Shattered Lies (Web of Lies #3)(16)

Valeria rolled her eyes. Great, another cocky helicopter pilot who thought he was God’s gift. “My father is Scottish. My mother is from Puerto Rico.”

“And what brings you to the lovely Mexican beach tonight?”

Valeria looked him over again. He rescued her, but what exactly did he know? “Can I borrow a phone?”

The man reached down with one hand and tapped the satellite phone plugged into a helicopter adapter so that she could hear through her headset. “Dalton’s number is already in it.”

“Thanks, but I need to call someone else.”

“Boyfriend?” Grant teased.

“No.” Valeria punched in the numbers she had memorized and waited as the phone rang.

“Hello.”

Relief washed over Valeria as she heard her team leader’s voice. Dalton may have put together this rescue, but Lizzy was she reported to. It was hard not to sag with relief, knowing she was going back to her team. “It’s me.”

“Val? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re shot,” Grant spoke as Val snapped her head in his direction to glare at him.

“Get off my call,” she growled.

“You’re shot?” Lizzy asked instead of yelling at the pilot.

“It’s a flesh wound,” Val muttered as she looked for a way to disconnect Grant from the call.

“That it is. But it’ll need stitches. I’ll sew her up right for you.”

Valeria shot daggers at the pilot as she looked to switch off his headphones.

“Val,” Lizzy said, getting her attention, “let Grant take care you, and it’s okay if he listens. There was a bombing. Birch was the target. He’s been in the hospital, and I don’t know much except he has resumed control of the country after getting medical clearance. We’ve just arrived in DC and will be meeting with Humphrey soon. You need to get to DC now.”

Val saw Grant look over at her with curiosity but didn’t say anything before looking back over the endless black ocean. “I’m sure Tate can step up to take care of things until I get there.”

“Val, Tate’s in the hospital bed right next to Birch.” Val felt her blood drain. She might give Tate shit for being a girly girl, but when the cards were on the table and Val needed someone to vouch for her, she’d sent Manuel’s man to Tate to verify that Val was no longer with the DEA.

“What?” Valeria asked, making sure she heard Lizzy correctly.

“Tate and Birch were on a date. Mollia Domini blew up the restaurant. Birch suffered a collapsed lung and internal bleeding. He was unconscious through most of it. Tate suffered a shattered tibia. Humphrey said it was horrendous. With a broken leg, Tate dragged herself over to Birch and protected him. She was shot once as well before agents and police arrived. She saved them both,” Lizzy explained as Val let her head fall back and took a deep breath.

“It’s okay, lassie. Your friends are alive and safe,” Grant said softly through the headphones.

“They are,” Lizzy confirmed. “But we need boots on the ground so we’re having Grant fly you to Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas before catching a plane to Andrews Air Base here in DC.”

“I’ll need to refuel,” Grant said simply, not even blinking as he was already changing the direction of the helo.

“When?” Lizzy asked.

“An hour from now.”

“We’ll take care of it. The Pave has the ability to refuel in air, correct?” Lizzy asked as Val heard Dalton telling her it could. “Dalton says we’ll have a refueling crew out to you by the end of the hour. Alex will be setting up fake identifications. Just go along with whatever they say when you land. You’ll both immediately be transported to a plane headed home.”

“Excuse me, did you say both of us?” Grant asked with something close to surprise.

“Yes. Valeria, fill Grant in and see if he wants to help. If he doesn’t, then kill him.”

Grant rolled his eyes. “As if this wee lassie—”

Valeria had her knife to his throat before he could finish the sentence. “Don’t call me that.”

“I told you you shouldn’t call her that,” Valeria heard Lizzy chuckle over the headphones.

Grant didn’t look fazed at having a knife at his throat, and Valeria wondered if a gunfight in the middle of the night with a drug cartel and having a knife to his throat didn’t faze him, what did?

“Does this have to do with Dalton and the South Seas?” Grant asked instead of shoving her knife away.

“Yes.”

“I’m in.”

“Good,” Lizzy said. “See you both at the bar. Get home safe.”

The call disconnected and Valeria stared at the man who rescued her. “You’re in and you haven’t even heard what’s going on.”

Grant smirked. “I may have an accent, but that doesn’t make me stupid. The only person with enough power to send Dalton and Elizabeth to the South China Sea and to send me to rescue you, all off the books, is the president. That was confirmed when you all called him Birch. I’m guessing he’s figured out some weird shit is going on and doesn’t know who he can trust, so he somehow found Elizabeth to look into it. When she needed help, Dalton came on board. After all, we were all locked up ready to be tried for disobeying an order.”