F-Stop (23 page)

“What do you think is really going on?” Kat asked him, despair rushing through her. “None of that sounds very encouraging.”

The look in Mike’s eyes was enough to squash it. “I think there’s a fifty-fifty chance that the Feds can make something happen. But we have no idea what’s really going on at their end, or how well the FBI can manage anything outside the borders of this country. So unfortunately, kitten, I think that’s a dead end.”

“We’ll just proceed on our own then,” Mark said.

“Wait, here’s another message from Andy.” Faith had closed the Hallorans’ laptop but an email was coming through on Mike’s.

Kat couldn’t hide her gasp as she looked at the latest photo of the hostages. “My god, what are they doing to them?”

Mike hugged her to him, squeezing her shoulders. “That’s the reaction they want,” he told her. “It helps to keep the mark off balance and speed up the ransom process.” She swallowed tears, determined not to break down but the sight of the people in the video, battered and bruised, was almost more than she could bear.

“They want bearer bonds,” Mark pointed out. “That means they don’t want to leave any traceable prints with wire transfers.” He looked at the others. “It also means they’ll send someone for the pickup and there’s no guarantee how or when the hostages will be released.”

They all looked at each other.

“And there’s no guarantee that the hostages will be released,” Kat repeated, her throat tight. “That’s what you said, right?”

“Forget about them,” Mark told her. “We’re going to take care of this ourselves.

And I promise you, Katherine, the Phoenix Agency will bring them home safe and in one piece.” He looked at Faith. “Let’s go back to our room and give these people a little privacy. I’ll check with Andy and see what more he’s found out about the three men receiving the emails. Someone’s got a secret hidden somewhere. The cartel used it to pressure him into helping set this up.”

“If you get anything tonight,” Mike said, “and I mean
anything
, call us no matter what time it is. And have Andy monitor the investment accounts of all three men.” He looked at Kat. “We want to make sure they aren’t throwing a red herring at us.” Picking up the stack of printouts, Mark and Faith headed for the door. “Everyone get a good night’s sleep and we’ll meet for breakfast in our suite. Work out some options while we wait for Ed to get here.”

The Hallorans left then, Faith giving Kat a hug before following her husband out the door. Kat was doing her best to hang onto her nerves but she was so terrified for her sister and so impatient with the inability to just leap right into things she thought she’d explode.

“Here.” Mike handed her a small cut glass tumbler with a dark liquid poured over ice cubes. “The best bourbon money can buy. Come sit down on the little bench here, sip your drink and let me see if I can work some of the tension out of those muscles.” She let him lead her to the vanity bench in the bedroom, taking a healthy swallow of bourbon rather than a sip and nearly choking on it.

“Hey, hey, hey! Easy there.”

“Sorry.” She wiped her eyes and sipped more slowly. “I just feel as if I’m going to fly apart any minute. All I can think of are those pictures and the terrible way Mari and the Wrights are being treated.”

Mike leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on the top of Kat’s head. Just his presence was easing the anxiety that had gripped her since this whole nightmare began. She wriggled back against him, absorbing the warmth of his body.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” she told the man who had suddenly become enormously important to her. More so than previously. “With me.”

“Because you need a dashing daredevil?” he teased.

“That too.” She dredged up a grin from somewhere. “But mostly because it’s you.” She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. “Mike, I…”

“I know.” He touched one finger to her lips. “I’m here and I’m in for the long haul.

I’ll never leave you like that again. Ever. No matter what.” Putting his hands beneath her elbows, he lifted her from the bench and turned her to face him. In his eyes she saw so much caring and concern that it made her heartbeat flutter. He looked at her as if trying to tell her with his eyes everything that was in his heart. Then his mouth brushed against hers, a touch as light as a butterfly’s wings, and shivers raced through her.

When his tongue traced the seam of her lips she opened for him as if it was the most natural thing to do. As if they’d been doing it forever. When his tongue swept inside she met it with her own, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself closer to him. She could feel the hard ridge of his erection pressing against the soft flesh of her belly and moved her hips back and forth against him.

He groaned and lifted her in his arms without breaking the kiss, carrying her into the bedroom.

“This is getting to be a habit,” she told him in a shaky voice.

“Making love? I certainly hope so.”

“No. I mean you carrying me to bed.”

“I can’t think of any other better place to carry you to.” When he set her on her feet she was trembling with need. Heat flared in his eyes as he pulled the thin, short-sleeved sweater over her head and his gaze feasted on her breasts, barely contained by the silk and lace of her bra.

“I love you, Katherine Culhane.”

She heard the emotion in his voice and it ratcheted up the heat factor even more.

“I love you too, Michael D’Antoni.”

They undressed each other slowly, touching and caressing as each inch of skin was exposed. Mike bent his head to take one nipple into his mouth, sucking it, pulling on it, grazing it with his teeth. Mike’s mouth paid homage to her nipples, his hands probed the heat between her thighs finding her cunt. She trembled as her hands found the hot length of his erection and she closed her fingers around it.

I want to taste him too.

Shifting so she could get to her knees, she lowered her head and took him into her mouth. She played her tongue over the velvet head, catching the bead of fluid and savoring it as if it was gourmet candy. Just as he’d done with her nipples she raked her teeth over his flesh, sliding from tip to root and back again before taking him all the way inside her.

Mike wrapped his fingers with her hair, cupping her head and guiding her movements. She slipped one hand between his thighs to capture his sac, lightly scraping her fingernails over the soft wrinkled flesh and manipulating his balls.

His groan was as arousing as his touch. “Jesus, Kat. Your mouth is like heaven.” She worked him in and out, taking him deep, lightly squeezing his balls, until he lifted her head from his body.

“I’m saving this for when we have more time,” he told her in a strangled voice.

“Right now I want to be inside you.
Deep
inside you.” He rolled on a condom with hands not quite steady. She opened her thighs to welcome him and he drove into her, filling her completely.

Home!

That was all Kat could think.

This is home.

And then the time for thinking was over as he rode her hard, the thickness of his cock dragging against the tight clasp of her vaginal walls. Everything faded away except this man and the joining of their bodies. Her blood raced and her heart thundered, her hips rocking with his as he pounded into her.

And then she was falling into a void, spinning with him as she convulsed around him and his cock pulsed inside her. Blessed release. With the man she loved.

* * * * *

Rip was in his bathroom, the only place he was able to find any privacy. He’d slipped a disposable phone into the pocket of his slacks and, with the water running, just in case, dialed a familiar number.

“I want to talk to Herrera,” he told Nando. “Right now.” Nando’s laugh made his nerves jump. “I don’t think he wants to talk to you. He leaves this all up to me.”

“Damn it, I have to talk to him.” Rip couldn’t control the frustration in his voice. “I need some assurances about the hostages.”

“We have sent you pictures, no? That should be assurance enough.”

“Oh yeah,” Rip snorted. “Right. You send us a picture of four people who look like you’re using them for punching bags and expect everyone to be happy? The fucking Feds are sitting on
everyone
. They want guarantees.”

“I don’t think anyone is in the position to be asking for that,” Nando pointed out to them. “We have the trump cards.”

“What if the Feds or these other two guys who seem to have stuck their noses in here refuse to let us hand over the bonds before we have the hostages back?”

“Who the fuck are they, anyway?”

Rip ground his teeth. “They’re from some private agency. The secretary’s sister sicced them on us.” He paused. “What if they—any of them—have something up their sleeves they aren’t telling us about? Surely you don’t think they’ll just let ten million in blank bearer bonds walk out the door without some kind of guarantee about the hostages.”

“Then it’s up to you to make them see the idiocy of their ways.” Rip raked his hands through his already rumpled hair. “I’m in a very bad spot here.

I have to speak to Herrera. I need a real guarantee he’s going to let those people go.

And when.”

“You are in no position to be demanding anything,
amigo
. Just let it play out.

Herrera knows what he’s doing.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

He snapped his phone shut and banged his hand on the vanity counter.

Shit!

Kat was a bundle of nerves in the morning but she knew Mike needed her to keep herself together. She’d given them everything she could about the location where the hostages were being held. Now it was up to them to pinpoint it. She fidgeted through breakfast, waiting for Ed’s call that he’d arrived.

“If you push those eggs around anymore they’re going to jump off the plate,” Mike teased. She knew he was trying to ease her tension.

“I’m sorry.” She set her fork down on the edge of her plate. “I’m just having a hard time waiting.”

“I know, kitten.” He took one of her hands in his and squeezed it. “But I promise you we’ll get this done. Now come on. Eat a little. Then we’re going to put some alternate plans together for when Ed gets here.”

Obediently she picked up her fork, put a tiny bite of egg in her mouth, chewed it and swallowed. It tasted like Styrofoam. “Do you think you should try calling Ron Pelley or that FBI agent again? Maybe they’ve heard something.” On her other side Mark snorted. “I’m sure they have. And I can also tell you we won’t hear a thing from them until the ransom drop, whatever it is, goes down and they still don’t have the hostages back. Then they’ll be more than happy for us to save their bacon.”

“That’s sure the way things have been turning out the last year or so.” Mike could barely hide the bitterness in his voice.

Kat looked at him, eyebrows raised. “I thought you guys did some contract work for the government, or am I mistaken?”

“Not with the FBI though,” he told her. “They’re very territorial. Extremely so. And when they do end up needing us, you’d think we had shit all over us when they came to meet with us.”

“Forget it,” Faith said. “Turf wars can wait until we get everyone back. Safe and sound.” She reached over and touched Kat’s hand. “We’ll get them back. Don’t worry.

These guys can do anything.”

They had room service send up a fresh pot of coffee, which the waiter brought when he came to clear their dishes. They pulled out the printouts of the aerial maps Andy had sent them, spread them on the table and settled down to try to figure out the best plan of attack.

“I wish I could have pinned down the location of where they are a little better,” Kat told them. “Sometimes it works really well but with the problems I’ve had lately, even with Brent out of the picture…”

“Quit it,” Mike said, lifting her hand and placing a kiss on her knuckle. “You’re doing great. You need to keep your mind clear so you can focus when we get more information to give you.”

“When you get a better location on Victor Herrera’s estate, or acreage or whatever it is, I can use those coordinates and pictures to give you a better look at what’s on the ground. Maybe see how many guards there are and exactly where on the grounds they’re being held. And don’t forget about the dog.”

“Thanks for reminding us. We’ll be counting on you for details, Kat.” Mark spread out the aerial photos. “And you can help us in the flyover too.” She wrinkled her forehead. “How can I do that?”

“We’re going to get one chance to eyeball this. Mike and Ed will be doing their thing in the cockpit and I’ll be running a camera to capture everything we pass over.

But we’ll need you and Faith to act as spotters.”

She felt a little better at having a useful role to play. “I can do that.”

“Good, good.” He cleared his throat. “Now. Let’s figure out what we need to take with us in our flyover. I emailed Ed a list of what to bring. Anything else we’ve already got in the plane.”

* * * * *

The hostages knew it was morning by the weak light filtering in through the high slit of a window. Eli climbed stiffly to his feet, gingerly working the kinks from his muscles. It had taken a long time but they’d finally stanched the bleeding from his nose and he’d satisfied himself that it wasn’t actually broken. He might have difficulty breathing for a while but at least it was intact.

Lissa had just stirred, lifting her head from Sydney’s lap, and Mari was just coming out of the terrible excuse for a bathroom. He couldn’t believe how uncomplaining everyone was. He knew his wife had great inner strength but he was so proud of the way she was handling things. He had a new level of respect for both her and their daughter.

And Mari. Ignoring her own injuries, she’d maintained a calm presence, never letting the others see how rattled she might be or what pain she might be in. She’d soothed Lissa when Sydney had retreated to the bathroom to pull herself together and worked hard to keep everyone’s spirits up, despite the pain he knew she was suffering.

He’d used part of the time, sitting against the wall in the hot, humid dark, to try to figure out who in hell had fingered them. Who could have hooked up with their kidnappers—and he knew with a sure certainty now it was at least one of the drug cartels—and planned this. Who needed money so badly. Or hated them so much. Or both.