At Any Cost (34 page)

She held his eyes, searching them for strength. "Promise?"

Dan didn't want to lie to her. He couldn't promise something like that, he didn't even know why he said it. But seeing her look up at him, anticipating his promise to her, he couldn't let her down. He kissed her. "I promise."

He left her standing alone in her room. He could tell she wanted to say more to him, and Dan would have gladly stayed with her all night, but he couldn't risk it. Closing the door behind him, he started back toward the staircase.

He'd made it to the second stair when a noise caught his attention. Mercado's door opened. Dan hurried the rest of the way up the stairs and leaned against the door to listen in on Mercado and his mistress.

Mercado spoke first. "It is always a great pleasure to do business with you, Alejandra. I hope the four million US dollars is adequate proof that I am serious about my purchase."

"As long as we get the heroin tomorrow."

"
Sí.
And as long as I see a demonstration of the weapon."

"Of course. But make sure the drugs are there. There are plenty of buyers out there, and most are not happy you were chosen as the successful bidder. They were all willing to pay the full amount in cash. We are taking a big risk allowing you to pay us in heroin. But Jason wants this done his way."

"The amount of money you will receive from the shipment will more than make up for your troubles."

"If the drugs aren't there, the deal is off. The other bidders will know you were not a serious buyer. They will not be pleased."

"Of course. Please, do not worry. Good night, Alejandra."

Dan's heart froze along with all of his senses. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move. Holy shit. He knew that voice. But it couldn't be. She was dead. Slowly, he lowered his head enough to peek down below the cover for the stairs.

The shock of who he saw standing there talking to Mercado robbed him of whatever feeling he had left in his body. The air left his lungs. It was her.

Raven
.

JT stood at the door, listening for Mercado to leave his room. She'd just accidentally bump into him and drop the earrings in the coat pocket of whatever ridiculous white suit he wore that day. To ensure she kept his attention long enough to find his pocket, she had the dental floss bikini back on.

It was only seven in the morning, but JT wanted to make sure she caught him. If he planned to meet Peck sometime today, she had to get those earrings in his pocket.

His door opened and JT turned her head. He emerged, dressed exactly as she expected him to be. Instead of turning to go down the hall past her room, he turned and went the opposite way. She bit the inside of her lip. Damn. On to Plan B. Or would this be Plan C? D? E?

Hurrying to catch up to him as best she could in painful heels, she didn't expect him to stop. When he did, she didn't and slammed into his back. The earrings went flying out of her hands and down the hall. JT tried to grab them, twisted her ankle, and went down.

"Miss Jessica?" He looked at her sprawled out on the floor at his feet. She accepted his hand to help her up, blowing hair out of her face and praying her humiliation didn't show in her eyes. She took her hand back and looked beyond him, at one earring directly behind him and the other clear across the hall at the top of the stairs.

"Sorry. I was just trying to catch you."

He spiked his brow, eyeing her slowly. "You want me?"

Her skin crawled as this man eyed her. She swallowed and gave him her best smile to cover her disgust. "I thought more about it, and as your woman, I should be by your side."

"I like the sound of that."

Oh hell. Her stomach turned. As she took a step toward him, her heart started to throb in her ears. She could do this. For NASSD. For her country.

For her Uncle Charlie.

"For starters," she started, her voice low and sultry. Playing with the string of her bikini top, she batted her eyes at him. "We should get to know each other. I want to spend the day with you. Go where you go. Do what you do."

He turned so that he faced her. With his lips pulling into a slimy grin, he brought his hands up to her bikini top. Slowly, torturously, he untied her top, his eyes never leaving her chest. He pulled the top away, exposing her breasts. They puckered as the cold air hit them. When Mercado covered them with his hands, she shivered in revulsion.

"I see how you want me. Your body quivers to my touch." He stepped toward her and brought his lips to her neck. JT wanted to scream as he traced her collarbone with his tongue. "As my woman, your place is beside me. But only in my bed, not in my work."

He squeezed and painfully mashed her breasts. His kisses on her neck and shoulder hurt as well. He even squeezed over her bandage. He used his teeth and aggressively bit down on her bad shoulder. She cried out in pain and surprise, and struggled to get away. It only caused him to grope her breasts with brutal strength. He dug into her shoulder, ripping her bandage off and tearing at her scab. He gnawed at her scab, chewed on her flesh, sucking on her blood like a fucking vampire. The blood slowly descended down her arm. He bit her over and over, painfully sinking his teeth into her skin. Her shoulder. Her neck. And then her breast.

She struggled. She cried. She even screamed. The psycho was actually being literal when he said he wanted to feast on her. "Oh my God! What are you doing?"

Her pleas seemed to excite him. "
Sí
. Cry for me, my passion. I shall make you beg for me to stop."

She
did
want him to stop.
Now
. Her hands were shaking as she grabbed handfuls of hair and jerked his head back, exposing her neck to him. He looked at her and flashed the most frighteningly evil smirk JT had ever seen. And in his teeth, she saw blood.

Her blood.

"The taste of your blood is thrilling. I can taste your want for me. I shall have you
now
."

"The hell you will." JT brought her knee up and shoved his balls so far up inside he squeaked as he fell to the floor. "You sick bastard. I'm outta here."

JT didn't waste any time. She ran back to her room and kicked off the shoes, threw on the most modest piece of clothing she could find—a stretchy dress that almost made it to her knee—and hauled ass out of there. Mercado was still on the floor, squeaking out something in Spanish. She didn't wait around for the translation. Grabbing one of the earrings since Mercado had collapsed on the other, she raced down the stairs and out the front door.

And right into the arms of Jason Peck.

"Hello, Miss Turner. I expected to see you here. I hope you brought your new partner with you."

JT took a breath to scream for Dan. Peck seized the opportunity to shove a nasty tasting rag into her mouth. She tried to scream but could only gag at the acidity and dryness. Fighting for consciousness, fighting for her life, she doubled up her fists to strike. Her body refused to respond. She collapsed, and the earring out of her open fist, and fell to the ground.

"Shit." Dan threw down the tracker, ripped out his earpiece. He jumped to his feet and shoved whatever weapons he could find into his belt. Christ Almighty. Peck wasn't supposed to come to the house. That was never figured into the plan.

"Time to move, boys." Dan grabbed a few hand grenades and shoved them into his ankle pockets. "Peck decided to crash the party."

"That's who that was?" Snyder asked, grabbing an equal amount of weapons and shoving them wherever he could.

"Peck is here?" Donovan asked.

"And so is your wife." Dan knew, the minute he recognized Raven, he'd found Donovan's
wife
. The perfect mole. Everyone thought she was dead, including Dan. And she was right here, sleeping with Donovan and milking him of all NASSD's top secret information. She, in turn, told Peck, who acted on it. No wonder Peck always seemed to be a step ahead. He knew NASSD's next move, thanks to Donovan and the little woman.

"She
is
?"

"I'll deal with her," Dan ground out. It was the least he could do. He'd rip out her heart and hand it back to her. "I have a debt to repay," he commented bitterly and stepped out of the hole. He covered his scar with his hand. It ached.

"Holy shit," Donovan breathed. "You
saw
her."

"Yep."

"Holy shit," Donovan repeated. "Are you sure? You didn't see someone who looked like her? I mean are you
sure
?"

Dan narrowed his eyes at Donovan. Why was he sweating again? He hadn't started sweating until Dan mentioned his...

Wife.

No. Oh Jesus.
No
. "What did you do, Donovan?"

Donovan paled.

"What the hell did you do!" Dan roared and grabbed Donovan by the shirt collar, pulled him up. "Are you in with Peck? Mercado? Who? What is your primary objective, you son-of-a-bitch!"

"I—I 'm not—"

The fact Donovan couldn't come up with anything only solidified Dan's suspicions. He led them into a trap when he sent them to Colombia.

Without hesitation, Dan pulled his .45 and cocked it as he pushed it against Donovan's temple. He'd be damned if he was going to let him get away with this.

"Weber!" Snyder tried to break between them. "Stop. You can't kill him. You'll go down, man. Back off.
Back. Off
."

Dan's eyes never left Donovan's. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't put a fucking bullet in your head."

Donovan started to shake. "Because we're friends."

Dan lifted his pistol and brought it down, knocking Donovan out cold. "Wrong answer, asshole. We
were
friends." After watching Donovan fall to the ground in a crumpled mass of what used to be a man, Dan knelt down, tied and gagged him. He'd deal with him later. There were too many unanswered questions. And with Donovan's bum leg, he wouldn't get too far in the jungle before Dan found him.

God help him when he did.

"Let's go." Jumping out of their hole, Dan hurried toward the compound, his mind spinning with the realization that Donovan really was the mole all along. He wanted to grab him by his balls and force him to confess whatever he was hiding. Dan knew him well enough to know when the man was hiding something. That deep foreboding crept back into Dan's veins. He'd always trusted Donovan, he never had any reason not to.

Son-of-a-
bitch
. Why didn't he see this coming?

He knew why. JT Turner. By bringing her into the equation, Donovan had successfully kept Dan distracted enough to not see the bullshit writing on the wall.

Damn if his control hadn't been tested at every turn on this mission. Control he never knew he had. He wanted to string Donovan up. He wanted to break every bone in Mercado's body for touching JT. He wanted to rip Raven's heart out with his bare hands. And he wanted payback with Peck.
Mano a mano
.

Want in one hand, duty in the other. See which one stops a raging psychotic's threat against the world.

"Uh, Weber?" Snyder broke into Dan's thoughts. " Do you want to fill me in on what just happened back there?"

"Donovan's wife is Mercado's mystery guest, Alejandra. She's also the same woman who tried to cut out my heart two years ago. Literally."

Snyder cursed.

"This way. We need to stay hidden." Dan turned off their beaten path. With Donovan as their mole, no doubt he'd already given Mercado their location. They needed to break their routine and come in under complete cover.

After this was over, he'd have a little one on one chat with Ron Donovan. Once Dan had his say, he'd turn what was left of the bastard over to NASSD. He'd stand trial and probably spend the rest of his pathetic life behind bars. But Dan gets him first.

"So this chick tried to kill you?"

He took out his buck knife to slice through the thick foliage. "That's right."

"And Donovan went and married her?" Snyder started to cut at the leaves and vines with his own knife.

"No. It was all part of the set up. He was never married."

"Huh. And yet he just about blew a gasket when he caught me trying to pick her up."

"That's because you saw her, saw them together. You're a witness, Snyder. You can finger them. You're a liability now."

"Ah shit. If it isn't one thing, it's another." Snyder muttered something that sounded remarkably like a prayer. Dan recognized it, having said quite a few since arriving in Colombia. "He sent me down here—"

"With the intention you'd never return," Dan finished when Snyder couldn't bring himself to say the rest.

Dan gave Snyder a crash course on the latest and greatest plan. Find JT and get her out of there. Destroy
LEON
. Kill Mercado. Kill Peck. Kill Raven. Get out without getting killed themselves. Easy.

Riiight
.

Dan accepted an earpiece from Snyder, slipped it into his ear. "We'll get them, Snyder. There's no other option."

Snyder nodded, but the look in his eyes didn't convince Dan he believed him.

"Once we're inside, no talking. No coughing, no sneezing. Nothing. You are invisible." Dan turned his earpiece on.

"I know the drill."

"Switching on." Dan adjusted his earpiece. Snyder pressed his twice to acknowledge. Dan nodded. "Loud and clear."

They slipped into the compound for the first time in the daylight. Their dark outfits wouldn't give them a bit a cover with the sun shining brightly overhead. The Kevspa they both wore under their clothes would hopefully slow down any unwelcome bullets. Dan nodded and they broke off, Snyder off to one side and Dan to the other.

Two clicks. Snyder was in position. Dan snuck around to the front, carefully staying hidden behind the enormous pillars. He gave his clicks, giving Snyder the go ahead to move in.

He waited for Snyder as he rounded the front of the compound. And waited.

And waited.

Dan's muscles went rigid. Something was wrong. It shouldn't take Snyder this long to get into his second position. Dan debated going back for him. He couldn't. If something happened to Snyder, he would have heard it through the earpiece. The mics were strong enough to pick up on a person's thoughts.

Two clicks. There they were. About time. Dan was about to move into his second position when he heard three more clicks. He stopped, hid back behind the pillar. On instinct, he moved away from his first position and hid behind a nearby bush.

Just in time. He heard the whistle of the bullet, watched as it sheared pieces of marble off the pillar right where his head was only moments before.

Shit. So much for sneaking in undetected. He rolled and belly-crawled over to what he guessed to be the cellar entrance. It was a little late to remain silent. Someone knew their position before they even got there.

Goddamn you, Donovan
.

"I'm going in," he said softly.

No answer. Jesus, please don't let Snyder be dead. Not only did Dan still need him on this mission, but he actually liked the guy. Hell, he even trusted him. And that said a lot.

Dan climbed down the steep stairs into the cellar. The walls were lined with bottles of dusty wine and nothing else. Off to one side, one wine rack looked freshly emptied. Clean spots where bottles had recently rested were now visible. There was a set of stairs across the room leading to a door. He headed in that direction.

He had no idea what to expect on the other side of the door. With a deep breath to be on the ready, he started the short climb to the top. Leaning against the door, he listened.

Silence. Good. He tried the door. It opened. Slowly, he opened the door and waited. Nothing. He opened it the rest of the way and peaked out.

The door opened into the kitchen. The scent of strong coffee wafted through the air. Dan's mouth watered. He hadn't eaten since—he couldn't remember the last time he ate. Then he growled inwardly for worrying about something so trivial when he had bigger problems.

Like how in the hell was he going to pull this off without any form of backup? He scanned the kitchen for anything out of place before moving to the swinging door. He listened.

Nothing. Moving through, he kept his eyes on constant scan, searching his surrounding for anything out of place. Anything out of the ordinary. But found nothing.

Another oddity. Where were the guards? The alarms? Mercado? Someone? Anyone? He stood perfectly still and listened. Not a single noise.

It was like no one was home.

He took another step. A slight shuffling noise behind him caught his attention. He slowed, stiffened. In a flash, he spun and pulled his weapons.

Nothing.

The feeling of someone watching him kept a grip on his nerves. He wasn't alone in the room.

"Get out of the house!" Snyder's voice jolted him, screaming in his ear, cutting through the silence. His anxious, hurried tone sent Dan into motion. He ran back toward the cellar, stopped when he heard footsteps on the stairs. "Goddamn it! Weber! Get out! It's a tr—"

The transmission ended abruptly. Oh Jesus. Just then the door burst open and men started pouring into the room, screaming at him in Spanish. Dan fired and took out the first layer of men. He couldn't get another shot off before they were on top of him, knocking him to the floor.

With strength he didn't know he had, he threw them off his back as he fought to stand. He almost made it.

The fists came from every direction, thrashing and pounding his body. He swung and connected, over and over. But it wasn't enough.

He went down. Heavy boots kicked at his sides. The air whistled out of his lungs. His ribs cracked from the force of the blows. The pain nearly blinded him. One of them brought their boot down on his leg, snapping his knee. Dan hollered in pain. He caught the fist out of the corner of his eye as it slammed against his temple.

"JT," he muttered through swelling lips. He had to stay awake. He had to find her.

He had to...

He had...

He...