by Maya Banks
“What about you?” she asked Garrett. “You’re coming, right?”
There was fear in her voice despite the fact that her words came out steady. Her hand trembled in his and he squeezed reassuringly.
“I’m coming. I want you inside first. I’ll need to go in the back and I want you in the middle where you’re protected. There’ll be men on either side of you. Rio’s team.” He lowered his voice. “They won’t hurt you.”
She squeezed back. “I know. If you trust them, so do I. I’m just so ...” Her voice trailed off.
“Yeah, me too, honey. Me too. But we’re going to make it just fine. And then I’m going to fulfill a little promise I made.”
Her brow wrinkled in question.
“You. Me. Naked. Me inside you. As many times as I can get there.”
Color bloomed in her cheeks and she glanced hastily at Rio to make sure his murmured words weren’t overheard. Rio’s expression never changed. Sarah looked back, her cheeks still flushed, but there was heat in her eyes. He’d purposely reminded her of what they’d shared and what they would share to ease some of her shell shock.
A smile glimmered on her lips when she looked back at Garrett.
“Go with Rio. I’ll feel better knowing you’re safe.”
She nodded and eased her hand from his. He didn’t want to let her go even for a minute, but he wanted her in the truck, under guard while he got the report from his men and they got the hell out of this damn country. Nothing good ever came of him being in Mexico.
He watched as Rio ushered Sarah into the backseat of the SUV and Terrence stood guard outside the door. Then Rio walked back over to where Garrett stood.
“Okay, man, what’s the plan? You need a hospital and Sarah isn’t going to be happy if you don’t go. She’s all sorts of worried about you.”
“Fuck the hospital.”
“Don’t make me whip your ass in front of your woman. It would be humiliating.”
“We have more important issues to worry about than a hospital. Besides that, I don’t want Sarah out in public.”
“Who said anything about Sarah going to the hospital?”
Garrett tensed and fixed Rio with his stare. “She stays with me.”
“I hate to bring this up but it needs to be said. You need to give this assignment up and let someone else in KGI take over. You’re hurt and the entire mission is compromised because you’ve made this personal. You need to back off now.”
It took all he had not to kick Rio’s ass, even if it damn near killed him in the process. And Rio knew it pissed him off because he was watching Garrett with those dark eyes, studying every reaction and only convincing himself that he was all the more right. Well, maybe he was. He’d probably be preaching the same sermon to one of his team members if they were in the same position.
“I really don’t give a shit about the mission right now,” Garrett said in as controlled a voice as possible. “What I care about is keeping her safe, and don’t feed me that bullshit about how any of you can keep her safe. Okay, I get that. I don’t doubt your abilities. I trust you with my life. But I’m not trusting anyone but myself with hers. You said I’ve made it personal. You’re damn right I have. She’s mine.”
“Well fuck, Garrett,” Rio swore. “You’ve got yourself a hell of a problem then. Resnick’s going to be breathing down our necks wanting to know where Sarah is—”
“Another reason for me not to show up in some damn hospital.”
“There’s also the fact that Lattimer will be looking for his sister and the fact that you’re lying to her about who you are. You need to figure out what’s more important to you, man. Nailing Lattimer or having Sarah. Because something tells me you won’t get both.”
“Look, I really don’t want to get into this with you. Find me a damn clinic or fly me to Marin and let her check me over. Sarah goes where I go. End of story. This is my mission and I’ll fucking figure out what the hell I’m going to do. But for God’s sake, can we get the fuck out of Mexico?”
“You’re the boss,” Rio drawled. “I’ve got a chopper waiting about thirty miles south of here. We’ll ditch the rides and hop the border into Corazol. I have a contact there who can help us get medical care for you. On the way I’ll have to try to make contact with Van because they’ll all be coming in hot.”
“And I need to call home,” Garrett said quietly. He could only imagine how his mom and sisters-in-law felt. Ethan and Sam both would have gone. He knew because in their shoes he’d do the same for his brothers. Rachel was probably taking it especially hard. They tried to arrange it so that both he and Ethan were never gone at the same time.
“Need help?” Rio asked. He signaled his remaining men. “Let’s make tracks.”
Garrett took an experimental step forward and then another. Rio kept pace beside him and opened the back to lay the third-row seat down. He tossed the equipment to one of his other men, who transferred it to the other vehicle. Soon, Rio had a large enough space for Garrett to crawl in and lie down.
Sarah turned in her seat and watched as Garrett inched his way forward. By the time he was in, sweat beaded his forehead and he felt like he was going to puke his guts up.
“Do you have water?” Sarah asked softly, looking at Rio who was still standing behind Garrett. “Neither of us has had anything to eat or drink.”
“Of course,” Rio said. “I’ll have Terrence dig some out of his pack while I get us on the road. Okay, doll?”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
“You all set, man?” Rio asked.
“Yeah,” Garrett said. “Get us on the road and get me a damn sat phone.”
CHAPTER 29
SARAH leaned her head back against the rest and closed her eyes. She was tired to her bones and worry for Garrett beat at her brain. Rio had pissed Garrett off by injecting him with a painkiller when he wasn’t looking, but Sarah was glad he did it. The roads were terrible and lying in the back and being jarred by every bump and pothole would have been excruciating.
At least now he had fallen into a drug-induced sleep. She looked over her shoulder every few minutes, checking his expression for any sign of discomfort. There was no tension in his face and he looked at peace.
Beside her, Rio sat, his gaze constantly darting right and left and like her, over his shoulder to check on Garrett at intervals. Terrence drove, and another team member whom she’d heard referred to as Decker rode shotgun. Literally.
Alton and Browning followed in the other SUV.
“Where are we going?” she asked in a low voice.
Rio’s gaze settled on her, and she regretted drawing his attention. She wanted to die over the fact that she’d darn near undressed in front of him. He’d certainly gotten an eyeful of her cleavage.
“Corozal.”
“Belize?”
He nodded. “We’re not too far from the border. Couple hours even on shitty roads. I want Garrett to see a doctor there.”
“His family will be there.”
It wasn’t really a question since she’d heard Rio conversing with one of Garrett’s brothers earlier. But it was a way to seek information because she was as nervous as hell at the idea of meeting his family.
“Oh, definitely,” Rio said. “They’ll probably be there before we will. They were en route to Mexico and rerouted to Corozal after I let them know we’d gotten Garrett out.”
He continued to study her until embarrassment crowded in once more and she looked away.
“Sarah.”
Her gaze flickered back to him.
“That was a damn brave thing you did back there. I don’t think Garrett knows whether to turn you over his knee or kiss your feet. There should be no shame or embarrassment. You earned my respect today and my gratitude for taking such care of a man whose friendship I value and a man I’m extremely proud to work with.”
Her throat grew tight and her eyes itched fiercely. She wanted to wipe them but the gesture would betray how shaky h
er emotions were.
“I feel like an idiot now,” she muttered. “Garrett is probably furious. He made me promise several times not to draw attention to myself. He was so bent on protecting me. But I couldn’t do it,” she said painfully. “They’d already beaten him twice. I thought ... when I heard you, I knew I couldn’t allow them to hurt him again. If it meant sacrificing my ... body ... it was something I was willing to do.”
“Most people would never make that kind of sacrifice.”
“I showed you my breasts, for God’s sake,” she said in disgust.
He grinned, white teeth flashing. He was extraordinarily handsome and when he smiled, he transformed from dark warrior to someone with oodles of charm.
“And as a gentleman, I’ll not comment on how spectacular they were.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes, but she smiled, feeling a little lighter and less mortified than she had before.
“Thank you,” she said. “For coming. Garrett said you would, but there were times I wondered. It felt like we were there for a week.”
His expression grew serious. “We look after our own. No way we’d not come for him.”
“Loyalty like that is priceless.”
He nodded and then reached to the floorboard for one of the packs. “Are you still hungry? You didn’t eat much before. And are you sure you’re all right?”
She rubbed her forehead and then massaged the bridge of her nose between her fingers. “I’m okay. Just fried. I think if I ate anything else I’d be sick. My head is killing me.”
He frowned. “You should have told me. I can give you an injection.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t want to be out of it. The idea kind of freaks me out right now. Just some ibuprofen would be wonderful. I think it’s just going to take a while for me to come down.”
He dug into his pack and shook out several pills into his hand. Then he uncapped a bottle of water and extended it to her. After she took it, he handed over the pills and she threw them back and swallowed them with a gulp of water.
“Will you check in with Marcus? He’ll be frantic that I haven’t checked in. I assume you would have already told him that we’re safe. I’d like to ... talk to him if possible,” she said.
Rio’s face became expressionless. “Your brother knows you’re safe. Garrett will handle reporting in. We work for Garrett but this is his mission. He took the assignment from Marcus.”
She nodded. “It’s enough that he knows. Garrett will handle it.”
“Can you try to sleep?” Rio asked gently. “You can stretch out and put my pack against the door to lay your head on.”
She sighed. “I don’t know. I’m so exhausted and yet I feel like I’ll never sleep again.”
“Let me give you something,” he said. “It’ll relax you and allow you to rest. It’ll alleviate some of the anxiety you’re feeling.”
She hesitated and he pressed. “You need the rest, Sarah. You’re dead on your feet and when Garrett wakes up and sees you like this, he’s going to wig out, and then we’ll have no hope of getting him the care he needs. He’ll be too worried about you.”
“That was dirty,” she said with a scowl.
“Thank you, ma’am. I do my best.”
“Oh all right,” she conceded.
“Pull your sleeve up,” he directed as he dug back into the pack.
She complied and he uncapped a prefilled syringe. She looked doubtfully at it as he swabbed an area of her skin with alcohol. Then before she could question, he plunged the needle into her arm. She gasped and then rubbed when he withdrew.
“Sorry,” he said.
“That seemed like an awful lot of medicine for something that’s just supposed to bring me down and relax me a bit.”
“Oh it’ll knock you on your ass for several hours,” he said cheerfully.
Already the world was going hazy around her and her eyelids grew heavy. “When I wake up, I’m going to kick your ass,” she slurred.
Rio leaned her toward the window and tucked his pack underneath her head. He gave her a gentle smile. “Good night, Sarah.”
SAM paced the tarmac with restless energy while Donovan and Ethan leaned against the door of the Kelly jet. Sam checked his watch for the third time in as many minutes and swore under his breath.
“Where are they?” he demanded. “What the hell’s taking them so long? I hope they didn’t run into trouble.”
“We’d know if they did,” Donovan said. “Rio can handle it. They’ll be here.”
Ethan remained silent, his expression tense. “Garrett called home. He knew the women would be upset. If he was thinking of Mom and Rachel and Sophie, he’s fine.”
The distant sound of a helicopter quieted the conversation. The hum grew louder until the chopper burst over the dense area of trees. A few minutes later, the chopper touched down several feet away from where the jet was parked and Rio hopped out of the cockpit.
Sam started over, his brothers on his heels. Sam waited for the engine noise to die before addressing his team leader.
“What the hell happened? Where’s Garrett?”
“He needs medical,” Rio said. “There’s a clinic about thirty miles out. It’s safe.”
“That’s stupid,” Ethan cut in. “We can get him on the jet and take him home to a hospital there.”
Rio shook his head. “Not going to happen.”
“You want to explain why?” Donovan asked.
A dilapidated old van creaked onto the tarmac and drove noisily over to where the chopper had landed. Rio motioned to Terrence, who ducked into the helicopter and came out a moment later, a woman curled into his arms. He carried her toward the van while Sam and his brothers watched in confusion.
“Is that Sarah?” Donovan asked. “Was she hurt too?”
Rio shook his head. “Look it’s a long story and one I’d love to tell you, but right now we need to get Garrett out of here.”
Sam glanced at his brothers and then nodded. They hurried over to the helicopter to see Garrett lying on a makeshift stretcher.
“I can damn well walk,” Garrett growled at Browning who had the misfortune of sitting next to Garrett’s head.
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t look like it to me,” Sam drawled. Even though he purposely needled his brother, the relief at seeing him lying there bitching as usual nearly staggered him. He had to grip the doorway to steady himself.
“Goddamn it, Garrett, you scared the shit out of us,” Donovan cursed.
Garrett picked his head up and saw his three brothers crowded into the doorway of the chopper. “Well, son of a bitch.”
Ethan grinned back at him. “You look like a pussy.”
Garrett rose up to flip Ethan the bird but groaned as the motion rippled pain across his midsection. Yet something else his brothers would give him hell over. He grinned as he stared at the roof of the chopper. Some things never changed, and he hoped to hell they never did.
“One of you assholes help me sit up. I can walk out of here, damn it. I don’t need a goddamn stretcher.”
Ethan chuckled but reached his hand out for Garrett to grasp. Donovan shouldered in and reached for Garrett’s other. His muscles protested, but he was gratified to be able to get out of the helicopter without collapsing.
As soon as his feet hit the ground, he looked around, taking in the surroundings “Where is Sarah?”
“Relax. Terrence took her to the van. I gave her an injection to make her sleep. She was wound tighter than a spring,” Rio said.
Garrett relaxed and then took a good look at the van in question. “Well, hell, Rio. Is this what you call a first-class ride?”
Rio chuckled. “It’s all about blending in. Can’t have a limo showing up at some out-of-the-way clinic.”
“We have the jet here,” Sam said with a frown. “You should damn well let us take you home. You can’t continue this job in your condition.”
Garrett ignored him and started toward the van. Ethan foll
owed and grasped Garrett’s arm to steady him. He was grateful for his brother’s help, not that he’d admit it. The last thing he wanted was to face plant on the runway. He wouldn’t live down that humiliation ever.
“Goddamn it, Garrett,” Sam said in resignation. “I swear if you didn’t already look like you’ve been rode hard and hung up wet, I’d kick your ass.”
Garrett turned and shot a cocky grin over his shoulder. “You can try, big brother. You can try.”
Donovan shook his head and followed the procession over to the van.
Garrett stuck his head inside to see Sarah curled onto the floor of the van. There were only two seats in front and the entire back was empty. She was out cold and her features were drawn into a tight grimace, but at least she was resting. The past few days had been hard on her, and she’d already been through enough.
He hesitated before entering the van and turned to face his brothers. “I’ll make this quick. We need to get out of sight. I’m not going home with you.” He held up his hand to stop the protest that Sam was already preparing to launch. “You three get your asses home. Make sure the women aren’t worried. Tell them whatever you need in order to make them feel better. I don’t want the family involved with this. Think about the danger we’d be bringing to our front door. Lattimer is a wild card. The whole point of this job was to flush him out. I’m not going to do that in any way that puts our family at risk, and you damn well know I’m right.”
“My suggestion was to leave Rio with Sarah. Let his team take over the job. You need to get your ass home and be in a real hospital,” Sam said.
“And I’m telling you right now, I’m not leaving Sarah.”
He stared his brothers down. He saw Donovan shake his head and blow out his breath in resignation. Donovan knew. He already had a damn good idea that Garrett was in way over his head with the woman.
“There is still a threat to Sarah, one I haven’t identified. And do you think for one minute that if we all go home, Resnick won’t be all over us in a minute? Hell, he’s probably on his way here right now. He’s a complication I don’t need.”
