Page 56 of Evening Shadows

“Originally she wanted the information before dark.”

“And now?” he asked cautiously. If Beverly expected her to return and she didn’t, what would the woman do then? He didn’t like the ideas turning in his head. With her being unpredictable—

“I convinced her”—her smiled brightened—“that the morning would be better. Just in case I need to use my womanly charms on you to get that pesky old address.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Resourceful, aren’t you?” His smile sounded in his words.

“Are you patting yourself on the back since you made sure I was before you allowed me on my first op with HIS?”

He ignored that, but a chuckle rumbled through him. “Anything else I need to know?”

“Since I assured Bev the rest of the team left with Cody, Alejandro recalled the men on patrol. Most of them,” she quickly corrected. “I only overheard part of his conversation with Jose and one of the men who’d captured us. I asked Bev about it. She said they kept a roving patrol around the outside perimeter and some in the jungle. At her frown to the conversation, she gave me the impression he’d cut the number. I can’t be sure of that since she didn’t translate it all. I do remember my numbers in Spanish though. If it matched his conversation, he’s barebonesing it.”

He mentally counted men.

“That’s assuming we can trust Bev.”

“Hmm.” He rubbed his hand across his hard-whiskered face trying to puzzle it out. What he wouldn’t give for real intel. “Why is he dropping his numbers so low? He should be expecting HIS to attempt to rescue us.”

“Maybe to give them some rest since I assured them there weren’t enough HIS agents to mount a rescue yet and we could get to Jesse before then.”

“And they bought it?” He shook his head. “Obviously they did. Do you think this is a trick? That Alejandro knew you were listening and wanted you to pass on false information? Or that Bev lied to you?”

“At this point, either of them could’ve.”

It worked well for him and Sam that Alejandro relaxed his security, but it also bothered him. Then it hit him. The man had the same setup when they’d rescued Cody. Which meant the men in his barracks were ready and bringing the fight inside the gates gave them the advantage.

They were taking the fight outside the gates. “Once we leave the house, we have a bit of ground to cover before we hit the wall.”

“Do you think your leg can take it?”

Probably not, but his life depended on it so he’d go to hell and back if that’s what it took. “I’ll make it happen. I’ll limp more than before, and as long as I don’t spin around suddenly on that leg, I’ll be there with you.”

Settling her head against his shoulder, she offered, “You can always lean on me if you need it.”

There was no question he’d end up leaning on her at some point since they had a lot of uneven ground to cover. “I might have to. Listen, this time, if I tell you to run, I need you to do it.”

She shot up, leaping from the cot, almost clipping him under the chin before whirling on him with fire in her eyes. “No.”

Sighing, he knew she’d fight. “Don’t argue. Just listen. That’s a lot of ground to cover and we need to move fast. If we’re lucky, Doc will see us and provide cover.”

“How will he know what direction to expect us?”

He smiled crookedly. “Opposite the barracks.”

She nodded. “What about the other guys?”

Without being with the team when one of their own had been held captive, she had no idea what to expect when it hadn’t been discussed. It’d been a no-brainer to them since they’d become such a cohesive team. It reminded him how they couldn’t go lax in their pre-conceived notions. “They’ll stay on each gate to catch anyone hampering our escape.”

“I guess when we plan these things, I never expect to be the prisoner.”

“Come sit back down,” he coaxed. She did, and he continued, “From the little bit of recon we did before dawn yesterday, on the north side there’re blind spots where the spotlights don’t cover.” The large spotlights covered a large portion of the area. Only a paranoid bastard would go to that level.

“How’re you going to get over that wall?”

He might not, but he’d not tell her that. He’d get her over first and nothing that happened to him after mattered. “It’ll be fine.”

“Any—”

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