Chapter 25

Were the outlaws going to talk to Case or execute him? If they thought he could get them the new assault rifle, it would be a conversation. If they suspected he was more than who he was pretending to be— She cut that thought off. The odds were against his cover being blown.

She worried too much—she had since she was a kid—but when her dad was away, no one else in her family worried enough. Her mom never seemed to have a plan, and that always increased Nyx's anxiety.

Case would be ready for anything. She could count on him.

She needed to prepare to take care of herself if the worst happened.

Was there anything she could use as a weapon?

The hut was all but barren. They had two chairs, a hammock, and a plastic bucket that she suspected was their latrine. There wasn't one other thing in here with them. She checked the chairs, but they felt solid and she'd have to smash one to break it. That was guaranteed to get the guards inside to find out what the noise was about. The chairs were out unless it was an emergency.

Nyx checked the hammock. The hooks were embedded deeply into the wooden support poles. To reach them, she had to go up on tiptoe. Even if she had better leverage, she didn't have enough strength in her hands to pull them out. Not without a tool.

There were gaps in the walls of the hut where the bamboo stalks didn't quite meet. She took the opportunity to look out each side. The guards surrounding the hut were on the ground because there was no decking around the structure, despite it being on stilts. It was the dry season, though, and while it still rained often, the rivers weren't flooding.

There was one staircase to the ground, and it was more ladder-like than actual stairs. There was a guard positioned at the bottom of them. When they'd been brought in, her head had been above the floor of the hut. Since she was five-foot-eight, she estimated the drop from the floor to the ground at about five feet. Maybe four and a half. The worst she could do to herself was sprain an ankle if she landed wrong.

Case said he'd escaped the first time he'd been taken captive.

The rebels would have determined how he'd done it and taken steps to prevent that from happening a second time. Nyx studied the hut again, but she couldn't figure out how he'd managed it. Of course, he would have been at a different encampment, one that had been abandoned after they'd noticed his absence.

She couldn't find any way to escape here unless the guards fell asleep in the middle of the night. But that meant sneaking into the rainforest in the dark, without an NVD. Again, that fell in the only-in-an-emergency category.

Next, she measured the length and width of the room. Eight paces to the door. Eleven paces on the long side of the hut. Nyx walked the space over and over until she had every inch of it memorized—door, windows, hammock, and chair placement. If she had to move in the dark, it could be the difference between getting out and being caught.

When she was satisfied there was nothing else she could do, she sat and started thinking. Case had said these men were kicked out of the rebel army. That meant more than looting. It meant they'd likely raped, maimed, murdered, and committed other atrocities. She couldn't remember exactly how he'd phrased it, but he'd said the two of them were safer with Vargas. That told her more than she wanted to know.

Nyx shook the thought off. Ignorance wasn't bliss. Ignorance got people killed.

Case had ordered her to sit tight, but what would he want her to do if things went to hell and he wasn't around?

Before Case, it had always been: What would Dad want me to do? She'd never even replaced Dad with Dylan, but she?—

Shit, Dylan. She'd forgotten to tell Case she was Dylan's sister.

Or was her subconscious playing deliberate tricks on her?

Everything would change between her and Case once he knew she was Pickle. She was aware of the code. Guys didn't romance their friends' sisters. And Case was principled. There'd be no more hot kisses, no more heated looks. Maybe her brain had blanked out?

She frowned as she realized she was overthinking again. The way she'd been raised, honor was more than a concept. Doing the right thing was expected of her, and even if it was difficult, she lived up to her dad's ideals. Nyx would have told Case who she was if she'd thought of it when they were free to talk.

There was nothing she could do about it now, though. The same reasons she'd kept quiet in the drug lord's hacienda applied here. It endangered them, especially Case.

It probably wasn't a good thing that he made her forget about everything except him.

Nyx shook her head. She wasn't going to waste energy worrying about their relationship or if they really had one. She'd fallen for him, but Case might want nothing more than a hookup.

It was easier to obsess about him because, if the worst happened, she didn't think she could defend herself for long if these men decided to rape and murder her.

Case waited. Ramirez called this meeting, he could start it.

The man didn't seem to be in any hurry. If he thought the stare down was going to rattle Case, Ramirez had miscalculated. Case had been through this before. More than once. It would take a hell of a lot more than a dispassionate gaze to shake him.

The main army of rebels was fighting for a cause—to oust the politicians steeped in corruption. They'd taken up arms because they felt they'd exhausted all other avenues.

Then there was Ramirez. The colonel and his men had looted towns and villages, raped women and children, murdered the people who dared defend their loved ones, and burned homes to the ground when they were done.

They hadn't joined for any noble reason. The colonel was a war profiteer, as corrupt as the politicians running Puerto Jardin. Maybe he hadn't actively taken part in the horrifying acts his men carried out, but he sure as fuck didn't rein them in.

Ramirez leaned one elbow on the chair arm, the pose one of relaxed indifference. He still didn't speak.

Case would have attempted to outdo the colonel with the don't-give-a-shit attitude, but Nyx was in a hut on the other side of the encampment. He settled on casual, but not too laid back, and waited some more.

"You don't have questions?" Ramirez finally asked in Spanish.

"I have all kinds of questions," Case said in the same language. He almost added a smartass remark, but remembered his Fireball and toned it down. "Am I allowed to ask them?"

"I've lost two encampments because you either escaped or were rescued from them. It took time and effort to set them up." He sounded irritated. As if Case wanted to be kidnapped.

"By now, you would have moved the first one, anyway. It's too dangerous to remain static in Puerto Jardin."

Ramirez's eyes hardened.

It was going to be a fine line between staying in character and keeping Nyx safe from the colonel's wrath. Vargas was easier to deal with. He was cold and deadly, but he was steady. He was able to let comments roll off his back. Up to a point. The colonel appeared to be touchy.

Like a land mine was touchy.

This staring contest lasted longer than the first one. This time, Case broke the silence. "What can I do for you, Colonel?"

"What makes you think I want something from you?"

Case tucked his thumbs into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. Indolent. Arrogant. Cocky. "Your men have kidnapped me twice. Three times, if we count today. I can't go anywhere in Trujillo without seeing them tailing me." They were fucking tracking him, and they both knew it. "Why waste manpower without a reason?"

"You're a difficult man to meet with."

"I've had meetings with Se?or Vargas, and with a representative of Se?or Torres, among others. I could have made room on my calendar for a meeting with you if it was worth my while."

"Perhaps I prefer a private meeting, one on my turf. You never stayed long enough for me to reach the encampment."

Case picked up the implication. "Is that why I was kidnapped twice, and drugged once? To meet with you?"

"Kidnapped isn't the word I would use." Ramirez frowned, but Case felt like it was for show. "Let's say you were brought in for a conference and opted to leave before I could arrive."

"And drugged?"

"My men were overzealous. They knew I was displeased to arrive the first time and find you already gone. They were determined I would not be disappointed again."

Yeah, he bet the colonel's men didn't want him angered a second time. He could have asked more questions about the kidnappings, but it was curiosity, not anything he needed to know, not even in his role as Charlie Case. "I'm here now. What did you want to discuss with me, Colonel Ramirez?"

That instigated another lengthy stare, and Case swallowed his impatience. It was easier to play the game when his woman wasn't alone, guarded by men he didn't trust. He wanted to be with Nyx, to watch over her and keep her safe. Yet here he was, waiting for the dregs of humanity to get to the fucking point. He wanted to nudge him along, but Ramirez was the kind of dude who'd take out his rage on Nyx.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Case prepared to wait out this bullshit. He might be new to having the lead on an undercover op, but he was already tired of the posturing and the games to acquire even the smallest amount of leverage.

At long last, Ramirez leaned back in his chair and said, "You have weapons."

"I have access to weapons," Case corrected.

"Semantics. You are a seller of weapons."

"Sí." Case debated for a moment, before he added, "I'm hoping to sell whatever I can get my hands on to Se?or Torres."

"Torres." There was a definite sneer in Ramirez's voice. "Why sell to him when there are so many others who would pay you more for the same weapons?"

"Maybe because Torres kills anyone who tries to nose in on his territory. Look what happened after he learned his second-in-command had betrayed him. I'd rather have less money and years to live, than max profit for a few days."

"Surely a man like you isn't afraid of Torres."

"Why wouldn't I be? He has an army behind him. I have a few buddies who'll make themselves scarce if Se?or Torres decides to come after me." That wasn't the answer the colonel was expecting, but Case didn't have to prove how big his dick was. "My plan is to establish a relationship as a supplier to Se?or Torres and let him handle the sales."

"You better rethink that plan."

Ramirez's voice held a threat and Case shifted, balancing his weight more evenly. Not that it would help with guards just outside the door. "What do you think my plan should be, Colonel?"

"You sell your weapons to me. I'll give you two percent more than the pittance Torres would pay you."

"Risking Torres's wrath for two percent? I don't think I'm willing to do that."

"Aren't you? Not even to keep your charming fiancée alive and breathing? Or perhaps you don't care about her wellbeing?"

Case was expecting the threat against Nyx, but it still made him freeze for a moment. "I care. I'm not tired of her yet." He wasn't sure he'd ever get tired of his Fireball. She kept him on his toes and he enjoyed that. "It's difficult to do anything about the weapons in the middle of the rainforest, especially when I don't have a phone."

"That is understood. My men will return you to Trujillo at first light tomorrow, and you can arrange for the weapons and munitions to be delivered to me."

"Your men will return me and my fiancée to Trujillo."

"No, Se?or Case. Only you. Your betrothed will remain with me. That's the only leverage I have to ensure your cooperation."

Again, this wasn't unexpected, but he didn't like it. "What items are you looking for?"

"I have an inventory, but what matters the most to me is the M4 replacement rifle."

The one weapon on everyone's wish list. "The US Army was not happy to have that particular item stolen last year. They've got it locked up tight and my contacts can't get their hands on it."

"You better find a way to get it to me." Ramirez's brows came down as he leaned forward, adding emphasis to his words. "I would be most displeased if you neglected to deliver it and I would hate to take my unhappiness with you out on your betrothed. Sí, I would hate it, but I will do it. Am I clear?"

"Sí, Colonel. You're clear. In return for the rifle, I will expect you to keep my fiancée completely safe in my absence. I want her in the same condition when I return as she is now."

Ramirez relaxed, his lips curved, but the smile wasn't reassuring. "She stays as is for three days. If you provide proof my weapons are on their way, she will remain safe. If you do not? Well, my men have been restless lately. They need to let off some steam."

Case had to force the anger aside. "Three days isn't much time."

"It's long enough to get the rifle en route. If you care about your woman as much as you claim, you'll be motivated to get the job done on time."

Nodding once, Case said, "I'll get you the rifle."