by Justine Davis, Amy J. Fetzer, Katherine Garbera, Meredith Fletcher, Catherine Mann
“I’m Tory Patton with UBC. Thank you for granting me this interview,” she said, holding out her hand.
He took her hand and shook it. She noticed that despite his gaunt appearance he had a strong grip and his hands were warm. “You’re welcome, Ms. Patton. Please call me Tom.”
“I’m going to have to mike you,” she said.
Once he was back in shape he’d be a very attractive man. His eyes were fatigued and his body battered but his charisma shone through.
Tory smiled back at him. She had him loosen his shirt so they could wire him with the microphone. Then they were ready.
“What’s your rank, Tom?” she asked, to establish him in the eyes of her audience.
“I’m a commander in the U.S. Navy.”
“Take us through your mission from the beginning,” Tory said.
“I came down with a platoon on a leader recon mission.”
“What is leader recon?”
“My team was assessing the situation. We verified that hostages were being held in one of the small mountain towns on the west side of the island.”
“Americans?”
“Yes, from Doctors without Borders. The dossier we received said there were three men and one woman.”
“What happened next?”
“We verified the location of the hostages and then we went in to extricate them. We were ambushed by the previous government’s military.”
“How?” she asked. A hundred new questions popped up. SEAL teams were elite. No one knew when a platoon was deployed or where it was going. How would the old government have the knowledge that the team was coming in?
“We entered the compound and found the hostages had already been executed. As soon as our team was inside, they opened fire on us. We returned fire but were outnumbered.”
“Take me through the last moments when you saw your crew alive.”
Tom gave her a look that would have scorched steel, but Tory didn’t flinch. Her questions had to be probing and go past the superficial. She needed to know what he’d felt—that’s what viewers tuned in to see.
“We were under heavy fire. I ordered my team to retreat. A bullet grazed my temple and I lost consciousness. When I woke up I was in prison.”
“What did they want from you?” she asked, knowing he’d been tortured.
“They asked me repeatedly about my mission and how long we’d been on Puerto Isla before we took action.”
She asked him several questions about his imprisonment and listened to him detail the torture he’d endured while his captors tried to find out more details of his mission. Tom had refused to tell them anything.
She swallowed against the tears burning at the back of her eyes. This man had sacrificed so much for his country, and she felt proud to be sitting across from him. And infinitely saddened that he’d lost his friends and teammates. More questions formed in the back of her mind.
She needed to do some digging. It made no sense that the government would know the SEALs were coming, and clearly it had. Santiago had been anti-American, and the U.S. wouldn’t have given him any information.
“How were you found and rescued?”
“I was able to bribe one of my jailers to send a message to the U.S. Embassy.”
“Then you were freed by Del Torro’s government?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“I was taken to the hospital and my wounds were treated.”
“And then you were moved here to the hotel?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Why?”
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
Tory let it drop for now.
“One last question, Tom. What is the one thing you want to do now that you’re out of captivity?”
“Kiss my wife.”
Tory left Jay packing up his equipment and changed back into her jeans. She wasn’t ready to head back to her hotel. Something wasn’t right with Tom King’s story. No one should have known that the SEALs were coming and from what he’d said, someone had.
She was going to get some answers from Juan Perez’s office if she had to camp on his steps all day long.
“Ready, Tory?” Jay asked.
“I want to hear more about what the city was like earlier this year when the SEAL team came in. I’m going to talk to the military men who are here. Can you hang around a few hours?”
Tory had the feeling it wouldn’t be long before history started to repeat itself on Puerto Isla. Despite its tropical beauty, there wasn’t enough of a tourist trade to keep the economy going without illegal activities.
“Sure.”
“I’m going to go down to the lobby and see what I can get from the bar crowd.”
“Keep an eye out for Shannon. I don’t think she followed us here, but you can never be too sure.”
“I will. Where will you be?”
“I want to talk to our friend Robert O’Neill and then I’m going to call Perez again. I don’t want him to know we spoke to King yet.”
Jay left and she went into the bathroom to gather the rest of her stuff. When she came back into the main hotel room, Robert was waiting for her. “I’ll make sure you get back to your car safely.”
“I’m not ready to leave yet. Would you mind answering a few questions for me, Robert?”
“Depends on the questions.”
“How did you get involved with King?” Tom had refused to answer any questions about how he’d come to be at the hotel. In fact, after the interview he’d been hustled out of the room they’d used and moved to an undisclosed location. She had warned the men with him that Shannon might be following her and that the local police were also watching her. She figured the team that had busted King out of prison was probably a very elite military group that didn’t want or need any publicity. And she understood that.
“I can’t say.”
“Are you part of a Special Forces team?”
She was also trying to figure out how Bennington Forsythe fit into the picture. Because she knew that Ben had something to do with Tom King and the rescue. She just couldn’t believe the conclusions she drew on her own. She needed more information.
He nodded, but refused to answer any more of her questions. In fact, he opened the door leading to the hallway, checked the hall and then took her elbow, leading her out of the room.
“What branch of the military are you with?” she asked as he led her to the stairwell and started down the steps.
“Does it matter?” he asked over his shoulder.
It did, but he obviously wasn’t going to tell her. She tried a different angle. “How many men are here with you?” she asked. She’d heard voices in the other suite while they’d been cleaning up after the interview. There had been at least two, maybe three men in that other room besides Tom King. If Robert didn’t come through with some answers, she’d double back and do some investigating on her own.
He paused on the landing and faced her. “You talk a lot, don’t you, lady?”
She grinned at him. “Yes, I do. It’s part of my appeal.”
“Don’t count on it,” said a voice behind her.
She turned and saw Ben at the top of the stairs. Where had he come from? Dressed in faded jeans and a T-shirt that clung to his chest, Ben leaned in the doorway. “I thought we had a deal.”
“What kind of deal?” she asked. She was not flirting with him, she assured herself. Her questions were for the greater good. He was a puzzle and she had to figure him out.
“I get you your interview, you leave me alone,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I don’t recall those stipulations,” Tory said.
He shrugged and looked past her. “I’ll take care of Ms. Patton, Robert.”
“Yes, sir.”
Robert walked past her without another word. She waited until he was gone before looking back at Ben. “What are you doing here?”
“You keep asking me that,” h
e said, taking her arm and leading her down the stairs.
“I’m going to keep on asking until you give me an answer.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Why what?” she countered. Playing games wasn’t normally her style, but there was something about Ben that made her contrary.
She shook her head. Felt the weight of her hair brush her cheek and reached up to tuck the strand behind her ear only to encounter Ben’s hand. He pushed her hair back, and his callused fingers rubbed the rim of her ear. She shivered.
“I’m not going to let you distract me, Ben. I need to get to the bottom of this.”
“Not here,” he said, and led her out of the stairwell and into a room on another floor.
And then they were totally alone.
Chapter 7
The room Ben took her to was decorated in the same bland style as the one in which she’d interviewed Tom King. There was a duffel bag on the end of the bed next to a neat pile of clothing. The light was on in the bathroom. She noted the pile of wet towels on the floor and the damp shower curtain pushed to one side. There was a shaving kit on the counter.
It was almost ten-thirty now and she wondered if Ben and his men were going to try to move King tonight. She knew then that if they were, she was going to be there. She’d have to phone Jay and have him bring the Jeep around back.
Ben turned on the television.
“I was serious about the questions, Ben. I don’t want to watch TV.” She had a feeling he thought he could placate her with a few platitudes and some double-talk.
“I know. I’m using it to cover the sound of our conversation.”
“Oh.” She hadn’t thought of that. But then she wasn’t usually trying to keep people from overhearing her conversations. To cover her awkwardness she pulled out her notepad and pen.
“This is strictly off the record, Tory. Understand?” he asked. His steely-eyed gaze reminded her of his lethal efficiency at the hospital when he’d gotten them out of the heavily patrolled facility.
“Yes. I know what that means. I’m just making notes so that I can figure out what’s going on with King.”
Still he hesitated, and Tory knew she had to put him at ease. This wasn’t an interview, but she needed more of the facts to put the pieces of the story into perspective.
“I never thanked you,” she said quietly. If Ben hadn’t interceded, she’d still be chasing her tail and trying to outwit Perez and the Puerto Isla policemen.
He leaned back against the dresser and crossed his arms over his chest. Muscles bulged in his arms. Why was she noticing this now? Perry had nice muscles, she reminded herself.
“For getting you to King?” he asked.
She nodded.
“You’re welcome,” he said at last.
“I don’t understand what’s going on. The Del Torro government invited me down here,” she said, when it became apparent he wasn’t going to add anything else.
“Who did?” Ben asked.
She realized he was making notes as she was, but instead of writing them down he was keeping it all in his head. That fit with what she knew of Alex’s brother. Though he had earned a reputation for a playboy, he’d also graduated with top honors from a military prep school and college.
“Juan Perez,” she said. “The minister of foreign affairs.”
“That makes sense. Take me through everything that happened once you arrived,” he ordered.
“I’m asking the questions here.”
“Humor me.”
But he didn’t look as if he was joking and so far he hadn’t given her any information that she could use. “I’m not sure you have much of a sense of humor.”
“Okay, smart-ass, you made your point. But I’m in charge of getting King off Puerto Isla alive. I need all the information you have.”
“I’ll tell you what I know, but I want to follow you out with him. Kind of a look inside the rescue.”
“Can’t do it. My team is top secret.”
“I won’t film it.”
“We can negotiate that later,” he said.
He didn’t intend to let her go with him. But she knew how to follow a story and had been called tenacious as a pit bull by one upset merchant on whom she’d done an exposé. In the end the public had benefited from her story. And she sensed that the public should know what was going on down here, whether she could give them all the details or not.
“What are you doing here? And why is King at the hotel and no longer in the hospital?” she asked, changing gears.
“He was no longer safe.”
“From the Puerto Isla government?” Tory wasn’t sure she was following this. Why would Tom King no longer be safe? His rescue and freedom was the kind of public-relations stunt that newly formed governments seldom got. Returning King to the U.S. was a huge goodwill gesture from a country that had been under trade embargoes for a long time.
“Yes. When I ran into you at the hospital, I overheard two of the doctors talking about sedating King so that he could be moved to another location. I know for certain that the U.S. was not in on that decision.”
“What is going on here? First Perez and the navy call me down here for an interview, then things go to hell.”
“You’re the wild card in all this.” He rubbed his chin and then straightened from the door, walking toward her.
Tory held her ground. “Do you think it has something to do with me and King?”
“Is there a connection between you two?”
“Not beyond this story.”
“I didn’t think so. My intel didn’t mention you.”
His pager went off and he glanced at the screen. “I’ve got to pack up.”
“I’m not done asking questions,” she said, barring his way into the bathroom.
“Patton, I’m on a short clock.”
“Then let me help you. I have a lot of information on King, and something doesn’t add up about his capture.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“I can be a real pain in the ass.”
He laughed. “I like you, Tory Patton.”
She liked him, too. That was the real problem. She couldn’t afford the kind of distraction that Ben provided. He pressed closer to her and she stood her ground. But when she tipped her head back to meet his gaze, he lowered his mouth to hers.
She closed her eyes, forgetting about the story and the complications this could bring. Forgetting about Perry and the fact that she was in a serious relationship. It was only the tension of feeling that she was going to die. The danger of being on this island where everything kept changing. If she’d learned anything from her time in the 24/7 world of television news, she’d learned that nothing lasted forever.
And you were only given opportunities once in a lifetime.
A loud explosion rocked the floor and she barely kept her balance. She cried out and Ben’s strong grip helped keep her upright. Immediately the distinctive beeping of Ben’s pager began again and he pulled back and glanced at the message screen again. This time he left her to go to the phone. He had a short conversation. Tory used the time to call Jay and alert him that they might be moving soon.
“What’s going on?” she asked when Ben hung up.
“Someone tried to kill Tom King.” Ben’s voice was low pitched, his words spoken without emotion.
“Is he okay?” Tory asked. It didn’t seem fair that he should survive a brutal ambush and torture in prison only to die once he was supposedly safe.
“Yes. I’m getting him out of here tonight,” Ben said.
“You mean your team, right?”
“Yes. We’re taking him to meet a chopper at an unused airstrip on the outskirts of town.”
“Won’t that be dangerous?” she asked. From what she’d observed of Puerto Isla since she’d arrived here, once you left Paraiso the natives weren’t exactly friendly.
“Who’s the expert here?” he asked, sounding pissed off.
She went to hi
s side and put her hand on his arm. She wished she knew what he was thinking. “Don’t get offended. Are you an expert?”
“I knew you couldn’t keep from asking questions.”
“Stop evading them. I’m not going to turn your life into an exposé. I do understand that if you are what I’m beginning to believe you are, then your public image is sacrosanct.”
“Thanks, I think.”
“What are you?”
He sighed, then seemed to come to a decision. “I’m part of an elite fighting force known as LASER. Lost Airmen’s Service. We rescue military personnel who have been captured.”
“And your playboy lifestyle enables you to travel around the world without suspicion.”
“Except when I’m encountering my little sister’s friends.”
She knew precious little about him as a man. He’d always seemed so frivolous and not worth her time. But now that she’d seen the keen intelligence gleaming in his eyes, seen him in action in dangerous circumstances and in intimate ones…she wanted to know more.
“I know you’re in a hurry. What should I do?”
“Get your gear together.”
Tory gathered her stuff and was ready when Ben opened the door leading into the hall. He pulled his gun from his holster and swept the area before grabbing her wrist and leading her out of the room. She twisted out of his grasp. He didn’t even break stride.
“I’ll have Robert take you back to your hotel,” he said, leading her down the hall to the room where she’d interviewed Tom earlier.
“That’s okay. Jay’s downstairs waiting for me.”
“Who’s Jay?”
“My cameraman.”
For a moment she felt a twinge of embarrassment as he opened the door and five guys looked up. Tom King smiled at her. Robert gave her a frown and the others appeared mildly curious. One of the men had a wounded arm and another guy—Tory assumed he was a medic—was bandaging him up.
“What happened?”
“Someone fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the three rooms we rented on this floor.”
