Resurrection, page 10
part #1 of Redemption Harbor Series
“If this recording checks out…she’ll mean nothing to me, to my organization. No one will bother her.”
“You don’t need the vials of blood?”
He shook his head. So he’d already tested his father’s blood. And he had to know that his brother was behind it. Once David Ramirez heard what his brother had to say about wanting to rape his wife, among other nasty things, Colt had a feeling David would do more than simply put a bullet in Rafael’s head.
He’d make an example of him and make people fear him even more. “The flash drive will check out.”
Ramirez lifted his shoulder once. “Then she’s free.”
Colt looked him full in the eyes then. “If she dies, the CIA will come after you. They’ll wipe you and your entire compound off the face of the earth with a JDAM, just like they did with Gonzalez—and his entire family and crew. They’ll just let another asshole take over the region.”
Ramirez lifted a dark eyebrow. “You care about this doctor?”
He snorted. “You don’t get to kidnap one of our citizens with no repercussions. We’ve already set up a recording from her detailing her time in captivity with your cartel. If she dies, we’ll send it to all the news agencies anonymously. For now she’s not going to tell anyone who kidnapped her. We’re going to keep everything quiet and spin a story about her bravery and survival after a town was massacred. The town your brother took out. If she dies you can believe there will be a public uproar. An innocent doctor who gives of her skills and time freely in Third World countries is murdered by vicious cartel leader who has an American education—and a very beautiful American wife. The headlines write themselves. And the US government will have no choice but to retaliate because of the media shitstorm. Even narcos aren’t above media scrutiny. Not one like you, anyway. You have too many ties to the US.” Most of what he said was bullshit. At least at the moment. Because Colt was going to have Mary Grace make a recording and he was going to use that as insurance. And he would personally go after Ramirez if he ever tried to hurt her again.
Ramirez paused for a long moment, looking thoughtful. “The woman who rescued the doctor, she is with you?”
“She currently has your head in the sight of her rifle scope.” Sometimes you had to remind the monster who was in charge.
Ramirez stilled, his eyes going glacial.
“I told you I had backup. And before you go,” Colt continued. “I want you to understand something. If you go back on your word, they’ll take everything from you that matters.” Then he started reciting the addresses of the private schools Ramirez’s kids went to. It was beyond wrong, but sometimes when dealing with the monsters of the world you had to take on the role of one. Colt would never hurt children, but he needed to drive the point home. Because Ramirez was the kind of man who would go after an entire family if it was in his best interest.
Ramirez went completely immobile, red creeping up his neck as his eyes went molten with rage. “If you touch—”
“I’m not doing anything. I’m a simple messenger. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. No matter how insulated you think you are down here in Mexico, there’s always someone who can take away the people you care about. Take your life away. Always.” Standing, Colt straightened his shirt then strode away.
“One of his guys is tailing you… Nope, two,” Skye said as he rounded the fountain.
“I figured.” No way Ramirez would target him here though.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“I think he’s going to have his hands full taking over for his father, and going after one civilian will be a waste of his time and resources. Especially when he’ll be able to make an example of his brother and establish himself as a ruthless leader.”
“We should still make sure Mary Grace lies low for a few weeks, just to be safe.”
He liked the use of “we” but tried not to read into it. Skye was impossible to read and he still didn’t have a clue about her intentions after this. “I’m going to catch one of the trollies. I’ll meet you at our rendezvous point.” A place far outside town. He’d be able to lose a tail in the city, but the place they were supposed to meet at was rural enough that they’d notice anyone following them. He preferred to use main roads since the back ones were rife with narcos, but right now that wasn’t an option.
And in reality, he was more worried that Skye would bail on him and not meet at the rally point than concerned about Ramirez targeting him. They’d done what she set out to do and it would be damn easy for her to disappear again. She’d done it once and she had to know he’d never reveal the truth to the Agency.
He’d never betray her. Not for anything. Not even to keep her.
Chapter 10
—Some people just need a high five. In the head. With a golf club.—
With his feet kicked up on his lounge chair, the man now known as Terrence Pace stared at the report he’d just been sent from one of his many contacts around the world. Waves from the Pacific crashed in the distance, his California villa offering him the amount of privacy he enjoyed.
Frowning, he scanned the pertinent facts. The Ramirez cartel had been attacked two nights ago and it wasn’t by another cartel they were warring with.
Not that he particularly cared about any of the cartels, but he liked to keep an eye on any power players that might affect him. Even those who might not. Because the world was set up on dominoes and there had to be a certain structure. Even among cartels. Some kept regions more stable than others. The reason this report had his interest was because of the specific doctor who’d been thought dead but had been rescued, the amount of destruction, and the rumors that one person had been behind it all.
A woman.
The woman part wasn’t all that surprising. Women were just as vicious and conniving as men. And they could often get into places men couldn’t because of their pretty faces. It was why intelligence agencies all around the world utilized their expertise, and had since long before any women’s rights movements.
It was the amount of destruction, the use of C4 combined with the strategic setup that caught his eye. And the fact that all the stops had been pulled out to rescue this doctor. Whoever it was, someone had rescued Mary Grace Jackson—a doctor who at one time had been a potential target for him. And no one was taking responsibility for it. Hell, it hadn’t even hit the media. He only knew because he kept his ear to the ground. The doctor’s family hadn’t hired a kidnap negotiator—because everyone had assumed she was dead. Or he hadn’t been able to find any information that the husband had hired someone.
It was also strange that this rescue hadn’t hit the media. At all. The CIA and a few other US government agencies knew about it, that much he was certain. Yet no one knew—or no one was admitting they knew—who’d rescued the woman. Since this woman had been of semi-importance to an agenda he’d had at one time, he needed to look into this.
Especially since the type of skill set it would have taken to rescue someone the way this mystery woman had… That took serious training. He knew a handful of agents—male and female—who could pull that off.
One in particular who could have done it blindfolded. But she was dead. Or she’d led the world to believe she was. If Skye Arévalo had faked her death she’d done a damn good job of it. Because even he’d believed it. He’d been watching when she’d walked into that warehouse, when it had exploded into a ball of orangey flames.
Setting the report on the glass table next to him, he pulled one of his many cell phones out. “Get in touch with Rafael Ramirez,” he said when his contact, a go-between for criminals, answered. “I have some questions for him. Tell him I’m a weapons dealer. Pick one of my aliases. I don’t care what you have to say to set up a meeting.”
“Right away, sir.”
He ended the call, his gaze straying over the expansive lawn of the home owned by his alias, Terrence Pace. He had retirement accounts, and on paper appeared like a legitimate businessman. And that was the way he liked it. He also had more aliases just like this. Some were nothing more than paper with no property attached to them. He even had retirement accounts under his real name as well, with a pension that was much too small for the kind of life he deserved. All in all, Pace was one of his favorite aliases. And Rafael Ramirez would be a better choice to meet with than his brother now that David Ramirez had taken over the cartel.
Rafael was weak and psychotic on the best of days. Luckily it would be easy to stroke his ego and pull information from him. The fool wouldn’t even know he was digging for info.
He doubted that Skye was still alive, but the details and the identity of the rescued doctor bothered him. And he’d learned never to ignore his instincts. If Skye was somehow behind this, he’d make her pay for betraying him.
She’d stolen for him, and he’d been so close to getting what he wanted, to retire with millions upon millions. Too much to ever spend. He’d been siphoning off money from various places over the years, stockpiling weapons and untraceable funds—namely jewels—even when he’d been with the Agency. But stealing and then selling that bioweapon would have been his big score. The biggest. Because he’d had the perfect buyer lined up.
Then she’d died, taking his retirement plan with her. Since her death he’d been working toward finding someone else to steal what he needed. Unfortunately the only company who had what he wanted had increased their security a hundredfold.
So if he found out she was alive, that she’d wasted his time, his resources… He’d kill everyone she loved before he was finished with her. He’d make her watch, suffer until she was ready for death.
Chapter 11
—When life is tough, put on your boxing gloves.—
“This definitely isn’t one of the worst places I’ve stayed in.” Skye scanned the pay-by-the-hour motel, a half-smile on her gorgeous face.
“Definitely not the worst,” Colt agreed. They’d slept in tents, out in the jungle, and occasionally the desert. Overall he preferred the mountains if he had to sleep out in the open. “Glad to be on American soil.” Even if they’d only been just across the border. There was a certain feeling he got when he was on his home turf.
Skye shrugged noncommittally and he knew it was because for her, whatever threat she was running from didn’t end at a border.
Yeah, he was going to come back to that, but first he pulled out one of his burners and called Mercer. “You guys good?” he asked his buddy the second he picked up.
“Yeah. Hell, yeah. You’re going to be an uncle.”
Colt smiled at the pride he could hear in his friend’s voice. To think they’d almost lost Mary Grace. “I know.”
“And you better tell Skye I’m meeting her in person.”
Colt glanced at Skye, who was peeking out the plain beige curtain hanging in front of the window. It only had a few stains on one of the panels. Looked like coffee. Despite the mid-seventy degree weather of Corpus Christi, air was blowing out of the window air conditioner box, making the curtain ripple.
“Okay.” He didn’t want to ask how Mercer knew her name, for multiple reasons. Colt had been careful about not using her name, so Mary Grace hadn’t known it. And since Skye was clearly running from something, he didn’t want to talk about this over the phone, even if these were secure. Because the truth was, nothing was truly secure. Not unless you met in a SCIF—a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility.
“Savage thinks he knows who she is.”
“Ah.” Well that was interesting, and Colt wasn’t sure he liked that at all.
“So what’s the deal? We’re still in Texas. Where are you? Are you finally safe?”
“We are.”
“You in the same city as us?”
He really didn’t want to lie to his friend. But if he told him yes, Mercer would want them to meet with them. And Colt needed time with Skye alone first. “We’re close.”
“Fine, be vague… I’m hoping you have good news for us?”
“I think MG’s safe, but we won’t know for a few weeks. I’ll tell you all the details in person, but I think it should be okay to return home. Just…don’t stay in your house. In case Ramirez goes back on his word.”
Mercer let out a sigh of relief. “All right. You know where we’ll be, then.”
He did. Brooks had a few extra homes on his family’s massive spread of property, usually for the hands, who found it easier to live and work on site during cattle breeding season. But knowing Brooks, he’d have their friends staying right in the main house. He’d want them close, to be able to watch out for them.
“And I’ve got people running the restaurants. Not that I care. They’ve been doing it for the last couple months anyway. The only thing that matters is I’ve got my girl with me. And I’m not letting her out of my sight again. Thank you, Colt. For what you did. I… Hell, you get free pizza for life.”
He snorted at Mercer’s words. “I get free pizza already.”
“Maybe I’ll name my kid after you.”
“Not if it’s a girl!” Mary Grace’s voice was clear enough in the background that Colt figured she was probably sitting in Mercer’s lap.
“Yeah, if it’s a girl we’re naming her Skye,” Mercer said. “So when are you headed home?”
“I…don’t know.” He needed to figure out some things with Skye, then come up with a plan of attack for how they were going to face down whatever threat she was up against.
“Since you’ve given us the go-ahead, we’re all headed out tomorrow on the plane.” Meaning Brooks’s plane. “Come with us. Bring your girl too. It’s clear she’s dealing with some serious stuff from what Mary Grace told us. Let’s help her.”
“Mercer—”
“Don’t ‘Mercer’ me! We’re your friends. Hell, we’re your family. Now the woman who saved my wife’s life is family too—a woman you apparently love. Gage said he’d meet us at home as soon as we got there. He wanted to come here but I told him to hold off. And I’ve left a message with Leighton. Once I hear back, you know he’ll head home too. No more lone ranger bullshit, Colt. Come home.”
“I wouldn’t argue with him,” Mary Grace said in the background.
He’d always wanted to take Skye to his home, but never had the chance. “All right. We’ll be there. What airport are you flying out of?” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Skye straighten and look at him, but he ignored her. If he had to hogtie her, they’d both be there.
After giving Colt the name, Mercer said, “We’re planning to leave at ten. But we’ll wait for you.”
“Okay. I’ll call you in the morning. Watch your six.”
“You too.”
“Where are ‘we’ going to be?” Skye asked warily, stepping away from the window. She gave the flowered bedspread a dubious look, then sat at the small table close to the door instead.
“We’re headed back to Redemption Harbor tomorrow with my friends. And save it.” He shook his head, moving closer so that he was in between her and the door. “You’re coming even if I have to physically restrain you.”
Her gaze narrowed, but she didn’t shift from her seat. Just sighed, looking more exhausted than he’d ever seen her. “God, you’re so pigheaded. Can’t you just leave well enough alone?” she shouted at him, her jaw clenched tight.
“How about no? The woman I love—”
She jumped to her feet and then shoved him in the chest. “Shut the hell up with that love bullshit! I lied to you, I disappeared, you mourned because of me. You can’t love me. It makes no sense!”
“Wrong. I do.”
Her cheeks flushed even redder—purely from rage—as she faced off with him. “What the hell is the matter with you? I’m an asshole. You can’t love me.”
“I know you’re an asshole. And I still love you. Maybe I love you because of your asshole-ness.” He poked her once in the chest, knowing it would make her crazy, and hopefully bring her even closer to finally telling him what the hell was going on.
“There’s something wrong with you,” she snapped. “I’ve given you every reason to hate me. To just walk away and abandon me.”
Lifting his shoulders casually—and watching as the action pissed her off even more—he smiled. “Yet I don’t, and I won’t. Sounds like you’re the one with the problem. Maybe it’s because you think you’re unlovable?”
“Shut. Up.”
“No. I knew you loved me long before you could admit it. And that’s on you. You think you’re unlovable for some reason I’ll never understand. Good thing for the both of us I’ve got more than enough love for you.”
She practically flinched at the L word, always had. Then, instead of the wall he’d gotten used to with her, all her anger broke through. It was almost as if he could watch the wall crumbling around her, she was so pissed. “You are such…an annoying—”
“Loveable.”
“Frustrating—”
“Loveable.”
“Jackass of epic proportions! I want to throat punch you so bad right now.” Her hands balled into fists at her sides.
He tilted his head slightly to the side, surprised steam wasn’t coming out of her ears as he watched her. “I think you mean you want to fuck me,” he murmured.
“Argh!” She pulled a fist back and he moved fast, kicking the flimsy chair out of the way as he shoved her up against the wall, pinning her in place with his body.
“I’ll fuck you right here, right now, and you’ll love every second of it. But it’ll let you ignore what’s between us, let you ignore what you’ve been running from. So that’s not happening. If you want to go toe to toe with me, both of us will get hurt, but I guaran-fucking-tee that I will have you on that plane tomorrow. So get over your bullshit and tell me what you’re running from.”
