Dire Distraction Read online

  “A fan of Westerns or Western history?” he asked.

  “History.” She shot him another grin, obviously pleased that he’d gotten the reference. “My dad is a huge fan of all things involving the Wild West. The hole-in-the-wall gang and their infamous hideout landing somewhere close to the top of the list. Anyway, Shrum’s place is every bit as inaccessible as the Wyoming pass was.”

  “So how do you propose we get in without risking someone trying to stop us?”

  “Two choices,” she said as they clambered across a fallen tree trunk. “We can go in arms raised, and hope Shrum’s sentimental about the old days. Or we can try an alternative route through a cavern just to the south of the entrance. It’s narrow, but there’s a passage through. I imagine it’ll be guarded, but less heavily so.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t count on Martin’s rolling out the red carpet. For me or for you.” He’d meant it as a quip, but somehow it came out sounding more accusatory than he’d intended.

  She whipped around. “I told you I was sorry.”

  “I know.” He lifted his hands in supplication. “I was trying to make a joke.”

  She studied him for a moment, eyes still flashing, and then nodded with a little laugh. “I guess maybe I need to chill out a little. It’s just that the last time I was here there wasn’t a happy ending.”

  “So we’ll go through the cavern and hopefully find Shrum before he has the chance to counter our attack. Unless he’s truly hiding something monumental, he’s got no reason to kill me without at least having a conversation.”

  “Famous last words.” She moved forward again, pushing aside the arcing leaves from fledgling palms.

  “Don’t I know it,” Avery said, wondering, not for the first time, if he was on a fool’s errand. But the only way to know for certain was to confront Shrum. It was what it was. Foolish or otherwise. “So when Martin tried to recruit you—I take it didn’t go well.”

  She was silent for a moment as she fought with another vine and then pushed it aside. “At first it was fairly routine. His people just kept approaching me with various offers. And I kept turning them down. I thought it actually might have been a good way for me to gain inside information into the drug trade, but the powers-that-be felt otherwise.”

  “But he wasn’t interested in taking no for an answer.”

  “Got it in one. In fact, he was damn persistent. Or at least his people were. Shrum rarely ventures out of his fortress. Better to rule from a distance and let others do the dirty work. Anyway, first with offers of money and protection. And then with threats.”

  Avery felt himself tense at the thought that Shrum might have hurt her. “Physically?”

  “Not specifically, no. But they sabotaged my boat a couple of times. And they cornered me in the bar one night.”

  Avery tightened a fist even though there was no one to confront, but held his tongue. Sydney was more than capable of taking care of herself, and besides they were talking about the past.

  “It wasn’t much fun, but suffice it to say I managed to hold my own.”

  “Did you report it to your superiors?”

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  “Meaning no.”

  “I told them there was pressure. But not the specifics. I’ve worked very hard to be accepted as a female operative in this part of the world. And part of that has meant handling things on my own. Crying out for help would have just given them an excuse to send my ass home.”

  He wanted to tell her she was wrong, but he knew it wouldn’t be the truth. “Had I been in your shoes, I probably would have done the same.”

  “The salient point is that you couldn’t have been in my shoes.” Again she shot him a smile. “Anyway, I thought I’d handled things. But then one night, I caught two of Shrum’s henchmen on my boat. Only this time they weren’t trying to disable it. They were seeding it with drugs. Stolen ones.”

  “Trying to get you in trouble with one of the other cartels.”

  “Wai Yen’s actually. Had I been caught, it would have meant a death sentence. But fortunately, I was able to take care of things.”

  “Meaning what?” he asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

  “I didn’t have a choice. I took them out. And then Tim helped me dispose of the bodies and the drugs.”

  “And then he decided to take matters into his own hands.” They moved carefully across a tumble of stones, monkeys shrieking over their heads.

  “Yeah. Pretty much,” she agreed. “He already had a bead on Shrum and the authorization to deal with the situation as deemed necessary. If he’d told me what he was going to do…” She trailed off, hacking viciously at a sapling at the edge of scree.

  “You probably couldn’t have stopped him. It’s in our nature to protect, I’m afraid. Especially when someone we love is threatened.”

  She stopped, the broken tree falling to the side, her words almost a whisper. “I didn’t ask for him to love me.”

  “I’m afraid that’s not the way it works.” He wished there were something more that he could say, but it wasn’t anything he could fix. He knew from personal experience that Sydney had to deal with her demons on her own. “Anyway, all I’m saying is that even if he’d told you, you couldn’t have stopped him.”

  “I know, but I can’t help playing devil’s advocate. Basically, what if–ing myself to death.”

  “Been there and done that. So I understand how hard it is to turn it off. But I also know that there’s nothing to be gained in second guessing our decisions. Especially the ones that can’t be altered.”

  “Like forbidding your wife to go into Iraq?” She was moving again, her tone taking any sting out of her words. Besides, everyone had their crosses to bear.

  “Exactly. And I wasn’t implying that I’d managed to do it. Just that it was important to try. So what happened? With Tim and Shrum, I mean.”

  “According to his people, he had credible intel that Shrum was going to be on his own at the compound. And that Tim would be able to get in and out, using the caverns, without any problem. But apparently it was all a ruse. They were waiting for him. He didn’t stand a chance.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not the one who needs the sympathy.”

  “Tim is dead, whatever you believe or don’t believe about an afterlife, he’s past caring about what happened.”

  “Makes me envious.” She blew out a breath and then shook her head. “Look, I know it’s all in the past. And I know that taking out Shrum isn’t going to bring Tim back. Or change the way things were between us. So you really don’t have to worry about me going rogue or anything.”

  “I wasn’t worried. I just care.” And the minute the words were out of his mouth, he knew that, as preposterous as it seemed, she had come to mean a great deal to him in a very short period of time.

  She turned to face him, emotions chasing across her face that he wasn’t about to try to name. “I actually believe you’re serious.”

  “Of course I am.” For a minute they stood, the implication of their exchange not lost on either of them.

  Then with the tiniest of smiles, Sydney turned back to the jungle. “It’s not much farther,” she said, the formality of her tone sending a clear message that heart-to-heart time was over. Which was just as well, since there was no fucking way he was in a position to answer the question reflected in her eyes. Not while there was a chance that Evangeline was still alive.

  Chapter 8

  Syd fought against the ripple of joy Avery’s words had instigated. Despite the heat of the moment, she knew better. He was married. And even if it turned out that Evangeline was truly dead, the man still wore her ring, for heaven’s sake.

  And besides, if she truly cared about the man, and God help her she did, then she had to hope that they found Evangeline alive. It was an unselfish thought, and she tried to talk herself into believing that all she wanted was Avery’s happiness. But in truth, she wasn’t a saint.
Far from it. And so her brain insisted on trotting out other images, other possibilities.

  She sighed, pushing aside her errant thoughts. There was nothing to be gained in imagining a future that could never be. Even if he were available, there were a million reasons why it wouldn’t work. She was just caught up in the magnetism of the man.

  Behind her, Avery swore as he fought to free himself from a thorny vine, and Syd swallowed a smile. Maybe he was just a mortal after all.

  “You okay?” she called over her shoulder.

  “Fine,” he groused. “Just some minor scratches. Damn thing didn’t want to let go. So we’re close?”

  “Almost there,” she replied, looking down at the GPS reading on her watch. “The trees are already starting to thin a bit. There should be a lichen-covered rock next to a tree coming up on our right.”

  “So you were here?” Avery asked. “After Tim was killed?”

  “Not in the cavern itself. But I was part of the team that found his body. Or what was left of it.” She shuddered at the memory, the image branded forever in her brain. “They strung him up. As a warning, I suppose. Fortunately, they assure me, he was already dead. But still it wasn’t pretty.”

  “I wish there were something I could say that would make the memory easier, but there isn’t. Was there any effort at retaliation?”

  “No. My cover was still in place. And everyone felt it was better to keep it that way. It allowed for our continued efforts to monitor the drug trafficking in the area.” She tried to keep her voice matter-of-fact, but it was difficult, her mind swimming with memories.

  “But you didn’t agree with the decision.”

  “On a practical level, sure, I got it. Above all else, maintain the operation. But from a personal level, I felt like Tim deserved better.”

  “So how long ago was this?” Avery asked, as they slowed to move around another fallen tree.

  “Almost two months. So I guess it’s still pretty fresh.”

  “And has Shrum hassled you any further?”

  “Not that I can prove. But someone messed with the motor of my boat a few days ago. Nothing I couldn’t fix, but it did force me to land on the Myanmar side.”

  “But nothing happened?” They moved past the last of the tree and its foliage, correcting their course accordingly.

  “Actually, yeah, I had a run-in with a local, but he wasn’t really interested in trading information.” She consulted her watch again and cut sharply to the right. “One of my tourists got itchy feet while I was trying to repair the boat. He headed for an abandoned temple nearby, and by the time I caught up with him, the local guy had him at gunpoint.”

  “Kidnapping attempt.”

  “Considering that the tourist was still alive, I’m thinking yes. Although it never occurred to me that he could have been looking for me. He did try to take both of us away with him.”

  “Try being the operative word, I’m assuming.” She could hear the smile in Avery’s voice.

  “Yeah. I managed to get the gun away from him and then knock him out. We ran for the boat and thankfully made a clean getaway.”

  “And if I’m guessing right, he’s most likely out there somewhere nursing a hell of a headache and waiting for payback.”

  “Probably.”

  “And if he does work for Shrum—”

  “Then that makes me even more of a liability,” she finished for him.

  “Not if I have anything to do with it,” Avery said, his voice sounding gruff with anger. “But we’ll have to play it carefully if we want your cover to stay intact.”

  “To hell with that. The only thing that matters right now is getting you safely to Shrum and to the truth.” Sydney pulled up short as the trees cleared slightly. In the open space a yellow-and-green-covered boulder sat at the foot of a large teak tree.

  “Is this it?” Avery asked, coming to stand beside her.

  She nodded, her eyes welling with tears as her memory trotted out the vision of Tim hanging from the branches. Avery reached out, his big hand covering her shoulder, his warmth seeping into her, helping her to pull away from the pain.

  “I’m sorry about your friend.”

  “I know. Me, too. He was a good guy.” Guilt cut through her, and she wished again that things could have been different.

  “It’s a risk we all take.” Avery’s voice carried a note of hard truth, but he kept his hand on her shoulder, his touch somehow making the words more palatable.

  “Yeah, but it doesn’t make it any easier to lose someone.”

  “No. I don’t think anything can prepare us for that. But what we can do is honor them in the best way we can—by doing our jobs well.”

  “Which means finding Shrum and taking him down.”

  “Metaphorically speaking.” He smiled at her, the warmth easing her pain. “But in order to do that we’re going to need to locate this cavern of yours.”

  Fifteen minutes later, they were no closer to finding it. Despite Sydney’s coordinates, the rock-studded hillside had stubbornly refused to produce anything at all that looked like an opening.

  “It’s got to be here somewhere,” she said, pushing her sweat-damp hair out of her face. “We’re just not seeing it.”

  “Could be that Shrum had it destroyed if he realized that Tim had found it.”

  “It’s possible. It’s definitely where Tim was headed, but you saw where we found his body.”

  “Placed for maximum impact, I suspect. Not just for you but for other drug lords.”

  “It makes sense, I suppose. Even if Shrum’s not a major player, he probably thinks he is. Or at least he has designs on climbing the ladder.”

  “And if he’s got to keep a strong force on the main entrance to his compound, he might not want to expend an equal number on his back door. Especially now that it’s no longer a secret. Better to just close it once and for all.”

  As if to underscore his words, the trees ahead of them parted, and a stark wall of fallen rock filled the path in front of them.

  “Looks like you’re right.” Sydney sighed, frustration welling.

  Avery bent, ran a hand across the rocks at his feet, then lifted his fingers to his nose. “I can smell powder residue. Someone definitely blew these rocks.”

  “So now what?” Sydney asked. “We’re back to walking in waving the white flag?”

  “I don’t think we’re quite ready to go there yet.” He pushed to his feet, dusting his palms against his pants legs. “Although under the circumstances, it’s still got to be an option. But let’s move closer to the main entrance first and do a little reconnoitering.”

  Half an hour later, they’d made their way to the rocks guarding the entrance to Shrum’s compound. Two outcroppings of limestone and granite stood sentry to an opening that was barely more than a crevice.

  “Welcome to the front door,” Sydney said, from the shelter of the copse of ferns and saplings they’d chosen for cover.

  “I’m not seeing movement,” Avery replied, lifting his field glasses for a closer look.

  “My intel puts the main force on the other side. A guardhouse, usually with three or four men. It’s set back from the entrance a bit.” She reached into one of their bags and produced the schematic she’d brought with her. “This isn’t verified, of course, but from what we could see, this is the basic layout.”

  The passageway was indeed narrow, stretching about fifty feet before opening out into the narrow canyon that housed Strum’s compound. Horseshoe-shaped, the canyon was surrounded by rocky hills lined with ancient trees, the jungle almost obscuring where the canyon ended and the hills began.

  The outpost itself sat at the end of the canyon. A semicircle of stone buildings. Aside from the guardhouse just beyond the opening, there appeared to be no additional fortifications. Only a clearing through the trees and a rough road that led back to Shrum’s compound.

  “Two of us, four of them. Not bad odds.”

  Sydney couldn’t help but s
mile. Avery had cojones. She had to give him that. “Unfortunately there’s more,” she said, sobering as she continued. “There are another two guards patrolling the perimeter out here. And on top of that, two more out here somewhere, on point. Keeping watch.”

  “My money is on the trees.” He nodded up at the towering coconut palms as well as the ancient teaks. “It’d be easy enough to set a sniper up there. If not that, then maybe the rocks themselves.”

  Sydney shot a look at the outcroppings. One of them stood almost erect on its own, like a dagger thrusting fifteen or more feet out of the earth. The other folded into the surrounding hills, making it seem more like a half-buried statue. But like the first, it rose high into the surrounding trees.

  Vines laced their way up both sides, leaving the rock moisture-slick and shining in the half-light. The roots of an ancient banyan tree curled around the base of one outcropping like a python squeezing its dinner. And the branches of a mahogany tree arched down over the opening like a shield.

  “What about up there somewhere?” She pointed toward the rocky sentries. “Seems like that’d be a good spot for a sniper too.”

  “Roger that.” He lowered the glasses and handed them to her. “I’m not seeing any movement at all. Have a look and see if you can find something.”

  She lifted the binoculars to her eyes and scanned first the surrounding treetops and then the outcroppings. Besides the undulation of leaves and branches and the never ending patter of the rain, there was nothing visible.

  “I don’t see anything either, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not there.”

  As if to refute the statement, something shifted and caught the dappled light, reflecting for a moment. Sunlight on metal.

  “Wait,” Sydney said with a frown. “Over there, between the mahogany and the rocks.” She handed him the glasses, her gaze still fixed on the spot just above the opening. For a moment, there was nothing. And then again, there it was, a quick flash.