“Yeah. That guy Vargas wanted to ask me questions.” Hannah just hoped he’d believed her lies.
“About what?”
“He wanted to know more about Sophie. . . . Has he asked you questions too?”
Holly shook her head. “No. He kidnapped me to use as leverage against my dad. I only have one purpose for him.”
“Leverage?” Sophie hadn’t told Hannah much and she was more than a little curious.
“My dad works with different flight companies to get into some really hard-to-reach places. His company has been around so long that they’re basically above reproach, and I think Vargas capitalized on his reputation. . . . Do you think Sophie was working with Vargas or something?”
“Hell no! Whatever’s going on, Sophie was trying to keep me safe. There’s no way she’d ever do business with some drug runner.” That much Hannah knew. Sophie had been her best friend since college. More like a sister actually. If she got too much change at a restaurant, she gave it back to the waitress. No way was Sophie involved in any of this—whatever
Hannah glanced around the room, eyeing the ceiling, which looked like all slab concrete. Just like the walls. The entire room was concrete. No doubt to stop people from escaping through the ceiling. “Have you tried the window?”
Again, Holly shook her head and placed a finger over her mouth, then pointed toward the sink.
Frowning, Hannah crouched down by the sink and peered underneath it. There was a tiny black rectangular device that was blinking red. When Hannah stood, Holly continued.
“Trying to escape is pointless. They’ll just catch us.” Holly stood near the sink and turned the water on. She nodded toward the window, then motioned with her hands for Hannah to lean closer. “One of the guys must have just put this in while you were gone. They let me out for a walk and when I came back, I found it.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
They were both silent for a moment until Holly turned off the water.
“How were you kidnapped?” Hannah asked since this wasn’t the kind of information that could be used against either of them.
“I was in South America on a backpacking trip when two men took me. I’d planned to stay there for a month, then head to Europe for a couple months. They must have been tracking my family’s movements and honestly, my trip wasn’t a secret. I posted about it on Facebook, so for all I know, that’s how they found out about me coming here. Now I wish I’d just gone straight to Europe. I wanted to take some time off . . .”
As they continued making idle conversation, Holly stood by the window, crouched down, and motioned for Hannah to get on her shoulders. Hannah shimmied up her back until she was sitting on her shoulders. Holly tottered for a second, but quickly gained her balance. Hannah barely weighed a hundred pounds, but Holly was probably only twenty more than her. Still, she was taller than Hannah, so that gave them a little more height.
Placing her hands against the glass, she tried to push. There was no give, but it wasn’t double paned. Hannah was certain she could break it. Unfortunately it would make noise. Somehow they’d have to cover it—
The door flew open with a bang. Holly swiveled and when she did, Hannah toppled onto the bed. A dark- haired man—not the one who’d taken her to see Vargas—stood in the doorway.
The man glanced back and forth between them, then spoke quietly to Holly.
Thanks to Sophie, Hannah knew a few Spanish phrases. She picked out a couple of words, and the guy’s tone wasn’t threatening, so maybe he wasn’t going to hurt them after all. After he shut and locked the door, she was almost afraid to ask.
“What did he say?” she whispered.
“He’s the one listening to us. He said his shift ends in twenty minutes and the next guy won’t be so forgiving. If we want to stay in the same room, and if we want to remain
Sighing, Hannah lay on the lumpy mattress and turned on her side. “Me too. I’ll sleep with my head at this end. If you want to sleep in the other direction, I think we’ll both fit.”
“Okay.” Holly dimmed the overhead light and lay down next to her.
Moonlight streamed in from the small window, giving them a little light. A lead ball congealed in Hannah’s stomach. They were stuck and there was nothing she could do about it. And according to that asshole Vargas, he was going to kill her best friend. She’d never felt so helpless in her life.
• • •
After checking the lock on the small window—which was pathetic—Jack stripped down to his boxers, laid his weapon on the dresser, then slid under the covers. He hadn’t realized how tired he was until his back hit the cool, cotton sheet. If he was exhausted, he could only imagine how beat Sophie must be.
He closed his eyes, though he wasn’t anywhere near ready to sleep. He couldn’t until Sophie was in the room with him. Safe and close enough for him to touch. The shower had shut off a few minutes ago, so he knew she’d be coming out soon. He’d decided to put off his shower until the morning because the thought of stripping down completely naked with Sophie only feet away from him . . . yeah, he wasn’t even going there right now.
The sound of the door opening forced his eyes open. He ordered himself to keep them shut, but his gaze was drawn to her like a magnet. Sophie walked out wearing skimpy shorts and a tight tank top that molded to every curve. It was one of the outfits he’d grabbed for her. Imagining her wearing it and actually
“You awake?” Sophie whispered as she took a few tentative steps toward the bed.
“Yeah,” he managed to rasp out. He shifted uncomfortably, cursing his erection.
She set the bag on the floor next to the bed, then slipped under the covers next to him. She smelled fresh. Like vanilla and something exotic. Something that was all her. The familiarity of that scent wrapped around him, threatening to choke him. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I’m just tired, I guess.”
He rolled over to face her, hating that he had no fucking control over his cock. At least the darkness was covering his condition. “You don’t have to apologize.”
“Yeah, I do. I’m so angry right now and you’re the only one I can take it out on.”
“Your boss is an asshole.” Jack guessed that was probably bothering her more than being almost killed. With both of them lying sideways on the pillows, they were only a foot apart from each other. He could see the bright sheen of unshed tears in her eyes and it killed him.
“That’s just it. He’s not. He was doing what he thought was best . . . I guess.”
Yeah, well, her boss could have found another way to deal with his problem. He could have gone to the feds. Instead his stupidity had upended Sophie’s life and gotten her almost killed. That put Ronald Weller at the top of Jack’s shit list. “Anyone willing to sacrifice someone like you is an asshole.”
A few tears spilled over her cheeks, and something inside him cracked wide open. Crying women had never bothered him before, but tears from Sophie were too much. “Damn it, Soph, don’t cry.” He reached out and cupped her cheek, only intending to wipe away her tears, comfort her as he’d done so many times when they were younger. He swiped his thumb across her delicate cheekbone, but couldn’t tear his hand away from her soft skin. Touching her was addictive and something he could get used to very easily if he allowed it. Hell, she’d been his addiction years ago. One he’d never wanted to walk away from.
Sophie didn’t seem to want him to stop either. The tears abruptly dried and her breathing grew ragged, unsteady. Her pink lips parted as she stared at him with those intoxicating dark eyes. When her gaze dropped to his mouth in a hooded sensual way, he knew he’d lost whatever control he had on himself. Which by this point wasn’t much. She moistened her lips and he wondered if she’d done it intentionally to drive him crazy. Either way, he didn’t care.