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“Darling.” Hadley’s lips twisted in an ugly sneer. “Look at you. In a right mess because of a woman.”
Ryder couldn’t help it. He took his eyes off Hadley long enough to hold Nathalie’s stare. Tell her with his eyes what he’d been too reticent to say out loud.
I love you.
“She’s worth it.”
Nathalie’s eyes glistened. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t say it back. He knew she loved him, and if they got out of this alive, he’d spend the rest of his life making sure he earned that love.
He turned his focus back to Hadley. “Did she give you the rest of her software design?”
“She did.”
“Then let her go. Keep me as your hostage.”
Arrogance coated Hadley’s laugh and set Ryder’s teeth on edge. “I’ll bet the Earl of Cannington would pay a pretty penny to get his son and heir back, wouldn’t he? It’s a tempting offer, but she’s easier to handle and worth more to the Americans than you are. As long as I have her, I have your—and their—cooperation.”
There was no way in hell Ryder was letting Hadley disappear with Nathalie. “What do you propose?”
“A small plane that will take off from Reagan National, unmolested, and unescorted, to Cuba. Once we land, I get off and it can return your lovely bird here to Washington.” Hadley’s brows lifted in a knowing look. “I’m betting between her godfather and you, we can make it happen.”
“If you know who her godfather is, then you also know if anything happens to her, there won’t be anywhere on this earth you can hide,” Ryder vowed.
A vein throbbed in Hadley’s forehead. He stepped behind Nathalie and pressed his gun to her temple.
Ryder’s body jerked before he could control it. He forced himself to remain seated.
“So used to everything going your way, aren’t you, Montague?” Hadley snarled. “Open the door. Get your phone. Make the call. If you try anything funny, she dies.”
Ryder eased to his feet and retraced his path in slow, careful steps.
Hadley was a desperate man making plans up as he went. Which made him unpredictable.
Opening the door, Ryder crouched to pick up his mobile.
The mating call of a Calfbird came from the tall bush he’d been hiding behind earlier. Native to the subtropical forests of northeastern South America, the bird’s song often was compared to a plaintive moo from a cow. He thought it sounded more like the strangled hum of a bagpipe drone.
Relief swept over him. Either way, it was a distinctive sound.
Which was why Caleb used it.
Keeping his back to Hadley, Ryder brought his hand to his throat in the tactical signal for hostage, then grabbed his mobile and stood. He pivoted with slow, deliberate movements to face inside.
“Shut the door and lock it,” Hadley ordered.
“Take the gun from her head.” Ryder held up the phone. “I’m going to do as you asked.”
Nathalie’s face was pale, her chest rising and falling too rapidly.
“And take off the gag so she can breathe, for fuck’s sake.”
“Make the call. Get me my plane.” Hadley tugged on the knot behind Nathalie’s head and slipped off the gag.
Her harsh gasps echoed in the small room. “My shoulders are killing me.” She coughed, her voice hoarse as she peered up at Hadley. “Please, Robert, or whoever you are, it’s not like I can go anywhere.”
“His name isn’t Robert,” Ryder said. “It’s Foster Hadley. He served with me in the British Army.”
But that was years ago. His SAS teammate no longer existed. The man he’d bled with was now his enemy.