Page 80 of Wicked Ambition

It was a good twenty minutes later before they reached the end of the dirt road. It was rutted and in need of repair. If they weren’t in an SUV, he didn’t know if their suspension would have survived.

Old utility road or not, Oz didn’t want to leave the SUV parked out in the open. “Keep your eyes peeled for a place to take the vehicle into the brush.”

He expected Ski to spot something if he didn’t, but it was Rusty who said, “One o’clock, next to that downed tree.”

“I’ll check it out,” Ski volunteered, and when Oz stopped, he hopped out, put on a helmet with NVD, and examined the spot in the question. It didn’t take long for him to return. “It’s level for about twenty feet and the ground isn’t muddy. The tires won’t sink in.”

After Oz backed the SUV into the space, he left Ayla in the car and he, Rusty, and Ski concealed the front of the vehicle. The fallen tree had come down recently, and branches had broken off, providing them with brush that was easy to move. As he worked, he gave the situation some thought. The bottom line was he didn’t want to leave his Pollita almost a klick away, not when Rusty was her only protection.

Oz wished Ski were staying with Ayla and not Rusty, but he couldn’t risk taking the kid with him. Not when he could mess up and alert the entire neighborhood they were there. An image of the Puerto Jardinese authorities arresting them made him wince. If that happened, Nguyen would have him filling sandbags from the minute they returned to the States until Oz was too old to lift a shovel.

They couldn’t take Ayla to the house with them, but he could stash her close by. Close enough that if this turned into something more than he expected, Oz would be able to get to her quickly and keep her safe.

Oz frowned,but this was the first location they’d come across where he felt comfortable leaving Ayla. He didn’t like the proximity to the house. It was practically in the fucking backyard. The entire way in from the SUV had been a tangled mess, and he didn’t want her standing in the middle of the rainforest. Not with so many potential hazards.

This spot was cleared, yet there were small trees and bushes on all sides, hiding her from anyone who might look out the window of the house. Or the house next door. This spot was between the two homes, giving Oz a view of the entire backyard of the residence they were doing recon on and a wide swath of the street in front of it. The bonus was the stone bench that Ayla could sit on while he and Ski checked out the house.

She looked cute in a too-big armored vest and the helmet with NVD goggles bolted on, but he kept the thought to himself. Ski would give him shit forever if he heard the comment.

“There’s lattice on the upstairs windows!” Ayla whispered, but there was no mistaking the excitement in her voice.

“I saw that,” he said, careful to sound neutral. “Ski and I will check out the house. Stay here with Rusty. If he tells you to do something, do it immediately. Don’t ask why, don’t argue. Got it?”

Without waiting for her agreement, he turned to his teammate. “You keep her safe. If anything happens to her, you’ll answer to me, not the Big Dog. Do you understand?”

“Understood,” Rusty said, coming to attention.

Damn, he didn’t want her this close to the house. The cover was light enough for her to see too much. Relying on Rusty to keep her from rushing toward the residence was iffy at best. Oz shook his head. There wasn’t another option.

He scrutinized the bench, including underneath it and in the area around it. “You can sit here, Pollita,” he said quietly. “It’s clear.”

“No snakes or spiders?”

“Nothing, I promise.”

Oz half expected her to study the area for herself, but she trusted him enough to sit without doing her own examination. She gave him an expectant look, and he couldn’t stop his lips from curving. He knew her. She sat because she wanted him to get his ass in gear and didn’t think he would until she was off her feet.

Joining Ski at the edge of the trees, Oz took a moment to scope out the house. They wouldn’t be without cover, not the entire distance. There were fruit trees, bushes, and a rock retaining wall that provided them some cover.

Even with the lattice on the windows, the chances of Iona Desmond being inside were slim. It wasn’t late enough for the neighborhood’s residents to be in bed and asleep, and he and Ski would need to approach cautiously. Silently.

The back of the house looked much like the front, right down to the decorative stone façade that came up about one-eighth of the way up the side. There was a covered back patio with four carved posts holding up the roof, a large round table with six chairs, and an outdoor kitchen to his right.

No movement or other signs of life. The house was dark. As early as it was, the owners must be out for the evening.

“Ready to roll?” Ski asked.

Oz nodded. Sticking to the shadows, he and Ski moved up to the house. They checked it out, starting with the ground-floor windows. Nothing except furniture.

With a few signals, Oz made his way to the back door, Ski covering him as they moved. Some instinct had him reaching for the door handle instead of his lock-picking tools. It opened easily. Not secured.

Immediately, they went into a defensive mode. It didn’t mean there was an ambush waiting for them, but it didn’t mean there wasn’t either.

In addition to the NVD, they were wearing vests with light armor. It would stop a pistol round, but not an assault rifle. This was probably nothing. Maybe the couple who lived here were late for a dinner party and they’d rushed from the house, forgetting to lock up.

It could happen.

His gut told a different story. Something was wrong.

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