Jungle Inferno (27 page)

“My sentiments exactly.”

“Okay, now we know how Joey Latrobe got taken from the hospital and who did it.

Well, go and find them.”

Green laughed, a very unpleasant sound. “Easier said than done. The only one in their big fancy offices is a secretary who believe me, knows absolutely nothing about where they are.”

“And their homes?”

“Yeah, right. Even my hacker couldn’t find out where they live. Any of them. Talk about people who know how to go to ground.”

“If we can’t resolve this little problem,” the man said in a tight, clipped voice, “we may need to take lessons from them.”

Green gripped the telephone. “We’re doing our best.”

“Do better. Find them and find that damn woman. Smoke her out. Get rid of her.

She asks too many questions and can get to too many people.” Green slammed the phone onto the table in the hotel room and reached for the ever-present bottle of Tums.

“More bad news?” Brown asked.

“Is there another kind these days? He wants us to find the Wilding woman and locate the partners from Phoenix. He thinks where one is we’ll find the other.” Brown nodded. “I’d say he’s probably right.”

“Then he wants us to get rid of them all.”

Brown’s face paled and a fine sheen of sweat broke out on his forehand. “That’s a joke, right?”

“I wish.” Green popped two Tums in his mouth.

“Listen.” Brown squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. “We’ve always had other people clean things up for us. I’m not about to put my head in a noose by killing someone.”

Green fixed him with a hard stare. “Yeah? Let me point something out to you.

Whether we do it ourselves or hire it done, the law will see us just as guilty, so forget about being so squeamish.”

“I just—”

“And if we don’t take care of this, we’ll be going to prison. You want to spend the rest of your life with some three hundred pound gorilla who thinks you’re his girlfriend?”

Brown paled at the implications.

Green stared at nothing for a moment. Then a phrase from his conversation tickled his brain. Smoke her out. He picked up the phone again, searched through the internal phone book and found the number he wanted.

“Are you available?” he asked the man who answered. “Good. I have a little job for you. And whatever you do, it must look like an accident. Downed electrical wire. Faulty wiring. Whatever you can come up with. Fine. Here are the details. Call me when it’s done.”

He looked up to find Brown staring at him.

“The man said to smoke her out. This ought to do it. Literally.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “Be ready to call all your media contacts. We want lots of attention on the fire at the home of a famous author.”

“I thought we were supposed to keep a low profile,” Brown objected. “Won’t people think it’s suspicious when her house suddenly burns down?”

“That’s the least of it,” Green snapped. “The people we work for and the people they do business with would take great pleasure in skinning both of us alive if this thing falls apart.”

Brown got up and went to the minibar, pulled out a small bottle of bourbon and drank a large swallow straight. “How the hell did we get to this point, anyway?”

* * * * *

The flight had been a little bumpy but the landing at the private airport was smooth. Faith tried to pull herself together as Rick unbuckled his seat belt and motioned for her and Tia to do the same. The pilot came forward, opened the door and pushed it down to let the stairs unfold.

A gust of wind blew through the open doorway and Faith reached for her thin jacket, wondering if she should have brought something warmer.

Rick gave her a half-smile, as if reading her mind. “Don’t worry. We’ll find you warm clothes when we get to where we’re going.”

He urged her down the steps, Tia behind her and brought up the rear.

Faith pulled her jacket tight and looked around her. They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The airport, or whatever it was, consisted of a hangar with a large serif P painted on the side, a small building that looked like an office and a long runway. To their left stood an enormous black helicopter. Otherwise, nothing, except open space and a chilling wind.

She turned back to Rick, who was carrying her duffel. “Where are we?”

“Maine.”

“Maine?” she echoed stupidly. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I never kid. Come on. We have to hustle.” He began leading them toward the helicopter.

Faith stopped, refusing to move. “Please don’t tell me we’re going up in that thing.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you.” He took her arm and forced her to move again.

“Come on, Faith,” Tia said. “It will be an adventure.”

She gritted her teeth. “An adventure I could do without.”

“Would you rather be dead?” Rick asked

At that the panic began to grab her again and she started to walk rapidly.

“And let’s not forget the primary focus here—rescuing Mark Halloran.” She stopped, suddenly still. “You’re convinced he’s still alive, then?” Rick nodded. “Not only that, according to Dan we have a pretty good idea where the terrorists have taken him. The operation is being planned even as we speak. So, do you want to stay here all day and debate the method of transportation, or do you want in on this?”

Faith literally ran for the waiting helicopter, not even concerned at the awkwardness of her ascent into the cabin.

The pilot turned to Rick as soon as they were all settled. “Ready to go?” Rick nodded. In seconds the air was split by the whine of the rotors, the huge bird began to vibrate slightly and then they were moving. Forward motion first, before they lifted straight up into the air.

Faith was sure she’d left her stomach on the ground. She swallowed as hard as she could, willing herself to avoid the humiliation of tossing her guts out in front of these men. She glanced at Tia in the seat next to her but the woman seemed unbothered by any of this.

Rick, seated beside the pilot, turned to check on her. “You ladies okay?” Tia smiled and Faith nodded, afraid to open her mouth.

Rick grinned. “Good. We’re heading into a little heavy weather so be prepared.”
Mark. I have to keep thinking of Mark. I can stand anything if I can just get him home
safely.

They’d been in the air about fifteen minutes when the bad weather hit. Rain slashed at the windshield and the wind buffeted the helicopter. The pilot didn’t seem deterred by it and Rick never flinched. Faith simply closed her eyes and prayed. She felt Tia reach over and take her hand and without opening her eyes she allowed herself a tiny smile.

It felt like an eternity before she sensed a change in the angle of the bird, opened her eyes and saw they were descending.

“My God, we’re at the end of nowhere,” she gasped.

“Close to it,” Rick agreed.

A log cabin sat perched on a bluff overlooking what she realized was the Atlantic, an angry-looking ocean with swirling whitecaps. From the cabin it was a sheer drop to the rocks below. The rest was open space and not much of it.

“God, is this the only way up here?” Faith asked.

Rick grinned again. “I think Dan would like it that way but no. There’s a road beyond those trees. Straight up the cliff.”

Her gaze shifted and she noticed a grove of trees standing to one side of the cabin with four black SUVs parked next to them.

“Oh, well. Thank goodness for that. I think.”

As the helo sat with its rotors spinning, Rick helped the two women down to the ground, bending low to avoid the rotor wash. Then he grabbed the duffle, slammed the door of the helicopter, waved to Ed in the pilot’s seat and the bird lifted off as they ran for the cabin. When Faith looked up the door was open, bright light spilling out into the rain-soaked gloom. Three men, all as big as Rick—and Mark—stood framed in the rectangle. And there was nothing welcoming about their look.

The one in the middle, dark hair, fierce eyes, came forward. “Hello, Miss Wilding.

I’m Dan Romeo. Come on in. We look frightening but I assure you, we don’t bite.” A fire was crackling in the fireplace, something Faith wasn’t used to seeing at this time of year and it bathed the rustic cabin in a warm glow. She wasn’t shy about standing in front of it and rubbing her hands. She noticed Tia, far from her usual boisterous self, doing the same thing.

“Any more trouble?” she heard one of the men ask.

“No,” Rick answered. “We got away clean. But I’ll bet they’re rallying the troops and having fits as we speak. Any news on the origin of the email I forwarded?”

“Troy ran it through the Dragon but for the moment it’s a dead end. It leads back to a laptop registered to a false name. We’ve got the system running comparisons on the name to see who uses it as an alias. But we may not get anything before we leave.” Faith turned to face the men. “Thank you for letting my friend and me invade your space,” she said in a formal tone.

Dan dipped his head once. “We couldn’t do any less for Tidbit.” His face was solemn but he didn’t try to hide a twinkle in his eyes.

Faith gave him a shaky smile. How nice to have a tiny bit of humor in this situation.

“I appreciate it.” She turned her head. “This is Tia Romero, my assistant. And unfortunate innocent bystander in this tragedy.”

Tia actually laughed. “It’s all right. I needed a little excitement in my life.” Dan introduced the others in the room. “Would you like some coffee? A cold drink?”

“I don’t suppose you have anything like a tea bag here, do you?” Troy moved into the kitchen area. “It so happens I’m a tea drinker myself.” He gave her a mock frown. “You’re sworn to secrecy about this, you understand.”

“They could use some warm clothes, if we can find anything to fit,” Rick said.

“They got pretty chilled just in the few minutes we were outside.”

“I can find something.” Mike headed to the second bedroom.

“I’m fine for the moment,” Faith said. “The tea will do the trick.” For the first time since that morning she relaxed a tiny bit. These men might not be happy to see her—she’d been dropped into their bolt-hole, probably put them in a difficult situation. But they weren’t going to throw her to the wolves or make her feel like an intruder. And she had the sudden feeling that if anyone could rescue Mark it was them.

“I wish I could give you time to rest,” Dan told her, “but we’re getting ready to leave as we speak. I need you to repeat for us everything you’ve learned from Mark in your…conversations.”

Faith sat down at the table, gratefully accepting the hot tea from Troy. “How much has Rick told you?”

“The bare necessities. Why don’t you fill in the details?” So once again she told her story, watching the faces of the men as she laid it out for them, waiting for signs of the usual skepticism. She saw none of this, only an understanding that surprised her. Then she remembered who these men were and why nothing should surprise her.

“So there it is,” she finished. “I can tell you, he’s badly hurt. Probably tortured.

Barely hanging on. And we’re his only hope.”

Dan and Rick exchanged looks.

She moved her gaze from one to the other. “What?”

“We’ll try to make you as comfortable here as we can before we leave,” Rick said.

“We’re not exactly set up for guests but you and Miss Romero can share the second bedroom.”

“Wait a minute.” She stared up at him. “You’re leaving me here? Are you kidding?”

“It’s the only place you’ll be safe.” Mike came over to stand by the table. “We have two men coming who’ll be on sentry duty at all times. I’d trust my mother with them.”

“Plus,” Rick added, “this cabin has every kind of security system you could want.”

“No.” She slammed her fist on the table. “I’m going with you.” Dan shook his head. “Not happening. This mission is dangerous and demands only highly trained people. You’d be a liability.”

“But I have one thing you don’t,” she pointed out. “I can exchange messages with Mark. You might need that to actually pinpoint him. Or find out information about the camp.”

They just looked at her, not saying a word.

“You know I’m right,” she insisted. “Just tell me what to do. I won’t get in the way and I won’t be a liability. I can keep up.”

More silence, broken only by the snapping of the logs in the fireplace and the sound of the rain against the windows.

“She’s right,” Troy said at last. “She could be an asset.” Rick turned to Dan. “Did you make contact in Peru?”

Dan nodded. “Cristo knows approximately where the camp is. He gave us enough to at least figure out an insertion point. But he gave us another very valuable piece of information.”

Rick reached into the fridge for a cold soda, popped the top and took a long swallow. “And that is?”

“DEA has a man in Escobedo’s group. Someone they’ve recently been able to co-opt for personal reasons. He’s the one who reported where and when the meeting was going to take place.”

Mike picked up another log and threw it on the fire, poking it to make sure it caught. “And why would the government trust someone who’s already a traitor to one person?”

Dan’s eyes turned cold. “Because he’s not a willing participant. He’s a field weapons expert and to get his cooperation Escobedo took his sister and won’t release her until he proves himself. Uncle Sam promised to help him get her out and hide both of them away.”

“Jesus.” Mike poked at the fire again. “This thing gets more convoluted by the minute.”

Dan finished the coffee he’d been drinking, rinsed his cup and put it in the sink.

“Well, we’d better get to it. We don’t exactly have time to waste.”

“And me?” Faith asked. “What about me?”

“You’d better live up to your advertising. I’d hate to have anything happen to you but Mark Halloran’s our first priority.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

I hope. Oh, Mark, we’re coming. Just hold on a little longer.

And without any warning he was there.

I will. Tidbit…hurry.

* * * * *

Dan had scrounged some sweats and heavy sweaters from a closet.

“Left over from someone’s girlfriend, I think,” he apologized to Faith. “But at least you won’t freeze to death.”