Ruthless Game (GhostWalkers, #9)(54)

As he neared the subterranean house, he used telepathy. Rose! Answer me now. Are you okay? Have you been attacked?

The lag time before he felt her stirring in his mind seemed forever. His mouth went dry and his heart pounded, not from the run, but from very real fear. Was he too late? Had someone already attacked the house?

Everything’s quiet here, Kane. What’s wrong?

Inside the kitchen I’ve been constructing a baby seat for Sebastian. It’s as good as we can get for his protection. Did you get the supplies into the Humvee like I told you?

Of course. She was obviously on the move, he could tell by her voice and the distraction.

Rose dragged on her jacket and a belt loaded with weapons and ammunition, put the baby in a front pack, and caught up her gun. I’m dressed and have the baby. Going into the kitchen now.

Kane circled the house and continued on toward the back entrance where the tunnel emerged. I’m clearing the back, so don’t shoot me. Get the baby secured, put the weapons where I can easily reach them. You’re the driver. We’re going to blast out of there and hightail it away from the town back toward the border.

We’re you able to free the woman?

Of course she would be asking him that. She’d been a prisoner, and had he not accepted Whitney’s proposal to be paired with her, eventually they would have forced someone on her. She didn’t want another woman to suffer at the hands of a brutal man. He couldn’t blame her, but right now, he had to think about Rose and Sebastian.

No, Fargo had too big a head start.

He could feel her in his mind, quiet. Thoughtful. If Fargo reached town and more than likely went to a bar to drink, that’s where he’d grab the woman. But how was he planning on getting her back to his camp?

Oh yeah. That was his woman. Intelligent all the way. Fargo sure wasn’t going to be dragging a woman across the rolling hills for miles. He would have a vehicle, one that was more than likely stashed for them when they had to go into town for supplies. Diego Jimenez had done that very thing, keeping his truck in a garage just waiting for him.

Kane answered her the only way he knew how, with the truth. I think Whitney has at least one man observing Fargo and Carlson. He expected them to fail. He put all their weaknesses right in front of them. Booze. Women. You. That’s what Whitney does, Rose—it’s what amuses him. He finds a man’s weakness, and he exploits it to see if he can put him in situations that force him to either succumb to the weakness or overcome it.

Rose sucked in her breath. Kane. Does that include the two of us? Is he playing an elaborate game with us? He tracked me all this time. He had to know I was pregnant with the child he wanted. Would he take the chance of losing the baby before he could get his hands on him? Just to see if I could truly escape him?

Kane was coming around to the upper slope. The terrain on either side of the tunnel sloped upward, successfully hiding the fact that there was any kind of opening at all. The Humvee could run down the path between the two hills for several miles and remain unseen as long as there were no eyes in the sky. Someone would have to come to the top of the slope, where they would be skylined. Even lying prone would be difficult to keep from being seen.

Diego Jimenez had thought out his home and his escape route thoroughly. He had shown the house and truck to Rose, but not the weapons, tunnel, or Humvee. Why? The question nagged at him. It had been all along. Why wouldn’t Jimenez disclose everything about his home if he meant it as an escape route for Rose? Something wasn’t right. Kane knew he’d better figure it out fast.

He went down on his belly and slithered cautiously up to the rise, careful not to push any dirt down the other side of the hill. He lifted his head just enough to peer down onto the narrow trail that led away from the house. He couldn’t see the actual entrance to the tunnel from the angle, but it didn’t matter. He was looking for company.

I just found a letter from Diego addressed to me, Kane. It was in the locker where I was storing extra weapons. Rose sounded worried. He could feel a tinge of fear pushing its way into his mind.

Tell me. He prompted. But do it in the driver’s seat. As soon as I give you the okay, I want you to drive the hell out of there. I’ll be coming down to you on the driver’s side.

He took his time, searching every square inch of land around him. He was vaguely uneasy. Something was wrong; he just couldn’t put his finger on what it was. Radar was going off, but he couldn’t find any signs of the enemy.

He thanks me for taking care of him while he was dying and then goes on to say that Whitney provided money and guns to help him fight the past government because the former president was heavily involved with one of the drug families. He said Whitney was upset that the U.S. was aiding the country in any way as long as that el presidente held office.

She broke off, and Kane could picture her frowning as she turned the information over in her mind. He said he owed Whitney for all the aid over the years. When the new president took office and declared war on the cartels, Diego was no longer needed but felt the debt had not been fully repaid. Evidently, Whitney felt the same way.

Kane sighed, his gaze restless as he quartered the area for enemies. So you were the last payment to Whitney.

Something like that, yes.

Kane could tell she was upset, maybe even crying. He wrapped her mentally in his arms, wishing he could spare her more betrayal. Whitney wanted her to break under so much betrayal. He hadn’t counted on the cartel kidnapping el presidente’s sister-in-law and niece and nephew. He hadn’t counted on Rose doing the right thing and reporting it to the authorities. He hadn’t foreseen el presidente asking the U.S. president for help or the U.S. president sending an elite squad of urban fighters into the country to rescue the hostages in secret.