by Elle James
Footsteps paused in front of her door. The sound of the lock being turned gave her hope. She pushed to her feet and stood ready to plow into whoever stood on the other side.
The door opened. Two guards stood beside each other, blocking her path, each wielding a gun pointed in her direction.
She was willing to plow into them but not into their guns. They could prove to be trigger happy, shooting first and worrying about cleaning up the mess later. Still pointing their guns at her chest, they stood aside as a woman stepped through carrying a tray with a bowl and a piece of bread. The light behind her threw her face in the shadows.
She didn’t speak as she stepped into the room, set the tray on the floor and backed away. When she looked up, she caught Sophia’s gaze and gave her a slight nod. That’s when Sophia recognized her.
Maria.
Sophia opened her mouth to say something.
Maria gave the slightest shake of her head.
Immediately, Sophia understood she did not want to out Maria.
Knowing there was a friendly face inside the compound helped Sophia. If she could get free of the room, Maria might help her find her way out.
The woman backed out of the room.
The two men with the guns continued to point at her until the door was closed firmly and locked behind them.
Sophia slumped. So much for a chance at escape. But at least Maria was in the complex. How she’d gotten in, Sophia didn’t know, but she was glad she was there.
Another thought hit her.
What if Maria had always been in cahoots with Andrés Calderón?
No. Sophia shook her head. The kind housekeeper couldn’t be part of the cartel all along. If she had been, she would have smirked or shown some triumphant sign that she had duped Sophia.
No, Maria was there to help. Sophia had to believe that. Though, how could one woman help her get out of this iron tight compound? Sophia didn’t know yet, but she’d figure it out. In the meantime, she had to fuel her body for when she did have a chance to escape. She might have to run a long way to get away from Andrés Calderón and his followers.
Sophia spent the next couple of hours thinking about what she would do if she got out of there. First thing she’d do was tell Blade how she felt about him. If that ruined their friendship so be it. She loved him. He needed to know.
She went over and over the kisses and making love with him. He had to have had so many more experienced women. How did she measure up? Since she couldn’t see in the darkness, she closed her eyes and pictured lying in bed with Blade, his hands skimming across her body, his lips following. She wanted that again. She wanted to wake up next to him every day of her life. She loved spending time with him in his backyard grilling, drinking beer and talking about plans for their respective houses.
She wanted to plant a garden, he wanted to put up a basketball hoop. They talked about their friends and how they were so happy together. The women who had joined the men already seemed such an integral part of their group. They were there for each other when the guys deployed. Even Sunny Daye found time to come down to Killeen and join in a girls’ night out when they were feeling lonely for their men.
They always ended up at the Salty Dog, which made it easy for Sophia to become part of the gang. She wasn’t officially anybody’s woman, but the team included her on weekends when they would grill out at other members of the team’s homes. Blade would let her ride with him. Of course, they’d always been friends. What better way to love somebody than to start as friends?
Maybe that was why Blade never could commit to one woman. They weren’t friends first.
Sophia sighed. Maybe she shouldn’t tell him that she loved him. Maybe it was better to have him as a friend than not have him at all. Her chest ached with the amount of love she felt for him. She wanted more than anything to tell him that she loved him, but if it destroyed their friendship and he never wanted to see her again…
Well, she may have to rethink that. First, she had to get out of this hell hole. If she’d heard Calderón correctly as they dragged her into the room to speak to Blade on the phone, he had given the Delta a deadline. The cathedral in Cancún at midnight tonight. She only had a few short hours to escape to keep Blade from walking into a trap and giving Calderón the opportunity to torture and kill him.
With the ultimatum firmly in place, and Blade needing to be at the cathedral at midnight, they made the decision that he wouldn’t be there. They had to get to the compound in the jungle before they moved Sophia. If the cartel even planned to move her. Blade really didn’t think that they would show up with her in front of the cathedral. His gut told him that she was in that compound and she’d stay there until they found a buyer for her. He had to get there and get her out, first.
Dawg, being closest to the same height as Blade, had volunteered to take Blade’s place at the rendezvous in Cancún. Mac would be his backup. They’d decided that Ramón and his group of Cancún vigilantes wouldn’t be a part of the jungle compound takedown. They would go with Dawg and Mac and wait in hiding, ready to confront the cartel contingent who showed up.
With a group of the cartel members splitting off to go to the downtown Cancún location, that would leave a smaller group to guard the complex out in the jungle.
Blade, Rucker, Dash, Bull, Tank and Lance would be out in the jungle ready to blow the compound wide open. They’d blow a hole in the exterior wall first to get the cartel’s attention on that portion of the compound, drawing them away from the other end. They’d use C-4 in a small amount on the doors at the front and back of the complex to breach the main building. They’d also use some C-4 to damage the long barracks-like building. With all the explosions they hoped the confusion would keep the cartel busy while they got inside, found Sophia and got her out. With Maria inside they hoped that she could get to Sophia and warn her, maybe even get her moving out as they breached the interior complex.
With the largest portion of the Deltas headed out to the jungle in the rented van, Blade insisted on riding the borrowed motorcycle. He didn’t like being confined inside the van.
Dawg and Mac went with Ramón into Cancún where they would recon the square and position Ramón’s team to provide backup well before the appointed time. Ramón and Maria’s cousin had gathered a group of ten vigilantes, each armed and ready to take on the cartel.
Blade hoped that they got through with the jungle complex and back to Cancún before the rendezvous time at midnight. He also hoped that communication didn’t happen between the two groups of cartel members. The first thing they needed to do at the jungle location was cut the communication capabilities. That would mean destroying the communications tower at the center of the jungle complex. Lance was assigned to that task, while Blade would be inside with Rucker searching the rooms for Sophia. He expected that Andrés Calderón would be with the group headed into Cancún for his assignation in front of the cathedral.
Blade and his team parked over a mile away from the compound and moved in well before dark. They thoroughly tested their communications devices and kept in contact even as they spread out for surveillance of the site.
The two guards were still at the front entrance of the wall, but they only counted one at the rear, none on the sides, which made it easier for the Delta’s to move in when the time was right.
Rucker and Blade had their eye on the front of the building where they positioned themselves before dusk. Darkness settled in early in the jungle, which made for a long wait until they finally saw vehicles leaving the complex.
Three trucks left with armed men inside, followed by a dark SUV. As soon as the vehicles cleared the compound and headed out onto the dirt road, Blade heard a crackling sound in his headset.
“La Señorita Sophia está aquí,” came Maria’s voice.
Blade drew in a deep breath and let go of a tiny bit of the tension that had been drawing him as tight as a bow. “Sophia’s still inside,” he translated for the others to hear. His gut
had been right, and they had left without her, which meant that they’d no intention of exchanging her for him. The question was how heavily armed were they inside the compound?
Maria’s voice came across again. “Gran edificio. Pasillo largo. Última habitación a la izquierda.” The static almost made the message unintelligible.
Blade glanced in Rucker’s direction, although he couldn’t see him in the dark, and translated, “Large building. Long corridor. Last room on the left. Did you get that Rucker?.”
Rucker sounded off, “Large building. Long corridor. Last room on the left. Got it.”
They had a location. All they had to do was get inside. With the main group gone, that left the compound with at least eight guards fewer inside and out.
“Steady,” Rucker warned. “Give them a few minutes to get down the road far enough.”
Blade was like a horse champing at the bit. He wanted to get inside immediately and free Sophia. She was there. Mere yards away. But they had to go according to plan, take out the communications and create a distraction so they could get inside.
Fifteen minutes after the vehicles had left the compound, Rucker came across on the headset. “All right, let’s do this.”
Bull and Dash had the backside of the compound.
A moment later Bull’s voice came across. “Back guard down.” Dash would set the C-4 compound on the back wall.
In the meantime, Rucker closed the distance to Blade as they approached the exterior wall. Rucker bent, cupped his hands, and helped Blade scale the wall.
Once on top, Blade surveyed. “All clear,” he whispered back to Rucker and reached down to help Rucker scale the wall as well. Once inside Blade whispered into his mic. “Inside the wall.”
Rucker placed a charge on the long barracks-like building and set the detonator. They moved on to the end of that building and looked both ways before approaching the main structure.
The two guards at the front entrance faced the gate talking quietly amongst themselves. Blade slipped around the back of the main building where a guard stood at the back door. When the man turned away from him, Blade slipped on silent feet and dispatched the guard quietly. “Back door guard down,” he reported.
Rucker was supposed to set a charge on the front of the building at the same time that Blade applied a charge to the backdoor lock, just enough to break it free but not to blow the door away. Hopefully that door was at the long end of that hallway that Maria had talked about and that Sophia would be in the room near the end closest to him. But the building was large. The long hallway could be anywhere. He had to be ready to move fast. With his AR15 set on semiautomatic and his handgun on his hip, he stepped away from the back door and around the side of the building waiting for the explosions to begin.
“In T minus three seconds,” Rucker said.
With his hands pressed to his ears, Blade counted down in his head, 3…2…1.
Blade pressed his detonator. The explosion on the back wall sent concrete chunks and dust particles flying through the air. Thankfully Blade had his hands over his ears to lessen the concussion impact. As soon as the dust cleared enough, he moved to the back door. The C-4 on the lock had done the trick. The door stood open. “Breaching the rear,” Blade said into his headset.
“Down two guards in the front,” Rucker reported. He and Dash would move in from the front entrance. Once the others cleared the exterior and the interior yards as well as the barracks building, they’d follow Rucker and Dash into the large structure.
The Deltas were to locate Sophia and Maria and get them both out of the building, preferably alive.
Chapter 14
Sophia heard the explosions and felt the ground shake beneath her. She pushed to her feet, felt her way to the door, grabbed the handle, and shook it. The lock held it in place. Something was happening out there. She was stuck inside.
As she stood there, the handle turned beneath her fingertips and the door pushed open. Prepared to bowl over whoever was standing on the other side, Sophia braced herself.
Maria’s face appeared through the crack in the door. She waved for Sophia to follow her.
Sophia dove through the opening and blinked in the first light she’d seen in hours. As they started down the corridor, the two men who’d dragged Sophia into her cell burst from a room headed toward her.
Sophia screamed for effect, ducked low and charged like a linebacker on a football team. Two steps behind her Maria did the same. The men didn’t have time to lift their weapons and aim at them.
The women hit the men in the gut, knocking them backward. They staggered but they didn’t fall.
The one Sophia hit grabbed her arms and used her to steady himself.
She reached for the butt of his weapon and slammed it upward, hitting him in the jaw. Then she kneed him in the groin. When he doubled over, she thrust her palm up sharply, hitting his nose.
The man yelled and grabbed for his face as blood gushed from his nose.
Maria wasn’t having as much luck. Sophia grabbed for her guy’s weapon, but she couldn’t break it from his grip. She got her finger in the trigger, jammed the barrel into the other man’s belly and pulled.
The man holding Maria grunted and slumped forward, releasing his grip on the other woman.
Maria ducked past him and raced down the corridor.
As she tried to run past her guard, Sophia was pulled up short when her guard grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her backward. Holding her hair in one hand, he raised his weapon with the other and pointed it at her chin.
Damn, this couldn’t be it, Sophia thought. She’d made it too far to have her head blown away. Just as that thought whizzed through her mind, the guard’s hand on her arm loosened, his eyes widened, and he slumped, falling to the floor at her feet.
Blade stood behind him, removing the knife out of the guard’s neck. He grabbed Sophia, pulled her against him, crushed her lips with his, and then broke free. “Come with me if you want to live.”
“Seriously?” Sophia laughed. “You’re going to quote a movie?” She moved with him, running down a corridor. Maria had reached the other end where Rucker stood over the body of another guard. As they passed the room that Sophia recognized as Calderón’s study an older man, who looked very much like Andrés, stepped out, a submachine gun in his hands. He reached out and grabbed Sophia as she was running by and yanked her up against his body.
“Dammit, I cleared that room!” Blade cursed.
Calderón gave a wicked grin. “I have a secret door. Only those who know where it is can find it. Put down your weapons or I’ll kill her.” He pointed the submachine gun at her head.
Sophia couldn’t believe it. She had come this far. Blade had kissed her. Now she was caught again. “Bullshit on this.” She rammed her elbow into the man’s gut and ducked her head as the machine gun went off. Sophia grabbed his arm and spun around behind him. The elder Calderón still had control of the machine gun and was firing into the corridor.
Blade, Rucker, and Maria all hit the ground. The man wasn’t aiming. He was firing at random, as Sophia pulled his arm up hard behind his back.
“Let go or I’ll break your arm,” she said.
He didn’t drop the weapon. He stood on his toes and kept firing. Then a loud bang sounded from where Blade lay on the floor.
The elder Calderón stopped firing and stood still for a moment. Then he lurched forward and fell on his face. Still holding his arm, Sophia almost went down with him. She let go before she did.
Blade stood and pulled Sophia into his arms. Rucker helped Maria to her feet.
Lance, Tank, Bull and Dash entered the building and found them in the corridor.
“All clear in the barracks and outside,” Tank reported.
“Good work,” Rucker said.
Blade turned to Lance. “Did the communication tower come down?”
Lance nodded. “It did.”
“Hopefully no communications got out,” Blade said.
“Blade, you stay with the women. We’ll doublecheck all the rooms inside this building,” Rucker said.
“Roger.”
The five men went from room to room checking all closets, beneath the beds and anywhere a man could hide. When they returned, Rucker said, “All clear.”
Blade’s jaw tightened. “Let’s get to the cathedral. I have a bone to pick with Andrés Calderón.”
The men headed out of the compound.
Before he left, the corridor, Blade held Sophia in his arms and whispered into her ear, “In case I haven’t told you, I love you.”
She clung to him for a brief moment and whispered back, “It’s a good thing, because I love you too. Screw the friend zone.”
He laughed and took her hand, and they left the building.
Sophia rode back to Cancún on the back of the motorcycle with Blade. He’d insisted that she wear the helmet. She wrapped her arms tightly around his middle, loving every second of their closeness and basking in the fact that he’d said he loved her.
Wow. Sophia’s heart sang.
What had changed his mind? Or had he not changed his mind about commitment, but he still loved her? She didn’t care; she was free from the cartel’s clutches. Whatever kind of love Blade wanted to give her, she was damn well happy to get it.
They arrived in Cancún near midnight. As soon as they were within radio range, Blade contacted Dawg and arranged a meeting place where he would take Dawg’s place, and then the Deltas would take positions around the square near the cathedral.
“I need someone to make sure Maria and Sophia are taken care of,” Blade said.
“I can take—” Sophia started.
“—take care of yourself,” Blade, Rucker, Dash, Mac, Dawg, Tank, Lance and Bull all said at once, and then laughed.
“We know you can take care of yourself,” Blade said. “To Andrés Calderón you’re nothing but a pawn in this game. If he captures you again, that puts all of us at risk.”
