Hard Target (4 page)

"Exactly. We're staying at full alert until further notice. All according to Standing Orders."

The Standing Orders he'd written. Tay ignored the barb.

By now, they'd entered the thick of the city.

His attention moved to the north, where the sides of the valley bowl that contained Cochabamba stood tall. He spied a small, neat sign indicating the way to the embassy, but Dawna turned in the opposite direction, entering the concrete labyrinth of Spanish influence storefronts.

His gaze flew over to her. "Where are we going?"

"To your hotel."

"I would prefer to stay at the embassy."

"It's an embassy, not the Holiday Inn."

"But you've housed refugees in the bomb shelter," he reminded her, his jaw tightening.

She threw him an exasperated look. "Refugees will take any roof over their heads."

"I don't need anything fancy."

"Good, because the best hotel here isn't much." She pulled a key out of her pocket. "I've already checked you in."

Tay sat back and pursed his lips. Yeah, he got it. Dawna didn't want him in the embassy any longer than necessary. "If you want me to get my inspection and investigation out of the way as soon as possible, then take me to the embassy. We'd get more work done if you're not chauffeuring me around."

"I won't be. I'll assign you a driver. And you're not helping me with
my
investigation."

Without waiting for his answering argument, she pulled up in front of a plain, ugly concrete building. The only redeeming feature was the delicate wrought iron on the long narrow balcony above the entrance. The Hotel d'Oro was as unlike the gold in its name as anything he'd ever seen.

Tay could hear the sounds of unmuffled cars and honking horns, even with the bullet-proof doors closed and the air-conditioning humming. Despite the immediate reaction to order her to take him to the embassy, there was an incredible urge to throw open the heavy door and escape into the busy city.

Escape? Forget it.

Dawna interrupted his thoughts. "You'd better get out. I'm taking up too much space on this narrow street. And you're not staying at the embassy, Tay. You're only here because the MSGU thinks I can't do my job. Well, I can and I'll prove it. So you can check the locks and the alarm system and read all the orders and tomorrow, book your flight home."

Had he not been living on wits and instinct for the last three years, he'd have decided she didn't need him.

But for one fleeting moment before she turned her head away, a suggestion of wariness flickered over her features. Not anger. Not fear at being dismissed and repatriated back to North America in disgrace.

Just a wisp of wariness.

A part of him had come here to find out if she was okay. Outward appearances considered, she looked great, but could her self-assurance just be a shield? During the course he'd instructed, she hadn't shown any need for a shield. She'd been the model cop.

He'd figure it out later. With that, he leaned back. "We both know there isn't another flight out of here for ten more days."

"There are daily flights to La Paz." She stared into the traffic. "Better book one now."

The MSGU had already booked his flight home, through La Paz, actually, but Tay wouldn't give her a set timetable in which she could operate a tight schedule of diversions. He shoved open the door, then pulled open the rear door to grab his luggage. "Drive around the block while I drop my bag off in my room. We're going to the embassy." Then he shut them both doors before she could refuse him.

Fifteen minutes later, with Tay beside her, Dawna threaded the big car through the heavy traffic toward the embassy.

"If we were walking, we'd be there in ten minutes. Because we have this beast, on this side street, it'll take us half an hour."

"Just drive." He didn't want to think of how long he would be inside this bullet-proof car, alone with Dawna.

Finally, after twists and turns through the maze that was the city center, the embassy appeared ahead.

A
vigilante
opened the wide vehicular doors and they drove through them and around to the rear of the embassy.

The courtyard within the city block surprised him. Around them stood several large buildings, all but one had access from inside. In front of the remaining apartment he could see an eight-foot chain link fence and several rows of barbed wire, and resting on top was a long, dangerous coil of concertina wire. All of this stood 18 inches from a stone wall that bore jagged glass shards embedded in the cement at the top of it. No one was getting into this embassy.

Flush against the main building at the rear of the courtyard sat a large security cage, big enough to house three armored vehicles. Two were already backed neatly inside.

Tay's professional eye found the closed circuit cameras. One focused on the cage and rear entrance, the other on the compound.

He also noticed several locals smoking nearby. This being a government building, smoking wasn’t permitted inside. But lounging around when the embassy was at full alert?
That will change
, he decided immediately.

One local, most likely a driver, walked over to the cage. After he'd unlocked the gate and swung it around, Dawna backed the car inside.

They climbed out and started toward the rear entrance. Behind them, the man relocked the cage. Two other men appeared inside the rear airlock. Spotting them, the locals jumped to attention. "That's the Ambassador," Dawna explained, falling into step beside Tay. "The man behind him is his
escolta
. I'll introduce you."

Tay glanced around. Tropical foliage lined one side of the courtyard, and a small grassy area hinted at the embassy's previous life. His gaze focused on the one nearby building that didn't belong to the embassy. Most windows had been opened to catch the breeze, but no one stood near them.

Tay paused. For a busy city, the apartment felt oddly quiet. Beside him, Dawna halted, too. Again, her perfume drifted around him. Automatically, he glanced down at her, all the while, drawing in his breath-

Several sharp pings ripped through the courtyard inches from them. A chunk of cement flew away like a missile, while smaller pieces sprayed up to sting Tay's cheek.

His hand flew outward, not to his face, but to Dawna as his training kicked it. Immediately, he shoved her to the ground, falling on top of her a split second later. He glanced up at the Ambassador, all the while pressing Dawna into the pitted concrete.

The
escolta
had already hauled the Ambassador deeper into the embassy and out of sight. The local men outside flattened themselves against the short stairs. One dove into the building a second before another volley of gunfire chewed up a line from Dawna and Tay to the cement steps.

Dawna tried to buck Tay off, but he resisted. She didn't need to see if the Ambassador was safe. He had eyes. Someone shouted at the back door of the embassy. Tay didn't understand the words, nor was he prepared to sit up and call for the English version. He tipped his head down until his mouth touched the soft curve of Dawna's ear.

Trying to ignore the way she ground her buttocks into his groin, he whispered, "The Ambassador wasn't even outside yet. And you're still not convinced you could be the target?"

Chapter Two

The ambassador! Dawna's first thought went for his safety.

But Tay's long, heavy frame crushed her into the gritty cement. Her head stung where she'd rapped it and her knee ached, too, having absorbed the full weight of both her and Tay.

Another volley of shots peppered the wall beside the back door. Before Tay shoved her head down, Dawna caught a glimpse of an
escolta
dragging the ambassador back before falling on top of him. In front of them, Marconi scrambled for the door.

For the next few moments, she could hear only shouting. No gunfire. She twisted about and peered through Tay's encircling arms. The building beside them - how many windows faced this side? Could she see anyone?

Nothing. All the windows were empty.

Tay whispered something in her ear, but her attention stayed focused on the ugly cement wall looming over the courtyard.

Blast it! No movement, no more gunfire to help locate the sniper, nothing. Finally, Tay shifted, easing his weight away as he stood. She scrambled up, sweeping her wayward hair from her face. Tay grabbed her arm as soon as she was upright and together they bolted for the back door.

Marconi held it open for them, encouraging them in Spanish to hurry. Dawna expected more shots to chase them into the building, but thankfully, the sniper didn't oblige. Inside, she glanced around. Only Tay and Marconi were with her in the mantrap.

"The Ambassador?" Tay demanded as they surged through the rear door's metal detector.

"Safe. Downstairs in the bunker," Marconi said in halting English as he pointed to the floor. "
Señora
Porter called the
policia
."

"Stay here." Tay sprinted down the corridor toward the front entrance, jostling Lucy Porter as she stepped out of her office. Dawna followed him, but stalled halfway down, her knee sending out agonizing bolts of pain.

Where the heck was Tay going? An hour in the country and he's already chasing snipers, totally unarmed?

He reached Ramos. They spoke briefly before disappearing into the front mantrap. The red light above the metal detector flashed as Tay dashed through it. Ramos followed a moment later. The red light flashed again.

Dawna gritted her teeth.

Ramos was armed. But the light had flashed its warning twice.

Tay was also armed
.

When the system was masked, as it was now, there were no bells or whistles to alert an armed intruder. Just that quick indicator light and another one in the security room.

Tay wouldn't chase a sniper unarmed. He was no fool. A betraying bastard who thought of his own career first -- oh, yes, he was one of them -- but he was no fool.

She should have asked him if he had a weapon as soon as they'd met at the airport. Stupid of her. She'd been too wrapped up in all her idiotic emotions to think of such a basic question.

That wouldn't happen again.

Dawna didn't want to know the details of how he'd managed to travel through international airspace with a concealed firearm. She just didn't want an unchecked weapon in
her
embassy.

She'd deal with him later. Let him run around chasing snipers. She had the building to secure and the ambassador to check on.

Sirens echoed in the distance, closing in on them for the second time in a week. As she limped back to the rear mantrap on her way downstairs, she found herself facing Tay. He'd circled the building.