by Rebecca Deel
“Move.” Skyscraper yanked her over the threshold. She and Dana exited the plane, their captors half dragging, half carrying them across the tarmac. Frustrated at her continued lack of coordination, Brenna scanned the surroundings for workers or security, anyone she and her sister could beg for help, but the plane had landed on another private airstrip and the people within shouting distance carried guns. She sighed. Scarlett Group employees or people well-paid to look the other way and keep their mouths shut.
Ahead of them, Grace walked toward one of two waiting SUVs, cell phone pressed to her ear. Within minutes, the two vehicles pulled away from the airstrip, Grace in one, Brenna and Dana in the other. Ape man and Skyscraper carried on a conversation in Spanish in the front seat.
“Where are we?” Brenna whispered in her sister’s ear.
“I heard some of the other guards speaking in Spanish. Maybe we’re on the Gulf Coast.”
“No talking.” Ape man glowered over the front seat, gun pointed in her direction.
Brenna lapsed into silence. The dark, tinted windows prevented her from identifying any landmarks or noting the turns the driver took to their destination. If she and Dana managed to escape, they wouldn’t be able to find their way back to the airstrip. And if by some miracle they returned to the airstrip, how would they get back to Nashville? They had no money or ID. At least some of the airstrip employees were loyal to Grace.
The SUVs rolled to a stop. Skyscraper opened Brenna’s door. Ape man grinned at the sisters and waved them out of the vehicle with his gun. A warm ocean breeze blew Brenna’s hair around her face and obscured her vision for a minute.
“No. I can’t.”
Brenna swiveled to face Dana. Her sister’s eyes were wide, her face a mask of terror. “What is it?” She glanced around the area, trying to spot what caused Dana’s reaction. And she saw the yacht tied to the wooden dock.
“Move.” Ape man shoved Dana onto the dock where she stumbled a few steps and froze, her gaze locked on the craft.
Bile rose in Brenna’s throat. This would get ugly, fast. “Dana, you can do this.”
Grace spun at the commotion, scowling. “What is the problem?”
“She’s petrified of water and boats.” Brenna moved closer to Grace. “Is there some other transportation we can use?”
Grace snorted. “The compound is on an island. Get her on the boat or we’ll do it by whatever means are necessary.” She smirked. “I’m sure the men would be happy to make her obey. However, I can’t guarantee they’d stop when they got her on board. I’ve already had many volunteers to train Dana for her new life.”
Chills surged down Brenna’s spine. She turned to Dana who was already shaking her head. “Sis, you’ve got to do this. It’s a big boat. The ocean is calm. Nothing is going to happen to you or the boat.”
“I can’t do it. Brenna, you know I can’t. I’d rather die than get on that thing.”
Brenna licked her lips, fear ramping up several notches. Dana had to get on that boat under her own power or these thugs might really hurt her, maybe kill her. She’d only seen her sister in a full-blown panic attack one other time. She hadn’t been able to calm her. “Dana, please. You have to try. We’ll do this together. I’ll be right beside you every step. I promise I won’t leave your side.” She leaned close and whispered to her sister, “Please, Dana, try for Jon. It will kill him if something happens to you. He’ll blame himself.” She would too, although Jon’s feelings about the matter probably meant more than Brenna’s since her sister had a soft spot for the tough SEAL.
Dana bit her lower lip and took a small step forward. And another.
Brenna smiled. “That’s it, Dana.”
One agonizing step at a time, her sister fought against the phobia almost paralyzing her. Dana stopped at the edge of the dock, her body quaking, breathing erratic, sweat beading on her forehead.
“I’m so proud of you,” Brenna whispered. “I know you can do this. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. You can beat this.”
A ghost of a smile touched Dana’s lips. “Yeah? I’m not on board yet.”
“Enough, already. I want to go home.” Grace climbed on the boat. “Get her on board or one of my men will do it and they won’t coddle her like you are.”
Ape man grinned. “I’ll take care of her. Be all my pleasure.”
“Get on the boat, Dana,” Brenna said. “Do you want me to go first?”
Her sister glanced at Ape man and shook her head. “I don’t want him touching me.”
“I’ll be right behind you. I promise.”
Dana reached for the yacht’s ladder. A swell raised the boat. Lines creaked and groaned under the strain. She backed away, head shaking.
Ape man swept past Brenna and grabbed Dana from behind.
“No.” Dana fought against his hold, desperation making her flail in a wild attempt to free herself. “Let me go.”
Afraid the thug might injure Dana, Brenna rushed to help until Skyscraper shoved her to her knees, a gun pressed to her temple. “Dana, stop.”
Dana’s foot connected with Ape man’s thigh. Yelling curses, he dropped Dana, yanked her around to face him, and backhanded her. The sound of his hand striking her sister’s cheek echoed on the breeze. Dana fell against a wooden post and slumped to the dock.
“Take her inside.” Grace climbed the ladder and disappeared.
Ape man slung Dana over his shoulder, climbed aboard, and carried her down into the boat’s cabin. Skyscraper jerked Brenna to her feet. “Let’s go. Give me any trouble, you’ll get the same treatment. Move.”
Brenna scaled the ladder and boarded the boat. She followed Ape man, anxious to check on her sister. Had the blow knocked Dana unconscious or was she more seriously hurt? Brenna blinked away stinging tears. How would she get Dana free from Grace and her cronies if she was injured? And if Dana was uninjured, she still had to think of a way to transport them off the island using transportation that didn’t involve a boat.
Even if she could pilot a boat, she couldn’t force her sister on board, control her hysterics, and navigate through unknown waters back to their starting point. If Eli and Jon didn’t find them soon, Brenna believed they would be lost in Scarlett Group’s system. What were the chances she and Dana would be allowed to stay together? Zip.
Skyscraper guided her toward the back of the cabin to a bedroom. Ape man bent over Dana, his hands raising the scrub shirt.
“Get your hands off her,” Brenna said. She yanked her arm free, hurried to the bedside, and inserted her body between Dana and the thug.
Ape man smirked. “Soon, the boss’s boyfriend will tire of you.” His glittering gaze swept over Brenna. “Perhaps he will give you to me. I would take great pleasure in training you.” He licked his lips. “Or maybe I’ll keep you for myself.”
Eli leaned closer to Jon’s laptop. “Who’s that?” The screen showed a man in his late forties, one his sisters would declare attractive.
“Ross Harrison.”
Had to admire his partner’s tenacity in searching for the man who abused Dana. And it was a good way to utilize the time while following Sartelli’s plane across the country. “Have you located him?”
“He’s off the grid. Has been since he was released from jail.”
Eli frowned. “Does he come from money?” Independent wealth would explain Harrison’s disappearance without leaving financial footprints.
“Not according to the IRS. I think old Ross has an offshore account.”
“Or he’s dead.” There were ways to get rid of bodies. He and Jon knew many methods.
Jon considered that a moment, shook his head. “We aren’t that lucky. Every person I contacted thinks Ross is a saint wrongfully convicted.”
“So no one else had a motive to kill him.”
“No obvious reason.”
Maddox dropped into the seat facing them. “Zane called.The Gulfstream landed a short time ago in Guadalupe, Mexico. I got in touch
with a friend who lives down there, a former CIA operative. He confirmed the plane landed at a private airstrip owned by Sartelli.”
Eli straightened, his gut churning. The Chihuahua government wasn’t fond of Fortress Security. If his team was captured, the state officials would gladly house them behind bars for years. Of course, they wouldn’t live long enough to worry about the accommodations. The government would see to that. Rental thugs were cheap in that whole country. “Did he see the women?”
“Not directly. He greased an informant’s palm with enough cash to start a new life somewhere out of Scarlett Group’s reach. The informant saw two white women, both brunettes, one tall, the other smaller.”
“Do we know where Grace took them?” Jon asked.
“Scarlett Group has a compound on an island right off the coast. Ortiz says the group’s yacht just left the dock.”
“How did Grace convince Dana to board the boat?” Eli asked.
Jon shot him a grim glance.
“Problem?” Maddox’s gaze shifted from Eli to Jon.
“Dana’s terrified of water and boats. She wouldn’t board the yacht willingly.”
“Huh.” Eli’s boss blew out a breath. “Not good. There’s a storm moving in from the Gulf. We’re planning to liberate Scarlett Group’s helicopter to airlift the women off the island, but if resistance is too heavy and slows us down, we may be forced to use inflatable boats.” He stood. “Boots on the ground in two hours. If you can tear yourselves away from admiring that GQ model, let’s plan this op. I’ve got a lunch date tomorrow I’d rather not miss.”
Two hours later, Maddox exited the Lear’s cockpit and eyed his teams. “Suit up. Time to rock and roll. Wheels down in ten.” Men surged to their feet and started strapping on sniper rifles, AR-15s, Ka-Bars and other knives, back-up pistols, ammunition, flashbangs, grenades, NVGs, bullet-proof vests, radio headsets, and medical kits for each member. The two team medics carried much more extensive medical supplies. With luck, the medics wouldn’t have any patients to tend except maybe Brenna and Dana.
Eli adjusted his vest. “Did you check the latest update on the weather?”
“Yeah,” Jon said. “Not good.”
“Unless that storm slows down, the chopper will be grounded.”
“I know.”
“Suggestions?” Eli pulled on his headset, the movements automatic. The SEALs had used something similar, but Maddox swore Fortress’s communications equipment was better than anything the military used.
“Been thinking about that. Leave Dana to me.”
Eli paused. “That’s it? You’re not going to give me a hint on an alternative plan?”
“No.”
He blew out a breath. Great time for his partner to go into silent mode. “Come on, man. Give me a hint. If Brenna’s incapacitated, she might not be able to help. You know how Dana is about men touching her. I’m not sure how much she’ll trust us after being kidnapped and held hostage for over a week.” He leaned close. “We don’t know what she’s been subjected to, Jon. She might not be able to handle anyone touching her but Brenna. Even your touch might be intolerable.”
Jon shot him a glare. “She’ll deal. Leave her to me.”
Like anyone would try to get between Jon and Dana. Eli’s lips twitched. Even he didn’t have a death wish, ghosts or no ghosts. The only person who could stop Jon from implementing the plan he’d devised was Dana herself, and that was questionable from what he surmised. If this weren’t a life and death situation, it might be fun to watch her drive Jon to distraction. He couldn’t think of a man who deserved it more.
Maddox reeled off last minute instructions as the Lear’s landing gear touched down on the tarmac. “Remember, silence is the name of the game until we’re off that island unless I tell you otherwise. We don’t engage unless we have to. Our mission is to retrieve the women and get out before that storm hits. Above all, the women are the priority. We do whatever is necessary to secure their safety. Period.” He grinned. “If plans B through Z fail, secure the women and start blowing stuff up. We brought enough fire power and C-4 to overthrow a country.”
Laughter broke out up and down the aisle of the plane. As soon as the aircraft taxied to a stop, silence fell in the cabin. Eli and Jon bumped fists and started down the aisle.
Gun up and ready, Eli descended the aircraft’s stairs, quartering the tarmac, Jon at his back and to the right. Pleased to note the pilot had stopped in a darkened section of the landing strip, Eli spotted Maddox talking to a bearded man near the forest edge. Must be the former CIA contact, he decided. His boss turned and motioned for him and Jon to approach.
“Tell them what you just told me,” Maddox said.
“One of the native kids says something big is going down on that island in the next few days. Rumors about a heavy player coming in day after tomorrow. Big bucks to throw around. Wants something special.” Ortiz scowled. “Or rather someone special. He flies in to handpick his next victim. He’s into pain, someone else’s. According to the scuttlebutt, he likes to hurt women. Once he takes them, no one hears from them again while they’re alive. He’ll keep them for weeks, sometimes months. When he’s finished with them, they show up dead on the side of the road. The women are always riddled with bruises, cuts, burns, lash marks. His preference is American women. He takes great pleasure in breaking them.”
Jon growled.
“Not this time,” Eli said. “These women are ours. Did your source catch a name?”
The former CIA operative shook his head. “Just that he’s from a rich oil family here in Mexico.”
“We’ll track him down,” Maddox said, tone riddled with ice. “With a hobby like that, he won’t be hard to find.”
Ortiz folded his arms across his chest. “Yeah, so? What are you going to do about him?”
“Do you really want to know?”
He thought a minute. Shook his head.
“You have any assets in the area?”
He snorted. “I’m retired, Maddox. I’m only doing this as a favor to you. Word will get around how I helped out the Americans so I can’t stay here any longer. My wife is packing up the necessities right now. I’ll leave you, pick her up, and get out of Dodge.” He shrugged. “Guess we’re finally going home.”
“You want a ride to the States?”
“What will it cost me?”
“Information of my choosing. I’ll call you when I need it.”
“Get my wife and me safely on U.S. soil, and it’s a deal. Didn’t look forward to outrunning the local law anyway.”
Maddox nodded toward the idling transport truck. “That ours?”
“Yeah, such as it is. Not pretty, but it’s reliable.”
“Good. Get your wife and come back here. Bring your favorite guns with ammo and help protect the plane.”
Ortiz chuckled. “Never leave home without them, my friend. Good luck on that island. You’re going to need it with that storm blowing in.” He jogged off to the black Jeep parked a few yards away, climbed in, and sped off.
Maddox turned and keyed his comm system. “Load up, boys. Time to rock Scarlett Group’s foundation.”
Brenna wiped her sister’s face with a cool, damp cloth, avoiding the bruised, swollen section. Good thing Skyscraper had cut the flex ties off their hands before locking them in the room. “Wake up, Dana. Nap time’s over.”
Dana moaned, eyelids fluttering. “Go away. Head hurts.”
Relief spiraled through Brenna at her sister’s cranky words. She’d been terrified that her sister had sustained head injuries requiring medical treatment. She doubted Grace would bother to help Dana. More likely, she would let her sister die. One less complication to deal with. “That’s what happens when you tangle with a wooden post.” After a beefy thug nails you with a backhand. Stupid jerk.
Dana opened her eyes, her gaze filled with fear and pain. “Where are we?”
“On some island, locked in a bedroom with bars over the windows.” This ro
om had some nasty features. The unadorned white walls showcased the large black-draped bed on which Dana lay, wrist and ankle restraints dangling from the four posts. Brenna didn’t mention the nauseating array of equipment in the closet and cameras mounted on the walls, two in the bedroom, another in the bathroom. She shuddered. “You were unconscious for hours.”
Dana closed her eyes again. “What are we going to do, Bren?”
“We escape and find a way off this rock.”
“How? My head hurts so much I feel like throwing up any minute, not to mention my water phobia. I can’t swim and I won’t get on another boat.”
“Nothing a good thump with a rock can’t cure.”
Dana’s eyes popped open on a glare.
Brenna smiled. “Figured that might get a response. One problem at a time, sis. We need to know what or who we’re up against. After that, we escape and hide until Eli and Jon track us down.” If she could steal a cell phone, she could call Eli. He’d made her memorize his cell phone number before they went to the Sartelli estate. Smart man. His number just might save her and Dana. If they were lucky, his black ops buddies could trace the cell signal and rescue them with a plane or helicopter. Water problem solved.
A key rattled in the lock. Brenna turned, positioned her body between Dana and the door. Her stomach knotted. Grace walked in followed by a man. Brenna ignored the gun in Grace’s hand and focused instead on the man. Her eyes widened. She buried the building dismay. Just when she believed things couldn’t get worse, in walks Dana’s worst nightmare.
He smiled. “Did you miss me, Brenna?”
Brenna stood, ignoring the distressed moan from Dana. “Ross the Rat. So this is where you’ve been hiding. I know some honest policemen who would love to find out which garbage pit you climbed out of.”
