confusion, he shifted his gaze toward Raven. Her eyes fixed on him with a questioning look, but how could he explain what he didn't understand himself?
Bound and defenseless, Christian should have felt the building anxiety of his childhood terror—being powerless. Instead, he discovered a newfound clarity to his thinking and strength he found only when he hunted, the predator alive within him.
He'd get one moment to act and he'd take it, regardless of the risk to him. Raven's life would depend on it.
Although if anyone asked about it point-blank, Christian would deny any belief in Bianca's talisman, yet he'd still hedged his bet and worn the damned thing hidden under his shirt. How could a charm calling upon a protective spirit make things any worse?
Today, he'd confront superior numbers with greater firepower than the gangs on the south side of Chicago. And believing in himself made more sense than giving up. So when it came time to putting faith in something tangible, Christian thought of the special ops shock troopers' motto.
Today he'd be outgunned with hands cuffed, not exactly an even playing field. But if these men wanted to hurt Raven Mackenzie, he'd show them what Chicago tough was all about. To get to her, they'd have to come through him. Easier said than done.
CHAPTER 24
A cold razor edge of tension sliced through the muggy air of the jungle. Pinpricks of goose bumps rippled across Raven's skin, feeling like needles beneath the surface.
The return trip to the clearing was happening way too fast. And the reality of knowing when and how she and Christian would die had dominated her mind and robbed her ability to appreciate what little time they might have left.
Christian walked behind her. Raven took solace in listening to every footstep he made and hearing each breath he took. She knew he'd picked that spot to watch over her. Even now, she felt his love.
Araujo and Charboneau were ahead of her. Fuentes led the way and had a small cadre of men dedicated to keeping his prisoners moving and in line. His men were well-armed and trudged through the jungle in silence with stern faces, a few stealing glances of her when they thought she wasn't looking. On occasion, the more aggressive ones didn't bother to hide their hunger. They raked their eyes over her, taking what she would never give, as if they had a right.
Soon, they would. She'd be nothing more than an afternoon's entertainment, a token reward for their lack of shame. Raven knew precisely what Fuentes and Zharan had in store for her. And damned if she'd be led to slaughter with her chin down. She deliberately let them believe they had won. Her body language gave them no cause for alarm.
But Raven kept her head in the game and eyes alert. And above all, she trusted and believed in Christian. They weren't going down without a fight.
It all happened so fast, Christian never saw what instigated Raven's accident. She stumbled and fell to the ground in front of him. He'd been too preoccupied, streaming various escape scenarios through his mind like fast forwarding a movie.
He rushed to her side. When he helped Raven to her feet, she came up with a limp and lunged for a fallen tree along the trail, a place to sit.
'Ow . . . sorry. Can't believe this,' she cursed under her breath.
Christian knelt in front of her and started to remove her boot to assess the injury. His handcuffs made it awkward.
Fuentes walked up and stood over his left shoulder. 'Don't take it off,' the man said. 'If it's sprained, the boot will keep the swelling down. Either way, we're not stopping.'
Christian looked up, keeping his face unreadable and his tone civil. 'At least let her sit for a minute. And she could use some water. We all could.' He pleaded his case, hoping Raven had staged her fall and would milk the stall tactic for all its worth.
'Ouch. Watch it . . . please.' She laid a hand on her shin.
Rattling off some Portuguese, Fuentes grunted his irritation and snapped his fingers. Two men gripped their weapons and stood at attention, ordered to pull guard duty while the rest took a breather. Another young man came up with a canteen.
Raven took it and thanked him with a nod and a faint smile. Christian couldn't imagine what was going through her mind. Shortly, that kid with the canteen would be standing in line to rape her with wild eyes and his brain turned to mush. The blinding urges of his libido would give in to the chaos of mob mentality and the animal cries of his fellow officers. But to look at him now, the kid smiled and blushed like a shy teenager.
Christian wiped the image from his head. He tried to stay focused, holding back his anger. As Raven drank small sips of water from the canteen, he felt her ankle and played with her bootlaces.
'Are you okay?' he muttered under his breath.
'Yeah. Could use an AR-15 or a Browning M2 right about now, but hey, a girl can dream, can't she?' She shrugged, keeping her voice down. 'Thought we should talk.'
'Smart girl.' He winked. 'We need to pick our spot and come up with a diversion. Any ideas?' He gazed into Raven's beautiful eyes, as if he were speaking to her, but also directed his comments to the other captives. 'We won't get a second chance at this.'
Araujo and his father closed ranks, moving slowly so they wouldn't generate suspicion.
'Are you in on this?' he asked the native man. When he nodded, Christian went on. 'What's Fuentes doing?' He didn't dare turn around. Christian relied on Raven to be his eyes and ears. 'And where's Zharan?'
'Fuentes has a cell phone in his hand,' Raven said. 'He just pulled it from his vest.' She narrowed her eyes and grimaced with a show of pain, as if Christian had just hurt her. 'Zharan hasn't come up the trail yet. Can't see him. What's with that phone? Fuentes looks pissed.'
'Is he making a call?'
'No. Looks like he's scrolling. Doesn't look like your phone, Christian.'
Araujo jumped in. 'No. It's mine.'
'Yeah, and he's fascinated with your hardware, my friend,' Nicholas chimed in, keeping his voice low. His lips were concealed behind another water bottle and his cuffed hands. 'You got a calling plan we should all know about? Care to share who's in your circle?'
'You are a strange one, Nicholas Charboneau.' Araujo shook his head. 'I don't understand your questions, but I only use that phone to contact one person.'
'Your broker? The Psychic Hotline?' Charboneau raised an eyebrow.
Araujo narrowed his eyes in question, but his expression softened into a fleeting smile.
At that moment, Chief Zharan came over the rise and Fuentes went to meet him. The two men pulled off the trail, away from the rest. An intense conversation followed, the strain very apparent. Araujo took the opportunity to fill them in on his mystery caller, the man who'd made contact to cut himself in for the ransom. When he was done, Christian glanced over his shoulder to Zharan and Fuentes, then back at his father.
'You thinking what I'm thinking?' He smiled.
'Don't think you're in need of that much psychiatric help, but I'd bet serious cash Fuentes recognized the phone number on Araujo's phone.'
'And?' he prompted.
His father thought about it, then continued, 'Ricardo isn't known for working and playing well with others. No doubt a big disappointment to his mother, but I think he's been flying solo on a very lucrative side business that Fuentes is only just figuring out.'
