Black Ops Chronicles: Dead Run (14 page)

Ripping the tape off his forehead, he combed his fingers through the knots in his hair and pulled it down over the gash.

“Now we walk into town like we belong here. Not sneaking, not hiding,
just
walking casually. Okay?”

“Yeah.”

She led him into the village, keeping to the back streets and alleys. The friendly little houses looked different when seen through fear-colored glasses. The doorways and windows she’d once thought so quaint, with the dried chilies hanging from them, now seemed the perfect place for an ambush. Her throat clogged with terror.

Max took her hand. “Breathe, angel,” he whispered.

“Yeah.” She forced her lungs to expand.

“Good. Now where do we need to go?”

She checked her watch. “The parade starts in thirty minutes at the village square, so that’s where we’ll find Pablo’s family. Then after we warn them and tell them about the men in the cave, we need to collect my bags and head out to the chicken farm. The old man there will give us a ride into La Paz for just a few pesos. And he told me yesterday he wasn’t going to the parade.”

“Okay, and where’s the village square?”

“We turn right at the next street.” She pointed. “Go down a block then three to the left.” She guided him down the dirt sidewalk and around the corner then—froze.

The blue Jeep was parked behind the black sedan a half a block down. Joe stood beside the car, reading a girly magazine he’d laid on the hood—next to a gun.

CHAPTER 9

Over the screaming in her head, Tess heard Max whisper, “Don’t panic. He won’t recognize you if you don’t give yourself away.” His words were calm and steady, his breath tickling her ear. “We can’t turn back, or he’ll be suspicious. So just keep going and act natural. Got it?”

She nodded, afraid to trust her voice. Max put himself on the side closest to Joe, slipped an arm around her shoulders, and pulled her close. Tucked against his side, she walked down the block, past Joe, at as steady a pace as she could manage, her eyes downcast, her teeth clenched so hard they hurt.

Obviously engrossed in his Playboy, Joe never even looked up. But Tess didn’t breathe easy until they’d rounded the next corner and were out of sight.

She threw her arms around Max. “Oh, God. I was so scared, I couldn’t even think. How’d you know what to do?”

“Just common sense,” he said and pressed his lips to her temple. “If you act like you’re just doing what you’re supposed to, nobody notices. It’s when you behave in a way they don’t expect, you stand out.”

“I’m glad you were with me.” With a quick glance over her shoulder, she took his hand and hurried down the street. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

When they reached the square, they were swallowed by a mob of people. It looked as if everyone in the village had turned out for the parade. She scanned the crowd but saw no sign of Nick or Tony. Reassured, she eased into the shadow of a giant bougainvillea trailing up a palm tree at the edge of the plaza.

“See the boy in the Aztec costume standing beside the man in the red shirt?” she asked, pointing to where the parade entrants congregated. “That’s Pablo and his father. His mother’s standing right behind them in the blue dress. Pablo should recognize you. He’s the boy who found you on the beach.”

“Okay. You stay here. If Nick and Tony are watching Pablo’s family, they’ll be expecting you. Not me.”

He hooked his finger under her chin and raised her face until his stunning hazel eyes captured hers. The look in them sent a rush of desire through her.

“I mean it. Stay here,” he repeated. “No matter what happens. I’ll be right back.”

“What do I do if they find me?”

He glanced around the square. “You’ve got the gun, but if you don’t want to shoot, start screaming. I doubt they’ll try anything in front of so many witnesses if you’re drawing attention to yourself. So shoot or scream, but don’t move from this spot. I don’t want to risk not being able to find you. Okay?”

“Yeah.” She nodded and put a hand on his arm before he could leave. “Pablo and his family don’t speak much English.”

“Understood.”

He melted into the crowd. Tess watched, amazed, as he joined the throng and became both noticeable and invisible. Noticeable because he stood at least a foot taller than everyone there, his sandy hair a sharp contrast to the black hair of the locals. And invisible because he moved so casually, stopping to say a few words here, shake a hand there, making it appear he’d lived in this village with these people all his life.

He meandered over to Pablo and his parents then crouched down to speak with the boy. After a second, the parents knelt down beside him. They spoke for a few moments, Max gesturing all the while toward the costume as if asking how it was made.

He rose, clapped Pablo on the shoulder, and moved on, only to stop before the next child in line and kneel down to speak with him. And then the next.

He speaks Spanish,
she realized with a start. Who the hell was this fascinating, appealing, and frustrating man she’d trusted with her life? She divided her attention between watching him and checking the crowd for Nick and Tony, while trying to curb the urge to run. Then Max was back, his arms around her. She leaned into him, her arms around his neck, taking comfort from his rich, masculine scent and the warmth of his embrace.

“You speak Spanish.”

“Apparently so. I was walking through the crowd wondering how I was going to communicate with Pablo’s parents when I realized I could understand what people were saying.”

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t—”

Over Max’s shoulder, she saw two men turn the corner and head toward them. She whirled around, putting her back to his chest.

“Nick and Tony,” she breathed.

“Where?”

“Coming this way. Behind us.”

“Do you think they recognized you in this getup?”

“Not yet, but they will if they get close enough to see my face. And if we run, they’ll probably just assume it’s me.”

“Then we won’t run. We’ll duck and cover.” He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. “Kiss me and they won’t see your face.”

She didn’t question him, just slipped her arms back around his neck, rose up on her toes, and pressed her lips to his. He pulled her closer and changed the angle of the kiss, bending his head over hers, shielding her face.

Panic twisted her gut. Her legs trembled, and her skin grew clammy, sweat oozing down her back. Someone brushed past her. Bumped her shoulder. She smelled a familiar cologne and heard Nick’s voice say, “Get a room, for Christ’s sake.”

Scrunching her eyes closed as tight as she could, she clung to Max, expecting at any minute to feel a knife or a bullet in her back. Her knees buckled until his arms were the only thing holding her upright.

After what seemed like several lifetimes, he broke the kiss and moved his lips to her ear. “They’re gone, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop.”

As the fear drained out of her, she opened her eyes. Met his. “I—”

“Me, too.”

His mouth covered hers again and this time his tongue slipped between her teeth. Without the panic distracting her, her mind blanked. She melted against him. As her blood burned, she wondered if the sparks would smolder or burst into a flashover and consume them both where they stood.

***

Max wanted to finish what they’d started. Now. Right this minute, damn it. So what if the whole village was here to see? Struggling for control, he broke the kiss then rested his forehead on hers. “Nice save. Nick didn’t even suspect you were there.”

“I was terrified,” she confessed.

He turned her around and steered her down an alley between two buildings. “I know. That’s why I kissed you again.”

“Is that your answer for everything?”

“Can’t remember. But if it isn’t, it should be.” He stopped at the end of the alley and peeked around the corner. “All clear.” Unable to resist, he trailed a finger down her neck. “I want you, Tess.” The shock in her eyes only added to his hunger. “I want you bad. It just gets worse the longer I’m with you.”

“Max, I—” She moistened her lips with her tongue. “I can’t deny I’m attracted to you. But—” She must have seen the gleam in his eye, because her hand shot up. “—I don’t sleep with men I don’t know.”

“You know me.” He took the hand she still held up, brought it to his lips, and kissed the center of her palm. “Under certain circumstances, people can get very well acquainted, very fast.” Linking his fingers with hers, he pulled her down the street to another alley. “I think these circumstances qualify. You know you can trust me not to hurt you. And you know—or you should—that you matter to me. So what more do you need?” Not sure he wanted an answer, he changed the subject. “Now, would you like to hear about Pablo’s family?”

She let out a little breath, nodded, then listened in silence as he told her what he’d learned about Nick and Tony’s visit to the family’s farm that morning.

“She sent them off to an abandoned house?” she demanded when he’d finished.

“Yeah. Pretty smart move,” he said with admiration. “God only knows how much time she bought us. Then as soon as Nick and Tony drove away, she sent Pablo to the cottage to warn you, but we’d already gone.”

“Why didn’t she just say she didn’t know me?”

“She tried, but they recognized Pablo’s costume as your work.”

“Oh, God.” She stopped dead, and he felt a shudder run through her. “That never even occurred to me. I’ve put them in danger, Max. What am I going to do?”

“Nothing we can do, except follow the plan. Pablo’s father isn’t taking them home after the parade. He said he’d ask the priest to put them up in the church basement with the other out-of -
towners
. And he’ll tell the padre about the guys in the cave. I told them that we’re going to La Paz, and if anyone asked, they could repeat that. And I also told them not to take any more chances for us. It should be safe for them to go home by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Do you really think it’ll be safe that soon?”

“Yes. I don’t imagine that Nick and Tony will hang around here too long and
risk letting you get
away.”

“I wish you hadn’t told them
it’s
okay to say we’re going to La Paz.”

“Couldn’t be helped. You don’t want that family’s death on our heads any more than I do. And from what you’ve told me about Nick, if they try to protect you, he’ll kill them.” He squeezed her hand. “Besides, I figure if Nick doesn’t find you by tomorrow morning, he’ll head for La Paz anyway. It’s the largest town in the area and the most likely place for you to run.” He sighed. It was a mediocre plan at best, but they were out of options. “We just have to pray that if Nick and Tony can’t find the family tonight, they’ll forget about them.”

They walked in silence. When they reached the grove of cacti where they’d left Tess’s bags. Max put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “I’m sorry, angel. I know it doesn’t seem like it to you, but the best thing we can do for Pablo and his family is to grab your stuff and get the hell out of Dodge.”

***

7:41 p.m., Baja California Sur
:

“This sucks,” Nick muttered as he and Tony left the farm and headed back to the village—without any hostages. “I can’t believe we wasted all this time and that stupid family never came home. Even though the whole damn tribe was at the parade.” Rubbing his chin, he tried to think of a new plan. “Maybe we could just announce we had the brats. Tess might believe it.”

Tony shook his head. “Never work. The village is too small. Everybody here knows everybody else. Someone’s bound to know where this family went.
And
that we don’t really have them.”

Nick glowered at him. “And since you couldn’t track the radios, we’re right back to square one. Everything you’ve come up with so far has bombed.”

“Stop whining,” Tony growled, slamming his fist on the steering wheel. “I’ll get the cunt. And we’re
not
back to square one. We’re closer to finding her now than we’ve ever been.”

“Oh? And just how do you figure that?”

“First of all, we know she’s here. Secondly, that tap on her attorney’s phone told us she has to go to a marina tomorrow and pick up some cash. She isn’t going to leave the area without doing that.” He waved a hand at the window as they entered El Nopal. “The nearest marina to this village is the one in La Paz. So smart money says that’s where she’ll go.”

“I’d forgotten about the marina,” Nick confessed, relieved enough to ignore Tony’s pissy attitude. “So what’s your plan?”

“I’ll send Joe to the La Paz Marina early tomorrow morning to wait for Tess. I trust him to do what needs to be done.” Tony snorted. “Half a mill’s a very good motivator. And it’s a small price to pay to clean up your mess.”

Nick grimaced. “I have no problem with the reward, as long as we can sell enough drugs to make up the money.” He ran over the plan in his mind. “Why send Joe alone? That’s dangerous if Tess has help.”

“Don’t you remember what tomorrow is?” Tony didn’t wait for an answer. “It’s Friday. Our rendezvous with Almasi. It’s taken me almost a year to set this up because he doesn’t really trust anyone. And the CIA agents who showed up in that boat didn’t make him any less paranoid. So I have to handle the meet personally.”

“Why do I have to go?”

“Because I don’t trust you to stay out of trouble. You don’t speak Spanish. So you’d be stuck at the motel until I got back. And knowing you, you wouldn’t stay there. You’d wander around and likely get hurt.” Tony pulled up beside the tiny village police station, his headlights reflecting off the metal sign proclaiming “POLICIA” in large white letters. “Since your safety’s my responsibility, that means where I go, you go. For now.”

“So what are we doing here?” Nick asked with a wince. Police of any kind made him nervous. “Are you planning to stick me in a cell for a while?”

Tony snorted. “It’s a thought, but I doubt Jonas would appreciate it.” He killed the engine and got out of the Jeep. “We’re going to file a missing persons report, or whatever it’s called down here, on Josh and Glen. We have to find out what happened to them. If Tess didn’t take them out, then we have other enemies here. And we need to know who they are.”

Nick followed him into the police station: a small room containing a bare ceiling fixture with one dim light bulb, a desk with one chair behind it and two more in front, a filing cabinet, a typewriter, a bookcase, and a battered table with papers scattered haphazardly across the top. The combined stench of tobacco, chilies, stale beer, and sour sweat assaulted his nostrils.