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"Yeah, fuck Look, if they want Grace, chances are they aren’t giving Shea a pass You need to look out for you and yours Think aboutShea and then you need to watch your six Theseto acco It’s the only thing Get in their way and they’ll take you down I’ Grace with me Let Shea know…Hell, lie to her for now Just tell her Grace is safe and is with me Tell her whatever you have to Between you and me, I don’t kno much Grace has left, but Shea doesn’t need to know that"
"Christ," Sam muttered "Steele and his teae retrieval So they can do in their sleep I expect them back in two days"
"You may not have two days"
"Then we’ll do whatever needs to be done," Sarim, deteret Nathan and Shea the hell out of here"
"Good call c1C;Bla I’ the same with Grace"
There was another distinct pause "Safe journey, Rio If you need backup, you got it Steele will be available in forty-eight hours or so I’ll send Joe and Swanny with Nathan and Shea so they aren’t unprotected, but you know Van, Garrett or Ethan will come to you at a mooing to ground Radio silent I’ll check in when I think it’s safe to do so and not before"
"You don’t fully trust me," Sam said mildly
"I trust you as hed "That doesn’t say a whole lot, you bastard Just don’t get yourself killed"
"You just protect your family," Rio said in a quiet voice "And I’ll protect what’s mine"
GRACE opened her eyes and blinked at the stab of sunlight that shone through a dirtyHer brow furrowed and she squinted, trying to bring her surroundings into focus The last thing she re the last of her strength flee
Where was she now?
She lifted her head, shocked at the effort it took She was in the backseat of an SUV Looking forward, Rio and his team were craled to sit up, and Rio turned in his seat, his gaze freezing her in her tracks
"How are you feeling?" he asked
She eased back down, her breath leaving her in a hard whoosh "I don’t know Let et back to you on that"
He s those dark eyes
"Where are we?" she asked weakly
"We rolled into New Mexico a couple of hours ago Making good tiet into El Paso by sundown"
"What’s in El Paso?"
She shifted and tried to sit up again, but Rio reached over the seat and put his hand on her shoulder "Don’t Just take it easy Lie there and be as still as possible so you’ll heal"
She turned slightly so that she was ain
"As for what’s in El Paso, I have a friend there who’s getting us on a plane to Belize"
Her eyes ide and she stared up at hi open "Belize? Why Belize?"
"My home is there," he said "It’s safe For now We can at least have a place where you can recover until we figure out our next move"
"I don’t have any ID I "
Terrence turned, a wide grin on his face "The kind of transportation we’re taking isn’t exactly American Airlines, if you knohat Iyou for a ticket to board"
"Oh"
Rio slid his fingers over her arm "I don’t want you to worry All I want you to focus on is healing Let us do the rest"
She nodded, realizing she had no other choice She was at these men’s mercy She’d already made her choice to trust them She certainly knehat the other alternative was, and it wasn’t an option At least Rio hadn’t locked her up in some cold, sterile room and forced her to heal like a trained puppet At least not yet
She lowered her head to the seat and closed her eyes Belize It s c Be a frcared her to death to think of going outside the United States It seemed so permanent, like the final nail in a coffin She had no recourse in a foreign country No passport No proof of citizenship What could she possibly do if these men did turn out to be her enemies?
No, she couldn’t dwell on that because her panic was rising with every uys She had to believe that Because if they turned out to be of the same caliber as those who’d kept her prisoner for so many days, it was over for her
Rio shook her awake so realized that she’d fallen back under The vehicle was cloaked in darkness It was also slowing to a stop
"Just stay down, Grace," Rio et up, okay? I just want to check things out here first"
Rio got out of the back of the SUV then o to keep watch over Grace while Alton and Browning took up posts on either side of the truck
Then he walked toward the rickety storage shed that doubled as the "office" for Lazaro’s transport business As soon as he neared, he heard the betraying click of a gun being put off safety
He drew his oeapon and then called out, "It’s un up before you get yourself killed"
There was asound Then the door creaked open and a tall, lanky h the crack
"Rio? That you?"
Rio sighed "Who the fuck else would it be? I called you an hour ago and told you ere close"
Lazaro slipped out, still clutching the shotgun, but he pointed it upward instead of at Rio, a fact Rio was grateful for Lazaro was as ju It wouldn’t take e his weapon
"The plane ready?" Rio asked
Lazaro nodded and jerked a thumb over his shoulder "It’s around back Pilot will be here in five minutes You’ll make an unscheduled, off-the-books stopover in Belize and then the plane will continue on to Peru on a delivery route I’ve already done the paperwork andas you don’t et to Belize, no one should ever know Buddy ofto keep it all hush-hush No record of any plane landing there,