Chapter Seven

Mallory clutched the phone to her body, holding it against her after Rocket had disconnected, as if she were feeling his touch on her skin. Just the sound of his voice seemed to be enough to soothe her, which she badly needed in the middle of this crisis. Inez’s parents, according to her, were being very closemouthed, although they were walking around on tiptoe, as if expecting Barrera’s men to burst through the front door at any time. Mallory knew it had to be very stressful for her friend, and she was worried about the safety of her family, but no one suggested she leave or tried to throw her out of the house.

In fact, Mrs. Albado had suggested she come down to Inez’s room for a couple of hours each day to get out of the attic. And she made sure to send up plenty of food, although appetite was the last thing Mallory worried about.

She was definitely glad for the rooftop. Now she stretched out on the old quilt, the toss pillow beneath her head, and stared at the stars. The sky was very clear, so they were sharp and bright. If only she was in a different place, where her life wasn’t endangered and she didn’t have to hold her breath at every sound. Some place where she and Rocket could be together and finally see if the chemistry between them that had exploded in Afghanistan was just a result of the danger they’d faced or was real and maybe the foundation of something.

She’d been asking herself every day since she’d spoken to him why she’d never looked for him in all this time. Telling herself he could just as easily have found her didn’t cut it. He was a SEAL, who was off on missions to undisclosed places or stationed who knew where. She had connections, and Alicia had even better ones—she could have made the effort, but she was so used to casual relationships that had no lasting memories, or attachments that she’d tried to write it off. She’d told herself he had a busy life as a SEAL and probably had no room for her.

But the past couple of nights since reconnecting with Rocket and hiding out here on the roof had made her long for something she wasn’t sure was even available. She knew next to nothing about Rocket and his partners except for what Alicia had told her, but she trusted her sister, and trusted her memory of Rocket.

She made her head more comfortable on the pillow she was using and closed her eyes. As usual, the first image that floated into her mind was Rocket, with his lean, muscular body, his dark hair and scruff beard, and intense blue eyes. She saw him again, as he’d been that day in the cave, sweat glistening on his muscles from the heat of the day. The damp scent of the cave mingled with the musky odor of their bodies had only enhanced the electric sexual desire sparking between them.

There had been very little discussion, because their hunger for each other had overriden anything else. Despite her desperate situation, when he’d eased into the place where she’d been held, slithering in like a ghost then sliding back out with her, her body had reacted as if she hadn’t had sex in forever. Which hadn’t been that far from the truth.

Lying here now, just like so many other times, she could feel his hot body pressing hers, the swollen length of his cock imprinting itself on her, one hand squeezing a breast while he tasted every inch of her mouth with his tongue. Just thinking about it now brought back that hunger, that need, that sense of desperation for him to take her, and her body responded.

She slid one hand beneath her shorts and panties, over her mound until she could ease two fingers between the hot, wet lips of her sex. She rubbed them slowly up and down, making sure to abrade her throbbing clit with each movement. She had an urge to hurry, a craving to thrust her fingers into her clenching sex, but she wanted to prolong it, imagine again that it was Rocket’s hand stroking her, pinching that hot little nub of flesh between his fingers and tugging on it. She imagined Rocket’s hard, lean fingers there instead of her own, his tongue scorching her mouth before sliding across her cheek to taste her neck. His lips pressed against her ear, whispering hot, filthy things to her that made her want him even more.

She increased the pressure of her fingers as the need in her sex increased. Muscles rippled with light spasms, begging for penetration, but she didn’t want to hurry. Trapped here, her world at the moment confined to an attic and a roof, her life in danger, she wasn’t going to rush this. Instead, she stroked slowly, imagining Rocket’s hand there, his fingers on her slick skin.

Move faster, a voice in her head whispered. More, more, more.

Now her fingers moved faster. She could only prolong it for so long before her hunger and need got the best of her. Planting her feet flat on the roof and bending her knees, she reached down and thrust her fingers inside her slick, hungry channel.

Faster, faster, faster.

Then she was…there!

Oh, god.

Her walls convulsed around her fingers, squeezing them while she rode her hand, biting her lip to keep from crying out.

Finally, at last, the tremors subsided and she slid her hand out of her panties. Her heart was racing and her breathing was choppy, her pulse still pounding. She forced herself to take deep breaths until she could bring her body next to normal. Her legs splayed out, her muscles weak from the tension, and her heart thundered in her chest as if she’d had real sex. God, how pathetic was that? She was just damn lucky Inez hadn’t decided to come up on the roof during her little self-gratification session.

She lay there, letting her heart rate settle, and wondering just how much longer her luck would hold. The vibrating of her cell phone in her pocket startled her. She drew it out and looked at the screen, relieved to see the familiar number there, but wondering why he’d called again so soon. Had something bad happened in just the past few minutes?

“Just had to hear your voice one more time before I close it down for the night,” he said as soon as she answered. “I just—” There was a short pause. “Just had to hear your voice again. We’re in Manzanillo and tomorrow Ed’s setting us up to get to Santa Marita.”

“Be very careful,” she urged. “Barrera’s no idiot. He’s a power-hungry, bloodthirsty animal who was smart enough to break off from the Sinaloa cartel and still maintain a relationship. He controls everything. What he can’t control, he eliminates.”

“Understood. Been there, seen that before.”

Of course he had. He’d been a SEAL for twelve years and she was sure he had been in situations worse than this one.

“I’m just…concerned.”

“I know.” His voice softened. “We’re playing it smart, Mallory. And the connection Eagle has down here is going to even the playing field.”

“I believe you. And trust you. It’s just…”

“I know. It’s hard when you wonder if any minute you’ll be found and dragged away. I promise we aren’t going to let that happen. Can you go up on the roof early in the morning?”

“As soon as the Albados leave for work. After that, the neighborhood settles down a lot. People are gone to work. Kids are off to school. Only mamas with babies are left and they couldn’t care less about anything outside their immediate circles.”

“Good. We’re meeting Eagle’s friend at what I think is the buttcrack of dawn. I’ll call or text as soon as I can.” There was a second of silence. “We’re doing this, Mallory. I promise, and I don’t give my word lightly.”

“I know. And I’m counting on it.”

After he hung up, Mallory lay there for a long time, staring at the sky without really seeing anything, Rocket’s voice still echoing in her head. Tomorrow, she kept whispering to herself, and hoping tomorrow would get here very soon. In the meantime, she wrapped her fingers around the gun Inez had given her, the one always next to her. She would not let Barrera and his men have her. She’d kill herself first.

 

* * * *

 

Ed had suggested they meet him at the Salty Dog Dive Shack in the morning. It was on the beach almost directly in front of the hotel and he’d told them that was the usual procedure. He had an arrangement with the Grand Plaza that they would just send anyone interested to see him and he’d take it from there. The beach was already dotted with a decent-size crowd of early sunbathers, but a narrow, paved walk to Ed’s place allowed them to avoid the oiled and tanned bodies.

The Salty Dog was open on three sides, although, as they approached, they saw wooden shutters rolled up and fastened beneath the thatched roof. The back end of the place was enclosed and stools ringed the front of the open bar. Ed looked up and saw them coming, and immediately poured four large glasses of orange juice.

“Morning.” He pointed to the glasses. “Drink up. That’s how we start the day here. I’ve got breakfast waiting on the boat.”

Eagle stared at him. “How fucking early do you get up here? You sounded like you sleep half the day away.”

“Only part of it,” Ed joked. “Come on. The boat’s waiting.”

The marina, about a mile away, was a busy place when they arrived. The parking lot was already more than half full of vehicles, and the docks with berths on either side of them were bustling with activity. People were preparing for day sails or longer cruises or fishing expeditions or whatever. Boats were already backing out of their slips and heading for deeper water. And down the beach to the right of the marina, more vehicles were parked at the edge of the sand, with people lugging surfboards out to where the waves rolled up to the sand.

They had all dressed the way Ed had told them to, as businessmen down here for a fishing holiday, wearing the usual attire of loud printed shirts, khaki shorts and hats people would remember because of the color of the insignia, rather than their faces.

“Let’s get on the boat before we discuss anything,” Ed told them. “Big ears and all that.”

Ed led them through a gate and down one of the docks, waving to a man who sat in a little shack at the edge of the parking lot. Rocket watched Ed as they followed him along one of the piers, the slight hitch in his gait caused by the prothesis barely noticeable. He gave the man a lot of credit for not letting the severity of the injury defeat him.

They walked past several other boats until they came to a sleek, white flybridge fishing boat, with the name Cyclone painted on the bow.

“Hope that name isn’t an indication of the way you drive this thing,” Blaze joked.

“It was his code name in the SEALs,” Eagle told them. “He could destroy an enemy stronghold and scoop up prisoners faster than any windstorm.”

“Good to know.” Blaze grinned. “We may need it.”

There was a man already on the boat, tanned and lean, with hair almost to his shoulders, and a moustache. He was dressed in bleached denim shorts and a T-shirt with Ed’s Adventures printed on the front.

Ed waved to him. “Meet Elias. He rescued my ass when I first got here and was a drunken mess. Without him, I’d be dead. I trust him with my life, and yours, too. Believe it.”

Rocket figured they had nothing to lose. Eagle trusted Ed implicitly, and the man hadn’t gotten them all the way here to screw them over. He stepped forward first to shake Elias’ hand, and the others followed.

They all boarded, stuffed their things below in the cabin then joined Ed on deck while he piloted the boat out into deep water.

“You can see how close Santa Marita is.” Ed waved his hand at a very large landmass that looked almost as if they could swim to it.

“You weren’t kidding,” Viper acknowledged.

“We’ll skirt part of it before hitting the open water.”

Ed skillfully wove the boat between the coast of Mexico and that of Santa Marita before heading out away from shore. Rocket memorized every detail, much as he’d always done on missions. He had no idea how Ed planned to get him onto a land mass that was quite literally Barrera’s back yard, and more than that, to get Mallory out of there once they retrieved her.

They were moving slowly, as if looking for a good fishing spot, when a sleek, white cruiser with a raised control cabin pulled close to them. Along the side was painted Santa Marita Marine Patrol. The pilot shifted the controls into neutral to hover close to them.

“Hola!” A tanned man in a white uniform waved at Ed.

“Hola, mi amigo.”

Ed put his own controls into neutral to hold the boat in place.

“Out here to do some fishing?” the man asked.

“Absolutamente! The hotel called and told me they had some rich guests with money to spend. I told them to send them my way.”

“Excellent. We are always happy when you bring turistas to spend their money here.”

Although the captain was smiling, Rocket thought the stretching of his lips looked more like a grimace. And his right hand rested firmly on the gun at his hip. This was hardly the warm welcome he’d seen in other countries where he’d vacationed.

“Doing my best,” Ed assured him.

“Good. Good. Well, welcome to Santa Marita. Enjoy your stay.”

Rocket dipped his head. “Thanks. We expect to. That is if we get some fishing done. Hey, Ed. We gonna set up the rods or not?”

“Right away.”

“I won’t keep you.” The captain looked at Ed. “Bring them to Santa Marita later to enjoy our fine food and drink.”

Ed nodded. “Might do that. We’ll see.”

The patrol boat pilot shifted into gear and the boat roared away.

“Okay, he’s gotten a look at you, which satisfies his curiosity. So let’s get out of here and get down to business.”

When they were a good thirty minutes from the marina, Ed turned control of the boat over to Elias and led them all back down to the cabin.

“Just so you know, Elias is key in tonight’s fun and games,” Ed explained. “He lives in Santa Marita. In fact, he was born there. Barrera thinks of him as a native who works for the good guy with the fishing boat.”

Rocket allowed himself a small grin. “Good cover you’ve set up.”

Ed feigned surprise. “Cover? Whatever do you mean? Why would I need cover?” Then he grinned. “Now. First things first.”

Unlocking a cupboard, he slid a panel out of the way and pulled out a large lockbox. He placed it on the table and opened it, exposing a display of .45 caliber pistols which included both Glocks and H&Ks.

“Choose your poison,” he told them. “I have plenty of ammo for all of them.”

“Jesus, Ed.” Eagle let out a slow whistle. “You going to war here?”

Ed shrugged. “Never hurts to be prepared.”

They each selected their weapon, placing it and a supply of ammo in the gym bags they had brought on board. While they did that, Ed heated breakfast, and as soon as the remaining guns and ammo were locked away, he placed it on the table. They dug into plates filled with generous helpings of huevos rancheros, tortillas and spiced beans. From a pot sitting on a warmer, Ed poured rich, black coffee into heavy ceramic mugs. Then, after plunking sugar, cream and salsa on the table, he joined the others. Taking a long sip of coffee, he leaned back in his seat and looked around the table.

“Okay, I’m pretty sure you’ve come up with ideas, but so have I. I spent some time yesterday scoping out the whole situation in Santa Marita, so I’ve got one, too. But let’s hear yours first. Maybe we can blend all of our ideas.”

“We based ours on the map we downloaded and the photos you sent us of the area,” Eagle told him, “so I’m sure they need fine tuning.”

He laid out his idea about the grappling hooks and the rug, then Rocket detailed his fake arrest plot. They waited while Ed digested the information and rolled it around in his head.

“Well?” Eagle prompted when his friend still said nothing.

“Okay.” Ed took another swallow of coffee. “Yesterday, while I was here talking to Barrera, scheduling the fishing charter for his friends, I told him I was in the market for a motorcycle. I happen to know one of his men has one for sale because he posted a notice online about it. As I knew he would, Barrera said I should take it for a spin, test it out. So I was able to get a close-up view of Inez Albado’s neighborhood and her house.”

“And?” Rocket nudged. “What did you find?”

“Rocket, I like the fake arrest, but you guys are right. It’s too noisy and calls too much attention to it. Plus it tells Barrera that Mallory Kane really was in the house, which could make trouble for the Albados, and they’ve already got enough. But we can use part of the one I like.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lucky for us, I discovered that a guy who has a burning hate for Barrera and helps me when he can, lives in the house right behind the Albados. Some coincidence, right?”

Rocket wasn’t sure he wanted to know what had caused that burning, so he just nodded, but he was grateful for the connection.

“I was looking at ways to utilize that and figure out the best time to do so when I happened to overhear a conversation Barrera had with Ruben Vidal, his right-hand man and chief lieutenant. Barrera’s really pissed off that your girl has disappeared right from under his nose. He still thinks the Albados are hiding her somehow and they’re planning to raid the house again.”

“Fuck.” Rocket shook his head. “Do you know when?”

“No, but I’m trying to find out. I just hope it isn’t while we’re getting Mallory Kane out of there.”

“No shit.”

“I hear he’s got a lot going on Friday night,” Ed reported. “So I’d say Saturday. I’ll let you know. Besides, he thinks as long as she’s on the island he can control where and what she does.”

“Then we have a small window of opportunity to do this. Like Friday night. Tonight. So what’s your big idea, and is your friend ready to go right now?”

“He is. I talked to him last night. He’s just waiting to hear from me.”

“And you trust him?” Eagle asked.

Rocket was glad it was Eagle asking, since Ed was his friend and he could smell bullshit if there was any. He was also in the best position to ask those questions.

“With my life.”

The way he said it, Rocket had a feeling that wasn’t just an expression.

“Then how about showing us your idea and letting us know how it’s supposed to work.”

“Okay. Let me diagram it out for you.”

He pushed his plate aside, grabbed a notebook and a pen and began drawing lines. “And here are the photos I shot while taking my motorcycle ride.” He laid them out so everyone could get a good look at them. “Here’s the Albado house, and here is the home of my guy, Mateo.”

They spent more than an hour going over the details, memorizing everything so they had it all squared away. On paper it seemed relatively simple, but Rocket, like the others, knew that things could go to shit at the last moment.

“Pretty crowded neighborhood,” Blaze commented.

“That it is,” Ed agreed. “But in a way that makes this easier. It’s busy day and night. Lots of people who work night shifts, so hardly any kind of activity will seem unusual.”

Blaze looked at the diagrams and photos, then at Ed.

“What kind of work does Mateo do when he’s not, uh, being your friend?”

Ed’s mouth curved in what Rocket could only describe as an evil grin.

“That’s the beauty of my whole arrangement with him. He’s a grunt in Barrera’s army.”

“What?” Rocket pushed up from the tale so fast his coffee cup tipped over, spilling liquid across the table. “What the fuck?”

“Hold on.” Eagle clamped a hand on Rocket’s arm. “Before you throw a fit, let’s hear why Ed uses him.”

“We’ve done it before,” Blaze reminded him. “Found someone who played for the other team, but under duress and would cheerfully have killed our target if it didn’t mean they’d get killed themselves. But can you really trust this guy?”

“Mateo has a long-burning hate for Barrera,” Ed told him. “His sister was in a bar out for a night of fun with some girlfriends when some of Barrera’s soldiers sat down with them. Angela, one of the other girls, didn’t like the sound of things, excused herself to the ladies’ room and managed to get the hell out of there. But Lucia, Mateo’s sister, and the two others were stupid enough to stay.”

He paused, and Rocket could see him struggling to keep his shit together.

“It’s okay,” Eagle told him. “We get the drift.”

“No. Let me finish. Lucia didn’t show up back at the apartment she shared with two friends until late the next day. One of the roommates had already called Mateo, who was searching for her. He came right over and…” He swallowed. “Suffice it to say she’d been drugged and raped. He tried to tell Barrera about it, but he’s pretty low on the totem pole, and the general pretty much lets his men do what they want. So any chance he has to stick it to him, he takes it.”

No one said a for a long moment.

“Tell him we appreciate his help,” Blaze said at last.

“I will. But that’s the main reason he’s willing to do anything he can get away with to help me. Anything at all. And using his house this way should not bring any problems.” Ed sat back. “But we have to do this carefully. Because Barrera’s got a bug up his ass about Inez, we may not be able to get Mallory out right away. The trick will be, if we run into a glitch, stashing you somewhere while we work out a new extraction plan. But I’ve got a place to tuck both of you away where they’ll be safe.”

“Where’s that?” Viper wanted to know.

“A jungle hut I have access to on the far side of Santa Marita. I keep it stocked for emergencies and no one even knows it’s there.”

“And after that you can get us out without being seen?” Rocket asked.

“We can, barring exigent circumstances.” Ed nodded. “I’ve made arrangements to get a Zodiac to pick you up. As soon as we have your woman, I plan to get you all into it and out to my other boat we use. A faster one I use for diving. Elias will have anchored in deep water. We have to time it just right or our plans are up in smoke.” He looked at each of them. “You brought your satellite phones, right?”

They all nodded.

Viper grinned. “Told customs we’d be deep sea fishing and needed to be able to contact our offices.”

“How are you going to get us to the Albados’ house?” Viper asked.

“In fact,” Blaze added, “how are you going to get us to Santa Marita? Like you said, we can’t exactly pull up to the marina and stroll the streets.”

“Right. Barrera’s men report everyone and everything. So I came up with an idea.” He looked around at everyone. “You’ll be damn glad for the hell that was BUD/S.”

Rocket frowned. SEAL training was known everywhere as the most demanding and ferocious training of all Special Ops. What the hell is going on here, anyway?

“What’s your brilliant idea?” he asked.

But once Ed explained the steps they’d be taking and the arrangements he’d made, Rocket understood. More than that, he was impressed. While somewhat complicated, they looked like they would work. Apparently, Ed did a lot more than run his dive shop and fishing charter business. He was obviously deep into doing the kind of shit they did as SEALs, only without the government looking over his shoulder. Rocket was developing a new respect for him.

“One more thing,” he told them. “Once a month there’s a big open-air market in Santa Marita, usually held down by the waterfront. Takes up most of the parking lot. They keep it there because people also arrive by boats, both as shoppers and vendors. This isn’t the weekend for it, but a little birdie told me they might be having an impromptu one. If so, we’ll be able to use it in some way. Something we can figure out once we know for sure, although it could be very last-minute.”

When Ed finished laying everything out for them, he looked around the table. “Of course, there’s a million things that can go wrong, so I’ve put together some contingencies. Let’s go over them before we hit the deck.”

At last, they were all satisfied they’d gone over every detail as much as they possibly could. As they always said, the unknown was the unknown.

Ed leaned back in his seat. “You’ll be going ashore in a very isolated area that Barrera never pays attention to. No need to. He’s in charge so he doesn’t have any reason to sneak. Good thing it’s on a Friday night. The city will be filled with people celebrating the weekend, both in town and the marina. Every place will be noisy and busy and Barrera’s men will be occupied with sticking their noses in everyone’s business. There will be less chance that anyone will pay attention to us once we get into the city itself.”

“And how do we get to this very isolated area?” Blaze wanted to know.

“Got it covered,” Ed told him. “You’ll see when I lay it out for you. We’ll head back to Manzanillo early evening and one of my crew will take you to your dive spot well after dark. There won’t be any one around, but still, we’ll all need to be alert at all times.”

Eagle nodded. “Agreed.”

“Then I guess we’re done until this evening. Let’s head up to the deck and do some fishing.”

Rocket stared at him. “Fishing? What the hell?”

“We can’t do anything until dark,” Blaze pointed out to him. “And we have to establish ourselves as just guys here for some good fishing. Just in case.”

“Blaze is right,” Ed agreed. “And like I told you on Skype, Barrera has patrol boats that he uses to police the waters around the marina and they’re not above heading out this far to check on any they see. They might even pull up next to us for a so-called chat. Just concentrate on working the rods and do your best to ignore them. Before I sneak you into Santa Marita, you’ll change and no one will recognize you.”

Eagle nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

Ed turned to Rocket. “Before you head up on deck, you should call your woman and prepare her. Tell her to be up on the roof the moment it’s full dark. Give her the basics and let her know to follow instructions to the letter.”

His woman. How crazy was it that he was beginning to think of her that way more and more?

“She will,” he told the man. “She’s smart and savvy and she also wants to get the fuck out of there. Not just for her own self but to keep the Albados safe.”

“We’ll get her out okay. See you up on deck.”

Only when Ed climbed the stairs did Rocket notice a real difference in how he moved. Again, he felt true admiration for the man.

As soon as he was alone, he pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial for Mallory.

“Are you in Santa Marita now?” she asked the moment she answered.

“Close, but we will be soon. Are you in a place where you can talk?”

“Oh, sure. Lying on my soft mattress in my luxurious bedroom.” She cleared her throat. “Sorry. I think I’m getting a little nuts.”

“Very understandable.”

“I’m in what I call the crawl space, although Inez keeps referring to it as an attic.” Her soft laugh had a tiny hysterical edge to it. “Anyway, no one’s home right now so there’s no one to hear me, but I whisper anyway. I never know if one of Barrera’s men is going to sneak in when everyone else has gone to work.”

“Yeah, I worry about that, too. But we’re getting close to the finish line. At least to get you out of the immediate area.”

He went on to tell her what they’d outlined to get her away from the house, going over it twice so she had all the details.

“Can you climb down and across to the other roof on that rope ladder?” he asked.

“I’ve done much riskier things,” she assured him. “I can handle it. It’s getting out of the immediate area that worries me. Barrera’s got eyes everywhere.”

“Agreed, but I think Ed’s plan is as good as we’re going to get. He says Friday and Saturday nights are wild in Santa Marita so people don’t pay much attention to what others are doing.”

“Let’s hope.”

“He also has some contingencies if we need them.”

“What if tonight is the night Barrera decides to have his thugs storm this house to arrest the Albados?”

“The word we got is he’s doing it tomorrow night,” he told her, “but just in case, are they home? I wanted to get them out of there first, but there wasn’t any way to do it in the time we had without calling attention to it.”

“It’s okay. Inez’s parents went to a late dinner with friends and Inez is spending the night with the guy she’s been seeing forever. I think his name is Diego Flores. No one’s here. Except for me, that is.”

“My guess is he knows they’re gone and wants to wait until he can do another search with them there. It’s much more intimidating.” He bit back a curse word. “Anyway, once we get you out of there, I’m going to ask my friends to see about getting them to safety.”

She was silent for a moment and he wondered if she’d just hung up.

“Thank you, Rocket,” she said at last in a soft voice. “For everything. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“If you keep doing this, I’ll get a lot of practice,” he teased.

Her sigh hissed over the connection. “I’m sorry. I try to be better about this stuff, but…”

“But it’s in your DNA,” he finished.

“Yeah, I guess so. But I swear, if you really get me out of here…”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, sweetheart. Let’s just take care of this, first. Remember. Be up on the roof as soon as it’s full dark. Just be careful in case Barrera decides to send one of his men tonight to check things out.”

“And I have my gun,” she reminded him.

He let out a slow breath. “Okay. Good. And you’re clear on what you need to do?”

“Got it. See you tonight.” There was a tiny pause. “And thank you again.”

After the call disconnected, Rocket stood there for several moments, just reliving the conversation and calling up his memories of Mallory Kane, even if they were five years old. Tonight couldn’t come soon enough for him.