Rescue Me (2 page)

If anyone was worse thanNkemidilm it was his old friendThadiwe . The two men shared an alliance that went back to their covert training days inRussia some thirty years ago. The counterterrorist group Sam worked for was aware thatThadiwe was responsible for doing a little extracurricular work after his and Nkemidilm's basic training ended. Torture was bothThadiwe's specialty and his passion, and he'd educatedHuren's leader in the fine art of persuasion until both men were feared and revered for their sadistic skills.

The man was an amoral psychopath. Not only was he chillingly good at what he did, he relished his work.

Speculation had been rife about his whereabouts for months. And here he was. Deep in the jungle where no one would think to look.Thadiwe andNkemidilm had done a damn good job keeping their friendship off the radar. They hadn't been seen together since 1996.

"Doctor Randall, thank you for coming,"Thadiwe said in unaccented English. Sam didn't know if he felt better or worse getting the confirmation that they'd snatched the wrong doctor.

Thadiweapproached Beth but didn't extend his hand, nor did he instruct his men to stand down.

Suddenly he noticed her still bleeding hand. Hard to fucking miss since the left side of her pink blouse was stained red. The tango scowled.

"I wasn't aware that I had a choice," Beth said dryly. "Please tell this man to put the scalpel down. I'm no threat."

Thadiweturned on the man beside her who still had the scalpel at her throat.

Move, Beth. For fuck sake, move out of the way.

Without a wordThadiwe pulled the HK out of the holster of the soldier next to him and shot his man point-blank in the face. Beth flinched, jumping back as blood and brain matter spattered the area. She moved directly into Sam's line of fire.

For several stunned seconds nobody moved, then, his eyes on Beth,Thadiwe snapped his beefy fingers.

One of his men rushed to hand him a handkerchief which he used to wipe the blood off his face. The white gown he wore now had red polka dots all down the front.

Sam knew who, and he had a pretty good idea why. He prepared to fire.
MoveElizabeth
!

"My apologies for the manner in which you were transported here, Doctor,"Thadiwe wiped his hands, then tossed the bloodied cloth aside. "My men tend to be zealous in their interpretation of my instructions."

Beth's shoulders were stiff, and she was barely breathing. It was almost better not being able to see her face. Sam wanted to curve his hand reassuringly around her vulnerable nape.

"What is it you expect of me, Mister—?"

"TauThadiwe," he said, signing her death warrant. Whatever surgery he wanted Beth to perform on him, he had no intention of letting her live afterward. "Prepare yourself to do facial reconstruction immediately, Dr. Randall."

"There's nothing wrong with your face," Beth told him after a brief pause. "I can't imagine why youwa

—"

Thadiwebackhanded her. She staggered, but quickly recovered. Too quickly. God damn it, a fraction of amillimeter more and Sam's shot would have take off the top of her head. The tango's hand print was a livid red mark on the curve of her check. "What—?"

"Unless they are in reference to the procedure or my health. No questions."

Sam shifted the muzzle of theSig the necessary fraction of an inch to aim at the parallel lines between Thadiwe's eyebrows.
You're about to die of lead poisoning, asshole
.

The need to take out the tango made Sam's entire body itch. He was ready to drop him right there. Right now. Beth chose that moment to shift, blocking his shot again.

Move to the left a few inches. Come on, sweetheart. Just a couple of inches.

"You are here to do my reconstructive surgery. You're the best. That's why I ensured you would attend the symposium inCape Town ."

"
You
were the secret benefactor that paid L—my way toCape Town ? I don't know who you are, but there are easier ways to schedule surgery than kidnapping the doctor."

"Not
just
a doctor.
You
, Doctor Randall. You are thepreeminent facial reconstruction plastic surgeon inAmerica , are you not?"

Beth still blocked the shot.
For Christ sake, don'ttell him who you are
, Sam thought, wishing to hell telepathy was of one of his skill sets.

"I'd be more receptive to your request if you'd made an appointment," Beth said coolly, and Sam breathed a silent sigh of relief. Smart girl. He shouldn't have underestimated her.

Thadiweclicked his beefy fingers, and one of his men handed him a large manila envelope. He rooted around inside to find what he wanted, then handed her several photographs. "This is what I want my new face to look like."

She glanced at the pictures, her ponytail brushing the pink, blood-speckled, collar of her shirt, then said smoothly, "I can't perform surgery without extensive lab tests, X-rays—"

"The lab tests were done last week, as were these X-rays and photographs." He handed her the envelope. "Everything you need is here."

Her ponytail jerked as she looked up atThadiwe . "Surely you don't expect me to do it
now
?"

"I wouldn't have brought you here otherwise."

"But this type of surgery has to be done in stages. Over several months, surely you k—" Clearly he
wasn't
aware of how long the procedure took. "As you can see, I have a deep cut on my dominant hand," she told him calmly, holding out her injured hand. Beth was left-handed, not right. But she was playing every card she had. "Obviously performing any type of surgery now is impossible."

"Yet you will manage, Dr. Randall, or I will not hesitate to kill you."

Beth blinked and curled her injured hand toward her body.Thadiwe moved closer, and Sam's finger rested against the trigger, in case the son of a bitch made a wrong move. "I can't."

"You can,"Thadiwe slowly ran his finger over the creased frown in Beth's forehead. "And you will. Your husband leaves for work at 6:15. He drops your baby off at Apple Tree Day Care I have your mother's

home address inHollywood , your brother's too—congratulations on his wife's pregnancy. And your grandfather, well, it would be a shame if anything happened to him at the nursing home—In other words, Doctor Randall, if you fail to cooperate fully, I will have your entire family slaughtered by morning. All it will take is one phone call."

Sam's mouth tightened. Even though this wasn't Beth's familyThadiwe was threatening, it was Lynne Randall's—a doctor who was guilty of no more than being the best in her field. Beth's friend.

"Leave my family out of this. All right. You give me no choice. Your surgery will take upwards of twenty hours." She pulled out some of the paperwork, then took a moment to scan the information.

"You have high blood pressure." She glanced up atThadiwe . "I appreciate your state-of-the-art OR, but what happens in the event of an emergency that I can't handle alone? We're in the middle of the jungle, hundreds of miles from anywhere." Her hand was leaving blood stains on the manila envelope, and it made Sam crazy to see her hurt when he was right there and should have been able to protect her. Even from herself.

"There are dozens of factors to consider. A reaction to theanesthetic . Clotting issues that could cause excessive blood loss. Underlying, undiagnosed pre-existing conditions. Even though you've been treating your high blood pressure, there's still a possibility that you'd stroke out from the stress such a complex medical procedure will put on your body. Especially since you insist on having several procedures done at once. It's risky. Very risky."

Sam's estimation of herb.s . ability went up. The type of surgeryThadiwe wanted would take half a dozen procedures over the span of several months, not hours. Beth was playing along,
and
buying time.

"How close is the nearest hospital with well-trained emergency room staff and a competent cardiologist?" she asked calmly as she flipped throughThadiwe's paperwork.

"An hour by helicopter. You'd better not make any mistakes, Doctor Randall. If anything goes wrong, if I should come to any harm while under your scalpel, my men have instructions to torture you. You will die in agony and very, very slowly."

Her head jerked up. "And you think that threatening me will scare me into doing a better job?" she demanded, letting her annoyance leak into her voice.
Annoyance
. Not fear. "I'm a surgeon and bound by my own ethics to do you no harm. But to do that, I'll need to rest first. I've been kidnapped at gun point, and tied hand and foot for six hours. I'll perform your surgery in the morning if you give me your word that afterward I'll be returned toCape Town in good health. Do we have a bargain?"

Christ she sounded cool. Everyone in the room knew the secondThadiwe got what he wanted she'd be dead.

"I'll need post-operative care."

"Kidnap a nurse," she said dryly.

"I'll give you two hours to rest and study my file."

"That's not enough time. My God, you want every bone in your face rearranged. Do you honestly think that studying your X-rays and photographs for
two hours
will be sufficient time?
I
would never allow an exhausted, ill-prepared surgeon to do major surgery on
my
face."

"You're the best in the world."

"Be that as it may, I'm not
at
my best
now
. And you want the best when it comes to
this!
" She held up one of the photographs. "Give me ten hours, and I'll—"

"Two hours."

"No. You might as well save time and kill me now, then go and kidnap another facial reconstruction specialist." She thrust the envelope at his massive barrel chest. "But you know, and I know, Mr.Thadiwe

, that long before you find anyone else of mycaliber ,
I'll
be ready to do your surgery. You kidnapped me because I
am
the best. Don't be stubbornly foolish enough to rush me. You'll have the face you want by this time tomorrow night."

Thadiweglanced at the $200,000 Girard-Perregauxwatch on his thick wrist. "I'll give you six hours."

"Eight. I'll be ready."

"Seven."

Beth said nothing. Silence throbbed between them. Finally the man caved, and he nodded. "Not one second past seven A.M."

Sam eased his finger off the trigger.

Chapter Two

A callused hand clamped overElizabeth 's mouth, waking her with a heart pounding jolt.
What the
… ?

One ofThadiwe's guards?

God forbid,Thadiwe himself? Chills of pure terror chased over her skin making the fine hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stand up.

She hadn't meant to fall sleep, but half an hour after she'd come to the room, the lights had suddenly gone out. She'd fought exhaustion and lost.

The man whispered something, but she couldn't hear him over the thundering in her ears. Cold sweat replaced the tropical heat of the room as she struggled to break free of the strong gag of his fingers.

Whoever he was, his hand covered half her face, making it hard to drag in a breath. What air she could suck in smelled of clean male sweat mixed with the chemical stink of insect repellent. He could be any one of one of the guards.

There'd been two stationed right outside her door when she'd tried to leave the room just before the lights went out. But this wasn't one of them, not unless he'd taken a shower recently. It didn't matter who he was, she'd been scared long before
this
guy had shown up. Afraid that the guards would add rape to

their list of duties.

Elizabethfought harder.

"Shhh. Promise not to scream, and I'll take away my hand." The rough-edged voice, low and elusively familiar, was now only a few inches from her face.

In your dreams, pal
. The second she was free, she was going to scream until the entire household came running. And
then
what? She didn't think it likely thatThadiwe would come to herdefense —although he might shoot the rapist.

Elizabethnodded to indicate compliance, then sucked in a breath in anticipation.

"Damn, you give stubborn a new meaning, woman." His whisper was laced withhumor as his lips replaced his hand, covering her mouth which was open, ready to yell. "It's me, Sam," he said hoarsely against her parted lips before the warm slickness of his tongue entered her mouth. His lipsmolded hers.

His fingers tangled in her hair holding her still as he kissed her. The kiss wasn't violent, or aggressive. But it was—
hungry
in a controlled way that puzzled her.

He was a good kisser.

He tasted—Was she out of her mind?! She tried to shut her mouth against the sensual invasion.

"Ow! Shit, no biting."

With a palm to his bristly jaw, she shoved his face away from hers. The only Sam she knew was—"Sam
Pelton
?" she asked incredulously. Pushing her hair out of her face with her injured hand, she winced as she sat up.

He—
Sam
—crouched beside the bed. "Yeah. Don't scream, for God's sake."

The room was so dark she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. It was weird hearing Sam's voice
here
, and she considered the possibility that she was dreaming. She'd had plenty of dreams about Sam in the last few months. Most of them erotic. His presence was so out of context she couldn't make any sense of it, and sitting in the pitch dark whispering made the disorientation complete.

She was probably hallucinating. That was the only explanation. Sam had been a constant presence in her life for months. A constant frustration. She'd see him around town so often that she'd wondered if it was coincidence, fate, or maybe low-level stalking. But not Sam. He was a complete gentleman at all times, even when she'd dropped subtle hints after her divorce was final.

Either he didn't get subtle or he didn't want her. It didn't matter, the end result was the same, her simmering lust for him went unnoticed and unsatisfied. Which is why, she supposed, images of his tall, muscular body haunted her sleep night after night.