Personal Target: An Elite Ops Novel (18 page)

Bryan shook his head.

“How about your informant?”

Bryan took a breath and shrugged. “This is different from my usual contact. I’m not sure . . .”

Hollywood’s troubled expression would have worried Nick more if his own plate wasn’t so full.

“What exactly are you working on?”

Bryan looked out over the water before he answered. “Elizabeth Yarborough.”

“You think the woman is here?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not clear. Hopefully I’ll find out more later tonight.”

Nick’s concern grew. “You do realize we’re leaving tonight, don’t you?”

“I understand. I’ll catch up with you.”

Nick started shaking his head.
How would you do that, exactly?
“You didn’t mention this to Gavin in your voice mail, did you?”

“What do you think?”

“I think the man would shit monkeys sideways if he found out you were working Yarborough leads here in Africa without backup.” Nick leaned against the patio post, relieved to hear about someone else’s problems for a change.

“Gavin doesn’t have the manpower. Besides, it’s the Hail Mary of long shots.” The tone in his voice had Nick studying Bryan more closely.

“I won’t tell him. I just don’t like not being here to help. Make sure someone back at the office knows where you’re going and who you’re meeting.”

Bryan nodded. “I’m being careful.”

“Of course, but that situation’s really got a hold on you. And believe me, I know how that can screw with one’s judgment.” Indeed, Nick knew exactly how that felt.

Bryan wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I can’t give it up.”

“What do you have so far?”

Hollywood finally met his stare and exhaled with a heavy sigh. Nick’s eyes widened in surprise. Bryan’s expression was as bleak as his own. “The human trafficking problem here is out of control.”

Nick huffed a laugh. “That’s not exactly breaking news.”

Bryan put his hand on the doorknob as if to go inside but made no move to enter. Instead, he leaned against the door and looked out over the water again. “I know. Thousands of women and children from Africa are sold into slavery or prostitution each year. The women are promised a job in a larger city, maybe even a position as a nanny in the U.S. or Europe. When they arrive at their destination, they are told they must work off the debt they’ve incurred from travelling by selling themselves in a brothel. Many are kidnapped into the lifestyle.”

Nick felt his stomach twisting. “What do you think this has to do with Elizabeth Yarborough?”

“Mexican cartels are expanding their human trafficking into Africa using the shipping routes they’ve already established here with their drug trade. They want part of that pie. Since they’ve got the connections to ship their drugs straight across the Atlantic from Brazil and Venezuela, it wouldn’t be a big leap to imagine their adding women to the mix. I don’t know the specifics of the routes, but the demand is certainly high enough, and there’s no law enforcement once you reach the West African coast.”

“But why Elizabeth Yarborough?” asked Nick again, leaning a hip against the porch railing. Something about this was obviously personal to Bryan. Nick just didn’t know what it was.

“If Elizabeth was originally taken for prostitution, even by accident, Africa would be the perfect place to ‘lose her.’ Think about it. There was so much media coverage in the U.S. and Mexico after she disappeared that she’d have been too easily recognized in almost any part of South America.”

Nick wasn’t so sure, and his queasiness over the entire situation wasn’t going away. Still, he had to ask. “It seems an awful lot of trouble for a cartel to go to for one woman. Why not just kill her and be done with it?”

“There’s definitely something I’m missing here. It’s what I’m hoping to get tonight.”

“Who are the players?” asked Nick.

“I keep coming back to Tomas Rivera and his brothel. I know in my gut he had Elizabeth Yarborough there at one time. I just can’t prove it. It sounds crazy, but I think Ernesto Vega could be involved, too.”

Nick felt the hair rise on the back of his neck and fought the urge to pace back and forth on the patio. “I don’t like jumping to conclusions, but given everything happening with both the Vegas and Riveras, it fits. Even though those men aren’t known for working or playing well with others, they’re the most likely to set aside differences and work together when you consider all that has happened to their families. That said, they could be double-dealing on each other, too.”

Bryan smiled, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. “That would certainly keep it interesting. The market for human and drug traffickers here is huge and this continent is the Wild West. The poverty of the area makes it even more lucrative.”

Nick stared toward the setting sun on the water and kept mentally poking at the one piece that wasn’t fitting into this scenario. “Okay, say the sex trafficking here is connected to the Mexican cartels, and maybe they aren’t all playing nice together. What do you think was going on with Jennifer at the airport? I can’t make any sense of it. A kidnapping and an assassination attempt at the same time?”

Bryan shrugged. “The shooter was aiming directly for the area of the truck where she was sitting after he took out the guy in the backseat of the cab.”

“Do you think we’re dealing with the same people who planted the bomb in Dallas?”

“I do now, and I think it’s most likely a Vega connection given that scorpion tattoo on the sniper earlier. Otherwise, it’s an awful lot of coincidences.”

It made sense, but then it didn’t. Why would the Vegas be after Jenny? Nick wanted to growl in frustration. “I agree, but there are too many damn holes. As much as I’d like to, it’s too easy to hang everything happening on the Riveras and Vegas.” He pushed away from the railing. “I’ve got a bad feeling about all this. You shouldn’t go alone tonight.” But Nick wasn’t about to tell him he couldn’t. His own plate was kind of full at the moment.

“The only thing my informant was positive about earlier was that they had no information about the mess with the airport cab,” said Bryan.

Of course not.
Nick laughed for the first time in what felt like days. It was that or grind his teeth to dust. All they seemed to be getting right now were more questions.

He had to get out of here and clear his head. “I’m going to do a perimeter check of the hotel and grab a bite to eat. I’ll bring something back for you and Jenny.” He didn’t ask if Bryan was okay staying with her.

“Alright. I’ll grab a shower while you’re gone.”

Nick nodded, walked down the steps, and raised his hand in a backward wave, taking his first deep breath since they’d landed in Africa. God, he was tired and so freaked. What in the world did any of this stuff have to do with Jenny? Why would anyone want to kidnap her, shoot her, or blow her up?

He kept circling back to the conclusion he’d reached while lying on her smoldering lawn after the explosion. The only thing that made sense was a connection to Tenancingo, and now this possible link with Elizabeth Yarborough.

What did Jenny know that someone would kill to keep secret?

Chapter Sixteen

N
ICK WALKED THE
hotel grounds, taking some time before grabbing food. He needed to decompress, but it was next to impossible with all the thoughts swirling around in his head.

What would happen to Jenny if he wasn’t around? He couldn’t stay with her and stay sane, not when he was still reeling from everything she’d told him about her being pregnant and losing their baby. Just thinking about her was painful, even thinking in terms of how to keep her safe.

The earlier crowd of businessmen from the hotel lobby now sat at the bar. There were signs for some kind of convention going on involving the oil and gas trade in the region. In the sundry shop he grabbed protein bars, several pieces of fruit, a couple of sodas, and a half-dozen bottled waters before starting back to the bungalow.

He decided he would wait for Bryan to get back from the meeting with his contact tonight before taking Jenny on to Ingal and the dig site. It was going to be entirely too uncomfortable for them to be alone together otherwise. Nick wouldn’t be any good to her as a bodyguard if he continued to be this ill at ease with her. His intuition and reflexes would be worthless, and she wouldn’t want him around anyway. Bryan would be better as the primary.

Back at the bungalow Hollywood met him on the front porch with a worried expression. “I’m trying to figure something out. Talk me through the shooting again. What did you see?” he asked.

Nick placed the convenience store food in a wicker chair by the door and took his spot on the porch railing again. He didn’t want to face Jenny right now. If that made him a coward, so be it. Admitting he wasn’t strong enough was better than being eviscerated.

“The shooter was young, Hispanic. He shot the guy in the back of the cab first, then he went for Jenny,” said Nick.

“You sure he wasn’t shooting at you or me?”

“Pretty sure. You were a clear shot, Hollywood. The guy specifically aimed for the roof of the truck cab. Right where Jenny was sitting. What’s the problem?”

Bryan frowned and shook his head. “I heard from a source. There’s a contract out on her.”

“What? Why?” Nick felt his eyebrows rise. “Someone’s after Jenny here?”

Bryan nodded. “Makes no sense, but nothing does. I’m meeting another contact in an hour. Maybe they’ll be able to shed some light on the situation.”

Nick stared at the bag of food on the chair seat. So what should he do now? He knew the answer, but he didn’t like it. He wasn’t going to be able to ask Bryan to take point on Jenny’s protection. He wasn’t going to be able to stand the thought of leaving her with anyone.

Bryan seemed to read his mind. “Okay, so don’t let her out of your sight. You’ll be keeping her safe, and she could lead you to whoever is responsible for this.”

“A euphemism for ‘Someone may try to blow her head off again, and maybe I’ll catch them this time’? She won’t take kindly to being used as some kind of bait.” Nick didn’t much care for it himself.

“From what you’ve said, it sounds like she wants her life back. The quickest way for that to happen is for her to cooperate with us. To get things back to normal in her world, she should stick with you and help us figure out what’s going on.”

Nick groaned inwardly. That’s what he was afraid of, having to be in constant contact with her. He wasn’t sure he could do that, even if she did see his sticking with her as the quickest way to get him out of her life. “What will I do with her?” he mumbled under his breath.

Bryan laughed. “Are you seriously asking me what to do with a woman?”

God, no.
At least he didn’t think he was. Nick knew exactly what he wanted to do with Jenny. That was the problem. He rolled his eyes with a grim laugh. “Fuck you, Hollywood.”

Bryan smiled, taking no offense. “I don’t really think that’s what you had in mind, is it?”

Jesus.
Nick shook his head again, but Bryan kept talking. “I don’t know. Take her to that dinosaur dig she’s so hell-bent on getting to.”

“You really think that’s a good idea? If whoever is after her knew how to find her at the airport, they’ll know about the dig.”

Bryan looked toward the pool area and the main building of the hotel. “Maybe, but it’ll still be the easiest place to watch her. It’s nothing but desert for miles around, and they have guards, right?”

Nick nodded.

“Perfect. You’ll notice if someone’s coming. Besides, you’ll go crazy holed up here in a hotel room trying to watch her
and
trying to keep your hands off her. Not that it’s any of my business.”

It sure as hell wasn’t, but Nick definitely had that coming. He reached for the bag of food and flipped Bryan off good-naturedly even as he said, “You’re right.”

“You just now figuring that out?”

The door opened, and Jenny stepped out onto the porch wearing a hotel robe. Her hair was wet and slicked back from her face.

“Is that food?” she asked, initially avoiding eye contact with either man before locking her gaze directly on Nick’s. “I’m starving.”

Bryan vaporized back inside.

Unable to stop himself, Nick stared back at her, losing himself in her eyes. He was so distracted, he bobbled the two canned drinks in his arms, dropping one off the side of the porch. The soda hit the ground at warp speed and rolled ten feet toward the water.

“Hell,” he muttered, heading for the stairs still carrying the food.

“I’ll be sure not to pick that one.” Jenny laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

“Good plan.” He stalked down the steps to grab the fallen drink, knowing he might as well get this conversation over with. He had to explain about how he was going with her to the Paleo-Niger dig site, even though neither of them wanted that. What he really wanted was to peel that robe away and take up where they’d left off earlier in the bedroom. In lieu of that, he’d rather go away and lick his wounds. Too bad neither idea was an option.

Jenny wasn’t going to be happy, and no amount of joking would fix the grim reality they were facing. Someone here in Africa wanted her dead and had paid money for an assassin. He glanced over his shoulder at her as she gazed out over the water toward the sunset.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she murmured, looking just as beautiful to him as she always had.

Doubtful
, thought Nick. But he didn’t say that out loud when he bent over to get the canned soda.

The sun was glinting off the water, and he stared out over the river then back toward the multi-story hotel behind them. That was how he saw the gun. The reflection from the sun must have hit the rifle scope just so. Otherwise, he’d have never seen the suppression barrel pointing out of the upper level room a hundred yards away in the main part of the building. Curtains billowed in the breeze and drifted gently out the window.

He was still ten feet from her when Jennifer turned to say something, but by then he was dropping the food and drinks from his arms, running toward the stairs and yelling.