The man’s voice lowered when he said, “I think you should entertain me.”

Marc stiffened. It was obvious what the man wanted, and Marc wasn’t in a position to do anything to stop him without giving himself away.

He lay on the flat roof, just above Quinn’s open window, hidden from view as long as he stayed on his stomach. Below, the three other guards stood talking and eyeing the jungle that they’d been told to search. Bits of their conversation reached his position, and most of it was about whose turn it was next with the doctor.

Marc’s gut clenched and his muscles tightened. That would not be happening while he was around. He reached for the edge to swing himself down and into the room when one of the men turned back to face the building. Marc ducked his head.

He could kill all the men easily, but he couldn’t be sure he’d manage it without one of them calling it in first. Injured, with limited ammo, and on the run was not a scenario he liked.

Come on. Turn back around.

Below, Quinn told the man to fuck himself. Marc shook his head. Did she not know how to de-escalate a situation? That would only fire up an asshole like the one in the room with her.

A scuffle and a grunt sounded.

It sounded as if the asshole had called Quinn’s bluff. A cold calmness flowed over Marc. A killing calm. He’d deal with the three below after he’d killed the bastard in the room. He gripped the edge of the roof and flipped himself over and into the room. He landed heavily on his right leg, but his left still threatened to buckle under him. The pain sucked his breath away.

A shout outside told him he’d been seen, but it didn’t matter. No way was he going to let Quinn, an innocent, be hurt by these pricks.

His eyes widened as he took in the scene before him. Quinn stood over the limp body of the fourth man. She scowled at him and pointed outside. “They’ve seen you now. What were you thinking?”

She was berating him? He straightened. “I was thinking I was helping you.”

“With him?” She arched an eyebrow. “I can handle one man.”

This woman wasn’t who he thought she was. “Military training?” he asked.

“Self-defense classes,” she said quickly as pounding footsteps on the stairs sounded through both the door and window.

“They’re surrounding us,” Marc said.

“Cover the window,” Quinn ordered. “I’ve got the door.”

“Do you have…”

She pulled a Glock 19 from her bedside table and calmly loaded a mag. She glanced at him. “‘Cover the window’ means watch it for someone coming in.”

He moved to a position where he could see out the window without being seen. “I know what cover the window means,” he muttered.

She didn’t say anything, just crouched down to the side of the bedroom door and aimed her weapon at it.

She knew what she was doing, he admitted to himself before concentrating on the two men with rifles who ran along the balcony toward their window. He pulled the trigger on his Sig Sauer.

Once.

The first man dropped like a rag doll when the bullet took him in the head. The second one stopped, his mouth open. Then a snarl crossed his face and he leapt toward the window.

Twice.

“Tangos down,” he said.

The door burst open and a man ran in gun first, eyes drawn to his friend’s body on the floor and then to Quinn. She hesitated. Her gun was aimed at the man but she didn’t pull the trigger. She must have frozen.

Shit! Marc swung his weapon toward him, but the man had already sighted on Quinn. Marc would be too late.

Quinn’s gun barked once. A clean shot. The man fell back and lay sprawled in the doorway, dead.

Who the fuck was this woman?

* * *

Quinn stayed crouched for a moment, her gun leveled at the doorway. No one else came in the room.

“In the future, you can’t hesitate.” Marc checked out the window before he looked back at her. “I know it’s hard, but these are seriously bad dudes we’re dealing with. Don’t feel guilty.”

Don’t feel guilty? He obviously thought she was inexperienced at killing and that only worked in her favor. She could play into what he thought and also give him the truth. “I…I wanted to give him a chance. If he’d backed off, then I would have let him live.” Which was true. Just because she knew how to kill didn’t mean that she did so indiscriminately. If she’d learned anything in her time down here in Colombia, it was that the men who worked for Pérez varied. Some were bad dudes, but most were just family men, ex-rebels who wanted a paycheck to feed their families. And Pérez was the only game in town.

“That’s taking too much of a chance with your own life.” Marc yanked the bottom drawer of her dresser open and grabbed his webbing.

That explained why Pérez’s men hadn’t found it.

Marc appeared to be bugging out. Should she grab her go-bag? She debated for half a second before she decided to get it. The need for it outweighed whatever this man thought. Besides, after she got rid of him, she was going to look for Anna. Either Pérez’s men hadn’t found her body yet, or she was alive and needed help. Quinn couldn’t leave without knowing.

She walked to a spot by the window and pried at one of the wide floorboards.

“What are you doing?” Marc asked. “We need to get out of here in case there’s another crew of those guys outside.”

The board came loose and she pulled out a small backpack. Marc’s eyes widened and then narrowed. He opened his mouth to question her, so she asked one of her own. “Didn’t you do the same thing with your second shot? I heard the hesitation.”

He studied her for a moment and she wasn’t sure he was going to answer her question.

“That’s different,” he finally said, still eyeing her go-bag. “I have experience. You’re a freaking medic.” He paused, and his gaze caught hers. “Aren’t you?”

He suspected. But it didn’t change anything. She would take him to his RV and then go look for Anna.

“Of course I am.” She strode out the door. He’d have a tough time keeping up with his leg. And asking questions she didn’t want to answer. “I just also happen to know how to use a gun.” She trotted down the stairs, outdistancing him easily. He cursed as she went into a backroom. Time to put her plan into action. “Ian! It’s safe! Get in here!”

Ian darted from the front of the building. He squeaked and held up his hands when he saw Marc with his gun at the bottom of the stairs.

“Stop scaring him,” Quinn said.

Marc scowled at her before he turned to Ian. “It’s okay. I’m here to help.”

Ian just nodded, his Adam’s apple bobbing once before he ran into the room. Marc took up a post just outside the door, his back to them as he watched the back door and the hall to the front. He’d be listening to everything they said.

Metal shelving lined the walls of their storage room. Most of the shelves were filled with medical supplies, but one set also held food. Quinn opened a spare backpack and shoved bandages and supplies into it. Enough to last Marc and Ian a couple of days.

“Who’s he?” Ian pointed at Marc.

“He’s the man who’s going to get you to the embassy. You’re leaving in two minutes, Ian,” Quinn said. “Get your essentials now.”

“What? Why?” Ian looked baffled.

“Are you kidding?” Marc said at the same time, whirling to look at her. “You can’t stay here.”

“I’m not staying here,” she told Marc, which pacified him for the moment. She looked back at Ian. “There are three of Pérez’s men dead upstairs and a fourth who will wake up and want revenge. Pérez will send more men. They’ll kill us next. We have to leave.”

“You killed them?” Ian’s face went white.

She pressed her lips together. “I had to.”

“But—”

“This is happening, Ian,” she said. “If you stay, you die.”

He shook his head violently. “But…I didn’t kill anyone.”

“Guilty by association,” Marc said.

Ian just stared at him. “Who are you?”

“He’s an American soldier,” Quinn said. “He’ll keep you safe until you get to the embassy in Bogotá.”

“Again,” Marc interjected, “it sounds like you’re thinking of staying. Tell me you’re not one of those go-down-with-the-ship types.”

She bared her teeth at him. “I said I was leaving, and I am.”

“Good,” he snarled. Then he stepped toward her. “You’re leaving with us. Not on your own.”

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

Ian held up his hands. “Wait. You want me to go with him, but you’re not going with him? What’s going on?”

“Yes, Quinn,” Marc said, his voice calm. But his gaze radiated enough menace that Ian stepped back. “What’s going on?”

“I have to do something first. Then I’ll be leaving the country. I’ll be right behind you.”

“Are you doing something crazy?” Ian asked.

“So it’s not just me who thinks you’re crazy.” Marc crossed his arms, his large body blocking the doorway.

Something in her snapped. “Listen, if it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this mess. So just shut up and do what you’re told.”

“Me?” Marc’s voice rose. “I’m responsible for these assholes?”

“If you hadn’t been seen, then we wouldn’t have had to shoot them.”

“I was rescuing you!”

“I didn’t need rescuing!”

“How was I supposed to know that?” Marc yelled. “You told an asshole with a gun to fuck himself!”

“Uh, guys…” Ian held up his hands. “I’m not sure this is helping.”

Quinn swung back to the pack and shoved some bottles of water into it, barely suppressing her scream of frustration. The sooner she got rid of this Neanderthal, the better. Then she could track down Anna.

The thought of the injured woman lying in the jungle cooled her ire. Please, God, let her be alive.

“I have a suggestion,” Ian said. “Why don’t we all go our own ways?”

Both she and Marc swung to him. “What?”

Ian took a step back. “I think I might be safer on my own. I didn’t kill those men. You two did. I’m just a doctor.” He pointed at Marc. “I don’t know him and neither do you, Quinn.” He pushed past Marc and into the hall. “I’m going to pack a bag and leave, but not with either of you. I’m taking the pickup.”

“Are you sure?” Quinn asked, respecting his decision.

Ian nodded. “I’ll drive straight to Bogotá.”

“Call me when you make it to the embassy,” she said. “So I won’t worry.”

He nodded and left the room.

That left her, Marc, and a thick, hot silence.

She zipped up the pack she’d been stuffing and threw it at Marc. She shouldered her own. “You can take the jeep. If you take the road north out of town, you should make it to the highway ahead of Pérez’s men.”

He crossed his arms and blocked the door like an immovable wall.

“Get out of my way,” she said.

“Where are you going?” His calm tone didn’t fool her.

“We don’t have time for this,” she said. “We have to get out of here before—”

“Then tell me what you’re going to do,” Marc insisted.

If she told him that she was going to look for Anna, he’d want to come with her, which would be a pain if she found the agent. On the other hand, two of them looking would find her faster. And Anna needed to be found if there was a chance she was alive.

She sighed. “I’m going to look for the woman.”

“Woman?” His brows drew together. “You mean the one the soldier said had died?”

She nodded, her teeth gritted. There would be no way he’d leave her side now. “Pérez’s men were looking for a woman. I have to assume it’s her.”

His head tilted as he studied her. “Why?”

Why would she assume this if she didn’t know it was a fact? She shrugged. “What other woman would they be looking for?”

“I meant, why do you want to find her?” Suspicion laced his voice.

“Because the soldier thought she was dead,” she said, falling back on her cover. “If she’s alive, then she obviously needs my—our help.”

His shoulders relaxed and he nodded. “Then let’s get out of here.”

* * *

The agent could be alive. Marc needed to let Cat and the others know. And his partner was a do-gooding, ex-Army medic. He’d rather do this on his own, but right now, Quinn was the only connection to the soldier who’d taken Agent Anna Bishop from Pérez. He suspected the soldier had made off with Bishop. That made Quinn his only lead to getting her back.

Quinn drove the jeep back to the jungle outside of Pérez’s walled compound. Marc sat silent. Bishop had been too injured to move when he’d seen her last. He didn’t think they’d actually find her alive in the dense wilderness. The soldier had either gotten her out, or they’d find her body.

Fuck, this op was a complete shit show. He needed more backup than a headstrong medic who wanted to save the world.

She brought down that guy pretty quick on her own.

So she knew a martial art. Big deal.

She also knew how to use a gun, killed a man with it and most importantly, it hadn’t seemed to faze her.

Though she had hesitated too long before taking the shot, at least for Marc’s comfort. His fingers tapped on the doorframe of the jeep. The dichotomy of a medic and a trained soldier wasn’t new to him, but there was something more to Quinn that he couldn’t put his finger on.

“What’s got your knickers in a twist?” Quinn glanced at his fingers.

You.

He didn’t say anything, though. He took a moment to just feel the warm wind brush past his face, the verdant smell of the humid, dense greenery, and the pain that throbbed in his leg. He let out a slow breath, centering himself. He still felt the pain, but he wouldn’t let it dominate his thoughts or actions. Questions about Quinn became just a buzz under his skin, like an itch, but one he could ignore. “I’m trying to figure out the safest way for us to search. I think you should wait by the jeep.”

“And let an injured man hobble through the jungle on his own?”

He wasn’t going to have any molars left when this op was done. He pushed out another deep breath. He hadn’t really thought she’d stay behind, but it had been worth a shot. “Fine. But you listen to me when we’re searching. Chances are Pérez’s men are still combing the area. And if the situation’s too hot, then we pull the cord.”

She bit her lip, but then sighed and nodded.

Well, thank God, Red had a bit of sense. If they had to bail, he’d get the do-gooder somewhere safe and come back to search tonight. Alone.

Marc directed Quinn to drive to the southeastern edge of Pérez’s compound. That had been the way they’d been heading when things had slid into the realm of SNAFU. Quinn parked the jeep off the side of the road, but not before she’d turned it around on the single-lane road so that they faced the way back to the highway and safety. “In case we need a fast escape.”

Marc frowned. Her army training must have been extensive.

She caught him watching her and shrugged. “I like to read thriller novels.”

He raised his eyebrows, but she’d turned away, surveying the impenetrable wall of jungle ahead of them. So the do-gooder secretly wished she was a spy. “Great,” he muttered. “Just great.”

“We need a path or something,” she said.

She wanted a path? He refrained from making any comment. Barely. “Do you have a machete?” He knew approximately where he’d set Bishop down. It would be tough going, but he could get them back there.

“Yes.” But she didn’t go to the back of the jeep. Instead she moved farther along the road.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m looking for a path,” she said.

He looked in the back of the jeep and spied a machete. “Why do you think there’ll be a path?”

“It’s logical, isn’t it?”

Her chipper tone made his skin prickle. “Please,” he said in a dry voice. “Enlighten me.”

“That soldier brought you out of here. He either used a path or made one.”

He studied her even as she studied the jungle, sliding still farther down the road. “Why are you so certain he came out this way?”

“Well… It makes sense… since it’s close to a back road and also close to town.”

He had to refrain from rolling his eyes. Her logic was a bit of a leap.

“Don’t you think?” she asked, swinging toward him with a smile on her full lips.

Spirals of her golden-red hair had slipped free of her braid and framed her face. He couldn’t stop the half-smile that tugged at his lips. She was fucking beautiful.

He took a step toward her. Pain shot from his leg and brought him back to his senses. This woman wasn’t just a do-gooder wannabe spy. She was a distraction. A distraction he couldn’t afford.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “Is your leg bothering you? Why don’t I search on my own?”

That was not happening. He growled and reached into the back of the jeep. “Look for a damn path. I’m getting the machete.”

“Your knickers are twisted really tight, aren’t they?”

He could hear the damn laugh in her voice. He dropped the machete and swung back to snarl at her when she waved at him. “Found it.”

Wait. What? How the fuck had she—

She disappeared down the path, and he cursed as he had to hobble after her. Didn’t the damn medic care about Pérez’s men roaming the jungle?

She was going to get them both killed.