Ricardo (The Santiago Brothers Book Three)

by K. Victoria Chase

  Neither Ric nor the agency had prior knowledge about that part of Abdul’s life. They were well aware of his education in London and his travels around the Middle East for internships, but training camp experience? Ric quietly considered this information. Whatever faction or established group Abdul swore allegiance to, they had an abundance of patience and were keen to subterfuge. Grooming a terrorist with the proper training and placement in the field took a fair amount of planning and preparation. Abdul was in this war for the long haul.

  “And Hassan has no knowledge of Abdul’s background? He must have asked Abdul where he’s had his training. Even I know he was educated in London,” Ric said with a touch of disappointment, hoping to rouse Faruq into revealing more damaging information.

  “You think Abdul would have told the truth? Whether Hassan knows the truth or not, I do not know, but when you leave your money with someone and you don’t even take the time to count it every once in a while, it should be no surprise when a few of the bills go missing.”

  “What would Abdul do with the sheik’s money? He’s well paid.”

  Faruq shrugged. “He’ll take trips to places he believes the sheik will want to do business in the future, but Hassan never will. Abdul recently traveled to Somalia. That place has no viable business to offer Hassan. There is nothing there to invest in. Why would Abdul think Hassan would agree to do business in Somalia?”

  Somalia... So the intel on insurgents traveling from that country into the region was likely on Abdul’s orders. The timing was too coincidental. No, Faruq, he wouldn’t do business in Somalia — at least not legitimate business.

  Faruq slurped some wine from his elaborately decorated goblet. “And I heard from one of the chefs, a distant cousin of Abdul’s,” Faruq continued, “that he met an African woman, not unlike the beauty he brought before Hassan earlier today. I do not know what happened to her, but I would bet money that Abdul did not leave that country without sampling more than the food.” Faruq smiled and winked, as if his insinuation needed an explanation.

  Abdul had a cousin who was in the camp? I thought I knew all the service people. It shouldn’t surprise him that people moved in and out of the sheik’s service. He and the sheik had fairly regular contact; however, it wasn’t as if they saw each other every week, or even every month. Ric’s assigned area was the Middle East, and as such, he was tasked to conduct operations in multiple countries. He could be in Saudi Arabia today and tomorrow the UAE — if he completed his mission here and snuck Mel out at the same time.

  “How long do you want that woman in the bath? Until her skin wrinkles?” Faruq spat out a few seeds from the sizable, deep purple grapes he was eating. He snorted. “If it were me, I wouldn’t even be here among the men. Why would I want to talk to men when I have a woman lying in my bed?”

  Perhaps it was the smoke, or the amount of hot air being expelled by the excited men in the densely packed, too-small tent, because it couldn’t be just the wine — he barely had enough to take effect. At the mention of Mel waiting expectantly in his bed, the pores on his face opened and perspiration threatened to stream down the sides of his cheeks. The image was just a mirage; if Mel hadn’t tried to escape again while he was here collecting information, she was likely holed up in the smallest corner of the tent, as far away from his bed as possible. That wasn’t exactly a bad thing, for both their sakes. Until they were back safely on United States soil, they were in constant danger. Having some steamy, desert romance wouldn’t be worth the price of their lives.

  Ric cleared his throat. “You’re right. She should be clean by now. And I believe Hakeem was going to have a bit of food brought to my tent for late-night snacking.”

  Faruq laughed heartily. “You’ll need the fuel for stamina.”

  Fighting an eye-roll, Ric smiled thinly instead. “Yes, although I’m not lacking in that department.”

  “Then enjoy your night, my friend, and tell me about it in the morning.”

  Yeah, that’s not happening. “Good night.”

  Ric departed the tent with more than just Mel on his mind. There was a cousin of Abdul’s he had to find and possibly befriend for information on Abdul. The man was a service employee, so it would take time to build a level of rapport with him to where he’d either voluntarily divulge information on Abdul, or would be comfortable answering Ric’s questions. Establishing a connection took time, and time was something Ric was a little short on.

  Chapter Four

  She still couldn’t sleep. Even though her gut told her the only safe place in the camp was here in Ric’s tent, she was still unable to close her eyes for longer than a few minutes. Night after night of this sleeplessness had developed heavy bags underneath her eyes, and a jitteriness she couldn’t shake even with the reviving sustenance of food.

  God in heaven, where are you? Please help me!

  Hakeem had to forcibly remove the fork from her hand as she gorged on the meats, rice, and fresh fruit served for dinner. Too much food on an empty stomach is not good for you, he had said, as if speaking to a small child. The gentle reminder felt more like a chastisement and Mel was embarrassed by her behavior; however, she had been without real food for nearly three days. Abdul had fed her some dry, chalky rice cakes, and Mel wondered whether he used starvation as a tactic to break her spirit. It hadn’t worked, but gluttony almost did. Reviving her strength would be key to her survival, but she wouldn’t be much use to herself if she became ill through overindulgence.

  Ric hadn’t returned for dinner. The longer she and Hakeem ate alone, the greater her concern for her captor became. Where was he? What was he doing? She tried unsuccessfully to pry information from Hakeem, and that really frustrated her. She was a US Marshal who had worked undercover. It was her job to get people to trust her and to reveal their deepest secrets so she could take them, or somebody they knew, down. Technically, when she was undercover, she usually had time to develop a relationship with someone and that trust would later turn into evidence. Knowing Hakeem for a few hours didn’t exactly equate to the rapport she had built between herself and known criminals over a matter of months. Hakeem wasn’t easily distracted, and she found him controlling the conversation more than she. That not only embarrassed her, but it made her feel completely useless. If she were to trust Ric when he promised to get her out of here, that would mean her life — everything — was in his hands. She didn’t like that one bit. The hands she preferred to rely on were her own, with a little help from God.

  How am I supposed to rely on myself when I can’t even fall asleep? She had counted every dot in the pattern on the ceiling fabric three times and—

  Ric was as stealthy as a jungle cat. She hadn’t heard him enter the room and already he was halfway across it to the opposite corner of the bed. Her eyes, having long adjusted to the darkness, saw him set some sort of fabric, possibly clothes, on the edge of the bed before he moved to an obscure corner of the room.

  “You never told me what you’re doing out here?” Mel asked tentatively. Not only was he reluctant to say why he was here in the desert with a sheik, but he also hadn’t bothered to mention his last name.

  Movement in the corner halted before it continued again. “There’s a reason for that.” He kept his back to her.

  Mel’s investigative sense kicked in. She might be halfway around the world with strangers who were her only chance of survival, but she wouldn’t stop fighting. “Well, we’re in this together, right?”

  He pivoted, and Mel gasped as he came closer to the bed. Ric had removed his shirt. The contours of his muscular chest and abs were clearly visible — if she strained her eyes. The grin was back. “Are you suggesting a willingness to let me use half of the bed? Because my back is killing me and—”

  “I’m suggesting the truth. All I have is your first name. As a law enforcement officer, I can’t engage in certain activities that would jeopardize my position.” In silence, he turned away. A few seconds later, sounds of him rummaging through
something replaced the voice she wanted to hear. Mel let out a frustrated breath. She opened her mouth to speak when he turned around and spoke.

  “Look, I understand your concern, but what I’m doing is on a need-to-know basis.”

  “Need to know? You expect me to believe that?”

  “How about you just trust me then?”

  “Trust you? I don’t even know you!”

  “Shouldn’t you be asleep?” he gritted.

  Mel bit her lip. Exhaustion gripped the muscles of her body, and the discomfort was impossible to ignore. “I can’t sleep,” she whispered. “My body won’t let me. I didn’t sleep those days Abdul had me. I couldn’t. I knew if I did, something terrible would happen to me and…” Emotion strangled her last words.

  His voice sounded empathetic. “Look, I’m sorry. I can’t tell you what I’m doing but if it helps, I’ll tell you a little about me. But you have to promise to keep this information to yourself. The men here know me as a businessman from South America. I can’t exactly have my cover blown. Do you understand?”

  An undercover mission? She understood more than he knew. “You’re willing to trust me?”

  He flicked on a lighter and lit a small candle on the table closest to his bedside. He grinned lopsidedly. “Do you mind?” He gestured toward the unoccupied side of the bed separated by the pillows he had laid out hours before. When she shook her head, he eased onto the mattress. She turned onto her left side to face him. “My name is Ricardo Santiago. Here I go by Ric, of course. At home it’s Ricardo. Don’t say my last name. I don’t use it here. I’m a Marine with a black-ops background. I’m here because my country needs me.”

  “And which country is that?” Melanie held her breath, hoping he wasn’t on a mission other than one sanctioned by the United States government.

  Ric smiled. “The United States.”

  Melody nodded. She glanced down at their hands. Her right hand had moved on top of the pillows and was dangerously close to his left hand. Inches from touching him, yet she felt connected to him: comfortable…safe. Her head snapped up. “You said Santiago?”

  “Yes.”

  Her eyes narrowed and she leaned forward. Dark eyes, black hair, but she couldn’t tell if he had dimples underneath the beard he sported. He didn’t appear affronted by her assessment and instead held her gaze. “Do you have dimples?”

  His brow creased. “Yeah, why?”

  Melody smiled. “All the Santiago brothers have dimples.” She winced as he squeezed her hand with too much force.

  “What did you say?” he hissed.

  “You have two older brothers, right? Alejandro and Rafael?”

  “How did you know that?” The words rushed out and his expression morphed into one who had knowingly blundered and given away too much information about himself.

  “Ale and I work for the same unit. Or used to. Did you know he got married last year?”

  “Married? Alejandro?”

  Mel sucked in her lips and nodded. “Guess you didn’t know.”

  He released her hand, rolled onto his back, and stuffed his hands beneath his head. “I haven’t exactly kept in touch.”

  “No kidding.”

  He let out a strained noise and crossed his muscled legs tightly at the ankles. She watched as the muscles in his abdomen constrict more and more with each heavy expulsion of breath. His eyes stared straight at the ceiling and he kept his hard lips in a tight line. A loud “Ha!” escaped Ric’s mouth. “I can’t believe he’s married. Out of the three of us, he may have been the least likely.”

  “The wedding was quite beautiful.”

  He looked at her. “You went?”

  Mel nodded. “You would like Audrey, his wife. She really threw him for a loop. None of us thought he’d ever get married. He seemed to be the all-hard, no-soft type of guy.” Like you.

  “Yeah? You know my brother well?” His eyes held genuine curiosity.

  “I’ve only been on his team for about a couple of years, but Alejandro isn’t that big of a mystery. He’s a straight shooter.”

  Ric nodded and chuckled. “That sounds like Ale.”

  “He’s one of my best friends. I can go to him with just about anything.”

  He gave her a side-glance; his eyes probed hers through veiled emotion. “Hmm.”

  She blushed, wondering how interesting he found that fact. His eyes narrowed on her just then and she feared he’d discover some secret she didn’t have. “Oh, and Rafael got married as well. Right before Alejandro,” she said, to distract him from his silent appraisal of her.

  Ric’s eyes went wide and he shook his head. “Wow. Being in the desert sure makes you lose track of time. But that doesn’t surprise me one bit. Rafa was always the ladies’ man. He was doomed from day one.”

  Melody found herself laughing. It was the first time in days her situation hadn’t left her with a feeling of hopelessness. Could she trust this man? She trusted Alejandro with her life and even Rafael was a good man, according to Audrey. But wasn’t there usually one bad sheep of the family? Did she want to take a chance it wasn’t Ric? “So you’re not a ladies’ man?”

  Ric smiled. For a second, Mel wished she could see his dimples. She settled for his rounded lips. “Would I be out here off the grid if I were?” Ric’s head turned at a soft sound from the other side of their room. Hakeem appeared at the entrance of the room. “Ah, Hakeem!” Melody has agreed to let me use this half of the bed. I won’t need that other mattress after all. You did get the mattress, right?”

  Mel didn’t know why her cheeks were ablaze. It wasn’t as if their agreement was intimate in any way. Before she averted her eyes from both men, she caught Hakeem’s teasing smile.

  “No, sir. I knew before long you’d charm your way into the bed.”

  “And he just charmed his way out of it.” Mel pulled the covers up to just beneath her chin.

  Ric frowned, but his eyes sparkled. “Then how ’bout you share the floor with me?”

  Melody couldn’t recall the last time she was so on fire. Melting under the extreme heat were her hardened muscles, her body softening along with a tiny part of her heart. “I’ll stay in the bed, thank you,” she said stiffly. How could she remain objective enough to test her faith in him if he had her weak with every smile, every suggestive comment?

  Ric’s look turned innocent. “You see, I can be nice, even if you’re not.”

  “You smell like you have somewhere you need to be. Your bathwater is probably getting cold. I don’t want to hold you up.”

  Hakeem chuckled softly from his position.

  “Okay, but I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer. When I come back, this half of the bed better be empty.” Ric rustled and flopped as much as he could. He disturbed Mel’s side of the bed and caused her to let out an annoyed grunt, before he finally stood. “I might be awhile, so don’t wait up.” He winked and disappeared from the room with a laughing Hakeem following behind.

  ****

  Mel bolted upright, her breath coming in heaving gasps. Her eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness surrounding her. Where was she? How did she get here? She groaned as her body rebelled against her movements. She swung her heavy legs around and out from underneath the covers. When her feet touched the thick threads of the Persian rug, awareness returned. I’m in Ric’s tent, in his bed. I’m in the middle of the desert. I was kidnapped and Ric promised to get me home. She eased herself from the bed and the constricting muscles in her thighs and calves hardened to the point of pain. Mel squeezed her eyes shut and sat down on the bed. She reached into space for the bottle of water she left on the nightstand nearby. I should’ve drunk more water yesterday. Her muscles had been deprived of adequate nourishment and the calcium buildup was at its peak. She moaned in satisfaction at the taste of the refreshingly cool liquid. Soon, her muscles responded to her mental commands and she hobbled toward the private entrance to the bathroom.

  After she washed, she poked her head into the m
ain area of the tent. On the table nearby, a covered dish waited for her. Instantly, her stomach growled. Despite eating past the feeling of full yesterday, her body still craved food. She stepped closer to the table and her hand reached out to remove the cover.

  “Good afternoon. Sleep well?”

  Mel jumped at the sound of Ric’s voice. She rotated and found him sitting on the large pillows in the corner with a few papers in front of him. He wore a soft smile as his eyes flickered over her once before settling back on her face. She absentmindedly touched her hair, styled in a sloppy bun at the nape of her neck. Although she rarely wore makeup, she couldn’t stand to go a day without moisturizing. Snooping through Ric’s bag in the bathroom yielded a small bottle of sunscreen, which she lathered on liberally. Now, she wished she had double-checked her face in the mirror for white streaks. “Yes, I think I did sleep well.”

  “Good. You slept about twelve hours.”

  Twelve hours? That was all? I think I could sleep for days. But being in a strange place, in a strange bed tended to disrupt her sleeping patterns. Had he returned to the room last night after bathing? I must have fallen asleep right after he’d left. The last thing she remembered was Hakeem’s throaty laughter.

  “You hungry? Hakeem told me you nearly ate his arm off last night in a savage feeding frenzy.”

  Mel rolled her eyes. Her lips involuntarily curved upward and betrayed her pleasure at Ric’s humor. “I did not almost eat his arm off.”

  “He said he had to force you to stop gorging.”

  “Well, yes, that’s true.”

  Ric chuckled. “Well, there’s breakfast waiting on the table for you. It’s light, so you’re not puking in an hour. If you’re hungry afterwards, we can get you something a bit more filling.”

  “Thank you.” She chose a chair at the table where she could keep her eyes on Ric, sat down, and pulled the plate toward her. A dulcet aroma permeated the air around the colorful plate of fresh tangerines, strawberries, cantaloupe, and pineapple. “Where’s Hakeem?” She chewed on the juiciest pineapple piece she’d ever had in her entire life.