by Dee Davis
“Seems a fairly obvious choice. I mean, you said yourself that following the river was the easiest way to get to the coast.”
“Agreed.” He frowned, trying to sort through conflicting thoughts. “But there’s no way they could have known for certain what we’d do. And between the rain and our river ride, tracking us should have been difficult to impossible. Meaning that even if they worked it out and found a way to follow us, there wouldn’t have been time for this guy to have beat us here. Especially coming from downriver.”
“Maybe he’s not affiliated with di Silva,” she said. “Maybe he’s working for FARC. They do hire mercenaries. And you said they still have people in this area.”
“I suppose,” Drake said, rummaging further into the bag. The bottom was loose, and he lifted it to reveal a second Velcroed pocket.
“It makes more sense, really. It explains his being here before us. And it also explains his need for advanced weaponry. Maybe FARC is planning some kind of attack.”
“He’s not FARC.” Drake shook his head, holding out a photograph he’d pulled from the hidden compartment.
“It’s me,” she whispered.
“No question.”
She lifted her head, her gaze locking with his. “I didn’t have anything to do with this. Whatever this is,” she said, punctuating the thought with a wave of her hand. “I swear.”
“I know.”
She looked so surprised by his immediate acceptance that if the next photograph hadn’t been so alarming, he’d have smiled. Instead he held it out for her.
“I don’t understand.” She shook her head, a frown creasing her forehead as she stared down at the second photo.
“It’s simple, actually. There’s no way di Silva could have known that I was the man traveling with you. And even if there was, there’s absolutely no way he’d have access to my photograph.”
“Maybe he pulled it off his security cameras?”
“Hannah and Jason disabled them while I was inside the hacienda. And besides,” he said, looking down at the picture, “this was taken two years ago. At Sunderland. The only way this guy could have known that I was here—with you—is if someone from my organization told him.”
“So what are you saying?” she asked.
“That Nash was right. Someone on the inside is selling information. And it’s probably someone I know.”
CHAPTER 15
Eloy Afaro Air Base, Marto, Ecuador
I figure if Drake is making his way to Puerto Remo, he’ll head for the river and then use it to access the coast.” Avery used a light pen to trace the line of the Rio Negro as it wound its way down from the mountains. “Of course that’s only one of any number of potential routes.”
“Yes, but if possible, he’ll choose the most straightforward option,” Nash said, studying the map.
“Agreed.” Annie nodded. “But if di Silva’s men are in pursuit, he might avoid the river for exactly the same reason.”
“Bottom line is that we have no way of knowing where the hell he is.” Nash sighed. “Have we got any kind of intel?”
The three of them were holed up in a conference room at the air force base hospital. Tyler was still recuperating, waiting for the doctor’s official okay to travel. So they’d decided to meet here to finalize plans for Nash and Annie’s trip into Colombia.
“Not much,” Avery said. “If the Colombian government suspects, they aren’t talking. And we know di Silva isn’t going to want anyone knowing that his operations have been compromised.”
“It’s also possible that they don’t know Drake’s there, right?” Annie asked.
She’d arrived only hours before, coming without question when Avery had requested her help. Since Adam’s rescue, Annie had chosen to stay at home with her and Nash’s son, her need to be a mother overriding her desire to be part of the action. But this was different. Drake was their friend. And at the moment, Annie and Nash were the cavalry.
“Unfortunately, it’s looking more and more like they do.” Avery hit a button on his laptop and the map changed into a photograph of a couple of men Nash didn’t recognize. “This photograph was taken thirty-six hours ago. Outside the di Silva Coffee offices in Bogotá. The men are a couple of contract players. Paolo Montague and Alexander Petrov.”
“I’ve heard of Petrov,” Nash said, studying the man’s profile. “Wasn’t his name linked with the assassination of that French foreign minister in the Congo?”
“Yes.” Avery changed the slide to a new photograph, this one a close-up of Petrov. The man had the hardened look of a killer. “Nothing was ever proven, of course, but then Petrov’s known for his invisibility.”
“And Montague?” Annie asked. “I’m assuming he’s cut from the same cloth?”
“Yeah.” Avery switched to yet another picture, this one a close-up of Montague, his lips curling into a sneer. “He contracts out to whomever for whatever as long as the price is right. Only he’s a little pickier about the work. Word is that he’s the guy you call when you want to have someone taken out.”
“Have you seen him before?” Nash asked Annie. She’d spent her time in the CIA working as an assassin. And since it required a very specialized skill set, there was a tendency for operatives to know their counterparts, no matter whose side they were on.
“No.” Annie shook her head. “But I’ve been out of the game a long time. I’m guessing they’ve been called in to eliminate the problem?”
“Unfortunately, that seems to be the case. We’ve got solid evidence that Montague arrived in Buenaventura shortly after we were airlifted out, and anecdotal intel that Petrov’s also in the area.”
“They move fast.”
“Yes, well they’d have to, wouldn’t they? Di Silva is bound to know we’ll be trying to get to them as well. And they’d want to strike before we get there, if at all possible. Keep the odds in their favor.”
“So Drake and Madeline could be walking into an ambush,” Nash said, his jaw tightening in anger.
“It seems possible.” Avery nodded, his eyes reflecting Nash’s ire. “Although they’ll still have no idea where exactly Drake will be headed. We picked Puerto Remo specifically because it isn’t the kind of place one would choose for a rendezvous.”
“That should at least buy us some time,” Annie said. “What about di Silva’s men? Are they still in pursuit?”
“Yes. According to Hannah’s sources, we’ve got activity in the area near the explosion as well as sightings of men along the roads leading to Buenaventura.”
“And di Silva?” Nash asked.
“He’s still in Bogotá. Acting for all the world as if nothing’s amiss.”
“But, in reality, he’s got all the bases covered,” Nash noted. “At least the activity would indicate that di Silva doesn’t have Drake. No need to call in mercenaries if you’ve already captured the quarry.”
“True enough,” Annie mused, eyes narrowed as she considered the possibilities. “So is it possible Drake could already be on his way out?”
“No. If he’d made it to the safe house, we’d have heard.” Avery shook his head. “There’s a secure phone there. He’d know to use it first thing. Although it’s still possible that we’ll have heard from him by the time you get to Puerto Remo.”
“Which would make our job a heck of a lot easier,” Annie said. “But on the off chance that he’s not there, how do you want us to proceed?”
“If he’s not in Puerto Remo, then the primary objective is to figure out where the hell he is, and get him out. I figure the most likely scenario is that he’s still upriver, working his way toward the coast.”
“So we head in that direction, and hopefully intercept,” Nash said.
“Unless Montague and Petrov beat us to it.” Annie was still studying the photographs on the wall. “And we’re assuming of course that Drake isn’t alone. In all probability, he’s found Madeline.”
“I think the very fact that di Silva’s brought in
hired guns indicates that she’s still alive,” Avery said. “And if she is, then I think we can be fairly sure that Drake found her. And either way, di Silva’s got to know that if she makes it out of the country his entire operation will be blown. I mean, ostensibly anyone who controls Madeline has automatic leverage over di Silva.”
“Which is why he wants her dead.”
“Well, at least if she’s with Drake, she’s got a chance,” Nash said. “There’s no way he’ll go down without a fight.”
“And besides, it’s not like he’s out there waving a banner.” Annie shrugged. “They’ve got to find him before anything can happen. And I’m betting he’s not going to make that easy. He’s bound to know there’ll be someone looking for them, even if he doesn’t know specifically about Montague and Petrov. Which means he’ll be on his guard.”
“And hopefully this time tomorrow you’ll be on the ground ready to offer support when he surfaces.”
“What about you and Tyler?” Nash asked.
“She’s been cleared to leave, so we’ll head back to Sunderland. And as far as anyone knows, you’ve already left to meet Annie in the Caribbean for a little R&R. We need to do everything we can to foster the belief that we’re sticking to Langley’s directive.”
“I still don’t understand why they’d order you to leave a man behind,” Annie said, shaking her head. “Not to mention a valuable asset. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Politically, the relationship between our countries is tenuous at best. If the Colombian government finds out that we ran an operation against di Silva without their consent, there will be all kinds of trouble diplomatically.”
“So Drake gets sacrificed.” Nash crossed his arms, thinking that as always the price was too high.
“Well, we’re not going to let that happen.”
“I know. It just chaps me that the suits in D.C. expect us to deal with operations that nobody else wants to touch, but then when we get into trouble, they’re all about protecting their precious politics, the unit be damned.”
“It’s just part of the game. You knew the score when you came on board,” Avery said. “Hell, Annie knows firsthand what the cost can be.”
“And I also know that if it hadn’t been for you guys’ going off book to help me, I’d probably be sitting in a jail cell somewhere. Or worse—I’d be dead.” Annie’s somber gaze encompassed them both. “I don’t want that to happen to Drake.”
“It won’t—because we’re going to find him and bring him home,” Nash said.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Drake said, as he directed the boat down the river. They’d been lucky to find the damn thing. Montague had hidden it well, but with a little perseverance they’d found it concealed in the reeds behind the shed.
“I’m fine,” Madeline said.
“You’re sure?” he asked, his eyes following the shoreline as the skiff moved past. So far they’d seen no sign of anyone following them, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t somebody out there.
“More than fine,” she insisted with a bright little smile. “I mean, this is almost over, and I’ll be away from all of this.” She waved at the jungle, then her hand dropped back into her lap, and she sighed, her smile fading. “It’s just that so much has happened.”
“You’re talking about killing Montague. That’s what’s bothering you, right?”
“I didn’t have a choice.” She shrugged, but he could see the tension in her shoulders, the regret in her eyes. “It was him or you.”
“I’m glad you chose me.” His words were meant to reassure, but he knew there was nothing he could do to alleviate her pain. “I know it was necessary, but that doesn’t change the fact that you took a life. And that’s never easy. Particularly not the first time.”
“Except that it wasn’t the first time,” she said, still looking out at the passing landscape.
Silence held for a moment, the only sound the soft whoosh of the water and the birds calling from the trees.
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
“It was in Bogotá.” The words were barely above a whisper. He hadn’t really expected her to answer, but maybe there was something about being here on the run that made it easier to talk. To confess.
“What happened?”
“I told you I followed Jenny to Colombia. To try to get her to come home. To get help. But she was really far gone. We argued and she ran away. It took me about a week to find her. She was in this really run-down part of Bogotá. There were prostitutes and pushers. It was a nightmare.”
“I can imagine,” he said, wishing he could do something to make it easier for her, but also knowing that it was important for her to get it out.
“There was this building. An abandoned apartment building. It was like you see on television. People everywhere, shooting up, smoking crack. I’d brought a gun. But it didn’t really make me feel any safer.”
She swallowed once, then lifted her head, her gaze colliding with his. “Jenny was in a room on the second floor. And there was this man… he had her pinned to the wall, he was tearing at her clothes, and she was screaming for him to stop. I didn’t even stop to think. Jenny was so frightened. I just pulled out the gun and shot him.”
“You didn’t have a choice.”
“I know.” She nodded, her chin jutting out. “But after that it got complicated. I told Jenny to run, and she did, but before I could get out of the building the police came. The man I shot was a politician of some kind. I never worked out exactly who. I tried to tell them my side of the story but they wouldn’t listen.”
“And you wound up at San Mateo.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “You know about that?”
“It was in your profile. We didn’t know why you were there. Just that di Silva sprang you.”
“It was Ortiz, actually. He offered me my freedom in exchange for my going to work for him.”
“To pay off your sister’s debt. But it seems like there’d be easier ways to get his money back.”
“There was something more. Something unique I brought to the table. I had a relationship with a man who had information Ortiz wanted. I was working for Marton when I first went after Jenny.”
“Henri Marton, the former ambassador?”
“Yes. Ortiz wanted me to steal the documents he needed from Henri.”
“Using whatever tactics required,” Drake said, understanding dawning. “That’s what you meant when you called yourself di Silva’s whore.”
She nodded. “Only in truth it was Ortiz pulling the strings. And there were more men after Marton. But I did all of it to protect Jenny. And to get out of San Mateo. It was an awful place. I probably wouldn’t have survived at all if it hadn’t been for Andrés.”
“Andrés?” he repeated, curiosity roused.
“He was my friend,” she said, simply, a shadow passing across her face. “But friendships don’t work out so well in a maximum-security prison. So mostly I was on my own.”
“Couldn’t the American authorities help you?”
“I wasn’t given the chance. Apparently the man I shot had a lot of powerful friends. There wasn’t anything even resembling due process. Anyway, the point is I’ve been through all of this before. Shooting someone, I mean. And even though I regret taking a life, I’d do it all over again if it meant saving my sister—or saving you.”
She swallowed again and looked down at her hands, her teeth worrying her lower lip.
“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m really glad you came to my rescue.”
“You could have managed on your own, I’m sure,” she said, but her lips moved into a tiny smile, and he felt as if he’d just won some kind of prize. “The truth is that if I’d just stayed in Cypress Bluff, if I’d never left Jenny, none of this would be happening.”
“You can’t second-guess yourself like that. You did what you thought was right at the time. And that’s the best anyone can do.”
“Yeah, but you would
n’t have made a mistake like that.”
“The hell I wouldn’t have,” he said, his mind turning to Cass. He’d believed in her. Thought there was a future for the two of them. And all the while she’d been leading him down the proverbial path. And in the end he’d killed her. “I’ve done unspeakable things. And believe me, I’ve made more than my share of mistakes. And for what it’s worth, I’m sure wherever your sister is, she knows how much you loved her.”
“Do you believe in an afterlife?” she asked, her eyes hopeful.
He started to lie, then thought better of it. Somehow the moment demanded truth. “No. I don’t. In my line of work you see a hell of a lot of atrocities. And if there was really a God, surely he’d never let them happen.”
“But it’d be nice,” she whispered. “You know? A place where all the pain is gone. I want Jenny to have something better than she had here on earth.”
“She had you,” he said, his voice quiet. “And I think that probably meant more to her than you’ll ever know.”
“I hope that you’re right.” She sighed, pushing back her hair. “Did you ever tell your brother? How much he meant to you, I mean?”
“We were guys. We didn’t talk about stuff like that.”
“Not even after you grew up?”
“Especially then. But we didn’t know we were on borrowed time. You always think you have forever. And now, I guess I’m like you, I’d like to think his spirit is out there somewhere.”
“Maybe they’re together.” She smiled, the expression lighting up her face. “It’s a nice thought anyway. I bet they would have liked each other.”
“Maybe so,” Drake said, covering her hand with his, the gesture meant to be comforting. But instead he got lost in the warmth of her eyes, something igniting deep inside him, and somehow he knew that in this moment, on a rushing river in the middle of the rainforests of Colombia, something had changed and there’d be no going back.
CHAPTER 16
