Into the Mist (Falcon Mercenary Group #1)(34)

“You’re so sure it’s me,” Jonah said dryly.

“No one else has this number.”

Jonah leaned back in his chair. “I need information, Paul.”

There was a surprised silence.

“What kind of information?”

“Esteban Morales. What is your connection to him, and why did you turn him on to us?”

There was another long pause.

“Is Esteban a cause for concern?” Burkett asked.

Jonah simmered impatiently. “That’s what I’m trying to determine. I need to know whatever you can tell me about him.”

Burkett sighed. “He’s an old friend. Well, not a friend exactly, but I owed him a favor. He came to me and asked if I’d put in a word for him with you. He wanted a job done, and I knew you were the best at handling discreet matters.”

“How the hell would he know you were in any way connected to Falcon?” Jonah bit out.

“That’s a very good question,” Burkett said softly. “One I don’t have an answer to. I take it from your tone that you didn’t accept the job?”

“No.”

“Then why do you want information on him? Is there a problem? I have a few favors I can call in if Esteban has become a nuisance.”

There was too much eagerness in Burkett’s voice, as though he’d like nothing better than to do away with Esteban.

“Thanks, Paul, but this is one we’ll be handling ourselves.”

“Just be careful, Jonah. Esteban’s influence is far reaching. He won’t be easy to take down.” There was another hesitation. “If you need anything—”

“I won’t,” Jonah said shortly. “But thank you.”

He hung up in frustration. He didn’t know anything more now than he had before calling Burkett. If anything the waters had just gotten muddier. No matter how Burkett played it out, there was obviously some connection between him and Esteban. Why else would he have been so accommodating when Esteban came calling? Burkett was a cagey bastard who didn’t pay much attention to staying inside the lines. It wouldn’t surprise Jonah to discover that Burkett and Esteban had a much more detailed history than Burkett let on.

At any rate, he couldn’t afford to expend the mental energy on trying to figure Burkett out. He, Mad Dog and Damiano were going to haul ass to Paris and hopefully shut Ty down before she ever got off the ground.

Chapter Thirteen

Tyana wasn’t stupid enough to think Eli Chance wouldn’t be expecting her. She didn’t trust Esteban and his motives, and Eli had proved adept at tracking her location. In the end, it wasn’t about the element of surprise. It was about beating him anyway.

She tugged her backpack into place against her chest and cinched the straps tight. She did a final pat down of her parachute and made sure her GPS was strapped to her wrist.

Two minutes to drop.

The pilot radioed for her to get into position, and she moved to the open exit, steadying herself with one hand.

Eli probably had his entire compound booby-trapped in a mile radius around the remote station in the Patagonian Mountains. Which was why she was going to drop right into its heart.

The pilot announced all go, and without hesitation, she jumped. For a moment, panic gripped her as it always did when she first hurtled out of a plane. But then she collected herself and folded gracefully into a freefall.

She dove downward, gaining speed as she kept a close eye on her altimeter. Her timing had to be just right if she didn’t want to open the chute too soon and risk being spotted as she floated to the ground. Wait too long and she’d become a permanent fixture of the landscape.

The wind blew against her face, her hair streaming upward as she gave herself momentarily to the exhilaration of her freefall.

Three seconds. Two seconds. One.

She pulled the rip cord and waited that infinitesimal second before she was jerked upward and her progress halted. The chute billowed and slowed her as the ground came hard and fast.

She curled her knees, bracing for impact, and rolled as soon as she touched down. Still, the sudden landing knocked the breath from her even as she scrambled upward and immediately began disentangling herself from the cords.

In the darkness, she bundled the parachute, wrapping it as tightly as she could. When it lay on the ground at her feet in a wad, she unlatched her pack and pulled out her night vision goggles.

She took stock of her weapons, touching the places she’d secured her knives and the pistol in her shoulder harness. Then she picked up the assault rifle and slung the strap over her shoulder.

She shoved as much of the parachute into her pack as she could and began looking for a place she could hide it from view. After several minutes searching among the rocky nooks and crannies of the valley she’d landed in, she found a suitable place and piled rocks over the bag.

Her GPS lit up and calculated her position as she thumbed it on. Bingo. Right on target.

A quick smile quirked her lips upward before she squared her shoulders and surveyed the terrain surrounding her. The compound was over the next rise, and she’d successfully breached the outer perimeter.

Still, she was careful, keeping low, moving on silent feet as she crept through the trees. Her meeting with Eli might be on his own turf, but it would be on her terms.

* * *

And so it began.

Eli bit out a curse as one of the silent alarms was triggered. Though he’d been expecting company, he hadn’t expected it so soon.