Operation Summer Storm (19 page)

Summer gave up, realizing it would be pointless trying to get any information out of him while he was so preoccupied. She hurried instead to follow Del and Tupper along a path that went behind the hut and through a dense clump of tropical forest.

She had no idea what they were hurrying to get away from—but the fact they were eager to get away from something, was enough to make Summer realize she had better hurry too. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good.

They moved through the lush vegetation. It was very different terrain compared to the humid jungle of Cambodia but by the time Del stopped outside a very well camouflaged opening in the side of the mountain no wider than meter across and three foot high. Summer was puffing from the exertion. She noted with an irritated frown, the other two had barely broken a sweat.

She followed Del inside, ducking her head to clear the small entrance and waited, as he lit a lamp. Catching her breath, as the gentle glow of the lamp filled the cave, Summer discovered a large cathedral-like space, which had been set up with a table and chairs, and at the far end, camping beds.

A small corridor led off the main area, but she couldn’t tell where it led to. Carefully placing the guns on the table, she shrugged off the pack. Tate and Maloney came in and Del went back to cover any tracks. They sat at the table, Summer, trying to keep her rising fear in check, while the men wired things that looked suspiciously like homemade bombs.

A rumble of thunder echoed somewhere in the distance and she let out a long unsteady breath. There seemed to be a lot more brewing here than just the oncoming storm. The question was, which would break first?

* * * *

Summer looked up and noticed the exchange Tate shared with the others, communicating in the same uncanny way she’d observed back in Cambodia. The bond between these men was one that had developed through years of shared encounters with danger just like this.

She felt a shiver go through her body. This was all supposed to be over. They’d found Willow—they’d achieved the near impossible; her big adventure was over. This was where she was supposed to go home and be normal again. Instead here she was, trapped in a cave with four desperadoes and God knew who else, stalking around out there somewhere after them.

The men changed their clothing without ceremony. She was too nervous to take in the fact she was inside a cave with three men shedding clothing right before her eyes. She stood up and crossed to where the men were scattered, busily sorting through their lethal arsenal. Nervously eyeing a small pile of grenades, Summer gave them a wide berth, as she made her way across to stop beside Tate. “I know this might be a bad time, but could someone please tell me what the hell’s going on?” she tried to keep her voice as calm as possible.

“Later,” Tate snapped.

“Later?” she repeated skeptically. “Would that be before, or after we are apparently slaughtered inside this Goddamn cave?” her voice rose in frustration.

She saw Tate grit his teeth. “Keep your voice down,” he sighed and looked heavenward for a moment, as though to seek the strength he didn’t seem to possess, to explain patiently. “The boat you saw is a team of men, more than likely sent by Tréago. You weren’t supposed to be involved in this. We’ll do our best to keep you out of it; just sit tight, and let us do our job.”

“Your job?” she said incredulously, her blue eyes narrowing. “Your bloody job is going to get us all killed.”

“Yeah? Well no one knew we were here, until you came snoopin’ around—if anyone gets us killed, it’s going to be you.”

“If you lived a normal life, no one would be after you in the first place,” she shot back angrily.

“Okay people, let’s just get through this little situation before we fight among ourselves,” Del interjected calmly, jumping in to play ref while snapping a magazine into his gun with a decisive click.

Summer threw her hands up and returned to her chair. Only these men would consider an armed contingent of killers a little situation. The men went about their business with a minimum of discussion…then Del and Maloney left.

“Where do they think they’re going?” Summer asked, unable to believe what she’d just seen.

“We won’t know what they’re doing, if we can’t keep track of them,” Tate said, coming over to the table.

“What if they get caught?”

“They know what they’re doing. They can handle it.”

She watched him from across the table, trying to stay mad at him, but found herself thawing the tiniest bit as he tried to maneuver his shoulder into a comfortable position.

“How would Tréago have found us?” Summer asked, steeling herself for another fight.

Tate didn’t look up; his gaze focused on the gun, he’d laid on the table earlier. “I don’t know.”

Summer felt sick. She’d made them take her to Cambodia and now they were caught up in Tréago’s wrath…because of her. Men were here to kill them…and it was her fault. “Tate, I’m sorry—”

“Forget it Summer—there’s no point worrying about it now. We need to keep calm and figure out how to stay alive.”

“If these men catch me, what will happen?” she suddenly asked unable to hide her anxiety.

“They won’t catch you…”

A slight noise outside caught Tate’s attention and he reached down to pick up his rifle, then relaxed as Del returned, pulling the webbing, camouflage, and bushes back in place. He wasted no time in spelling it out. “There’s seven of them, well armed, backed by a Goddamn gold mine, if the gear they’re unloading, was anything to go by. I think it’s time to cut and run.”

Summer did not like the sound of that, one little bit. Especially the run part—something she had never particularly enjoyed.

“No chance of takin’ them out?” Tupper asked from his cot.

“I have a feeling they’re not alone. There was a lot of communications gear so there’s probably a back up team waiting for a signal,” Del said wiping his brow with the sleeve of his shirt.

“You up for it Tup?” Del asked stopping beside the cot.

“I’m sure as hell not gonna’ lay here and wait for them,” he said gruffly. “I’ll be okay.”

“Let’s do it then.” Tate said, packing a smaller, more compact pack.

Chapter Thirteen

They were packed and ready in only a few minutes. Summer went to shrug on her pack but Tate stopped her. “Sorry, you’ll have to leave it here.”

“What about my passport and wallet?”

Unable to risk leaving any identification behind to be discovered, he dug through the pack, wrapping them in plastic, before tucking the parcel back into his. Picking up his gun, he led the way through the dark tunnel she’d noticed earlier. His flashlight bouncing off the narrow walls and Summer stayed close behind, shivering as the air became noticeably cooler.

The tunnel twisted and turned, as they made their way through the darkness but within minutes it widened and she stepped out into a dark, rocky cavern.

The ceiling was high, moss covered the wet, shiny walls of the cave and the roar of the ocean echoed through it like a freight train. A few feet before them loomed a black pool of water. With only the light from Tate’s torch to go by, there was no way to see how deep the water in the pool might be.

“Hence, the name Los Cavernas,” Tate murmured, as he glanced at the surprise on Summer’s face. “The caverns,” he translated.

Summer looked around her, uneasily, at the dead end. “What now?”

“There’s an opening below the surface which leads directly out to the ocean and the south side of the island,” he said, shrugging his pack off and strapping his gun to his back.

“Where are the others?” Summer asked when she noticed they hadn’t been behind them.

“Leaving a little surprise for our visitors,” he said and winced as he tested his shoulder, by rotating it slowly.

“Can you swim with your shoulder injured?” she asked.

“No sweat,” he assured her.

Summer rolled her eyes. “Silly me for ever doubting.”

He flashed her a dry glance, moving on to explain the plan, “We’re going to have to swim across to the other side, then dive down about thirty feet. There’s an opening about two feet wide. It’s a bit of a squeeze if you don’t go through it at the right angle. Just stay close and follow me.”

Summer stared at him completely astounded. “Are you crazy?”

“What?” he asked genuinely confused.

“Thirty feet down? What if I can’t hold my breath that long, I am assuming it’s another thirty foot up to the surface on the other side. Not all of us happen to be part dolphin.”

“Summer, a kid could hold its breath for longer than that,” he told her with a quirk of his eyebrow.

She sent him a dirty look, which was completely wasted on him, as he turned his back and scooped up his pack from the floor.

“You ready?”

Summer sighed as she looked over the deep pool with a definite lack of enthusiasm. “Guess so.”

“That’s my girl,” he said with a grin, leaning down to take her lips in what she’d expected to be a gentle kiss of encouragement. Fire met accelerant, and desire blazed between them. Tate swore softly before deepening the kiss and Summer drowned in his touch, grabbing on to his arms to keep upright, as one big arm snaked its way around her waist and pulled her hard against him. She felt the heat radiating between their bodies and groaned, as she moved against him, frustrated so many clothes remained between them, wanting desperately to feel his skin next to hers. She couldn’t believe the power of her desire, she’d never felt this way before, never imagined she was capable of feeling this wanton and desperate. Tate Maddox had stormed into her life and turned her completely upside down.

Slowly she slid her arms over the bulging muscles of his arms, across his wide shoulders and up the smooth corded neck, holding his head between her small hands firmly as she matched him kiss for steamy kiss.

“God, woman,” he groaned softly as he tore his mouth away from hers to nuzzle her neck.

She gasped as he sucked gently on her neck sending fresh shock waves through her already over stimulated body. The sound of feet scuffling echoed down the tunnel and Summer froze. Tate also went still, relaxing slightly as Del came through the dark opening, his flash light beam, preceding him.

Withdrawing her arms from Tate’s neck, she started to move out of his embrace but Tate held her firmly against him as he looked down at her with an unwavering sincerity. “We’ll finish this later,” he told her before letting her step back.

Her gaze hung on his, unable to break the fragile moment they’d just shared until Del cleared his throat pointedly, from behind her. Taking a shaky breath, she stepped away, not trusting herself to function properly in such close proximity to him.

“Let’s get out of here,” Del said, moving into the water, followed closely, by Maloney and Tupper.

Tate put a hand to her chin and turned her face to look at him. “You’ll be fine. I won’t let anything happen to you, okay?”

Summoning a weak smile, she nodded.

“Stay close,” he instructed, as they both entered the water together.

Summer caught her breath, as her body sunk into the dark, seemingly bottomless pool. It was cold. The cavern keeping the water temperature nicely chilled. They swam across to the other side of the pool, treading water as they reached the rough, slippery, rock wall. Tate held her gaze, steady and unwavering.

“Walk in the park,” he assured her calmly. “You ready?”

Summer gave a jerky nod and filled her lungs before following Tate down to the bottom of the cavern floor. His flashlight shone a path ahead of them, but the dark water surrounded them in a ghostly, tomb-like manner, and she fought against the building panic as her lungs starting to build pressure. They reached the sandy bottom and Summer looked at Tate in alarm. The opening they were supposed to go through was not what she’d expected. It was not the nice, round hole she’d pictured, but a narrow ledge they would have to virtually crawl through on their stomachs in order to get under.

Tate pushed her down toward the opening, and guided her through, following close behind. Realizing Tate had made it through with the small pack on his back, it had obviously not been as narrow as she’d thought. Coming up alongside her, he pointed to the surface, took her hand and dragged her up after him. Her lungs felt as though they were ready to burst, and she closed her eyes tight against the painful pressure. Then with immense relief her head broke through the surface and she began coughing and gasping as Tate held her head above the water.

Terrible thoughts of year seven and swim survival emerged and she forced the memory away. If she drowned out here, Mister Barry was definitely not the last thing she wanted to be thinking about.

The sky was now completely dark and Summer lost all bearing. She glanced around and saw they’d come up next to a rocky point above the cavern’s secret entrance. Turning in the water, she saw the open ocean faced them—an angry, daunting presence. They started to swim before the next wave came in and smashed them against the rocks.

Tate helped her swim, pulling her along beside him. A flash of lightening streaked across the sky and gave a deafening crack that made her yelp in fright.

The water was an inky, terrifying black abyss, beneath her. Waves swelled, hindering the progress they made and sapping their strength. A second slash of bright light lit up the dark sea and Summer coughed up a mouthful of salty water as a swell lifted and dumped her once more.