Operation Date With Destiny (11 page)

“
You should have told me, before—
”
h
e stopped.
Froze, more like it.
Before what?
He saw her asking and was busy asking himself the same question
.
B
efore I started liking you…not just lusting after you—genuinely, liking you. Damn it
!
“
You just should have told me,
”
he growled, then dropped her arm, and glared right back at her.

“
It makes no difference.
”

“
It makes
all
the difference. We
’
re going into this thing blind—what else haven
’
t you told us?
”

“
You
’
re forgetting something, Tupperoni…you are not the one in charge here. I am. I don
’
t have to tell you anything.
”

“
You learn that in Army Intelligence School or somethin
’
?
”
Tupper drawled, enjoying the slight widening of her eyes in surprise.
“
Yep, I know all about you, Destiny.
”

“
You know
Jack
,
about me,
”
she
shot back
and her voice was low and flat
. T
hat tired, lost look
,
shadow
ed
her expression once more, making him want to take her away from all this shit and back to someplace safe, clean and private.

“
How did they get your brother?
”
Tupper heard her soft curse as she stared at him in disbelief. While he had every right to feel smug holding all the cards right now, he didn
’
t. What he felt was a gut clenching desire to help her. To fix this mess.
To protect her
.

“
How did you find out about that?
”

“
Darlin
’
you
’
re not the only one with their own line of intel. Now, how did Tre
’
ago get hold of your brother?
”

“
You know so much—you tell me,
”
she snapped,
turning
to walk away.

“
Not so fast. You
’
re telling me and the guys everything …right now or we don
’
t go a step further.
”

Chapter
Seven

Destiny Swore.

This was exactly why she
’
d kept the real reason to herself all this time. Now they were at a stalemate. She
’
d had
his balls in a vice after setting him up with the drugs back in Manila
,
but
now thanks to his nosing around he
’
d discovered her weak spot and he could use it to manipulate
her
.

God damn it to hell!

Jackson
’
s life was more important right now than anything—revenge, justice or loyalty. There was nothing she wouldn
’
t do—no boundary she wouldn
’
t overstep to get him back. And now she was being put in a position where the power was being tilted out of her
favor
and Jackson
’
s fate was hanging in the balance.

She
grudgingly
accompanied
Johnny
back to where his men sat around their camp. She was not happy about this turn of events at all. She
’
d known everything about this whole deal could go bad at any point—but having come this far, she
’
d almost believed it
would somehow
hold together. Oh how wrong she
’
d been to believe that.

“
Spill it. All of it,
”
Johnny said, standing before her, arms folded across his chest, legs planted firmly on the ground
as he
wait
ed
patiently.

“
Two weeks ago
I got a phone call that my parents had
been killed in a car accident,
”
she told them briskly. The memories of that dreaded call still made her feel like throwing up. That alone had been enough of a shock to deal with
,
but when her thoughts had immediately gone to her brother and she
’
d
asked about his whereabouts
,
the line had gone alarmingly quiet. No one had found a kid either on the scene or back at the house. He
’
d simply vanished. That
’
s when she knew Tre
’
ago had her brother.

“
Tre
’
ago had my parents killed and kidnapped my brother. I managed to track him down to
here
. This is where his head of security
, a guy named Bart Rothman,
keeps an eye on his drug manufacturing lab.
”

“
Tre
’
ago
’
s
in prison—he
’
s got a life sentence. How the hell does he still run a drug ring from his cell?
”
Del asked.

Destiny gave a bitter snort.
“
He
’
s got people planted everywhere. He knew his time was running out when you guys turned up alive after he thought
he
’
d pinned you with that weapons heist seven years ago. You were supposed to be
dead
. That
’
s when
he prepared for the worst. He owns people and he
’
s smart. He
’
s got money hidden in bank accounts all over the world. The IRS will never be able to track down half of what he has.
”

Del
’
s eyes narrowed.
“
If you know so much why haven
’
t you gone to the authorities and told them?
”

“
Because I don
’
t have any evidence to give them. I only found out about this place when I came over to see if I could find Jackson myself. That
’
s when I discovered the drug lab. I
recognized
the man in charge as my…as Tre
’
ago
’
s head of security.
”

“
I don
’
t get it—
”
Johnny
shook his head.
“
—how does he keep people on the payroll? Why don
’
t they just take off with his money? He
’
s in prison—he
’
s never getting out. What
’
s to keep them working for him?
”

“
Like I said…he owns them. He does what he did with Jackson—steels the people they love and holds them for ransom—or kills whoever isn
’
t useful to him anymore. Most people—especially the people around here
,
are so frightened of him and so poor, they have no choice
but
to work for him. It makes no difference if he
’
s in prison or not. Tre
’
ago is a powerful man who knows how to keep people loyal to him…through fear.
”

“
So back up a bit. Why did he kidnap your brother? It
’
s not even his kid right? And why kill your parents?
”
Johnny said.

“
That
’
s not the issue here. Getting Jackson out of that place ASAP is what
’
s important. So let
’
s just cut the chit chat and do what we came here to do.
”
She went to turn away but
Johnny
caught her arm again.
“
I would suggest you stop doing that if you want to keep your limbs intact,
”
she bit out through tightly clenched teeth.

“
What aren
’
t you telling us?
”

“
If you want to clear your name—stop asking questions and do your job.
”
She shook off his hold and hoped the four Marines didn
’
t detect the fragile thread that seemed to be
unraveling
at an alarming rate inside her.
Just hold it together girl for a little while longer
,
she told herself firmly.

****

Tupper knew she was hiding something more…although he wasn
’
t quite sure he could handle any more surprises right now anyway—but he
’
d figure it out sooner or later.

“
I guess the big question is do we trust her?
”
Tate
asked
quietly, voicing what everyone
else
was thinking.

“
She seems legit—I mean if the kid is being held in that compound—then it would explain her big hurry to push this along,
”
Maloney shrugged.

“
Willow
’
s going to keep digging and see what else she can find,
”
Del said as they sat scattered around their camp making last minute preparations to their kit and getting a few minutes shuteye.
“
If anyone can get to the bottom of it—it
’
ll be my wife,
”
he added dryly.

“
One thing I know for sure—after this is all over—I
’
m going to make sure Tre
’
ago is dealt with once and for all,
”
Tate grated, snapping a broken twig between his fingers absently.

For far too long, Tre
’
ago had been a ghost
,
hovering on the fringes of their lives—waiting for the opportunity to strike. None of them had still considered him a threat until now. It was a sobering thought, that after all this time they
’
d let their guard down and he could have struck. Well not now—now
that
they had a heads up, they could do something about it. Who knows
? Maybe
this prior warning about Tre
’
ago
could
have saved their lives. Maybe somehow this whole disaster had actually been a blessing in disguise…

****

It was still dark when they began moving out from camp.

Destiny followed the men—moving swiftly yet soundlessly through the heavy vegetation as they made their way towards the compound. When they reached the place Pon and his men would part and divide to take up their positions on the other side, Destiny gave her friend a smile and told him to be careful. Pon looked as though he wanted to say something more—but must have decided against it, instead
,
summoning a smile and reaching out to touch her cheek softy
.
She
saw his gaze move to a point somewhere behind her and the smile melted from his face as he turned away to be swallowed up by the jungle.

A few seconds later Johnny appeared by her side staring in the direction Pon had gone with a rigid frown lingering on his face.
“
Do not leave this spot until we get back,
”
he said, turning his attention back to her once the last of Pons men had left them.

“
Excuse me?
”
s
he said
,
to his back as he began to walk away.

“
You heard me,
”
he said without stopping.

Destiny followed him back to the men who were grouped around a
map spread out before them.
“
I
’
m
going in there with you,
”
she corrected a lot more calmly than she felt inside.