Page 107 of Poison Evidence

She glanced at her husband’s body. “If anything happens to me, you’ll be Julian’s only family. Protect him better than you did me.”

Thirty-five pounds of boy rested against his chest. The woman he loved was unconscious in the clutches of a man who was using her as a human shield—a man who’d already shot her once. And he’d just learned his sister was the source of every evil act he’d committed in the name of protecting his family. He couldn’t process the flood of emotions.

He needed to be the Hammer. He needed to be the monster his sister had created, so he could protect Ivy, Julian, the men who’d volunteered to back him up on this nightmare op, and yes, even his sister.

In spite of everything, hewouldprotect her.

“Get the fuck over here, Sophia, or I’ll shoot the boy and your brother.”

Sophia backed away, then turned and walked purposefully toward the former CIA agent who’d allied himself with Ivy’s ex-husband.

She stopped in front of Zack and lifted Ivy’s chin, making a show of inspecting her face. “So. This is Ivy. Rudy always talked about how smart she was. When I saw her picture in the online tabloids, I wondered if he was attracted to her for more than just her brains. She’s passably pretty, but there’s also this innocence that would have appealed to him.”

She glanced back toward Dimitri. “But I never would have taken her foryourtype. I would have guessed innocence would repulse you.”

“Must be a case of opposites attract,” Zack said. “C’mon. Show me where the AUUV is.”

She looked up at Zack. At five-two, she was dwarfed by him and Ivy. “I have no idea where it is. Perhaps we should get Ivy’s drone and have it scan the jungle?”

Zack pressed the barrel of his gun to Sophia’s forehead. “Or I can shoot you, then ask again nicely. He might not mind seeing you eat a bullet at this point, but he cares about Ivy.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Ivy had started to return to consciousness on the boat as they reached the island. It was a well-established fact that she couldn’t act worth a damn—well, except for when she’d shot Dimitri, but then she’d taken all her anger at Rudy and projected it onto Dimitri. This time she was too terrified for that to work. But she could play unconscious. It was all about keeping the muscles slack and loose. She could do that. Her brain was damn fuzzy anyway.

With each passing minute, the world grew a degree clearer. But she didn’t dare open her eyes. She pretended she was Raggedy Ann. Soft and lax. Her life—and Dimitri’s—depended on her pulling this off.

When Sophia lifted her chin, she was certain it was to determine if Ivy was truly unconscious. She’d chattered on—her voice low and calculating. Ivy remained relaxed, blank faced, a burden to Zack.

Through slitted eyes, she saw the barrel against Sophia’s forehead. She couldn’t give warning by stiffening or taking a deep breath. She needed to go from rag doll to weapon in a single moment.

Her heels dragged in the soft earth. In one motion, she pushed up, slamming the back of her skull into Zack’s chin. She swung out with her cast arm, smashing the hard case against the gun as Sophia ducked.

An explosion sounded in the same moment the gun fired. Ivy’s vision was blurred thanks to the tranquilizer, but in the blur of movement, she could see Sophia coming at Zack. Ivy dove to the side. Her muscles were sluggish, and she stumbled and had to roll to get out of the way.

The jungle filled with the acrid scent of smoke. What had blown up? It wasn’t the AUUV, because it was in the other direction.

Luke, Ian, and Dimitri fought hand to hand with Zack’s men, who must’ve been disarmed in the confusion caused by the explosion.

Where was Julian?

She spotted the sleeping boy tucked in a nest of vines. His mother must’ve seriously drugged him for him to sleep through the explosion, but in this moment, Ivy wasn’t judging. She crawled across the jungle floor toward the boy, trying not to put weight on her cast arm, which throbbed from smashing it into Zack’s gun.

She’d grab Julian and take cover in the bomb shelter.

Feet from the boy, someone grabbed her ankle. She kicked backward, wishing for the first time in her life she were wearing stilettos. The grip only tightened, and she was pulled back, into the center of the fray. She twisted and saw Zack had her in his grasp.

Sophia launched herself at the man, kicking his forehead, snapping his head back. “Get Julian!” she shouted to Ivy. “Protect him.”

Freed, Ivy scrambled to the sleeping child, scooped him against her chest, and ran for the bomb shelter.

Abullet pierced the air, and the man Dimitri had been fighting dropped.Thank you, Kaha’i.

He turned to go after Zack and saw Ivy and Julian were missing. “Where is Ivy?” he asked, using the ear radio.

“In the bomb shelter,” Kaha’i responded. “I’m covering the entrance.”

He ran toward Zack, whose head appeared momentarily on the other side of the float that hid the AUUV. Zack must’ve chased after Ivy, because the float was near the shelter.

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