by C. J. Miller
The higher she and Finn rose, the thinner the air. Hyde stopped on a ledge and took several slow breaths. The cold was bracing. When Finn stopped beside her, he groaned.
“See that?” He pointed above them.
Hyde shielded her eyes and looked up slowly, careful not to disorient herself. A ledge along the path extended straight out from the mountain. They would have to navigate around it, costing them time and energy.
“We’re burning through our hours.” Progress wasn’t happening as fast as she would have liked.
“We have another option.” He patted his pocket where he had a stash of C4.
Hyde liked explosives. When done right, they could break down a barrier. “If I make a mistake, it will blow us off the mountain. The explosion could set off an avalanche and we could be crushed. And the sound will alert Ramirez that we’re coming.” Assessing their options on the fly didn’t leave time for dancing around the risks.
“How often do you make a mistake?” he asked.
When it came to explosives, especially C4, Hyde was careful and precise. She didn’t make mistakes. She considered her options. “I can do it. What about the noise?”
“The immediate blast may alarm him. He’ll send scouts to see what happened. He won’t see us and by the time we’re close enough, he’ll have written it off as a minor avalanche.”
“Avalanches are never minor,” Hyde said. Especially when they could be underneath one.
“You’ll do this right. I know it.”
Hyde trusted her skills, but with Finn close, they’d need to be extremely cautious. Hyde pointed away from them. “Climb that way, secure yourself with stakes. Give me a few minutes.”
Finn handed her the C4. Hyde had blasting caps and twine. Moving up the mountain, she posted a slab of C4 to the base of the boulder. She’d have to estimate how much to use. Too little would be useless and too much would kill them.
After setting the explosive, she clutched the twine and climbed to where Finn was waiting.
Hyde found a good position to secure her footing and her hand grips. Finn had chosen an excellent location. The shape of the mountain would protect them from flying debris. Finn had staked them deep four times and tied ropes to each post. He had two around himself and two around her.
“Ready?” she asked.
At his nod, she lit the end of the twine. When it was burning strong, she released it. Finn tucked her against him.
She waited for what felt like minutes. Her fatigued muscles were tense. The boom shook the air around them. Hyde’s foot slipped and she grabbed for something to secure herself. A tumble of rocks struck her, knocking her farther off balance and sending her off the ledge.
One of her stakes had shaken loose. Hyde stayed calm as she dangled from one rope and struggled for her footing.
Finn dropped beside her. He had made a harness and pulley out of his ropes. Quick thinker. Hyde reached for him. Taking his hand, he pulled her against him. They worked together to move up the mountain, their path clear toward the top.
When they found a place to rest, Hyde squeezed Finn’s hand. Her nerves were rattled and her hands were still shaking. “Thank you for what you did back there.”
“We’re partners. I wouldn’t have let you fall.”
Hyde rested her head on his shoulder. Her muscles quivered from the rush of adrenaline, fear and exhaustion.
Was he thinking about what she had confided in him at the river? She kept waiting for a visceral reaction from him. He was putting a lid on his emotions, but they were simmering, waiting to be addressed. She knew Finn too well to think he was indifferent.
As they resumed climbing, Hyde focused on not slipping.
* * *
Once they reached the large plateau where Ramirez was supposed to have his camp, they checked in with Abby at the West Company. They ate their MREs while they talked to her.
The clock ticked louder the closer they were to their deadline.
“We cleaned up the pictures from the beach Hyde sent,” Abby said. “Looks like Barnett is involved with an import and export tycoon named James Sydney. Sydney works in Miami and while his company has been investigated many times, no charges have been filed because he’s politically connected. We suspect he helped Barnett on his last score and will be helping him on the next one.”
The name matched the one Finn had overheard when he was playing golf with Barnett.
“What political connections?” Finn asked.
“His father is Senator Eli Sydney,” Abby said.
Irritation plucked at him. Finn knew Eli Sydney. He and Finn’s father ran in the same political circles and played golf together. Finn wondered if his father knew what James Sydney was involved with and how his illegal dealings—convicted or not—were kept out of the spotlight.
The sound of rumbling, like a fleet of motorcycles revving to ride, cut through the air. They were close to Ramirez’s camp. Disconnecting their call, they moved toward the direction of the sound, keeping to the trees for cover.
Hyde smoothed her hair away from her face. She had twisted her hair into a braid and it hung down her back.
Finn had put pressure on Hyde to partner with him on this mission. He regretted that now. He couldn’t have done this without her, but he hadn’t known about the baby. That detail was wedged in his thoughts. “I’m sorry about the baby,” Finn whispered. It had been hours since she had mentioned the baby, but he had thought about it nonstop.
Hyde touched his forearm. “I know you are.”
Wearing dusty black pants and a purple tank top, black long-sleeved shirt tied around her waist, she was beautiful. She drove the breath from his lungs. The urge to pull her to him and kiss her pulsed through him. He beat it back. With his attraction to her came the strongest sense of wanting to protect her. It was a bad emotion to harbor in the field. He would do his best to keep her safe, but he needed to trust that she could hold her own. Watching her too closely was a distraction.
They were taking extra care to be silent. They heard the noise first and then the camp came into view between the trees. Olive canvas tents sat in a cluster among tall grasses, about five off-road vehicles were in sight and a narrow path beat through the tents. Around the camp were poles mounted with unlit lanterns.
According to the West Company’s intelligence, Ramirez sent instructions from this location and he didn’t involve himself in the drug trade face-to-face.
Hyde moved toward the camp, and Finn extended his arm to stop her. He shook his head and pointed to his eyes. He wanted to observe first and assess what they were facing. Being rash would blow the operation. They should count the number of men in the camp and if they could locate Ramirez, assess how to get to him.
Hyde obeyed him, which surprised him. The field wasn’t a place for arguments, but Hyde hadn’t been the type to cow to him.
Crouching low in the bushes, they circled the camp, searching for Ramirez and staying together. The first glimpse of Ramirez was less than impressive. His propaganda painted him like a modern-day warlord, tall and muscular with a menacing stare. In reality, he was about thirty pounds overweight with a doughy face. He was armed, but he carried himself lazily, arms swinging, gait slow. Finn and Hyde exchanged looks. She had seen him, too.
A group of eight men left the camp on foot, heading down the mountain path. Finn and Hyde needed to act fast before the men could be called to return to protect their leader. Though they hadn’t seen inside every tent, by Finn’s count, eleven men including Ramirez remained.
Hyde leaned to the left and her shoulder brushed his. She didn’t jerk away or acknowledge the casual touch. When she moved, he missed the softness of her skin and the heat of her body. Finn slid his arm around her waist. Hyde glanced at him in confusion, looking from his hand to his face. Many words sprang to mind. T
hose words would need to wait. Releasing her, he pointed to the camp.
They had discussed their plan and they needed to act on it. They hurried around the perimeter to the large canvas tent where they had seen Ramirez exit. Finn gestured for her to stay behind the tent, next to a small, humming generator. He crept up the side and peered in through the flaps over the entrance.
The tent was empty. Finn waved to Hyde to join him. She moved on silent feet to his side. Most of Ramirez’s soldiers were likely on patrol or selling drugs in nearby towns.
Inside the canvas enclosure was a small desk and a computer. They slipped inside. Hyde plugged her phone into the computer port. The software the West Company had provided would download the data from the computer and uploaded it via satellite connection to headquarters. For extra measure, the phone installed a virus to scan the computer disk and continually send data to HQ. Finn snapped pictures of documents laying on the desk.
Ramirez was their target, but he was also the head of a drug cartel, and information about his drug ring would help the West Company destroy it.
Hearing voices outside, Hyde grabbed her phone, pulling the small cord from the computer. They dove to exit the tent through the back, sliding beneath the canvas. Hyde moved like a snake. Finn had to struggle more with his size.
“Do you think we got anything?” Hyde asked. She slipped her phone into a pocket on her pants and had her hand on her gun.
“The virus will do the rest,” Finn said. “Now we bring him in.”
When they had the right opportunity, they would grab Ramirez, steal one of the off-road vehicles that was parked outside his tent and hurry to the chopper waiting for them at the rendezvous point. Nightfall was two hours away. If they could manage this before sundown, they wouldn’t need to navigate an unfamiliar area with night-vision goggles.
They had seven hours to return to Barnett’s island. They could make it. It would be tight, but they could do it.
Finn waited for silence inside the tent. He slipped a small mirror under the canvas to view the space.
Ramirez was sleeping in a chair, a bottle of whiskey empty on his table and his food half-eaten. Finn withdrew the syringe he had brought to sedate the man. Carrying his dead weight would prove challenging.
Hyde squeezed Finn’s arm before he moved inside the tent. She was wishing him luck. Finn ran a finger down her cheek. This would be over soon. What would become of their relationship was undecided, but the more time he spent with Hyde, he didn’t want it to end.
Finn entered the tent by slipping under the back. He moved toward Ramirez. But before he could get close enough to inject the sedative, two guards rushed into the tent, waving their guns and shouting in French. Sunlight poured in, blinding part of his vision. The guards were wearing green fatigues and speaking so quickly, Finn was catching every other word. They were threatening him and demanding to know who he worked for, the same questions repeatedly.
More on instinct than anything, Finn lifted Ramirez, holding the man in front of him like a shield. Ramirez awoke, struggling. He kicked his desk, sending Finn backward and the desk tumbling. The syringe was knocked from Finn’s hand.
Hyde entered behind the guards. One of them whirled to face her. The other aimed for Finn and discharged his weapon.
Ramirez jerked and Finn felt searing heat on his upper arm. Finn fired back, aiming for the guard’s knee. The guard crumpled to the ground, shouting for assistance.
More guards would come. He and Hyde needed to get gone.
Hyde had dispatched with the other guard and rushed to Ramirez, kneeling next to him and looking from him to Finn. “He’s still alive. But he’s going to bleed out if we don’t get him help.”
Finn swore. This operation was lacking the finesse it would have had if he and Hyde had been given more than seventy-two hours to accomplish it. “Get his legs.” Finn lifted him under the arms. Ramirez’s shirt was wet with blood and sweat and he was heavy and awkward to carry. Together, they carted him to the vehicle they had selected for their escape. Finn and Hyde placed Ramirez in the back of the vehicle. Hyde stood in place, staring at the body.
“Hyde!” Finn said.
She didn’t respond. He rushed to her, giving her shoulders a shake.
As if coming back to the present, Hyde blinked and ran to the driver’s side seat. She opened the door and bent low, hotwiring the jeep. Finn jumped into the back. Blood was pouring from Ramirez’s shoulder. After removing his shirt, Finn pressed the fabric hard over the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
With a roar from the engine, Hyde scrambled into the driver’s seat and they were taking off down the steep trail.
“Maybe no one has figured out what happened,” Hyde said.
“What happened back there?” Finn asked.
Hyde glanced behind her at him. “I froze.”
“I saw that. Why did you freeze?”
She didn’t respond.
The sound of gunfire filled the air. It sounded like bullets were pelting the car. Finn slid lower in the seat, sitting on the floor of the vehicle and trying to help Ramirez. “They know we have him.”
Hyde navigated the twisting road. Darkness was falling, but using their headlights would call attention to their position.
They came to a fork in the road. “Which way?” Hyde asked.
Finn glanced at the GPS on his phone. The roads were unmarked and the trees prevented them from getting a good picture from the overhead satellites. “Left.” He was guessing, following his instincts.
“How is he?” Hyde asked, turning the vehicle down the left path.
“Breathing,” Finn said. “We might have gotten lucky.”
“A medic was already on board the chopper in case we were injured. We might get him help in time,” Hyde said.
They bumped along the narrow, rocky road. Finn let out his breath when he heard the sound of helicopter rotors. They were close to help.
As they reached the rendezvous point, a bed dropped down. Finn and Hyde stopped the off-road vehicle and, as carefully as they could, carried Ramirez’s body out of the back.
Gunfire peppered the air and they ducked. “Where’s it coming from?” Hyde shouted.
It could be echoes, or Ramirez’s guards closing in on them.
Finn’s phone beeped and vibrated. He pulled it from his pocket. “Missile launcher spotted.” Dread swamped him.
The message was from the West Company, possibly the pilot of the helicopter. A missile launcher would shoot the chopper out of the sky. Hyde and Finn hurried to strap Ramirez onto the stretcher. He and Hyde climbed on top, perched at the edges of it.
As the helicopter dragged them toward it, Finn and Hyde’s eyes connected.
This flight was similar to how she had escaped prison. This was how he and Hyde had met. Under fire, being lifted into the air, not knowing how far away safety may be.
Hyde shivered and Finn read the fear in her eyes. She didn’t talk about her time in prison often and when she mentioned it, she glossed over the details. This had to bring back terrible memories. Is that what had caused her to freeze when they were leaving the camp?
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Finn said.
“If we’re caught...”
They would be sent to prison, he finished to himself. “We won’t be.”
Reaching the helicopter, Hyde clambered in and they maneuvered Ramirez inside. Finn was last. As the medic worked on Ramirez, Finn sat next to Hyde.
“Want to tell me what’s going on?” Finn asked.
Hyde shook her head.
Finn let it go for now. It was too loud to have a conversation and Finn was counting on her confiding in him when she was ready.
* * *
Ramirez was recuperating in a hospital in the United States unde
r an alias while the body of a recently deceased man matching his description lay in a casket between them. Barnett wouldn’t have access to dental records or DNA for comparison and with the stories of Ramirez being shot and taken from the camp, his crew believed he was dead.
The experts at the West Company had also recreated the tattoos on their dead body similar to ones that Ramirez had on his biceps, shoulders and neck.
Finn’s shoulder had been bandaged. The bullet that had struck Ramirez had grazed him. Finn was lucky it hadn’t been worse, but it had to hurt.
Finn and Hyde sped in their borrowed boat toward Barnett’s island. Having the boat provided them a luxury they hadn’t had before: an escape route. The boat was small, fast and could be brought to land.
The West Company’s technology department had used the documents Hyde and Finn had found inside Ramirez’s tent to locate one of Ramirez’s bank accounts and withdraw the five million dollars Reed Barnett had required as a buy-in to his venture.
The West Company hackers had left the appropriate traces so Barnett would know Finn had stolen the money, but also covered their tracks such that Ramirez’s cartel couldn’t connect the theft to the West Company. Creating an international incident wasn’t on the West Company’s to-do list.
“Are you ready to face them?” Finn asked.
Hyde slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his good shoulder. The boat skimmed along the water, bouncing on waves. “I don’t think we have a choice.” She was slipping back into character, but part of her need to touch Finn was her fear. He had been bleeding heavily in Selvan and it had scared her. He could have bled out. She could lose him in her life. Sorting through those thoughts, even in the few hours she’d had, she’d realized that losing Finn in her life in a real and permanent way wasn’t something she could face. Not now. She wasn’t ready.
But she couldn’t be a spy anymore. How could those two deep desires coexist? The impact of her emotions rattled her. The slight tremble in her hands gave away she was standing on the edge of something much too deep.
Finn and Hyde slid into shore and Hyde helped Finn pull the boat onto the sand. She hauled hard, knowing his injury had cost him. They anchored the boat with stakes provided for this purpose.
