by KaLyn Cooper
As she opened her eyes, she looked at her captors. She watched enough TV to know that if you get to see their faces, that means you don’t get to live. Even so, just in case she or Melina Warrior Princess managed to escape, she wanted to be able to identify these fuckers.
The shorter of the two, who she pegged at around five-feet-ten-inches, had a pockmarked face. Poor guy must’ve had terrible acne in high school. She nicknamed him Scarface. She hoped Truck wouldn’t take offense. He had a prominent scar that ran from just under his eye, down his cheek, to the corner of his mouth that made him look like he was constantly scowling. Mary didn’t notice it anymore. The man underneath grabbed her attention and held her within his invisible force field. She couldn’t think about him now.
She needed to memorize everything she could about her captors. If by some miracle she got away, she could identify them so they could be hunted down and punished.
Focusing now on the second man, she placed him right around six-feet tall. He was thin and lanky, obviously the one who had captured her.
“Maybe Valez let us play before he kills you.” He gave her a wide smile showing two rows of terrible teeth earning him the nickname TT. Obviously there was no fluoride in the water he drank as a child. Then another thought struck her. He might be a crack cocaine addict.
The baseball bat of his words hit her. She wasn’t sure which she feared more, this man’s definition of play or that Valez was going to kill her. Did this mean she wasn’t going to be sold into the sex trade? Maybe he was going to interrogate her, torture her for information about her Delta Force friends.
She vowed not to give them one tidbit of information. She would take any pain they could dish out to protect her friends. Inwardly, she chuckled. Well, at least she wouldn’t die from cancer.
A moan from Melina caught Mary’s attention. The men wandered over to her and smacked her face harder than Mary thought was necessary to bring her around. They had obviously knocked her out to tie her to the chair. Both women sat in what looked to be sturdy dining room chairs. They were the kind with arms that sat at the ends of a large table.
While the men concentrated on Melina, Mary took the opportunity to glance around the stark room. She was surrounded by gray concrete. Even the ceiling. Empty shelves sat on the shorter ends. She’d lived in Texas long enough to recognize a tornado shelter.
That was good news and bad news. A room like this meant somebody needed to be protected from Mother Nature’s wrath. Maybe there were other people nearby. It also meant once that thick metal door closed, they were sealed in.
Drum like thuds, accompanied by male voices, came from the sturdy doorway. More men were coming down the stairs.
When a young man and two hulks stepped in, they seemed to suck all the air out of the now crowded room. With a short jerk of his head toward the door, the two heavily armed men stepped outside. Mary let out a deep breath and slowly replaced it, concentrating on breathing because that was the only thing she could control at that moment.
“Pablo.” TT proudly strode over to stand beside the newcomer.
Mary memorized the almost pretty face of Pablo Valez. He looked like a high school punk. She wondered if he was even old enough to buy a drink, but one peek into his nearly black eyes, she knew no bartender would deny him alcohol.
The man’s intense gaze only left Melina’s for a brief glance toward her. “Who the hell is she?”
“You said to grab the one with brown hair,” Scarface started to explain. “They were together. We didn’t know which one you wanted, so we brought you both.”
Valez didn’t even look Mary’s way as he ordered, “Kill her.”
TT stared at her, then grinned. “Do you care when?”
“I don’t give a flying fuck how, when, or where. Or what you do with her in the meantime.” Valez slapped Terrible Teeth on the shoulder. “You served my uncle well, and I’m sure you’ll handle problems in the U.S.A. for me, just like you did for him.”
“Carlos Narváez was very generous to us.” Scarface assessed the man head to toe. “We do as you ask in respect for your uncle. We help you get his killers. You have yet to earn our respect.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Valez fisted his hands at his side, the muscle in his cheek pulsing as his face reddened. “I have taken over for my uncle. I am avenging his murder, just as the other cartel leaders said I must. You will show me the same respect as you do any other capo.”
TT invaded Valez’s personal space. “The bounty for the woman. To earn respect, you pay.”
Valez hesitated.
Scarface walked over to Melina who had remained quiet. He grabbed her face in one hand and forced it toward Valez. “This is the right woman, no? You want her? Then you pay. She all yours.” He glanced over to Mary. “We keep her, though.”
Valez snapped his fingers and one of the behemoths at the door stuck his head in. Seconds after a few quiet words were exchanged, the man returned with a duffel and dropped it at TT’s feet.
With a nod, Scarface dropped to his knees. Unzipping the bag revealed neatly wrapped stacks of U.S. currency. Mary wondered just how much Melina was worth to Valez.
Scarface shuffled through the bag then shook his head.
TT lowered his head like a bull ready to charge. “Where’s the rest?” His quiet demand spoke volumes.
Valez grinned at the man who had at least fifteen years on him, and miles of mean. “I’ll pay you twice as much as I owe you if you will hang on to her for another twenty-four hours.” His lips broadened into a full on smile. “Then you can have her, too.”
Scarface and TT exchanged a leery glance.
“She’s my bait for the shark who killed Uncle Carlos.” Valez sneered at Melina. “Her lover will come for his whore, and I will kill him. Then I will return to Colombia and take my uncle’s place at the cartel table.”
“Twice what you owe us,” Scarface reiterated.
“You’ll get everything coming to you.” There was something about the sly glare Valez gave their kidnappers Mary didn’t trust. She hoped their captors saw it, too.
TT and Scarface exchanged another brief glance.
“We’ll keep her for twenty-four hours and that’s it.” TT crossed his bulky arms over his very broad chest.
“Then, gentlemen, we have a deal.” Valez pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. “Time to make a movie.”
A minute later, Valez smiled as he held his phone a few feet from his face. There was nothing comforting in the teeth bared, only evil and hatred. “You didn’t think you’d get away with it, did you, Segundo? Payback is a bitch, and I have yours.” He touched something on his screen then pointed the camera toward Melina, slowly tilting it up and down. Obviously, he wanted to show her tied to the chair.
Stepping closer he grabbed her jaw. “Take a good look at this beautiful face.”
Valez’s fisted hand was a blur as he backhanded Melina. Her head flew to the side, and Mary saw blood.
How dare he hit a woman? And poor Melina. Bound to the chair, she couldn’t fight back. Furious, Mary glared at Valez.
Then she noticed the camera was pointed at her. Jumping on the opportunity, but not wanting to gain the attention of anyone in the room, she mouthed, Help me. Please, help me!
Valez grabbed Melina’s chin and pointed the camera toward her reddening face. “Ooo. I’m afraid that might bruise,” he said with mocking concern. With an open hand he smacked the other side of her face.
As Valez looked at his handiwork, the camera was once again pointed toward Mary. Begging with her whole face, she mouthed over and over, Please help me. They are going to kill me.
With the camera pointed back at him, Valez asked, “Want me to stop, Segundo? There’s a private airstrip about ten miles southwest of Killeen, Texas. Be there by six o’clock Saturday night.”
4
Rafe Silva’s cell phone vibrated on the nightstand next to his gun. He seriously debated ignoring it and rousing
Harper for a second round. He’d spent most of the last week in Langley hell, debriefing everyone who was remotely associated with the cartels in Colombia. He talked to the NSA, the DEA, Homeland Security, and, of course, at length to the analysts in the CIA.
As of Thursday afternoon at five o’clock, he was officially done working for the U.S. government. Recruited in college to keep an eye on his roommate, Carlos Narváez, Rafe had a five-year respite while a SEAL. At the end of his commitment to the Navy, he was recruited once again to watch his old friend, this time in Colombia. Carlos was now dead, thanks to two perfectly placed shots by Harper. When Rafe had been forced to kidnap the gorgeous woman in bed beside him, it had been the last straw. Helping her escape had saved them both.
He was now free of the world of shadows he’d lived in all his adult life.
Rafe snuggled into Harper’s sex-satisfied warm body and breathed in contentment. He was going to love his new life is much as he loved the naked woman beside him.
Friday morning Rafe had started his new job with Guardian Security. He felt right at home with the company filled with special operators from every branch of the service. He’d toured the building earlier in the week when he’d been asked to come in and fill out the standard human resources paperwork. Nice place—state of the art equipment, spotlessly clean, and great food thanks to live-in staff. Rafe was looking forward to a job that primarily involved being personal protection for politicians, their wives, foreign dignitaries, and CEOs of beltway bandits.
The phone vibrated again announcing he had a message waiting. Since he was no longer obligated to answer the damn thing, he considered checking it just so it would quit disturbing them. On the other hand, maybe he could slide the phone between Harper’s legs, right next to her clit, and hope it excited her the way her vibrator had. Playing with her toys had been a lot of fun last weekend.
When the damn thing trembled the third time, Harper reached across him and grabbed his phone. “You need to check your messages. If it’s not Guardian Security, it might be your girlfriend calling,” she teased.
“My girlfriend is right here.” He pulled her onto him, her nipples hardening as they brushed across to his chest hair. He reached between her legs, still slick with their lovemaking, and pinched her clitoris. “I think my girlfriend is leaving me a message right here.”
Harper leaned up into a sitting position resting on his thighs, but not before she rubbed her wet folds the length of his stiff cock.
Rafe couldn’t believe how lucky he was. As the two of them made their way across Columbia, each escaping Carlos Narváez in a different way, they had found something special together. Every day he spent with the amazing Harper Tambini, he fell more in love with her.
She sat boldly naked atop him, her fingers rapidly flicking across his smart phone. Some men would have been upset if a girlfriend checked his messages, but at this point in their relationship he and Harper had no secrets left.
“You didn’t think you’d get away with it, did you, Segundo?”
Rafe bolted straight up at the sound of Pablo Valez’s voice. “Payback is a bitch and I have yours.”
“What the fuck are you watching?” Rafe asked Harper who stared at the phone in her hands, her face stricken, all color fading away.
“He’s got Melina.” Determination chased anger across her pretty face.
She rolled off him and onto her back, holding the phone in the air so they could both watch the entire message.
After viewing it a second time, Harper told him, “You have to get this to Langley right away.”
“I don’t work for the CIA anymore,” he reminded her. “Besides, this is personal.”
“That doesn’t matter,” she insisted. “You need to call Deputy Director Gillpatrick. This is Melina. She still works for him. Have you forgotten how she warned us the cartel was after us then helped us escape from Cali? We have to save her from that self-aggrandizing idiot.”
“He wants me. This is obviously his trap, with Melina as the bait.” He could clearly see that, why couldn’t she? “I can’t just stroll onto an airstrip in the middle of fucking no-where Texas without backup and a solid plan. And before you offer, I know you’re fully capable of helping. It’s going to take more than just the two of us.” Rafe sighed. “I don’t want some newbie team Langley hands me.” His mind scrolled through a short list of mercenaries and discarded each one. He was at a loss for highly-trained men who knew how to follow orders.
“Agreed. You certainly can’t go there alone.” She jumped out of bed and started throwing on clothes. “We need to get backup.”’
“Fuck!” He suddenly remembered, “I’m supposed to work on Sunday. I’ve only been with Guardian for a day, and I’m going to have to ask for time off to go deal with CIA shit.”
Harper hit him in the chest with the boxer briefs he’d hastily shucked off thirty minutes before. “First things first. I need to talk to Katlin.” Bouncing on one leg, she shoved the other into the slacks she’d worn to work that day and pulled them up, covering the cheeky panties he liked far too much.
“What the hell can she do for us?” Rafe was totally confused. Katlin Callahan was one of six women, including Harper, who occupied the entire top floor of the condominium building just off DuPont Circle in Washington D.C. Although all the women were active duty military officers, they currently were assigned to governmental agencies. They had a bond as tight as his former SEAL team.
Harper bit her bottom lip and stared at Rafe for a long moment before turning away to grab her blouse. “There’s more to Katlin than I can tell you.”
Worried now, Rafe threw off the covers and started getting dressed. “Can tell me, or will tell me?” He quickly reconsidered. “Forget it. I don’t want to know. I’m out of that game. Forever.”
She turned and looked him in the eyes. “There are things I can’t tell you.” She stepped to him and ran her soft hands from his chest up to his bare shoulders. “You know I’ve had special training.” She glanced away as though unsure of continuing. When their gazes met, he saw the trust in her beautiful eyes. “That’s where I met Katlin…and the other women who live on this floor.”
Rafe was well aware of some of Harper’s unique skills. She’d proven herself time and time again as they’d been chased across Columbia by not just one, but two, cartels. She was an excellent shot with most any weapon. She fought hand-to-hand like a man. While working out in the building’s awesome gym, they’d talked about going scuba diving and sky diving sometime soon, so she must be certified. He loved how outgoing and athletic she was, matching his enthusiasm for a fit body and adventurous soul. He’d learned to scuba dive in Boy Scouts and had joined the sky diving club in college, later honing both those skills in the SEALs. He’d never questioned, nor even considered, where she’d acquired those skills.
Ten minutes later, standing in Katlin’s kitchen as she prepared supper for what looked like an entire squad, Rafe watched the gorgeous blonde wince when Melina had been hit.
Katlin turned off the stove and asked to watch it a second time. She visibly concentrated on the small screen.
“Got it.” She reached into her dress slacks and pulled out her cell phone. With the touch of an icon, she was soon connected.
“Well, this is surprise.” The deep voice sounded to be smiling, and vaguely familiar.
“Scrambling.” Katlin’s tone indicated the seriousness of the conversation ahead. “We’re secure.”
“Katlin, are you okay?” The concern in the man’s voice was evident even from four feet away.
“I’m fine, Uncle Tom, but one of your agents isn’t.” Katlin looked at Rafe and mouthed, What’s her name?
“Melina Costaneda,” he said, trying to put the pieces together. Who the fuck was her uncle Tom? His agent?
Katlin repeated the woman’s name into the phone.
As though reading his mind, Harper whispered in his ear, “Deputy Director Tom Gillpatrick is Katlin’s uncle.”
Well, if that wasn’t an enlightening connection.
“Uncle Tom, I’m putting you on speaker. I’m here with Harper Tambini and Rafe Silva.” Katlin nodded toward Rafe in a conversation handoff.
“Sir, I’m sorry to disturb you so late on a Friday night, but we have a situation.” Rafe briefed his former boss then forwarded the video to the number specified.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Tom, but I don’t think we can help this time.” Katlin explained, “We’re on hold waiting to leave for the G7 Summit in Italy. You know how much we love arm candy duty.” She slid a glance to Rafe then chose her words carefully. “But we have an observation mission. Seems when a particular world leader is away, he likes to play, very privately.”
“Understood.” Tom Gillpatrick most likely knew who she was talking about. Rafe didn’t, nor did he care. “I could talk to USSOCOM and get you reassigned.”
“No. Rescuing Melina isn’t what we do.” Katlin shook her head even though the man on the other end couldn’t see her. “You need a team that specializes in raid and rescue. Now, if you have a specific target that needs to be eliminated, we’re your women. This op is much better suited for a SEAL or Delta team.”
“I agree,” Tom Gillpatrick approved. “We’ll send the video to Special Operations Command so they can assign a team. Fortunately, Killeen, Texas is right outside Fort Hood, and they have a Delta Force on site. Hopefully we can get her extracted within a few hours. Rafe, let me see what I can do about getting you some on-site assistance. Katlin, I’ll talk to you before you leave.”
“Talk to you soon, Uncle Tom.” Katlin ended the call. “Rafe, you need to talk to Alex about this threat. Guardian may be able to help you.” Her statement threw him for just a moment.
“How?” Rafe wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.
“I know you’ve told Alex you’re not interested in this line of our business and we respect that, but Guardian Security has been known to take on special projects for USSOCOM.”
