Vengeance (SSU Trilogy Book 1) (33 page)

There, that sounded reasonable, didn’t it?

If Niko got any hint of her plan to kill Kai, he’d tie her up and ship her back home so fast, she’d see stars. Worse, if Niko learned the truth he’d no longer look at her with this combination of frustration, warmth, and tenderness her starved soul drank in like honey.

She blinked her eyes against unexpected tears and turned away.

Niko was silent for a long time. Then, to her surprise, he walked up behind her and pulled her back against his chest. “You can stay,” he said, giving a sigh that stirred the hair at the back of her neck. “For now.”

Somehow, the fact that he’d given in didn’t make her feel any better. It just made her dread the coming betrayal even more.

“So…what’s going on tonight?” she asked.

“I sent a message to Alvarez today, telling him you’d run away, so there could be no exchange. His response came back just a little while ago.”

Jenna turned to face Niko and dug her fingers into his forearms.

“He says he’ll release both my aunt and your brother if I surrender.”

“No!” She shook Niko. “You can’t do that!” God, nothing must happen to Niko. She had to know he lived on. That his strength, honor, and integrity hadn’t been destroyed by evil.

Niko rolled his eyes. “Of course I’m not surrendering. Alvarez knows better. This is just the start of negotiations.” He pressed a quick kiss to Jenna’s cheek and set her on her feet.

“I’ll wait until tomorrow morning to send back a reply. Tonight, we’re going to observe Alvarez’s fortress. I want to see if there are any changes in the security patterns at night from what I observed during the day.”

“We?”

“Yeah. I need Rafe’s eyes. Since I can’t leave you here alone, you’re going to be my shadow.” Niko shot her a quelling glance. “You will obey me and do nothing to draw attention to yourself, hear?”

She nodded. Inside, her stomach was a whirlpool of fear and excitement. This was it, then. Tonight was the end. She…

No. Push the emotions back in their box. Don’t let Niko or Rafe sense what you intend. Bury regrets and wishes. Become the cold, focused woman you were before you met Niko.

But God, it was so hard to go back to being that person.

#

Two hours later, Niko stared at Alvarez’s fortress through his binoculars, all too aware of Jenna lying an arm’s length away. Successful surveillance required a calm head and steady nerves. But Jenna had him twitchy as oil in a frying pan.

Part of him wanted to jump Jenna right now, here in the darkness of the jungle. But the rest of him didn’t trust her. That hard, fanatical edge had crept into her voice again when talking about her brother. Although he’d do anything to save Aunt Madalena, it was out of love. What he’d seen in Jenna’s eyes had been something darker. Something that made him keep her in sight at all times.

His gut insisted she’d lied to him. That she didn’t want her brother protected and safe. The alternative made Niko’s blood run cold.

Yet so far tonight, Jenna had been nothing but cooperative and professional. Equipped with her own set of high magnification binoculars and a specially equipped camera, she alternated between observing the sectors that were assigned to her and snapping photographs. Occasionally she made notes in the small spiral-bound book in front of her, using the tiny red light attached to her pen. A black stocking cap covered her white hair and she wore black fatigues the same as he and Rafe.

Her boyish clothing did nothing to dull his awareness of her as a woman. Despite her muscles, she was slight. Delicately made, so that even as honed down as she was, her femininity still shouted to him, compelling him to protect her. He was terrified that if they were spotted, she’d instantly be recognized as female.

His jaw clenched. The things Alvarez and his men did to women were inhuman.

He tightened his grip on the binoculars, fighting back the urge to snatch Jenna up and run for the safe house.

He wiped a bead of sweat off the side of his forehead.
Mind on the job, Andros.

Niko swept his binoculars toward Alvarez’s front gate.

Shit.

Six men and two dogs marched out of the compound, heading down the long driveway toward the road.

Niko activated his lip mike, tapping out the code for a split retreat. Rafe immediately signaled back acknowledgement from his position on the other side of the driveway. According to plan, Niko and Jenna would return to the car while Rafe hiked in the opposite direction to a predetermined rendezvous spot. If the security team was nowhere in sight on the road, Niko and Jenna would drive directly to the pick-up point. Otherwise, they’d signal Rafe to retreat farther down the coast and they’d go the long way around to get him.

At Niko’s signal, Jenna stowed her gear, pulled on her night vision goggles, and indicated she was ready to go. Taking a path he hoped would keep them clear of the dogs, Niko slid his own goggles into place and moved deeper into the jungle. The moon was almost full, but under the jungle’s canopy it was pitch black.

They’d almost reached the car when the sound of dogs barking grew closer, accompanied by the sound of bodies crashing through the underbrush. Niko cursed and pulled Jenna toward a large tree. He lifted her up until her fingers closed around the lowest limb.

The dogs burst upon them.

Niko kept his focus on Jenna, knowing the protective weave of his pants would keep the dogs’ teeth from penetrating deep enough to break skin. He shoved at Jenna’s right leg. She’d just swung it over the branch when gunfire punctured the night.

Searing pain in his left thigh. Niko stumbled against the tree.

Ignore it.

He jumped. Managed to grab the branch, but one of the dogs fastened on his ankle and the extra weight unbalanced him. He lost his grip.

The dogs lunged after him as he fell. He curled his arms over his face and head and rolled away, expecting to feel the sting of teeth. But a sharp command cut through the dogs’ growls and the beasts retreated.

Five men with automatic weapons and night vision goggles took up positions in front of the tree. Three weapons pointed toward him, two at Jenna. Niko pushed up to his knees.

A man stepped out from behind a tree and raised his goggles. Niko found himself pinned by the malicious stare of Berto Mendoza, the head of Alvarez’s security.

Ah, fuck.

After Alvarez, Mendoza was the most sadistic bastard Niko had ever met. And he hated Niko’s guts. Mendoza’s smile promised that Niko might make it back to Alvarez, but he was going to bleed before he did.

One of the dogs at the base the tree whined, diverting Mendoza’s attention. “You in the tree, climb down slowly,” Mendoza ordered in Spanish.

Niko called out a translation, hoping Jenna understood not to give away her knowledge of the language.

He started to turn around, wanting to watch her descend. As if his will alone could keep the dogs away from her. But the man nearest to him jabbed his rifle into Niko’s back, forcing him to stay facing Mendoza.

He heard a soft thud as Jenna landed on the ground. Then a grunt and the sound of a body hitting dirt. Ignoring the rifle pressed to his spine, Niko twisted around.

Jenna was on her stomach. One of the men knelt over her, securing her wrists with flexicuffs.

Niko held his breath, waiting for Jenna to panic or fight. But she lay docile. That was so unlike her, it scared him. He wished he could see her face. Was she afraid? Angry? Unconscious?

Didn’t matter. The bastard was going to pay for the rough way he handled Jenna.

Once her wrists were secure, the man pulled out a pistol and held it to Jenna’s head. Niko feigned calm while his own hands were bound and his weapons removed.

If the situation had just been Alvarez’s men versus Niko, he’d try to escape. But Alvarez’s dogs weren’t just trained to hunt and attack intruders. They were encouraged to feed on their prey, preferably while it was still alive.

There was no way in hell he was doing anything that might put Jenna on their menu. So he’d play along. For now.

Rafe was still free. He’d find some way to help them.

The radio at Mendoza’s waist squawked. He answered it, and whatever he was told didn’t make him happy. He jammed the radio back in its holster. His fingers hovered over the hilt of his knife, clenching and unclenching.

His lips formed a mutinous pout, but he let his hand drop. “Move,” he snarled. “
El Jefe
is waiting for you.”

“What’s the matter? Alvarez tell you not to hurt us?” Holding back a laugh, Niko lurched to his feet, testing to see how much weight he could put on his injured leg. The bullet had caught him on the outside of his thigh. The bone was intact and would support his whole weight when the time came. But they didn’t need to know that. He stumbled, pretending he couldn’t walk unassisted.

Mendoza swore. “We must go. Drag him if you must.”

Two of the men stepped up, grabbed Niko under the arms and yanked him forward. He sagged, forcing them to carry his entire weight. Let them work to get him to Alvarez.

He turned his head slightly to check on Jenna. She marched gamely behind him, her captor’s rifle prodding between her shoulder blades in case she faltered. Her hat sat low on her face. With the cammo paint smeared across her skin, he hoped to hell no one realized she was a girl.

As they stepped into a small clearing, bushes shuddered on the other side. Something loud crashed through the trees, coming closer. The men dropped Niko and raised their weapons. The dogs crouched, ready to attack.

Niko tensed, ready to bolt.

A man stumbled into view.

Shit. Mark Tonelli. And Jesus, the man was in bad shape. Blood streaked his face. His pants and sleeves hung in tatters from multiple dog bites. When he noticed Mendoza’s group, he fled back into the jungle. The dogs and two of the guards gave chase.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Niko rolled, knocking down the man to his right. He kicked out both feet, landing a blow to the side of the other man’s kneecap. The man fell, firing wildly. But Niko had already moved on. The first of his guards toppled into Jenna’s captor. The second guard’s shot caught the man in the back. Niko jackknifed and pulled his knife out of its ankle holster. In a well-practiced move, he slit the flexicuffs.

As soon as his hands were free, he jumped to his feet. Jenna was frozen in place, caught by a man’s scream. Damn. The dogs had Tonelli.

“Come on!” Niko urged, grabbing Jenna by the arm and turning her away. He sliced her restraints, then broke into a lurching run, forcing Jenna along with him.

They hadn’t gone very far before there was a shout behind them. Niko kicked up his pace, ignoring the pain in his leg. He veered to the right, running parallel to a ravine.

Jenna stumbled against him, throwing him off his stride. Her legs tangled with his and he tripped. He landed on his stomach at the rim of the ravine. The ground gave way beneath him and he started to slide over.

Dammit, no!

His right hand snatched at a small bush along the edge. The force of his momentum carried his legs in an arc. His left leg went past the edge before his momentum stopped.

Shit.

One wrong move and he was headed down the long slope to the ocean below.

“Jenna, grab my waistband and help pull me back.” He didn’t dare move his head to look at her, afraid any movement would send him over the edge.

“I’m sorry,” Jenna whispered. “What I have to do, you can’t be part of.”

The toe of her boot shoved his hips over the edge. He threw his left hand out to hold the bush, and managed to stop himself before he’d slid more than a couple inches.

He jerked his head up. “Jenna? What the fuck?”

The faint moonlight shimmered against her cammo paint, making her seem like a creature of the wild. Her face was utterly calm, but her eyes were tormented. “Please, forgive me. I love you.”

She twisted her body and kicked him in the left shoulder. The impact tore his hand free of the bush so that he dangled by just his right hand.

“Why?”

He thought he heard her whisper, “Because Kai has to die,” before she slammed her boot into his other shoulder.

He lost his grip on the bush and fell.

His hands scrabbled frantically for another handhold. He grabbed a vine, but it tore out by its roots, sending dirt and rocks cascading after him, stinging his eyes and clogging his nose and mouth.

Then he was airborne. The last thing he heard before he hit bottom was a male voice shouting in Spanish, “On your knees, boy. Hands on your head!”

Chapter 26

The ravine dropped Niko twenty feet onto a thin strip of beach. He landed on his back with the wind knocked out of him and his goggles askew. Reality swam out of focus. He drifted.

Some time later, furious barking along the top of the ravine snapped him back to attention. Men shouted at each other, arguing whether it was worth their time to follow Niko down and make sure he was dead.

“Enough!” Mendoza’s bellow cut through the chaos. “We take the boy and the man back to
El Jefe
. If Niko is still alive, he will attempt to free the boy and his aunt and we will capture him then.
Ándale.
”

The men moved away with much stomping and grumbling, taking the whining dogs with them. Taking Jenna to Alvarez.

No!

Sheer terror propelled Niko to his feet. His wounded leg screamed a protest and he almost collapsed. But he grit his teeth and searched for a way up the side of the ravine. He had to get Jenna free. If Alvarez touched her….

He found a section of cliff where the bushes were thinner and began climbing toward the top. His fingers grabbed at precarious handholds, and he slid back a foot for every two feet he gained, but he slowly approached the top.

Each second of delay caused his heart to increase its frantic rhythm. He was going to be too late. No! He pushed himself faster. The thought of Alvarez hurting Jenna terrified him like nothing ever had.