Eye of the Beholder (27 page)

She tried to steady her thoughts by concentrating on her surroundings. How far had she walked now? Was it thirty yards? Was that what they’d put on the model? Yes, here was the first bend, just as she remembered. The floor was still level. Some of the lights on the wall had burned out. She didn’t see the junction of the corridors until they were on top of it.

One guard put his hand on her back to guide her to the right. Glenna fought the urge to slap his hand away. She couldn’t afford to provoke these people. She knew what they were capable of. She curled her nails into her palms and counted the light fixtures.

Juarez was in his office. He was wearing his white suit again, an affectation that might have been amusing if adopted by anyone else. But Leonardo Juarez wore whatever served his purpose. He’d worn a tuxedo the night he’d crashed the fund-raiser. He’d worn a navy-blue blazer and a striped tie yesterday when he’d stepped up to her cab as it had pulled up in front of the Winston Hotel. No one had suspected that under the cover of the blazer he had jabbed a gun into her ribs.

“Ah, Miss Vanderhayden. How nice of you to join me.” He half rose from his chair and swept his hand toward an armchair that had been drawn up in front of his desk. “Please, sit down.”

The pretense of civility was as disturbing now as it had been before. But this time, she didn’t want to throw up on his white vest, she wanted to spit on it.

Her mother would be scandalized by the crude thought. Glenna was beyond caring. She’d given up living her life by her old rules.

Her gaze went to the window. Darkness had settled over the rain forest. She had been here for more than a day now. How much longer would he keep her before he reverted to brutality? What if the mission had been postponed? She sat down in the chair he had indicated. “It’s useless to keep me hostage this way,” she said. “My government isn’t going to release your brother on my account.”

Leather creaked as Juarez leaned back in his chair. “Now, now, no need to be modest. I had no idea how valuable an asset you were during your last visit. If I had, I would have insured your stay was more…extended. The Vanderhayden name alone opens countless locked doors, and I understand you are personal friends with several senators and congressmen.”

“My name is Hastings.”

He shook his head. “Lovely Glenna, I know all about you. Over the past week I’ve had very infor conversations with your colleagues.”

She remembered how she’d thought she’d seen him talking to Abernathy in the ballroom. And hadn’t her mother mentioned that a foreign-sounding man had called the house to ask about her?

Oh, God. The idea of how easily this…reptile had slunk into her life made her nauseous. He’d been there in New York all along. If she hadn’t gone back to Fort Bragg with Rafe, Juarez would have kidnapped her a week ago.

“Yes, I believe your family and your powerful friends will serve my purpose splendidly,” he said. “Yet there was a more important reason I decided to extend my hospitality to you again. Your presence here will put an end to your plans to interfere with my business.”

Glenna hung on to the arms of the chair so he wouldn’t see the sudden tremor in her hands. It sounded as if he knew about the assault that was planned. How? The mission was secret—she hadn’t told anyone what she had been doing last week, and she was positive none of the team had disclosed the information. Yet if Juarez was aware of the mission, the team would be in terrible danger. She did her best to keep her voice steady. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The mask of affability slipped. Juarez leaned forward, his face twisted into a scowl. “Do not lie to me. I have heard from several sources of your plan to build a resort on my island. That was what brought you to my attention once more and took me to New York. I will not allow these plans to proceed.”

She hid her relief. He was talking about the tourist resort, that was all. “This is a beautiful island,” she said.

“It’s only natural that I’d regard it as a business opportunity. But if you’re opposed to the idea, I’ll certainly reconsider.”

He snatched the flat silver case from his desk and took out a cigarette. The ritual of lighting it seemed to calm him. He drew his mouth into a circle and pushed out a ring of smoke with his tongue. “You will have no choice, lovely Glenna. You are completely at my mercy. There will be no Delta Force Frankenstein to help you this time.”

He’d used the same word before. He’d had Rafe struck. Oh, God. He was an animal.

The phone on his desk suddenly buzzed. “Ah, right on schedule,” he said, reaching for the receiver. “It appears your government knows better than to keep me waiting.”

The call was almost identical to the one a month ago. The demands. The ultimatum. Juarez’s repulsive pawing as he held the phone out to Glenna.

But this time, she recognized the voice at the other end. It was Sarah Fox.

“The hostage is alive.”

Sarah’s words crackled through Rafe’s ear piece over the drone of the plane’s engines. He stared straight ahead, no change in his expression. But inside his chest, his lungs had started to work once more.

Redinger’s voice came next. The question was brief. “Location?”

“The target told her what to say. She remarked once to him it was juslike last time.”

Rafe tongued the transmitter that linked him to the team. “She was giving us a message,” he said. “They were in the office at the compound.”

To her credit, Sarah didn’t question his statement. She would know that Glenna was a bright woman and would be doing everything she could to convey information. “She might not be there now,” Sarah said. “We couldn’t keep him on the line.”

“We proceed as planned,” Redinger said. “Two minutes to drop point.”

The light over the hatch glowed dull red. The twelve black-clad members of the Eagle Squadron assault team who waited in the hold fitted their night vision and breathing apparatus over their faces and began their final equipment check.

Rafe tapped a button on the device that was strapped to his left forearm. The computer screen showed a green grid that correlated each man’s signal with the satellite positioning system that would guide them to the compound. Next he checked his rifle and his backup pistol. Then the extra magazines in his pockets, the sheathed knife on his calf, the rope and the grenades on his belt…he was a walking arsenal. Good to go. Ready to rock and roll.

Except for one thing. He activated the transmitter again. He knew Sarah would be monitoring the frequency until the mission concluded. “How did she sound?” he asked.

There was a brief delay before the answer came. “Scared, but hanging on.”

Rafe pulled on his gloves and clenched his fists. Yes, Glenna would be hanging on. She was a fighter. Just look how she’d fought for his heart.

He’d thought he’d known what a nightmare was, yet the past twenty-four hours had been a special kind of hell. Regrets were pointless, but that didn’t stop him from having them. He’d made countless bargains with fate and with God as he’d prayed for Glenna’s safety.

And in case the higher powers needed help, he had thrown every ounce of his energy into the preparations for this mission. He’d done his job ten times over and then gone on to do everyone else’s, getting in their faces until Redinger had needed to haul him aside. But the major had known better than to pull him out. The way Rafe was feeling, even without his gear, he was the deadliest weapon they had.

They had to find her and get her out. Unharmed. There was no margin for error. Juarez was going to do everything possible to make sure she didn’t escape again.

Damn, he couldn’t think about that now. He had to focus on the mission. It was the most important one of his life.

Someone tapped on his helmet. He glanced across the hold. Flynn gave him a thumbs-up. Beside him sat Chief Esposito. He looked at Rafe and silently did the same. So did Redinger, Norton and Lang. One by one, each man on the team gave Rafe the same sign of support.

Glenna had made twelve friends during her stay at the base. It wasn’t only because of her relationship to Rafe that these men considered her one of their own.

Chapter

A
t first Glenna didn’t realize the sound was gunfire. It was a sharp popping noise, as if someone were hammering in the distance. The only other time she’d heard gunfire, she’d been much closer. The bullets had passed so near she’d felt them slice the air. She’d thought she was going to die.

This time, it wasn’t the possibility of her own death that was uppermost in her mind.

She scrambled to her feet and raced toward the sliver of light that showed where the door was. Rafe. He was here. Please, God, keep him safe.

The popping continued in short bursts. A rumbling boom vibrated the floor beneath her feet. It sounded closer than the gunfire. There were shouts and the sound of running footsteps in the corridor. A man screamed and cried out in a language Glenna didn’t understand. There was another boom, this time close enough to rattle the door on its hinges.

More footsteps, heavier ones. Keys jingled, something scraped in the lock. Glenna barely had time to move out of the way before the door swung open and slammed against the wall.

Smoke billowed inside, bringing with it an acrid, chemical smell. Glenna coughed and peered at the man in the doorway. It wasn’t Rafe. It wasn’t any of the Delta commandos she’d grown to know. This man was dressed in white.

She whirled around and lurched for the shadows of the storeroom, but he latched on to her arm.

“You’re coming with me,” Juarez said, yanking her backward.

Glenna reacted without thinking. She brought her foot down as hard as she could, driving her heel into his instep.

He hissed out a string of foreign words and gave her a hard shake. “I should leave you to suffocate in the fire your friends have set, but you’re too valuable. Let’s go.”

Tears sprang to her eyes from the spurt of pain as he dug his fingers into the sensitive flesh of her upper arm, but she struggled anyway. Rafe was here. She could feel it. “No!”

He hooked his arm around her throat and pushed something hard and metallic into her ribs. She looked down. Through the dim light and the thickening haze of smoke that poured in from the corridor, she saw the gleam of a gun.

“Either you walk with me or I kill you here and carry you.” His breath on her cheek was hot and reeking of tobacco. He angled the end of the gun barrel against the underside of her breast. “As long as no one finds your body I can still negotiate. It is up to you, bitch.”

The threat wasn’t a bluff. She knew clearly that she could die in the next instant unless she obeyed.

Something flashed before her eyes. It wasn’t her past that she saw, nor was it all the things she hadn’t done. Unlike before, she had no regrets—she had lived, she had taken a chance on love. This time, what she saw was her future.

And dear God, she had a lot of living left to do.

Strength flowed into her and her panic ebbed. She would survive. Somehow, she would find her way back to Rafe

Juarez shoved Glenna out of the storeroom and started down the corridor with her in front of him. He shouted orders to the guards, but they seemed to be milling about in confusion as the gunfire grew louder and the smoke grew thicker. The chemical smell was mixed with a sickly sweet tang. Delta must have destroyed the drug lab that was near the loading bay, Glenna thought. It would only be a matter of minutes before they worked their way here.

Glenna purposely stumbled when they reached the junction of the corridors, trying to delay their headlong rush, but Juarez didn’t slow their pace. He pushed her into the middle corridor, the one she’d never been down, and roughly guided her forward.

“Loading bay secure.” Esposito’s voice in Rafe’s earpiece was accompanied by the crackle of flames. “Proceeding up the east corridor.”

“Second story clear,” Redinger said. “Opposition neutralized.”

More voices reported as Rafe sprinted down the west corridor to the basement. The mission was going precisely as planned. The team had glided out of the night in dead silence, their black clothing and gear making them practically invisible to Juarez’s guards until they were on top of them.

The resistance was fierce but short-lived. Swiftly and methodically, each area of the compound was cleared as the team worked their way into the middle. Already the house’s entrance hall was filling with the prone forms of prisoners who were lying facedown on the marble floor, their hands clasped behind their necks, their weapons stacked in a heap at the foot of the staircase.

But Juarez’s office had been deserted. Rafe knew they’d given no warning before he and Flynn had burst through the window in a shower of glass shards, yet they’d found only an empty room. Could she be in the basement storeroom where Juarez had held them before?

The smoke from Esposito’s explosives cut the light in half, but as soon as Rafe saw the gaping black doorway, he knew this room was empty, too. She wasn’t here.

There was a burst of gunfire behind him. Rafe glanced back to see two of Juarez’s guards crumple to the floor. Flynn stepped out of the smoke and bent down to bind the wrists of the men he’d just immobilized.

Rafe pivoted to retrace his steps to the junction of the corridors. Without hesitating, he ran down the middle one.

Only a few yards in, he realized the smoke was thinner here. There was a cool breeze coming from somewhere ahead. Another exit? The team had formed their plan of attack on the assumption they would have Juarez cornered. Rafe activated his transmitter. It was time to figure out Plan B.

Time became a fast-forward blur. Glenna wasn’t sure how far they went before she noticed that the smoke had disappeared. There was a muggy breeze coming from somewhere ahead. Could it be another exit? They’d had no hint of this when they’d constructed the model of the compound. What if Juarez had reinforcements waiting there? What if they were able to surprise the Delta Force men and turn the tables?

Glenna twisted her head and screamed. She doubted anyone would hear her, but she had to try to warn them yway.