Blind Ambition (9 page)

Were they approaching this from the wrong angle? “You know, we don’t even know that this is an adoption scam. That was just a suggestion from Alexa’s boss.”

“I’m not sure I want to think about other possibilities,” Kurt said.

Dan looked at Alexa, who watched him anxiously. “Me either.” His gut clenched at the other reasons the rebels might take small children. “Either way, we need to figure out where Frederick’s men could be keeping them. Assuming they still have them.”

Fuck.
This was beyond his capabilities with the resources and time they had. And, while he might be an expert at search and rescue, patching people up, shooting his way out of a hot zone, and surviving on nothing but bugs, he was no detective.

Dan rubbed his face. “Dude, I’m feeling seriously out of my league here.”

Alexa’s eyes widened.

“I hear you,” Kurt said. “I’ll see what else I can find out.” There were muffled voices in the background as if he had covered the receiver to talk to someone in his office. “Hey, do you still have your map of known rebel camps?”

“Yeah.” He’d put it in a plastic pouch in his backpack before leaving St. Lucia.

“Tara just handed me the location of two more SIR-controlled positions.”

Dan marked them on the map, thanked him, and signed off. Then he looked at Alexa. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather hire an investigator? Or a whole team of them? I’m not sure how much I can help.”

“I don’t want to hire someone else. Mercenaries follow the money, and Frederick could offer more to keep this whole thing quiet.”

“You do realize that I’m essentially a mercenary, right?” Had she forgotten he was no longer a PJ?

Her mouth opened and then closed. “But I trust you.”

And hell if that didn’t zing straight to his gut.

“Besides,” she said, “search and rescue is your specialty.”
 

“Yeah, but that’s different. Downed pilots and fallen hikers are not the same thing as kidnapped children.” He rubbed his chin and realized it was probably time for a shave. “And my main job is to keep you safe.”

“But you said you’d help me.” Her voice was tinged with desperation.

He sighed. “I will. I just… You need to be realistic about my capabilities here.”

“I know you’ll do your best. That’s all I ask.”

Where did this unerring belief in him come from? He didn’t know if he deserved it, but she was right. As far as he was concerned, there was no point in taking on a job if he wasn’t going to give his all.

He nodded and pointed at the map. “Well, we have somewhere to start at least.”

She studied it for a minute and then shook her head. “We don’t have time to check all of those.”

“You’re right. I think we—”

The drawers in the metal filing cabinets rattled. Then the phone he’d set on the floor joined in. It took his brain a few seconds to catch on.

Alexa looked up at him, her eyes wide as the ground began to rumble beneath their feet.

“Shit,” Dan said. “Earthquake.”

Alexa froze for a second before she realized what was going on. She’d been in earthquakes before, and each one was different. Some were like a kick to the back of your seat, others like the slow roll of a huge ship. This one rumbled and bounced like an old truck on a dirt road.

“Outside,” she said to Dan. “It’s safer in the street.”

The small wooden building would probably hold up—certainly better than cement block would—but they were still better off out in the clearing.

Dan jumped to his feet, snagged her hand and pulled her through the doorway and down the stairs. Troy and Jamila ran out of the orphanage and joined them. Others came out of their homes and huddled together, sending furtive glances toward Alexa’s group, but keeping their distance.

“You okay?” Troy asked her.

“We’re fine.”

The ground continued to shake. Not enough to knock them off balance, but enough to rattle their bones. It seemed to go on and on. When the tremor finally stopped, the lack of movement was profound. As in those first few minutes after the hiccups go away, she kept expecting the shaking to return.

“Well,” Troy said, “that was interesting. I’d better find out if there was any damage.” He held out his hand to Dan. “Can I get my cell phone back?”

St. Isidore didn’t have many landlines, but the cell towers had been one of the first things repaired after the hurricane.

Alexa mounted the porch steps and stood in the shade. Moisture from the humid air gathered on her brow, but the ever-present breeze kept her cool. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scents of salt and earth. Her work with Hygiea had taken her to many countries, but St. Isidore held a special place in her heart.

She’d met the two people she cared for most here.

The first of those people followed her onto the porch and stood next to her, leaning against the support beam. “An earthquake is the last thing this country needs right now. I hope that’s not a precursor to something bigger.”

“Me too.”

He eyed the locals returning to their homes. “Unless you need something here, it’s time to get moving.”

She entered the clinic and he followed her inside. She checked the building for damage, but found only an overturned chair in the back exam room, and a stack of papers that had fallen from the built-in bookshelf near her bed. She bent to scoop them up and laid the disheveled pile on the cot so she could put them into some semblance of order. Maybe she could get Troy to send her things when she had a new address.

The corner of a photo stuck out, its small triangle of bright red catching her eye. She removed it and sucked in a breath.

It was a picture of her and Dan from three years ago, at a makeshift birthday party for one of his teammates. They stood arm-in-arm in front of a red resort cabin that had been converted for Hygiea housing, wearing big smiles and their respective uniforms.

She knew why she was smiling so big in the picture. She’d never been happier in her life.

“Do you need help?” Dan’s voice came from right behind her.

She startled and dropped the photo. It twirled out of her reach and landed on the floor near the foot of her bed, face up.

He bent to retrieve it and straightened, his eyes locked on the picture. “Vinh’s party,” he said, his voice hoarse.

After the party they’d escaped to a secluded cove and made love for the first time on a blanket in the sand.

God, she’d give anything for a chance to start over. But even if she went back in time and told him the truth about who she was, it wouldn’t change anything. After Despina died, Alexa had decided to dedicate her life to saving others. She couldn’t live with herself any other way, but her choice didn’t leave room for a long-term relationship.

“Thank you.” She took the picture from his grasp and stuffed it into the pile as if it were nothing special. Then she straightened the papers and returned them to the shelf. “Hopefully there won’t be any aftershocks,” she said, desperate for a distraction.

“No kidding.” Dan peered through the window. “How soon will you be ready to go?”

“I’m ready now.” She took her knapsack from a hook on the wall and added some granola bars and several bottles of water from a cabinet the rebels had missed.

On their way to the front door, he gathered the map from the floor, folding it and stuffing it into one of his pants pockets before he hefted his bag and slipped it onto his shoulders. “Hang on.” He peeked through the front window. “
Shit
.”

“What is it?”

Deep voices carried through the door form outside.

“Rebels.”

She gasped and ran for the back exam room. “Come on.”

He followed, closing the flimsy door behind him as she threw back the braided rug and tugged open the trap door. Would he even fit through there?

Keeping her backpack on, she slid into the opening in the floor, reaching out with her toes until she finally felt hard-packed dirt. The two long sides of the clinic were connected to the neighboring structures, but diagonal wooden slats lined the front and back, letting in filtered light. The butterflies in her stomach swooped and dive-bombed. Who knew what kinds of critters lurked down there? Not to mention, if they were caught by the armed militants…

Dan gave her a dubious look, but he must have decided they didn’t have any other choice. He removed his backpack and lowered himself into the hole, stopping when the floor of the storage room came to about mid-chest. He reached for his bag and dragged it down.

Holding the door with one hand, he slid the rug over them and quietly lowered the wood until it was flush with the floor.

Seconds later they heard feet pounding overhead. Alexa held her breath and gripped Dan’s hand. She didn’t ever want to let him go, but he gave her a gentle push toward the alley side of the building.

They could have used the same path to the orphanage she’d urged Flore to take, but endangering Troy and Jamila more than she already had was not an option. She could only hope the rebels wouldn’t think to look next door. No one else should get hurt because of her.

Above them, the footsteps faded. Alexa waited, still as a stone, straining to hear the men as they descended the steps and slammed the front door.

Was it a trick or were they leaving? How had they even known to look for her here? Or was their appearance unrelated? No. Frederick had spies everywhere, even in Terre Verte.

But very few people knew about the trap door.

The crawl space smelled faintly of damp earth and rot, and she refused to think about the bugs and rodents that could be lurking in the shadows. Several feet away, Dan was on his hands and knees about a yard from the lattice that separated them from the street, watching through the slats. He’d left his rucksack next to where she kneeled in the dirt.

At his signal, she crawled up next to him.

“You okay?” he mouthed.

From here, they could keep watch until the coast was clear enough to make a break for it through the small door cut into the crisscrossed wood.

Suddenly shouts came from multiple directions and feet pounded toward them. Within seconds, a half-dozen men faced the clinic. A glance over her shoulder showed the same scene in the alley.

Dan grabbed her hand and held a finger to his lips.

“We know you’re under there, Alexa Alyssandratos,” a man called out, mangling her name in his thick local accent. “Come out now.”

Adrenaline raced through her.

Then the shooting started.

ALEXA SCREAMED.

DAN GRABBED HER and yanked her toward the center of the crawl space, away from the bullets. Her cry sent a bolt of fear through him, but he didn’t think she was hit, only frightened.

In fact, the rebels needed her alive, so they were probably shooting to scare them out, not to kill.

He curled his body around her trembling form and held her tightly, covering her as much as possible. “I have you.”

The gunfire continued for several more seconds, then finally ceased with a deafening silence. He weighed their options, but it didn’t look good. There were too many men for him to fight his way out.

And if they escaped, who could they trust to shield them? Someone had alerted the rebels to their presence. How else would they have known to come right now?

“Come out, Miss Alyssandratos, or we’ll kill your friend here.”

Alexa gasped and looked up. Through the slats they could both see Troy being held at gunpoint. “
No
.” She struggled to break free from Dan’s hold.

“Wait,” he whispered. Then he turned his head toward the leader and yelled, “We’re coming out. Don’t shoot.”

Alexa relaxed.

“I’m going to release you. Stay behind me, okay?”

She nodded.

“Promise me.” He held her gaze until she nodded again, then before he could curb the impulse, he kissed her. It was hard and fast and much too short, but he couldn’t regret it. He’d been wanting to feel her lips again every minute since their kiss in the water, and this might be his last chance.

The surprise on her face would have made him laugh if they weren’t surrounded by zealots with rifles. “For luck,” he said, stuffing his gun into his rucksack before he crawled away from her, leaving his bag behind.

He moved his knife to his boot and unsnapped the sheath from his belt, leaving it in the dirt before he reached the small door at the front of the crawl space. “Coming out,” he called, then pushed open the hatch.

Two men darted forward and pulled him through the hole into the bright sunlight. Each man held one of his arms as they brought him to his feet and led him away. Dan resisted the urge to struggle. Fighting now would only get him beat up or worse, and then he’d have no chance to help Alexa.

She yelped as two other men dragged her through the small doorway and onto her feet, but she held her head high and went without resistance.

Atta girl.

The rebels led her to stand in front of the guy holding a Ruger nine-mil on Troy. This man, clearly the leader of the group, handled his gun like he knew what he was doing.

Alexa faced them both. “Troy, I’m sorry.”

He averted his eyes. “Me too.”

Shock etched her face as the rebel leader released her cowardly boss. Troy kept his eyes forward as he climbed the stairs and entered the clinic.

Jesus, the asshole hadn’t lasted long under the rebels’ threats. Goddamn these fuckers and their terror tactics.

Dan wanted to rip them apart, but there were too many.
Keep your head or you’ll be useless.

The soldier with the Ruger gave Alexa a grin that sent Dan’s blood pressure through the roof and said, “I am Nillin Petitt, Frederick’s second in command. We are glad to have you back.”

“Where are the children?” she asked. She had to be terrified, especially after what had almost happened to her last time, but her first thought was for the kids.

“Ah, yes. I have heard that you want one of them for yourself.”

Alexa’s jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered. “Only if she has no family of her own. Her name is Flore and she needs medicine. If you take me to her, I’ll give you whatever you want.”