True Peril

by Veronica Forand

  “Has Dane helped with a map? We’ve both been inside the main house. There’s a trail and a small road that lead to the place,” she offered.

  Simon and Liam both asked her about the number of people milling around and any security systems in place. An hour later, they arrived at the camp. Several tents covered in camouflage netting were scattered in the trees, making the place practically invisible.

  She followed Simon to the largest tent. Headquarters? They pushed through the flap and strode inside. The light was dim and the air stuffy, but there were several tables and a few computers set up. A very minimal operation. Dane, wearing jeans, a khaki shirt, and a five o’clock shadow, spotted her immediately.

  He tilted his head in greeting to Simon before pulling Eve into his arms. “Eve, you are both a wonderful sight and the last person I wanted to see here.”

  “Thanks. I feel the same about you, honey.” She kissed him, partly because she needed to taste the man she loved, and partly to tell the men at the camp she was taken.

  He deepened the kiss, and they lost everything but each other in a few seconds of pure, heated bliss. When they separated, Eve remained wrapped in his arms as he began to inform Simon about the state of the village and the abduction of Jenny. She’d been pulled from the burning schoolhouse by three men who continued shooting random villagers in their escape. Four or five other rebels moved house to house, burning and looting and killing. Eve’s heart beat faster and faster as the reality of the destruction of the village sunk in. She separated from Dane and paced behind him, listening to him speak about death and destruction. The images of those first two dead rebels returned to her mind. She’d set this in motion.

  They went around the room, and she met the other members of the team, Toby, Mitch, and Gunther. Five men in this team and two on the helicopter. If they needed backup, another team could be flown in from Mexico in three hours. Simon certainly had a deep network of people in his pocket.

  “When can I see the village?” she asked.

  Seven men, including Simon and Dane, looked at her as though she’d asked for scuba equipment.

  Dane stepped toward her with that same look Simon had used when he wanted to ground her from all new operations. “This afternoon.”

  “Thanks.” She picked up her luggage and headed to the door. Dane caught up with her and escorted her to a tent near the middle of camp. She wanted to rush to Juan Carlos’ compound to find Jenny, but there was a team in place to do just that. Would they accept her to assist in the field?

  “Need help changing?” Dane’s voice offered more than a helping hand. Although she longed to fall into his arms in search of comfort, passion, and his incredible lips, she couldn’t concentrate on anything pleasurable until she saw the damage.

  “Not right now. I was thinking of taking a nap.”

  “That’s fine. We’re bunking together, Mrs. O’Brien. If you need me, I’ll be in the main tent with Simon.” He clasped her shoulders and bent over to her, face to face. “Behave. We’re meeting this team for the first time, and I want them to respect us.”

  “Respect us?”

  “You’re part of the team. A very important part.”

  “An active team member?”

  He sighed. “These guys are ex-military. They’re the best, but they might have room for one ornery female if she doesn’t do anything stupid to jeopardize the operation.”

  “Thanks. I’m prepared for this. I can follow orders, I can shoot, I can sneak into the base easier than all the men combined. And Jenny trusts me.”

  “I trust in your ability, but take a step back and follow the team. They have a system that I don’t even understand yet.”

  After Dane left, she fell asleep only to wake up a few hours later, anxious to go.

  She changed quickly into the Kevlar vest, but she refused to put on the uniform. Instead, she wore jeans and a button down shirt to make her appear less threatening. Her pack held her phone, some water, and some basic first aid supplies.

  “Ready to go?” Dane asked when she entered the main tent. He had changed into camouflage like the other men.

  “More than ready.”

  They walked over to a Hummer, complete with driver, and headed up the mountain.

  The village wasn’t far away. She could smell it before she saw it. Burned wood. A few turns closer, and she saw smoke through the trees. The smoldering ruins of what used to be her home left her empty, as though her past had been wiped out. When she stepped down from her ride, the horror of the destruction sparked flames of anger through her. She dug her nails into the palms of her hand to hold back the tears.

  Some of the villagers recognized her. A few nodded, and others waved a tentative hand. Now was not the time for heartfelt greetings.

  She approached a group of women—the village elders.

  The oldest, Señora Jimenez, nodded in her direction. “Trista, you’ve returned. But it’s too late. Everything is gone.”

  “I’m here to help you.”

  The women laughed in a low, throaty manner. “There’s nothing left.”

  “Where’s Natalia?”

  “The bar collapsed while she was inside trying to save some mementos of her mother and father. She was burned and was taken to a hospital. She’ll survive, but I doubt she’ll return to the village. Her family is bad luck.”

  The stupid superstitions of the mountains. Natalia needed a shot at a better future, but an orphan in Bogotá didn’t stand a much better chance than an ostracized youth in a burned out village. Eve had to locate her and make sure she was comfortable and happy. Later, after Jenny was rescued.

  She spoke for a few more minutes to the women, and then waved good-bye, knowing she may never see them again. They would be rebuilding, and she’d be moving into a new career. One where good guys didn’t always finish last.

  A few groups shifted through the debris to salvage anything they could from the piles of rubble—broken chairs, a few dishes, glasses, an old photo half burned. She walked past them and continued looking for clues as to Jenny’s whereabouts. Keep in control. Keep the focus on Jenny.

  The sight of the schoolhouse in ruins almost unhinged her. All the money that had poured in to create the structure and now it was nothing but cinderblocks and ashes. Where were the children? She moved away from the area after circling the structure a few times. Nothing usable could be pulled from there.

  Her steady pace through the village kept her grim thoughts trailing a few inches behind her until she came to the bodies. And then she screamed.

  There were a few men she’d grown to love, and women she’d gossiped with over coffee, and then she saw two children. All dead. These two children were orphans that had lived with her and Jenny. Children she’d worked with and laughed with and loved—dead, wearing vacant expressions. It was a pile so macabre, she’d never lift this memory from her brain. It scorched every bit of happiness from her until her mind was more twisted than a Stephen King novel. Dead. Over nothing.

  Tears that rarely emerged burned her cheeks. She had to help, to save them, to ease the gaping hole inside of her. She stretched out to cover Sergio, a little boy who she loved so deeply, to hold him and try to pull him from death, but solid arms yanked her back, wrapped around her, and wouldn’t let her go, no matter how much she fought.

  …

  Dane held onto Eve as she struggled to break free from him in order to rescue people who couldn’t be saved. Her hair brushed the side of his face during her failed attempts to escape his grip and hold onto the lifeless bodies. His chest tightened. This was Eve. Always helping her children, even when nothing could be done.

  He embraced her with as minimal power as possible to restrain her movements. She needed to be comforted, not overpowered. Life sucked at times, and this had to be one of his lowest moments, because he couldn’t help her bring the dead back to life. Her arms swung out, trying to free herself, and she kicked back into his shins, but he wouldn’t release her. Her wai
ls quieted down, but her chest continued to heave with huge sobs. Dane’s own chest tightened at the vision of his beautiful and caring wife, experiencing the absolute worst of life. Worse than the deaths of the two men who had tried to hurt her. These victims were all innocent. And even though she’d been through sadness and pain in the past, the horror of the scene would change her to the core. She’d never return to who she was or who she believed herself to be. This catastrophic event would impale her past and obscure her future with a dark fog.

  “They’re gone. You have to let them go.”

  A strangled cry came from her throat, and her body finally stopped fighting. Dane brushed his lips over her hair, prepared to increase his grip if she rallied again. She didn’t. Instead, she twisted around to face him. Her head dropped to his shoulder.

  “This is all my fault. If I didn’t kill those men—”

  “Stop. You had nothing to do with this.” He wrapped his arms around her. “They would have pushed the people of this village for more and more of their resources until someone struck out as you did. Juan Carlos is a greedy, evil son of a bitch. You did not make him that way.”

  Liam, the team leader, waited in the Hummer. He’d thought returning to the village was a waste of time and had told Dane so. It didn’t matter—Eve wouldn’t have been satisfied until she knew the extent of the damage.

  “Are you ready to leave with us for some recon, or would you prefer to remain here and clean up the village?” Liam called out from the open window.

  “I’m ready. Eve needs to return to the camp.” Dane grabbed her backpack off the ground and escorted his emotionally drained wife to the Hummer.

  They both sat in the backseat so Dane could keep her close to him for a few more minutes. She leaned on his shoulder and shut her eyes. Liam didn’t say anything, but his demeanor suggested he’d be difficult to control when Simon left the South American operation in Dane’s hands. It would be interesting to see how Simon handled the transfer of power. Massive egos and huge firepower would mean Dane had to be more aggressive and more powerful than the team leader at all stages of the game, and that would leave Eve in the middle of a pissing war. She’d handle it. Nothing in her life would be worse than the sight they were driving away from. If she could conquer that image, she’d make it to the next level.

  Her breathing rate slowed as her emotions simmered into a more rational state. Tears streaked down her face, yet fire burned beneath that sad facade. She’d want revenge. She’d want to kill the man who had harmed the village. Duct taping her to a chair as he scoped out the Red Hawk compound in search of Jenny was his only option to keep Eve safe, and that would never happen. Rescue Jenny, keep Eve from her own personal vendetta. Why couldn’t the women in his life be more like Cassie—content to stay at home and hack into the Pentagon mainframe?

  As soon as they arrived in camp, Eve fled to their tent. He followed.

  “Are you okay?”

  She tossed the pack on the floor next to her bed. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Because that whole scene is fucking with my brain and making me want to kill someone, and I never knew those people the way you did.”

  “Yeah. I want to kill someone.” She tapped her hands together a few times while pacing back and forth like a caged animal.

  “Would you be content if I did the honors? After all, I’m a better shot.”

  She sat on the folding chair and put her face into her hands. No response. Her agitation would only get worse if she was left alone. Perhaps he should stay with her, but Jenny needed him as well.

  A rustle at the entrance to the tent announced a visitor. Eve didn’t look up at the sound.

  Simon walked in, carrying a cup of something. “Here drink this.”

  Eve remained where she was, ignoring him. Simon stuck the drink in front of her face, and touched it to the back of her hands. When she looked up, the sadness in her eyes ignited into a fireball waiting for a confrontation. Better Simon than him.

  “Drink.” He handed her the cup.

  She sniffed, and from the widening in her eyes, it was probably something pretty strong. She took a large drink of it.

  “You’re giving me some of your prized vodka? You must really like me, or you must really be worried I’m about to have a breakdown.”

  “Both.”

  She lifted the cup toward them. “Cheers.”

  Simon nodded as she gulped down the rest. “Vodka calms my nerves, and you have a job to do while we’re checking out any weaknesses of Juan Carlos.”

  “What’s my job?” She stood and handed the empty cup back to Simon. Her balance seemed off, and she wobbled on her feet.

  Simon stepped toward her, like a dance partner anticipating her movements, and placed his arms around her. “To sleep.”

  She fought him for a few seconds and then passed out in his arms. He placed her on her sleeping bag and headed to the door.

  “Come on, she’ll be awake in about five hours and ready to rip my head off. We need to be here when she wakes up or Joe and Mitch are toast.”

  “You drugged my wife?” Anger built up inside him. He held himself back from punching his friend.

  “No. I drugged my team member. We can discuss the ethics of it later.”

  She appeared so peaceful lying on the cot. Looks could be deceiving. She was probably plotting to harm Simon in her dreams, and Dane wouldn’t blame her. Simon was out of bounds. Now, however, wasn’t the time to start a fight.

  He covered her up and kissed her on the lips. “Stay safe. I’ll be back before you wake up. I hope.”

  The team was gathered around the main table looking at maps, a very low-tech operation. Simon, however, took nothing on chance. He had both aspects covered. No doubt Cassie had hooked into satellite surveillance of the area and was in the process of sending Simon detailed photos taken in the past few days.

  “If it isn’t pretty boy, back from rescuing his princess.” Liam shot him a look of condescension and disgust.

  “Fuck off. You have a problem with me, I’m ready to settle this here and now.” Dane stepped toward him, ready to rip his throat out. He wouldn’t be able to run these guys if he had this hothead against him.

  Simon slid between them. His height and width made him the automatic alpha dog, although both Simon and Dane knew Dane could kick his ass as well. “Liam. I’m not sure I provided a proper introduction to Dane.”

  “What’s there to know? He sold shit and now wants to pretend he’s had military experience. I looked into him. He has no military training at all.” Liam spit on the ground and crossed his arms in front of his chest, flexing a bicep with a Navy SEAL trident tattoo on his shoulder.

  “Then let me reeducate you, since your ability to see beyond your own knob is seriously lacking. Dane was one of a few CIA operatives trained to eliminate individuals deemed dangerous to U.S. interests. He’s a bloody ghost when he wants to be and can take out a target with more accuracy and less effort than you use pissing in a can. Do not screw with him, because I will not save your ass.”

  …

  Simon regretted thinking he could place a person in charge of the South American operation without known military experience. Liam had no respect for Dane, and they’d end up in a bloody battle for top position. Dane would win, no doubt about it, but Liam could be hurt both physically and mentally, and that wouldn’t bode well for him remaining as team leader. Liam had the right to be mad at the newcomer, but Dane could help Simon’s operation in ways Liam never could. Dane knew Simon’s connection to MI6. Liam didn’t. And Dane had deep connections in the U.S. government.

  Joe and Mitch had remained back at camp with an incapacitated Eve. The other five men traveled in a Hummer for two hours, slow and careful. They ended up a few miles north of the village. Dane showed them the boundaries, as he remembered them, of the Red Hawk perimeter. Once inside, they needed to make sure they didn’t trigger any motion detectors or cameras.

  They trave
led a half mile past their destination and then circled around. They hid the Hummer between dense trees and brushed over the tracks. All the men wore camouflage and carried enough firepower to protect themselves while information gathering. If detected, they needed to go into rescue mode and find Jenny—a much more dangerous proposition if their presence was announced first. Liam would lead the ground troops, while Dane observed the movements of the team and backed up anyone getting into trouble. Liam had more tactical training with a team. Dane, on the other hand, had always worked alone in the field. They each needed to do their jobs and not get in each other’s way.

  Simon manned the Hummer. He’d never led a group of men on a ground mission and preferred leaving that task to the men who could handle the job. What he lacked in field skills, however, he more than made up for in organization and planning, and his intimidation methods could force the best warriors in the world to fall arse over tit to assist him.

  The computer allowed him to follow the satellite coordinates of the team and to prepare for a quick exit if necessary. His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Cassie.

  “Hey, Angel.” He commiserated with Dane at that moment, because he would hate to see Cassie in a war zone. Lucky for him, she preferred working on national security issues from home.

  “I see you’re in the jungle. Is Eve okay?”

  “She’s in a safe place and completely relaxed at this moment. How are you?”

  “I need to sign off this operation,” Cassie said. “You’re on your own for the satellite feeds. I can switch you over to The National Institute for Space Research in Brazil. Use their satellites—they should be patched over your region in Columbia, although the Brazilian government denies it.”

  The smooth, relaxed tone of her voice had hints of anxiety woven through it. Something wasn’t right.

  “What’s going on? Where are you going?” His body prepared for her news with heightened awareness, and his focus switched off the mission and back to Britain, the worst thing that could happen if the team wasn’t cohesive before he left.

  “I’m fine. I have a doctor’s appointment and will be offline for a few hours. Finish the operation and come home.”