Attie had built a strong case against Santiago but the price she had to pay made it null and void. Seth had paid with his life and Attie was still paying.
No one knew what had gone on behind closed doors, so to speak, or what Attie had to do to gather evidence, and she made sure no one knew now. Her reports had only included the details of her mission and intel she gathered. Nothing personal. Seeing her tonight made him want to know the personal stuff. More than her imprisonment haunted her. The realization only made him want to rid the world of Carlos Santiago even more. His trigger finger itched to have Santiago in his sights. This particular nightmare needed to be put to rest so Attie could put her past to rest.
A strong wind blew through the opening of the cave, brushing the bare skin of his arms. Noah welcomed the cold, letting it douse emotions that rarely traveled close to the surface, but when it came to the mission gone wrong six months ago he couldn’t help it. He was partly responsible for what had gone down and he fully intended to make it right. He would take responsibility for sending Seth in without communicating with Attie first. But, her calls had gotten so sparse he couldn’t wait. Not when his gut was screaming at him to act.
He’d done the right thing, dammit. And Attie was just going to have to accept that.
Chapter 5
Her anger wouldn’t let her sleep.
Frustrated, she flopped onto her back. She resisted touching a hand to her swollen lips. Her body thrummed. No man had ever evoked this kind of response in her. Why Noah? She hadn’t been interested in a relationship with any of her other fellow agents. Not even Rogan St. Klare, a real live walking Adonis who turned heads whenever he walked into a room. His buff, beach bum look had certainly turned her head. To her he was a fellow agent. She’d managed to keep her relationships strictly professional until Noah.
Oh, who was she fooling? Most of the men she had worked with were good looking. And not one of them made her heart pound like Noah did. She’d kept things professional, but it was always there in the back of her mind. Tormenting her.
Attie squeezed her eyes shut.
Not one used to worrying about vanity, she found herself wondering what Noah would think if he’d seen her naked. Dangerous thoughts she couldn’t stop. During her imprisonment Carlos had tortured her and she bore the scars, mostly internal, but a few remained outside, visible only to a lover. If she ever took a lover he would ask about them and she was in no position to explain. The scars were a part of her past she didn’t talk about.
Too exhausted to think about this, she sighed. Tonight she had revealed more to Noah than she’d intended, but once she’d started she hadn’t been able to stop. She had been holding it inside for so long it refused to be silenced. And now it stood between them like a stone wall. She had always believed honesty was the best policy, but she hadn’t been ready to be forthright with Noah. Wasn’t prepared for him to know the truth. The truth in this case had led to something much more dangerous.
She sighed again and rolled over to face the mouth of the cave. Noah had moved into the entryway. He knew her well. Better than she cared to admit. If she didn’t try and get some rest she’d be useless when they met up with Carlos tomorrow. Willing herself to relax and forget the heated kiss they had shared, she let herself drift.
And prayed for tonight she’d only have one nightmare.
* * * *
Noah came awake with the hairs on the back of his neck bristling. He laid perfectly still, listening and looking out the mouth of the cave for signs of movement. His thoughts jumped to Attie. Was she having another nightmare? Rain still fell in a fine mist but the storm had passed.
He didn’t hear anything from inside the cave, but his senses were on alert, a feeling he never ignored. Something was out there. Noticing Attie had slept with the light on, he moved stealthily down the cave to douse it.
His hand was on the knob when Attie asked, “What is it?”
Noah glanced down to find her watching him, wide awake, yet she still looked tired. Did she ever truly sleep or did the nightmares keep her up every night?
He turned out the light and heard her sharp, indrawn breath.
“What the hell are you doing?” she hissed. She moved in the darkness, the zipper of her sleeping bag going down.
“There’s something out there.”
Her movements stopped.
“Santiago?”
“Maybe. Can you pack quickly?” He knew she could pack in the dark. They had been trained to function in all elements against all odds. Often on a mission circumstances were less than perfect and they were forced to improvise.
Silence. Was she okay? She had maneuvered in the dark in the past and never seemed to mind.
“I have a small penlight, I’ll keep it hidden. You go find out what’s out there.”
She sounded breathless, but an unmistakable warning in her voice prevented him from pressing her. Lack of confidence didn’t prevent her from doing what he knew she could; something else did. Attie had always had an abundance of confidence. This hesitation he didn’t understand, but he let it go. Other matters needed his attention.
“Move fast,” he said before disappearing into the entryway to resume his position. They needed to be prepared for anything. Santiago could be closer than they thought. Noah had no proof Santiago would be waiting at the predestined coordinates. They could walk into a trap at any minute and they needed to be ready. Underestimating Santiago would be a lethal mistake.
Sig in hand, Noah lowered himself onto his stomach and searched the early morning light for signs of movement. The rain had stopped, but there was still an uncomfortable chill in the air.
It didn’t take him long to figure out what lingered in the shadows. By the time Attie joined him, fully dressed and weapon in hand, he had counted four men coming toward them through the trees. They didn’t try to conceal themselves and were armed to the teeth.
Attie saw them too, because she muttered something about armed escort as she raised her gun and took aim.
“Put your gun down, Attie, we both know who these men are.”
She didn’t take her eyes off them. “That’s exactly the reason I’m not putting it down,” she said. “Shouldn’t you be leaving? We don’t want Carlos to know you’re here. The armed escort is for me now that he knows what I am—was.” Brendan’s call had alerted them that Santiago had managed to find out who Attie worked for—not an easy task with ATCOM’s security, but obviously not impossible. It proved how connected he was.
Rogan was working on the security breach, since he’d designed the security system that kept ATCOM agents’ identities protected. No one wanted to believe a mole was among them, didn’t even know where to start looking if it turned out to be true. Becoming an agent was a long, grueling process. Not one stone in a recruit’s life was left unturned. Any past transgressions would be uncovered. No matter how classified it might be.
“I’m not going anywhere. My guess, they already know I’m here.”
“You think they’ve been following us?”
Noah nodded. He couldn’t be sure, but he’d had the sense more than once over the past day that they were being watched. In Santiago’s shoes, he’d want to know where his enemy was at all times too. Fine. His job was to get inside, locate Brendan, dispose of the enemy and get them to the rendezvous point for extraction. On a more personal note, he wanted Santiago to know he would have to go through him in order to get to Attie and it would be over his dead body that it would happen.
Attie scoffed. “Of course Carlos knows. He knew we were here the instant we were inserted, I guarantee it. This tells us we’re close.”
“I agree.” He glanced at her as the men drew closer.
She met his gaze.
“You ready for this?” he asked quietly. There was no going back now.
Attie’s gaze didn’t waver, but her cat-eyes told all. She would do whatever it took, but she was terrified. It punched Noah in the chest. He wanted to hide her from
Santiago. Protect her. Kiss her.
“I’m ready.”
Four men approached the mouth of the cave.
* * * *
“Atalanta Devayne. You’re to come with us.”
Before Attie could respond, they tore her Sig from her hand. Noah allowed his to be confiscated.
“Out,” the same man ordered, the tip of his AK47 pressed against her forehead, the cold steel numbing her skin.
Attie hesitated.
“Go,” Noah whispered beside her.
Attie crawled out of the cave and stood. A gun pressed to her temple as Noah climbed out behind her. Their packs were taken off and rifled through, their weapons commandeered.
The leader of the group turned to Noah. “Your name?”
“Wade Deason,” Noah answered, using an undercover persona he’d once used with her on a mission in Azbakastan. If Santiago checked it out he would discover Wade Deason was a legitimate weapons dealer with worldwide connections.
The man narrowed his gaze and turned to Attie. “Is this true?”
“Yes.”
The leader stepped back after sending her one last, promising look and issued orders in Spanish to his cohorts. Within minutes Attie and Noah had their packs back on and their hands bound. They were body searched for weapons and Attie gritted her teeth as hands searched places she couldn’t possibly have a weapon. To her relief they didn’t find the knife concealed in her boot, a little trick Noah had taught her in the academy.
“Move,” the leader ordered once the search was over.
At gunpoint, they were herded up the mountain, the ground uneven beneath their feet as they climbed. Attie stumbled, almost falling to her knees, but Noah steadied her with bound hands to her elbow and kept her upright. She regained her footing and continued on after being nudged in the shoulder by one of the Uzis.
They traveled through the day, the fog lifting, but without the sun to warm them. The temperature remained cool as they climbed with slow progress, stopping only briefly for a rest. No one spoke and the heavy blanket of silence quickly got on her nerves.
Exhausted and soaked to the skin, Attie pushed a strand of stiff hair off her cheek with the back of her hands. Her feet were numb and her body ached from exertion. They had been climbing steadily upward for hours and it was taking its toll. The few breaks they had taken hadn’t been long and the water allowed didn’t go far. She stared longingly at the canteen hanging around her captor’s neck, causing her to miss a step and stumble into Noah’s shoulder. The tip of an Uzi nudged her between the shoulders. She was really getting tired of being pushed with that damn weapon. How satisfying to shove that Uzi up his—
Noah bumped into her, knocking her off balance. She stumbled sideways a step before righting herself, and glared at him. He sent her a look that warned her to play it cool. The look she sent him was every bit as clear as his. She was nearing the end of her patience. But something in his eyes calmed her frazzled nerves and gave her the strength to go on without losing her temper.
Sighing, she trudged on.
* * * *
Noah knew Attie was close to snapping. Every time they pushed her along, her mouth tightened into a thinner line and her shoulders grew stiffer. He could see the exhaustion in the dark circles around her eyes and in her heavy step. It had been a long time since she’d been in the field. She wasn’t conditioned. But she didn’t complain or slow down, just kept plugging along and getting angrier the more tired she got.
They were at the mercy of Santiago. Everyone feared the unknown, and right now they knew very little. He could see the strain in her movements and the tight line of her mouth. Much more of this and she was going to lose her temper.
“Are we even remotely close to wherever it is you’re taking us?” Attie asked, her tone reflecting her mood.
She received a forceful shove in response.
Out of the corner of his eye Noah watched her jaw clench hard enough to break a molar. He didn’t need her flying off the handle and causing trouble, but if this guy didn’t stop pushing her she was going to and it wouldn’t be good for any of them. Silently, he willed her to behave.
Of course she didn’t.
“I’m talking to you.” She addressed the leader walking just in front of them. He ignored her as the Uzi shoved her forward.
Attie spun around and drove the heel of her boot into the thug’s stomach before Noah could stop her. The air left his lungs in a whoosh as he doubled over, caught completely off guard by her attack. She bypassed the Uzi and brought her bound hands down on his shoulder, her anger and frayed nerves driving the man down hard. He fell to his knees as the leader spun around to see what was happening. Two weapons pressed against Noah’s head to prevent his interference. He could only stand there and watch as one of the thugs grabbed Attie from behind in a bear hug, trapping her arms at her sides and lifting her feet off the ground. He squeezed tight.
The man she had attacked moved in front of her with a murderous expression. He leaned in closer, his lips turned back in a sneer. “Not the docile one anymore, are you?”
Attie raised her chin in defiance. “I never was.”
The blow to her jaw came hard and fast and knocked her out cold. Noah clenched his jaw and forced himself to take his own advice and play it cool even though he wanted to wrap his hands around the bastard’s throat.
The thug holding her was still squeezing even though she was slumped in his arms like a rag doll. The leader of the group stomped over to the one who rubbed his knuckles and began yelling and waving his arms angrily.
Noah turned his gaze to the man holding Attie. “Hey,” he said, “hurt her anymore and you’ll answer to me.”
Anger flashed in the other man’s eyes, followed by wariness. Although Noah spoke in a nonchalant tone his underlying warning should not be taken lightly.
When the leader finished reprimanding his man, he turned to Noah. “Carry her.”
One of the men cut the ropes binding Noah’s hands. “Try anything and you’ll be shot on sight.”
Noah gave a brief nod of understanding as Attie was thrust into his arms. He cradled her against his chest, tucking her head into his shoulder. The involuntary rest would be good for her. She needed her strength for what lie ahead. He could go a long time without rest, but she couldn’t anymore.
He had trained in some of the most grueling environments under the most intense conditions as a SEAL. That training would get him through. He could carry Attie the entire way if she’d let him.
The swelling on her jaw was quickly turning into a bruise. Her face was pale except for two red spots on her cheeks from the wind and cold. The last time he’d held her like this had been in South America when he led a team in to rescue her. The memory made him hold tighter.
Noah’s legs moved of their own accord—he was lost in the memory of when he found Attie in that foul smelling hellhole beneath Santiago’s estate. The rooms had been cleverly hidden and if not for St. Klare’s computer hacking skills they never would have known they were there.
Seeing her like that had been harder than anything he’d ever done. He’d wanted to destroy Santiago and every inch of his estate. And had. Kyle Brandt, their explosives expert, had laid the property to waste.
They hadn’t gotten Santiago. Somehow the bastard escaped during the battle. But they had put a major monkey wrench in his operation. Watching Santiago’s poppy fields burn had soothed the pain, but not enough to forget the need for revenge they all felt that day. They had lost an agent. Expressions had been grim as they watched MacGregor try to keep Attie alive until they got her to the hospital hidden in ATCOM’s underground base.
Looking down, he vowed to never let Santiago hurt Attie like that again.
* * * *
Attie opened her eyes with a groan. Sitting up, she blinked against the pain in her head and looked over to see Noah sitting beside her, his thigh flush with hers, his bound hands resting on a bent knee. She tried to read his expression,
but couldn’t, as usual. If he noticed her staring at him he ignored it and continued to stare ahead at the Uzis pointed at their heads. He appeared relaxed and at ease, but she could feel the taut muscles in his thigh and noticed a muscle working in his jaw. Stubble dusted his jaw and he had put his skullcap back on, making him look more savage than agent.
She began to ask him how long she’d been out, but their captor spoke first. “Ah, sleeping beauty awakes. Just in time. We’ve arrived.”
Attie looked ahead of her, seeing nothing but a mountain peak. Dense trees surrounded them. Otherwise she couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, no buildings or cabins.
“Arrived where?” she asked.
“At your personal hell.”
Attie scoffed. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’ve been there and, trust me, this isn’t it.”
Out the corner of her eye she saw a muscle flex in Noah’s jaw.
“We’ll see. Let’s move.”
They were hauled to their feet and shoved toward the rock wall looming in front of them. As they approached she frowned, wondering just where they were going.
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than the mountain wall suddenly opened up to allow them entrance. Attie gaped, glancing at Noah to see if it was real or an illusion. He met her gaze with a look of wary surprise.
The mountain had indeed just opened up like something out a sci-fi movie. Attie stopped, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.
“Keep moving,” the leader barked, but this time no one nudged her along.
A chill swept over her as they walked inside the mountain and the wall magically closed behind them with barely a whisper. To her disbelief, they stood in a well-lit corridor with a door at the opposite end. If she didn’t know better she would assume they’d just entered someone’s home. It felt wrong and made her want to run. But there was nowhere to run. The door that had shut behind them had no handles or hinges.
The Maze (ATCOM) Page 5
