Tio approached the front desk in his “borrowed” uniform, striding straight up to the young guy behind the counter as though he had good cause to be there.
“Hey, man,” Tio said. “The lady Janet Booth, who’s in the big suite with two guys? She asked me to take her a tray from the kitchen and I can’t find her anywhere,” he said. Learning Lily’s alias had been a cinch.
“You new? I haven’t seen you around here,” the guy said, eyeing him.
“Yeah, just started. Look, I’ve got food getting cold and that means an unhappy customer. I was just wondering if she’d been through here. I need this job, you know?”
The other man’s hesitance was put by the wayside. “Yeah, I hear you. These rich snobs can be a handful.” He waved a hand toward the parking lot. “Miss Booth rented a car for some sightseeing with one of her friends.”
“Not both?”
“Seems one is ill. Too bad.”
“Sure is. Thanks.” He turned and strode for the suite, disliking the unease this news caused. The closer he got, the more the dread increased.
Using the stolen master card key, he let himself in and stalked down the hallway, noting the droplets of blood. Good, the shit was working. So he ought to find St. Laurent in bed, slowly dying and not even knowing.
But the room was empty.
Quickly, he checked the closets, the bathrooms, and the other bedroom, finding them almost empty, save for a few clothes and toiletries. Two rolling suitcases were still there. By all appearances, they might have just stepped out.
If Tio hadn’t given St. Laurent enough of the toxin to kill a lesser man.
The trio had definitely not gone sightseeing. He phoned Dietz, who answered right away.
“Yes?”
“They’re gone,” he said by way of a greeting. “ St. Laurent is sick, so they haven’t gotten far.”
“Dammit!” Dietz’s anger vibrated through the airwaves. “I have an idea Michael is sending someone to pick them up. I’ll find out where the rendezvous is, which safe house, and get back to you.”
“You think he’s going to tell you any of that shit now?”
“I have a mole who will. Stand by.”
In less than ten minutes, Tio was on his way to shoot three fish in a barrel.
Lily drove, forcing herself to go at a normal pace. Being stopped by the Mexican police would be a disaster. Besides, if she got there too fast, they’d look suspicious parked in a car in a rural area for too long.
“Do you have a gun?” Liam asked from the backseat. Jude’s head was in his lap, big body folded uncomfortably.
“Not with me.”
“Why the hell not? If you’re some sort of ninja woman, shouldn’t you take one everywhere?” Liam sounded close to panic.
“Covert agent,” she corrected. “And I don’t have one now because we flew commercial. They don’t like finding weapons on a person these days. Makes them cranky.”
“The bad guys will have one!”
“If so, they bought it once they arrived.”
“That was not reassuring.”
“I’m sorry. But the helicopter will be here soon. They’re on our side and they will be armed.”
“Thank God.”
As she reached the pickup spot, she slowed and turned off the road, driving a good ways down it before shutting off the ignition. The only sounds were the tick of the cooling engine and Jude’s harsh breaths.
“Lily? Is Jude going to…?”
She turned in her seat, gazed into his worried, handsome face. He’d never looked younger than he had at this moment, terrified for his friend’s life.
“No. He’s going to be fine. Our doctor is on his way with Michael, and he has the antidote. It’s not a magical cure,” she cautioned, “but it does help neutralize the effects of the poison so the body can begin recovery.”
He looked forlorn. “So it’s not a sure thing.”
In the distance, Lily thought she heard something. “Listen.”
“I don’t hear anything.”
But as the noise grew closer, the whump-whump of rotor blades was unmistakable. “They’re coming. Be ready to haul Jude out of there and book it.”
The noise grew deafening and the craft burst into view. It was the most beautiful thing she’d seen.
“Jesus, they fly that piece of crap? It looks like something out of the Vietnam era,” Liam said in dismay.
“It is. You won’t care how pretty it’s not when it saves your bacon.” The copter set down about forty yards away, the blades kicking up a dust storm because the pilot hovered, ready to take off again. “Let’s go.”
As she got out of the car, Lily recognized Blaze Kelly leaping from the open side door of the copter. The tall, muscular man had an M16 slung across his back, his dark, wavy hair blowing around his face.
She got their duffel, put the strap over her shoulder, and helped Liam get Jude out of the car. By the time they got Jude upright, Blaze was there.
“I’ve got him,” he shouted above the noise.
With that, he hoisted Jude in a fireman’s carry over one shoulder, as though he weighed nothing. The man was damned strong.
They took off, Liam jogging beside Blaze, Lily a couple of steps behind.
Just as they reached the belly of the copter, a popping noise came from behind them. A sting in Lily’s arm made her cry out and she whirled to see the big man from the resort standing by his own vehicle, firing at them.
“Get in!” She pushed Liam in the back, forward and down, sending him sprawling onto the floor of the copter. She scrambled in after him, shielding him with her body.
“Fuck! He’s shooting at us!” Liam yelled.
“Stay down!”
Blaze spun and yanked the M16 into position one-handed, never losing his grip on his fallen comrade. In a move that would’ve done Sylvester Stallone proud, he opened fire on the enemy, sending him diving for cover.
Satisfied, Blaze climbed into the craft. They were lifting into the air, spinning away, by the time he laid Jude carefully on the floor, on his back.
“Michael said he’s been poisoned?” Blaze called out above the racket.
Lily nodded, feeling nauseated.
“Sorry, we’re not equipped to treat poisoning, just a few things for wounds.”
Inspecting the stinging arm, she held it up. “Like this?”
“You’ve been shot?” Liam exclaimed. “Shit!”
Yes, indeed. In the fleshy part of her arm above the elbow. Though it bled profusely, it technically wasn’t too bad. Amazing how wounds so small could cause such pain and make her stomach flip.
“That I can take care of, temporarily,” Blaze said.
Grabbing some alcohol, swabs, and bandages, he cleaned and bandaged her arm-both the entrance and exit wounds. She supposed she should be thankful it wasn’t worse, but right now she was too wiped too care.
She wanted to get the man she loved to the safe house. The man she loved who’d never love her in return after this.
But now was not the time to give in to the black hole waiting at her feet. They weren’t out of the woods, but when this was over, she’d crawl off and hide. Cry herself dry.
After that, she had no idea.
Michael would probably fire her when all was said and done. So she’d quit before he had the chance.
The flight took forever, the trip made longer because of a stop to refuel, and she was convinced they’d all be deaf before they arrived in Tennessee. Talking was too difficult, so they did it only when necessary. Liam sat by Jude, clutching his shoulder, giving him what comfort he could.
Lily no longer had the right.
The copter finally descended, coming to rest in a valley surrounded by rolling hills. A pretty log cabin sat in the middle of the picture like a postcard, inviting.
They landed and jumped out one by one, Blaze carefully gathering Jude and carrying him inside. She and Liam trailed the big man through the house to a bedroom, where he laid Jude down and stepped back. Outside, the copter took off again.