. I’m coming right after you.”

She nodded and with a deep breath, cut through the rope. Talk about leaps of faith. She’d taken more in the last few days than she had in her entire life. And surprisingly, each one actually seemed a little easier.

In less than a second, she landed in Nash’s arms, and then slid to her feet, stumbling a little as she struggled to regain her balance.

“Careful,” Tucker said, sliding a hand under her elbow. “It’s a little disorienting.”

“It was amazing,” she said, stepping away from the severed rope. “Although I’d like to try it again without people shooting at me. Are we safe now?”

“For the moment,” Nash said. “But they won’t have given up. Which means the sooner we get out of here the better.”

Above them, Drake untied the remaining rope from the tree, then dropped to the ground. “Nash is right. We need to get a move on. Our little maneuver bought us some time, but the advantage won’t last.” He reached to his ear to activate his com link. “Hannah, can you hear me?”

“I’m here.” Her voice crackled with static. “You guys okay?”

“Everyone’s fine,” Nash said. “We had quite a ride. But for the moment at least it’s quiet here. I figure our best option is to make our way to Magdalena and try to secure transport there.”

“Not a good idea,” Hannah replied. “There are people from the prison all over town. Gotta figure they’re searching for you.”

“All right, then we’re going to need a new rendezvous point,” Drake said. “Preferably with alternative transportation.”

“Already on it,” Hannah interjected. “I’ve been in contact with Avery and he’s arranged for a helicopter. I’m en route to pick it up now. There’s a cleared field about half a mile due west from the prison. I’ve sent a map to your PDA. I’ll meet you there.”

“Roger that.” Drake reached into his bag for his BlackBerry. “I’m assuming if we move fast, we won’t run into too much resistance.”

“I’ll keep a good thought,” Hannah said.

“What about Annie?” Nash asked. “She okay?”

“Last I heard she was outside the back prison wall, providing covering fire for you guys.”

“Did a damn good job, too,” Drake acknowledged. “We couldn’t have made it without her. Does she know about the rendezvous?”

“Not yet. I haven’t been able to raise her. Figure she’s gone dark until she’s farther away from the prison.”

“Probably,” Nash said with a frown. “Keep trying. And, in the meantime, I’ll see if I can’t double back and intercept her.”

“Will do.”

“Are our transmissions still secure?” Drake asked.

“Should be,” Hannah said. “It was a secure channel to begin with and I scrambled it just to be safe, so they shouldn’t be able to locate us by signal. But I’d still be careful. We should probably keep chatter to a minimum.”

“Okay, then,” Drake said, “we’ll see you at the field.”

“Good luck.” Her voice faded as she signed off, and Madeline looked around the jungle, her exhilaration evaporating with the enormity of what they still faced.

“I’m off to find my wife,” Nash said, with a quick salute. “We’ll catch up with you guys at the field.”

“You’ve got the coordinates?” Drake asked.

“Yes. On my phone. Hannah sent them. I checked.”

“All right then. We’ll see you when we see you.”

Nash nodded and then he was gone, the undergrowth swallowing him before he’d managed more than a couple of steps.

“He’ll be all right, won’t he?” Madeline asked, still staring at the spot where he’d disappeared.

“Absolutely. We do this kind of thing all the time. Besides, we’re better off moving in smaller groups.”

She nodded, following Tucker and Drake as they worked their way through the jungle, using the satellite phone’s GPS to keep them on track.

The canopy here was thinner than it had been coming down out of the ruins, but the trees were still thick and movement was difficult. Several times they had to make detours around outcroppings of rocks or rushing streams. Twice she thought she’d heard something in the brush, but both times it had turned out to be nothing more than an animal foraging. First a monkey and then a bird.

Finally, she convinced herself to stop worrying. Drake and Tucker were professionals. They knew what to listen for. She just needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other and sooner or later they’d make the clearing and then Hannah and the helicopter would take them away.

The hard part was over. They’d escaped from the prison. Everything else was a walk in the park—or the jungle, as the case might be. She smothered a laugh, realizing suddenly just how close she was to hysteria. She stopped, leaning over, hands on thighs, gulping in air as
if it were ambrosia. Maybe there was a limit to her ability to cope after all.

If she got out of this in one piece, she was going to take a long vacation—as far away from the tropics as possible. Maybe the Alps. Or London or Paris. Urban was good.

Again she felt the bubble of laughter. Who was she kidding? She wasn’t going anywhere. Except to D.C. And then, if she was lucky, the government would provide protection. Because Ortiz was never going to stop looking for her. Of that much she was certain.

So, in truth, she was walking from one nightmare into another.

Some things never changed.

She sucked in a last long breath, calming her rioting thoughts. Better to stay in the now, if for no other reason than to keep from falling apart. She straightened, focusing on the trail ahead, surprised to find that she was alone.

Fear blossomed full grown, and she forced herself to stay logical. They couldn’t have gotten that far. And sooner or later they were bound to notice that she was gone. All she had to do was follow their trail of broken leaves and branches and she’d be fine.

She stopped again, searching the ground for some sign of Drake and Tucker passing this way. How the hell could she have been so stupid? And how in the world had they gotten so far ahead? She hadn’t been distracted that long. At least she didn’t think so.

Fighting against rising panic, she started forward again, confident when she saw a broken branch that she was heading the right way. What had Hannah said? West of the prison? She glanced up at the canopy, trying to
gauge the right direction, but the trees had grown heavier and there was no sign of the sky.

Moss was supposed to grow on the north side of trees. But this was South America and so wouldn’t that make it the south? Besides, there was moss everywhere, growing indiscriminately. She forged forward, still looking for signs that Drake and Tucker had passed the same way. And then suddenly she stopped, instinct screaming that something was wrong. The jungle had gone quiet, nothing moving. Not a tree, not a bird, nothing.

She waited, holding her breath, grabbing the gun, trying to tell herself that it was just her imagination. Then the undergrowth in front of her shimmied as something moved closer, a tree gyrating as the brush parted and Drake stepped out of the jungle.