Traitorous Attraction (17 page)

Kate took his arm. Connor couldn’t take on seven men alone.

One of the men advanced on them, and Connor leaped at him, slamming his hand against the cinder-block wall and forcing him to drop his bat. Kate grabbed it. Now she was armed and it made her feel slightly better.

The inmates lunged at them. One grabbed Kate around the waist and hot rage coursed through her. She brought her knee up to the man’s midsection and he doubled over. She slammed him again and used the stick to hit the man again and again. Though her fighting technique was frantic, it got the job done. The man fell to the ground. She stared at him for a long minute, horror at what she had done careening into her.

Father Luca was standing over another inmate, rubbing his knuckles, his eyes wide.

Kate didn’t have long to contemplate the situation. On the ground were six of the men who had attacked them and Connor was fighting with the seventh. Cesar was on the ground, as well, doubled over, clutching his abdomen. Kate knelt next to him. He was bleeding from his stomach, pressing his hands over a wound.

With a final punch to the face, Connor dropped the final inmate.

“How is he?” Connor asked Kate.

“He’s bleeding from the stomach, maybe cut by a shiv, but he’s conscious.”

Cesar moaned as if to emphasize he was aware and in pain. Father Luca knelt next to Cesar and prayed.

“We can’t leave him here, but he can’t walk,” Kate said.

Connor knelt down. He removed his button-down shirt, taking off the white cotton undershirt beneath it. He pressed it over Cesar’s stomach. The man groaned in pain.

“I know that hurts, but I won’t let you bleed out. You stay with us and we’ll have you out of here in a few minutes,” Connor said.

Kate helped Connor shrug into his black shirt, and Connor lifted Cesar while Kate held the white shirt over Cesar’s wound.

Carrying him would slow them down, but they had no choice. They couldn’t leave him in the open to be assaulted again.

“The command center?” Connor asked Cesar.

Cesar pointed down the corridor. They took two flights of stairs up and trekked down another hall. The prison was filled with bursts of shouting and gunfire breaking up the silence. When they arrived at the west-command-center door, the fingerprint scanner was broken just like the one at the other exit point.

“How will we get inside?” Father Luca asked.

“Can you hold this?” Kate asked Father Luca, gesturing to the white shirt.

Father Luca held it, freeing Kate’s hands, and she stepped forward. Kate examined the device. She had seen this model of scanner before, and while she was working at a disadvantage with the mangled parts, it wasn’t as badly smashed as the other one had been.

“Watch my back,” she said to Connor.

Connor and Father Luca set Cesar against the wall.

“Hang in there. We’re getting help,” Connor said.

Cesar watched her through slit eyes. “Please hurry.”

Kate knelt to look at the device. Some of the parts were intact but torn apart; others appeared damaged.

“Do you think you can fix it?” Father Luca asked.

Kate wasn’t sure. If they could get inside the command center, they would have safe haven from the inmates and the violent response from the prison guards. “I’ll try. I took a few electronics classes in college.” It was a reasonable explanation for how she had acquired the skills to fix the lock device.

The loudspeaker crackled. “This is your warden. The riot is falling apart. Some of your comrades have returned to their cells. Others are dead. This is your last chance to surrender. Air reinforcements have arrived. Anyone who attempts to get past the gate will be shot down.”

Kate ignored the sounds over the loudspeaker, the gunfire and the whirling from a helicopter. She had to fix this. The warden’s message confirmed one thing to her: things were getting worse as the riot collapsed and the inmates grew more desperate.

Wishing she had her tool kit, she did what she could. She reassembled the device, took out her phone, ripped off the back and attached it to the fingerprint reader’s wiring. Though her phone didn’t have a wireless signal inside the prison, she could use the operating system to control the lock. Sweat dripped down her back. She wished she could see the device’s electronic configuration.

Several minutes and failed attempts later, and she’d hacked inside the lock’s master configuration and control. She entered a dummy password, forced the lock to accept it, and the locks flipped open with a satisfying click.

“We’re in,” she said. “Good thing I had those classes.”

“Hallelujah,” Father Luca said. He was too grateful to question her further.

Connor and Father Luca lifted Cesar and climbed the short stairwell to the command center. Kate removed her phone from the lock. She didn’t have a way to relock the doors from the inside and her phone might come in handy again. It was the one computer device that she had on her person. Just having it made her feel better.

Connor liked his knives. She liked her electronics.

The command room had two chairs in front of the numerous computer monitors and servers.

“Brace those chairs against the door,” Connor said.

Though the chairs wouldn’t stop someone from getting in, it might slow them down. Kate did as Connor asked and Connor set Cesar down.

“Is there a first-aid kit in here? Something we can use to stop the bleeding?” Connor asked.

Cesar shook his head. “Just call for help.”

Kate sat at one of the keyboards and began typing. She needed a way out, a way to lock the command-center door or a way to call for assistance. Connecting her phone to the server, she started a download of the prison’s databases for review. She also uploaded a small Trojan horse that would give her external access, just in case. First priority was keeping them safe, but Aiden’s rescue was on her mind. Plugging in directly to a terminal computer gave her access without firewalls and the prison’s intrusion-prevention system blocking her.

“What are you doing?” Father Luca asked from next to Cesar. He held the man’s hand with one of his and was pressing the T-shirt over his injury. Based on the color of the once white shirt and the robe he was wearing, it didn’t look as if it was slowing the blood flow.

“Looking for a way out,” she lied. While her phone downloaded information and compressed it, she went to another computer and pulled up the displays for the closed-circuit security system. Picture after picture of destruction and devastation hit the screens. She gasped at the sight of men lying on the ground bleeding, fires burning and active combat among the guards carrying large shields and the rioting prisoners.

She sent a message from the control room to the main entrance. No response. The system was likely thinly manned, all able-bodied guards working to control the prison population. She sent another message. Nothing. “I can’t get through to anyone,” she said.

“We’re on the top level of the prison,” Connor said. “If we can get out on the roof, we can signal for help.”

Kate crossed the room and looked out the window. Response helicopters flew overhead. Explosions sounded through the air.

She felt dizzy looking down. “We can’t climb out the window. We don’t have ropes or a way to climb up.”

“Look at that ledge,” Connor said, pointing along the wall. It led across to a tiered roof. “We can shimmy across, get on that lower roof and climb to the top. From there, we can signal for help.”

Kate stared at him. He knew about her fear of heights. “That’s a terrible idea. We’re safer here. I can get someone to send help.” Eventually, someone would respond.

“Cesar needs medical assistance immediately. We can’t wait for someone to find us. Prisoners are roaming freely through this building and we don’t know how long it will be before they come in here. You’ve seen the inmates’ reaction to a woman. We need to get you out of here to somewhere safer. You’re safer on the ledge than you are in here.

“Father Luca, will you stay with Cesar?” Connor asked.

“Yes, I will pray with him,” Father Luca said.

Cesar was unresponsive, his eyes closed.

“Keep talking to him. Try to keep him with us,” Connor said.

Kate looked out the window again. “I can’t go out on that ledge.” She returned to her phone and the computer. Computers were comfortable. Playing with data and code made her feel safe. Leaping out of a window terrified her.

“Yes, you can,” Connor said. “I will hold your hand the entire time. You’ll be safe.”

“Sister Kate, this is a trial from God. A test. He will protect us. Have faith that this will work,” Father Luca said.

“Kate, look. Father Luca needs to make sure Cesar doesn’t bleed to death. I need to signal for help. You are safer with me. If someone comes into this room and I’m not here, what do you think will happen?” he asked.

Kate didn’t need to use her imagination much to understand. She would be violently assaulted. The roof was her best and only option.

Kate took her phone from the console, hoping she had copied enough information to help them find Aiden. She slipped her phone into her back pocket.

“I’ll go out on the ledge first, then you,” Connor said. “We’ll flag down help.”

Kate mustered every ounce of courage and followed Connor onto the ledge.

The wind felt as if it was blowing hard enough to knock her down. Helicopters were circling and guards were shooting from their sniper posts. Below them on the prison grounds, bodies were scattered and smoke rose from the prison. Nausea and dizziness hit her. She closed her eyes and tried to restore balance to her shaking legs.

“We’re okay. This is almost over,” Connor said.

Kate pressed her back to the wall and scooted a few inches along the ledge. Wooziness swamped her. She would not look down again. No good could come from that. Inch by inch, she and Connor shimmied along the wall.

“You’re okay, Kate. You got this. You can do it,” Connor said.

Any other man, and she wouldn’t have made it. But she had faith in Connor. With him next to her, she could do this. Somehow, she would do this.

When they reached the lower roof, she knelt onto it. Connor maneuvered to get behind her. The roof shingles were hot under her hands, but it felt safer to crawl rather than to walk. Carefully, every motion slow and easy, Kate kept her eyes pinned to the next tier of the roof. It was flatter, and from there, they would signal to the helicopters.

Her foot slipped, adrenaline and fear shot in her veins, and Connor’s hand went to her body, bracing against her hip. Her heart slammed hard and fear shook her body. She had almost fallen.

“I will not let you fall,” Connor said. “Trust me.”

“It’s easier when you distract me,” Kate said.

“From this position, I have an amazing view of your legs and butt. That’s all the distraction I need. Too bad you aren’t behind me. I could wiggle in just the right way to keep your attention.”

Kate smiled. Despite the situation, she couldn’t help herself. “Is that all men ever think about?”

“Not all—only a good portion of the time. I also spend time thinking about food.”

“You’re the only man in this world who could have talked me into coming out here,” Kate said.

“Are you telling me I have the power to talk you into doing stuff I want?” he asked, not disguising the lewd overtone of the question.

“In matters of the bedroom, only when it’s something I want to do, too,” Kate said.

“Put your hand up to that ledge and I’m going to push you up,” Connor said.

They were at the other roof. Kate reached her hand and clasped the edge. With a shove from Connor, she gripped it with both hands and pulled herself onto the roof. Kate sat, closing her eyes and clutching her knees to her chest. She hadn’t fallen. With Connor’s help she had crawled out of a window at least six stories above the ground.

When Connor slid next to her, he stood and waved his arms, trying to flag down a helicopter.

Two helicopters were patrolling the sky. One slowed down and hovered over them. The site of a priest and woman had them sending down a harness. Connor strapped her in first, and Kate kept her eyes shut until she was safely on the ground.

Chapter 11

W
hen the prison riot was over, forty-seven inmates were dead, including the leader of one of the most violent prison gangs, and over a hundred were injured. Three men had escaped and a city-wide search was under way to find them. Thirty-four guards had been injured, five in serious condition at a local hospital.

The helicopter Connor had flagged down had rescued Father Luca and Cesar. The other prison guard they had left in the chapel was rescued and was in stable condition at the hospital.

Connor had no news of Aiden. He was working every contact he had, making calls and pretending to be a reporter looking for a list of casualties, pretending to be a hospital administrator calling for prison medical records to be sent, and the list went on and on. No one could confirm if Aiden was among the dead or wounded. No one could confirm where Aiden was.

Connor had been close to his brother. In the confusion, with more time and with less at stake, he might have figured a way to get Aiden out of La Sabaneta. But Kate had needed his protection, he’d needed to be certain she was safe, and recklessly running through the prison to find Aiden could have gotten him killed. Kate had been the voice of reason when chaos had reigned and the temptation to throw care to the wind had been strong. Connor didn’t like admitting she’d been right; he liked to think of himself as unstoppable. But her caution had been the better choice.

“I know the information is here somewhere,” Kate said. She had downloaded the data she had taken from the prison into her computer from her phone and she was mining through it. She had been working with it for over thirteen hours. She hadn’t stopped for a break. “Aiden is in that prison. I need to figure out what name they have him under.”

They had tried every combination of Aiden’s name, as well as looking for strangely named inmates that could be aliases for Aiden.

Connor watched the television news report, hoping to catch a glimpse of his brother. The prison riot was receiving national news coverage. During the riot, major portions of the prison had been damaged. Fires had been started. Entire areas were flooded during the efforts to put out the fires.

No sign of his brother.

The riots had a terrible impact on Connor’s plans to free his brother. The prison was now under watch by the Tumaran National Emergency Reserves, who would provide additional monitoring of the prison while the mess was cleaned up, the prison repaired and every prisoner accounted for.

The prisoners had lost good-behavior privileges such as being outside and attending church services. All meals would be eaten in their individual, tiny cells.

Aiden’s morale would be at an all-time low. As a man who liked to run wild, being locked in and locked down would be trying for him.

“We have to find him,” Connor said to Kate, disconnecting his phone in frustration. He couldn’t find out any more information than what was publicly available.

Kate crossed the room and put her arms around him. “Connor, we will. I will find him. I won’t give up.”

“He could be dead.”

Kate hugged him tighter. “He is not dead. We’ll find him.”

She was keeping him from losing it. She was his anchor. Her support and having her beside him was keeping him from falling over the edge of sanity. “What if all that’s left to find is his body?” Connor asked. Kate had never lost faith that they would find Aiden alive. Connor wished he shared her sense of optimism.

“Don’t think that way. Don’t think all is lost because then it really is,” Kate said.

“I need to know he’s okay,” Connor said.

When he looked at Kate, tears shone in her eyes. “It kills me to see you hurting.”

He felt vulnerable and exposed in a way he never had before. When he’d thought Aiden was dead, the sense of loss was absolute, but he’d had to accept it because he couldn’t do anything to help him. This situation was different. He could do something to help Aiden. He could if only he could find him.

A knock on their hotel-room door. Connor’s brain, lacking food and sleep, shot into overdrive. Sphere had found them. More disasters were calling.

“Did you order food?” Connor asked quietly.

Kate shook her head. “No.”

Connor motioned for Kate to go into the bedroom of their suite. “Wait there.”

Kate shook her head and pointed to his side. She was bent on staying with him. Connor approached the door and looked through the peephole.

Confusion and worry shot through him and he pulled open the door. “Ariana, what are you doing here?”

Ariana entered the room, rushing past Connor and Kate. She removed the hat that she’d been wearing low over her face. Her eyes were puffy and her face red from crying.

“Ariana, what’s happened?” Kate asked. She steered her to the couch and sat beside her, slipping her arm around Ariana’s shoulders. Connor brought her a box of tissues.

“Ariana, I know this is a difficult time, but I need to know if you were followed,” Connor said.

Ariana shot him a look as she dabbed her eyes. “Of course I wasn’t. I’ve been running and hiding for years. I know how to get somewhere unseen.”

“How did you find Kate and me?” Connor asked. It worried him that he and Kate had been traced to this hotel.

“I heard from some spies the AR has in the city that two Americans were staying in this hotel.”

Connor swore. “We need to change hotels. Immediately. If the AR’s found us, then Sphere can find us.”

Kate nodded. “Let’s go. Let’s go now.”

Ariana held up her hand. “Please. I have information about Aiden.”

They went stock-still. “I’ve been in touch with one of the men who escaped from La Sabaneta. He said Aiden is still inside and he had last seen him just before the riot.”

“Was Aiden part of the riot?” Connor asked.

“Yes, but my contact said it didn’t go according to plan,” Ariana said.

“Meaning?” Connor asked.

“Meaning he didn’t know if Aiden was dead or alive.”

* * *

Their new accommodations were smaller and farther away from the prison, but they’d needed to relocate to prevent anyone from following them.

After taking a sleeping pill, Ariana had fallen asleep on a cot in their hotel room. Kate started her computer program and set her laptop on the end table. She needed something to shake off the tiredness that dogged her. Drinking more coffee would make her jittery, so she went to the minifridge for some water. Connor had gone to pick up dinner and would return soon and they could eat together. Perhaps he would settle enough to rest with her.

As anxious as she was, Connor was worse. He was restless and edgy, needing information about his brother, worried about what had happened at the prison and how it affected their chances of getting Aiden out. Kate wanted to find information that would put Connor’s mind at rest, to exploit a security hole left open after the prison riot.

Kate opened the door to the small fridge and an arm clamped around her waist, a hand clamped over her mouth and she was jerked upright. It wasn’t Connor. It didn’t smell like him and it didn’t feel like him. Kate reared back, trying to slam her attacker or knock him off balance.

He avoided her attack and shook her hard, lifting her off her feet. “Be still and be quiet.” A quiet, threatening male voice.

Kate screamed despite the hand over her mouth and jammed her elbow behind her. She wasn’t going down without a fight. Though she made contact, the man didn’t move. Kate lifted her legs and kicked the wall, pushing off it and sending the attacker back several long steps.

Ariana remained asleep. The sleeping pill had her out cold.

“I will release you, but if you attack me or scream, I will stop you.”

Kate stopped struggling and the man let her go. She whirled to face him and came eye to eye with a dark-skinned man with black hair wearing sunglasses, a gray T-shirt and jeans.

“Did Sphere send you?” she asked.

The man snorted. “No one sent me. I took a job and I came here. I’m only late because you moved hotels this morning. Threw me a little. But not enough.”

An assassination job? Was the man playing with her, releasing her to have the thrill of catching her again before he killed her? Kate looked around for a weapon. “My boyfriend will be back soon.” How many minutes had passed since Connor left?

The man folded his arms across his chest. “Connor West? Good. I want to talk to him.”

He knew Connor’s real name. They had checked into the hotel under pseudonyms. Sphere had sent this man and he was planning to kill them both.

“Your problem is with me,” Kate said. Connor didn’t work for Sphere anymore. She was the one who had ignored her boss’s demand that she not get involved in looking for Aiden. Connor was just a concerned family member.

Her phone was across the room, connected to her laptop. She couldn’t call Connor and tell him not to return to the hotel. When she heard someone at the door, she shouted a warning.

“Run, Connor! Get out of here.”

Foolish, hardheaded man didn’t run. Connor came through the door, body poised to attack, scanning the room for the threat. The men both pulled knives at the same instant and Kate watched in horror. Someone would get hurt. The two men circled each other, knives clutched in their hands.

“I’ll give you a chance to realize the mistake you made in coming here and run,” Connor said.

“Run? You asked me to come here,” the man said.

Connor regarded the man through a wary expression. “Who sent you?”

“Our common friend.” The man relaxed and straightened, but didn’t lower his knife.

“Common friend?” Connor asked. “Did you see the sun set yesterday?”

Kate rolled her eyes at the question. It was a test question Connor and the senator had set up when he had helped him rescue his daughter to confirm who was working on their side and alert the other if they had been compromised in some way.

“I did as I have every day,” the man said. The man put his knife away.

Connor grinned and slid his knife into the sheath at his waist. “I hoped the senator would come through. Took you a few days.”

Connor and the man clasped hands.

“Took me a few days because you were involved in a prison riot and then relocated,” the man said.

Kate wondered how the man knew they’d been involved in the incident at the prison.

“I’m Finn,” the man said.

“Connor West. This is Kate.”

“The senator was vague, but I’ve heard of you. I was intrigued,” Finn said.

“What have you heard?” Connor asked.

“You’ve operated in every corner of the world. You’ve never been caught. You don’t work for anyone but yourself anymore,” Finn said. “It’s a position I can respect given my preference for being an independent contractor.”

“We’re looking to get someone out of La Sabaneta,” Connor said, getting to the reason they’d asked for help.

To his credit, Finn didn’t laugh at the near-impossible mission. He also didn’t flinch or roll his eyes.

“Is that why you went into the prison? Hoping to break him out?” Finn asked.

“Not exactly,” Connor said. “We were doing recon and were inside when the riot started.”

“Riots are happening every day in this country, and
el presidente
is increasing his police and security teams. Uprisings have been sporadic and unorganized and put down quickly, but the more momentum the movement gains, the stronger the Armed Revolutionaries grow. I’ve had to be more careful about who I work for. I have no intention of being caught and jailed in a sting,” Finn said.

“How long have you been in this area?” Connor asked.

“Too long. There’s enough work. I could stay for another decade and not be bored a single day,” Finn said.

“Are you willing to help us?” Connor asked.

“I could help with your problem. The senator’s offered diamond-level support,” Finn said.

Meaning the senator was paying Finn handsomely for his time. Given the state of affairs in Tumara, operatives could command a high price.

“Kate’s working to get confirmation that my brother’s inside the prison,” Connor said. He strode to the door and picked up the bags of food he’d left in the hallway, then closed the door.

“Was he part of the riot?” Finn asked.

“Unknown,” Connor said.

“Too bad you didn’t exploit the riot as a chance to get him out,” Finn said.

Connor shook his head. “I considered it but extenuating circumstances prevented it. I couldn’t get to him without too much risk.”

She was the risk. Connor had been worried about her while they were inside the prison and she had insisted they stay together. Did Connor blame her for not being able to look for Aiden? He hadn’t said anything to her after they escaped. The guilt that had urged her to first find Connor renewed. She had a hand in Aiden being in Tumara. Connor set the food on the small coffee table.

Finn rolled his shoulders. “Three inmates escaped yesterday. The government will close those security holes. We’ll have to be creative and aggressive.”

“I’m willing to die to get my brother out,” Connor said.

Though Kate had long known of Connor’s commitment to the cause, she was shaken by hearing him speak so plainly. “I’d prefer if no one died,” Kate said. “Is there a way to get Aiden out without anyone being hurt?”

Connor and Finn looked at her as if she were crazy.

* * *

Connor scanned the newspaper again. A list of the men who had lost their lives during the prison riot was printed in the morning newspaper alongside the pictures of the destruction caused. Aiden’s name wasn’t among those listed. A brief flash of relief was followed by dread. The government-run newspaper wouldn’t print the name of an American they had been holding. They wouldn’t allow his name to be leaked to the press and risk creating an international incident.

Ariana and Finn were away working their street contacts, trying to get confirmation of Aiden’s location.

“Oh. Oh, look. Connor!” Kate called.

He couldn’t tell from her voice if she was panicked or scared. He raced to her. Kate was pointing at an article showing more damage at the jail. Reporters were speculating how the government would continue to keep the jail open considering how much had been destroyed.