Authors: Lindsay McKenna
"Yes, I'm afraid so. We're asking you and your new partner to go into
Maui
posing as a husband-and-wife team, there on assignment to photograph the flora and fauna of Haleakala. You'll set up on the hillside and covertly watch Garcia's estate until we can confirm whether Jason is there. We've cautioned the police not to put Garcia under surveillance, because we don't want to raise his suspicion. If Jason is there, we don't want Garcia to panic and move him. If he does that, we could spend months trying to locate him."
"I see," Sabra whispered. She turned her head to hold Laura's tragic gaze. "I'm so sorry, Laura. So sorry…." And she was. She loved Jason and Katy almost as if they were her own. And she knew how much Laura and Morgan loved them. Family meant more to Morgan than anything, and Sabra had often seen his children pull him out of one of his dark moods. Their innocence and enthusiasm were like sunlight to him. And no one was a better mother than Laura. Sabra hurt deeply for her friend, almost unable to believe that a terrible tragedy had once again cast its pall over the Trayhern family.
Laura managed a brief, wan smile. "What I'm thankful for, Sabra, is that it's you who will be on this assignment. Jason loves and trusts you. If anyone should be there to rescue him, it's you."
"Yes," Jake agreed heavily, "it's definitely in our favor for the boy to know one of the team members."
"Do we know anything of Jason's condition?"
"Nothing."
Sabra looked at Laura. "What did they do to you?"
Laura shrugged. "They drugged me…."
Sabra turned her attention back to Jake. "Jason could be drugged, too."
"Yes." Jake glanced at Laura, a worried expression on his face. "They nearly killed Laura with an overdose of cocaine. We're concerned that Garcia might do the same with Jason."
Anger chilled Sabra as she met Jake's concerned gaze. "I had a run-in with Garcia three years ago. He's an ugly little man with a depraved mind. If I know the bastard at all, his idea of getting even with Morgan and us would be to make his son an addict."
"Oh, dear…"
Sabra turned at Laura's small cry of alarm.
"Laura," Jake said quickly, "we don't know that." He gave Sabra a warning look, obviously telling her to say nothing more.
Sabra gazed down at the table. She should have kept her mouth shut. Laura had turned even paler, if that was possible. Looking back up at Jake, Sabra said quietly, "Laura, I don't think you should be here. You need to go home and rest. It won't help you to hear the details of this mission—a lot of them ‘what-ifs' that may never happen. You've been through hell. Don't sit here and keep hurting yourself."
"I think that's a good idea," Jake rumbled. "Come on, Laura, Sabra's right. Her remark was only a possibility, but all these ideas have to be put on the table and discussed. And it's only going to tear you up to hear them. Come on, let's go…."
Sabra felt terrible as she watched Jake help Laura to her feet, then walk her to the door. As he opened it, Laura turned back toward her.
"Promise me you'll see me before you go, Sabra?"
Sabra nodded. "I'll see you."
"I—I have Jason's favorite toy, a little gray squirrel. If—if you could take it with you, maybe—"
"Laura, she'll come by and see you," Jake reassured her gently, placing his hand on her arm and leading her out of the room.
"My God," Sabra whispered as the door closed. She looked up at the two remaining mercenaries. "I didn't…I didn't know…."
"It's okay," Wolf grunted, placing his hands palm down on the table. "Laura should never have been in on the planning anyway, but she insisted."
"She's too wounded to hear all of this," Killian rasped.
"I should have kept my mouth shut," Sabra murmured.
"Don't blame yourself," Wolf insisted.
"Jason. Jason's kidnapped. But why him? Why hurt a child?"
"We think," Wolf offered, "that Ramirez took Jason because he's Morgan's only boy. You know how South Americans emphasize the importance of the oldest son."
Closing her eyes, Sabra felt the shock moving through her. "And Jason is such a sweet, curious little boy. He's so trusting…."
"Too trusting," Killian said. "Garcia will use that against him."
"What a horrible thing," Sabra whispered bitterly. "Those drug lords will stoop to any level for revenge."
"That's why we've removed Laura from her home. We're afraid of further reprisals," Wolf answered. "She's staying at a safe house we've arranged, with Killian's wife, Susannah—her cousin. Just for your info, Laura is on tranquilizers and seeing a therapist twice a week."
"She looks so fragile. No wonder…"
"We're all worried about her." Wolf grimaced. "What you don't know yet is that Laura was repeatedly raped by Garcia."
Pressing her fingers to her lips, Sabra stared at Wolf in shock. A combination of revulsion, anger and hatred twisted through her. It took her several minutes to wrestle the explosion of feelings back under control. Until then, all she could do was stare at Wolf's dark features.
Jake entered the room and quietly shut the door behind him, his mouth set in a grim line. "Marie is going to take Laura home. She'll be better off there."
Sabra nodded. "Jake, I—"
"Don't apologize," he said, sitting back down. "You're walking into this mess cold. Laura knew the risks when she came to this table. She's not dumb."
Bowing her head, Sabra whispered, "I know how much Jason means to her. If we can't get the boy back…"
"One step at a time," Jake cautioned, holding up his hand. "First we need to introduce you to your new partner. Then we need to do some detailed planning. The Hawaiian police are waiting for you, but I don't want to go into the details of the mission until Talbot arrives." Jake glanced at the clock on the wall. "Marie got word that he landed. He should be on his way."
"Talbot—is he my new partner?"
Jake opened a dossier and slid it across the table toward her. "Yes. Craig Talbot. He's been with Perseus for six months. Study his file while we wait."
Sabra felt their interest, on her reaction to the information on Talbot. She looked down at the open folder and was greeted by an 8-by-10 color photo of her new partner. True to her training, she carefully masked any overt reactions, but inwardly, her heart gave an unexpected thump. Talbot's oval face featured a strong jaw and a hawklike nose. What drew her, though, were piercing, dark blue eyes with large, intelligent black pupils, eyes that made him look more like an imperious eagle than a man. He looked in his early thirties—near her own age—and something about his mouth, a thin slash that seemed to be holding back so much, touched her heart. On the left side, a scar at least six inches long extended down his lean cheek, and that whole side of his face had an unusual shiny quality.
His hair was black with blue highlights, cut military short, and his black brows straight, emphasizing the glittering eyes that even in a two-dimensional photo seemed to miss nothing. Sabra hid her initial reaction. Talbot was neither good-looking nor bad, but he had seen perhaps too much in his relatively short life. He was deeply tanned, and though he'd obviously shaved, a darkness shadowing his jaw gave him a dangerous look—and a dangerous appeal.
Sabra had met many mercenaries in her years of service with Perseus, and she was familiar with military men and their demeanor, but this man put her on guard. She stared at the photo, trying to keep her brain at bay and allow her feminine instincts to tell her why. Talbot possessed an animal-like quality, as if he lived life on a very thin edge that could crumble at any moment. The set of his mouth, his compressed lips, hid a great deal. But what was he hiding? The scar on his left cheek appeared fairly recent.
All Sabra could receive intuitively was that Talbot was unsettling to her on every level. But why? Was it the frosty challenge in his bold blue stare? The secrets protected behind that well-shaped mouth? The boxerlike set of his jaw, defying anyone to try to hurt him? Sabra was sure he had been hurt.
The crow's-feet at the corners of his eyes reminded her of Josh. Aviators always had crow's-feet from squinting against the sun. She sensed a hidden vulnerability to Talbot, though when this photo was taken, he'd obviously been doing his best to camouflage it. As she stared into the eyes, she saw a darkness there, just as she had in Laura's eyes. Grief, perhaps? Pain? The feeling around Talbot wasn't inspiring Sabra to any greater insights. He was a man of many secrets—unlike Josh. Unlike Terry.
Forcing herself to casually push the unexpectedly provocative photo aside and look at his personnel record, Sabra saw that Talbot was thirty-two—her age. His birthday was May 22, making him a mere two months older than she was. He'd been born in
Fort Wingate
,
New Mexico
.
Before joining Perseus, he'd had a career as a marine helicopter pilot. Her heart skipped a beat: he'd been a pilot just as Josh had been. Her heart aching, Sabra compressed her lips. Talbot was single. Why had he resigned his commission shortly after Desert Storm? Sabra had a lot of questions, but decided to hold off on them until he arrived.
When she realized that he took only low-and medium-risk assignments, she lifted her head and looked at Jake, surprised. "This is a high-risk assignment. He doesn't have the background for it."
Jake's mouth became a slash. "Yeah, we know." He opened his hands. "We don't have a choice in this, Sabra. Talbot's the only person available for the assignment right now. It takes all three of us to stay on top of things here—I don't know how Morgan did it alone. We're scrambling just to keep communications open between the State Department, the CIA, Interpol and the FBI on these kidnappings. If we could, one of us would go with you, but it's not possible.
Sabra frowned. "He's only got six months with us, in low-or medium-risk missions. There's no comparison between those and a high-risk assignment."
"Talbot is ex-marine. He knows how to handle himself and weapons."
"I'm sure he does," Sabra said, her voice deepening with concern. "But we're going undercover. Has he ever done that?"
"No."
Frustrated, she looked at Jake for a long moment. "So you're saddling me with a green team member. Talbot might as well have walked in off the street."
"He's not our ideal pick," Jake admitted heavily, "but Sabra, we don't have a choice. Right now, it's most important that we verify that Jason is on
Maui
, don't you think?"
"Of course," she said. "But if we do verify it, Talbot and I will have to go in after him. I don't know Talbot, and I don't know how he'll react if and when we're faced with a potentially life-threatening situation." She took a deep breath. "I'd rather do the assignment alone than with a rookie, Jake. I really would."
"I understand your concerns, Sabra. But Talbot has the capacity to live up to our expectations for this mission. We've just never asked him to do it before."
"Does he know he's being asked to do it now?" she asked, sarcasm in her voice.
Jake glanced away. "Not yet. He will shortly."
She glared at him. "This really smacks of loose planning, Jake, and I don't like it. I don't mind risking my life to find Jason, but I'm not about to add the burden of teaching someone who isn't prepared for this kind of assignment."
"Why don't we wait and see?" Wolf pleaded. "None of us knows Talbot. After all, he went through Desert Storm as a combat helicopter pilot. That says something doesn't it?"
"Yes," she conceded unwillingly, "it does."
"And he was in the Marine Corps since graduating from Annapolis, so the man must have tactics and strategy training down pat," Jake reasoned.