Echoes at Dawn (KGI #5)(18)

Where was she now?

She lifted her head, shocked at the effort it took. She was in the backseat of an SUV. Looking forward, Rio and his team were crammed into the middle row and the front two seats. She struggled to sit up, and Rio turned in his seat, his gaze freezing her in her tracks.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

She eased back down, her breath leaving her in a hard whoosh. “I don’t know. Let me get back to you on that.”

He smiled, warmth flooding those dark eyes.

“Where are we?” she asked weakly.

“We rolled into New Mexico a couple of hours ago. Making good time. If we keep pace, we’ll get into El Paso by sundown.”

“What’s in El Paso?”

She shifted and tried to sit up again, but Rio reached over the seat and put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t. Just take it easy. Lie there and be as still as possible so you’ll heal.”

She turned slightly so that she was more on her side then sighed when she was comfortable again.

“As for what’s in El Paso, I have a friend there who’s getting us on a plane to Belize.”

Her eyes went wide and she stared up at him, mouth drooping open. “Belize? Why Belize?”

“My home is there,” he said. “It’s safe. For now. We can at least have a place where you can recover until we figure out our next move.”

“I don’t have any ID. I mean no passport. No driver’s license. Nothing.”

Terrence turned, a wide grin on his face. “The kind of transportation we’re taking isn’t exactly American Airlines, if you know what I mean. They won’t be asking you for a ticket to board.”

“Oh.”

Rio slid his fingers over her arm. “I don’t want you to worry. All I want you to focus on is healing. Let us do the rest.”

She nodded, realizing she had no other choice. She was at these men’s mercy. She’d already made her choice to trust them. She certainly knew what the other alternative was, and it wasn’t an option. At least Rio hadn’t locked her up in some cold, sterile room and forced her to heal like a trained puppet. At least not yet.

She lowered her head to the seat and closed her eyes. Belize. It s c Be a frcared her to death to think of going outside the United States. It seemed so permanent, like the final nail in a coffin. She had no recourse in a foreign country. No passport. No proof of citizenship. What could she possibly do if these men did turn out to be her enemies?

No, she couldn’t dwell on that because her panic was rising with every minute that passed. These were the good guys. She had to believe that. Because if they turned out to be of the same caliber as those who’d kept her prisoner for so many days, it was over for her.

Rio shook her awake sometime later. She rubbed her hand over her eyes, not having realized that she’d fallen back under. The vehicle was cloaked in darkness. It was also slowing to a stop.

“Just stay down, Grace,” Rio murmured. “Stay low until I tell you to get up, okay? I just want to check things out here first.”

Rio got out of the back of the SUV then motioned for Terrence and Diego to keep watch over Grace while Alton and Browning took up posts on either side of the truck.

Then he walked toward the rickety storage shed that doubled as the “office” for Lazaro’s transport business. As soon as he neared, he heard the betraying click of a gun being put off safety.

He drew his own weapon and then called out, “It’s me, you stupid paranoid bastard. Put your damn gun up before you get yourself killed.”

There was a moment of silence followed by a scuffling sound. Then the door creaked open and a tall, lanky man stuck a shotgun through the crack.

“Rio? That you?”

Rio sighed. “Who the f**k else would it be? I called you an hour ago and told you we were close.”

Lazaro slipped out, still clutching the shotgun, but he pointed it upward instead of at Rio, a fact Rio was grateful for. Lazaro was as jumpy as a frog. It wouldn’t take much for him to accidentally discharge his weapon.

“The plane ready?” Rio asked.

Lazaro nodded and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “It’s around back. Pilot will be here in five minutes. You’ll make an unscheduled, off-the-books stopover in Belize and then the plane will continue on to Peru on a delivery route. I’ve already done the paperwork and made it all official like. As long as you don’t make a splash when you get to Belize, no one should ever know. Buddy of mine there is willing to keep it all hush-hush. No record of any plane landing there,

if you know what I mean.”

Rio clapped Lazaro on the back. “Good man. I knew I could count on you.”

“Get loaded,” Lazaro returned. “You don’t have a whole lot of time.”

CHAPTER 10

“WHAT the f**k do you mean, they escaped the mountains?” Gordon Farnsworth bellowed. “I called you in because you’re the best. This isn’t acceptable. Not on any level.”

“Keep your underwear on,” Hancock said in a cool voice Farnsworth didn’t like. It was too collected. It was too “I don’t give a f**k what you think or say.” On some level, Farnsworth knew he needed to tread lightly. Titan wasn’t a force to be f**ked around with. But desperation made a man do and say stupid things.