My Spy: Last Spy Standing (28 page)

She drew a slow breath and nearly gagged when she caught a foul stench in the air. Something had crawled in here and died. That pretty much killed the last lingering remains of any romantic mood.

Thank God. Because she really needed to be fully present right now.

“Breathe through your mouth,” he whispered back some advice. “Are you all right?”

“Fine.” So much better than fine, really. But now was not the time to get into that.

So what if he was taking over for a little while?

She’d always been the protector. The oldest kid in the family. She’d always been her mother’s helper, kept her little brothers clean and fed, bandaged their scrapes when they were younger. Kept them safe, which had been a full-time job with the amazing amount of trouble they’d always managed to find.

Then when they didn’t need her quite so much, she’d found a job where she could keep other people safe.

Except, now her family needed her again. Although he wouldn’t admit it, though he’d pushed her away and kept the whole family at arm’s length, Jamie needed her support. And Billy needed her more than ever.

“Let’s go,” she whispered, just as boots crunched outside. A couple of men stopped right next to the building.

She froze and held her breath. So did Mitch. Any noise they made would be heard by the men. She wasn’t going to make a mistake now. Not when she was this close to reaching Billy.

Chapter Eleven

Megan could hear water running. The air still stank, this time with the sharp smell of ammonia. Gross. Somebody was relieving himself on the other side of the wooden boards that closed in the crawl space where they were hiding. Just great.

Her nerves hummed. Mitch put a steadying hand on her knee as if sensing her inner turmoil.

His warm palm heated her skin through the material of her pants. A comforting gesture that also brought back thoughts of what had just happened between them in that storage room.

Her breathing grew erratic. She made an effort to calm it.

If there’d ever been a time when she needed her full focus, this was it. She couldn’t afford distractions and complications. But then, why did it feel so good to have Mitch on her side?

Whoever was outside finished his business and walked away. After a minute, Mitch began moving. He made it to the opening and climbed out, but continued to crouch. She waited until he gave the all clear.

He was brushing spiderwebs from his clothes when she finally joined him.

She did the same. Yuck. She’d been living in the jungle long enough not to be scared of bugs, but she didn’t have to like it. “Anything bite you?”

“I don’t think so. You?” He moved forward, constantly scanning their surroundings.

She shook her head as she glanced back toward the narrow hole they’d climbed through. “I definitely wouldn’t want to do that twice.”

“You need a break?” He slowed.

“I need to find Billy.” She kept on going.

They sneaked forward, keeping close to the shadows, until they reached a spot where stacks of firewood covered the ground in front of them. The main building stood straight ahead, outlined against the sky. Only three of the windows were lit on their side. It looked like the party had ended. The don was probably settling in for the night. Or maybe he was already sleeping and the lights had been left on for his in-house guards.

“Let’s hope Billy and Zak are in there,” she said as she followed Mitch, since once again he’d taken the lead.

“They have to be. Don’t worry about anything now. We’re here.”

They rounded all the firewood and stopped in the cover of the last stack. The guards by the house didn’t look like they’d overimbibed like the rest. They seemed alert and up to the task. And well armed. The security was definitely heavier than at Juarez’s camp, and for a moment Megan wondered if this was standard procedure, or if the don felt uneasy about the presence of his captains at the compound and had tightened security for his own protection.

“Any ideas?” she whispered to Mitch.

“Let’s do a walk around first.” He stole forward, sticking to the shadows, of which there were plenty. Trees and shacks crowded Don Pedro’s headquarters.

The guard at the front of the house stood by a small fire that burned in a rusted steel drum. More for the smoke that kept the bugs away than for the heat, Megan suspected. The guard watching the side of the house was smoking a cigar and looking bored. The man in the back leaned against the wall to watch the jungle.

Mitch moved quietly in the cover of some bushes. She followed him, noticing a small window low to the ground. Not enough to let anyone in or out, just enough for some light and air. The main house had a basement.

She tugged Mitch’s sleeve and pointed. He acknowledged her with a nod. They checked out the fourth guard, who was cleaning his weapon, then crept back to the back of the building.

“Is there any way we could get in through that window?” Her instincts said if there were any prisoners in the house, they were kept in that basement.

“Not without some serious tools and a lot of noise. The wall is solid cement.”

Which meant they had to find another way to get in and out. One of the guards would have to be eliminated. Except shooting him would draw the others. A knife between the ribs would be much quieter, but for that they would have to get close without being seen, which would be difficult since they’d be out in the open.

“Poison dart?” A few months ago, she’d accompanied Umberto and a small team to one of the local villages and she’d seen a couple of old men hunt with them. A silent and effective weapon if one knew how to use it. Desperation had her considering every option, no matter how far-fetched.

“We could make the pipe and the dart, but do we have time to hunt around for the right frog to get the poison from?”

No. They would never find one in the dark jungle. “If we waited until daylight...”

“We have to make our move tonight. Zak’s hours are numbered. Don Pedro has no reason to keep the kid around. We have to work with the assumption that he’ll be executed first thing in the morning.”

Couldn’t argue with that logic. From what she’d seen of the way Juarez operated, enemies were dealt with swiftly in the jungle. Zak wasn’t her favorite person, but she didn’t want him dead, and she knew Mitch was set on his course. The breakout had to be tonight. Billy’s, too, then, since once Mitch rescued Zak, the camp would be in an uproar. They had to do this together.

She drew a slow breath, trying to get her thoughts in order. She’d never been this frazzled on a mission before. She’d never worked with stakes this high. This was personal. Her brother’s life was on the line.

Focus.
She’d never had to remind herself to do that before. But now distractions surrounded her. Thoughts of her brother. Mitch’s presence. Yet she appreciated that Mitch was with her more and more with every passing minute.

He really did make a good partner. He made a fabulous lover, too, but she didn’t want to think about that just now. Someday, when they were all safely away from here, maybe they would talk about what was going on between them. It felt like something.

Especially when he caught her hand and held it gently. “Promise me one thing.”

She raised an eyebrow. If he wanted her to stay behind and provide cover... No way. Billy was in there. She was going in.

“Promise me you won’t get hurt,” he said instead.

He cared. Her heart melted a little.

She cared about him, too. More than she would ever admit. That was a straight highway to heartache. They might never see each other again once their missions here were over. “I’ll try my best,” she whispered. “If you do the same.”

She wanted to kiss him. Instead, she pulled her hand from his and refocused on the task. She stared at the back wall of the house, as if looking at it long enough would enable her to see through it.

“Look up,” he whispered into her ear after a minute, his warm breath tickling her skin.

She did. A kapok tree stood near them with a bunch of lianas, jungle vines, hanging in every direction.

Her brain caught up with his in half a second. “You think we can Tarzan it?”

He grinned and they crawled backward, straightening only when they reached the taller bushes that surrounded the kapok. Then he gave her a boost up the tree.

Climbing in the dark wasn’t the easiest thing she’d ever done. She did her best to watch out for tarantulas and snakes, hoping their luck held out a little longer. She bit her lip when her foot slipped. But Mitch braced her bottom and she didn’t fall. She ignored the tingles his touch sent through her and got back to business, balancing on a side branch when she reached the right height.

Mitch inched out onto the tree limb behind her and began testing lianas that hung from above. He picked one that didn’t reach all the way to the ground but was long enough to reach the roof. “What do you think?”

When she nodded, he tested the thing, putting his weight on it little by little. It held.

She moved forward to add her weight, but he held her back.

“We’re not going together.”

Of course not—he wanted to go first. She glared at him in the dark but didn’t say anything. They both had a thing for protecting others. She got it.

He kissed her, hot and hard, before he swung, leaving her startled and swooning. She barely heard him land lightly on the roof.

The guard didn’t even look up.

Mitch tossed the liana back.

She grabbed it and swung without hesitation. He caught her silently and lowered her onto the roof. Held her for a second as the liana swung back to the tree. They couldn’t tie it to the roof for their exit. The guard could look up at the sky at any time, see it and realize that something was amiss.

They stood still for a second, pressed against each other. Awareness buzzed along her nerve endings. She wanted a kiss. From the look in his eyes, so did he.

They had a lot to do first. She slipped to her feet and inched away from him, careful not to make any noise. They kept low as they moved along the roof, looking for a way in. The balcony in the front, she thought, just as Mitch turned to head that way.

The compound had quieted by this point. Even the cantina, which they could see from up here, looked deserted. Strings of lights lit up the main walkways, the bare bulbs surrounded by clouds of bugs. Some of the generators had been turned off as people had gone to bed, so the constant hum was quieter than it had been earlier, but it was still loud enough to drown out most of the jungle noises. Outside the compound, the woods were dark and ominous. Predators hunted in the night, sneaking around with deadly intent, just as she and Mitch were doing.

They stopped once the balcony was directly below them. The windows were dark. This time, she went first. He held her hands and lowered her until her feet touched the railing. She made her way down from there on her own. He followed her, swiftly and silently.

The balcony door stood open, allowing them entry to a room with a large table and a couple of ostentatious, overstuffed couches. They moved quickly, keeping to the shadows with their backs to the wall.

The door at the other end of the room was locked, but between the two of them they solved that problem in a minute. The hallway outside led in two directions, with a steep set of curving stairs to the right. The lights were on here. They communicated with hand signals, then moved toward the stairs.

She’d expected to see guards in the house, but didn’t. She snuck downstairs first, while Mitch covered her from above. Then she covered him while he caught up with her. They crossed the waiting area at the foot of the stairs. Saw the shadow of the guard outside through the glass in the front door and took care not to make a sound.

The first room they came across was Don Pedro’s private kitchen. He ate better fare than his men, judging by the stocked shelves. Mitch pilfered a few cans as he passed through. They would come in handy on their way out of the jungle.

Down the hall, the sound of snoring came from behind closed doors. The house servants most likely, or Don Pedro’s personal bodyguards who were housed in the main building with him. It looked like they weren’t required to stand guard at night.

They left that room alone. The next door revealed a bathroom. Now
that
was luxury in a place like this.

The only door left stood at the end of the corridor. A solid wood door that looked at least three inches thick, with a good lock. They had to spend more time on that than on any of the other locks they’d come across so far. When they were done, they opened the door, which revealed a staircase in front of them that led down into darkness.

They had no way to tell whether a guard was on duty with the prisoners. Once Mitch closed the door behind them, they could see little, so they silently took each step with care, pausing at the bottom of the stairs.

Something moved in the back of the room. They froze, aiming their weapons blindly.

“Is Roberto down here?” she asked in Spanish, as she pushed Mitch behind the cover of the staircase. She could protect him, too. If a guard slept down here, she would just pretend that she was looking for someone named Roberto, in hopes of a quick roll in the hay. “He said he was coming up to the house.”

Roberto was a common name. And even if there wasn’t one among the house guards and servants, whoever was down here couldn’t know if there wasn’t a horny Roberto among the visitors.

“Megan?” Zak’s voice came out of the darkness, somewhere to her left, the single word mumbled. His jaw must hurt like hell.

“Sis?” another voice asked.

Billy.

She stumbled blindly forward, her heart beating out an erratic rhythm in her throat as she fumbled to light a match. She had to try three times before she managed.

“Anyone else down here?” She peered into the darkness, saw a hole in the wall and headed that way.

A cell. They’d kept him in a dank cell all this time. Part of her rejoiced over finding Billy, while another part was furious at the bastards who’d treated her brother like this.

“Just me and another guy. He’s hurt. Is that really you?” Billy’s voice came from the hole.

Mitch lit a match, too. They didn’t dare risk turning on the lights. The guards outside would see it through the small windows.

A hairy face appeared in the hole in the wall. She recognized the eyes first. She stuck her hand in without hesitation, and the next second her fingertips were touching Billy’s. A tremor ran through her, tears burning her eyes.

Her brother was alive. He was here. Sure she’d believed in that for the past year, but blind faith and physical proof weren’t one and the same. Her throat tightened. A long second passed before she could talk again.

“I’m taking you home. Hang in there. Are you okay?”

“Meg.” Regret mixed with excitement in her brother’s voice. “It’s too dangerous. You shouldn’t have come.” A deep, shuddering breath. “Oh, man. I can’t believe you’re here. I figured everyone would assume I was dead by now.”

She wanted to lean her forehead against the wall and cry. But they didn’t have time for such luxuries.

“Let me see the door.” She let his fingertips go with reluctance and moved along the wall toward the door. Then she lit another match.

“Don’t touch it. The alarm goes off if I so much as lean against the damn thing.”

“Mine, too,” Zak said from the other side of the basement, pushing the words out with effort. He needed medical care for that jaw as soon as possible.