Enticed by the Operative (Doctors in Danger, Book 1) (14 page)

“I just want to double-check the mattress.” He was probably being paranoid, but better to be safe than sorry.

Olivia obligingly hopped off the bed and helped him flip the mattress over. Logan peeled off the tape and stuck his hand into the stuffing. He groped blindly, his guts turning to water as he realized what he was feeling. Or rather, what he
wasn’t
feeling.

The drugs were gone.

CHAPTER 13

A
lejandro darted through the undergrowth, his breath coming fast as he ran along the forest path. His heart was still beating hard from adrenaline and there was a flat, metallic taste in his mouth. He wanted badly to stop for a drink of water, but he didn’t dare take the time. The man was waiting for him, and he was not a patient person.

Part of him felt bad—the doctor had been really nice to him. She was the only person who had looked at him like he was normal, despite his broken lip. Everyone else stared at him at best, or laughed and pointed at worst. None of the other kids wanted to play with him, but that was okay because he had a job. A real, grown-up job, which was more than the other kids could say.

He was still impressed at the way the man had known exactly where he should look for the packages. It had taken a few minutes to figure out how he was going to get them—the mattress had been too heavy for him to lift by himself. But he’d fit under the bed easily, and after that, it hadn’t taken long to get the wrapped bundles.

His stomach cramped as he relived his time under the bed, convinced the doctor was going to walk in the room at any moment. But then he’d heard the noises coming from the bathroom, and his fear was replaced by a sense of awkward embarrassment. He’d heard those sounds before and knew what they meant.

Still, he hadn’t lingered. He’d shoved the bundles into his bag and crept out of the apartment, his guilt fading as he thought of how happy the man would be to see him. How much would he pay for this job? Enough for him to keep a little for himself, so he could buy a treat?

He didn’t begrudge giving his earnings to Mama, especially now that his little sister was here. She was a tiny, pink little thing, but she took all of Mama’s attention, which meant it was up to him to provide, at least for now. And he was proud to do it.

His lungs burned, but he was almost there. Just a few more yards...

Alejandro burst into the clearing and stopped, bending over to put his hands on his knees. He gulped air for a moment, then lifted his head and glanced around.

The man stepped out of the trees and beckoned him forward. Alejandro felt a flock of birds take flight in his stomach, but he marched forward, head held high. He knew better than to show fear in front of the boss.

“Do you have them?” The man puffed on a cigarette, the gray smoke curling up out of his lips when he spoke.

Alejandro nodded and pulled his bag off his shoulder, then opened it and withdrew the packages.

The boss nodded. “Good.” He took the bag, but Alejandro didn’t protest the loss. He could buy another with his earnings.

The man dug into his pocket and withdrew a thick fold of bills. Without really looking, he peeled several off the top and held them out. Alejandro reached for them, but the man didn’t let go right away.

“You know the rules, yes?” He stared hard at Alejandro, and the boy fought the urge to squirm.

“I know nothing,” he said.

It was the expected response, and the boss released his grip on the money. He reached out and ruffled his hand through Alejandro’s hair. “Good work. Go home now. Tell your mother I will see her again soon.”

Alejandro nodded and stuffed the bills into his pocket, next to the cell phone the boss had given him. Then he turned and ran, eager to get back to the safety of home.

* * *

“Dr. Sandoval?”

Olivia looked up to see Daniela hovering in the doorway, staring at her in concern.
Oh, God. What now?
She was barely holding it together today—one more crisis would put her over the edge.

“Is everything all right? I have been calling you for the past few minutes.” Daniela took a step into the room, and Olivia was filled with the sudden, desperate urge to tell her everything. Maybe Daniela would have some flash of insight that had eluded her and Logan. After all, she knew this area better than anyone—perhaps she could tell them about the local players in the drug trade, give them some idea of who could possibly have stolen the packages. Someone, somewhere had to know
something
!

But Olivia knew it was a futile hope. Besides, she couldn’t put another person in danger.

“I’m sorry,” she replied, squelching her despair lest it show on her face. “I must have drifted off and didn’t hear you.”

“That’s okay.” Relief passed over Daniela’s features as she accepted the excuse. “I only wanted to know if you were ready for a lunch break.”

“That sounds nice. I’m almost done here.”

Daniela nodded. “Very good. Should I bring something for your friend?” she asked delicately.

“Please do. He’ll be along shortly.” Right now, he was back at the apartment talking to the DEA, but Daniela didn’t need to know that. “Logan had to make a few calls to his business partners this morning.”

“Ah. Do you know if they are going to fund your trip next year?”

Olivia was taken aback by the question, and it took a moment for her to remember that was Logan’s cover story for being with her. “I’m not certain,” she stammered, turning back to her patient. “It would certainly be nice.” She fumbled to apply a bandage, wishing Daniela would drop the subject. All the local staff was giddy at the prospect that Logan’s company would donate money and supplies—they were practically counting the number of additional patients they could help. How was Olivia going to tell them that wasn’t going to happen? It was just one more thing for her to worry about, and she felt like the lowest of the low for getting their hopes up in the first place.

The teenage boy in front of her squirmed uncomfortably, and Olivia realized she’d wrapped the bandage too tight. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, unwrapping the gauze and starting over.

Daniela excused herself and Olivia waved absently in her direction.
Focus!
she chided herself. Her patients deserved her full and undivided attention, but try as she might, Olivia couldn’t stop worrying. Where were the drugs? Who had taken them? More important, how could she get them back?

Her mind conjured up Avery and Mallory as she’d last seen them, relaxed and laughing as they enjoyed their girls’ weekend. If she didn’t bring home the drugs... A sudden, intense wave of nausea hit her and she swallowed hard to keep her earlier cup of coffee down. She didn’t dare think about what the cartel would do to her friends. If she let her brain go down that path, she wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it, and no good could come of imagining the terrible price they would pay for her failure.

“All done,” she said, attempting to smile at her patient. The young man’s eyes widened a bit, and Olivia realized her smile was not as reassuring as she’d intended. He hopped off the bed with a muttered “Thanks” and made for the door, no doubt eager to get away from her. Not that she blamed him. In her present mood, she wasn’t good company for anyone.

She began to clean up the wrappers and other detritus left behind. This room was running low on gauze and tape, two things that were in constant demand. There was a lull in patients right now, so she might as well take this opportunity to restock. No telling when she’d get another chance. Besides, it gave her something productive to do and would hopefully help keep her mind occupied.

It took only a few moments to make a list of all the supplies she needed to bring back. Olivia stepped into the hall, shutting the door quietly behind her. She didn’t want to leave the remaining supplies unattended for long—staff from other floors of the hospital tended to raid these rooms when she was in town, wanting to use the materials she brought for their own benefit. She didn’t blame them. This was a resource-poor area, so the people were quick to take advantage of any influx of new items.

The supply closet—it wasn’t big enough to really call it a room—was located down the hall. Olivia fished the keys out of her pocket and stepped inside, grateful for the cool darkness of the windowless space. She took a deep breath and pressed her forehead against one of the metal shelves, closing her eyes. It was tempting, so tempting, to just shut the door and forget about the rest of the world. But Logan would be done with his calls soon and would wonder where she was. Hopefully he and the DEA had come up with a solution, or at least an idea of what they should do now. As long as they could keep Avery and Mallory safe... Her stomach cramped and she took another deep breath, trying to relax. Throwing up in here would not improve the space.

The surge of nausea passed quickly and she began to search the shelves for the items she needed. While she worked, her thoughts kept turning over in her mind as she sought answers to a seemingly endless number of questions.

Who had taken the drugs? It had to be someone who knew she had them, but who could that be? The only person Olivia had spoken to about them, aside from Logan, was Maria. She hadn’t seen Maria since she’d delivered her baby, and it was highly unlikely the woman had found out where Olivia was staying, sneaked into the apartment and stolen the drugs herself. But she could have told someone else about the pickup...

What was the point, though? Logan had told her that the price of cocaine in Colombia was a fraction of what it was worth in the United States. Still, money was tight for a lot of people. Had someone stolen the drugs so they could sell them and keep the cash? It was possible. But she didn’t know enough about the drug trade in town to have any guesses as to who might be guilty, and that wasn’t exactly the kind of conversation she could have without raising a lot of suspicions.

One thing was clear—whoever had taken the drugs clearly hadn’t meant her any harm. She and Logan had been sitting ducks in the shower. The thought made her face flush as she recalled exactly
what
they’d been doing there. Needless to say, they’d been totally oblivious to the outside world. Someone could have burst into the bathroom, guns blazing, and neither one of them would have been able to do anything about it. But that hadn’t happened. Whoever had stolen the drugs had been careful to leave no signs of their presence. If she hadn’t made the comment about not being able to feel the bundles, it was unlikely they would have realized the theft until much later. That meant whoever did this wanted it to be a secret. So should she pretend like nothing had happened, or should they search for the culprit?

Both options had merit, she mused, scanning the shelves for large gauze squares. Whoever took the drugs was bound to still be watching. If she acted like nothing was wrong, it might cause the thief to relax and make a mistake. If she and Logan were to respond, it would certainly blow his cover. That could mean all sorts of problems, and since they still had nine days to go before the end of the trip, it might make things difficult, to say the least.

But if they could somehow search quietly... Maybe it was possible for them to find out who had done this without being too obvious. Logan would have a better idea of just how to do that. Where was he? Why was it taking so long for him to talk to his fellow agents?

Footsteps sounded in the hallway, a steady, confident stride coming closer. That had to be him. Relief washed over her, and she poked her head into the hall to flag him down.

But it wasn’t Logan headed her way. It was Juan Pablo, and his face broke out into a wide smile when he saw her. “Olivia!” He quickened his pace and took her hands in his own, then leaned forward to kiss her cheeks. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” she replied, dodging to the side to avoid his lips. She fought to keep the disappointment out of her voice and off her face. It wasn’t Juan Pablo’s fault that she wasn’t in the mood to see him. On previous trips, they’d spent a lot of time together treating patients and hanging out with the other nurses after hours. But after her last visit, she’d gotten the impression Juan Pablo wanted more from her than just friendship. That feeling had intensified when she’d noticed the tension between him and Logan, and in an effort to defuse the situation, she’d kept her distance from Juan Pablo. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she also didn’t want him to think there was a chance of anything romantic happening between them.

“I haven’t seen you much,” he chided. “Have you been avoiding me?”

Yes.
She pasted on a smile. “Just very busy. I’ve been seeing lots of patients.”

“I know—they all want to be treated by the best.”

Please don’t say nice things to me.
She already felt bad enough at having to let him down—his heartfelt praise only made her feel worse. “That’s very kind of you to say.”

“Olivia.” He waited for her to look at him, and when she did she felt a little shock. There was a gravity to his dark brown eyes that she’d never seen before. Juan Pablo was normally an easygoing guy. But his expression had shifted now into something quite serious.

“I am worried about you,” he said, genuine concern in his voice. “You don’t seem like yourself. You are quiet, more withdrawn. Is something wrong?”

She began to shake her head reflexively, the denial an automatic response. But he lifted his hand, forestalling her reply.

“Please. You know I consider you to be a friend. I hope you feel the same way about me. You can tell me if something is bothering you.”

He was being so considerate, something she didn’t deserve in light of the way she’d avoided him over the past few days. His worry for her brought tears to her eyes, and she blinked away the sting. He was truly her friend, but she couldn’t tell him everything. A few hurt feelings were a small price to pay for keeping him off the cartel’s radar.

“I’m fine,” she said. His brown eyes filled with skepticism. “Truly, I am. I’m just worried.”

He cocked his head to the side, inviting her confidence. The truth was on the tip of her tongue, but she settled for a little misdirection instead. “It’s hard to come here and know that I can only help a few people, when there are so many in need.”

Juan Pablo nodded in understanding. “I know. That is a frustration we all share.” He took a step closer, and she felt the warmth radiating off his body. “But I think there is something more?”

She shifted uncomfortably, mentally cursing her inability to conceal her emotions. “It’s nothing.”