Page 36 of Liaising Kai

He just held her until he heard voices outside. He let his breath go in a rush of exasperation. He closed his eyes, transitioning to the CGIS agent he was. They had a plane to catch and Los Esmeraldas to interrogate. He withdrew from her, giving her a moment to adjust as the fresh thoughts and emotions whirled around in her head.

“Sounds like our bodyguards are coming.”

She nodded. “Time to go.”

“I wish we had more time to talk, but you’ve got a lot to think about.” He didn’t want to let her go, but the voices that were just outside the door didn’t give them much choice. Muttering another oath, Davis watched as she left the bathroom and opened the door. He leaned against the bathroom’s doorframe as Strekoza and Hummingbird entered the room with a breakfast cart. The petite blonde gave him a once over, her brows lifting, her eyes shining with admiration. “Sorry to bust in, but we thought you’d be hungry, and dining downstairs would be iffy.” She looked at her watch and said, “But tick tock. Wheels up in an hour and we have to get you both to the airport. You’ve got thirty minutes.” She looked at her partner. “Let’s go check the perimeter again, Koz.”

She lifted one of the steel domed coverings and stole a strip of bacon. With a smile, she bit into it, and they left.

“She’s a character,” Kai said, turning to look at him, “but I see what she sees.”

He smiled, headed for his suitcase, and dropped the towel. After stepping into a clean pair of boxer briefs, a pair of jeans, and a red polo shirt, he ran his hands through his hair.

The food got to him, and he and Kai devoured the eggs, toast, ham, and coffee on the cart. She was subdued, but in agent mode, now all business.

As they were ready to leave, she tugged on his wrist. “Thank you for being the man you are.” Her voice was raw with emotion, and a troubled, naked expression in her eyes made his throat contract. She grabbed the back of his neck, drawing him to her. Her mouth connected with his in a kiss filled with so much emotion, an open, tender press of her lips. She didn’t hold back in that kiss, and he felt the passion in her, an all-consuming passion that came from her very soul. It was so overpowering.

A knock on the door blasted them back to reality.

She abruptly jerked her mouth away, her breathing uneven, her hold almost savage, as she turned her face against his neck. He wasn’t sure whose heart was pounding harder, but they had to go. She sucked in a deep breath, then dragged her hand up his back, hugging him hard.

“Come on, lovebirds. We’ve got to go.”

“I’d like to kick her ass about now,” Kai said.

Her forehead resting against the angle of his jaw, he closed his eyes. “Yeah, you’d probably be dealing with both of them. I think they come as a pair.”

“I’d give them a run for their money,” she said through gritted teeth.

He stared down at her for a moment, then grinned. “Well, we come as a pair, too, and I think maybe together we could take them both.

Her laughter got him again right in the heart.

Kai got into the back seat of the black SUV and settled next to Davis. Strekoza was driving and Hummingbird was in the passenger seat. They seemed to have this non-verbal shorthand, and she admired how fluid the two of them were, not only back in the jungle, but every step of the way. They had been lucky that the DOJ had anticipated the need for a CIA intervention. When drugs were involved, a cartel had to be behind it all. Now it was NCIS’s job to interrogate the three captured Los Esmeraldas who were in the vehicle behind them, sandwiched between them and another black SUV who brought up the rear. Those were filled with National Police. The machete-wielding guy had been identified as Hector Jaramillo, the one who had let it slip about corrupt government officials was Galo Herrera, and lastly their hollow-eyed leader, Jonny “Z” Zambrano.

She was aware that she, Davis, and the DEA agents were lucky to be alive, though one agent was in critical condition. The vehicles pulled away from the curb and started down the street. Kai tried to relax her shoulders, but she knew that the government in this country was overshadowed by the brutal determination of the cartels and the gangs who served them. After Dario’s betrayal, she didn’t put much stock in the authority here.

She barely had any brain cells to absorb the conversation she’d had with Davis in their hotel room. He had made her look hard at herself, and she wasn’t happy with what she saw and how she’d acted. She’d cut her family out of her life, blaming them for her loss and pain, and now she had to reassess everything she’d thought she knew. Just not right now. Not when their lives were still on the line.

They made good progress toward Guayaquil’s José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport and the CIA private jet that was fueled and ready to take them back to San Diego. But she got a little more nervous when they turned down the main road and rumbled beneath an underpass, the granite blocks holding up the ramp closing them in.

When she turned to look at Davis to get his take on their suddenly claustrophobic route, her heart jumped into her throat as a dump truck barreled toward them. It hit the SUV broadside, jostling her wildly and pushing the SUV a good fifty feet. Windows smashed and the SUV started to roll. It tumbled over and over until it finally landed on its roof.

Her distance from the impact had protected her, but Davis was unconscious, blood at his temple. The groaning from the front of the vehicle told her that both Shadowguards were alive. Immediately, automatic gunfire came from in front and behind them. People were scrambling from the vehicles.

“Koz?” Hummingbird called, dropping down to the roof after cutting her seatbelt.

“I’m okay,” she said, reaching back and grabbing one of the semi-automatics that had been wedged between the back of the driver’s seat and the center console. “Get them out. I’ll cover us.”

Hummingbird cut Strekoza’s seatbelt, then looked in the back, handing Kai the knife. She used it, and as soon as she’d dropped down, she turned to Davis. He was still out.

Hummingbird climbed into the back. “Cut it. I’ll ease him down.”

Kai waited until she had a good hold on Davis before she severed the woven nylon. Davis dropped and Hummingbird eased him down, then kicked out the remnants of the back passenger side window so they could crawl out. Together they pushed and pulled him out, as Strekoza returned gunfire from her position outside the vehicle.

Remaining calm in high-stress situations was just part of the job, and she took a moment to absorb the information around her. The other two SUVs had been cut off from both the front and back, making it a kill box. Machine-gun rounds ripped into all three vehicles from the assailants. She had no doubt they were Los Esmeraldas.

“Let’s pull back in case the vehicle blows,” Hummingbird shouted above the deafening sound of the gunfire. Between them, they managed to drag Davis behind one of the concrete pillars while Strekoza kept them covered. From there, she and Hummingbird joined in the gunfight.

---