by Joanna Wayne
It wasn’t all that unusual for her sons to talk past midnight. With Zack working on that new task force, it had been weeks since they’d all been together. But she didn’t recall their ever making coffee this late—unless something was wrong.
That fact forced the last dregs of sleep from her eyes. Kicking back the sheet, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and padded to her closet for her robe.
She picked up on the unfamiliar voice as she approached the kitchen. A cold shudder stampeded through her nerves when she heard him mention Jaime’s name. Had there been a wreck? Had she been riding that motorbike Lenora hated so much?
Pushing through the door, Lenora planted herself in the center of the kitchen and stared at the stranger sipping coffee from one of her blue pottery mugs. Her gaze left him to scrutinize each of her sons, reading the turbulence that clouded their eyes.
“What’s wrong? What’s happened to Jaime?”
Langston wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Sit down, Mom.”
She yanked from his grasp. “I don’t need to sit down. Was there a wreck? Is Jaime in the hospital? Is she hurt?”
“She’s been abducted.”
Lenora’s chest contracted until she could barely breathe. There had to be some kind of mistake. Everyone loved Jaime. No one would hurt her. She stared at the stranger again. “Who are you?”
“This is Jaime’s boss,” Zach said. “He was with her when three men attacked them and left with Jaime. He’s only here to help.”
Lenora grabbed the man’s arms. “You let them take my daughter? You let them take Jaime?”
“I tried to stop them,” he said.
Matt pulled his mother into his arms. “He’s here to help, Mom. We’ll get Jaime back. You can count on that. Just try to stay calm while we think this through.”
The empty words of reassurance roared in her head and a pain so intense it blinded her jabbed through her heart. Her chest exploded, and her mind went off in a million fiery tangents.
The pain hit again, and this time she felt herself crashing against the table. Jaime’s face appeared for a second and then vanished in a frigid swirl of black.
TWO HOURS AFTER THE ABDUCTION, the black sedan turned onto an isolated, muddy logging road that didn’t appear to have been used in years. In the backseat Rio Hernandez was still fuming at the turn of events and the lack of warning he’d had about what was going down. Not only did this not advance his own agenda, it put a serious kink in it.
“Where the hell are we going?” Rio demanded. “Or is that top secret, too?”
“There’s an old fishing camp at the end of the road,” Poncho answered from the driver seat. “You two beasts and the beauty will hold up there until we hear otherwise.”
The front right tire plunged into a deep pothole and the car shuddered and jerked, throwing the semiconscious prisoner against Rio’s shoulder.
He steadied her, aware of the softness of her skin beneath his hand and the silky texture of her hair as it brushed his rough cheek. His insides revolted at the quick stir of attraction. Definitely not the time for his libido to get into the act.
The woman’s eyes fluttered open and she looked up, meeting Rio’s gaze. Confusion clouded the deep blue of her irises, making her appear far more vulnerable than she’d looked when sinking her sharp white teeth into the sinewy tissue of his shoulder.
A gurgle resonated from deep in her throat, capturing the attention of the other passenger in the car. From the front Luke turned so that he could see into the backseat. “You two getting all cozy back there?” A croaking laugh punctuated what he saw as an amusing comment.
“What’s it to you?” Rio quipped.
“No one gave you first dibs on her,” Luke retorted.
“She ain’t up for dibs,” Poncho said. “She’s not entertainment. She’s collateral. Get it?”
“Yeah, we get it,” Rio said. “So is this hottie worth going to prison for?”
“No one’s going to prison on her account, not unless you guys foul things up. Then you still won’t have to worry. You won’t live long enough to face a judge and jury.”
Two miles farther and the road played out completely. Poncho finally pulled to a stop in a cluster of towering pine trees. Just beyond them, a ramshackle cabin with a leaning chimney and a half-rotted stoop waited unwelcomingly.
“This is home for the next few days,” Poncho said.
Rio opened the car door and stepped into a soggy bed of pine straw. “This dump? No self-respecting rat would stay here.”
Luke screwed his lips into a scowl as he climbed from the front seat. “I’m not sleeping with rats.”
“You’ve slept with worse,” the driver commented.
Luke worried the scar on his face and stepped over a downed limb. “You aren’t going to leave us stranded out here in the middle of nowhere, are you?”
Poncho reached into his pocket and pulled out a key ring with one key attached. He tossed it to Luke.
“There’s a car parked out of sight behind the cabin, but you’re to stay put until you get word to drive the woman somewhere. When you do, tie her, gag her and lock her in the trunk. There’s rope and duct tape ready and waiting.”
“Looks like the end of the friggin’ world,” Luke said. “Phones aren’t going to work out here.”
“Your phones will work. It’s all been checked out. They’re essential to the plan’s execution.” Poncho scratched his balding head and swatted at a mosquito feeding on his cheek. “Help the lady inside,” he ordered, directing his command at Rio.
Rio tugged the woman from the car and half carried, half dragged her toward the cabin. She was in no shape to offer resistance, but she didn’t help, either.
It was more like dragging a dead weight along beside him and he had to be careful not to let her feet get caught in the scratchy brambles that had overgrown the path. Once inside, he let her slide from his grasp into a faded arm chair.
Luke went to the kitchen corner of the main living area and started rummaging through nearly empty cabinets, slamming the doors in disgust as he went. “What are we supposed to eat?”
“Those boxes in the trunk have food and water in them.”
“That’s more like it.” Luke went back for the goods, giving Rio the opportunity he’d been waiting for.
“Is this about a ransom or a payback?” he asked Poncho.
“A ransom. If it were payback, she’d be dead.”
“Who’s the victim?”
“Jaime Collingsworth.”
“Collingsworth as in Collingsworth Oil?”
“Could be.”
“So this is about money?”
“You’ll find that out if and when you need to know.”
“I didn’t sign on to be treated like a second-class citizen.”
“You do as you’re told, Rio.”
“That’s not how it was explained to me. I’m a Navy SEAL. We don’t play the role of flunky.”
“You were a SEAL. Now you’re just the new guy on the block. The boss wants proof you’re a hundred percent before he invites you to the dinner table.”
“Carlos would have never thrown me a crumb if he hadn’t checked me out fully. I was told I’d be a key player.”
Poncho leaned on the short counter that separated the kitchen from the rest of the room. “This kidnapping is big, Rio. See this through without a glitch, and you’ll see plenty of action next time from the inside out. And your bonus will make all the trouble worthwhile.”
“I’ll see it through, but I don’t want any more surprises like the abduction tonight. And I’d just as soon you take that buffoon with you when you leave.” He nodded toward the door where Luke had stepped outside. “He’ll be nothing but trouble for me.”
“Luke’s not as dumb as he seems. And the boss trusts him to do as he’s told without talking. That counts.”
Carlos might trust Luke, but Rio didn’t, especially now that he had the sexy spitfire thrown int
o the mix. Any way he looked at it she was solid trouble. When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not your friend.
Odd how that old Murphy’s Law of military combat came back to haunt him even now.
He needed more information about the woman, and he wasn’t going to get it from Poncho. That meant he needed a minute without Luke hanging over his shoulder. He had to bide his time.
When Luke returned to guard the victim, Poncho and Rio did a quick walk-through of the small cabin.
There were two bedrooms, one with a couple of twin beds, the other with a double bed. The one window in that room had been securely boarded up. The door locked with a key from the outside. No doubt this was Jaime’s room.
The furnishings in Jaime’s temporary prison consisted of the bed with a saggy mattress and pine bedside table topped with a cypress-knee lamp that looked as if it had been crafted by a six-year-old. Rio flicked on the lamp. To his surprise it worked.
A pine rocker with a deerskin seat sat next to the door that led to a bathroom the size of a small broom closet. It held only a toilet and a stained sink. The rusting medicine cabinet on the wall was missing a cover. It had been mirrored, Rio surmised, and removed so that Jaime couldn’t break it and use a jagged sliver of the glass as a weapon.
Jaime had revived enough that she was sitting up straight in the chair when Poncho finally took his leave. She pulled her arms over her chest and looked Rio in the eye. “Whatever he’s paying you to keep me here, I can pay you more to let me go.”
Luke walked over and propped on the arm of her chair and stroked her chin with a slightly crooked finger. “Now why would we want to let a pretty lady like you leave?”
She shoved his hand away. “Because if you don’t, my brothers will find you and kill you.”
“Yeah, well, your brothers aren’t here now, are they, sweet thing? It’s just you and us.”
Rio stiffened. “Let up, Luke.”
“Don’t get so huffed up. No one said she’s yours.”
“I’m saying it.” Rio walked over and tugged Jaime to a standing position. He pulled her close and let his hand cup her firm buttock so that Luke didn’t miss the message. “You’re off duty now, Luke. I’m taking over for the night.” He led Jaime toward the bedroom.
She snarled as he pushed her inside, her words still a bit slurred when she said, “Go ahead. Get your filthy kicks, but I promise you’ll rue the day forever that you kidnapped me.”
Rio figured that was a damn safe bet.
Chapter Three
Jaime jerked free of Rio’s grasp and stumbled away from him, bracing herself to fight him off. Not that she could. She’d have never broken free at all if he hadn’t intentionally loosened his grip on her arm.
The physical advances didn’t come. Instead the man stood with his back against the closed bedroom door. “Don’t worry,” he said. “All I want from you, Jaime Collingsworth, is a few answers.”
Relief left her weak, but tension still crackled in the stuffy, dimly lit room. He knew her name. That didn’t surprise her. “I thought you had all the answers.”
“I’m working on it. Tell me about your family.”
“What about them?”
“Are they wealthy?”
“No,” she quipped. “They’re dirt poor and mean. Rattlesnake mean.”
“So that’s where you get your winning personality. Let’s start over and this time, stick to the truth.”
“Why, because you’ll do something drastic like kidnap me and lock me up in a filthy, disgusting room if I lie?”
“I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I said I’d like to keep you safe.”
She studied the man she’d first considered a hunk. In any other situation, she would have found him attractive in a rugged, risky sort of way. His jawline was craggy, his physique muscular without having the exaggerated features of a body builder.
He was taller than Buerto by a good four inches, which put him well over six feet. His short, thick hair was blue-black, like midnight on a moonless night.
But it was his eyes, the color of rich cognac, piercing yet shadowed with mysterious incongruities, that got to her the most. They tempted her to believe there really might be more than evil lurking behind those burning depths.
She couldn’t afford that luxury.
“The other men called you Rio. Is that your real name or just an alias?”
“It’s my name. Tell me about your brothers,” he coaxed. “Are they in politics?”
“Yes, and they’re very influential. They probably have every Texas Ranger, cop and trooper in the state looking for you right now.”
“I wouldn’t count on that. And lying to me isn’t helping your cause.”
“What makes you think I’m lying?”
“Not think. Know. Chalk it up to my experience with conniving enemies.”
Jaime sucked in a deep breath, determined not to play into this man’s hands. “If you know so little about me, why did you kidnap me? Did you follow Buerto and me from the restaurant?”
“Is Buerto your husband?”
“Yes.”
“And I guess you always kiss your husband good night at the door after you’ve gone out for the evening?”
She sucked in a ragged breath. This was getting her nowhere.
Rio walked across the room and approached the bed. Her heart plummeted and dread sucked the breath from her lungs. She backed away until her body was against the wall.
Rio jerked back the faded quilt, tossing it to the foot of the metal bed. “Mattress is garbage but the sheets look clean enough,” he noted.
They looked dingy and disgusting to her. But they’d do, as long as she was the only one crawling between them.
He stepped past her and peered into the bathroom. “I’ll see if I can find you a bar of soap and a towel and washcloth. If you need anything else or change your mind about cooperating with me, knock on the door. I’ll hear you. That offer is just between the two of us. Tell Luke anything I tell you in confidence and I swear I’ll stand back and let him have his way with you.”
So the actions in front of Luke had been for her protection. Either he found her undesirable himself or else he wasn’t entirely evil. If it was the latter, maybe she could make that work for her.
If it was the former…
Well, who cared that a brute found her resistible?
He turned and walked from the room without looking back, but she heard the key turn in the lock before his footfalls faded in the distance.
Anxiety-fed adrenaline still quickened her pulse and churned in her stomach as a legion of more pressing questions took over her mind.
Was Buerto okay and had he told her family? How had her brothers reacted to the news? Were they planning to cooperate with the kidnappers or had they gone straight to the police or maybe the FBI? Was there a mass manhunt already underway?
How was her mother taking the news?
Jaime’s heart constricted at the thought of her mother having to face this kind of worry and fear. She had to find a way to get word to her that she was okay. No, she had to find a way to escape.
She’d never overpower her kidnappers. They were simply too muscular and strong. She’d have to outsmart them. That would be difficult with Rio. He was cagey himself and had already shown that he didn’t fall for her lies. If she were to outfox anyone, it would have to be Luke.
She kicked free of her favorite stiletto sandals, for once wishing she’d worn a pair of boring, sensible shoes. Instead she was stuck in the wilderness dressed for a night on the town. That pretty much eliminated making a run for it through the woods.
Something skittered across her bare toes. She looked down as a giant cockroach paraded along her instep. A scream escaped before she could swallow it back.
Before she regained her equilibrium, her door flew open. Rio stormed in as the frightened roach scurried over the bare wooden slats.
He dropped the soap and towels on the bed and stamped on the
insect with his booted foot, leaving it a mass of squishy pulp on her floor. This time his lips drew into a half smile.
“Nice to know you’re afraid of something, Jaime Collingsworth.”
RIO PACED THE BARE FLOORS, almost subconsciously familiarizing himself with the accompanying groans and squeaks. He’d been totally unprepared for the abduction and that concerned him. His BUDs training had prepared him to deal with anything thrown at him, but his years of experience as a frogman had fine-tuned his senses and ability to read even ambiguous clues with precision.
Yet he hadn’t suspected the kidnapping.
Still he was convinced that tonight’s act was only a prelude to something a lot bigger.
But what?
He needed information on Jaime and the rest of the Collingsworths if he were to figure that out. Jaime clearly wasn’t going to just buy his good-guy act and spill any helpful details. He’d have to find enough privacy to make a phone call.
Rio stepped into the dark, narrow hallway, pausing at Jaime’s door. The sounds of her rhythmic breathing indicated she’d finally fallen asleep. The unwanted image of her tanned, shapely body stretched out on top of the worn sheets burrowed into his mind. His body reacted as if he’d swallowed a handful of jalapeños.
He shook his head, but the erotic visions didn’t budge. Instead they became more distinct. He imagined his fingers tangling in her silky hair, disheveling the blond strands as his lips explored the smooth column of her neck.
Tiptoeing away from her door, he checked on Luke. He was still snoring away, his bare feet sticking out of the tangled sheets of one of the twin beds.
The guy was impulsive, with a quick temper that exploded with little warning. Worse, he was never far from the trigger of his Glock. Nothing like an untimed explosion to foul up a mission.
Rio retraced his path to the kitchen and then stepped onto the back porch, careful to step over gaps left by rotted boards. The lake was only a few yards behind the house, but the towering pines hid it from view. That was no doubt part of the reason the cabin had been chosen as a hideaway. It was virtually invisible from the front or the back until you were right on it.
