Lethal Deception. Lynette Eason

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

      You’ll think of something. Gabe shuddered and sat down beside Cassidy, ignoring the moisture soaking through the seat of his pants. He had no desire to have that responsibility heaped back on his shoulders. Once he’d been the best; the most trusted leader. And he’d led those men who trusted him right into a death trap. Including his best friend…

      “Let’s go, guys. Follow the plan. We’ve got a drug-cartel-slash-kidnapper to bring down and a little boy to rescue.”

      Normally a SEAL team consisted of six men, himself included. He’d asked for another full team and gotten the all clear. Now he had five on land with him and six in the water—plus one extra, his secret weapon, Micah McKnight. Six men, two from the north, two from the west and two from the south, in camouflage dress, slipped silently up to the hedge that hid the iron fence surrounding the property of Diego Manuel Cruz. The guys on the water had the eastern part of the estate covered. The man had kidnapped his own son to spite the boy’s mother who’d left to raise the child in a different environment, one free of crime and hate. She’d gone to the authorities with enough evidence to lock up Cruz for a long time. Only Cruz had slipped away and grabbed the boy.

      Gabe lifted his hand to signal his men to stop and follow procedure. The South American beach-front home exuded a peace and serenity that Gabe knew covered criminal activity including drugs, human trafficking, arms smuggling and who knew what else.

      He motioned one more time and four of his men broke off to scale the fence surrounding the property line. Two headed to go over the wall perpendicular to the one their comrades were already over. Two others would wait on the Advanced SEAL Delivery Vehicle for the rest to come back. The other four would approach from the water, rising from its depths like a silent sea monster.

      Hopefully they would be Cruz’s worst nightmare.

      Gabe shoved his earpiece farther in his ear and forced himself to breathe normally. Adrenaline raced, and as always, a healthy respect for the unknown edged his consciousness.

      He double-checked the security system. Unarmed. Micah McKnight had done his job. He’d been right to request that Micah join his team this time. No dogs barked. Gavin had accomplished his part of the mission. All that remained was to slip in to the bedroom of the drug lord and—drug him.

      Gabe allowed himself a quick smile at the irony. Only chloroform, not cocaine, was the SEAL choice of drug in this operation. Once drugged, Cruz would be cuffed and brought to the States to stand trial. Of course, the official story would be he was captured on U.S. soil.

      Normally, SEAL teams operated in a more amphibious environment, but their training allowed them to succeed on land, too. In the ASDV, two more SEALs waited in the rocking waters to transport their “guest” back to the States.

      Gabe checked his watch. A voice whispered in his earpiece, “Something not right here, Gabe.”

      Nerves tight, Gabe gripped his Ruger and scanned the perimeter. Nothing moved. Infrared goggles hung around his neck. He picked them up and did another scan. It was quiet. Too quiet. Where were the guards?

      Gabe spoke into the microphone that would transmit his voice to all twelve men, “Get out. If it doesn’t feel right, it’s not. Get out now. Micah, you got the kid?”

      “Affirmative.” Micah’s husky voice reached his ear two seconds before the explosions that rocked the ASDV, then seconds later the house, rocked Gabe’s world. One minute, he had twelve experienced men on his team, the next minute, he had twelve dead friends—and a dead child. Gabe had been SEAL number thirteen….

      “So, have you come up with anything yet?”

      Gabe crashed back to his current surroundings. He shuddered, focused on the quiet voice and opened his eyes.

      Cassidy.

      He looked at his watch. “We’ve been here for about ten minutes. Long enough.”

      Thankfully, she didn’t ask him what he’d been thinking about and they were able to move out with Gabe acting like a rogue scout, backtracking, then catching up, moving ahead, then making his way back. Finally, they broke through the jungle, and the Amazon Orphanage sat in front of them. High, thick adobe walls surrounded the perimeter. Closed and locked, the iron gates looked like the prison bars of a jail.

      Cassidy’s hushed voice broke the silence. “I don’t see anyone, but I don’t think we should go in the front. I bet the reason you didn’t see them behind us is because they know I’ll come back here for Alexis. It might be a bit of a stretch, but I think I know another way in.”

      Gabe agreed and Cassidy took the lead. She made her way around to the side wall of the orphanage then stepped up to one of the trees that grew alongside the west wall. She gestured. “Climb up and over into the playground, then we can go in the side door. At least there are no nails spiked up on the wall at this orphanage.” Some orphanages used them for added security. She rubbed her hands together and