Echoes at Dawn

“Yeah, fuck. Look, if they want Grace, chances are they aren’t giving Shea a pass. You need to look out for you and yours. Think about moving Shea and then you need to watch your six. These men will do anything to accomplish their mission. The mission is everything. It’s the only thing. Get in their way and they’ll take you down. I’m taking Grace with me. Let Shea know…Hell, lie to her for now. Just tell her Grace is safe and is with me. Tell her whatever you have to. Between you and me, I don’t know how much Grace has left, but Shea doesn’t need to know that.”



“Christ,” Sam muttered. “Steele and his team are on a mission. Simple in and out. Hostage retrieval. Something they can do in their sleep. I expect them back in two days.”



“You may not have two days.”



“Then we’ll do whatever needs to be done,” Sam said in a grim, determined voice. “I’ll let my brothers know and then we’ll get Nathan and Shea the hell out of here.”



“Good call. c1C;Bla I’m doing the same with Grace.”



There was another distinct pause. “Safe journey, Rio. If you need backup, you got it. Steele will be available in forty-eight hours or so. I’ll send Joe and Swanny with Nathan and Shea so they aren’t unprotected, but you know Van, Garrett or Ethan will come to you at a moment’s notice.”



“If it’s all the same, we’ll be going to ground. Radio silent. I’ll check in when I think it’s safe to do so and not before.”



“You don’t fully trust me,” Sam said mildly.



“I trust you as much as I trust anyone.”



Sam laughed. “That doesn’t say a whole lot, you bastard. Just don’t get yourself killed.”



“You just protect your family,” Rio said in a quiet voice. “And I’ll protect what’s mine.”



GRACE opened her eyes and blinked at the stab of sunlight that shone through a dirty window. Her brow furrowed and she squinted, trying to bring her surroundings into focus. The last thing she remembered was reaching Rio’s teammates and having the last of her strength flee.



Where was she now?



She lifted her head, shocked at the effort it took. She was in the backseat of an SUV. Looking forward, Rio and his team were crammed into the middle row and the front two seats. She struggled to sit up, and Rio turned in his seat, his gaze freezing her in her tracks.



“How are you feeling?” he asked.



She eased back down, her breath leaving her in a hard whoosh. “I don’t know. Let me get back to you on that.”



He smiled, warmth flooding those dark eyes.



“Where are we?” she asked weakly.



“We rolled into New Mexico a couple of hours ago. Making good time. If we keep pace, we’ll get into El Paso by sundown.”



“What’s in El Paso?”



She shifted and tried to sit up again, but Rio reached over the seat and put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t. Just take it easy. Lie there and be as still as possible so you’ll heal.”



She turned slightly so that she was more on her side then sighed when she was comfortable again.



“As for what’s in El Paso, I have a friend there who’s getting us on a plane to Belize.”



Her eyes went wide and she stared up at him, mouth drooping open. “Belize? Why Belize?”



“My home is there,” he said. “It’s safe. For now. We can at least have a place where you can recover until we figure out our next move.”



“I don’t have any ID. I mean no passport. No driver’s license. Nothing.”



Terrence turned, a wide grin on his face. “The kind of transportation we’re taking isn’t exactly American Airlines, if you know what I mean. They won’t be asking you for a ticket to board.”



“Oh.”



Rio slid his fingers over her arm. “I don’t want you to worry. All I want you to focus on is healing. Let us do the rest.”



She nodded, realizing she had no other choice. She was at these men’s mercy. She’d already made her choice to trust them. She certainly knew what the other alternative was, and it wasn’t an option. At least Rio hadn’t locked her up in some cold, sterile room and forced her to heal like a trained puppet. At least not yet.



She lowered her head to the seat and closed her eyes. Belize. It s c Be a frcared her to death to think of going outside the United States. It seemed so permanent, like the final nail in a coffin. She had no recourse in a foreign country. No passport. No proof of citizenship. What could she possibly do if these men did turn out to be her enemies?



No, she couldn’t dwell on that because her panic was rising with every minute that passed. These were the good guys. She had to believe that. Because if they turned out to be of the same caliber as those who’d kept her prisoner for so many days, it was over for her.



Rio shook her awake sometime later. She rubbed her hand over her eyes, not having realized that she’d fallen back under. The vehicle was cloaked in darkness. It was also slowing to a stop.



“Just stay down, Grace,” Rio murmured. “Stay low until I tell you to get up, okay? I just want to check things out here first.”



Rio got out of the back of the SUV then motioned for Terrence and Diego to keep watch over Grace while Alton and Browning took up posts on either side of the truck.



Then he walked toward the rickety storage shed that doubled as the “office” for Lazaro’s transport business. As soon as he neared, he heard the betraying click of a gun being put off safety.



He drew his own weapon and then called out, “It’s me, you stupid paranoid bastard. Put your damn gun up before you get yourself killed.”



There was a moment of silence followed by a scuffling sound. Then the door creaked open and a tall, lanky man stuck a shotgun through the crack.



“Rio? That you?”



Rio sighed. “Who the fuck else would it be? I called you an hour ago and told you we were close.”



Lazaro slipped out, still clutching the shotgun, but he pointed it upward instead of at Rio, a fact Rio was grateful for. Lazaro was as jumpy as a frog. It wouldn’t take much for him to accidentally discharge his weapon.



“The plane ready?” Rio asked.



Lazaro nodded and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “It’s around back. Pilot will be here in five minutes. You’ll make an unscheduled, off-the-books stopover in Belize and then the plane will continue on to Peru on a delivery route. I’ve already done the paperwork and made it all official like. As long as you don’t make a splash when you get to Belize, no one should ever know. Buddy of mine there is willing to keep it all hush-hush. No record of any plane landing there,



if you know what I mean.”



Rio clapped Lazaro on the back. “Good man. I knew I could count on you.”



“Get loaded,” Lazaro returned. “You don’t have a whole lot of time.”



CHAPTER 10



“WHAT the fuck do you mean, they escaped the mountains?” Gordon Farnsworth bellowed. “I called you in because you’re the best. This isn’t acceptable. Not on any level.”



“Keep your underwear on,” Hancock said in a cool voice Farnsworth didn’t like. It was too collected. It was too “I don’t give a fuck what you think or say.” On some level, Farnsworth knew he needed to tread lightly. Titan wasn’t a force to be fucked around with. But desperation made a man do and say stupid things.



“The idiots who were hired to bring her in the first time made a clusterfuck of the entire situation. The mountains are littered with their dumbasses. We’re stuck cleaning up their damn messes. Grace Peterson escaped because she’s not acting alone. She has help. Good help.”



Far fe Kel#x2nsworth swore. “Who? Tell me who. I’ll take care of it.”



“Doesn’t matter who,” Hancock said calmly. “I’ll find Grace Peterson and I’ll bring her in. You’d be best served to stay out of it and let us handle the situation.”



It was the closest that anyone had ever come to telling Gordon Farnsworth what to do. No one else dared. But there was something in this man’s voice that gave him pause. Farnsworth tasted fear for the first time in his life and he didn’t like it a bit.



“See that you do,” he clipped out. “I don’t have any time to waste. I don’t have weeks or days. I may only have hours, and each hour that rolls by and she’s not here is one hour I can’t afford to lose.”



There was silence in his ear and he was stunned to realize that he’d been hung up on. Swearing viciously, he shoved the phone into his pocket and strode down the hall to his daughter’s room.



At her door, he paused, breathing in heavily, ridding himself of the rage and the awful taste of fear in his mouth. Elizabeth needed him to be strong.



He pushed inside and saw the nurse he’d hired to remain by Elizabeth’s bedside day and night checking Elizabeth’s vital signs.



“How is she?” he whispered, afraid of the answer.



The nurse shook her head. “No change. She’s resting easily. Breathing is good for now. No temperature.”



Farnsworth waved her away and then settled into the chair beside his daughter’s bed. He collected her tiny, frail hand in his and bowed his head, staring down at his feet. He closed his eyes as cold fury laced with paralyzing fear gripped him.



He couldn’t lose her. She was the only good thing in his life.



“Daddy?” she whispered.



He yanked up his head, surprised to see her awake and staring at him.



“What are you doing?”



He put his other hand to her cheek and rubbed his thumb up and down, the knot growing in his throat. “Just checking on you and saying good night. How are you feeling?”



“I’m good.”



It was her standard answer no matter how she really felt. It enraged him that she sought to protect him. She never wanted him to know when she was tired or hurting. It should be him protecting her. Him finding a way to make her well again.



“That’s good,” he said, moving his hand to her forehead to stroke away the golden hair. “I need you to hang in there. I have someone coming who can help you.”



Elizabeth cast him a doubtful look. It was what he’d said a hundred times before when he’d brought in a new doctor. And always the result had been the same. Nothing could be done.



“This time will be different,” he promised. He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “This person is going to make you all better, and then think of all the wonderful, fun things we can do together. I want you to make a list. We’ll do every single thing on it.”



And he would. He’d spend any amount of money in the world to make her happy.



“I’ll do it tomorrow, Daddy. I’m tired tonight.”



He squeezed her hand. “Of course you will. We’ll make a list together. How’s that sound? Maybe we can order pizza and have a party right here.”



Elizabeth closed her eyes. “That



would be awesome. Maybe I’ll feel better by then.”



Tears burned Farnsworth’s eyelids k019at w and he furiously blinked them away. “Go to sleep, baby. Daddy’s right here. I won’t leave until you’re asleep.”



CHAPTER 11



THEY landed in Belize in the dead of night. Rio helped Grace from the plane after wrapping her in a dark, hooded coat. The warm, humid air was a welcome change to the chill of the Rocky Mountains. She embraced it, breathed it in to alleviate some of the cold that had settled into her bones.



Some of her shock had worn off and her mind wasn’t as fuzzy as it had been for so long. But with the new awareness came consequences. Fear that she’d trusted the wrong men. Memories of the horrors she’d endured. Phantom pain mixed with the very real pain of her current injuries. It all mixed and swirled in her mind and body, overwhelming her.



Lucidity sucked.



Rio ushered her into a pitch-black battered van and instructed her to lie down in the cargo area. Truth be told, she’d done nothing by lie flat on her back for the last umpteen hours. She crawled inside but sat up with her back resting on the side of the van.



Her rib cage was still sore as hell, but her breathing felt normal to her. Perhaps not quite as strong or as deep. She could tell her respirations were shallower than usual. But she was at least in the early stages of healing and already she could tell the difference.



She glanced down at her arm and slid her fingers over the area where the break had occurred. She flexed the affected fingers, satisfied that there was no lingering numbness. Terrence setting the break had helped enormously even if it had hurt like hell. If he hadn’t done it, she might have lost the hand before her body began the healing process.



There was still some swelling, and definite tenderness and bruising, but there was no crepitus to denote weakness in the fracture.



In a day’s time, provided she had ample time to rest, she should demonstrate marked improvement.



Rio hopped into the back a moment later, and the doors shut behind him. When one of the front doors opened, the overhead light came on and Rio’s eyes narrowed.

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