Shadows and Silk (20 page)

“It doesn’t matter, Darcy. Just leave it alone.” He used powder to pull on his wet
suit, and then he packed a change of black clothing in his waterproof duffle. Guns
and ammo went in the
bag, and he strapped on his
Ka
-
Bar around his ankle.

“I just think you’re making a mistake,” she said after a while. “I know how to protect
myself, and I can keep up with you. Please, let me help.”

Brant had his gun in his hand and pointed at the sliding glass doors of their villa
without answering her
. The glass door slid open, and
the woman she’d seen at the bar
when she’d first arrived at the resort slipped inside
.

The woman
had her own gun in her hand and a rifle slung over her shoulder, and she was dressed
in black from head to toe.

“It’s all clear,” she said, her green eyes taking in the tension between Brant and
Darcy with one look.

Brant nodded and slung his bag over his shoulder. “
Darcy, this is Jade.”

Darcy looked at the woman and nodded, but she didn’t have it in her to smile like
she was glad to see her.

“Jade,” Brant said. “Don’t be a bad influence. She doesn’t need any help in that area.”

Jade smiled and set her rifle down where she could reach it easily. “Maybe I’ll teach
her a couple of pressure points. You never know when you’re going to need to bring
a man to his knees.”

“Very funny,” he said, dryly. “
I’ll be back.” He kissed Darcy once on the forehead and then slipped out the sliding
door as silently as Jade had come in.

Darcy
couldn’t just sit there and not
do
anything. Jade did a quick walkthrough of the villa and then came back into the living
area.

“I don’t like those back windows being so open,” she said. Jade’s voice was as smooth
as whiskey,
and Darcy felt a quick dart of jealousy at the other woman
—the woman the others
treated as part of the team instead of an outsider.

But then the woman in question turned to her and smiled and said, “So how about you
crack open that bottle of wine and tell me what Brant did to piss you off?”

“We don’t have that many hours to kill,” Darcy said. But the thought of getting a
little drunk didn’t sound like such a bad idea at the moment, so she grabbed a bottle
of wine and two glasses from the bar
.

“
Make him pay,
love. Sometimes it’s the macho heroes that need a kick in the ass to make them remember
that their relationship isn’t a mission where they get to give orders all the time.”

“That about sums it up,” Darcy said, pouring the first glass to the rim.

“
None
of that
for me,” Jade said. “
I wouldn’t do you much good if I was piss-faced now, would I.
”

Darcy grunted and went over to the sofa, propping her feet on the table. “Let me ask
you something.” She didn’t wait for Jade to give her the go ahead. “Does it piss you
off that they stuck you here on babysitting duty while they’re off doing the real
work?”

Jade’s brow raised, and her mouth quirked in a half smile. “Girl, this is a real job.
I’m here because I’m a hell of a lot better shot than all of those
muscle-men
put together. And they know it. You’re in good hands.
Now, tell aunty Jade what Brant did to hurt your feelings, and I’ll kick his ass for
you.”

“I can kick his ass myself,” Darcy said, draining the glass.

“I think you probably can.”

“The whole mess started four years ago—
”

The city of
Chiapa
de
Corzo
was silent as a tomb at just shy of
four o’clock in the morning. It had been
thirteen
years since he’d been an active SEAL, but the moves and thoughts of working as a
well-oiled machine came back as naturally as breathing.

The five girls had been staying at the Palacio Concordia—a hotel reserved for dignitaries
of state and other important guests. The security was top notch, and there never should
have been any question of their safety. Which meant Ramos had the guards in his pocket.
It was the only explanation.

The hotel resembled the palace of its name and was surrounded by a twelve-foot stone
fence. It wasn’t overly large, the hotel only having about a hundred rooms, but it
had a large courtyard and
two pool areas
. According to Darcy, the men who’d kidnapped the girls would have left the new glyphs
close to where they’d been taken—meaning somewhere inside the hotel or grounds itself.

“
DEA is in position,” Max’s voice came through the earpiece.
“
Waiting for signal to move.”

“Two guards down and wrapped,” Dec said, meaning he’d immobilized the night guards
and restrained them. “Cleanup can take them away for interrogation. We’re clear for
entry.”

“That’s our
signal, boys and girls,” Shane’s voice said in his ear
. “On my count.”

Brant felt the adrenaline rush through his body as
Shane
counted down. The feeling was almost as good as sex. Almost. Shane hit zero and Brant
moved from his position
at a low run, tossing
his
rope to the top of the stone fence and pulling it slowly so the metal spikes would
catch against the rock. He tested his weight once and then started the climb. His
feet touched the ground silently
on the other side
, and he looked around as the other SEAL
s
landed at the same time, their move well choreographed.

“Stick to the plan,” Shane called out. “Find those glyphs and be ghosts.”

There were seven men on Shane’s team,
eight counting Brant,
and he’d paired each of them
in groups of two to
search different quadrants. They had a lot of ground to cover in very little time.

“I’ve got a surprise package outside of the gates,”
Dec said
. “Keep your eyes open.”

Brant and Shane shared a look of surprise, wondering if Ramos knew they were there,
and they moved along the corridors, continuing their search for the glyphs.
More than a half hour passed, and Brant knew they were getting near the end of their
window of opportunity.

“
Bingo,” someone said in the earpiece. “I’ve got a target confirmation in quadrant
four.”

Brant didn’t recognize the first voice, but he recognized the second voice as belonging
to his brother, Brady. “
Repeat. We’ve got the glyphs.
Getting a visual confirmation before evacuation. Two minutes.”

“You heard them,” Shane said.
“Two minutes. Evacuate.”

Brant took out his earpiece and said to Shane, “I’m meeting up with Dec. I want to
know what the surprise package is.”

Shane took out his earpiece as well to answer. “I’m coming too. My brother always
has the best secrets. And I’m curious to see what Ramos might have left for us.”

They climbed their way back over the fence, and Shane gave his team further instruction
to do a solo evacuation back to their base.
Brant opened the tracker he had on Dec and followed the glowing red signal two blocks
away into a deserted alley filled with dumpsters and boxes. He and Shane both had
their weapons out as they approached the small enclave into the side of a building.

Shane’s surprise was as obvious as his own if his indrawn breath was anything to go
by.

“Who the hell is this,” Shane whispered, looking at Dec for an answer.

Brant could tell the woman was scared, but the way she tilted her chin in defiance
reminded him a lot of Darcy, and he almost grinned as her black eyes spat fire in
Shane’s direction. She was a tiny thing, barely more than five f
ee
t tall, but she wasn’t a kid. The loose black clothing she wore draped over womanly
curves and her long black hair was pulled back severely from one of the most stunning
faces he’d ever seen.

“She has yet to tell me her name,” Dec answered, almost bored. “But I found her trying
to sneak in past the guards before I disabled them and I found this,” he said, pulling
out a black pistol, “hidden
in her waistband. I’m a little curious to know who she is too.”

“One of Ramos’s whores?” Shane asked, circling her, trying to throw her off balance.

None of them missed the way she stiffened at Shane’s insult. It told them she understood
English, and her silence wasn’t a lack of communication. All three of them spoke Spanish,
but that wouldn’t tell them what they wanted to know.

“What’s your name?” Shane asked her. “You might as well tell us. We’ll find out if
you’re friend or enemy soon enough.” His grin was wolfish, and he raked his eyes over
her body insultingly.

Brant knew Shane would never do anything to hurt a woman or leave her if she was in
trouble. It just wasn’t in his nature. He was a protector. And if it had been Shane
who Vivian had gotten her claws into instead of Brant, Shane wouldn’t have been able
to pull the trigger in the end and he’d have died.
He didn’t know what it said about him that he
had
been able to pull the trigger.
Nothing good, surely.

“You are American soldiers, yes?” she asked. Her accent was slight, and there was
no quiver of fear in her voice even though she held her hands together tightly in
front of her.

“Why would you ask that?
”
Declan asked in Spanish this time, throwing her off.

“The way you move,” she answered back in kind. “The way you’re dressed. I need your
help.
My name is Elena
Nayal
. And
Alexander Ramos has taken my father. Or his men
did I should say
. I’m afraid they’re going to kill him.”

“Why would Ramos want your father?” Brant asked.

“Ramos is always looking for those who speak and write Maya. My father is a descendent.
As am I, though I cannot read the glyphs well. Everyone for miles knows of Ramos and
that he’s always looking for those who can prove themselves useful to him.”

“If your father is gone, why were you trying to get onto the hotel grounds?” Shane
asked. He’d turned all business, crossing his arms over his chest
and staring her down
.

She copied his gesture and stared right back.
“Because Ramos’s men showed up at our home this morning. They just walked in and took
my father from his breakfast. They struck my mother an
d left her crying on the floor. They didn’t see me in the back room, but I waited
until they left and then I followed them.”

The savage curse Shane let out said it all. She would have been killed if she’d been
caught.
It had been a brave, but stupid, chance to take.

“They did not see me,” she said quickly. “But I followed them to the Palacio Concordia,
and they took my father inside. I waited for what seemed like hours until they came
out again, but
my father was taken by two men in a car
and I wasn’t able to follow. I thought I might be able to get a sense of where he
was if I went onto the grounds. I know now that I had very little chance of finding
him on my own. So I’m asking you
for help
.”

“Shane,” Declan said. “Take her with you. Show her photographs of some of Ramos’s
top men and see if she recognizes anyone. Then take her home
,
and I’ll put Huxley and Smith on watch just in case Ramos decides to make another
visit to her house.”

“Brady sent the pictures of the glyphs to your computer,” Shane said to Brant. “They’ll
be waiting for you when you get ba
ck. You know the rendezvous
point. My boys will take you back when you’re ready.”

Brant and Shane fist bumped and he nodded to Declan before he walked out of the alley.
He was ready to get home to Darcy. To see for
himself
that she’d spent the night safe and sound.

***

It
was almost dawn when the Zodiac
brought him to shore.
Brant
swam the last fifty feet as the boat disappeared into the fog and back to the waiting
helicopter. It would be gone before there was light in the sky.

When
Brant
slipped inside the villa through the sliding glass doors, Jade met him much as he
had her a few hours before—with a pistol pointed at his chest. He nodded to her and
then looked for Darcy. His brow
raised
when he saw the empty wine bottle and Darcy sprawled out on the couch, snoring lightly.