Page 18 of Bad Rio
She didn’t know him, and women were funny about the trust issue. If they didn’t feel sure of a man, they could be damnably uncooperative. But once they felt they could rely on him, often they were loyal to the end.
He needed to get her to a place where she could be comfortable with him, would follow him, would do as he said. Any more attempts to flee him could end in disaster, for both her and him. Most importantly, for the mission. He sorted through options.
He could get her conversing, encourage her to share her feelings with him, get her to carry on about her life, her interests. It usually wasn’t difficult to start a woman talking. The female of the species needed to do a lot of that, and in their conversations, he often noticed, they let down their guard.
He could spend time drawing her out, making her believe he was truly interested in every aspect of her life, every thought in her pretty head. He could do all of that.
Or he could just seduce her.
It wasn’t against the rules. In hostage rescue, there were no rules. His self-imposed edict to remain hands-off might not serve his purposes. Not this time. His long-standing policy should, possibly, be reconsidered.
****
Harrison kept his voicelow and urgent. The phone pressed to his ear. “I’m telling you, fucking get the girl to me now.”
On the other end of the line, Harrison heard wind soughing through high mountain trees. His man, Rio Lang, said, “Can’t right now. Unless you want to send me a couple of Marine Seahawks loaded down with armament—say hellfire missiles and door gunners with belt-fed machine guns, and maybe a platoon of SEALs. Yeah, get some of my old teammates up here. Then, sure, you can have her now.” He paused. “Other than that, we’re trapped.”
“No, no,” Harrison said impatiently. “I’ve told you more than once this must be handled delicately. We can’t involve the Mexican government. An assault like that from American forces would draw unwelcome attention and make international trouble.”
The ambassador and his daughter had been roughed up a little, but released. At least they weren’t killed. However, they’d been instructed to keep their mouths shut about the incident and allow the proper officials to do their job.
From his anonymous penthouse office in an equally anonymous American city, Harrison sat forward in his leather chair, and cast his gaze over the view of the downtown city lights. Few knew where he worked, and he kept personal control of Black Eagle. All his contracts were awarded by phone or through the Internet, and the payments made by cash transfers to anonymous drop locations. Between his superiors, himself, and the men who worked under him, were many layers of secrecy. In his line of work, Harrison had a lot of leeway to make decisions.
“For now, we’re pretty much surrounded,” Rio said. “But hidden. If we lay low for at least another day, I can get Becca out of here, no sweat. Those assholes will never find me.”
Aggravation gnawed at Harrison’s stomach. He flipped open a medicine bottle of antacid and chewed up three tablets. He was getting too old for this crap. It was nearing time for him to forge a new path. Dealing with rogue characters like Rio Lang, guys who’d served in Special Forces, highly trained but supremely arrogant, was proving too big a headache. They always wanted to do things their way and were nearly impossible to control.
“I’m warning you, Lang, no mistakes this time or you’re done. Got that?” The last job he’d given Rio had been a doozy. Matters went sour when the man he’d been protecting was shot. He wasn’t killed, but the wound was serious. It hadn’t been Rio’s fault, but Harrison deliberately allowed him to believe it was: men were easier to manage if they were worried about job security.
For Harrison, keeping Rio Lang off balance had become a fine art.
At the same time, he knew Lang was one of Black Eagle’s best men, perhaps the very best. For his efficient work over the years in covert ops, then for Black Eagle, and earlier than that, for the United States government, Harrison knew that the government was far more in Rio’s debt than Rio would ever guess.
And Harrison vowed to keep it that way.
Rio grunted. “Gotta go.” And he cut the line.
With satisfaction, Harrison leaned back in his luxury chair. Rio had gotten the message. Of one thing Harrison was certain: Rio would do his job.
****
Becca spent a secondnight with Rio snug against her backside. While she was still weak from her illness, she was no longer feverish or sick. He’d left the battery-operated lamp on all night and it was still going strong. It was plenty cold enough in the cabin to justify the snuggling.
Because she’d been so ill the night before, Becca had barely noticed.
But now she was well enough to recognize his hard-on, pressed to her backside. With her pants still damp and muddy, she’d been forced to remove them again and wore only her white cotton panties and his wool socks.
At midnight, she stirred, waking up.
“I’m not gonna apologize,” he whispered into her hair.
She shifted away and understood exactly what he meant.
“Won’t deny it either,” he said. “You’re an attractive woman, Becca. Damn hot. Obviously I want you.” He waited, apparently hoping she’d respond favorably.
“Not gonna happen,” she said, inching farther away. “I don’t even know you.”
Relaxing his hold, he allowed her to move. “Your choice,” he said. “Either way.”
