Into the Mist (Falcon Mercenary Group #1)(21)

She stared down at her hands.

“Get into the bathroom and strip,” he ordered. “Go over every inch of your body. He must have planted a tracking device in Singapore. Do it, or I’ll do it for you.”

She stumbled to her feet and hurried into the bathroom. Dread pumped through her veins. Her stomach swelled and rocked with nausea. Jonah would kill her. And she’d deserve it. She’d put them all at risk.

She shed her clothes and began at her feet, feeling every inch of her skin. As she moved up her body, she tried to remember the night she’d spent with Eli in Singapore. Heat raced up her spine. He’d not left a single inch of her skin untouched. The damn thing could be anywhere. But where wouldn’t she easily find it? Accidentally knock it off?

Standing to her full height, she stared back at herself in the mirror. The most logical place would be on her back or another such place she couldn’t easily reach and wouldn’t pay much attention to. She sighed. She’d have to get Mad Dog to help.

She grabbed a towel to cover her front then went to the bathroom door and called softly for him. He was there in a second.

“Did you find it?” he demanded.

“Not yet. I need your help. It has to be somewhere on my back. Someplace I wouldn’t easily find it or accidentally knock it off.”

“Turn around.”

She complied, holding the towel tightly to her. His hands skimmed over her skin, and then he pushed her further into the bathroom where the light was better.

“Lean against the counter,” he said as he felt along her spine.

She glanced into the mirror and saw him frown.

“Hold your hair up.”

She reached back with one hand and gathered the strands. Mad Dog’s fingers slid up her neck into her hairline and felt around. He paused in the slight hollow at the base of her neck. His lips came together, and she felt a slight twinge.

She whirled around to see him holding a tiny needle-like device, much thinner than a toothpick and only about a quarter inch long.

Mad Dog stared grimly back at her as he held the tracking device between his thumb and forefinger. “He must have planted it when you were otherwise occupied.”

Tyana closed her eyes and leaned against the counter. “I’m so stupid,” she whispered. “I can’t believe…” She didn’t even finish the thought, because she knew full well how she’d allowed it to happen.

“I’m sorry, Mad Dog.”

He sighed and cupped her chin in his hand. “Let me go take care of this little piece of technology, and then I’m taking you back to the island. Jonah’s going to have to know, you realize that, don’t you?”

She nodded miserably. Jonah would flip out, and he’d lock their island down tighter than Fort Knox.

“Is there anything else you want to tell me, Ty?” He stared at her with piercing blue eyes, his expression thoughtful. “Like about what happened last night?”

“You can imagine what happened,” she muttered.

Mad Dog raised one brow. “That was all? He followed you all the way to Paris for a quick f**k?”

Her cheeks tightened, and she glared at him. “He wanted to know why I went after him in Singapore. We didn’t get into details. We might have if you hadn’t interrupted us this morning.”

His eyes narrowed and his lips pursed. “I’m only going to say this once, baby girl, so you listen, and you listen good. Stay away from Eli Chance. Comprende? If you see him, if he comes near you, if he so much as breathes in your direction, you get your ass to me or Jonah and let us handle it.”

Her teeth dug into her top lip as anger lit fire to her cheeks. “I can take care of myself. I don’t need you or Jonah acting like goddamn babysitters.”

“Normally I’d agree with you, Ty. But this time you’re in way over your head. You’ve lost perspective. You lost it a long time ago when it comes to D. Now get dressed and get your stuff packed. We’re out of here just as soon as I get rid of this.” He held up the device.

Tyana watched him go, helpless fury swarming her. The last thing she wanted to do was go home and face Jonah. But she wasn’t a coward, and she deserved what was coming to her. She’d stand up and take it like a big girl and hope Jonah didn’t hold a grudge forever.

* * *

Eli wasn’t fooled by the GPS coordinates. He knew Tyana wasn’t heading into Germany. She’d obviously found the tracking device, and he’d lay odds that her big friend had snatched her back to whatever island they hung out on.

Tyana Berezovsky. “Sister” to Damiano Ruiz, or so Damiano had claimed. Only female member of Falcon Mercenary Group. Specialties were hand-to-hand combat and languages. She was proficient with knives and knew her way around explosives. She could also pick off a fly with a rifle at four hundred yards.

Eli leaned back into the soft leather seat of his private jet as the pilot began taxiing down the runway. Next stop: Argentina. Despite Gabe’s assurances that Ian and Braden were okay, Eli wanted to see them for himself. He owed them that much. He owed them more than he could ever repay. And so far he’d come up with nothing in the search for a possible cure.

Everywhere he turned, he encountered a door shut in his face. In a way it was his own damn fault. He’d put too much trust in the U.S. government and their extensive web. All of his contacts were in some way connected to the military. When he was part of the fold, things had run smoothly. If things went to shit, he could pick up the phone and call in back-up. Now that he was no longer a recognized entity by Uncle Sam, it was as if Covert Hostage Recovery had never existed. It was damn eerie.