Hard Target: Elite Ops - Book One (16 page)

Leland closed the last bag. “We’re out of time to argue. You said Vega’s shipment could be here at any minute. Anna and I need to get on the road if we’re going to make it up to Baxtla by seven.

Marissa stared hard at both men before replying. “Alright, but I’m on the record not liking this.”

“Understood,” said Nick. “Give him your GPS locater. That’s the best we can do.”

Marissa looked at Nick reluctantly, obviously feeling like he’d turned on her. She pulled a small device from her cargo shorts pocket and handed it over to Leland.

“Just press here and it sends a GPS signal,” she explained. “We’ll be able to pinpoint your location to within five yards.”

Leland examined the small device that looked like something from a spy movie. “That’s very James Bondish.”

“Yeah, well. Working with us has its perks.”

She stooped to reopen Leland’s backpack. “I’m going to need a gun or two from this arsenal we were planning to share.”

“By all means,” said Leland. “Take what you need, then please get the hell out of here.” He smiled as he said it.

Marissa laughed and the tension eased. “Screw you. I’ve been kicked out of nicer countries than this.” She pulled two Sig Sauer P226 9mms and several clips of ammunition from the bag.

Nick chuckled under his breath and they both climbed back into the plane.

Leland leaned in before they shut the door. “I’ll call you on the sat phone when I have an extraction point.”

“Or just use the chip. And be careful,” said Nick. “Gavin’ll be pissed if you get yourself killed before you can come to work for him.”

“Gavin doesn’t scare me.”
At least not much.
Leland picked up the packs. “We gotta go,” he told Anna, heading for the pickup.

Her eyes were full of questions, but she said nothing. There wasn’t anything to say. They both knew she was a liability, but one he’d knowingly taken on.

He’d admit now that, yes, he was here because he felt responsible for Zach’s disappearance. But there were no other options for Anna. No choice of whether she could stay or go.

They’d kill her boy if she didn’t show with the money by the designated drop time. That was the only certainty they had about anything today.

Ignoring the pain in his ankle, Leland hustled into the ancient pickup truck, grateful it wasn’t a stick shift and that the boot was on his left leg. They were headed toward the mountains before the plane took off.

He’d just made the turn from the hard-packed earthen trail around the airstrip onto the asphalt when a vehicle shot out of the trees and barreled down the main road. The airstrip got smaller in his rear-view mirror as the black SUV grew larger on the horizon. He hoped these weren’t Vega’s men making the drop, but they seemed the most likely to be in this desolate place.

On the present course, the two vehicles would pass each other. Would the men assume Leland was coming from the airstrip or from further away? He prayed the latter. There was no place to hide, so he would have to brazenly drive past them.

This truck of Paulo’s was serviceable for getting where they needed to go, but it would be no match in a road race with a late-model SUV if Vega’s men decided to follow. The road was horrific with potholes that seemed the size of the Grand Canyon. The only way to do this was to bluff with confidence. No one was supposed to know that anything was going down at the airstrip, so why would the occupants of the SUV be suspicious?

Because they knew about Zach and the money? A kidnapping with a large ransom demand wasn’t something that would stay secret very long in this area. An American woman travelling with that amount of cash wouldn’t stay secret at all.

Leland donned a spare ball cap lying on the seat between them and hunched down in front of the wheel. “Anna, I need you to get on the floor board. I don’t want anyone to see you when we pass these guys.”

Without a word she slid off the bench seat onto the rubberized car mat. “How’s this?” She knelt beside him and looked up, her hands beside his right knee, her face level with his lap.

He looked into her eyes. The position she was in had so many carnal connotations. He gave himself a mental shake to clear the vision of what he’d like to see her doing if the circumstances were different.

“You’re fine,” he muttered.

She stared at him with such absolute faith, his hands tightened on the steering wheel. She shouldn’t trust him. He wasn’t invincible. He’d proven that in the past. Just ask Ellis Colton or his wife.

“Keep your head down, no matter what.”
And don’t look at me like I can slay dragons.

F
ROM HER VANTAGE
point on the floorboards, Anna watched Leland steer the truck and pull a gun from his shoulder holster. He checked the revolver before placing it on the seat beside her hands.

“Look in the pack on the floor beside you,” he said. “There are two Glocks. They’re loaded. Set the larger one of them next to this one.”

Anna was normally scared of guns and felt her eyes grow wider as she dug into the bag. How many weapons did he have? Flashlight, first aid kit, thermal survival blanket, packets of what looked like freeze-dried food, and a water filter, along with two handguns plus ammunition.

Her fingers brushed against the hard surface of the guns. One was definitely smaller than the other. The sensation brought her up short. This wasn’t just an “emergency kit.”

“Are you really going to shoot those people?” she asked.

“I hope not.” He nodded to the revolver on the seat beside his leg. “This is insurance.”

She gingerly placed the larger of the two guns on the seat. Leland picked it up and checked the magazine without slowing down.

“Hopefully we’re going to blow right past these folks, and they’ll just be regular citizens out for a drive,” he said.

She drew a harsh breath. “Alright, even I’m not that naïve.”

He smiled coolly. “Never hurts to think positive.”

They hit a particularly wicked pothole and she bumped her head on the glove box, seeing stars.

“Jesus. You okay?” He reached out to touch her shoulder.

She nodded. A mistake. The movement made her head spin more.

“It’s this road. There must be holes the size of bathtubs in the asphalt. It’s rattling the teeth out of my head,” she said.

He squeezed her shoulder before putting his hand back on the steering wheel. He drove at a steady but sedate pace. “This truck is topping out at 50 mph.” She appreciated he didn’t say what they were both thinking. It would get ugly if the SUV tried to follow them.

She studied Leland’s profile. With the cap on she couldn’t see his features clearly. He’d shoved on a pair of aviator glasses from his pocket. With his dark hair and perpetually tanned skin she supposed he could pass for a local from a distance. She would have no such advantage with her blonde hair and blue eyes.

She couldn’t see the SUV herself but knew it had to be getting closer from watching Leland’s jaw tighten.

“Hang on,” he said. “Here they come.”

Chapter Eighteen

T
HE BLACK
SUV blew past them, doing at least eighty miles per hour. Leland watched in the rear-view mirror as the vehicle’s brake lights flashed. He pressed on his own accelerator, but it was useless. This truck wasn’t budging above fifty-four miles per hour, and he was keenly aware that it wasn’t armored like some DEA vehicles in Mexico. He focused on the SUV as it slowed to a complete stop in the middle of the roadway.

Then . . . nothing.

“Well, hell,” he murmured.

“What is it?” asked Anna.

“They’ve stopped, and they’re just sitting in the center of the road.”

“What does that mean?”

“Don’t know. Maybe they’re waiting on orders from someone else. If they’re meeting a plane, they’ve got to decide what’s more important—us or the shipment they’re picking up.”

“I hope the shipment’s winning,” said Anna.

“From your lips to God’s ears.” The brake lights blinked off in his rear-view mirror and the SUV did a three-point turn on the country lane. “No such luck, they’re turning around.”

“Oh my God. Can we outrun them?”

He shrugged, not wanting to alarm her but needing to prepare her for what was coming. “Not in this heap.” He pressed down on the accelerator anyway and watched as the SUV appeared closer and closer in his side mirror.

An arm holding an AK-47 popped out of the passenger’s side window.

“Stay down!” He hunkered down himself and grabbed his Ruger from the seat as they rattled over the massive potholes and broken pieces of asphalt. Their best hope was that the gunman wouldn’t be an accurate marksman on the rough road.

Seconds later shots rang out. Three in a row. One hit the rear window. Glass shattered. Anna screamed. The other two shots went wide.

Leland swerved to avoid a particularly large pothole and another bullet hit his side-view mirror. The glass disappeared. He glanced in the rear-view again. So much for the gunman not being accurate.

The SUV was within twenty yards.

He swerved again, going purely on instinct and hoping to throw off the shooter’s aim. The sound of bullets striking metal resonated through the cab. Anna squealed.

He glanced down to check on her. Her eyes were wide and her face pale, but she wasn’t hit. He exhaled the breath he’d been holding and checked out the passenger-side window.

The shooter’s arm had disappeared back inside the SUV. Was he reloading or giving up? Leland felt like he was pressing his foot through the partially rusted-out floorboard.

In the rear-view mirror he saw the SUV abruptly stop once again in the middle of the road. In ten seconds the vehicle had turned and was headed in the opposite direction, back toward the airstrip.

Why? He had no idea. But he wasn’t going to complain. They’d survived. He didn’t want to stop or even slow down. More than anything he wanted Anna on the floor until he was sure they were safe.

But that wasn’t happening. She popped onto the ratty bench seat without asking and stared out the back broken window. The mountains were closer now.

“Where’s the SUV?” she asked.

“They turned around.”

“Why?” “No idea.

“What was that?”

He shrugged, a little irritated at her naiveté but trying to be patient. She truly had no idea what they were about to get into.

“It wasn’t the welcome wagon, that’s for damn sure,” he explained, tamping down his frustration. “My best guess is drug dealers meeting their suppliers. They must have decided the shipment was more important than us, or maybe they just wanted to scare us off from hanging around while they met the incoming flight.”

“Well, it worked. I certainly don’t want to hang around.”

“Me either.” He caught her eye as she pushed the Glock away from her hip and closer to him.

Color was gradually returning to her face. She studied him a moment and when he would have kept staring, they hit a pothole and abruptly broke eye contact.

“How much time do we have before the deadline?” she asked. “I don’t have a watch.”

Leland checked his. “It’s 5:45. Gives us a little over an hour to get to Baxtla.

“Will we make it?” Her anxiety level seemed higher now than when the bad guys were shooting moments ago.

“We’ll be cutting it close, but we should get there by seven, barring any more complications.”

She perched on the edge of her seat, practically vibrating with nerves. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Trust me.”

A
NNA SMIRKED AT
him. “You keep asking me to trust you. That’s not easy for me.”

He took his eyes off the road again to give her one of those piercing stares. “I know, but you have to trust someone. Why not trust me?”

For some reason the words took her by surprise.

Wasn’t she trusting him already?

Or was it that she had no other option? She didn’t have a good answer, so she said nothing.

They drove up the mountain without further incident. He asked her to put the Glock away. The landscape changed abruptly and vegetation thickened while the road conditions disintegrated. Massive vines cascaded down from huge trees on either side of the narrow track that was now more gravel and dirt than asphalt.

Branches draped across the road, almost touching the roof of the truck. The pickup’s windows were down to combat the heat, and the sound of the jungle could occasionally be heard over the gasping engine. Birds sang and other animals chattered. The sky was barely visible overhead.

It was like being in a tunnel surrounded by more shades of green than she could count. They rolled over a tiny bridge above a gurgling stream. It would have been a gorgeous drive if the circumstances were different.

Sweat puddled at the base of her spine. Her heart beat so fast she had difficulty catching her breath. Anna was slowly unhinging as they wound their way up the mountain. Focused on driving, Leland seemed unaware of her distress.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing without hyperventilating. She was grateful he wasn’t speaking to her. Carrying on a conversation at this point would have been beyond her capabilities.

Fifteen minutes later he stopped the vehicle. She was surprised to see that the vegetation had cleared slightly, making the road appear a bit wider. She turned to face him with a question in her eyes.

“We’re almost there,” he explained. “And I need to talk to you. This is going to be hard. Promise me you’ll do whatever I ask up here—no arguments, no hesitation.”

Part of her bristled at his words, but the nervous, nauseous side of her was grateful he would be calling the shots.

“This is all about getting you and Zach out of here unharmed. Remember that, no matter what. I may ask you to do something that seems the complete opposite of what you think you should do, but don’t hesitate and don’t think. Do what I say. Everything from here on is about getting us out of this alive.”

She nodded, unable to speak; her tongue was instantly dry and thick. Her mouth tasted of metallic fear. She couldn’t suppress the shudder that ran through her.

He studied her, staring into her eyes. She didn’t know what he was searching for but he seemed satisfied with what he read there in her face and put the truck back in gear.