by Joanna Wayne
She scrubbed harder, rubbing the skin on her arms and body until it was red and prickly. All the while she struggled to get a handle on Rio. She’d felt his need for her today when he’d wrestled her to the ground. She’d seen the desire in his eyes. Yet he hadn’t made a move on her.
And then there was the way he’d looked at her when he’d come running into the cabin at the sound of gunfire. The anxiety that had tightened every line of his face had ebbed the second he’d realized that she hadn’t been shot.
Luke had the essence of evil all about him. Rio didn’t. Yet he was in on the kidnapping. She couldn’t trust him, couldn’t let him play her. She’d have to keep her guard up every second they were together. This time she couldn’t rely on intuition.
When she’d scrubbed and rinsed every inch of her body, she washed her hair with the coarse soap and rinsed it as best she could beneath the low faucet. Finally, she felt reasonably clean, but the only thing she had to put on was the soiled dress.
God, would she love to step into her own closet and wrap herself in one of the silks, cottons or buttery knits. And she’d all but kill for her flowery fragranced body cream to massage into her skin. If she got out of this alive, she’d never take any luxury for granted again.
Whoa. This was no time to think of fatal ifs. She was a Collingsworth. They didn’t give up just because things got tough.
Still, she jumped at a tap on her door. It had to be Rio, though there was nothing to keep him from just barging in on her. She wrapped her hair in the towel and grabbed the top sheet, jerking it from the bed and wrapping it around her sarong style.
She took what she considered a formidable stance, arms folded to hold the sheet firmly in place. “Come in.”
He opened the door and took a few steps inside, letting in the late afternoon sunshine that had filtered through the cabin’s windows. His gaze scanned her slowly, but his expression never changed.
“You cleaned up already,” he said. “I was going to see if you wanted to walk down to the lake and bathe.”
“And make it convenient for you to drown me for trying to steal Luke’s gun?”
He cocked his head and raked a wayward lock of dark hair from his forehead. “After seeing Luke, I’d be scared you’d drown me.”
“How is Luke?”
“He’ll live, but he needs medical attention. Someone is coming to pick him up and take him to a doctor.”
So Luke would be leaving. She’d be alone with Rio. An edgy nervousness jumped along her nerves, not totally unlike the buzz she got skiing down a formidable slope or riding her Harley on a narrow mountain road.
“I have other news,” Rio said.
“About Luke?”
“No. I’m expecting a phone call from your family any minute, Jaime. They want to know that you’re alive and well before they meet the ransom demands.”
Her heart skipped a few beats. She was actually going to talk to someone in her family. Unfortunately, she couldn’t give them a clue as to how to rescue her since she didn’t know where she was other than on a lake. She’d been so disoriented from the drugs they’d injected her with that nothing had registered between the time they left her neighborhood and the time they arrived at the isolated cabin.
“What is the ransom?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I need you to find that out from your brother.”
“And then what? You’ll ask for double that to let me escape?”
“You don’t give an inch, do you, Jaime Collingsworth?” The expression on his face grew tight. His muscles clenched.
“Hit me,” she taunted. “Go ahead if that will make you feel more like a man.”
“I’m not going to hit you,” he said, his eyes darkening with a multitude of emotions. Anger, frustration…and was that desire she saw in their depths? He stepped closer. “Though I can see how you could drive a man to—” He stopped, and she felt the air between them sizzle.
“To what, Rio?”
He looked at her for a moment, then shook his head. “Forget it.”
His cell phone rang. He took the call, responded with a couple of affirmatives, and then put the phone on speaker. “It’s Buerto.”
The mention of his name shook her and made her feel a tad guilty. He’d fought to save her and then she’d all but forgotten about him with all that was going on.
“Jaime, you can’t imagine how good it is to hear your voice. I’ve been berating myself constantly that I couldn’t save you.”
“It was one against three, Buerto.”
“Still, a man should be able to protect his woman. Have they hurt you? Have the pigs violated you?”
“No.” Thanks to Rio, she thought. “Have you talked to my family, Buerto?”
“Yes, of course. Zach is standing beside me now. They told us we only had a couple of minutes when they put us through to you, but I had to hear for myself you were fine. You know how much you mean to me. I can’t bear thinking of you with those monsters.”
“Thanks. Can I talk to Zach now?”
“How are you, sis?”
The slight tremor she heard in his voice told her just how worried he was and brought tears to her eyes. “I’m fine, but I miss you guys. How’s Mom?”
The silence lasted too long. Panic swelled into a choking knot in her throat. “She’s taking this hard, isn’t she?”
“She’ll be great the minute you walk in the front door of the big house and she hears you laugh.” He paused a moment. “We’re negotiating with the kidnappers, Jaime. We’ll get you home safely even if we have to move mountains.”
“I never doubted it, Zach. I’ll just stay in this isolated lake cabin and wait until you do.”
Rio put his hand on her shoulder, a threat firing in his dark eyes, a warning that she was saying too much. “I have no idea where I am,” she added quickly before they took the phone from her, “but they’re treating me well.”
“Buerto’s been a big help,” Zach said. “The kidnappers are using him as the go-between. He negotiated this call.”
So that’s why Buerto was in on this. The kidnappers were using him.
Rio’s grip tightened on her shoulder. “Time’s about up.”
And she hadn’t asked the question he wanted answered. Tough. Only the answer affected her, too. “Zach, what is the ransom?”
“Two million in cash and we’re to fly some cargo into Mexico for them in…”
Dead silence replaced his worried voice.
“Zach? Zach, are you still there?”
The connection had been broken. Her time had apparently run out.
Rio shoved the phone back into his pocket. “I need to know what cargo they’re shipping and the details of the flight. Time. Locations.”
“I wasn’t the one who broke the connection,” she reminded him.
“We’ll have other options—as soon as Luke is out of here.”
The intensity in his voice was alarming. She was almost certain it had nothing to do with her. “What’s this really about, Rio?”
“Lives, Jaime. Lots of innocent lives could be on the line.” He kept his voice low so there was no chance Luke could overhear him. “Better sit down. What I need to tell you may sound a bit far-fetched.”
Chapter Six
Telling Jaime the truth about his involvement with the CIA and Homeland Security was risky at best, but allowing that cargo to ship could be disastrous. She was smart and intuitive. He’d have to give this to her straight and count on her to cooperate.
He sat down next to her on the bed. “I’m not who you think I am, Jaime. I’m an undercover agent working for the CIA and Homeland Security on a covert operation to stop what we think may be a deadly terrorist attack on America’s southern border.”
She inched away from him, her expression marked by suspicion. “And you kidnapped me because you think I have terrorist ties? That’s absurd.”
“I didn’t plan the kidnapping. I didn’t even know about it until a few min
utes before we drove up at your house. Even then, I told you to trust me.”
“You didn’t know what was going on and yet you showed up with luggage. You were able to change into clean clothes.”
“I was told to bring a bag.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Look, I know you have no reason to believe me, but give me a chance. I’m trying to keep you safe along with everything else.”
“If you couldn’t stop the kidnapping, I don’t see how you can ensure my safety. Had you run in the back door a split second later this afternoon, Luke would have killed me.”
As if he needed a reminder of that. “If you’d trusted me as I’d asked, you wouldn’t have tried to steal his gun and the shooting wouldn’t have happened,” he reminded her.
Her eyes narrowed. “Why would the government hire a Navy SEAL who’d been dishonorably discharged to work undercover?”
“I was discharged, but not dishonorably. That lie was created to get me inside the workings of one of the major Mexican drug cartels. It worked. I moved through the ranks quickly, but not quickly enough. Obviously they still don’t trust me fully or I’d have had prior knowledge concerning your abduction.”
“And now you think that my kidnapping is connected to an attack that the drug cartels are planning?”
He nodded. “I didn’t at first, but I do after hearing your conversation with Zach. The drug cartels have enough money to buy a small planet, but their every move in this country is being monitored right now. They’ve had numerous shipments of drugs coming into the country and arms going out of the country seized by border patrol agents and the CIA.”
Jaime stood. The sheet she was wearing caught on a bedspring, tugging it so that her right breast was exposed almost to the nipple. She yanked it back in place as his senses reeled.
Faced with the gravity of the situation, he shouldn’t even be noticing that she was a woman, much less having sensual surges so intense they made his head spin. But Jaime was not just any woman. She was incredibly sexy. Spunky as hell. And smart enough that she was weighing everything he said.
He turned away as she started to pace the small room. Even draped in a yellowed sheet, the gentle sway of her hips was a turn-on.
She stopped and stared him down. “You kidnap me, hold me hostage, and now you expect me to believe some wild story you’ve concocted about terrorists and covert operations?”
“I know how it sounds, but I’m telling you the truth, Jaime. The CIA has intercepted and partially deciphered messages that talk of an imminent Detonation Day and a payback that border law enforcement will never forget.”
“And if my family goes through with the ransom demands they might not only be helping fund their dirty work but smuggling in goods that they’ll need in that attack.”
“That’s how it looks to me.”
“Are you talking about illegal arms deals?”
“The real fear is it could be worse.”
“Something more deadly, like chemicals?”
He nodded. “That’s a possibility. And the cartel knows that it’s highly unlikely that a Collingsworth Oil flight would attract the attention of authorities. You’re not only wealthy and influential, but you have a history of lawful business dealings. You were fully invested a couple years back.”
“How do you know so much about my family?”
“I made a phone call to Cutter Martin.”
She spun around and walked back to where he was still sitting on the bed. “Are you talking about Cutter Martin of Dobbin, Texas?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you know Cutter?”
“We met when we were both SEALs. He recruited me to work for his Double M Investigative and Protective Service. He had a contract with Homeland Security and I was dropped into this assignment.”
She wrapped her hands around the bedpost and rested her towel-wrapped head against the spindly column. “Is your name even Rio?”
He nodded. “Rio Hernandez. Texas born and raised, on a ranch out in El Paso.”
She let her gaze meet his and hold. A drop of water escaped a curl that was peeking out from beneath the towel. It rolled down her cheek. He wiped it away with the tip of his thumb and his awareness surged to the danger level.
“Your wife must hate that you left the SEALs only to take on another job that puts your life in danger.”
“My wife is dead.” The words pealed like distant thunder, echoing through the recesses of his mind and awakening the hurt that had almost put him under at the time. He couldn’t afford to get bogged down in that now. He had to focus on the present. Lives were at stake. He had to convince Jaime of that.
“You have to talk to Zach for me, Jaime. Time is of the essence. Cooperate with me on this and I’ll see that you get home safely. That’s a promise.”
“When will I get home and how?”
“I don’t have all that worked out yet, but as soon as we confiscate that shipment, I’ll do everything I can to see that you get out of this alive.”
“That’s not much of a guarantee.”
“I realize I don’t have much to offer in the way of bargaining power. But I’m not asking you to do it for me. Do it for all the innocent men, women and children who’ll die if we can’t stop the attack.”
“If I believed you, I’d have no choice but to agree.”
“You don’t have to take my word for it. I’ll call Cutter and you can get him to vouch for me.”
“I haven’t seen Cutter in years. I have no real reason to trust him, either.”
A banging at the door interrupted the discussion.
“Sounds as if Luke’s ride has arrived,” Rio said. “I’ll help get him in the car, but think about what I said. I need you with me on this. Without you, we’re running on empty.”
“I’ll think about it.”
She brushed his arm with her hand and a current shot from his head to his groin. He ground his teeth, steeled his resistance and walked away. Jaime was part of the mission and that was all she could ever be to him. His past and the vast differences between them dictated that.
THE CABIN FELT DIFFERENT with Luke no longer in it. Now it was only Jaime and Rio and a predicament that opened a new realm of deadly possibilities. If Rio was telling the truth, she might be able to help the CIA stop an attack that could leave hundreds or perhaps thousands dead. If he was lying, then he could be simply manipulating her for his own gain.
Her instincts all screamed that he was telling the truth, but that could be part and parcel of the sensual effect he had on her. She could no longer deny that she was physically attracted to him. When his dark eyes locked with hers, she felt both frightened and excited.
She had to find out if he was telling the truth. Talking to Cutter Martin wouldn’t give her a definitive answer, but it would help. Her brother Langston and Cutter had been close friends years ago. He’d seemed like a decent guy.
Her pulse raced as Rio punched in Cutter’s number. Rio talked for a few minutes, filling Cutter in on all that had happened within the last hour. The shooting. The phone call connecting her with Zach and Buerto.
She couldn’t imagine that her strong-willed brothers liked having Buerto involved in the negotiations. Evidently the kidnappers had given them no choice in the matter.
From the way Buerto had talked, it seemed he had read a lot more into their relationship than she had. Maybe that was the guilt talking since he hadn’t been able to fight off the kidnappers.
Rio handed her the phone, but it wasn’t the one he’d used earlier. This one was a quarter the size, so small it could be easily hidden in the palm of her hand. And this time it wasn’t set to the speaker function.
Cutter, or at least a man claiming to be him, started talking the instant Rio handed her the phone. “Hi, Jaime. Cutter Martin here.”
The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t be sure. “It’s been a while,” she said.
“Years. You were just a kid back when Langston and I were competin
g against each other in bronc riding.”
“I may have been young, but I was the best barrel rider in two counties.”
“You were pretty good, as I remember.”
“I was better than that.” She still wasn’t convinced about Cutter, so she continued. “Your aunt used to come and watch you ride but then she’d just sit up in the stands and read,” she baited. “Everybody teased her about it.”
“Aunt Merlee didn’t read. She knitted. I think she made a baby sweater for every baby born in the tri-county area while watching me compete.”
That was the kind of detail she needed to assure herself she was talking to her brother’s old friend. “Give me reasons I should trust Rio,” she said. “What’s going on?”
“He’s telling you the truth. He’s working through my investigative service, the Double M, for the CIA. We’re working against the clock, Jaime. We know there will be a major attack, but unless we know how, when and where, we can’t stop it.”
“Do you agree that my kidnapping is part of it?”
“I hadn’t thought of it until Rio brought it up, but the timing makes sense. There’s no reason for the drug lords to risk an abduction of a prominent person like you days before a planned attack unless it is an essential aspect of their plan. That’s why we need Zach to work with Rio to find out the what, when and where of the cargo shipment.”
“Couldn’t Zach just work with you?”
“It’s more complicated than that. Rio’s identity has to be guarded or you could both end up dead before we have a chance to intervene. It’s better if I just stay out of this for now and Rio remains just one of the kidnappers.”
“Zach is never going to trust a man holding me captive, no matter what I say to him.”
“Don’t underestimate him. He’s in law enforcement. He has to know what we’re dealing with along the Texas border right now. Payback killings against officers are commonplace. The cartels are literally taking over the towns and making it unsafe for the citizens to walk the streets.”
