right, her smart mouth would definitely get her into trouble one day. Probably today.
He ignored her question. “Do you know why you are here?”
She shook her head.
His lips pulled into a thin line and any hint of charm he’d had a second before vanished. “Why were you leaving your house in the middle of the night?”
A battle waged in her head. She couldn’t tell him what she didn’t know and it wasn’t as if she was betraying Sophie. The man in front of her obviously knew something. Something in her gut told her she needed to be smart if she wanted to survive this conversation. “My friend called me and told me to run.”
“Friend?”
She shifted in her seat but didn’t respond. His dark gaze was penetrating and downright scary.
“Don’t make me repeat myself.” That razor-sharp edge to his voice sent fear slithering down her spine.
“Her name is Sophie Moreno.”
His head tilted slightly to the side. “An honest answer. Good. Who is the man she’s with?”
“I don’t know.”
When his dark eyes flashed in anger, she knew she’d said the wrong thing even if it was true.
“I swear I don’t know! She just met him and she didn’t expand on who he was. The only thing I know is that she told me my life was in danger and that I needed to hide somewhere that even she wouldn’t know about. She was very forceful about that.”
“What else? Did she say where she was going?”
“No. I could hear the man in the background and he told her to get off the phone before I could ask any questions.”
“How were you going to contact her?” His eyes narrowed a fraction. It was almost imperceptible, but she knew he was testing her.
“What?” Blood rushed in her ears.
“What number were you supposed to call?” He bit the words out.
“She didn’t give me one. She was going to call me.” She could taste the lie in her mouth, but she prayed he wouldn’t sense it. There was no way she was going to give him the number her best friend had given her. For all she knew he could trace it.
He stared at her, his expression unrelenting and hard, but she forced herself not to squirm. Finally he spoke. “Don’t get too comfortable. We’ll be leaving soon.”
“What are you going to do to Sophie?”
He chuckled as he motioned to one of his men. “
Pain sliced through her. Sophie was her best friend. Hell, one of her only real friends. “You son of a bitch!” Her words were cut off as the scarred man once again grabbed her by the arm and yanked her from her seat.
Tears stung her eyes as he dragged her back across the lawn. She wanted to scream and struggle but knew it wouldn’t do any good. Besides, now of all times she needed to keep a level head. If only there was some way she could escape and warn Sophie. She was fairly sure there wasn’t an American embassy in Cuba, but there was a naval base. Considering that she didn’t know where they were, she sure as hell wouldn’t know how to get to the naval base.
If she could escape, though, she’d find a way.
Chapter 14
Sanitize: to delete specific material or revise a report or other document to prevent the identification of intelligence sources and collection methods.
Carrying Mandy down to the garage was a risk, but their window of opportunity was closing fast and Jack needed to get out of this building. He gauged that Mandy was supposed to take care of Sophie, then no doubt check in with her boss.
When they reached the bottom of the stairwell, Sophie finally spoke. “What exactly do you plan to do to her?”
“We’re going to tie her up better and lock her in the utility room.”
“Won’t she be . . . I mean, will she . . . How long are you leaving her here?”
“I need to contact Wesley and have him send someone he trusts to pick her up. Why don’t you go sit in the vehicle while I take care of this?” Considering he and Wesley had no clue who the mole was, they had to be careful about who they trusted with this information. Especially since Jack planned to make it look as if Mandy had disappeared.
Sophie took the keys from his hand, not even arguing about staying to help, which told him a hell of a lot about her state of mind. After jimmying the lock, he dragged Mandy into the small room, bound her feet, rebound her hands with twine, and placed the tie around her mouth. Then he tied her arms to a metal cabinet bolted to the wall. Not bad for last-minute business.
When he was finished, Jack found Sophie strapped in on the passenger side.
“You all right?” he asked as he steered out of the garage, keeping his voice low and soothing.
“I guess. What did you guys talk about while I was gone? And don’t say nothing.” Her voice sounded so small it tore at him.
“Long story short, Vargas has your boss’s daughter—”
“Holly?” Sophie gasped. “I thought she was backpacking for a few months.”
Jack shook his head. “Not anymore. Vargas has been using Ronald to do his dirty work by using her as leverage. Then when you took those pictures, you became a target. My guess is he wants you out of the way by this weekend. There’s probably a big deal going down in a couple days, but we can work this to our advantage.”
“How?”
“I think we’ll be able to convince Weller to help us bring Vargas down.”
“What if Ronald doesn’t want to help?”
“Too damn bad.” Jack pressed on the accelerator.
Sophie was silent for a few long moments and he wished he knew what she was thinking. Someone she cared about had betrayed her trust, and he knew that cut deep. When she spoke, however, her voice was lighter than he expected. “We’re not going back to that motel, are we?”
He shot her a sideways glance.
“Where are we going, then?”
“You might not like this place any better. I found a cheap hostel close to the beach. They accept cash and I’m pretty sure they don’t have video cameras outside. We’ll probably be the oldest people there.” They had private rooms, free Wi-Fi, and it was in a safe part of town. That was all that mattered. But first . . . “We have one more stop to make before then.”
“Where?”
“Mandy’s condo.”
“You know where she lives? Of course you do,” she said, answering her own question with a shake of her head.
As they pulled into the parking lot of Mandy’s condominium complex—which he’d memorized from her small, obviously not thorough enough file—Jack took note of the number of cars and exits. After brief surveillance, Jack was satisfied there wasn’t anyone watching the place. She lived on the second floor of a high-rise in an exclusive part of South Beach, but the lock was a low-end Schlage. So damn typical.
They slipped inside the front door without any trouble. He withdrew his weapon and started down the hallway toward the interior. A kitchen to the left was the first entrance. He cleared it, then continued. The hallway opened into a big living room with a sliding glass door that led to a balcony.
Since the living room was clear, he swept the only other hallway to the right. The master bedroom and
