Lethal Deception

“I think I could sleep for a week.” Cassidy yawned and her eyelids fell to half-mast.

Gabe nodded. “Why don’t you rest for a little bit. Hopefully, the rain will let up and we can move on.”

“Sounds good to me.” She tapped her fingers against her leg, nervous, tense and still running on adrenaline. She kept tapping. Gabe reached over and grabbed her hand. She froze. “Cass, relax,” he soothed.

“I am relaxed.” She held herself stiff. Gabe thought if he moved, she might snap in two. This was ridiculous.

“Hold on a minute.” Gabe got up and walked into the bedroom. When he came back, he held a dusty blanket and a ratty pillow. With swift, efficient movements, he made her a pallet on the floor, then pulled mosquito netting from his waterproof pack to drape over her. “I’ll keep watch. You rest, all right?”

She huffed a sigh and tentatively lay her head down on the pillow and mumbled, “I’m probably going to get lice, you know.”

Gabe watched her fall asleep almost instantly. His eyes felt gritty and he used the palm of his hand to rub them. He could use a few hours of sleep himself, but that wasn’t an option. Careful not to wake her, he walked over to the door and peered out. Then he looked back at Cassidy and silently wondered if she’d ever be able to forgive him. If he’d ever find a way to forgive himself for practically forcing Micah into a mission he’d wanted no part of.

Regrets and guilt covered him as he remembered….

Gabe dialed the number to Micah’s private encrypted cell phone. “Micah, I need you on this mission. You know the language, you can get past the security and get the kid. I need you to pull one of your famous quarterback sneaks. Cancel whatever you’re doing and get your tail on board.”

Micah refused. “Gabe, people in that compound know me. I’ve managed to gain the confidence of one of the ring-leaders in a human-trafficking deal. He’s cutting me in. I’m just about ready to bust this guy and his slimy business, and I can’t get my cover blown. Get someone else.”

Gabe snapped back, “There is no one else. At least not someone available now. And I need you ASAP. If you don’t help out, a little kid could die. Don’t make me pull rank.”

Micah went silent. He knew the same thing Gabe knew. Micah was the best. And Gabe needed the best on this mission.

Gabe could practically hear Micah’s back molar grinding before he said, “Fine. But if anything goes wrong, it’s on your head.”

Cassidy woke with a start. She couldn’t believe she’d actually fallen asleep. The rain had stopped and now she heard only the occasional drip of a raindrop against the porch. Gabe stood by the door, his gaze unfocused and staring. She wondered what he was thinking about.

She’d always had a little crush on him, but he only thought of her as Micah’s little sister. So she’d dated guys at college—even agreed to marry one. But that love hadn’t lasted.

Gabe had remained friends with Micah, but always seemed to avoid being around her. And so she’d moved on, and given her life to the Lord. And now He’d brought Gabe back into it. Gabriel Sinclair. The man who’d been there when her brother had been killed, but wouldn’t talk about it. Not with her, not with her family. It hurt.

Lord, get us there safely. Keep Alexis in Your care. Bring Gabe to You. Let him know You’re more than just God…You’re a Heavenly Father to lean on and trust. And help me deal with my anger. Let him know he can trust me to tell me what happened with Micah.

She shifted slightly and looked up into his face. The beam from the sun shed enough light in the room so that she could clearly see his face fuzzy with the beard, head resting against the doorjamb. Even though he was motionless, he still seemed restless. The frown lines between his brows stayed pronounced and she wondered if he ever truly smiled.

Oh, yeah. He smiled when he pushed her buttons and riled her temper. Silence echoed and she sat up with a start. “Gabe?” she whispered. “It’s stopped raining. We can leave.”

He blinked and she gulped at the longing that speared through her. She did her best to ignore it. Now wasn’t the time. And she still wasn’t sure how she felt about him and his role in her brother’s death.

He asked, “Are you sure you’re up to it? You’ve only slept about two hours.”

“I’m fine.” She stood to stretch the kinks out. She ached all over, but ignored it. Alexis was waiting.

“All right,” Gabe agreed, “we’ve probably stayed here too long anyway.”

Cassidy joined him. Her hair brushed against his chin and he sucked in a breath. She smelled like rain mixed with sweat. When she turned to look up at him, Gabe wondered what the flickering behind her eyes meant, wondered what she’d do if he leaned down the fraction of an inch separating them and kissed her. No time to find out as Cassidy blinked, pulled away and moved out the door. The moment fizzled. She said, “Come on, Gabriel, we’ve got a baby to rescue.”

Gabe walked back into the bedroom and gathered up his pack. He came back and handed her the Ruger. He said, “Do you know how to use this?”

“I can hit what I aim at.”

He hesitated as though trying to decide if he should leave the gun with her. “I’m going to backtrack a bit and see if they’re on our tail or not. Keep your eyes and ears open. And shoot anything that moves. Except me. I’ll whistle as I get close.”

Cassidy hefted the gun and its weight felt comfortable and familiar against her palm. She knew a thing or two about guns and shooting.

“I’ll be all right. I don’t like you leaving me, though. And won’t you need it if you run into them?” She chewed her bottom lip.

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on letting them see me. These guys might not let a little downpour slow them down. If not, we’re in trouble.” He gave her a pointed look, a quirky grin and said, “And I don’t need any more trouble.”

Cassidy rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hold back her answering smile.

“Go,” he said. “I’ll catch up in a minute.”

Cassidy sighed and did as ordered. Gabe took off in the opposite direction. She thought about how close Gabe had come to kissing her—and how close she’d been to letting him. But this was not the time to explore old feelings…or discover new ones. She walked and prayed.

Fifteen minutes later she heard a soft whistle and set the safety back on the gun. He appeared from behind a tree and water dripped from the dark hair that curled around his ears and down his neck. The bristly beard he’d grown—one of the reasons she hadn’t recognized him right off—glistened with moisture. He looked good. And a lot different from ten years ago. Harder, leaner…and meaner. But definitely good.

“Well?” she asked, trying to distract her wayward thoughts.

“Nothing. But they’re still looking for us and no doubt following our trail. We need to keep moving to put as much distance between us as possible.”

Gabe took the lead and she followed. Cassidy still had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Never, in all of her rescue fantasies over the past two weeks, had Gabriel Sinclair played the starring role.

She took a deep breath and shoved a branch of leaves out of her face. Gabe swung the machete into a mess of tangled vines and cleared the way. She could tell he didn’t like using it, but knew he had no choice. The undergrowth grabbed at their ankles making it impossible to traverse without help. They were leaving a path a blind man could follow as he whacked and sliced, leading the way and grunting with the effort.

Admiration for him swelled within her. Fatigue gripped him, but he kept going. She felt ready to drop in her tracks, too, but exhaustion ignored, they pressed on. Gabe grunted and hacked some more. After another hour, she asked, “Where do you think they are?”

Gabe hesitated for a long moment then finally said, “I don’t know and I don’t like it.”

“What do you mean?”

Gabe shook the water from his head then answered, “They should have caught up with us.” He stopped and took a deep breath. Cassidy stopped beside him. Gabe pulled his backpack around and extracted two bottles of water. He passed one to Cassidy.

She uncapped it, took a long swig and stated, “I’ll never take the sweet taste of water for granted again.” Then she asked him, “When you backtracked, you didn’t see anything?”

“Nope, not a thing. That means they’re not chasing us blind. I didn’t have a lot of time to work out the chain of command in the camp, but my guess is Rafael is the one on our tail. And while he may be paid muscle, unlike most of these guys, he also comes with a brain. And that makes him more dangerous than ever.” Gabe tossed his empty bottle into the pack and said, “I don’t know where those guys are and I don’t like it.”

Cassidy frowned at him. “Maybe they gave up because of the rain.”

“Guys like that don’t give up. No, they’ve got a plan. You realize they may be waiting for us when we get to the orphanage.”

Cassidy shuddered at the thought. “So if they’ve got a plan, what’s our plan?”

Gabe sighed. “I have no idea.”

Cassidy stared at him for a moment then flopped to the ground and shut her eyes. She said, “Well, you’ll think of something.”

SEVEN