If anything, he was trying to make this easier—okay, he was being a dick—but they needed to get their minds on the task at hand, and she’d already made it clear how she viewed this thing between them. He was short on sleep, and this was all he could muster in the way of taking no for an answer and being open with her about who he really was.
He’d been stupid to get pulled more and more into this attraction he had for her. He should’ve kept his involvement limited to helping his best friend’s sister and getting to know the Search and Protect team. It was his future. It’d given him the chance he needed.
He wasn’t sure what he wanted, but it wasn’t an option anyway. It’d be the nicest thing he could do to let her get back to her life before all this shit had happened to her.
“Let’s get your life back for you.”
Chapter Nineteen
Mali didn’t know what to say, and obviously, she’d already said way too much. More than she meant. She’d been thinking out loud rather than voicing actual decisions. She hadn’t thought it all through and wasn’t sure it was actually the conclusion she’d wanted to come to. And now she was seeing a whole new side to Raul, open and raw, and she couldn’t get a grip on the mixture of intimidation and concern tangled in her chest.
But Raul turned away before she could put all of that into words. Then her sister was next to her, urging her into the office with the rest of the group. He was right; it was time for finding her research team. The rest, they’d hopefully figure out later.
If he gave her the chance.
“Both of us gained good information from our visit to the massage parlor. Piecing together what each of the attendants knew, we’re looking for a privately owned estate with farming on site.” Zu was leaning against the L-shaped desk where Pua’s main monitors were. “It won’t be too far from town but it’ll be far enough away to be out of direct scrutiny by police and away from the military base.”
Pua blew out a puff of air, lifting a silken strand of dark hair off her forehead. “There’s still a decent amount of island to cover, Boss.”
“It’s got a long private drive with fields on either side of it and the houses are set far enough back that they’re not visible from the main road,” Zu continued. “Our target takes some of his newly acquired assets to the property either to work the fields for farm-to-table meals or to provide entertainment for him and his men in the main house. The main house is connected to secondary guesthouses by covered walkways. They form a sort of courtyard. He likes stone gardens.”
“Okay, I can work with that.” Pua’s fingers flew over her keyboard as she brought up images and quickly scanned them for the characteristics described.
“Sounds like a large property.” Arin took a seat at the small table at the far end of the room.
“Enough space for privacy.” Zu crossed his arms over his chest. “If we can get the satellite pics, we can put together a few options for how we go in there.”
“No chance the research team was being held someplace here in town?” Arin didn’t sound like she was arguing, only exploring.
“No.” Raul leaned against the wall opposite all the computer displays. “According to the woman assigned to me, there’ve been no new girls in the last couple of days at the massage parlor and no strangers in any of the special back rooms. She said everyone goes through that place, even if they aren’t forced into servicing the clients. If the research team had been in town, they’d have been in one of the back rooms. As it was, every back room was open and available for special services.”
It was pretty clear what special services might be. Mali wondered if he’d confirmed there hadn’t been anyone back there directly.
Raul glanced at Mali but addressed the room in general. “I asked my massage specialist to give me a quick tour so I could decide if I wanted special services next time.”
Zu snorted. “I heard you talking to her. You had her intimidated as hell. I’m pretty sure she’s hoping you don’t come back.”
Mali experienced a perverse rush of relief. Sure, they’d gone in undercover for her and her colleagues. She and Raul weren’t a couple, especially not after her unfiltered commentary just a few minutes ago. But it still eased a wound-up tension inside her gut to know he’d found a way to get his information without partaking of any special services.
“Found it.” Pua transferred an image to her largest monitor. “I think. This courtyard looks about right, and none of the other plantations or estates in the area have an enclosed area like this. Any other properties with a stone garden all have them set up behind a house with a wall bordering the garden.”
“We’ll want information on the property and who owns it.” Zu stepped forward to study the image. “This is going to take a certain amount of risk.”
Mali straightened and looked at each of them in turn. “Meaning?”
It was Arin who answered. “It’s going to get complicated.”
Mali deliberately walked over to the table and sat in the chair next to Arin. “Let’s get started then.”
Raul and Zu turned to stare at her.
Mali glared right back at them. This, she had to do. “You can’t go in and just nab anyone who looks like they’re there against their will. That could be a lot of people.”
“We could get pictures.” Raul glowered at her.
“Pictures from the university are outdated and barely look like any of us. Plus they don’t have scent.” Mali had been thinking about this at least. “I can go back to the hotel and grab something that belonged to each of them. That’ll help the dogs. And I can be with you to identify them by sight. Besides, it’ll be way easier to get them to come back out with you if I’m there. Otherwise, you’re just a new set of scary people.”
“You make good points.” Zu didn’t sound happy to admit it.
But she was right. It wasn’t about rationale or logic. Those were more to convince this group. Deep down, Mali knew this was the best way to identify her colleagues and get them to cooperate.
“I don’t like it.” Arin and Raul said it at the same time. Stereo.
Mali set her teeth and turned her head to glare at each of them. “It’s the most effective solution. How much time is there to come up with something better? What are you going to do about the other people held on that property against their will? What about the massage parlor?”
Arin pursed her lips. “We’ve a strong enough partnership with the local police. We’d be able to give them enough information for them to go in undercover at the massage parlor to get the evidence they need to bring it down.”
“But you didn’t think there was time for all that with my colleagues,” Mali pressed. “So we don’t have time to convince the police or go through proper channels or even wait for a ransom payout from the insurance. If you’re going to act fast, you need to do everything you can to mitigate potential risks. Having me with you does that.”
“And opens up more.” There was enough of a growl to Raul’s voice that every one of the dogs sat up and looked at him. “You’ll be in danger. Or don’t you remember what it felt like to be shot at last night?”
Fear leeched the warmth from her skin but Mali breathed deeply to steady herself. “I didn’t forget. But I trust all of you. We can all go in together. I’ll be safe with you.”
The last she meant for Raul specifically. She stared at him, putting her conviction into her words and her eyes. He’d kept her safe through everything so far. He could protect her through this as well.
“I don’t like this either.” Zu’s statement dropped into her belly, heavy and cold.
He sighed and stepped away from the desk, looking from Arin to Raul. “But she’s right. We don’t have time to find a more effective way to stack our deck. Having her with us increases chance of success. It’s decided. So let’s work on options to make this happen.”
Chapter Twenty
Broad daylight.” Mali stared out at the panoramic view of lush green trees and wi
de open fields. “You can be stealthy in the middle of the day?”
From the driver’s seat, Zu looked up into the rearview mirror to see her. “In the right situation, it works.”
They’d spent the morning planning. Each of them had taken turns grabbing a short hour-and-a-half nap while the others continued preparations. Kai had returned with the SUV, fully refueled and license plate changed. By the time the sun was high in the sky they’d loaded into the vehicle and headed out of town, toward the middle of the island. Well, most of them had. Arin hadn’t ridden with them, leaving Mali with Zu and Raul. It was part of the plan for Arin to have her own transportation, and she’d even left King to ride with the rest of them. Without Arin, Mali had thought she’d be more on edge, but so far she was riding a high of anticipation and fear was only a prickle at the edge of her mind.
Somehow she’d envisioned a nighttime raid, where all of them wore black. It would’ve been catastrophic for her, she realized. She had no training, and it wasn’t as if she’d be able to suddenly use night vision gear with ease even if they’d given it to her. She was randomly clumsy at the best of times. Trying to sneak around in the dark would’ve made her an even worse liability than she already was.
Instead, they were all dressed in varying shades of brown and tan. Long sleeves, long pants—the clothing was all light fabric. Arin had loaned Mali a fresh set of clothes. Even though it’d all been a size or two too big, the fit had been adjusted with rolled sleeves and pants legs plus a belt. Now that she saw the landscape, the browns blended with the varying shades of dirt in the fields and the trunks of cultured banana trees. Wearing black would’ve been a stark contrast against such surroundings.
“Stay close to me and the rest will all be action, reaction.” Raul gave her the advice in a quiet, calming tone. “Just follow my lead.”
He’d ridden in the SUV next to her without fidgeting the entire ride. In fact, he’d withdrawn, not touching her at all, not even a reassuring touch of his hand. She missed his touch. There was a huge space between them; it was more than physical, maybe more than if they’d been simple strangers. She couldn’t blame him, not with her statements about the attraction between them being temporary. But this was more. It was like the warmth and friendliness, his magnetic personality, had been taken and stuffed somewhere deep inside him. The man looking at her wore a mask, like her sister’s. He was about to go to work.
“We’re here.” Zu put the SUV in park and got out.
Mali waited until they’d all stepped out, surveyed the area, and let the dogs out the back. Then Raul came around to her side of the vehicle and opened the door, but he held up his hand as she moved to exit. “Best to stay inside the car. We’ll be talking right here but you should stay in the protection of the vehicle for as long as possible.”
He left the door partially open and stood beside her with Taz between them. They were parked on a service road at an elevation high enough to give them a distant overlook on several properties.
“Where are we headed?” Mali kept her voice low. She didn’t know if it was out of fear of being overheard by their enemies or to avoid disrupting the conversation Zu was having with Todd Miller.
The team’s kennel master had met them at the corporate office and followed them in a small Jeep. He’d swapped out his usual prosthetic for one that looked high tech, maybe one for being outdoors. Ann and Dan were with him, and the two hounds trembled with eagerness to be put to work. Come to think of it, Taz was extra alert, too. She didn’t know Buck well, and the dog was as unreadable as his master, Zu, to her. But overall, she had the feeling all of the dogs were as prepared as their handlers to dive into action. She only wished she was as ready.
“The big plantation down the hill and to the left from here.” Raul didn’t point, but he shifted his stance so she could see over his shoulder. “This is close enough for us to proceed from here on foot.”
“Okay.” It looked far to her, but then again, she figured her perception of everything from here on out would border on the surreal. Her challenge would be to keep it together enough to react when they needed her to and not slow them down. She was on her feet and walking for the better part of every day when she was gathering testimonials for her research. She could do this.
The sound of an approaching engine freaked her out, but Raul looked calm. Taz took a few steps forward, the big dog putting himself between them and whatever was coming—probably for Raul, but it felt like for her, too.
A woman arrived on a motorcycle, the femininity of her form unmistakable in her brown and khaki denim with a fitted cargo jacket. When she removed her helmet, Arin flashed a fleeting smile of encouragement before her features returned to her neutral façade.
“I brought supplemental firepower.” Across her back, Arin had a ridiculously large duffel bag, the kind hockey players or baseball players carried.
King rushed to greet her, and Arin dropped a hand on the huge dog’s shoulders. He was bigger than Taz, taller at the shoulder, and Arin could rest her hand on her dog’s shoulders without crouching or bending at all. He’d ridden with them in the SUV but it was obvious he preferred to be with Arin at all times.
Arin strode over to Raul and Mali, transferring her duffel from her back to her side. She lifted her chin at Raul. “I’ll stand here. Assess the lay of the land with Zu and Todd.”
“Thanks.” Raul turned to Mali. “Be right back.”
Mali bit down on the urge to try to go with him. There wasn’t any point in her inserting herself in that conversation. Raul joined Zu and Todd where they had established themselves, laying flat at the edge of a sharp drop on the hillside. The three of them lay shoulder to shoulder, using binoculars and glancing down at their smartphones at the satellite images Pua had provided. It was hard enough to consult with each other when it was two people. Three in that position would require strained whispers. Her as a fourth made no sense at all.
“He’ll tell us the outcome of whatever discussion goes on,” Arin said.
Mali tore her gaze from Raul. Taz lay a few feet away under the cover of thick undergrowth. “Okay.”
“Good.” Arin tossed her duffel bag into the footwell next to Mali and unzipped the bag. Reaching in, she pulled out a series of components and began fitting them together. “You know the overall plan anyway. All they’re doing is making refinements based on what we can see in real life, right now.”
Mali stared at the thing Arin was putting together. “That’s…a big gun.”
“Rifle.” Arin started to apply tape to certain parts of it. “Every team has people assigned to roles to make responsibilities clear. Zu is in the lead with Buck. Raul and Taz will be providing escort to you and taking on the primary search for your teammates. On this team, I’m the sniper. If I do my job right, I’ll be able to keep the bigger picture in my sights for all of you and take out a threat before it gets to you.”
Arin’s gaze hit Mali full force. Yes, her sister had been talking about the team but that last statement had been specifically focused on Mali. Her sister would be looking out for her, even from a distance. In fact, Arin was better at protecting Mali from far away.
The implications knocked the breath out of Mali. She nodded, unsure of what she could say. Well, there was something. “Thank you.”
Arin paused and glanced at her. “It’s what I do.”
There was a lot in that statement. It could’ve been about Arin’s job. It felt like more.
“If there’s going to be a good time, this is it.” Raul returned and stood at arm’s reach, facing both Mali and Arin. “It’s the hottest part of the day. We’ve got line of sight on people inside the main house taking siestas. There are guards on patrol and at the main entrance, but they’re all hating the heat. They’ll be sluggish.”
“We’re making the best of a shit situation.” Todd Miller strode over to join them.
It was getting crowded on this side of the vehicle. Mali scooted farther into the SUV but leaned for
ward enough to still hear the discussion.
“It’d be better if there was more time to study this place,” Todd continued.
Arin shook her head. “We don’t often have the luxury. Assessing and going in at risk is always going to be standard operating procedure for us.”
Todd grunted. “It’s still too far away to get good detail on the level of resistance you’re going to encounter inside the courtyard area. You’re going to need to find a closer vantage point, maybe get up on that roof.”
Arin nodded. “I’d be better at a distance but I can go in closer if necessary. I’ll do what’s needed when the time comes.”
Yes. That. Mali worked to solidify her internal resolve. She would do her best to do the same.
* * *
The plan was ballsy and relied primarily on Taz’s ability to locate the research team. Once Taz had the trail, it would be up to Mali to provide positive identification and coax the hostages into coming with them. There were times when a hostage could be so frightened or traumatized that they’d refuse rescue. They didn’t have enough resources to remove Mali’s research team if any of them balked. So having her with them made sense. Raul had gone through it in his head over and over on the ride here.
Miller stepped around Raul and Arin, grabbing the driver’s-side door of his Jeep. “There’s already one distraction in place but I can add to it. Shouldn’t disrupt what you have planned already but could thin out their security at the front gate some in case you have to make your exit out the front door. It won’t take long to drive by them and get them worked up, maybe lead them on a little chase. The bigger the distraction I can provide, the better the chances for all of you.”
Zu joined them with Buck at his side. “Better than waiting here for us. I like it. Circle back to meet with the group on time, though. We need you mobile and ready to pick up anyone who gets separated from the group.”
Total Bravery Page 18
