This was becoming more bizarre by the minute. She’d be a fool to trust him. She’d be a fool to trust anyone. Armand was right about one thing, though. She had to play this smart.
If only she could send word to Steele. Or Sam. Or anyone with KGI. What she wouldn’t give for them to storm the compound and get her the hell out of here. If Armand was to be believed and they indeed knew about KGI and, as Mendoza had hinted, that there would be a rescue attempt, then maybe, just maybe she could at least leave a clue for them. Not that she had much to offer in the way of information. But she’d tell them all she could.
Her eyes lighted on the pretty floral stationery on her nightstand. It was a long shot, but it beat doing nothing at all. She grabbed a pen and hastily scribbled a note giving as many details as she knew, which, granted, wasn’t much. She outlined the situation, saying that Mendoza planned to have surgery in Paris and then relocate to an undisclosed location.
She hesitated, not knowing if she should say she was pregnant. She mulled it over before deciding it would serve no purpose to put it down. The last thing she wanted was for Steele to find out this way. It would only make things worse, especially if he and his team were the ones to come in and then find her gone with a note saying she was pregnant.
No, she’d leave that part off and just hope to hell she got the opportunity to tell Steele in person that she carried his child.
After finishing the note, she folded it and slid it underneath the mattress. When it came time to leave, she’d place it under her pillow. It wasn’t likely anyone would find it, but if they did a thorough search of the premises, maybe they’d come across it and maybe it would at least lead them in the right direction.
She had to hold on to that hope, as slim as it was, because it was all she had.
She straightened and put a hand to her belly, staring down as her fingers splayed wide over her stomach.
“I’ll do anything to keep you safe,” she whispered. “Even make a deal with the devil himself.”
CHAPTER 16
STEELE dropped his bag inside the KGI war room and impatiently scanned the room for Sam and Garrett. Their mission had been extended by a few days because of unforeseen complications and he was more than ready to report in and get the hell out. Maren likely thought he’d bailed on her entirely, and he was eager to prove her wrong by returning as he’d promised.
Donovan “Van” Kelly dropped his bag next to Steele’s and rubbed a hand through his hair. Van had gone with them, not surprisingly. The mission had involved recovering two abducted children who had been held for ransom. Van had a soft spot a mile long and a mile wide for women and children, and he participated in every mission having to do with either, but especially kids.
Steele had thought many times that he was surprised Van hadn’t already settled down and had a brood of children. Instead, he was one of only two Kelly brothers who hadn’t married or started having families.
The rest of Steele’s team straggled in behind him and Van. They all looked tired and in need of some downtime. Though Van was notorious for his soft spot for children, the fact was that whenever children were at stake, his team’s emotions became more involved. It was never easy to know they might find the worst when going after a kidnapped child.
Fortunately for them, this time the children had been safely recovered. Their father, a wealthy businessman in New York City, had been targeted, despite his high security measures, and his two children had been kidnapped from school when their nanny had gone with the security detail assigned to the children to pick them up.
The nanny had been shot and was even now in critical condition. One of the guards had taken a bullet to his vest and one of the other men had been killed when he’d attempted to fire on the kidnappers.
It was a clusterfuck from the word go, and the kidnappers had made it clear they’d kill the children in a very bloody fashion if the money wasn’t handed over.
Once Steele, along with Van and his team had retrieved the children, they’d been tied up for days with red tape and the FBI. It chapped Steele’s ass, but only when Adam Resnick, their shadowy CIA contact, had pulled some strings, had the dust settled and Steele’s team been released to go on their way.
The media had a field day, saying a top secret “government” agency specializing in the retrieval of abducted children had been commissioned to go in and take the kidnappers out. Thankfully, the FBI was more than willing to take the credit for the mission. Had it gone wrong, Steele wasn’t under any misconception that they wouldn’t have been quick to point the finger.
But the kids’ father had called in KGI. He knew who had gotten his kids out and he’d paid the hefty fee along with expressing his heartfelt thanks to Steele and his team. Steele shoved off and had let Sam take the gratitude. That wasn’t his thing. He liked it better when he worked in anonymity.
And now, he just wanted to be done with the whole thing so he could take the R and R he’d tried to take before. Only this time, he was going to make it clear that unless the world was going to end, he wasn’t taking a mission for at least a month. An entire month with Maren in Costa Rica? Now that the idea had taken root, he was obsessed with seeing it to the end. He was already imagining their evenings together in her garden. And the nights in her bed.
For the first time ever, he had a place to go after a mission. He had other interests other than retreating to his farmhouse and spending his time in solitude. And he liked it. He was eager to spend time with Maren. If he could only hurry the process along with Sam and Garrett. Maybe he could dump the mission report on Van. He’d been there and had taken just as active a role as Steele or any of his team.