The Maze (ATCOM) (11 page)

“Drop
the knife, Atalanta,” he said softly.

When
she didn’t, the hand holding her wrist gave a twist that made her bite down on
her lip to stop from crying out. It hurt like hell, but she refused to give
Carlos the satisfaction of seeing her beg. She had been forced to do that too
many times while on his estate in South America.

“He
better not be dead,” she said, then winced when her cheek ground into the
glass.

Carlos
looked surprised. “Dead? Of course he’s not dead. That would be much too easy.
Besides, you know me better than that. If I wanted your friend dead I would
have killed him long ago and not so quickly. Let go of the knife.”

She
was relieved to hear Noah wasn’t dead, but it was too late to drop the knife.
She couldn’t back down now. She couldn’t let Carlos win. Not this time and not
ever.

When
she ignored the order, the thug holding her hand gave it a sharp twist and the
knife dropped out of her hand and clattered to the floor. He hadn’t broken her
wrist, but it hurt as if he had.

Attie
let out a harsh breath as blood seeped onto the table beneath her cheek and
pain shot up her arm. She watched Carlos step closer and lean over nose-to-nose
with her. She caught the scent of his sweet cologne and almost gagged. It
reminded her of long, stressful nights filled with anxiety and fear.

“You
are an amazing woman, Atalanta. You have brought me so much joy already. I
can’t wait to see you in action. Are you ready?”

It
was time. Now she was going to find out why Carlos had used her brother to
bring her here.

“Where’s
my brother?”

“In
a safe place. Rest assured, I won’t harm him, since he isn’t the one I’m
interested in. He was simply a means to an end.”

“I
want to see him.”

“You
will, as soon as you make it through the maze.”

“The
what?”

Carlos
smiled and Attie’s stomach hit the floor. She knew exactly what that smile
meant.

“Will
you behave if I let you up?”

Attie
glared at him. “Yes.”

Carlos
nodded to the guard holding her and she was released. With a grimace she
straightened and accepted the linen napkin Carlos handed her. She pressed it to
her cheek and waited for him to continue.

Carlos
reached out a hand and touched her cheek. She drew back and he laughed softly.

“You
know you were the only woman to ever challenge me, Atalanta. You taught me a
very valuable lesson.”

She
remained silent.

“You
realize I do this out of love for you, don’t you? We are always the hardest on
those we love. It builds character, makes us stronger.”

Again,
Attie said nothing. What could she say? Carlos still held on to the delusion
that he loved her.

Carlos’s
hand cupped her cheek. “You must pay for your betrayal. Only then will we be
able to move on.”

She
opened her mouth to tell him she had no regrets over what she’d done, but he
pressed a finger to her lips and silenced her.

“No,
no more talk.” He nodded to the guard behind her and a blindfold was placed
over her eyes. The napkin was taken from her hand, her wrists bound. She had to
grit her teeth to stop from crying out.

Then
she was led from the room toward whatever fate awaited her.

Chapter
10

“Come
on, Kincaid, wake up.”

Noah
heard Attie’s voice from far away. She sounded edgy…scared, which didn’t make
any sense. She never let her fear show, was too proud to admit such a weakness.
His head throbbed.

“Damn
you, Carlos, what did you give him?” she asked in the same tone.

A
hand shook his shoulder. The action made his head ache. He didn’t wait for
Santiago to answer, and swallowed the cotton in his mouth so he could speak.

“I
won’t let him hurt you, Attie,” he mumbled.

“What?
Open your eyes, Kincaid.”

He
was trying to. It felt like there were dumbbells on his eyelids. What the hell
had Santiago given him?

“Santiago?”
He cleared his throat and forced his eyes open.

“Not
here. We’re in a cave, if you can call it that.”

He
was lying on a cold, rock floor in what resembled a tunnel. Not very big—he
could stand, but narrow and made of the same gray rock as the mountain.

Attie
sat beside him with her legs drawn up and her arms wrapped around her knees.

“About
time you woke up,” she said, watching him rise into a sitting position and prop
his back against the wall.

“How
long have I been out?”

“Maybe
an hour.”

“Where
are we?”

She
shrugged. “Still inside the mountain. That’s all I can tell you.”

Fighting
through the fog in his head, he glanced at her and noticed a series of tiny
cuts on her face. “What happened to your cheek?”

She
didn’t look at him. “Nothing.”

Noah
reached out a hand and touched her cheek. She drew away and sent him a wary
look.

“Santiago.”

“One
of his pals. I guess they didn’t like it when I attacked their boss.”

“What
did you do?” he asked with a sinking feeling. What had happened while he was
out? While he left her unprotected.

“I
tried to drive a butter knife through his heart after you passed out.”

Noah
quirked a brow. “Tried?”

“Yeah,
one of Carlos’s thugs grabbed me before I could finish.”

Noah
didn’t like the idea of her being manhandled, and cursed himself for not seeing
this coming. He shouldn’t have let his guard down, even for a moment. Lesson
learned the hard way, but when it came to Attie he was damned distracted. It
would eventually get them killed.

He’d
given his word to Jed Devayne that he would bring Attie and Brendan home safely
and that was exactly what he planned to do. From here on out he was focusing on
the mission, not his attraction to Attie.

“My
avenging angel,” he murmured.

She
let out an inelegant snort. “Hardly. I wasn’t avenging your death.”

Noah
could have sworn he saw something resembling vulnerability in the green depths
of her cat eyes before she looked away. Would she have avenged his death if
Santiago had killed him? He wanted to pry away her layers and dig deeper into
what motivated her to do and say the things she did. He wanted to understand
where she was now, but she was too damned stubborn to let anyone in.

“Would
you have mourned the loss?” he asked softly.

He
received an icy glare. “Of a fellow agent.”

Ouch.
That barb drove clean through. She would mourn Noah the agent, not Noah the
man.

“Like
Seth,” he said.

Attie
drew back as if he had slapped her, her eyes growing frigid. The temp in the
room dropped ten degrees as she withdrew from him.

“You
have no right to compare yourself to him,” she said, her voice rising. “He was
a good agent.”

“I
didn’t say he wasn’t. Seth was damn good at what he did.”

She
trembled visibly. From anger, or had he pushed too hard? His head was pounding
like a jackhammer and, truth be told, he didn’t want to go back to what
happened a year ago right now.

“Time
out. This isn’t getting us anywhere,” he said rubbing his forehead. “Where does
this tunnel lead?”

Attie
drew in a deep breath and shot to her feet, tension in every muscle.

“Nowhere.
It’s a dead end.”

“There
was a way in, so there has to be a way out.”

“Yeah,
well, I couldn’t find it. You’re welcome to try.”

He
ignored her incensed tone and leaned his head back against the wall. He wished
the drug would wear off; it clouded his thoughts.

“In
a minute,” he said, closing his eyes.

“In
a—is the drug still affecting you?”

Noah
didn’t answer. He needed a couple minutes to regroup. He heard Attie move
beside him and knew he wasn’t going to get that couple minutes.

“Open
your eyes, Kincaid.”

He
obeyed and looked straight into her eyes. She crouched beside him, looking
angry and concerned. He stared at the marks on her cheek, trying to figure out
how she’d gotten them. She wouldn’t talk about it, but he needed to know. They
weren’t very deep, but something had put them there.

She
studied him for a moment before shaking her head. “Your pupils are dilated.”

“Gathered
that.”

“Well
you’re no good to me like this.”

Noah
ignored the dig and closed his eyes.

Attie
started pacing.

He
opened an eye to watch her, got dizzy and closed it again. She needed to get
rid of her nervous energy.

Moments
later Attie muttered, “What’s he waiting for?”

He
didn’t answer. This was all part of Santiago’s game. He was watching and
probably enjoying Attie’s anxiety, drawing it out until she was close to her
breaking point. He wanted her on the edge. Little did he know, she wasn’t going
to break. She had an amazingly strong will to live and knowing her brother was
here somewhere would motivate her to succeed. Santiago didn’t stand a chance.

Then
again, Attie wasn’t exactly on solid ground when it came to Santiago. He was
the one man who could evoke fear in her. Noah had seen it more than once since
their arrival. That was Santiago’s wild card. And he was Attie’s.

After
five minutes he couldn’t take it anymore. “Sit down, Attie. Conserve your
energy.”

“I
have plenty enough for both of us.”

“Yeah,
I see that.”

“I
hate this. Why can’t we get on with it?”

“He’s
watching you squirm.”

The
scuff of her boots stopped. “I am not squirming. What do you mean he’s
watching?”

“There’s
been a camera in every room since we arrived. It only makes sense there would
be one in here too. Besides, there’s one above your head.”

He
watched her frown, look up and search for the hidden camera. “That sneaky—I
missed it. Clever, concealing it in a rock like that. You can’t focus yet, how
did you see it?”

Closing
his eyes again and willing the pulsing in his head to stop, he drawled,
“Talent. Pure talent.”

Attie
scoffed. “Whatever.”

“I’m
a man of many.”

“Arrogant
jerk,” she muttered, dropping down beside him.

“You’re
just figuring this out?” he asked with a small tilt of his lips.

“No.
Open your eyes.”

He
did. She peered closer. “Your eyes are glazed and the pupils still dilated.”

“Should
wear off soon.”

“It
should have worn off by now.”

“It
was a strong dose. Hell, I don’t know. If you just give me a minute of peace
I’ll be good as new.”

Her
hand slapped onto his forehead. “No fever,” she said.

“Are
you worried about me, Devayne?” he mused.

“For
clinical purposes, Kincaid. I need you clear headed.”

“I’ve
functioned under worse conditions.”

“Do
you have a headache?”

Stubborn
woman.

“Yes,
and getting worse by the minute,” he muttered.

“Where?”

“Where
what?”

“Where
does it hurt?”

“Temples.”

She
reached out and began to massage his temples.

He
could only stare at her. Her touch was sheer magic. Her fingers were firm and
smooth as they moved in slow circles on each temple. It felt so good he closed
his eyes and let her work her charm as little by little his headache subsided.
Who was he to argue? She wasn’t going to listen and besides, this was better
than the pacing. May as well let her release some pent-up energy on him.

His
head slowly began to clear, each stroke easing the tension until nothing
remained but a dull throb. He didn’t tell Attie she could stop, simply enjoyed
her touch.

Her
hands stilled. “Hear that?”

Noah
opened his eyes and cocked his head. The roar wasn’t in his head; it came from
above them.

“Sounds
like running water.”

Attie
removed her hands and looked up. “Running how? Through pipes?”

“Maybe.”

They
both looked up at the ceiling, not really sure what to make of the noise. It
was growing louder as water rushed overhead.

“Where
do you think it’s going?” Attie asked.

“Good
question. It’s directly above us now.”

“Yeah,
but—”

A
door opened in the ceiling and water poured down on top of them.

Noah
grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. He spun in a circle in search of a
door as water began to fill the cave.

* * * *

“He’s
flooding the cave,” Attie cried. “I was blindfolded when I came in. Where’s the
door?”

“Don’t
panic. It’ll be just like drown-proofing at the academy, remember?”

He
gripped her shoulders and forced her to stand still, holding her gaze steady
with his.

Attie
nodded, remembering how her teammates had struggled when Noah tossed them with
their hands tied behind their back into a pool of water. She had never been
afraid of the water, having grown up swimming in the frigid mountain lakes near
her uncle’s ranch so she had passed with flying colors. Not to mention having
grown up with a devil of a brother who used to hold her head under the water
and think it was fun when she came up spluttering.

“Be
prepared to take off your boots just in case,” Noah cautioned as water began to
swirl around their feet. Boots could be used as a flotation device when tied
together around the neck.

“Won’t
help if Carlos fills the place.”

Water
rose quickly to their ankles, then their knees.

“He
wants us alive to play his game, remember? He didn’t go to this trouble and
expense to have us drown in the first round.”

“Your
pupils aren’t dilated anymore.” She tilted her chin up as water rushed toward
her neck.

“My
headache’s gone too,” he replied with a slow grin.

“I
didn’t rub your temples for your pleasure, Kincaid.” She swallowed a bit of
water on the last word and coughed.

“Felt
good all the same. Remind me to return the favor someday. Deep breath.”

Attie
drew in a deep breath as water rose over her chin in an angry swell. Noah took
a breath and went down with her. The entire cave was flooded and they were
trapped without a way out, at the mercy of a madman.

* * * *

Noah
swam toward Attie where she circled and searched for an opening. If a door
didn’t open soon, then he had seriously misjudged Santiago and his intentions.
He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him. Mounting panic
widened her eyes. Her lungs were burning from lack of oxygen. He’d been there,
knew what it felt like.

He
gripped her shoulders, gliding closer to her so their bodies were aligned,
forcing her to be still. Silently he sent her a message.
Stay calm, you’ve
done this before
.

She
nodded and pointed to her throat.

He
nodded in understanding. Her lungs held half the capacity of what his did. She
wouldn’t last much longer.

Her
eyes closed as tension strained the lines of her face. She fought for control
against a losing battle. If Santiago didn’t open the door soon, she would
drown.

Her
nails dug into his forearm. She was running out of time. He could hold his
breath for another two minutes before he needed to come up for air, so he did
the only thing he could think of and crushed his mouth to hers.

Attie
went rigid against him and her mouth snapped open in dismay. When she started
to pull away, Noah delivered the air from his lungs into her mouth. She clung
to him as her lungs filled with air.

His
life-saving technique turned into something more sensual. The water carried
them in a slow, lazy circle. Her arms found their way around his neck as his
tightened around her waist.