Alex stepped up on her toes to peek over his shoulder. The guard had resumed his post, but he stood with his back against the gate, one leg crooked to prop him in place. She could feel his hard stare across the courtyard and withdrew into the shelter of Mitch’s chest. It was warm there.
“
He’s watching.”
“
Well, as much as I want to kiss you again…” Mitch cleared his throat, “−cause damn, I do. It has to wait until next time. Right now we need to talk to your guys and devise a plan.”
At the first mention of her group, clarity returned. “Do they know you’re alive?”
“
No. I located you just as Solis was taking you upstairs.” He was tense, with dark eyebrows furrowed. “You were my first priority, Alex.”
Alex swallowed. “Were they really raising a fuss, or was that your adaptation?”
“
My adaptation,” he grinned. “But I doubt it was a farfetched one.”
“
No,” Alex forced a smile. “I doubt it was.”
“
Alex.”
“
Hmmm?”
“
The fire was not an accident.”
Her head snapped up. “How do you know that?”
“
There were empty gasoline canisters in a bin inside the wall, and the Jeep I stole still had some drained cans in it as well. Far more than would be necessary to fill its tank.”
She could rationalize this information, but combined with Solis’s words, recognized that it must be fact. “Mitch, I have a feeling that
I
was the target of all this, but I don’t know why.”
The reality that Mitch did not seem astonished troubled her.
“
What makes you say that?”
“
Solis knows who I am, Mitch. He called me
Dr.
Langley when I never introduced myself as such. He said that my men were free to go, but that I must stay.”
She fled his eyes to stare down at his sturdy boots, remnants of his original clothing. These were the same boots that sat beside her on the bank of the pond as for one moment she allowed herself to relax in the presence of a stranger. “He said that I was about to learn the mystery to the disappearing archeologists.”
“
Son of a−” Mitch’s hand curled into a fist against the concrete beside her. He looked in pain as he hunched over.
“
Mitch, are you okay?”
Alex searched his closed eyes and drawn lips and wanted to kiss away every crease of angst.
If that wasn’t just th
e craziest notion
.
“
Yeah.” He righted himself. “We’re going to take Solis up on his offer and get the group out of here immediately−and then I’m going to work on getting
you
out. Solis can take his mystery and shove it up−well, I’m just saying that we’re leaving this place behind.” He hoisted the rifle over his shoulder and lowered the brim of his hat. “Let’s get to the guys before we attract any more attention.”
“
Right.”
“
Alex−” Mitch grabbed her arm as she hiked her tank top down and looped a loose lock of hair behind her ear.
“
We’re going to continue this.”
She looked at him.
“
We have a lot to talk about,” he said as the strain momentarily lifted from his face. “And some other stuff as well.”
“
Alright.” She nodded and started off towards the next building. There was no time to dwell in the comfort of his promise. Maintaining her role of captivity, Alex stayed locked in his grasp, and realized that she needed that touch more than anything.
Just as they stepped out of the shadows, she added, “I’m really curious about the other stuff, though.”
***
“
Dammit, here we go again with the keys.” Mitch rifled through the key ring. His greatest fear was that the guard he had pilfered them from would come stumbling through the front gate at any moment and alert the troops of his hijacking.
“
I can’t look like I don’t know what I’m doing…they’re watching.” He sized up a key, trying to gauge its shape against the contour of the hole.
Alex placed her back against the door and grabbed hold of the lapels of his shirt, yanking him towards her. “Kiss me,” she commanded.
Mitch had one second to catch her sultry eyes before her lips were on his.
“
Woman,” he whispered against them. “What are you doing?”
As much as he wanted to dive into this typhoon of pleasure again, Mitch realized what she was offering. He dipped his head, his mouth close to the rim of her tank top where a patch of warm, tan flesh tempted him. To the outside spectator it would look like he was feasting on the glorious breasts heaving against his mouth.
God help him
.
“
Shift your hip slightly to the right. I’m going to try this one.”
Alex arched her body in a display of passion as Mitch tested the key. No luck. He moved onto the next blade that seemed apt.
“
Okay, one more time.” This time when she angled her body his mouth made contact with the top curve of her breast. He growled and rubbed his lips there and heard Alex choke.
Click
.
Mitch raised his head and kissed Alex, and then rested his forehead against hers, feeling her rushed breath. “I got it.”
Alex set her hands flat against his chest and gently pushed him away. “Thank you,” she mouthed.
With a jerky motion, Mitch grasped her by the arm and shoved open the door, urging her through it.
“
Alex!
”
“
Doc!
”
The chorus reached a lynch mob pitch at the sight of the guerilla jostling their boss. Alex protested for them to back off, but they pressed in, a vicious horde circling for the slaughter as the door slammed shut and the sun disappeared.
“
Let go of her.” Chuck moved in close−close enough to stare into the mirrored lenses of Mitch’s sunglasses. “Now.”
Mitch released Alex, and she was immediately consumed in the ranks of her men. But one thing he had learned about Alexandra Langley…very few could control her. She elbowed her way to the foreground and mastered a look of death to anyone who tried to touch her.
“
Look,” she spoke and the undertone ceased.
She glanced over her shoulder and though it was not on her lips, Mitch could sense that she smiled at him. It was her cue. He slipped off the sunglasses and put them in the front pocket of his shirt. He reached up and clawed the military cap off, glad to feel the air.
“
Son of a bitch.” Chuck whistled. “The photographer is friggin alive.”
Wes stepped up and clapped Mitch on the shoulder. “Man, we thought you were gone. You just lost one of your damn lives.”
“
Not too many of them left.” Mitch smirked. “Look, we don’t have much time. Alex?”
Alex stepped up in front of him and her blonde crown bobbed like a walking pigeon.
“
You’re getting out of here,” she addressed the men.
There was a whoop that could most likely be heard in Solis’s belfry. After Alex quieted everyone down, she rushed to explain the circumstances. The rebuttal was immediate.
“
No way.” Wes crossed his arms. “We leave here together.”
“
This is not a debate,” Alex challenged. “We have no choice. You know the saying−the needs of the many… I want you and you−” she pointed to Wes and Chuck, “−to get the rest of the group back to Ramonez. I will join you shortly.”
Mitch spoke up. “She’s not going to be alone. I have my cover−”
“
Which you acquired how?” Chuck injected. “And anyway, any one of us can put on a hat and sunglasses. Ethnically speaking, I am the most likely candidate here. Hell, you have what−blue eyes mostly? And your hair is brown for Christ’s sake.”
“
Shucks, Chuck, I didn’t think you noticed.”
“
Enough,” Alex intervened. “We don’t have time for this debate. Everyone’s suspicions were right. This place is as bad as we surmised and we
all
need to get the hell out of here. But there has to be organization if we’re going to pull this off.”
Zach shouldered his way to the front. His eyes were bloodshot behind glasses rimmed with black soot. It appeared he had cleared out a circle in each lens with his shirt. Dark curly hair looked like it had sacrificed a cowlick or two to the fire, and at the sight of him, Mitch’s stomach clenched when he recalled the near loss of this young man.
“
Can’t we just go? I mean, you have the key and all.” He nodded at Mitch. “Can’t we just open this door and leave?”
The look in those red eyes bothered Mitch.
Desperation
. He knew the facet well.
“
It has to be done in order,” he spoke with a calm inflection. “
I
have to open that door and walk out first. You can’t trust these men. If you walk out of here they will perceive it as a breach. They are liable to shoot you first and then ask me questions later.”
“
You’re just a photographer,” Zach cried. “A museum grunt. What the heck do you know?”
Ouch
.
“
I was a war photojournalist,” Mitch said as too many graphic images flooded his head. Every damn shot he ever took, and the ones he did
not
take remained stored in his brain like the ultimate backup drive. And no matter how many times he tried to format it, the images remained. “You learn. You learn fast and you learn the hard way about outfits like this.”
Mitch looked at Zach, trying to trap the wild eyes into compliance, but they made a circuit around the barracks, alighting on him only briefly before jerking back towards the door. On the next contact, Mitch added, “I can’t roll out a scroll of credentials, Zach. All I can do is to ask you to trust me.”
Except for a cough and the unmistakable crunch of tires as a Jeep passed by outside, there was no sound. The few men who had settled onto the edge of their cots now rose and crowded in. Tim came forward, resting a hand on Zach’s shoulder, whispering, “Come on, man. Sit down.”
Zach flinched at the contact and yanked his shoulder away. Before anyone could react, he reached the door and hauled it open. Mitch’s fingers swooped to catch air as he just missed the young man’s elbow. In a blinding strobe effect, sunlight flooded the room. Mitch heard Alex’s panicked plea beside him.
“
Zach, wait!”
Two feet outside the door, Zach paused, looking around like a child that found himself in the middle of an empty circus tent. A chorus of yells exploded from alternating directions, as if piped in from a surround sound system. The staccato footfalls of running men could be felt. Mitch sensed movement and seized Alex’s arm before she could reach the door.
Outside, the gangling silhouette of Zachary Selmon stood poised, arms extended as if he were gauging which direction offered the least resistance. In that moment of uncertainty he looked back over his shoulder at Alex−awaiting her wisdom−awaiting her command.
“
Come back,” she shouted, but the last word was obliterated by a gunshot.
Alex yanked free from Mitch’s grasp. He might as well have released her from the roof of a hundred-story building.
“
No!” He hefted the sunglasses on, and hauled the rifle from his shoulder, wrapping his palm around the stock and praying he could remember how to shoot it.
Alex was hunched over Zach’s crumpled form and Mitch assumed a stance of authority above her with the barrel of the rifle scoping out advancing targets. He knew he was sized up in everyone’s crosshairs, but he stood with legs spread, gun raised, and shouted in Spanish for them to back off. He told them that the situation was under control. To demonstrate this he took the tip of the barrel and touched it to Zach’s shoulder, while reaching for Alex’s arm and hauling her upright, overpowering her resistance.
“
It’s a surface wound,” he uttered, hoarse. “Stay still. The next few minutes are going to be dicey.”
“
Mitch, my God, the blood.” She started to hiccup. Dry tears. Similar to dry heaves.
“
Someone is coming,” he warned.
“
Que pasa?” Their invasive guard from the front gate approached with gun in hand.
“
Nada.” Mitch shrugged, but kept the rifle trained on the young man groaning on the ground. “It is under control,” he continued in Spanish. “I am supposed to get these men out of here and bring her to Solis.”
The guard nodded, and coughed up some phlegm, spitting it a short distance from Zach’s leg. “You need me to get help? It won’t take but a minute to line these guys up against the wall.”
“
No, no.” Perspiration and chills combated over Mitch’s skin.
Alex was struggling to kneel. He let her do so, but kept the gun trained on the submissive couple at his feet. “Solis said they are free to go. He is only interested in the woman.”
“
Beh.” The guard muttered, now disinterested. He waved a hand in the air and called in auxiliaries.
They emerged from out of nowhere, jogging from behind buildings and out of parked Jeeps−a group of ten men with assault weapons. It reminded Mitch of their quick assault on the dock in Newark. He wavered and reached for Alex again and she fought him for all she was worth. “
No
, dammit, he needs help.”