Chapter 24

They were in a shabbily built hut on stilts. Case had checked out the situation through the gaps in the bamboo walls and they had guards on all sides. Not a surprise, considering he'd escaped from them before.

Nyx was scared. She could maintain an incredibly serene expression on her face, and she'd fooled him at first. Now that he knew what to watch for, the signs were obvious—the tension in her neck, shoulders, and jaw, how her gaze would sweep the area, looking for a threat, and the biggest giveaway: the way she wouldn't allow him out of her sight.

"Case?" Her voice was soft.

Crossing to her, he crouched down. "What, Fireball?"

"Why are there rebels so far south? The fighting is north of the capital. I researched before I flew down."

He pulled the other wooden chair over to her and sat on the edge. Keeping his voice low, he said, "These aren't rebels. A couple years ago, the leaders of the rebellion expelled a group. Hector Ramirez's outlaws. Ramirez and friends decided that the civil war was a great time to earn a profit and they were willing to kill to make themselves rich. Word is their actions angered the rebel leadership."

Her smile was more of a grimace. "Great. A group so bad that the rebels wanted them out."

There was more he could tell her, but it would only add to her fear, and Case switched topics. "This unit has been after me for a while. They've kidnapped me twice. The first time, I escaped. They drugged me the second time, and some friends had to get me out." He knew what was coming next. "I don't know what they want with me."

"They're not interested in the same thing Vargas wants? The M4 replacement?"

He shrugged. "It's the most likely reason, but they never asked about them. Hell, they never even talked to me. Just kept me confined in a hut like this with guards around me."

Nyx bit her lower lip, distracting him, and then she nodded. "Everyone wants the new rifle, right? Vargas, that arms dealer he's trying to buy them from, and there's some Russian man in the hotel that was talking about weapons until he realized we could hear him on the phone."

"You understand Russian?"

"No, he was speaking Spanish. Maybe he was on the phone with the arms dealer. I don't know. But Case, think about it. The rifles are precision-guided and capable of great accuracy even if the shooter and target are both moving. No one else has anything like them."

"Yet."

"Yet," she echoed with a faint frown. "If they're interested in money, how much would they profit if they could sell the rifle?"

He ran his hands over his face. "There'd be a huge markup, but unless they sold them to Torres, the arms dealer, he'd be on their ass. He's one dangerous man."

"They could sell them to Torres. Isn't that your plan?"

Something in the way she said that made Case study her closely. He couldn't tell if her tone was meaningful or not because all he could read was her fear. "Torres isn't going to pay anything close to the open market. He has his own profit margins to maintain. They'd make more money in narcotics."

"Maybe Torres doesn't scare them," Nyx suggested.

For a moment, he stared at her, then her words resonated. "Fuck." Case got to his feet and began pacing.

Torres had an iron grip on the weapons trade in Puerto Jardin, and he had for decades. Intel showed no one challenged him. No one. But the arms dealer might be vulnerable. He was aging, his second-in-command was dead, and Torres had eliminated the men who betrayed him by supporting his righthand man, so he was not fully staffed. If there was ever a time to test his strength, it was now.

Hector Ramirez wasn't afraid of much, and he'd been hardened by his fighting in the civil war before he'd been kicked out of the rebel army. If he could get his hands on this weapon when Torres couldn't, he might be able to muscle the older man out completely.

Maybe Torres doesn't scare them.

Maybe he didn't, although the first time Case had been grabbed, Torres hadn't been weakened. But what if Ramirez knew the arms dealer's righthand man was betraying his boss and running a side hustle? That would show vulnerability. It might be enough for Ramirez.

The most likely reason now seemed like the odds-on favorite.

Hours passed, and no one bothered with them. Just like the first time. It didn't make sense. Why go to the trouble of capturing them and then ignore them?

Nyx was still scared, but she was also getting restless. Case could read that, too. He'd learned she liked being busy, that she liked having a task or goal. He needed to keep her occupied, but the question was how? They had nothing except the clothes they wore and those were wet. Their backpacks, his helmet, and the weapons had been confiscated.

"Fireball." He waited until he had her attention. "Tell me something about yourself that I don't already know."

"A fun fact?"

"Sure, why not?"

She was quiet for a moment, her gaze focused on the wall as she thought about it. "I taught myself to knit. It's how I relieve my anxiety when I feel overwhelmed."

"Knit, huh? Can you make me a sweater?"

"I've never knit a garment, but even if I could, I wouldn't. I'm not losing you because of the boyfriend sweater curse."

He laughed. "What?"

Nyx nodded, looking serious. "The curse says that if you knit a sweater for a significant other, you'll break up shortly thereafter. The prevailing wisdom in the knitting community is no sweaters until after the wedding."

"I guess I'll have to ask you for one after the ceremony."

She drilled him with a hard look. "Would you even wear a sweater? I'm not about to spend months knitting something if it's going to sit in a drawer."

All right, he could see that. "Maybe you could make something else for me."

"We'll talk about it. My turn for a question."

Case didn't like the tone of her voice. She wasn't going after a surface level piece of information, and considering her curiosity about his childhood, nothing was out of the realm of possibility. "Okay," he said, sounding more relaxed than he felt.

"Have you ever been in love? Before me, of course, honey bear."

He hesitated, but the honey bear told him she was playing her role, aware there were rebel soldiers positioned around their hut. "I thought I was," he admitted.

Nyx crossed to where he stood. She tipped her head to look up at him and asked, "What happened?"

"I found out she was married, something she forgot to tell me. Her husband was deployed at the time." Case grimaced, before adding, "None of my friends know about it." He wasn't sure why he was sharing it with Nyx, but hell, he'd already told her about his mom. This was easier to talk about than that.

Nodding, Nyx said, "She caused you to violate your code of honor. How long ago was this?"

"Long before I met you."

"I know that. I still want to know when."

It didn't matter, so Case answered. "More than three years ago."

"Good. So you're completely over her then." He couldn't read her expression.

"I barely remember what she looked like. All I can see is a sexy brunette Fireball." He wasn't lying. Nyx took over his mind, making Hannah seem like a pale ghost from the distant past. The ironic thing was that Nyx understood him better in the short time they'd been together than Hannah had in the months he'd been involved with her.

Case put his hands on her hips, pulling Nyx close, and kissed her. He kept it light and easy because they were in a shitload of trouble and he couldn't afford to get lost in her, but he needed the connection.

Nyx was everything he didn't believe existed. At least not for him. She was brainy and beautiful. She understood him at a core level, and he could trust her. That was a big one. He'd grown up with a mother who lied about her drug use. He'd dated women who lied to him about different things. Then there'd been Hannah, the biggest liar of them all. At least his mom had her addiction as an excuse. Hannah had none.

When Nyx leaned into him, her hands teasing his nape, Case was forced to break the embrace and step back. She could make him forget everything if he wasn't careful and he couldn't afford the lapse.

"Not now, Fireball," he said when he noticed her expression. "I can't be distracted."

"I'm sorry, I just…" she let her voice trail off.

"I know. You wanted to forget for a few minutes. It's okay. What you need to keep in mind is that our situation is more precarious now than it was when we were guests of Se?or Vargas."

Nyx nodded. She walked back to her chair but stopped midway. "How are we going to sleep in this hammock tonight without ending up on the floor?"

Case grinned. "We'll be fine once we get in it, but the floor is a real possibility tomorrow morning when we try to get back out."

Despite her nerves, she returned the smile. "I'll let you get on your feet first and you can help me out."

"Deal. I'll try my best not to send you to the floor when I struggle out of it."

"Oh, bullshit." There was a note of suppressed laughter in her voice. "You're athletic and move with grace and an economy of motion. You're not going to send the hammock swaying so wildly that I'm in any danger of falling out of it. Try again, hon."

She did get him. He'd been teasing her, and expecting her to take him seriously, but she'd immediately known the truth. Damn, he enjoyed her.

The amusement faded. He wanted her safe in Los Angeles, but Case wasn't ready to give her up. Maybe when the op was over, he could take leave and fly out to see her. He could tell her the truth then about who he really was and what he really did.

The distance between Tampa and LA was daunting. Even if she was interested, how did they manage any kind of relationship? He'd be out on other ops—she knew the score from growing up with her dad—and she'd be busy with school.

Seeing her once or twice a year wasn't going to be enough. Not even close.

Fuck, he should have joined the Navy and become a SEAL. At least then he'd likely be stationed in San Diego and that wasn't too far away from LA. Tampa might as well be on the other side of the world.

"You're frowning," Nyx said.

"Sorry. I'm thinking. Nothing you need to worry about, I promise," he added. She knew him, but he knew her, too. She was an overthinker, which meant she worried about scenarios that most people never considered. Anticipating trouble was tactical, and he liked that she had that skill, but it wasn't as if they could discuss a long-distance relationship while they were surrounded by men who thought they were engaged to be married.

Yelling interrupted his thoughts. Nyx tensed and he moved, putting himself between her and the door. He couldn't make out the words, but something was happening outside the hut.

He was still on guard when the door opened and two soldiers came in, both wearing camo uniforms and carrying SCARs. One man pointed at him. "You will come with us."

Case looked back at Nyx. "You'll be okay. Sit tight." He hoped she'd be okay. He didn't know what was about to happen, not to her and not to himself. It seemed a good bet that they were finally going to talk to him, that he'd learn at last what the hell was going on with the rebels' interest in him.

" Mueve tu trasero, " the man said harshly.

"My ass is moving," Case said, same as the last time he'd gotten this order and headed toward the door. He did not want to risk them getting angry at him and using Nyx as a punching bag.

They led him across the center of camp. The other side had the largest hut, and he hoped that was where they were headed. It would mean that things were finally in motion.

That's where they brought him. This hut had interior walls, although they were bamboo as well. "Wait here," the man who did the talking said, and he disappeared through one of the doors, leaving Case with the quiet one.

It only took a moment before he reappeared. "This way," he ordered, gesturing with his SCAR.

Case obeyed, and when he walked through the door, he stopped. There was a table that served as a desk and behind it sat a man. He was about thirty-five with dark, curly hair and a beard. His eyebrows were heavy over flat, brown eyes. He wore combat fatigues complete with rank insignia.

"What can I do for you, Colonel Ramirez?"