Vengeance (SSU Trilogy Book 1) (31 page)

She closed her eyes and tightened the lock on the box holding her emotions. Making love with Niko had been wrong on so many levels, but she was focused now. Not even Niko could distract her from her vengeance again.

The phone rang. Jenna listened as Niko instructed the front desk to send up the envelope that had arrived for him.

She opened the door a bit wider so she was able to see Niko’s expression as he dumped the contents onto the coffee table. His mouth flatlined and his hands clenched. With a vicious curse, he kicked the coffee table onto its side, spilling photos and the hotel’s plant arrangement onto the floor. Then Niko stormed into the bathroom.

Jenna crept down the hall.

Good. The bathroom door was shut.

Keeping her ears trained for any sign that Niko was returning, she knelt down and looked at the photographs.

Oh, dear God. Bile rose in her throat and she clamped a trembling hand over her mouth.

The photos were of an older Hispanic woman being raped. Her mouth was contorted in a scream and her body was bruised and bloody.

Jenna bit her lip to stop from crying out again, but…oh, God, she felt like she was being ripped apart. The man pulled the woman’s hips higher, his next thrust so hard and deep, she screamed.

Jenna shoved the photos and her memories away. As she pushed to her feet, her hand slipped on a sheet of plain white paper. She glanced down.

You have thirty-six hours to bring the girl to Ixtapa, or you will never see your aunt again. And I will enjoy her this way every night for the rest of her short life. –A

Jenna couldn’t breathe. The room shimmered like she was viewing it through a waterfall. No. She couldn’t faint. Niko would know she’d seen the photos.

She turned and fled back to the bedroom. Then she crawled into bed.

She tried to shut out the images of Niko’s aunt. Of her mother lying on the dining room carpet next to Jenna while they were both raped.

Stop. Stop. Stop! She pushed her hands against her eyes, as if the physical pressure could turn off the video playing in her head.

This had to end. Niko would never hand her over to Alvarez. He would try to save his aunt
and
protect Jenna.

She didn’t need his protection. If she turned herself in, maybe Alvarez would release Niko’s aunt. And if she was really lucky, she’d find a way to get to Kai and finally end this.

Chapter 24

Wednesday, Morning

Ixtapa, Mexico

Kai surfaced slowly from unconsciousness, floating in and out of awareness. When he tried to roll onto his back sharp needles of pain brought him gasping awake. He must have cried out, because he heard the angry squeak of rats as they scampered away. He pressed his cheek against the cold dirt floor and cursed the fact that his cell had neither window or light source. From the few times his guards let him out, and let light in, he knew the walls were several feet away from him, but in his mind, they pressed closer with every breath.

Claustrophobia. Another souvenir from the days he’d spent in that Indonesian prison. His cell there had been closer to a crypt. With barely enough room to roll over, never mind stretch out to his full length.

In comparison, this cell was a palace. If only he could convince himself of that.

He breathed shallowly, focusing on the pain instead of the fear.

His right shoulder was dislocated. Left shin—broken. Bullet wounds in left upper back and buttock. Breathing was excruciating, so three or four of his ribs were cracked.

Jesus, Alvarez’s men gave the Indonesians a run for their money. They knew just how much pain to inflict to keep him coherent enough to answer Alvarez’s persistent questions.

Kai’s lips twitched. Alvarez had lost it this morning when Kai again refused to give up the location of the chip. The bastard had grabbed a whip and starting whaling on Kai’s back. The lash bit over and over in the same place until skin and muscle split, then moved on to decimate a new patch. Unconsciousness had been a welcome relief, until he came to on a scream of agony, salt water burning the wounds.

His back still throbbed. So he lay on his side, trying hard not to move. Trying not to wonder if he had any skin left on his back at all.

To distract himself from the pain, he considered his odds of escaping. Not good. Even if he managed to get to his feet and stay upright long enough to make a break for it, he’d overheard the guards betting on how soon Alvarez would turn him over to the dogs.

There was no way, bleeding like he was, he could evade dogs. He’d be like a walking piece of raw steak, the scent of blood screaming, “Come get me!”

Face it, bud, the only way you’re getting free of here is through death.

Hell, no.

His family had been slaughtered in retaliation for Kai failing to turn the chip over to Alvarez. He’d be damned if he died before he destroyed Nevsky’s data and sent Alvarez on a slow journey into hell.

As long as Alvarez thought he knew where the chip was, Kai knew he wasn’t going to be killed. So he’d just have to be ready to take advantage of any opportunity to get himself out of here.

Which meant forcing his body to move. He couldn’t afford to stiffen up. So he inched his way through pain into a sitting position.

Ah, shit. In the total darkness he didn’t know which way was up or down. His head swam and the world tilted like he’d just stepped off a carnival ride.

Before he regained his equilibrium, the door at the far end of the corridor banged open. A moment later, his guards dragged him out of his cell and up the ninety-four stairs to the patio.

Yeah, he’d actually counted the stairs the first time he’d been hauled up out of the dungeon. How many days ago had that been? One? Two?

Shit.

He shook his head and tried to focus through the pain-induced haze. Two nights. One day.

Jesus. He’d only been here a little over a day?

As Kai was thrown onto the slate tiles in front of Alvarez, he glanced up. Two black, remorseless eyes looked back at him.

“Señor Paterson, have you any news to give me this morning?”

Kai forced the syllable past clenched teeth. “No.”

“Pity.” Alvarez’s eyes were alight with anticipation. He held out his hand.

Kai squinted through the glare off the glass dining table, trying to make out what tool Alvarez was using today.

Pliers.

Ah, God, this was going to hurt.

#

Wednesday, Mid-Morning

Highway 200, Mexico, between Acapulco and Ixtapa

Niko pushed his crappy rental car faster along the winding highway toward Ixtapa.

God
damn
it, what the hell was Jenna thinking, leaving him like that?

She’d still been sleeping the last he checked on her before he bunked down on the sofa bed. This morning when he’d poked his head in, he’d found pillows lumped beneath the covers and a note propped against the beside lamp.

Good-bye
, the note said.
Thank you for your help, but I have something I need to do. Alone.
When it’s over, you’ll have your aunt back.

As soon as he’d been able to speak through the icy lump in his throat, he’d called Rafe, knowing they had to move fast to intercept Jenna. If word got out she was on her own, she’d be in even more danger.

He could barely see the road through a black haze of terror. Good thing he knew the route well enough to drive blind. He instinctively knew where he could floor it and where he needed to slow down. Where there were likely to be checkpoints, and where there were speed ramps that would send the car airborne if he hit them at too high a speed.

He’d swallowed his pride and called Ryker to ask for backup. But Gonzales and his partner had moved offshore, working a joint training operation with the military. And Niko didn’t trust Tonelli.

So it was just Niko and Rafe. And he preferred it this way. Rafe was the only other person he’d trust with Jenna’s life.

Christ, how stupid had he been? He’d treated Jenna like a partner instead of a prisoner, believing she’d given up any thoughts of heading out on her own.

Sucker.

She’d snuck away from Tonelli dressed as a boy, and from the responses Niko and Rafe had received to their discrete questioning, she’d done the same thing here.

Just before dawn, a boy that had to be Jenna had boarded a bus heading to Ixtapa. The ticket seller thought it strange because the sun wasn’t up yet, but the boy wore sunglasses.

The bus was scheduled to get into the station in Ixtapa in half an hour. Normal driving time would put him and Rafe there at least an hour later.

At the rate Niko was driving, they’d reach the station maybe ten minutes after the bus.

“You going to tell me what the hell is going on?” Rafe demanded.

Niko didn’t want to think about it, let alone talk about it. He’d been such a goddamn fool, he might as well be a rookie. But last night he’d seen the woman she once was. Sensual. Playful. Knowing exactly what she wanted and not afraid to take it. And he would have done anything she asked.

Anything but put in her in danger.

“Alvarez sent more photos last night,” he told Rafe. “Along with a note demanding I turn Jenna over within forty-eight hours if I want to see Aunt Madalena again.”

Rafe cursed in Greek. “Jenna saw the photos. She read the note.”

“Yeah.” If he could, he’d go back and kick his own ass. “I thought she was asleep. She had…” To hell with it. If she was going to run off, then he could let Rafe in on what had been a private moment. “Jenna had a meltdown and was sleeping it off. But the phone must have woken her up. She probably snuck out to look at the photos when I was in the bathroom.” He’d been so sickened by the pictures of his aunt, and terrified of Jenna ending up like that, he hadn’t been listening for sounds from the sitting room.

“She’s going to turn herself over to Alvarez.” Rafe made it a statement.

Niko’s stranglehold on the steering wheel made the car swerve right. He fought to get them back on a straight line before answering. “Yeah, that’s what I figure. She said that when she’s done, we’ll have our aunt back.” And the note fucking said good-bye, he wanted to shout. She’d brushed him off like a mosquito, as if making love last night hadn’t changed everything. As if she didn’t feel the wrenching pain he did at the thought of never seeing her again.

“So…ah…you do something to set Jenna off?” Rafe asked.

Fuck. No way in hell was he telling his brother he’d made love to Jenna. That was none of his goddamn business.

“Yeah.” Niko said. He could feel Rafe’s curiosity sizzling in the hot air sluggishly circulating through the underpowered car vents. But thank God his brother didn’t push him.

They didn’t have time for him to stop and beat the curiosity out of his brother.

“What’s the plan?” Rafe asked, confident Niko would have one.

Niko was both glad of his brother’s calm presence and pissed that Rafe wasn’t as freaked out about Jenna as he was.

“Alvarez will follow-through on his threat. Once we have Jenna, I’m going to put word out she escaped me. That will divert Alvarez’s attention for at least a day while he searches for her. Give us time to plan our assault.”

Rafe cut his eyes over to Niko. “We’re going in?”

“One way or the other, yeah.” Only, it wasn’t what Rafe thought. Niko already knew the fortress had no weaknesses from outside. Alvarez had excellent security. He’d have to contact the old man who worked in the kitchens. See if he was still willing to let Niko inside.

Niko. Not Rafe. Not Jenna. Just Niko. He wasn’t risking anyone else’s life.

“You think we can free Paterson and Aunt Madalena without help?” Rafe asked.

With Niko on the inside? Yes. Unless Aunt Madalena didn’t cooperate, then they were screwed, because his plan hinged on her being conscious. If he had to knock her out to get her free, he’d do it, but damn if he knew how they’d escape if he had to carry her. “Why? You have an assault troop hiding in your back pocket?”

Rafe shot him a look. “Maybe. Tell me exactly what we need, and I’ll make some calls after we find Jenna.”

He’d forgotten that Rafe had been a Ranger. He had some crazy loyal friends. For the first time, Niko began to hope that maybe they’d all make it out of this alive.

#

Jenna trudged away from the Ixtapa bus station. She didn’t have much money, barely enough for one night at a cheap hotel. She wasn’t sure how she was going to discover the location of Alvarez’s home. Let alone how she’d get to the man.

She tugged her baseball cap farther down on her head. Okay, so running out on Niko hadn’t been the best idea she’d ever had. With his background, he’d know the information she needed.

But he wouldn’t give it to her. That’s why she’d had to leave. Niko still planned to send her to Ryker, as if Jenna meant nothing to him. As if making love hadn’t bound them together.

Her heart hurt and she swallowed bitterness. Angry, she shook her head at her foolishness. So what if she missed Niko? So what if every step made her feel more lonely. More isolated. She had a mission. A vow to avenge the deaths of her parents and the twins. She would not be denied her vengeance.

And now she had a secondary mission. Free Niko’s aunt.

Surrendering to Alvarez would put her that much closer to Kai. And if she had a chance to take out Alvarez as well, all the better.

Jenna squinted against the glare not even her dark glasses could dim. She turned left, heading down a mostly empty street toward the sound of waves. If this was her last day alive, she wanted to have her feet in the ocean again.

A car swerved to a stop in front of her. Jenna jumped back and spun away, dashing toward a gap between two stores.

Dammit. Had Alvarez found her already?

No! She wasn’t prepared. She needed to set up a plan. A way to bargain with him so Niko’s aunt would be freed before Alvarez got Jenna in his control.

“Get in the car, Jenna.” Niko’s icy voice cut through her panic like a whiplash. She froze for just an instant and heard the car door open.