Dangerous Attraction Romantic Suspense Boxed Set (34 page)

“We had to carry all your gear out here ourselves. You owe Joe and Mark an apology.”

He walked over and gave Mark a high five. One of the women walked over and gave Joe a kiss on his cheek, making the older man blush.

She realized that they were pretty much ignoring her, and she felt like she was just being a nagging woman.

They’d been in Brazil for over a week covering the festivals, and she’d had enough of all three of them. Somehow Nathan had gotten closer to Mark and Joe in the last week than she had in the last three years, which made her feel extremely annoyed and hurt.

As everyone piled in the van, she watched as the two young woman tried to get in. She held her arm over the door and blocked them, looking over to Nathan.

“They can’t come along.” She had yet to understand his expressions; his hazel eyes hid his emotions too well. But right now she assumed he was annoyed.

“She’s right, girls,” he said. She heard the standard pouting objections from both women who turned and kissed him one after another, then walked away.

Finally, they got in the van and headed out. Now they were late for the meeting with her source, whom she hadn’t told her crew about. Everyone was still under the impression that they were meeting Isabella Torres, this year’s Carnival Queen.

“Where did you say this meeting was?” Joe asked as he drove the narrow side streets. Ann gave him directions and once the van started climbing the hills towards the slums, everyone got very quiet.

Finally Mark leaned forward and asked, “Ann, are you going to tell us why we are meeting the queen of the carnival up here in the favelas?”

“We aren’t.” She sat forward in her seat as she felt the thrill and excitement of disobeying her boss set in.

“What exactly are we doing up here, then?” Joe asked, while keeping his eyes on the ever-narrowing streets.

“We are meeting a man about a job.” She knew she was being vague, but she didn’t want anyone to chicken out. Especially since she knew the story could earn her world recognition, and possibly even the Pulitzer.

“Tell me this isn’t another scheme to get a Pulitzer.” Joe looked over at her.

She waited to answer them until they pulled in front of a small, brightly colored yellow building. Laundry hung from wires and ropes across the entrance of the alleyway. There were brightly colored designs on the houses that she knew marked each house and its occupant’s loyalties to a particular drug lord.

Heitor, her source, was standing in the doorway, looking a little nervous. She’d met him late last night while she’d been enjoying the carnival. She’d just stepped out after dealing with Nathan when a large Brazilian man had approached her. He was an older man and at first he’d scared her, since he’d approached her from behind. He’d tried to pull her into the alleyway by her arm, and when she’d resisted, he’d told her that he knew she was a journalist, that he’d been watching her at her hotel as she covered the carnival. At first she’d shivered, thinking that someone had followed her, watched her. Then he’d gone into quick detail about what he did and who he worked for. Nathan had stepped out of the hotel and had started walking towards them, so she’d arranged to meet him today. He’d pushed a piece of paper into her hand with the address and directions to the meeting after he’d told her the time.

She’d asked if he would be willing to go on camera with his story, but he’d shaken his head and left quickly as Nathan had approached her. He’d acted like she’d been in trouble, but she just laughed at him and tried to have a good time getting lost in the crowd.

She didn’t know why Heitor wanted the interview. She was sure he must have been marked for death already for him to take such a bold step.

“Heitor, I’m sorry we’re late.” She glared in Nathan’s direction. “We can be set up in under five minutes.”

“I’m sorry, miss, I thought you were coming alone. I’ve changed my mind about talking to you.” The man’s eyes were darting in every direction, taking in her crew. She noticed his hands shaking and realized she had to do something quickly or she was going to lose the interview.

“Heitor, why don’t you and I go inside and talk.”

It took her the whole five minutes that her crew was setting up to calm him down and convince him that he’d be perfectly safe. There was no way anyone would know it was him on the camera.

As the interview got started, she pulled out the list of questions she’d worked up earlier that morning. She knew how to work an interview. She started with some easy questions to make him feel relaxed, then she built up to some harder questions, and finally she asked the doozy of all questions.

Heitor was true to his word. He answered every question about his boss and his ties to the police, giving her details on how much money was involved. But most importantly, he had information on the connections between his boss, the police, and a local politician. This was the scoop she was digging for.

A chamber deputy, a judiciary, and a Supreme Court justice were all in the pockets of one or more drug lords, or worse, they were the ones in control. Heitor didn’t have that last piece of information that would have tied it all up nicely.

When he talked about the connections, he stuttered and became very agitated. Ann could tell he knew more, but before she could get names and more details, Joe pulled her aside.

“Ann, we need to leave. I think you have enough,” he said. “Can I talk to you?” He motioned towards the doorway.

She looked at him for a few seconds, then followed him out front. “I’ll be right back, Heitor.”

The man nodded and looked even more afraid.

The second she stepped out the small opening, Joe turned on her.

“How dare you!” His face was red and she noticed sweat running down his neck. She’d never seen him look so upset.

“How dare you put your crew at risk like this. I mean, we come down here, flashing our press badges all over the place. Then you get wind of this.” He motioned towards the small box of a home. “You didn’t even bring your crew in on the secret. Just plow right through, as if you’re the queen of TV. Did you think of our safety? Or that of the man in there, beyond this interview? I mean, look around!” He motioned to the courtyard. Their large white van sat in front of the row of huts that were falling down, a white beacon in a sea of trash. “You may have covered his face, but can you cover the fact that now everyone within a one-mile radius knows that the man sitting inside talked to the press?”

She smiled, “Relax, Joe. This isn’t his place. You see that symbol there?” She pointed to the small patch of bright colors.

When Joe nodded, she continued, “That’s the sign of the Red Command. Earlier this year the police seized control of this whole area. They are in control here, not the drug lords.”

She crossed her arms as she watched Joe look around and notice the small children playing in the streets. There were women and old men sitting outside, like they were enjoying a day at the beach. You wouldn’t see that if the drug lords still controlled this section. Smiling, she walked back into the room only to find Nathan and Mark sitting in the darkened room alone.

“Where is Heitor?”

Nathan shrug his shoulders and continued to play with his camera. Mark pointed to a doorway. “He said he needed a bathroom break.”

Ann rushed towards the opening and realized it was a back door. “Great! Can’t you two keep your eyes on someone for five minutes?” She turned and glared at the men. “Well, I guess the interview is over now, anyway,” she said to Joe who had just walked in. “Pack it up, boys.” She chewed her bottom lip, hoping she had gotten enough in the interview.

It seemed to take longer to get back down the hill to their hotel. The carnival was in full swing since it was the next to last evening. She wanted to work with Mark and get everything edited and sent to Austin before sundown.

The two of them sat in the hot van and worked for almost three hours. Finally, just before the sun set, when she was fully satisfied with the outcome, she grabbed the burned DVD of the footage and started back up to her room to call her boss.

She was halfway down the hall when Nathan came rushing out of Joe’s room. He grabbed her arm and pulled her into what appeared to be a closet.

“What—?” She couldn’t get another word out, as his big hand clamped over her mouth. His muscular arms held her tight and the look in his eyes told her she’d better stay quiet. Then she heard the loud noises. They seemed to go on forever. Nathan pulled her down past a few shelves until, finally, they were crouched on the floor behind a large row of toilet paper and towels. His full weight was on her, crushing her to the hard ground. His hand was still over her mouth, blocking out any protest she had.

Then there was an explosion and she watched in horror as the door was ripped off the hinges. A large fire ball came rushing towards them. She tried to scream just before a large chuck of wood hit her head and everything went black.

Chapter Two

Ethan fought to stay conscious by breathing slowly and blinking his eyes a few times. He’d been hit by a large chunk of wood from the door during the explosion. He felt the slickness of blood oozing down the back of his head, and when he reached back, his hand came away red. He felt Ann’s unconscious body under his and when he moved to sit up, he felt a wave of dizziness hit him. He continued to breathe slowly.

He knew they needed to get moving. Shaking his head lightly, he demanded that his body start functioning. He looked down at Ann and noticed a large knot on her forehead. Gently he pushed her bright blond hair aside to take stock of the wound. She might have a concussion. Running his hands over her, he felt for any broken bones or other lesions.

“Get your hands off me,” she moaned as she tried to push his hands away. He smiled. Good, she was alive and awake.

“We need to get out of here. The place is on fire.” He watched as her eyes slid open. She was glaring at him. God, he loved it when she glared. He knew she couldn’t stand him. He’d made a point to be as annoying around her as possible. After all, it was all part of his character. Nathan Cruz was a self-absorbed, macho, chauvinist kinda guy. Or so he’d thought when he’d created the persona. But for the last two weeks it had been killing him to be around her. She was bossy, egotistical, and very good at her job, not to mention sexy as hell.

He looked down at her now and realized some of her hair had been charred off and it was standing up in spots. Her clothes, a white button-up and dark dress pants, were no longer recognizable and were black with holes all over them. He saw a couple of scratches on her and noticed they were bleeding. No doubt he had a few himself. He looked down and sure enough, his cargo pants and t-shirt were both riddled with holes.

“Ann, we have to get out of here.” She moaned and sat up with her back against the wall.

“What was that?” She reached up and touched her forehead where the bump was and cringed at the pain. The smoke started getting thicker and he knew they needed to leave now.

“That was your drug lords telling us they don’t like you poking your nose in their business.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” He watched in amusement as she tried to dust off her pants. He saw that she was missing a shoe, and when she noticed, she started looking around for it. He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her to her feet.

“Stop, I have to find it.” She pulled her hand free and continued looking through the rubble that was all that was left of the linen closet. The smoke was so bad, he was having a hard time seeing down the hallway. He looked back at her. She was still on her hands and knees, searching for her shoe. He wanted to laugh.

“Ann, the hotel is
on fire
. We have to get out of here. Leave your damn shoe.” He tried to grab her arm again, but she just pulled it free again.

“I’m not looking for my shoe, you idiot! I’m looking for the DVD.” She continued to rummage through the debris.

Seeing the black case that held the disk by the doorway, he bent and picked it up and stuffed it in the side pocket of his khakis. Then he walked over and picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, fireman style. She screamed and kicked at him the entire hike down the flight of stairs to the main floor. Here there was a lot less smoke and when they got outside, he stopped and looked around. People were rushing from the building, coughing and screaming. Some had injuries, others just looked shaken.

Across the road sat their van, riddled with bullet holes. Mark lay on the ground outside, blood covering every inch of his body. Trying to keep her eyes pointed in the other direction, he started walking with her still flung over his shoulders. They needed to get as far away from the hotel as possible. He headed in the direction of the carnival, hoping that if there was anyone watching for them to leave the hotel, he would lose them in the crowd.

He knew she’d seen the van and Mark when she stopped kicking and fighting him. She’d gasped and gone very limp. He hoped she hadn’t passed out, but thought it might be easier on her if she had.

“You can put me down, now,” she said softly.

He looked around and noticed several men following them. The hotel was three blocks away and the men were only half a block away from them.

“Sorry, Princess. We need to cover some ground quickly. I think it would be better if I drove for a while.” He picked up his pace and when he looked over his shoulder, he noticed the men had as well. Now he spotted five of them sprinting after them. Damn, they were still a dozen or so blocks from the celebrations, and there was no way he could outrun them like this.

“How fast can you run?” Ethan wasn’t winded, but the blow to the back of his head was causing him to almost see double. What he needed was some sleep and some aspirin.

“Why?” she said between grunts caused by bouncing up and down over his shoulder.

“Look behind us and tell me how many men you see chasing us.”

He felt her hands on his back as she arched up and looked. Then he heard a gasp and he could tell that she had finally realized they were screwed.

“Nathan, let me down. We’ll be faster than what we’re doing now.”