Page 43 of Hot Soldier's Rescue

“Do you know where Mercado is?” Elise asked. She opened the glove compartment in search of a map but found none.

“Nope, but I can find out.” He pulled out a cell phone and held it to his ear.

“I need directions to Mercado.” He listened for several moments and then disconnected.

How did he do that? How did the person on the other end of the phone know where Drago was right now to be able to rattle off directions to some village? It wasn’t as if the various high-end satellite tracking services in the United States were available in an isolated place like this. “Who was that?” Elise demanded.

“A friend.”

“How did your friend know where you are?”

Drago frowned and didn’t answer.

“I’m not stupid. How did whoever you called know where we are? Who’s watching us?”

“No one you need to worry about.”

“I don’t buy it. I’m responsible for two children and one elderly lady. I have a right to know.”

“Oh, and now you’re responsible for Grandma, too?”

“Yes, I am. She was looking out for the kids when her home was burned down and she lost everything she owns. It’s the least I can do for her.”

“She was in the wrong village at the wrong time. Unless—” Drago glanced over at her keenly “—you think the children were the reason for the army attack and not the rebel patrol in the area.”

“It had to be the Army of Freedom. They’re just orphans.”

“Are they really Garza’s kids?”

She swore mentally. “I’m not at liberty to say.”

He pressed his lips together and she did the same. They both had their own secrets to guard. The day’s easy camaraderie evaporated, leaving behind tense silence between them.

Finally, when she couldn’t stand the suspense any longer, she asked tightly, “How far to Mercado?”

“A half hour if the road holds up.”

A half hour until they would part ways, most likely never to see each other again. As infuriating as he might be with his secrets and macho attitude, sharp regret pierced her annoyance. In a different time, different circumstances, they might have had something special between them. As slowly as the minutes and miles had crawled all day, they flew past that quickly now.

There had to be something she could say. Some way to break through the stony silence he’d pulled around himself like a fortress. But she was supposed to be a nun. It wasn’t as though she could hand him her phone number with an admonition to give her a call sometime. Besides, the guy was an illegal arms dealer, for crying out loud. She had no interest in entangling herself in a world of crime and violence. No man was worth dying for.

Lights began to twinkle ahead of them. Mercado. They would arrive in just a few minutes. A vague sense of panic hovered at the edge of her consciousness. It was a mistake to let this man slip out of her life. But what could she do? It boiled down to a choice between jeopardizing the children’s safety by revealing her nun ruse and her lust for a hot arms dealer. The right decision was a no-brainer.

The Jeep slowed and pulled over to the side of the road beneath a cluster of trees. Drago turned off the headlights and the ignition.

“What are we doing?” she asked in alarm.

“You and I are getting out of the car for a minute.”

“Why?” she demanded, her voice squeaking in alarm.

“We need to have a conversation. In private.”

Chapter Nine

Ted was surprised when Elise actually climbed out of the Jeep, albeit with obvious reluctance. He murmured an excuse to Grandma about needing to discuss possible dangers ahead and not wanting to frighten the children. The older woman’s gaze shifted back and forth between him and Elise. Crud. She didn’t look like she bought his excuse. Sharp old bird, she was.

He turned off his cell phone and murmured into the concealed microphone sewn into his collar, “Turn off the recorders for a minute. This is private.”

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