Page 6 of Skull

“This can go easy, or it can go hard,” Walker said as she tied his hands and feet to a chair. “Just tell us what we want to know, and you’ll be on your way to a cushy cell and three squares for the rest of your life.” He stared at her with a stony expression. “Okay, I guess it’s the hard way.”

“You will know soon enough what to expect,” he spat.

Ten minutes later, after some unpleasantness, the man still wouldn’t talk. Walker approached him and slid a knife to the waistband of his pants. He froze.

“Information or the family jewels?” she asked, raising an eyebrow and keeping her expression neutral. “Your choice.”

His jaw flexed and his eyes widened. He swore in Spanish. Walker knew that no one could resist torture forever. Everyone broke, some faster than others, some only after more brutality, but in the end, they all did.

She sliced through his belt buckle, and he whimpered. “I’m not going to ask again.”

“Get down!” Eva shouted, jumping on Walker and knocking her to the floor. There was the sound of glass breaking, then a high-velocity round struck their prisoner in the forehead. His head snapped back, and pink mist dissipated in the air. Adrenaline shot through Walker, and before the man’s head could slump forward, she was out the door with Eva close behind. They raced through alleys and streets as if on rocket fuel, marking the spot where the sniper had fired. They reached the house just as the man scrambled out a window.

Walker bore down on him and he turned to fire, but his aim was off because he was running and twisting. Her aim remained true, his ejected bullet whizzing by her, a sting on her arm that she ignored. Her round hit him in the back, and he spun before falling into a kiddie pool, displacing a big purple inflatable dinosaur.

She was pissed she hadn’t gotten the information she needed, and Hazard and Leigh’s location was still unknown. But these two bozos were not going to stop her from getting to them. It was a setback. That was all.

When Skull got home,his Porsche sat in the driveway and the keys lay in the mailbox. When he opened the trunk, the lining was as pristine as the day he bought the car. She knew where he lived—of course she did. Fucking CIA.

Still pissed about the way Hummingbird had ditched him, he closed the trunk just as his cell chimed. He was being called in.

At base, as he entered the ready room, everyone looked edgy and dangerous. It was a good thing the man they captured at the airport was with Hummingbird.

Everything got real when Anna cleared her throat, both she and Iceman looking grim. What had happened?

“Hummingbird captured a guy responsible for taking Hazard and Leigh. He wouldn’t give us any specifics about their whereabouts, but he said we will know soon enough what to expect.” She looked at him and at Hummingbird. Skull noted that Hummingbird had a bandage on her arm, and he stiffened. She’d been injured, and he didn’t like that one bit. What the hell had happened? “Good job, you two. Unfortunately, the guy was killed by a sniper, and we’re still in the dark.” Anna looked terrible, guilt and remorse written all over her face. Skull gritted his teeth, rage burning at this dead end.

Anna’s cell phone rang, and she picked it up from the table. She frowned and connected the call. “Hello?” Her face hardened and she scowled. “Who is this?”

She pressed a button and set the phone down. A female voice with an accent spoke, “You will know soon enough who I am, and I suggest you listen very carefully to what I have to say.”

“We are listening. What do you want?” Anna snapped.

“You have taken too much from me. You got involved in something that was none of your business. My father died in your prison. It is your fault. I hold all of you accountable.”

“Who is your father?”

“Ignacio “Nacho” Siachoque.”

A pin could have dropped in the room as Anna’s jaw hardened. Her voice was strained. “He committed crimes against the United States. It was within our authority to consider him an enemy of the state.”

“Maybe, but I am within my rights to hold the government and special forces responsible. And now you have my husband under the death penalty, and I cannot tolerate that. You will return him to me. You have seven days to deliver him. If you don’t, there will be no need to find your people as I am sure you’re planning to do. We will leave their dead bodies on the outskirts of Bogotá.”

Skull’s gut clenched at the captor’s dispassionate words. Anna’s face contorted in outrage and concern, mirroring every face in the room except Iceman’s, who remained cool and calculating. He was already planning his next move. Whoever this woman was, she was going to regret taking their people. Regret it terribly.

Anna’s voice was terse. “We want proof of life.”

“The man is unconscious, but the woman can talk. I know because she’s had plenty to say.” There was weariness in the voice. “Speak, woman.”

“It’s US Attorney Leigh Waterford to you.” Leigh’s no-nonsense tone cut through the tension. If there was anyone who did talking well, it was Leigh. Hazard never stood a chance against her, and it hurt Skull’s heart that their buddy was down for the count, injured, possibly in grave condition, and that bitch wasn’t doing a thing to help him.

A slap echoed somewhere. “Speak to your colleagues.”

“Anna, I don’t know what you can do for us, but Hazard is…he’s bad off.” Anxiety laced her words. “He needs medical attention, but they refuse. I’m not sure what’s going to happen if you don’t?—”

The anxiety in Skull’s gut intensified at the sheer desperation in Leigh’s plea, a voice soaked with her love for Hazard. The woman cut her off and came back on the line. “There is your proof. You know what we want, and you have your deadline. You’ll have no one to blame if the man dies before your time is up. That I don’t care about, but they will surely be dead within seven days.”

Anna’s expression set. She leaned her hands on the table, her voice unyielding. “Who is this?”

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