Replica(45)

“Yes, but it will take him several minutes to heal enough to walk.” She lowered next to him, her hands already on his leg, feeling for the break.

Fury rose inside me and I delivered a roundhouse kick to Antonio’s chest, sending him flying onto his back.

I caught him off guard, but he quickly recovered, bouncing off his back and into a squat before rising. So he knew how to fight, but I had already suspected that.

He held his hands out at his sides. “You don’t want to do this, mi amor.”

“I am not your fucking amor.” I circled him, and he watched me, wary but alert.

“Not now, Rachel,” Lea snapped.

“Let them fight,” Ivan grunted, the pain cutting his words. “It’s distracting me from the torture you're putting me through.

“Rachel.” My name sounded sexy and exotic in Antonio’s accent, which I was sure was his intent. “I am not your enemy.”

“You are not my friend. My friend would have set Ivan’s leg instead of stalling our escape for several minutes. My friend wouldn’t be stalling, waiting for someone to come pick us up. Who’s coming, Antonio? The U.S.? The Iraqis? Or perhaps some jihadi group?”

His eyes widened in surprise. “That was not my intent.”

A snap filled the night air and Ivan released a sharp cry of pain.

“He speaks the truth,” Lea said, sounding resigned. How would Lea know that? Because of their work for Victor?

“Bull-fucking-shit he does.” I took advantage of the fact that he was looking at Lea and made my move, kicking him in the chest again. The hit landed, but he reacted quickly enough to grab my leg. I jerked free and followed with a strike to his head, which he blocked. He threw a strike of his own, but I ducked and swept my legs under his. He fell to his back, releasing an “oomph” as he hit the ground.

He was setting us up and I’d let him do it. I straddled his waist and held my blade to his throat. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you now.”

“Because you need me.”

“Like hell we do.”

“Not them. You. There is much you need to know. Things she refuses to tell you.”

“That’s between Lea and me.” But when Lea didn’t contradict him, I wondered if he spoke the truth. I didn’t have time for doubts and indecisions.

A slow grin spread across his face. Was it because he saw the doubt in my eyes? Or because I was on top of him again? “Twice now you have held my own blade at my throat. Should you try a third time, there will be consequences.”

“Let him go.” Lea sounded weary as she climbed to her feet.

I swung my leg away from him and stood, but I still held my blade out in a defensive move. “You’re coming with us.”

He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. “That was the plan all along, mi guerrera.”

If Lea was surprised by my change in tactics, she didn’t let on. But I didn’t trust him not to run off and tattle on us.

“How soon until Ivan can move?”

“Another few minutes.” Lea scanned the horizon. “Which way do we go?”

I pulled out my phone and waited for it to boot up. “The village is to the northeast. We can find a place to stay before sunrise.” I paused. “The sun is brutal here, Lea. You’ll barely make it, even with your full gear. If we want to travel by day, we’ll need a transport truck of some kind. You can ride in the back.”

“How far are we from the facility?”

I shot a glance at Antonio, then back to her. I wasn’t sure we should talk about our plans in front of him. “Hard to say. I need a map. I’m sure I can get one in the village. Someone who lives in the area owes me. Once we get close to the village, I’ll contact him. But it might take a day or so for him to get it together. It depends on where he is and what he’s doing.”

“Who is he?” Antonio asked.

I ignored him, keeping my gaze on Lea.

She nodded. “I’m going to see what I can salvage in the debris, then we’ll go.” She turned her steely gaze on Antonio. “She better be completely unharmed when I return.”

He nodded, looking solemn. “You know I will not harm her.”

I considered protesting—I’d just knocked his ass to the ground mere moments ago—but all four of us knew he’d let me take him.

The question was why.





CHAPTER 21





LEA



I found two silver stakes in the debris, the glimmer of metal beckoning to me through the smoke. I stepped over the pilot’s mangled body. I didn’t think he and his co-pilot made it out. A twinge of remorse cascaded over me, and quickly fled. For those who were looking for us, a couple of bodies would help solidify that the crash might have killed us.