“Wouldn’t a honeymoon couple who were all over each other like these two were want to spend more time in their hotel room than at the pool? And why were they going down to the water just after we’d been ambushed? To see that the job had been done on me and to help out with you?”
Gina shivered and hunched her shoulders. “But they seemed so...normal.”
“And did you catch the mate business from Roger when the drug started taking effect on him? No New Yorker I know uses mate.”
“Do you think they were working with the red tie man on our flight?”
“I don’t know, Gina.” He squeezed her waist.
Her blood ran cold, and she tripped to a stop as they exited the elevator. “You think both groups are here, don’t you? Los Santos and the terrorist organization. They’re both after us at the same time.”
“Could be.” He rubbed a circle on her back. “C’mon, we’re almost there.”
She scooped in a deep breath and hooked two fingers in the belt loop of Josh’s shorts. They didn’t see anyone else in the hallway.
When they reached the room, Josh slid the key home and held out a hand to keep her back. “Hang on. We don’t know what we’re going to find in here.”
She hung back in the hallway until he waved her inside. The faux newlyweds’ room was much like their own with one interesting detail—two beds.
Josh pointed at the beds. “An odd sleeping arrangement for a couple of honeymooners, wouldn’t you say?”
Gina nodded. Either Tara and Roger weren’t as committed to their deception as she and Josh were...or they weren’t as attracted to each other.
“I’m going to search their suitcases. You look through the closets, drawers and bathroom.”
Gina tiptoed to the closet even though she knew Tara and Roger were out cold on the beach with little chance that anyone would discover them until morning, unless they came to in the few hours that Josh gave them. She slid back the door and ran her hand along a few shirts and blouses neatly arrayed on hangers. Careful not to disturb any shoes, she crouched and inspected the floor of the closet.
“Their safe is locked.”
“Don’t worry. I have a surefire way of getting in there.”
“That does not make me feel very confident about hotel safes.” She stood on her tiptoes, her gaze sweeping across the iron and a few extra pillows on the closet shelf. “I don’t see anything in the closet.”
Josh came up behind her. “I found a few interesting items.”
She glanced down at his hands, cupping an assortment of bottles and vials. “Looks like you’re about to add some inventory to your pharmacy.”
“Matches the pills I took from Roger’s pocket.” He shook one of the bottles. “If I hadn’t drugged them first, it would be us passed out on the beach...or worse.”
“That’s probably why they were so eager to go with us. They hadn’t figured out that we—you were onto them and they planned to slip something in our drinks on the sand.”
“Exactly. Of course, they weren’t thinking very clearly by that time.” Josh knelt in front of the safe and after many beeps and clicks, the door swung open. He reached inside the small space and pulled out a couple of passports.
Gina leaned over his shoulder as he flipped them open and read from the passport page. “Roger Nealy and Tara Nealy. Are those fake?”
“As fake as ours.” He replaced them in the safe, closing the door but not locking it.
“Shouldn’t you lock it up again?”
“I would if I knew how to reset it with the code they used—I don’t.”
“They’re going to figure out we got the jump on them.”
“That’s okay. They won’t pretend to come at us like the hapless honeymooners anymore. The more of them we expose, the less likely they’ll be able to surprise us.”
Crossing her arms, she said, “Good. I don’t like surprises.”
Josh’s height allowed him to get a better look at the closet shelf, and he lifted the pillows and checked out the iron.
“The iron isn’t some kind of secret weapon?”
“I have no idea. I’m a sniper not a spy.”
She tilted her head and scrunched up her face. “You...”
“Bathroom? Did you check it out yet? We need to get a move on.”
“No.”
Chewing her bottom lip, she trailed after him as he strode to the cavernous bathroom, sporting the same dual-head shower as theirs.
“Check her bag.” He tipped his head toward a toiletry bag hanging on a hook as he pawed through a masculine version on the counter.
“Do you think they have any weapons in the room?” If Gina hoped to find any poison or hypodermic needles among Tara’s stuff, the department store makeup and cleansers were a disappointment. At least this particular spy was thrifty.
“They weren’t carrying any, and we know they couldn’t have brought them on the plane. Maybe their cohort, the guy on the boat provided them with some guns.
“Tara has nothing.”
“Roger either. Nothing in their suitcases with contact info either.”
“You didn’t expect to find a to-do list, did you? Number one, incapacitate the SEAL. Number two, kidnap the drug kingpin’s daughter.”
He tugged on a lock of her hair. “Not quite like that.”
A cell phone buzzed and Gina patted the pocket of her purse. “Not mine.”
“Not mine either.” Josh dipped his hand into his shorts pocket and withdrew a vibrating cell phone. “It’s Roger’s.”
“You got Roger’s phone?”
“Lifted it from his pocket.” He held the phone in front of his face. “Even better. This is a text message, not a phone call.”
“You’re not going to...?”
“Pretend I’m Roger?” He skimmed his finger across the phone’s display. “Watch me.”
“What does it say?” She squinted at the words on the display.
Josh read them aloud. “‘What’s going on?’”
“Good question. What are you going to respond?”
“I’m going to give this texter the good news. My lovely bride and I have the couple in question passed out in a couple of lounge chairs on the beach.”
“You’re going to send him right to Tara and Roger?”
“I’m going to send him right to me.”
Gina grabbed his wrist. “What does that mean?”
“I’m going to direct this guy to the cabana, and I’m going to lie in wait and get some answers.”
“That’s...dangerous.” She tried to swallow but her dry throat made her gag.
“Don’t forget. I have that little piece from Fito.”
“Josh, you can’t shoot someone on Isla Perdida. You can’t leave a dead body on the beach.”
“Who said anything about any dead bodies? Tara and Roger will still be conked out. This man won’t be expecting me, so I’ll have the element of surprise. I’ll get him at gunpoint and start asking a few questions. I’ll be okay.”
He twisted his arm out of her grasp and started tapping the phone’s screen. “There. Forty-five minutes should give me enough time to retrieve that gun and conceal myself in the cabana with the newlyweds.”
“Me, too.”
“No way.”
“I’m going with you, Josh.”
“You’re going to stay in the room with the door locked. I don’t want you anywhere near this man or this situation.”
“You just said it wasn’t going to be dangerous.”
“I didn’t say that.” He cupped her face with one hand. “Let me face the danger. You’ve faced enough—all your life.”
Her nose tingled and she blinked her eyes to dispel the tears gathering there. Nobody, no
t her mother, not Ricky, not the DEA, CIA or the FBI had ever once acknowledged the fear and danger she’d lived with since finding out about her father.
She thought it had come to an end that day at her father’s compound, but she couldn’t have been more wrong. Only now she had Josh Elliott to protect her and if he thought she needed to stay in the room for this encounter, she’d do it.
She nodded and sniffed. “All right. I’ll wait in the room, but you’d better be careful.”
“This is what I do.”
Was it? Then what had he been doing at her father’s compound?
* * *
THEY MADE THEIR way back to their room and Josh had to stuff his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t be tempted to put them all over Gina. He’d expected her to put up more of a fight about being left behind, but she showed a lot of common sense and restraint.
She must’ve realized that her presence would’ve added nothing to the trap. She didn’t have a weapon of her own, not that he wouldn’t have trusted her with one, and he didn’t need for her to cause a distraction or have his back. He just needed to know she was safe in the room.
He closed and locked their hotel room door behind them and dived for the safe in the closet. Cradling the gun, he sat on the edge of the bed next to her and loaded it.
“Can I see it?”
Josh extended the butt of the gun to her and she gripped it, testing its heft and weight. “Nice little piece.”
“Not bad.”
“Please be careful. I shudder to think what the Isla Perdida policía would do to you if they arrested you for murder.”
“That’s not going to happen.” He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. Then he took the gun from her and stuck it in the waistband of his shorts.
She wiggled her fingers in the air. “Shouldn’t you change clothes? Black? Camouflage?”
“And stick out like a sore thumb in this resort? This will work.” He pushed up from the bed and stood by the door, his fingers on the door handle. “Remember, stay in this room and don’t open the door for anyone. I’ll be back before you know it and hopefully somewhat wiser about who’s here and why.”
As he turned toward the door, Gina jumped from the bed and threw her arms around his neck. She planted a hard kiss on his mouth.
“Come back in one piece. I can’t do this, any of this, without you.”
On his way to the elevator, Josh brushed his fingers across his tingling lips. Gina had found a surefire way to get him to come back in one piece...as long as he could get the jump on this guy.
Once again, he made a wide berth around the pool deck and restaurant on his way to the beach. The resort had strung mini LED lights along the path to the beach and had stationed electric torches every few feet along the sand.
Josh kept clear of all the lights and hung back in the shadows as he ducked behind each cabana he passed until he reached the last one. He dropped to his hands and knees and lifted the edge of the tent where it met the sand, surveying the inside of the cabana.
Two inert forms lay sprawled across two of the chaise longues, and Josh released a slow breath.
He shimmied beneath the edge of the tent and army-crawled to the corner near the opening of it. Then he pulled the gun from his waistband and crouched...and waited.
This, he knew.
When rescuing damsels in distress and drugging spies, he was winging it. Lying in wait with a weapon in hand was second nature.
He’d let it slip tonight in that couple’s hotel room that he was a sniper. He could tell by the look on her face Gina hadn’t known that or thought about it before, but he could see the wheels start turning. Had he distracted her enough to stop the path of her thoughts?
He could probably tell Gina, without ramifications, that he’d been the one who had taken out Ricky. The way she’d felt about her husband had put him in the clear. She might even thank him, but how did you tell someone you’d killed her spouse? Taken away her child’s father?
Josh tensed his muscles at the sound of scuffling sand. His hand tightened on the gun, as a shadow passed by the outside of the cabana.
The intruder led with his weapon, using it to push aside the flap of canvas covering the entrance.
Josh acted on instinct and training. He grabbed the barrel of the gun close to the handle and yanked down. The man grunted. His own instinct to hang on to his weapon caused his wrist to twist and his finger to lose its place on the trigger.
Josh brought home his advantage of surprise by driving his shoulder against the man’s kneecap.
The intruder’s legs buckled and as he dropped to the ground, Josh brought it home with a jab to the man’s windpipe with his elbow. The guy released his gun.
Sputtering and groaning, the man only managed to suck dry sand into his mouth. He gagged and coughed.
Finally, Josh brought his own gun level with the man’s forehead. “Now, you’re going to tell me everything you know about who’s on this island, what you want with Gina De Santos and what you think Hector De Santos hid.”
The man’s lips curled into a snarl. “Go to hell.”
“Let’s start with you.” Josh kicked the man in the thigh. “Sit up.”
He struggled to a seated position, and Josh patted him down, withdrawing a knife from a holster strapped to the man’s leg.
“Who are you working for?”
“Not some low-life, cheating drug dealer.” The man spit into the sand.
“Yeah, because a terrorist organization that targets innocent civilians is so above all that.”
“There are no innocent civilians.” The man’s teeth gleamed in the darkness. “You should know that better than anyone. You’re a sniper for one of the most lethal SEAL teams in the navy.”
Josh’s blood ran like ice water in his veins, and he narrowed his eyes. “Who are you? Are you working with Vlad?”
The man laughed so hard he choked. Raising his hand to his mouth, he met Josh’s eyes. “He’ll get his revenge. You’ll never stop him.”
Then he bit down on a heavy ring on his middle finger and collapsed in the sand.
Chapter Thirteen
The warm breeze lifted the ends of Gina’s hair as she squinted at the ocean and a line of whitecaps flashing across its inky blue surface. Gentle chatter from the pool bar rose through the night air against the backdrop of the rolling sea’s rush.
She hadn’t heard any gunshots, screams or general pandemonium so whatever Josh was doing down there, he was doing it quietly. Or he was dead.
She pressed her folded hands against her lurching stomach. Why had she allowed her mind to go there? Josh knew what he was doing. He had a weapon, and he knew how to use it.
In fact, he’d mentioned earlier when they were searching the hotel room that he was a sniper, a navy SEAL sniper. Had she heard that correctly?
Something bumped against the hotel room door, and Gina spun around, her heart thumping, rattling her rib cage. She turned from the balcony and crept back in the room.
As she drew close to the door, someone tapped on it, making her jump. She pressed her eye against the peephole and released a noisy breath while flipping back the chain.
“Why are you banging around out here?” She gasped as Josh stumbled across the threshold, shirtless, his clothes and hair wet.
She slammed the door shut and threw the lock again. “Are you all right? What happened out there?”
Sluicing a hand across his hair, he tried to steady his breath as his chest heaved. “He’s dead.”
“The man you went to meet? How?” She knotted her fingers in front of her. If anyone saw Josh, he could be in big trouble. Isla Perdida didn’t fool around with criminals, no matter what their nationality.
“He killed himself.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I got the jump on him. He was never expecting me, and I got him at gunpoint. He...he knew who I was. When I started asking him questions, he downed some poison. He died immediately.”
“Poison?” Gina took a turn around the room. “What? Where did he get poison?”
“He had it in a ring on his finger. He must’ve had orders to off himself if he ever got captured. I suppose if he hadn’t, he would’ve been killed anyway. There is no way a terrorist organization is going to believe that a captive is not spilling his guts about everything he knows.”
She doubled over, her hair creating a curtain around her face. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“That ring? That’s some serious stuff. They’re prepared for anything, including death.” He touched her back. “Are you okay?”
She straightened up. “Me? I’ve been cooling my heels in here all evening. What about you? How come you’re soaking wet?”
“I couldn’t leave his body there in the cabana. Maybe Roger and Tara would’ve taken care of business, but maybe they have similar orders. I didn’t want to take any chances, so I dragged him down to the water. I hauled him over the reef. I’m hoping the current will take him out to sea, although he’ll probably wash up somewhere.”
“Just hopefully not before we leave. What happened to your—” she waved her hand over his glistening muscles “—shirt?”
“I figured this way, I’d just look like I went out for a late-night swim or a dip in the pool in case anyone noticed me.”
“Do you think anyone did?” How could any woman in her right mind not notice him?
“I stayed away from the populated areas of the hotel. I avoided the lobby and the elevators and took the outside stairs.”
She ducked into the bathroom and grabbed a towel for him. As she tossed it to him, she asked, “Did you get anything out of him before...?”
“Not much.”
“But something?” She tilted her head to one side. Josh’s face had gotten that tight look.
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