Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

February 6 th

12:39 P.M.

Running was stupid, but what choice did she have?

Ella hated that it made her look more guilty, but let’s face it, she was guilty of stealing the Reactivator and coming to Mexico. Worse than that, though, she felt like she’d betrayed Miguel.

The man was hot.

Hands down the sexiest she’d ever laid eyes on.

In fact, she’d been secretly crushing on him from the moment she first saw him. But he was a one-and-done kind of man, a playboy, and she wanted the whole white picket fence dream, so she’d never thought it would go anywhere.

Then his brother started dating Cassie, who was like a sister to her, and she’d really known for sure it would never go anywhere. The last thing she was going to do was allow herself to become one of Miguel’s conquests, get her poor little heart broken, and then make things awkward for the rest of their lives because Cassie and Luis’ love was the kind that lasted forever.

It wasn’t just that Miguel was hot that had regret simmering in her veins as she ran through the jungle, leaving him behind. It was the fact that he’d just saved her from being raped. More than that, he’d been kind and compassionate. Even going so far as to allow her a moment to gather herself after what had almost happened.

That wasn’t something he had to do.

He’d done it only because he was a good guy.

What was she?

A wanted fugitive accused of betraying her country.

Please forgive me, Miguel .

She wished she’d been able to tell him everything that was going on. The truth. The whole truth. Even nothing but the truth.

But she couldn’t.

Not yet.

Not until she was sure they were safe.

Once she knew that her family wasn't going to be harmed, then she would make sure that everyone knew the truth. That she wasn’t the mole at Prey and hadn't betrayed anyone. She had been ambushed at her house the night Cassie had disarmed the bomb on the cruise ship and been shown a video of someone setting a bomb under her parents’ house. A house where one of her sisters also lived with her husband and three small children, including an infant only five months old.

How did she have any choice but to do as she’d been ordered?

How could she risk the lives of the people she loved?

Even knowing the risks, she’d fought, but four men had been there. Four really big men who had held her down while one of them lit a cigarette and burned the soles of her feet as he detailed how he would go straight to her parents’ house, torture them, her sister, brother-in-law, two nieces and her baby nephew before sitting back and watching them all die as the house exploded.

That was when she realized that she had been left with no choice.

Obedience was the only thing that would protect the people she loved.

Maybe that made her selfish to prioritize her own family over everything and everyone else.

But it didn't make her stupid.

Hearing footsteps thundering through the jungle behind her, Ella knew she had no chance of outrunning Miguel. Nor could she expect any warmth and compassion from him when he caught her. Perhaps if he hadn't caught her almost being raped, he wouldn't have been as nice, maybe he would have just tackled her and put her in handcuffs, but she knew for sure that’s what he would do this time.

Eyeing a tree up ahead, she wondered if she could hide since she couldn’t outrun him.

Even if her feet weren't injured, she still wouldn't have had any hope of getting away from Miguel and this might be her only chance.

If she was caught now, Raul would order the mole to detonate the bomb under her parents’ house. All she had to do was play this out until she knew the bomb had been removed and then she could do what she’d come here to do.

Betray Raul Castillo and the mole.

Whatever it took, she was bringing them both down.

If that meant she went down with them, then so be it. At least they would pay for hurting the people she loved, for threatening her family, and trying to steal a drug that she and her team had created for good.

Grabbing hold of the lowest branch, Ella dragged herself up onto it. Then up onto the next. And the next. And the next. She climbed until her arms trembled with exhaustion, and she was high enough up for her stomach to churn.

She didn't like heights.

Had never climbed a tree in her life.

But she’d done it.

Up there she was safe. Miguel wouldn't think to look for her in a tree, he’d assume she was still running and keep running after her. Then, when he’d gone past her, she could climb back down and keep walking, hoping she found Raul’s place before Miguel or one of his teammates found her.

Or before another of Raul’s soldiers found her.

A combination of fear, sadness, and exhaustion had more tears tumbling down her cheeks.

She just wanted this to be over.

However it wound up ending.

A minute or two after she’d settled high up the tree she saw him. Miguel. Slinking past her hiding place. While he was moving quickly, he’d slowed his pace a little, probably wanting to trick her into thinking that she’d outrun him so that she would slow her own pace and he could pounce on her like the predator that he was.

It was okay. She didn't blame him for it. All he knew was that the mole was someone at Prey with insider knowledge and she certainly fit that bill. Miguel didn't know her and didn't know that she valued loyalty. He didn't know that she loved the people at Prey like a family and would never allow the Reactivator to fall into the hands of a man like Raul Castillo.

But her Prey people, surely, they would figure out the truth.

After all, she’d made it as obvious as she could while still following Raul’s instructions.

If she alerted anyone at Prey, the bomb would be set off, killing most of her family. But if she played along, she could buy time. So, she hadn't tried to hide the fact that she was taking the drug. She had booked a ticket in her own name, had worn clothes she knew were ones her people would recognize as hers and had not tried to disguise herself.

She knew they would follow her, wanted them to follow her, she’d just thought she’d have a little more time before they got there. She had to get the fake drug to Raul and have him disarm the bomb before she could let her people know to come in for her.

Patting her bag as she watched Miguel disappear into the jungle, she reassured herself that the fake Reactivator was still tucked safely inside.

There was no way she would risk bringing the real drug with her to Mexico.

The real vial of the drug she’d taken from the lab at Prey was sitting inside a storage locker at the airport, waiting for her to be able to activate the tracker she’d bought with her, have her people come in, and then go back and retrieve it. As soon as the bomb was gone and her family was no longer in danger, she fully intended to tell Prey everything and watch with satisfaction as the threats to her team were taken into custody.

Ella was desperate but not stupid. She’d thought through every scenario she could in the twenty-four hours she’d been given to get on a plane and done her best with what she had to work with.

But going it alone was exhausting. She wanted her team back. Wanted her Prey people around her. Heck, she even wished Miguel would come back just so she wasn’t alone.

“Soon,” she assured herself as she tentatively began to climb back down the tree. “Soon this will all be over. You’ll trick Raul into thinking he has the real vial of the Reactivator. Your family will be safe. Prey will come. Raul will be caught. He’ll give up the mole’s name and she’ll be caught, too. Then life can go back to normal, the way it was before this whole mess started.”

Only as her feet touched the ground, Ella got the feeling that nothing was ever going to be the same again.

She was playing a dangerous game, she knew that, and she was banking on the fact that Prey would have faith in her, that they’d listen to her when she explained everything and understand that she had been in a no-win situation and had done the only thing she could to keep everyone alive and safe.

But what if she was wrong?

What if she was wrong about everything?

What if things were only going to get worse and not better?

February 6 th

1:11 P.M.

She thought she was so smart.

Miguel couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he slunk through the trees following his little runaway blonde.

When he’d caught sight of her trying to climb up the tree—something she definitely needed pointers on since it took her far too long as she almost fell at least half a dozen times—he’d known exactly how to handle this. It was obvious that Ella was not cut out for the life of a fugitive. She’d just assumed that she’d made it up the tree without getting caught, then when he’d snuck right past her, making sure she got a good look at him before moving out of her sight again, she had assumed she’d gotten what she wanted.

But this was his job, and he was good at it.

No way was he going to get trumped by some lab girl turned traitor or whatever the hell Ella was.

Because despite everything he knew as fact, and that she’d run from him, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something hadn't added up.

It was her eyes.

In them was no calculation, no attempts to play him, nothing sinister or evil. In a decade as a SEAL, he’d seen plenty of evil people, looked into their eyes as they maimed and killed, looked into their eyes as they lay dying, and saw no remorse.

Ella wasn’t like them.

When he looked into her eyes he saw desperation.

Whatever had led to her agreeing to give the Reactivator to Raul Castillo, it wasn’t greed or power. She wasn’t doing this for the money, that much he would bet his life on. What he didn't know was how much good her motivation would do in saving her from her fate. Even if she’d been blackmailed or threatened, she’d still brought the drug to the enemy and that was going to get her a prison sentence.

For now, though, he wasn’t going to let on that he was following her. He hoped she would wind up leading him right to Raul, although from the looks of things she was completely and utterly lost.

Still, those had been Raul’s men who had tried to rape her. He’d seen their tattoos, so Raul’s place was around here somewhere, and once he found it, he was going to make sure the weapons dealer didn't slip through their fingers once again. He’d already been in contact with his team, told them to hang back, that he was on Ella’s trail, and once he had confirmation that she was with Raul, he’d let them know and they could raid the place and bring the trafficker into custody.

Maybe he could even spin it somehow that Ella had helped.

Miguel had no idea why, but for some reason, he didn't want to see the woman spend the rest of her life in prison for something it was clear she didn't want to be doing. If he could try to make it look like she’d worked with him to bring down one of the world’s most wanted men then that could go a long way toward reducing her sentence.

When Ella stopped up ahead of him, he stopped, too, although there was no need to make much of an attempt to hide himself. The woman spun in a slow circle but didn't do a thorough search of her environment to ensure she wasn’t being followed. She was too trusting, too innocent, too inexperienced, which was why he knew she had no nefarious purpose for being out there.

“Why didn't you ask someone for help, honey?” he murmured. If she’d been threatened or blackmailed, she should have trusted her Prey family to have her back. Yet she hadn't. What did Raul Castillo have on her that she would betray the people she cared about?

Maybe she had a gambling or drug problem? Although the background check they’d been given said she was clean with no financial troubles. In fact, while she wasn’t rich, she had quite a nice little nest egg from her career as a child prodigy cello player, and from the concerts she still sporadically gave. While she wasn’t worth five million, she had enough that he couldn’t see she would risk everything to sell the drug she helped create for that amount.

Perhaps it was a family member she was trying to protect?

Prey was going through every member of her family with a fine-tooth comb looking for a reason why Ella might have done this. No one wanted to believe they’d had a traitor in their midst and nobody had picked up on it.

With a small sob he could hear from there, Ella turned and started walking in another direction.

Miguel followed.

For a solid hour, they traipsed through the jungle. Ella walked with no purpose, just wandering aimlessly as lost people were prone to do. If she was going to play traitor, the least she could have done was work on her skills.

These were dangerous people she was playing with, and she should, at the very least, be aware of her surroundings enough to know that she was being watched. By multiple someones now, not just him.

But from the startled shriek that fell from her lips when four men dressed all in black emerged from the trees, it was clear she’d had zero idea they’d been nearby. However, Miguel sensed another few watching them, hanging back to make sure they weren't walking into a trap.

At least Raul had the good sense to be careful even if Ella didn't seem to possess an iota of sense. Desperate people often didn't though. She was too focused on her own reasons for being there to consider anything else, and if she wasn’t careful it was going to get her killed.

“Wh-who are you?” Ella asked, shrinking into herself. Even from there, he could see that she was shaking. After almost being raped by Raul’s men it was no wonder she was terrified to be back in their presence, but what had she thought was going to happen when she walked into the lion’s den?

“Aww, you don’t recognize your friends?” one of them sneered, taking a step toward Ella.

Miguel tensed.

Just because he wanted Raul Castillo in custody so that his brother and Cassie could finally get some peace and she could start healing, he wasn’t going to allow Ella to be assaulted.

Odds weren't great, though. There were at least ten men in the area, and they were all focused on Ella. So far it didn't seem like anybody was aware of his presence, and he was going to use that to his advantage.

“Boss said to bring her to him when she got here,” another of the men said, stopping the first before Miguel had to come up with a plan to intercede, eliminate all the threats, and still get access to the weapons trafficker.

The first man shrugged. “I don’t mind waiting,” he said, and Ella went all kinds of pale, almost to the point where he was worried she was about to faint. Guess she had thought she had enough sway being the one with the formula to keep her safe from Raul’s men. Which was kind of ridiculous given that she knew what had happened to all three of her friends while they were prisoners of the man.

“You got the drug?” a third man asked.

“Y-yes,” Ella whispered, sounding as faint as she looked.

“Then let’s bring you in. Boss is angry you're late,” the guy who had intervened and stopped her from being assaulted now told her as he grabbed one of her arms and began to drag her off.

A deep-seated protective rage ignited inside him at the sight of the burly man putting his bands on Ella. Just because he knew that despite her reasoning, she’d brought some of this upon herself, he didn't like seeing her manhandled. It didn't sit right with him.

There was no way he would let her get dragged off without him.

Moving quickly now, he zeroed in on the closest presence and found another of Raul’s guards with his back to Miguel heading off in the same direction Ella was being taken.

Pouncing on the man before he even realized he wasn’t alone, he snapped the guard’s neck and let the body drop to the jungle floor. Then with quick, efficient movements, he undressed him and swapped out his own clothes with the guard’s. There was no way he could fake the tattoo, but with the jacket pulled up he could cover most of his neck and hope nobody noticed. With his Hispanic looks and ability to speak several languages, including Spanish, fluently, he should be able to fit in long enough to confirm Raul’s presence and call in his team.

At least, he hoped he could.

Because he was all that was standing between Ella and whatever Raul Castillo was going to allow his men to do to her when he got what he wanted from her.

The pretty blonde thought she had enough leverage to keep herself safe, but he was pretty sure she couldn’t be more wrong.