Page 77 of Rami

“Keep going,” Toth urged.

“You look.” He passed the screen to his friend and paced. A glance at Toth revealed that he and August were engrossed in the device.

Thoughts jammed together in Rami’s mind like broken puzzle pieces. She was close. Every fiber of his being confirmed that—and the knowledge made him crazy. The fact that she was under his nose, possibly within reach, and he was clueless was enough to drive him to the brink of insanity.

His remembered the chip in her body and rage scorched his skin. The only thing that made him angrier than the fact that they could be touching her now was the fact that they’d put the tracking device in her in the first place.

And Jesus, she hadn’t even known.

The cartel had watched and waited to make their move and then swept in when they were ready. Christ, he’d never thought to use a tracking device with a client, but if he’d had one sewn into the Kevlar Ivy wore, they’d have found her—

He froze and then nearly stumbled over his own feet as he spun to face Toth. “Hey, any chance Dare is good at hacking?”

Toth glanced up from the screen. “He’s the best. That’s how he gets into street and surveillance cameras. Of course, it moves things along if we have leads.”

Rami wagged his index finger, his mind moving at warp speed. “Could he hack into the cartel’s tracking system?”

Toth’s gaze sharpened. “Holy shit. Yeah, I bet he can.” Before Rami could even give him the go-ahead, Toth shoved the tablet at August and dialed his brother.

It was a stretch. The cartel had probably shut down the signal for the tracking device when they stole Ivy, but it was worth a shot.

It might be their only shot.

CHAPTER 21

Panic rooted Ivy’s back to the tree. Every breath caught in her throat, making her struggle for oxygen.

A gun to her head would have been less terrifying than Wayne.

The sight of his gangly body and missing-toothed grin drop-kicked her right back into the camper.

Wayne was her warden. Her grim reaper. Her kryptonite. The one who dominated the dark corners of her mind. Memories of him assaulted her, threatening to bring her to a panic attack.

Wayne knelt next to her. The other men were gone. “You look good, chica.” The Spanish term of endearment sounded silly on his American tongue. If she weren’t frozen with trepidation, she’d snap out a comment about his still-ugly appearance.

His gaze swept over her body, giving her the sensation of a hundred snakes sliding over her skin.

All the clothes in the world wouldn’t be enough to block his prying eyes.

She cemented her knees together and drew them closer to her chest. Her knuckles brushed against the tree trunk, reminding her that the rope was very close to snapping.

“Did you miss me?” he asked.

Terror spiraled in her senses. “You’re supposed to be dead,” she wheezed, her chest gripping the words and then pushing them from her throat like a marble through sand.

A hard glint consumed his empty eyes. “Well, I’m not. One of those military fuckers tried to kill me.” He peeled down the material of his shirt to reveal a bandage covering the skin just above his heart. “Got me good. Didn’t work, though. Marty’s dead. Bet you’re happy to hear that. She got a bullet through her skull. Can’t say I’ll miss her bitchy ass.” He released his shirt and inched closer.

“Mmm.” He brought his fingertips to dance along the top of her knee. “I missed this sweet little body. Now we won’t have anyone in our way.”

Revulsion hit her. She kicked out her foot to shake off his hand, and her heel connected with his thigh. He grunted.

“Don’t fucking touch me.” The growl rumbled from deep within, predatory in nature. If her hands were free, she’d relish scratching the skin from his face—and she’d do far more damage than she’d done to Luis.

“That’s one thing I regret. I should have touched you. Now that Marty’s gone, it can be just the two of us.” He licked his lips as if the idea made him hungry. “Fernando promised me a few days with you.”

Repulsion clenched Ivy’s insides.

“We just got to put on a show for your boyfriend.” He jerked his head toward the camera Gabriel had set up. “Then we can go to a motel for a little staycation.” His smile widened. “And when we’re done, we’ll send your head to your family.”

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