Code of Control (17 page)

Chapter Nineteen

Nolan quickly
set a hand over Charlotte’s mouth to hold back her scream. “No false moves,” he
whispered near her ear.

Charlotte could
not stop the fear from showing through her eyes, however.

“Movimieto,” the
man said, waving the tip of his gun back and forth in front of their faces.

Nolan released
Charlotte’s mouth, lowering his hand. “Hacia do’nde vamos?”

An evil grin rushed
toward him, surging the blood from his limbs. Jesus! This was not going to end
well if involving guns. What the man wanted of them, he did not know, but when
asked to move, he was going to move.

“What does he
want?” Charlotte pushed out of the side of her mouth, as they righted to
standing, that gun now pointed at their chests.

“Not sure, but
we’ll do as he asks…for now.”

“Ven conmigo,”
the man said.

Nolan did not
want to go with him, but the man gestured they should move ahead of him and
start walking. Without a weapon, he could not argue against this. He grabbed
Charlotte’s hand, holding on tight.

“Oh, God, Nolan,
what does he want from us?”

“Not sure,” he
rushed at her. “Just do as he says, Charlotte. We don’t want trouble.”

“Cuantos
supervivientes?” the man said.

Nolan was not
going to turn around and startle the man. He said over his shoulder, “Hay dos
de nostros.”

“Dos sobrevivientes?”
the man suddenly laughed, questioning how many had survived the plane crash.

Nolan ground the
backs of his teeth in anger to this. It wasn’t funny there were only two
survivors, and those two now at the wrong end of an angered man. “Dos
sobrevivientes,” he replied rudely.

“Why is he
asking how many survivors?” she muttered near his side.

He glanced down
at her ashen face. “Not sure, but I’m going to find out.” He slowly turned,
forcing the man’s hand to raise his weapon.

Charlotte jumped
back, moving behind him; Nolan pushing at her hip to get her there, just in
case.

“Trajiste a
nuestro plano?” he asked the man.

“Avion?”

The man seemed
confused he was asking if he had something to do with bringing down an airplane.

“Yes, you
bastard, did you bring down our airplane?” Charlotte had whipped out, peeking
around his back to state her opinion.

“Charlotte,
please?” Nolan muttered through his clenched jaw, brittle laughter tightening
his gut. “Don’t piss off a man holding a gun at my chest.”

“Why not? He’s
made me angry. If he had anything do with our plane crash…”

“Then you stand
in front, and I’ll cower behind you,” he interrupted.

“Hey, you’re the
one who pushed me behind you,” she said.

“To save your
ass,” Nolan quibbled.

“Movimieto!”

Nolan turned
with Charlotte and started moving, as asked.

“Por que’ esta’s
aqui?”

“I could not
make that one out,” she whispered.

“He wants to know
why we are here,” Nolan responded.

“Ruinas mayas,”
she said loudly.

The man laughed
again.

“Why does he
keep laughing at us?” she inquired hotly.

“Because he
doesn’t believe a word of what is coming out of our mouths, that’s why.”

“Well, he
should,” she determined, her bravado misplaced in this situation.

“Co’mo
puedo llegar al rio?”
Nolan
inquired, pointing off toward what may or may not be the direction of a river.

The man flashed
them a toothy grin.
“Al rio’?”

Nolan
nodded. “Yes…al rio’.
We
were headed to the river—on honeymoon.”

“Movimieto,” the
man repeated, ignoring the ploy about any river or honeymoon. He forced them
into a clearing and that’s where Nolan found the two vehicles that passed them
in the undergrowth last night. He could not hide his groan to the discovery of
a drug cartel’s compound.

The man stepped
ahead of them, still chuckling but now talking to his cohorts. “Dos
sobrevivientes.”

All seven men
glanced at Charlotte, smiling yellowed teeth at her.

“Why are they
smiling at me?” she muttered.

“Not sure.”

“Make them
stop.”

“You make them
stop.”

“You’re the
boss. Why should I have to?”

Their kidnapper
gestured to the sky then flapped his arms in front of the men. “Aves,” he said
to his cohorts.

“Aves?” one guy
asked.

The man nodded.

The biggest of
seven men then stepped forward. Over his shoulder he told what was likely his
men, “Guardar el arma.” All of them lowered their weapons. He stared at Nolan.
“Do’nde esta’ el operativo?”

Nolan shrugged,
angering the man.

The guy stepped
forward and punched Nolan in the gut, sending him to his knees. Jesus Christ!
He’d been holding back the pain to a broken rib for twenty-four hours, and this
motherfucker punches him right where it hurts the most? Searing pain ribbed
through his insides, breaking him into a cold sweat.

“Nolan!”
Charlotte screamed, dropping to her knees. She set her hand on his shoulder.
“Oh, God. What do they want from us?”

He glanced at
her stricken face. “Remember when I told you I was fine?”

She hurriedly
nodded.

“I lied. I’m not
fine, and I think this bastard just made it worse.”

“What’s wrong?”

“A broken
wrist…and maybe a broken rib,” he told her.

“A broken rib?”
she blurted out.

His head bobbed.

“Why didn’t you
tell me?”

“I did not want
you to worry…or make a big deal about it. Probably should have said something
about it, huh?”

“Nolan…”

They yanked her
away from him. He tried to rise to his feet, got clipped at the knees, a gun
pointed at the back of his head, and Charlotte screaming hysterically, as the
man grabbing her then dragged her toward their vehicle. They shoved her into
it, mindless to any possible injury.

Nolan could not
let them take her without knowing who they were, even if in excruciating pain.
“Ella no tiene nada que ver con esto!”

The big man
stepped up to him and in very clear English responded, “She has everything to
do with this…now.”

Nolan looked at the
man, dead to rites. “Do I know you?”

“You should,
Amigo
.”

No matter how
hard he tried, he could not place the man’s face.

“I want my
money, Mr. Morgan.”

“Money? What
money?” Confused, he started to rise to his feet, clipped at the knees again.
“Would you stop fucking doing that?” he warned the man behind his back. “I’m
cooperating, but if you do that to me again, you won’t like the consequences.”
His one fist balled to hold back the burning in his side. If it was not that he
had to protect Charlotte, he could easily take two or three of these guys, one
hand tied behind his back…but this wasn’t the case with a broken wrist and left
rib and Charlotte inside their vehicle, scared out of her mind.

The big man snorted
at his face. “Go ahead. Kill the sonofabitch. He’s not very bright in the head
anyway,” he taunted. “Second cousin. Easily replaceable.”

“What do you
want from me, other than what I have no clue about?”

“Come, Devon, I
know you fell out of an airplane and probably hit your head, but playing games
with the Cha’rpa is not a smart move, even for a guy like you—an
amigo
to
Rual.”

Nolan opened and
closed his mouth, eyes wide. They beseeched Charlotte to keep quiet about his mistaken
identity. Thankfully, she got the hint, too scared to say anything at this
point.

Hell, she should
be terrified. There was a rough character tying her arms behind her back with
nylon rope, leering at her chest, smelling like a monkey’s ass.

“I know.” Nolan played
along with the mistaken identity. “But hey, a guy has to get in his fun every once
in a while. Ain’t that right, sweetheart? I know I’ve been having fun. How
about you?”

He got the butt
of a gun aside the head for this wisecrack. The next thing he knew, he was
waking up in the back of their vehicle, traveling through Belize jungle. He
immediately searched for Charlotte. Thankfully, she was sitting right next to
him, cross-legged.

“Idiot,” she
mumbled at his face, once he could focus. “The next time you want to smart off
to a man we do not know, make damn certain I’m not tied up and can help you get
your foot out of your mouth.”

He tried to sit
up, unsuccessfully, Charlotte’s hand holding him down.

“No. Pretend
you’re still asleep,” she whispered, her eyes darting back and forth inside the
back of the vehicle.

“Why?”

“I’ve been
listening to them for the last ten minutes.”

“And?”

“There are three
in our vehicle. The other four are in the one following us. They think you’re
Devon, and as far as I can guess, he owes them a ton of money. I can’t make out
the details as to why, but they think this, so play along with it for now.”

“If playing
along with mistaken identity gets my head cracked open with the butt of a gun,
I’d rather just admit I’m Nolan. Might save me a few broken bones in the long
run.”

She gave him an
odd look then bent down and quickly kissed him. “You can be Nolan later, but
for now, I’m in charge.”

“You?” he playfully
suggested, groaning. Although, in actuality, as much pain as he was in he’d
rather be crying.

“Yeah…
Devon
,”
she said, tongue in cheek with brows raised. “This is the point where your code
of control has to take a back seat.”

Nolan smiled, in
spite of his injuries. Dammit. Smiling gave him more pain, his head feeling as
if split in two.

“Thank God
you’re a twin,” she suddenly declared.

“At this
point…I’m not thanking God for anything—especially a major blunder we could
have done without.”

“What I don’t
understand is why Devon would know these people?” she said, seemingly talking
to herself.

“Can you figure
out who they are?”

She shook her
head.

“Any clue to
where they are taking us?”

“Ruinas mayas,”
she whispered in Spanish.

“The Mayan
Ruins? Why?”

Charlotte
shrugged. “I guess we’ll find this out once we get there.”

Nolan looked at
her face, lingering on her mouth. She was biting her lower lip, a sure sign she
was hiding something from him. “Why are you so calm about being kidnapped in
the Belize jungle?”

Her eyes slammed
into his. “Do I look calm to you?”

“Um…yes.”

She dragged in a
deep breath, flaring her nostrils. “I’m trying not to pass out.” She then
glanced away, lowering her voice. “I guess my unique childhood prepared me for
this kind of shit, and the only reason I seem calm to you is because I don’t
want to lose you now.”

“You’re not
going to lose me,” he said softly, reaching for her hand, giving it a firm
squeeze. She did not return the gesture, stalling the beating of his heart.
Something was not right with her.

“You can’t
promise me anything at this point, and you know it.” Her tone harsh, it had
just enough bite to increase his worry.

“I can…and I am,”
he reassured.

Charlotte shook
her head. “One thing at a time…
Devon
.”

“You’re going to
enjoy that, aren’t you?” he teased, in spite of fearing for their lives. These
were not the sort of people who forgive and forgave, and if pushed too hard
might actually shoot, no questions asked.

“Enjoy what?”

“Getting to know
Devon
under strangely extraordinary circumstances.”

“Gee, if he’s
anything like his brother,” she chuckled softly, “he should be loads of fun. It
could get quite interesting.” She then leaned down and kissed him, making
certain no one saw her do it. “I mean…he and I did sleep together. I know every
inch of him…”

“Charlotte…”

“What?” she
played at, returning to biting her lower lip.

“Bringing up your
late night escapade with my brother is not helping you one bit,” he warned.

“It’s not? I
mean, thank God his moody, boring, demanding carbon copy is not here to ruin another
golden opportunity for a sexual liason,” she continued, giving him a toothy
grin. “You should see his brother…Mr. Knowitall, Mr. Can’t-let-anyone-close-to-him.
He’s a real piece of work, very arrogant, very into himself. He might even be
gay. There’s no sign of a woman in his life. And the packaging…”