At Any Cost (31 page)

Dan had a sidearm in each hand. He could sneak in and take out Mercado before JT had to go to his room. He knew the bastard was there in that house. Somewhere. He'd be able to spot Mercado with his one good eye, since JT's welcome last night had his other eye completely swollen shut.

He heard every single word. He heard the quiver in JT's voice as she boldly told Mercado to stop groping her. Which meant the son-of-a-bitch had his hands on her. She didn't like it. Neither did Dan.

The son-of-a-bitch was going to die slowly. Painfully. He'd rip his digits off, one by one. Then, just when Mercado begged for death, Dan would start the real pain.

"I know what you're thinking." Snyder sat next to him in their makeshift foxhole. They were completely hidden from the naked eye, and Mercado didn't have trackers on them or he would have found them by now. To ensure they'd stay hidden, Dan covered them head to toe with Pedro's
Peirdale
spray.

Dan had dialed in a second earpiece to pick up the frequency of JT's mic and gave it to Snyder last night. They both heard what Mercado did to JT today.

"No, you don't." Dan set one gun down to check the other. Full clip. Check. One in the pipe. Check. Ready to kill Mercado for touching JT.
Check
.

"You can't go in there, dude. Its obvious Mercado doesn't trust Turner. Until she puts out—"

Dan spun around and brought his finger up, stopping it an inch from Snyder's face. He almost spit in his face. "That is not going to happen."

Snyder didn't flinch. "It's her job. She's a pro. She'll do what she needs to in order to get the job done."

"Sleeping with the enemy is not her job. Killing him is."

He shot Dan a knowing grin. "You got it bad."

Dan turned back around and started to check another pistol. He didn't have anything, let alone had it bad. Having JT inside the compound without backup had him on edge. He'd dropped off a small arsenal of weapons for her, but he didn't know which ones she'd taken. Jesus, what if Mercado's men found the stash? JT would be having dinner with Mercado, fighting to keep her stomach from blowing its contents. His men would barge in, show Mercado the weapons. It wouldn't take a genius to put it all together.

And then he'd put a bullet in JT. There was no way Dan would be able to get in there fast enough to save her.

"She seems to have a handle on it."

Not willing to admit how wrong Snyder was, Dan grabbed another gun and started to check it for the third time. He had to keep his hands busy, his mind off of what that son-of-a-bitch would force JT to wear tonight. Last night's outfit still had him reeling. Her breasts might have well been fully exposed. Her dark curls were clearly visible. Even the little mole she had on her beautiful hip could be seen through that material.

Shaking in anger at how she had to parade around like that, he wondered how many other women had to wear that same dress, suffer that same humiliation. At the end of those nights, Mercado took the woman back to his room and fucked her, making sure to complete the disgrace with something sick, Dan was sure. A man like Mercado didn't respect women. They were there merely for his pleasure, for his sexual release.

But not JT. He felt the grin spread across his lips. No doubt Mercado went to bed with blue balls last night. He lost his smile. That would make him even hornier for tonight's dinner. A psychopath was dangerous. A horny psychopath would be worse.

"Do you love her?" Snyder asked casually.

"You are way off base."
Was he?

"And you are full of shit. Or in full denial. Or both. You two were pretty happy to see each other last night."

Dan gave him a sideways glare. How did he know that? Oh Christ. The mic. JT had her earrings in just as he'd insisted on. Snyder must have heard them through his earpiece. "Listening in?"

"Don't worry. I gave you two a little privacy and turned it off once I realized what you were doing. Right after I heard her deck you and then what sounded like big, wet sloppy kisses."

"All right," Dan cut him off before he said anything else.

"I don't mean to pry."

"Yes, you do."

"Okay," Snyder corrected with an easy shrug. "I do. But do you think it wise to be burning the candles at both ends?"

Dan knew where Snyder was going with this. Yes, it was a dangerous game they were playing. Yes, they were burning the candle at both ends. But with JT, it didn't have to be a game. And it didn't have to end in Colombia.

He'd had all night to think about it. He didn't know when. He didn't know how. But damn if that woman hadn't grown on him. He couldn't imagine another mission without his new partner, without JT. After they completed this op he'd take her away for a while. No saving the world. No secret identities. Just Dan and JT. They needed time alone to sort things out, to try and make a go of it.

Whether JT wanted the same thing or not remained to be seen. Dan thought about that as well. If JT didn't want anything more than the here and now, as they both agreed to, then it was her choice and Dan would honor that. He'd go back to work as a NASSD Agent. Alone. No more partners. Ever again.

"Taking on a new partner. A rookie.
Doing
your new partner. The rookie. All while trying to save the world." Snyder lifted his brow. "I will give you one thing. You got balls of steel. Having sex right there under Mercado's nose like that could have gotten you killed." Snyder grinned. "But what a way to go, huh?"

"Shh," Dan ordered. He heard a knock on a door through his earpiece. "It's show time." Dan glanced down at his watch. Seven o'clock. Mercado was nothing if not prompt.

"Miss Jessica," Mercado started, the lust oozing from his tone. Dan heard a grinding through the transmission. It took him a minute before he realized it had to be JT's teeth. "Come. It is time for us to feast."

JT took a deep breath. Dan breathed with her. In and out. In and out. That a girl. They were in a hall from the sounds of the echoes her heels made.

"Wow," JT said. Her voice didn't echo, so they had to be in a smaller area. "That's a lot of candles, Santos. It's so dark. Are the candles the only light here in your room?"

Good drop, Turner. Now Dan knew they were in Mercado's room, that it was dimly lit.

"For tonight. I find candlelight sets the appropriate mood, my dear."

Dan hated it when Mercado called her that.

"My men told me you paid a visit to my room earlier today. Were you looking for me?"

"Yes," JT answered. Dan frowned as he listened. Why in the hell did she go to the man's room any sooner than she had to? Unless she did to give her a little insurance for tonight's dinner. "But you weren't here. Where'd you go?"

Good girl. Get him to start talking.

"I had some business to attend to. I will not bore you with the details."

"Oh, please do. I'm sure I'll find it fascinating."

There was a long pause through the line. Did the mic cut out? His ears ached as he concentrated on picking up any little noise through the transmission.

"Do you know what I do, Miss Jessica?" Mercado's voice finally sounded through the line.

"For a living?"

"For money."

"I don't know," she answered. "I figured you owned a chain of hotels or something."

"I am into disease control."

"Like a scientist?" JT played innocent well. Dan almost believed she really had no idea what the man did for his money. But they, as well as most of the world, knew better.

"I am a humanitarian. I make the world a better place by ridding it of unwanted vermin."

"How noble of you," she said.
Ease up, JT. Tone the sarcasm down a bit.
"So you take care of rats and stuff?"

"Very big rats."

"Hmm. So what sort of rat drew you out today?"

Silverware clanked against plates in the background as they carried on their polite conversation. Either Mercado knew JT wasn't all she seemed, or he thought she was an idiot. Who would buy his little speech? This guy was the poster child for anti-humanitarianism.

Come on, Mercado. Quit with the small talk. Let's get to the good stuff.
"Can we talk about you?" JT asked.

"What do you want to know?" Mercado spoke slowly, carefully. His suspicion grew. Dan could hear it in his voice. He could only imagine the body language JT should be picking up on. He hoped.

"This is my first visit to Cartagena. My first trip anywhere, actually. I've never been outside the United States. Care to show me around? It seems nice."

"Perhaps. I wish it to remain, as you say, nice. That is why I have dedicated my life to seeing the vermin of this world not spread their disease into my country."

"How can you stop something like that from happening? Disease is everywhere."

"You are very interested in my work. Why?"

Okay, JT. Deep breaths. Don't get too excited. He doesn't know anything, yet.
"If you want me as your woman," JT countered calmly, "then I should at least have a common understanding of what you do. After a long day at the office, wouldn't you want to come home and relax? Talk about your day?"

"You wish to be my woman?"

"I figured we could make a go of it. Sure."

Mercado laughed lightly. "I find you very refreshing, Miss Jessica. My women do not like to hear about my day. My women like to swim in my pool, sleep in my bed, and spend my money."

"I'm not so much interested in any of that."

"Which is why I like you so very much. You are not like my other women."

"I'm one of a kind," JT mocked.

Dan chuckled silently. You can say that again.

"I am going to share something with you, because I like you. It is my intention to—"

They heard a door open. Footsteps. Oh shit. Here it comes. Dan and Snyder exchanged looks, and Dan braced himself.
Come on, asshole. Finish what you were saying.

More footsteps. A door closed. "Who was that?" JT asked. "Where are you going?"

Going? Dan pushed the earpiece into his ear to hear what was happening.

"I'm sorry, Miss Jessica. Unfortunately, I must cut our evening short. Please return to your room for the night."

"Is something wrong?"

"No," Mercado answered quickly. Too quickly. That answer confirmed Dan's suspicions. Something was wrong. "I have an unexpected guest. Alejandra has returned. She is waiting for me now. I must go."

Alejandra
? Who the hell was that? Another female guest? Dan and Snyder exchanged looks again. Dan told Snyder what happened to Mercado's last female guest. It didn't take them long to find her. They didn't even need directions. The smell of rotting flesh wafted in the air, mixing with the smell of the fermenting jungle leaves. The guard who dumped her body didn't even bother to cover it, nor did he bother to cover up any of the others. They found bodies, from recently deceased like Marcella to those with nothing left but rotten flesh and bones. Dan marked it on the map so he could be sure the local authorities knew where to look. He was sure the families of their loved ones would like some closure.

Dan and Snyder did what they could to cover the bodies with dirt and leaves. From what he could tell, most of the girls there couldn't have been older than their mid-twenties. Young. Much too young to be tangled up with Mercado. Just like his guards.

"Okay, Dan. I'm back in my room. As relieved as I am the evening is over, I really want to know who this Alejandra is. I had to leave my gun under the mattress in his room, and since I can't leave the house, I can't go get another one. I'm a sitting duck up here if Mercado decides to replace me with whoever the hell Alejandra is."

Dan listened as JT rustled. More than likely she was in the process of changing out of whatever Mercado had her in, and into something a little less revealing and a little more comfortable. "You still there?"

He wished he could answer her. This one-way transmission must be driving her nuts. Not knowing whether Dan was even listening. Wanting something in return.

He picked up on the similarities. JT urged non-stop for Dan to talk to her. He knew her life story, and she knew nothing about him. And now that Dan actually wanted to talk to her, he couldn't. The irony irritated the hell out of him.

"What am I thinking? Of course you aren't there. Peck is due in anytime. You are probably at the airport to intercept."

Shit. Dan looked at his watch. The next flight into Rafael Nunez Airport from Seattle would be landing right about now. His cell buzzed on his hip and surprised the hell out of him. He didn't even think he'd get service out in the middle of the jungle. He ripped it off his belt and flipped it open. "Weber," he answered in a whisper.

"It's D—n ." The connection sucked, but Dan knew the voice. Besides, Donovan was the only person who had Dan's cell number, at least the only one still alive. That thought drew out a shudder. "Mi—n com—ised."

An apprehension gripped at Dan's heart. That sure as hell sounded like he said the mission has been compromised. "Donovan? Say again. I didn't copy. I repeat. I did not copy."