Betrayal (SSU Trilogy Book 2) (The Surgical Strike Unit) Page 3

  From the front of the boat Giovanni cried out in pain. The deck continued to tilt to the right and the pilot’s body slid into view before jamming against a spool of rope. With an ominous stutter, the engine died. Then the deck slammed horizontal again.

  Kai grabbed his weapon and peered around the burning remains of the cabin. An armored gunboat was heading toward them from upriver. A man stood on the deck behind a mounted machine gun. He noticed Kai and let loose a volley of gunfire.

  Kai fired back, then ducked out of sight. Shit. The cabin provided him some protection, but Giovanni lay in the open.

  Kai fired another burst at the gunboat, then raced across the deck and pulled Giovanni to safety behind a stack of crates. He put his fingers to the man’s neck.

  No pulse.

  He turned the man over. Bullet holes perforated Giovanni’s chest.

  Dammit. Kai hadn’t known the man well, but he’d been honest and as quick with a joke as he was to anger. Kai bowed his head a moment, then closed the man’s eyes. A brief glance showed the gunner on the other boat had turned his head and was talking over his shoulder to someone behind him. The gunboat blocked Kai’s view of the mercenaries’ sinking boat, but when the gunboat’s deck tilted away from Kai, he figured the newcomers were taking the mercenaries on board.

  Knowing he didn’t have long before the gunboat either used another RPG or sent men to board them, Kai crawled into the remains of the cabin. He searched the debris until his fingers closed around the nylon straps of two large backpacks. Giovanni, God rest his soul, had looked at Kai like he was crazy the first morning he’d repacked his bag. “Why you taking down your hammock, ‘migo? You pack it away, you only got to put it back up tonight.”

  But after two years on the run he’d learned to have everything packed and ready to move at a moment’s notice, including bedding. Two months free from the hunt and the habit still hadn’t faded.

  He hoisted one pack onto his back. He located several extra boxes of ammunition and shoved those into the second pack, then looked out what was left the door.

  The other boat’s gunner stood behind his weapon with arms crossed. He faced a second man, who nodded in the direction of Kai’s boat. Cradled in the second man’s arms was an RPG launcher. Both men wore olive green uniforms without any insignia.

  Special forces or private soldiers?

  On the deck behind the men, the three sodden mercenaries eyed the soldiers with varying degrees of wariness. While they were distracted, Kai slid down the canted deck to the side of the boat. Susana lay in several inches of water, conscious now and blinking against the sun’s glare.

  “We’ve got to get off the boat before it sinks or is blown out of the water,” Kai said as he landed beside her.

  He placed his arms through the straps of the second backpack so it rested against his chest. It was going to be a bitch to navigate the river laden down with the packs, but they were going to need these supplies and she wasn’t in any condition to carry a pack in the water. He took off his baseball cap and shoved it into his pocket.

  The rope he’d been coiling earlier lay in a tangled heap a foot away from him. He pulled free a length and cut it with his pocketknife. He tied one end of the rope around his waist, underneath the backpacks. Then he knelt awkwardly beside Susana and held out the rope. “I’m going to tie this around your waist so that when we go into the river we won’t get separated.”

  Her eyes widened, but she nodded. Damn it, he wanted to kiss her and tell her everything was going to be okay. That she just had to hold on a little longer.

  Instead, he quickly tied the rope and tugged to make sure the knot was secure. Heading into the river like this was dangerous. But he wasn’t losing Susana under any circumstances.

  He heard a shout. The other boat’s engine revved.

  Shit. Out of time.

  He had to time this just right. He didn’t want to go overboard too early. The attackers needed to think they were dead, blown up with the boat.

  He grabbed Susana’s arm. “Get ready,” he whispered in her ear. Unable to help himself, he brushed a quick kiss against her temple.

  “On the count of three, we’re going into the river.”

  He waited for the hiss of the rocket being released. “One…two…three!” Kai pulled air deep into his lungs, then threw himself overboard, pulling Susana with him.

  Chapter 4

  Susana considered herself to be in good shape, but after being kidnapped, rescued, hurled from an exploding boat, swimming through the river while being shot at, then climbing up a riverbank and running into the jungle while her damn kidnappers got out of their boat and friggin’ followed them, she had almost zero energy left.

  “C’mon, we’ve got to keep moving,” Kai said.

  Grumbling under her breath, Susana let Kai pull her into a run. Once her body got moving, she could keep her momentum going. But she didn’t know what would happen if he let go of her hand. Besides, she liked the warm, calloused feel of his skin against hers. It reminded her that she wasn’t alone.

  Some sixth sense had her turning her head to check behind her in time to see the ground torn up by bullets not three feet away. Kai cursed and veered left, dragging her into an area of thick undergrowth.

  It forced them down to a jog, but she hoped it also slowed their pursuers. Although, really, all they had to do was keep shooting. Eventually she or Kai would be hit.

  As if summoned by her thoughts, she heard gunfire again. It sounded closer.

  Kai moved faster, dodging around trees, ducking under branches, and leaping over logs. Hauling her with him every step of the way. Did the damn man never tire?

  Finally, he slowed to a walk.

  Kai reached his hand up to move a vine out of his path.

  “Don’t!” She smacked his arm away. “That’s dangerous. Like poison ivy.”

  “Thanks.”

  She nodded and looked up at him. Then nearly drowned in the look of heated tenderness in Kai’s eyes. Ignoring the fluttering in her belly, she broke from his gaze and cleared her throat. “This way,” she announced, taking the lead and heading right. If only the men chasing them didn’t have guns. She could booby-trap their path. She could…

  The ground turned spongy under her boots. She planted her feet and spread her arms wide so Kai couldn’t get by. “Stop!”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Quicksand.”

  “Damn. That’s twice I owe you.”

  Oh, she liked that. “And don’t you forget it,” she tossed back over her shoulder with a wink. Of course, she owed him her life, so they still weren’t even.

  She backed up carefully, checked the color of the ground, and led them around the dangerous territory.

  Gunfire ripped through the trees somewhere close by.

  “Damn,” Kai said. “How do they keep finding us?”

  He grabbed her hand and they broke into a run.

  Oh, no, here we go again.

  Kai glanced back to the bend in the thickly overgrown path. Come on, let us get away this time.

  He felt like a little kid, praying to be invisible during a game of hide-and-seek. Only this time a hell of a lot more was at stake than his pride.

  The butt of an automatic weapon poked into view between two heart-shaped leaves.

  Shit.

  Kai tugged Susana deeper into the bush.

  Who the hell were these guys? Some sort of mystic ninja soldiers? Because for the past hour he’d used every trick he’d learned in escape and evasion training. Susana had even created some quick but nasty jungle booby-traps, and their pursuers still never lost their trail for more than a few minutes.

  At least the booby-traps had taken two of the men out of the chase. Susana was proving to be a valuable partner. Smart, creative and resourceful.

  He helped Susana over a fallen log. She stumbled on the other side and almost pulled him down, but he quickly took hold of her arms and steadied her.

  “I’
m okay,” she murmured. She reached up to brush a sweaty hank of hair out of her eyes and he saw that her hand was shaking. As soon as she saw his eyes narrow, she dropped her hand and stuck it in her pocket. Her expression dared him to say anything about her show of weakness.

  Kai felt an unfamiliar wave of protectiveness and tenderness wash over him. He wanted to kiss her for being so strong, but he heard men crashing through the brush, coming toward them.

  This time she broke into a run. “Let’s go!”

  He followed, amazed at her endurance and at the way she didn’t complain about the relentless pace, yet knowing they couldn’t keep it up much longer. They both needed to rest.

  At least Joe trigger-happy back there had stopped spraying the trees with bullets every time he caught sight of them.

  The idiot had probably used up all his ammunition and that of his friends.

  After several minutes of running, Kai slowed to a walk. They trod carefully at an angle to their original path, then walked for a good ten minutes more trying not to leave an obvious pattern of crushed vegetation behind them. Finally, Kai pulled them to a stop behind a tall clump of bushes.

  If the mercenaries didn’t lose their trail this time, it could only mean one thing. Susana had a tracking device on her. But until they lost their pursuers, he wouldn’t have a chance to find and destroy the device. And while he and Susana had managed to stay out of kill range so far, once the sun went down they’d have to stop running.

  He was damn sure the mercenaries and their soldier allies would have flashlights or night vision equipment. So all they had to do was follow the tracking signal right to Susana.

  He wasn’t going to let that happen.

  Susana muttered to herself and swatted at a mosquito.

  Kai hid a smile. Susana no longer resembled the polished woman in her modeling photos. Sweat had cleaned little runnels through the thick dirt and blood covering her face, giving her the appearance of a fierce tribal warrior. Her hair hung in tangled ropes down her back and stuck to her face. Her clothes were as filthy as his.

  But somehow she still managed to instill every movement with heated sensuality.

  Or maybe he just saw it that way because it had been much too long since he’d been in the company of a woman both sexy and strong.

  And this former supermodel had unexpected grit. She’d kept up with his furious pace. He’d noticed her steps weaving a few times, but she hadn’t asked him to stop or slow down. Instead, she’d muttered to herself. He hadn’t been able make out all the words, but the tone suggested she was egging herself on. Or maybe cursing the mercenaries.

  He found himself almost smiling, despite the whole being-pursued-by-untiring-gun-toting-mercenaries thing. And felt glad that he’d been the one given this assignment.

  “Hey,” he whispered to her. “See if you can find some quicksand. We need to trap these guys once and for all.”

  Despite her exhaustion, Susana’s eyes brightened. Once again he felt the urge to gather her into his arms and kiss her. Tell her everything was going to be okay.

  Even though she was too smart to believe him.

  So he kept his hands to himself and followed her through the jungle, listening to the sounds of their pursuers drawing closer. Just when he was about to say to hell with it and start running again, Susana motioned him to a stop.

  She picked up a piece of deadwood and poked it into the ground in front of her. The stick started sinking with a slurp.

  Kai sank to a crouch beside her. The quicksand appeared to be about ten feet by twelve. Perfect.

  “Okay,” he said quietly. “Here’s the plan.”

  Belém, Brazil

  “This problem wouldn’t exist if you’d completed your mission at the fundraiser,” CIA Director of In-House Projects Wayne Jamieson pointed out across the satellite phone connection.

  “I explained what happened, sir,” Mark Tonelli replied, keeping his voice even. “Susana Dias was never alone. I was unable to get close to her. She left in a hurry immediately after the presentation of the check to fund her expedition. The crowd was too thick for me to follow her closely. By the time I got outside, she was gone.” Mark was glad his new boss was thousands of miles away, across a thin, static-filled phone connection, so the man’s infamous bullshit sensitive nose couldn’t scent his lie.

  The truth wasn’t something he was eager to share. Or even admit to himself.

  “And she never returned to her apartment?” Jamieson queried.

  “Correct, sir. I had a man watching it.” He’d later learned that Susana had left on a dawn flight to Boa Vista, returning to her dig earlier than expected.

  Susana’s disappearance gave Mark time to catch his breath and regain his equilibrium after meeting her in person.

  It was a weak excuse for letting his prey get away. But she’d taken him by surprise.

  He’d known Susana had modeled from the time she was thirteen until she entered graduate school for archaeology. The most recent pictures had shown a stunning woman with long, slightly wavy black hair, wide dark eyes and a huge smile that managed to be joyous and sensual at the same time. Mark had dated women equally as beautiful, so he certainly hadn’t expected to be struck dumb with adolescent admiration when introduced to her. But it had happened. His famous suave manners had deserted him and he’d barely stammered his greeting. Later, his voice had returned enough to ask her to dance, but he’d been unable to make small talk with her.

  Holding her had been like holding the sun. All vibrant life. He’d never wanted to let her go. He’d forgotten the syringe in his pocket. Forgotten the fake ambulance waiting a few blocks over for the call that Susana was “ill.” Forgotten that she had Nevsky’s microchip inside her and that the chip was Jamieson’s price for the information Mark needed to complete his revenge.

  It was the first time during his career at the CIA that Mark had lost his focus. For at least an hour after he’d danced with Susana, he’d remained in a daze. By the time he came back to awareness of his mission, she’d left.

  But his informant at Susana’s dig had come through. Susana should now be in the hands of the mercenaries Mark had hired to retrieve Susana. Under no circumstances would he ever personally set foot in the filthy, bug-infested jungle.

  “You’re certain you can trust your men to bring Dias back?” Jamieson demanded.

  “Yes, sir. I’ve paid them well. We should have the microchip by the end of tomorrow.”

  “Good. I need the data on that chip. And I know you’re anxious to receive that name.”

  Mark clenched his teeth. It wasn’t a new threat. Jamieson held the name of the man who’d ordered the hit on Mark’s father. Even today he still felt the mix of rage and helplessness as his eight-year-old self cradled his dying father’s head. Thugs in a black town car had shoved his father’s tortured body onto the family’s front lawn, then sped off. Mark had vowed then to track down and kill the men responsible.

  Until two years ago, Mark thought he’d succeeded. Now Jamieson claimed Mark had only killed the ones who’d carried out the hit. He insisted that the man who’d planned the death of Mark’s father still lived.

  But without the chip, Jamieson wasn’t talking. And Mark hadn’t been able to discover the man’s name on his own.

  There followed one of the heavy silences Mark dreaded. Jamieson might be powerful, and Mark might consider it an honor to work for the man and his secret CIA division of In-House Projects, but Jamieson was a difficult bastard to deal with. He always made Mark feel as inept as a schoolboy being chastised by the principal.

  “Our informant at the SSU notified me that Paterson is on his way to the dig,” Jamieson finally said.

  Shit. Mark had worked with Kai Paterson years ago, before Paterson left the CIA to join the SSU, one of those upstart private special operations groups. The man was brilliant. And ruthless.

  But for once Mark’s luck put him ahead of the SSU. Paterson was too late.

  “Tonel
li, are you listening to me?”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll warn the mercenaries of potential interference from Paterson.”

  “That’s right. The next time I call, if you don’t have Dias, I’m sending down a cleanup squad. And you’re one of the items they’re going to clean up.”

  Amazon Jungle

  “I think you have a tracking device on you,” Kai said, making Susana’s blood run cold.

  “A tracking device?” she sputtered. “Like they use to monitor cattle?” Her mother had used rudimentary microchips to follow the cattle she’d studied on ranches in the Amazon basin, searching for a way to make a breed that was both drought and disease resistant.

  Kai nodded. “That’s the only explanation for why the mercenaries keep finding us. Create three more booby traps and set them in a half-circle out from the far edge of the quicksand, there.” He pointed to an area that had several large bushes.

  “You hide in the bushes,” Kai said. “You’ll be safe. If anyone tries to circle behind you, they’ll hit the booby-traps. I’ll take care of the men at the quicksand.”

  Susana narrowed her eyes. “Take care of? You mean kill?”

  Kai shrugged. “Whatever’s necessary.”

  He said it so calmly. Yet despite the way he’d handled his weapon as he fired back at their pursuers, she saw the hint of a shadow cross his eyes. As if he wasn’t entirely comfortable with killing, but would do what was necessary to survive.

  With a nod, Kai brushed off his hands and got to work helping her set up the trap, then vanished into the jungle.

  Leaving her alone. Sitting in this tangled bush guarding the backpacks. Wondering how her life had gotten so out of control so quickly.

  Damn Kai. She felt like she had a giant X painted on her forehead.

  Remembering the lessons the tribal kids had taught her about staying still enough to lure prey in close, Susana tried to still her mind and slow her heartbeat so she’d hear any mercenary sneaking closer.