Page 28 of Wicked Suspicion

Archer digitally traveled the route between Trujillo and the ruins near San Isidro, hoping to see her phone ping the system. It didn’t.

A second search yielded the same results as the first.

“Archer!” Frankie all but shouted.

“What?” he asked with a calm he didn’t feel.

“What do you want us to do? Should we look for Nyx?”

“No.” That required a reason, or he’d have a mutiny. “If Nyx returns to the hotel and you’re not there, she’ll begin searching for you. All of you will be going in circles. Best to wait. Stay where you’re at.”

“But what if Nyx needs help?”

“I have contacts. I’ll begin a search. Stay where you are,” he repeated, imbuing the last sentence with all his authority, every bit of command he’d learned at ARC. Without waiting for further argument, he disconnected.

Who did he have near San Isidro?

Archer was contemplating his options when the emergency line signaled the arrival of a text message. He frowned.

He glanced at the phone, then returned his gaze for a second, longer look.

When Nyx messaged, she used complete sentences with proper grammar and punctuation. She was anal about it. What he read was a mess. Archer wanted to dismiss it as a ruse, but he didn’t believe it was someone pretending to be his missing geoarchaeologist. No, it had all the hallmarks of a woman desperately trying to get word out without being caught.

Nyx was the hostage of a notoriously violent drug lord, and she wasn’t alone.

Archer reached for his secure line. When his call was answered, he said, “Captain Nguyen, I have an assignment for you.”

Chapter 13

Case ran Nyx through her day multiple times. Her story remained consistent, but he had a feeling she was holding something back. At least she wasn’t a practiced liar. He’d dealt with enough of those to last a lifetime. Still, it irritated the shit out of him that she was lying by omission.

He scowled at her, and Nyx’s chin went up. Now she was angry, too.

Good. It was only fair.

Ignoring the frisson of heat, Case mentally reviewed the report she’d given. He decided she hadn’t struck a deal with Vargas to save her own ass. There’d been nothing evasive when they’d discussed her meeting with the drug lord. When had she started tiptoeing around?

The library. When he tried to pin her down about her research, that’s when she’d become vague. Had she discovered something about the treasure? Was that the secret she was protecting? He wanted that to be true a little too much, but something had happened in the library that she didn’t want to tell him.

Another thought occurred to him, and it punctured his anger. “Did someone put his hands on you?”

Nyx’s chin lowered, and she shook her head. “No! No one even made me feel uncomfortable. Not that way.” He must have appeared dubious because she tacked on, “I promise, hon.”

He studied her for a moment, decided she was being truthful, and relaxed a fraction. “What aren’t you telling me, Fireball?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” She didn’t meet his gaze, looking everywhere except at him. Yeah, Nyx was a terrible liar.

Case felt his temper climb again and worked to rein it in. The fact she was bad at it must mean she didn’t do it very often. He needed to get the full story, though, and he didn’t want to risk an audience for this discussion.

He took her hand, half expecting her to pull free. Instead, she held on tightly. She was scared, and it wasn’t an act. “Come on,” he said, and tugged her into motion. She followed him silently.

Leading her through the bedroom and into the bathroom, Case let go of her hand, and put the shower on full blast. “Okay. Let’s try again. What aren’t you telling me?”

Stepping closer to him, Nyx said quietly, “I found an old cell phone in the library.”

With one sentence, she gave him an attitude adjustment. She wasn’t omitting details to hide the truth from him. She’d omitted details because he might not have found all the spy gear.

Case ran a hand through his hair. Damn, he was so fucking used to being lied to that it hadn’t occurred to him that this was the reason. It should have.

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