Living on the Edge Read online

  “Got nothing to say except when do we leave?”

  “As soon as the others are here.”

  “I thought this was a rush job.”

  “It is.”

  Riley shook his head. “Then I suggest we stop waiting. The others are on vacation until tomorrow when we were scheduled to leave for the diamond job.”

  “I told Mira to call them in.”

  “That doesn’t mean they’ll answer their phones.”

  Bella dialed Mira, who answered immediately. “Were you able to get in contact with the others?”

  “Riley and Gage should be there any minute if they’re not already there. Razor is on a job, so is Reid. I left messages for the others,” Mira said.

  “Contact me if you hear from them,” said Bella, then hung up. She looked at the two men in front of her. “Well, boys, I would have liked to have more bodies, but I guess we’ll have to make do with what we have. Sloane won’t wait for us if we take forever, and if she goes in alone she’s likely to get herself killed.”

  Gage said nothing, but gave her a slight nod.

  Riley picked up his bag and headed for the door.

  With these two silent men, it was going to be a long trip.

  Payton dialed General Robert Norwood. He was still shaken from Bella’s announcement that she was going near Lorenzo Soma. The Threshold Project hadn’t been kind to Lorenzo. If he was anything like he’d been as a child, Sloane, Bella, and the rest of their team were in serious danger.

  “I’m busy,” answered Bob. There was the sound of a jet engine in the background. “Make it quick.”

  This wasn’t a secure line, so Payton had to be careful how he said things. “Bella and two others are going after Sloane.”

  “We don’t need their help.”

  “We?”

  “I’m on my way now.”

  “So are they. I can’t stop them.”

  “Great. I thought you had more control over that woman.”

  “I have as much control over Bella as you do Sloane.”

  Anger radiated through Bob’s voice. “What do you want?”

  “I need you to make sure she’s safe. You can’t let anything happen to her.”

  Bob sighed. “I’ve got my hands full. I can’t watch out for her, too. I have my own daughter to worry about. And you should know that Lucas saw Adam. He’s there. In Colombia.”

  Payton had to swallow twice before he could clear the surge of panic from his throat. “What if Bella sees him and it triggers a memory?”

  “Chances are she wouldn’t recognize him even if she did see him. They were so young then.”

  “I don’t want Bella anywhere near the Colombian facility. It looks just like the one—”

  Bob stepped over his words, which kept Payton from saying something he shouldn’t on an unsecure line. “That facility was closed years ago. I saw to it personally.”

  Payton pulled in a deep breath, gathering his wits so he wouldn’t misspeak again. “That’s not good enough. Too many things could go wrong.” Things that could ruin Bella’s life. He couldn’t let that happen.

  “My hands are tied,” said Bob. “I’ll have my men do what they can to make sure she doesn’t take a bullet, but that’s as much as I can promise.”

  It wasn’t enough, but it was something. “I don’t want her to remember.”

  Bob’s voice dropped so quiet it was hard to hear. “I know. None of us do. The fact that she hasn’t yet is a good sign.”

  “I love her like you do Sloane.”

  “Maybe you should come along and watch out for her yourself.”

  “I can’t. She doesn’t know anything about my old life. If I go into a combat situation she’ll see right through me. It’s better to let her see me as she does now.”

  “As a pampered pansy with more money than brains?”

  “I’m no threat to her like this. She allows me in her life, and that’s enough for me. I’m where I need to be to make up for past mistakes.”

  “Fine. It’s your life. You want to play the role of the tame lapdog? Go ahead.”

  “You’ll watch out for her, then?” asked Payton, needing to get Bob to give his word. The man might be a cold son of a bitch, but he always kept his word.

  “Yes. If I can’t get her to leave, I’ll do what I can to keep her safe.”

  “Thank you,” said Payton on a heavy sigh of relief. “I owe you.”

  “You watched out for Sloane all these years when I couldn’t. I’m the one who owes you.”

  Gina heard the lock on her door move a second before the door swung open. She jerked out of bed and came to her feet, her heart racing. All she could think to herself was what now?

  She knew they’d planned to give her to another man at that little airport today. She also knew that it had been Sloane who’d stopped it from happening. Gina was back where she started, but at least she was still alive. At least things weren’t worse. That was something.

  Sloane would come for her. All she had to do was hang on until then.

  A thick, heavily muscled man stood in the doorway, staring at her with his mud brown eyes—the man Lorenzo had called Jeremy. The man who’d killed Shorty.

  His gun sat in a holster under his arm. Gina couldn’t seem to look away from it.

  Was he here to kill her now, too?

  “Time to go,” he said. His voice was as rough as the rest of him, grating over her frayed nerves.

  “Where?”

  “Lorenzo wants to see you.”

  Gina had no desire to see him, but it wasn’t as if she actually had a choice.

  She walked around the bed toward Jeremy. He took a firm grip on her upper arm, making it clear there was no way for her to escape—at least not on his watch. He marched her down the hall. Gina counted doors as they moved through a labyrinth of hallways and rooms. She tried to memorize her way around in case she got the chance to run for an exit.

  If she got an opportunity to kill Lorenzo, she’d run. She might not get far in these strappy heels, but she’d rather take her chances in the jungle than stay here until they did whatever it was they were going to do with her.

  Please let Sloane come before that happens.

  She stumbled on the slick tile floor and Jeremy jerked her up so she didn’t fall. “Don’t even try it,” he warned.

  “I wasn’t trying anything. I tripped. Maybe if you got me some different shoes, that wouldn’t happen.”

  He looked down at her feet, then pulled her to a stop. He bent down and slipped one of the high heels from her foot.

  “Hey!” she said, resisting the urge to swat at his head. If it weren’t for his gun, she probably would have, but self-preservation instincts were screaming at her to be reasonable.

  Jeremy forced her to give up the other shoe and carried them in his hand. “There. Now you have no excuse.”

  Great. She wasn’t going to get very far in the jungle with no shoes.

  He’d just started moving again when she heard sounds of a scuffle coming from around the corner. He dragged her through the hall, forcing her to run.

  Her bare feet slapped against the tile as she struggled to keep up.

  They cleared the corner and saw two men on the floor in the midst of a fistfight.

  Jeremy let out a frightening growl, his mouth twisting in frustration. He dragged her to a door, pulled out a key, and hastily unlocked it. He shoved her into the dark room, said, “Stay here,” then shut and locked it behind her.

  Gina pressed her ear to the door, trying to hear what was going on.

  “Hello?” came a woman’s voice from the darkness behind her.

  Gina’s heart kicked hard and she scrambled to turn on the lights. The room was bathed in eye-searing brightness and the woman let out a surprised hiss.

  Gina saw her cover her eyes as she sat up in bed. She wore a nightgown and her strawberry-blond hair fell over one shoulder in a thick braid. Her bare arms were covered in freckles, which stood ou
t against her pale skin.

  “Who are you?” asked Gina.

  “Sophie Devane. Who are you?” She had a Southern accent. Definitely American.

  “Gina. I’m being held here against my will.”

  The woman lowered her hand, her pale green eyes wide. “Me, too.”

  “Where are you from?”

  “Shreveport, Louisiana. You?”

  “New York.” The urge to grab this woman and run pounded at Gina, but what was she going to do? There was no way out, and even if she did get out, she had no shoes.

  “How long have you been here?” asked Gina.

  “Three or four months. I think.”

  That drove all the air out of Gina’s lungs. “Four ... ?” She couldn’t imagine staying here that long. The confinement would kill her and that was if she didn’t make another stupid mistake and get them to put a bullet in her head.

  Sophie climbed out of bed, moving closer. “Are you okay?”

  Gina nodded. “Tell me everything you know about this place. We’ve got to get out of here.”

  “I tried at first. I never made it very far. Jeremy—the stocky American—found me and brought me back.”

  The image of Julia played through Gina’s head. She could still feel her chubby arms and smell the baby sweetness of her hair. “What did Lorenzo do?”

  “Do? He didn’t do anything. Just brought me back here. Why?”

  “When I tried to escape, Lorenzo had Jeremy kill the man who made it possible. He told me if I tried it again, he’d kill a child.”

  Horror drove all traces of color from Sophie’s face. “Oh, God. A child?” Her hand fluttered to her stomach in a gesture Gina understood all too well.

  Shock held her silent for a moment before she could manage to ask, “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

  Sophie nodded, her face crumpling, though she held back the tears that threatened to fall. “It’s Lorenzo’s baby.”

  “Maybe that’s why he hasn’t sold you yet.”

  “Sold me? What are you talking about?”

  Gina didn’t know where to start. “There’s some guy who was coming to meet Lorenzo today. He was coming for me. He paid Lorenzo to find me, seduce me, bring me to him. Apparently I wasn’t the first woman he’s done this to.”

  Sophie covered her mouth with her hand and tears welled up in her eyes.

  Gina continued. “We went to this tiny airport today to meet him, but shots were fired and we had to run away.” She left out the part that it was her friend who’d fired them. She wasn’t sure how much she could trust this woman yet.

  “Why? Why would Lorenzo do that?”

  Gina shrugged. “For money, I guess. What I can’t figure out is who this guy he’s selling people to is, and what he wants with me.”

  “None of this makes any sense. Lorenzo seemed like such a nice guy. He was even happy when he found out I was pregnant, even though we hardly knew each other.”

  Knowing Lorenzo, that was an act, too. That man was way too good when it came to pretending to be who women wanted him to be.

  “Have you seen any other people like us? Prisoners?” asked Gina.

  “No. I’ve heard things. I swore I heard an American man screaming for them to let him go. That was more than a month ago.”

  Best not to dwell on that. “We’ve got to find a way out.” When Sloane came, Gina needed to be ready, and now that included finding a way to get Sophie out, too.

  “We can’t leave. He’ll kill us.”

  “Only if he catches us.”

  “Which he will. I’ve seen the guards through the window. There’s no way to escape. And even if there was a way, where would we go? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

  Gina wanted to tell this woman she had help on the way, but she didn’t dare. For all she knew this woman was a plant—someone meant to get her to tell who attacked today and what they were planning. Gina wouldn’t do that to Sloane. It was best to keep her mouth shut.

  “We’ll figure something out,” she told Sophie.

  “I don’t want to be here, but I don’t think I can run. I’m tired all the time. I sleep fourteen hours a day. I feel so weak, especially lately. If I went with you, I’d just slow you down. If you get the chance to run, take it. Go without me.”

  Footsteps sounded outside the door, getting louder. Jeremy was coming back.

  “I don’t want to leave you here.”

  Sophie wrapped her pale, slim arms around Gina. “You can send someone back for me, okay?”

  The lock turned. There was no more time to argue.

  Gina hugged her back and felt hot tears slip down her face.

  The door opened. Jeremy said, “Let’s go. Lorenzo’s waiting.”

  She let go of the other woman and tried to pretend she was brave as she went to the door. Jeremy looked past her, staring at Sophie with too much interest. As soon as Gina was close enough, Jeremy’s hand gripped her arm again and he pulled her out, locking the door behind them.

  Gina wiped her eyes.

  “Don’t get too attached,” said Jeremy.

  “Why?” she asked, even though she dreaded the answer.

  He looked down at her, his mud brown eyes devoid of all emotion. “Because as soon as the baby comes Lorenzo will order me to kill her.”

  Chapter 14

  Darkness fell an hour before they would reach the Land Rover. Sloane’s every step was slow and careful after that, as they made their way through the dense foliage. Lucas insisted she wear the NVGs while he relied on the dim light from a flashlight covered in gauze to guide him.

  By the time they reached the vehicle, they were both exhausted and starving.

  Lucas loaded their packs into the backseat while Sloane refilled canteens from her water stores and broke out a couple of MREs. “Meat loaf or enchiladas?”

  “I’d eat just about anything right now.”

  Her movements were slow and heavy as she prepared the food, and it was all Lucas could do to keep from taking the job away from her. By the time she was done, he could see her hands shaking with fatigue.

  “I don’t think I’m safe to drive,” she said. “You?”

  “I’m good. It’s safer to drive at night wearing the NVGs, using no headlights, than it will be to wait until daybreak.”

  She nodded. “How long will it take us to get to the rendezvous point the general gave you?”

  “It’s hard to tell. It depends on how much jungle we’re going to have to cut through and where we find a place to hide the vehicle. We’ll have to go slow on the road. It’s going to be a long haul, so you should get some sleep if you can.”

  “I’ll eat, then crash so I can spell you in an hour or so.”

  He didn’t argue. He had no intention of waking her before he had to. There had been no sign of her fever all day, but that didn’t mean she was recovered. “Don’t forget your antibiotics.”

  “Right. Thanks.” She crawled into the passenger seat, taking the food with her.

  Lucas cleared away the camouflaging branches that barred the path to the road and got behind the wheel. Sloane handed him a wet wipe so he could clean the grime from his hands.

  He made quick work of the meat loaf, ate a handful of dried fruit, and started the engine. “You might want to grab a light so you can see to eat.”

  Sloane didn’t respond. She was asleep with her food in her lap, her plastic fork drooping in her grasp.

  Suddenly, Lucas felt like an ass for wearing her out. Sure, the sex had been great, but it was completely selfish for him to let it happen.

  Not that she hadn’t wanted it. She had. But he should have been more careful with her. She may not have normally been fragile, but she’d been sick.

  On the other hand, if they hadn’t allowed themselves that outlet, maybe she’d still be awake, rather than sleeping like she needed.

  Lucas moved her food and tucked it in the backseat where it wouldn’t spill, then buckled her in. He drove the vehicle onto t
he road, then went back and obscured the tire tracks with the branches they’d cut for concealment. It wasn’t perfect, but it made their hiding location less obvious. Who knew when they might need it again?

  He strapped on the NVGs and headed toward the hidden bunker.

  It was around noon when they reached the coordinates Sloane’s father had given Lucas. They were standing on the edge of a steep drop with not a single man-made structure in sight.

  “These are the coordinates he sent,” said Lucas, checking her GPS device.

  Sloane tried not to let her frustration show. It would be just like her father to send them somewhere out of the way while he had his soldiers come in and save the day without them. “I don’t see anything. Do you?”

  “No.”

  “Great. I guess we’ll just have to camp out here and wait for whoever he sends. If that’s really what he’s doing.” She set her rifle against a rock and eased the pack from her shoulders.

  Lucas ignored her dig. “I’m going to look around a bit, but I’ll stay in voice range if you need me.”

  Sloane had slept most of the night in the Rover. Her neck was stiff, but at least she didn’t feel like she was going to fall over any longer. There had been no sign of fever today, though she still suffered more fatigue than normal. At least the antibiotics were allowing her to heal. She was going to have to thank Dr. Vaughn for that when she got back.

  Sloane sat down next to her rifle and uncapped her canteen.

  Lucas’s voice came through the trees. “I found something.”

  She grabbed her rifle and went to see what it was.

  They were on the side of a mountain not too far up. A section of ground leveled out into a kind of natural terrace overlooking the valley below. Lucas had worked his way around the edge of that terrace until it came out on the far side of an outcropping of mossy rock. The flat area here was larger than on the other side, but not easily visible unless you were near the ledge. If rains washed away another three feet of earth, there’d be no way to move between the terraced sections—no way back to the road.

  “What did you find?”

  Lucas lifted up a few branches, showing her a metal door. It was rusted in spots where the protective camouflage paint had bubbled away, but seemed solid enough.