by Dana Marton
She leaned in for his suitcase, looked back over her shoulder with a smile, maybe to tell him that she too was Brazilian. Her mouth froze half-open. Her eyes narrowed for a second, then flashed with recognition. And then she moved, fast, but not as fast as the Taser.
Zwak!
She toppled into the trunk, twitching for just a second or two before she went limp.
He scooped in her legs, then slammed down the lid. The next second, he was behind the wheel. The second after that, they were gone.
“For you, Marcos,” Eduardo said as he drove down the boulevard. “I will avenge you. I am a good brother.”
He had the bait. Now he just had to set the trap.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ian
Ian whistled as he walked to his car. Okay, maybe he swaggered more than he walked. His phone pinged with a text message from Daniela.
And the next instant, the bubble of happiness popped. The goofy-ass grin he’d been wearing all morning slid off his face as he read the screen.
The first text was an address, followed by, Come alone or the girl dies.
He dialed her immediately. The call rang and rang, but she didn’t pick up. This was not something she would joke with. Not her. She’d been in plenty of danger; she wouldn’t make a game of it. She didn’t think danger was fun, like someone who’d had a safe life and played with danger for adrenaline. She didn’t even like roller coasters.
Worry gutted him in an instant, cutting him to shreds. Hot fury built him back up. Nobody was going to touch Daniela. Nobody.
He slammed into his car, put the address into the GPS, and peeled out of the gas station.
Who would take her?
She hadn’t been taken for money. Ian didn’t have any. He’d spent his saved-up combat pay on Daniela’s college tuition. He’d donated Linda’s life insurance to an organization that helped young mothers with postpartum depression.
She’d been taken by someone who wanted to hurt Ian. Maybe even by someone who wanted to hurt her too.
His mind raced.
The only case they’d worked together had been Lila Heyerdahl’s in Brazil. Another kidnapping. But Ian shook his head even as he thought of Carol and Essie—both in prison.
Marcos Morais was dead.
Because his father was so high profile, Marcos’s death had made the Brazilian news. Ian had kept track.
But Goat Man? Since Ian never knew his name, he couldn’t be certain what happened to him, couldn’t follow up.
Ian had a feeling he was about to meet the bastard. Acid bubbled in his stomach at the thought that Daniela had met him already.
In twenty minutes, he was in one of the worst neighborhoods of the city: graffiti, broken windows, cracked sidewalks overgrown with weeds, abandoned houses.
The GPS led him to a boarded-up store.
Padlocked front. He went around and checked the back, found a window that had been busted.
He cursed himself for not having his gun, but he’d only run out to pick up flowers for Daniela, stopped to put gas in his car on the way.
At least he had Finch’s pocketknife. At a minimum, Ian always carried a knife and a lighter, basic emergency preparedness he’d kept up from his army days. He pulled the knife, opened it, had the blade ready, but hidden by his side.
The sun blinded him, reflecting off the whitewashed bricks. The inside of the building gaped dark. He peered in through the broken window, keeping his body to the side, in cover. Looming shadows waited in there, a bunch of dusty shelving.
Whoever hid inside would be able to easily see Ian’s head outlined against the light. Could shoot him if he wanted. He had to be standing ready, had to have heard Ian pull up in the front. No element of surprise.
So Ian called in, “Whatever you want from me, I’ll give it to you. Just let her go right now.”
And a heavily accented voice called out, “Come in.”
The voice came maybe a few feet from the window, to Ian’s left, from behind tall shelving draped with plastic.
Ian stepped in but didn’t stop. He ducked and rolled in the opposite direction, and as he heard something crackle and buzz by him, he pushed to his feet the next second in a fight-ready stance.
He smelled mold and dust and rats.
He could see the guy now, around five-eight, thick waist. The Taser in his hand would take time to recharge.
Ian took the opportunity and lunged forward.
The little bastard was fast. He skittered back and knocked a shelf over, right on top of Ian. By the time Ian fought through that obstacle, the man had disappeared.
Too much tall shelving and other furniture cluttered the room, too dark to see.
“Daniela!” Ian shouted.
But instead of Daniela, the little bastard responded, “I have her gagged. But I’m going to take the gag out now, so when I cut her, you can hear her scream.”
Ian eased toward the voice as quickly and quietly as he could. “Why?”
His eyes were adjusting to the lack of light at last, so he avoided tripping over a wooden crate.
“For Marcos Morais, my brother.”
Somewhere ahead and to the right, Daniela gave a muffled, pained groan, as if she’d been hurt but was refusing to scream.
“If you hurt her,” Ian called out, “so help me God, what I’ll do to you will make your brother’s death look like a picnic.”
“Such love, and for a puta like her,” the man mocked. “Love her enough to take her place?”
“Yes.” Ian stepped out of the cover of the last shelf, and then he could see Daniela at last. He kept his breathing controlled. Kept his fury cold. No mistakes.
The man had her tied to an old furnace. He had a knife at her throat. A line of blood stretched from her ear to her collarbone, nearly black in the dark. A thin line. Not a deep cut. The Goat Man was playing. For now.
“Drop your knife,” he said.
Ian did.
“Go over there.” Morais nodded toward radiator pipes against the wall about twenty feet from him.
Ian followed his instruction.
A handful of plastic ties waited for him on the ground. Looked like the bastard had come prepared.
“Tie yourself to the pipes.”
“You cut her loose, I tie myself up. That’s the deal.”
The man pressed his knife against Daniela’s throat. “You tie yourself first.”
She didn’t whimper. Her eyes showed no fear, only resolution. She was ready. And Ian trusted her. So he tied one hand to the pipe.
“You let her go, I’ll tie the other hand.” Not that he could, one-handed.
But the guy didn’t seem to be thinking that far ahead—maybe he’d always had others to do his dirty business for him before. He cut Daniela loose. Or almost loose. He grabbed her by the wrist, shooting a triumphant look at Ian.
Ian just shook his head.
Even as he did, Daniela lunged into action.
With a kick to the chest, she knocked Morais back. He tried to grab for her again. She twisted like an eel. He caught nothing but air.
Rage reddened his face as he wielded the sharp blade. “Puta!”
He’d vastly underestimated her. Ian almost felt sorry for the bastard.
Daniela kicked up toward the guy’s neck, hooking her foot around his nape and yanking down, putting the man on his knees. She mixed the military techniques Ian had taught her with capoeira. She certainly was a pleasure to watch in action.
The guy struggled up, but only barely. Only because Daniela was playing with him.
Ian pulled the lighter from his pocket with his free hand and melted the plastic tie that still restrained the other one. Four seconds, and he was free. But he wasn’t needed.
Daniela kicked the guy’s ass with beautiful efficiency, her moves as choreographed as a dance. If this was an action movie, the shot would have been slowed down so the audience could fully enjoy it.
Goat Man moaned as his nose broke with a c
runch. But he didn’t give up fighting. He still had the knife. And Daniela faltered, as if her knee went out. Goat Man charged her.
Ian stepped between them. Four years ago, he would have let himself get nicked just to feel something. Now he shifted to the side and, elbow to the back of the guy’s neck, sent Morais sprawling.
The man was on his stomach on the ground, his nose bleeding. Then he rolled and came up again, spitting blood as he did.
Ian had to give him credit, he did know how to fight. But Ian had no patience for this. He wanted to make sure Daniela was okay. He stepped in, deflected the knife, and his uppercut sent Goat Man flying across the room, sending up a cloud of dust when he landed.
Daniela headed over, flipped him on his stomach, twisted his right arm behind his back, and took control of the knife at last. “He only got me tied up,” she told Ian with an apologetic look over her shoulder, “because I was out of it. He tasered me.”
“I figured something like that.” Probably her knee had buckled for the same reason. Muscles got twitchy after a shot of that kind of electricity. “I didn’t step in because I thought you couldn’t handle him. I just didn’t want to waste any time here. We have better things to do.”
He pulled his phone and called the police. The sooner they got here, the better. Before he gave in to the temptation to do something regrettable. Not that he’d regret stepping on the guy’s neck, but he didn’t want his time with Daniela to be restricted to prison visits.
Thank God she was safe.
He burned to get in a few more punches, but Daniela had already broken the guy’s nose. Too much more damage, and they’d spend the rest of the day at the police precinct answering questions.
Ian tied the man’s hands behind his back with a plastic tie while the guy swore steadily in Portuguese.
“Thank God we’re not partners anymore at CPRU,” Ian grumbled at Daniela. “I’d never see any action. When you kick ass like that, I feel superfluous.”
“Next time I get kidnapped, when you arrive to rescue me, I’ll fall into a dead faint.”
“I’d appreciate it.” Ian glanced at Morais, who was shooting them looks that burned with hate, breathing noisily through his mouth. Ian gave the man a speculative look. “He could escape his restraints, and then we’d have to catch him again.”
Morais folded to the ground with a groan and stayed there. Police sirens wailed in the distance.
Ian grunted. “And there goes the universe, conspiring to suck every drop of fun out of my day.”
* * *
Daniela
Daniela was looking at the cut on her neck in the bathroom mirror when Ian walked in.
“Naked. In the shower.”
She cast him a quick glance over her shoulder but began stripping.
They were back in Ian’s apartment after having spent the last two hours at the police station.
Eduardo had been so incensed by his capture, he was screaming threats, admitting to the kidnapping, even bragging about killing Finch. The police had it all on tape. Eduardo wasn’t going to see the outside of a prison again.
Daniela shed the last piece of her clothing and stepped into the shower. Ian was right behind her. She barely had time to turn on the water before she was pushed against the wall, her back to the tile, and Ian was lifting her legs, wrapping them around his waist.
Her body immediately flooded with desire, her voice breathless as she said, “What happened to going slow and barely daring to touch me? What happened to me being a fragile flower?”
“You’re not fragile.”
“Thanks for noticing.”
He covered himself with protection and pressed against her. His eyes filled with raw emotion. “I need you now.”
“I need you too.” She tilted her hips, and then he pushed inside. She was ready for him, wanting him so much, her eyes were rolling back in her head.
“Marry me.”
Now he asked her? She couldn’t speak. He awoke her body like no other man could. And he did it by touching her heart before he touched anything else.
Their bodies melded together, every move needed and perfect.
She hadn’t known that making love would be like this, could be like this. The way he worshipped her body erased the dark memories of her past. And when she saw herself reflected in his loving eyes, she could see herself as someone good, as good as everyone else.
He held her effortlessly. Took her higher and higher.
The deep, primal connection stole her breath. She kissed him with all her heart, all her soul, and wanted the moment to never end.
They marked each other, claimed each other. And her heart soared.
More. She wanted more. Closer.
She moved against him.
He groaned, the sound rumbling up from deep inside his chest. And he gave her everything she needed, drove into her until she couldn’t breathe.
Then they were spiraling into bliss.
Much later, when they lay on the bed in each other’s arms, the phone rang in the living room, the landline. No way could she walk. She was spent. And Ian didn’t look like he was getting up either.
The answering machine picked up.
“Hi, Ian,” a familiar voice said. “This is Carmen Heyerdahl. Phil and I wanted to invite you and Daniela to Lila’s christening. It’ll be at my parents’ church in Philadelphia on Easter Sunday. I don’t have your address, just your phone, so I couldn’t send an invite. I’m calling because we’re hoping you could save the date for us. We’d love for you to be here.” She left a number for them to call back, then the message ended.
Ian grinned. “Let’s go up to Philly and see Lila. I bet she’s grown like you wouldn’t believe.”
Daniela grinned back. “I bet she’s talking.” She held Ian’s gaze. “Let’s go, and while we’re up there, we can invite Carmen and Phil to the wedding.”
He turned serious. “Are you saying yes?”
“I’m saying, let’s be partners forever.”
He made a contented jaguar sound—a deep rumbling purr—and was rolling her under him before she had a chance to tease him about it.
“Let’s celebrate.” Ian kissed her, the kiss deep and searching. Cherishing. Mind melting. Then he whispered against her lips, “We’re going to be together forever, and there’s not one thing wrong with that. Everything about this is right.”
Oh, finally! Daniela kissed him back, floating on the great river of happy. Maybe there were rapids up ahead, maybe they’d get battered and bruised yet, but they were in the water together, and they were never going to let go of each other.
“Tell me how much you love me,” she whispered against his lips.
He nibbled his way down to her collarbone. Then lower. “I love you more than piranhas love chicken wings.”
THE END
A quick note from the author...
Thank you so much for going on this adventure with me into Daniela and Ian’s world! I cannot tell you how much I love these characters. I hope you enjoyed getting to know them.
CUT SCENE: Originally, I had one more scene at the end of the book, but I cut it because after dealing with some difficult issues, I wanted to leave the story on a funny, light-hearted note and I loved Ian’s piranha line. However, if you’d like to read the cut scene, I’d be happy to send it to you completely FREE. Just let me know: here.
If you haven’t read the other two books in the series, FORCED DISAPPEARANCE and FLASH FIRE, please check them out. And if you’re curious how the Civilian Personnel Recovery Unit (where Ian works) was formed, you can read about it in AGENTS UNDER FIRE.
Thank you so much for reading my stories!!! Thank you for being friends online and for all the wonderful emails you send. And thank you for the reviews! Online reviews make a HUGE difference for authors.
Some advertising venues won’t accept a book now until it has a certain number of reviews. So if you have a moment, could I ask for a review on this book on Amazon? Even if you h
ave time only for a sentence or two, it’d make such a big difference to me. Pretty please? THANK YOU!!!
Wishing you all the best,
Dana
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Table of Contents
Girl in the Water
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
