Echoes at Dawn (KGI #5)(16)

But Hancock was a hard-ass bastard who had a code of honor even if it was a twisted sense of justice. Rio had saved his life once and now the debt was paid. Not only had Hancock looked the other way, but he’d tipped his hand and let Rio know who was after Grace.

He only wished to God the information made him feel better.

He turned back and hurried to Grace, his jaw clenched.

“What the f**k was all that about?” Terrence demanded.

“Not now, T,” Rio said in a clipped voice. “We need to get the f**k out of here before Hancock decides he’s been charitable enough for the day.”

Alton and Browning quickly set to work padding the bed of the truck with a bedroll. They even took their shirts off and laid them across the sleeping bag in an effort to give Grace as much padding as possible.

Terrence and Diego lifted Grace from the ground, and Rio hopped into the back of the truck, leaning against the cracked window. Next, Grace was carefully laid on the bedroll and Rio covered as much of her as possible. Her hair was an issue. Long, black as night but dirty and tangled from her ordeal. He tucked as much of it as he could behind her neck and arranged one of the shirts over her head so she wasn’t visible. Not that it mattered, really. Hancock and Titan knew where she was and they sure as hell knew what she looked like. There was little need in concealing her. They just needed to get the hell out.

Diego climbed into the back with him while Browning and Alton piled into the front with Terrence. Diego positioned himself against the back window just as Rio had so that Grace was between them. With their legs stretched out, they provided stability, or as much as they could, so Grace didn’t move from side to side.

Rio slid his hand underneath the T-shirt covering Grace’s face and rubbed his thumb gently over her cheek.

Stay with me, Grace. Hang in there. You’re not a quitter, so don’t f**king quit on me now. Not when I’m getting you the hell out of here. You’ll like it where I’m taking you. You’ll do nothing but rest, eat good food and get better.

There was no response. No stirring in his mind. He hadn’t expected one. Grace was beyond her endurance. He wasn’t convinced she’d survive this no matter how much he willed it to happen. And now that he knew Titan was involved, he knew they would be relentless. There would be no stopping them. It was a kill-or-be-killed situation.

No longer were they taking on some nameless, faceless, shadowy organization. Titan was government. Buried so deep that only a few even knew of their existence. Highly trained. The best of the best. Funding. Backing. They were invincible.

And they’d been given orders to bring Grace in.

“Who is he, Rio?” Diego asked. “You haven’t said a word. We need to know the sitch and you’re sitting like a stone. I get that it’s bad, but we need to know how bad.”

“As bad as it gets,” Rio said grimly. “Fuck.”

He wiped a hand through his hair. Some of the strands had pulled free of the thong that secured it into a ponytail at his nape. He shoved a piece behind his ear and stared down at the slight bump in the bedroll.

Grace Peterson wasn’t just another mission. She wasn’t just another victim. [othim. [oth He had a very personal stake in this and he couldn’t even explain why. He’d volunteered for this job. Sam had been ready to send Steele and his team after Shea’s sister, but after seeing the footage of Grace on the video surveillance just before she disappeared, he’d demanded the assignment. Hell, he hadn’t given Sam a choice. He’d told Sam he and his team were going after Grace and bugged out shortly after.

There was no way in hell he was going to let Titan get their hands on Grace. Not that they’d hurt her. In fact, he was certain they had strict instructions not to damage her in any way. But once charged with an assignment, they were relentless. Failure wasn’t an option, and in all the years Rio had worked with them, they hadn’t ever botched a job.

It wasn’t their job to judge. Hell, they didn’t have a conscience. It wasn’t for them to decide right or wrong. They just followed orders. A conscience was for the weak. They operated as an emotionless machine, and that was what made them so f**king dangerous.

Rio rubbed a hand tiredly over his face. He knew Hancock would come after him with both barrels. It only made him gladder that he’d covered his tracks so well when he’d finally left. Rio had lived his entire life in the shadows. He didn’t know any other way. He had a damn fortress in Belize, and until recently, no one but he knew of its existence.

Now KGI knew of it. The wildcard was Resnick. Steele’s warning ran through his mind all over again. What was Resnick’s involvement and could he be trusted?

He had to get in touch with Sam and warn him. If Titan was after Grace, they’d sure as hell have pegged Shea too. Rio needed information and he needed it yesterday.

“Okay, so it’s bad. Give me more to work with, boss man. Will I need lube for this ass f**king?”

Rio grimaced at Diego’s dry humor.

“It’s a long damn story and I’m not telling it more than once. When we get th

e f**k out of here, I’ll give you all a full report. End result is we’re going to have to watch our asses, and if Grace survives to see tomorrow, we’re going to have to work damn hard to keep her safe.”

CHAPTER 9

AS soon as they reached a town large enough, they ditched the truck and Diego hot-wired an SUV. Driving a stolen vehicle was the very last thing Rio wanted—having Titan breathing down their necks was bad enough. They didn’t need local police interference.