Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

Near San Isidro, Puerto Jardin

Present Day

ZO REALIZED she was holding her breath, and she exhaled quietly. This could be anyone—the Puerto Jardinese military, mercenaries, Ramos' men, another drug lord's hit team, or a wild card like the guards for an illegal logging or mining operation. Her next inhalation was shaky.

"Keep your hands where they can see them," Finn told her, his voice so soft she barely heard him over the pounding of her heart.

She nodded, more a slight incline of her chin than an actual motion, but she knew he'd pick up on it. Adrenaline had thrust her drowsiness away, and Zo was fully alert now. She was also as scared as she'd been running from Ramos' men in Rio Blanco.

"Hands over your head."

The order came in Spanish, so it was a small surprise when the three men who came out of the bushes were American. Mercenaries then, Zo decided. Since most of the skirmishes in the civil war were currently taking place in the northern part of the country, it meant they probably worked for Alfonso Ramos.

One man kept his weapon trained on them while the other two took their packs and then patted them down. The kid who checked her for weapons was businesslike about it, but it was strange to have a teenager search her. He took her machete, the guns, her knives, and everything else that could be used to cause harm.

"Well, Stone Man," the guy who searched her said when he finished the pat-down and stepped away, "it's a sad day when your woman has you out-armed three to one."

"Really?" Finn drawled. "I look at it as proof I chose well."

Zo's brain whirled, connecting dots as quickly as it was able. "These guys are your former teammates?" she asked him. Her arms remained over her head since she hadn't been given permission to lower them yet.

Finn nodded. "Meet Lurch"—he gestured with his chin toward the kid who'd searched her, then inclined his head to the guy who stood near him. "That's Pruitt, and the dude pointing the assault weapon our way is Mazz."

"I'd say nice to meet you, but it would be a stretch given the situation." The men appeared rough—except for Lurch, who looked as if he should be in high school.

"Sorry, ma'am," the kid said.

"Can we at least put our hands down?" she asked.

"Go ahead," Pruitt said.

"You realize you took away the weapons the captain gave me a few hours ago," Finn said dryly.

Pruitt shrugged. "When we were given orders, we weren't told you were excluded. We're supposed to disarm any interlopers and bring them to camp."

"Camp? I expected you guys to settle around Trujillo. "

Instead of answering, the kid made a gesture with his rifle. "Let's move."

The going was difficult, and while Pruitt and Lurch walked at their flanks, Mazz remained behind the two of them. A quick peek had shown his weapon pointing at the ground, but he was ready to raise it in an instant. It didn't seem to bother Finn—he chatted easily with his friends as they made their way through the rainforest—but it unnerved her.

When they arrived, there were three more men in the camp. Zo recognized one of them—JT Griffin. He was crouched in front of a medical kit. Idly, he glanced up from what he was doing, did a double-take, and stood. She half expected him to come over, but his focus shifted to the two men on the other side of the clearing. Both were tall. One was Asian-American, and the other African-American. They looked tough.

While Mazz and Pruitt stayed with her and Finn, Lurch approached those other two and started to talk to them.

Although no one was wearing insignia, Zo guessed one of them was the captain who had summoned Finn to Florida. The other guy could be anyone. Before today, she'd only met three members of the team—Ryder had come to visit with his wife, and later, JT and Kyle had stayed as well. All of them had started out suspicious of her and protective of Finn, and while she appreciated how much they cared about him, it had made the beginning of their stay uncomfortable. Griff had been particularly obnoxious.

She'd forgiven him a long time ago, but the memory had her turning a glare on him. JT caught it, and both eyebrows went up.

Lurch headed back toward where they were, stopping briefly to converse with Griff before continuing to them. "Captain wants to talk to you," he told Finn.

Her lover cast a glance at her. "I'll be fine on my own. "

"Griff will stay with her," Lurch told him. "Mazz, Pru, and I are going back out on patrol."

Finn watched the guys leave, but he didn't move until JT was beside her. "A couple of Ramos' men are chasing her," he said, waiting for his friend's nod before walking away. Zo noticed that Griff became more alert, and considering how intense the man was, it said something.

"I saw your glare. What did I do to piss you off?" Griff asked when Finn was out of earshot.

"I was remembering the first time we met."

JT ran a hand over the stubble on his chin. "I thought we were past that."

"We are. You were horrible, though."

"Do I need to apologize again?" JT gave her a sideways look and tugged on the brim of his black baseball cap.

"No." Zo changed the subject. "What does the captain want with Finn?"

"Don't know."

"Don't know or can't say?" she countered.

Griff shrugged, and it told her that if he might not be aware of the exact topic of conversation, he at least had a good idea. She thought about pressing but decided to leave it alone. There were things the men couldn't talk about, and she understood that. No questions about what they were doing here either, although she was curious.

"You look like shit," Griff said, interrupting her thoughts. "When was the last time you slept?"

"What time is it now?"

"1410."

Zo did the math to translate it to real-time, then did more math to figure out how long she'd been awake. "About thirty-two hours."

"Does Stony know?"

"That I'm tired, yes. How many hours it's been since I slept? We haven't discussed it. "

"Why is Ramos interested in you?" Griff asked.

"Don't know." Special Forces had secrets, and so did the Paladin League.

She shifted her gaze from JT to Finn. He remained in conversation with the two men. His face was expressionless, and his body appeared relaxed, but Zo knew her guy, and he was irritated. With a frown, she took a step forward, but Griff caught her arm. She looked up at him in question.

"My orders are to keep you here," he explained.

"So Finn doesn't have backup."

JT's lips twitched, but he didn't actually smile. "You think an ex-Special Forces soldier needs backup from an archaeologist?"

"Why doesn't Captain"— she probably shouldn't use his name—"Big Dog want me with Finn?"

Now Griff did grin, an expression which seemed foreign to him. It didn't last long, but the miracle was that it had ever appeared. "You can call him Big Dog without the rank." He ran a hand over his mouth, maybe hiding another smile. Two in a single day might ruin his image. "And they're talking about things you don't need to know about."

Which meant it concerned the mission, and Finn wouldn't tell her anything even when they were alone. He looked tired, too, she decided, but neither of them was going to be able to catch a nap, not any time soon.

Feeling Griff's stare, she turned her attention back to him. The man was scowling at her. "What?"

"Why the fuck didn't you stay in the States until Stony could come down here with you?"

Zo returned his glower. She thought about stonewalling him, but Griff could be a tenacious pain in the ass when he wanted to be, and she was too tired to deal with it. "Because," she said stiffly, "I had an appointment, and it was impossible to reschedule it. If we'd kept to our original itinerary, Finn and I would have been gone a couple of days. Why couldn't the team wait until we got back to talk to him?"

His frown deepened. "Are you serious?"

"How badly did you even need Finn's input anyway?" she asked instead of answering his question. "My guess is it was a low priority, something that would be nice to have but wasn't critical, yet you think I should mess up my assignment for some whim."

"Whim? Whim?" JT looked incensed, and Zo couldn't contain the curve of her lips. He caught it. "You used that word to bait me, didn't you?"

Donning her most innocent expression, Zo shrugged.

Griff shook his head, intensity easing, and gave her braid a light tug. "I don't know how Stony puts up with—" He stopped short. "BD wants us over there. Come on, Zo."

Now that she'd finally been allowed to join Finn, Zo wasted no time crossing the clearing. It was automatic to move to his left side. She brushed her fingers over his briefly but didn't lace them because he nearly vibrated with restraint. When he was wound this tightly, the last thing Finn liked was to feel impeded in any way. It made her wonder, though, what had been said.

"Zo," Finn said, "meet Captain Nguyen and Chief Cordell." He gestured toward each man in turn. "BD, Cordy, Zofia Parker."

"Ms. Parker, I've heard a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you." Captain Nguyen was younger than Zo had expected.

"Captain." She inclined her head. Finally meet you? She wasn't touching that one.

"Ma'am, we could use Stony's help for a few weeks."

Confused, Zo frowned. "Finn isn't going to be able to get you anywhere near Alfonso Ramos. Me either, for that matter. He'll come over and talk to us at events in town, but it's when he's interested. If we tried to approach him, his bodyguards would draw their weapons. You're better off trying to infiltrate his employees."

"What makes you think we care about Ramos?" Cordy asked, his voice and face neutral.

"Why else would you be near San Isidro?" She was tired, but her brain was working. "If you were in Puerto Jardin for Torres, you'd be in Trujillo."

The captain exchanged glances with the chief before both men looked at Finn.

"I told you she'd figure it out." Finn pursed his lips, and Zo was sure he was suppressing a smirk.

"We could still use Sergeant Rowland's help," Nguyen said.

Zo shook her head. "If Finn's turned you down, you're not going to use me to twist his arm."

"Ms. Parker, I'm not sure you understand the importance of this mission."

"Captain, since no one has told me what's going on, I know I don't understand the importance of your mission. Are you prepared to explain what it is you're doing here?"

The answer to that would be no, but before the captain could tell her that, a commotion caught her attention. Finn shifted in front of her, putting himself between her and whoever was loudly approaching. The other men drew their weapons.

Ryder and Kyle were coming into camp with a new trio. The three elderly men were shouting in Spanish and English, but Zo couldn't make out what they were saying because they talked over each other. She took a step forward, but Finn caught her hand before she could get past him.

And then she got a clear view of Tio Luis's face and broke free, running to meet him. "Tio Luis!"

"Zofia, tell these men to release us at once! We have important business. "

His face was red, but behind the flush of anger was a pallor. Zo's heart froze before it resumed beating. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Ramos," Tio Luis said the name like a curse. "He's holding my Izel hostage."