Page 46 of Lethal Deceit (Hightower Security #2)

Mick

I stalk back into the front bedroom and wave Samantha’s note in the air, interrupting their conversation.

“She’s gone, and she took my phone with her.”

Caleb grimaces then turns his back.

“…roger that. We’ll check in again in two.”

Jake and Adena freeze before sending me furtive glances. Oh, I get it. Nice. Real frickin’ nice.

I screw the note up in my fist and toss it against the wall.

“You let her go?”

Adena is the first to admit it.

“She gave us everything we needed to trace the account holder.”

I shake my head, pressing my finger and thumb to the bridge of my nose.

“They’re going to shoot her.”

Jake says.

“Not if they want to know how she was able to track them down. She’s bought us time, and if she gets inside we’ll be able to see Brooke.”

Caleb turns to face me, pulling the headphone away from his ear again.

“This is precisely what she’s good at. Deception and distraction.”

Fury fires through my veins.

“You people are unbelievable. I told her you were going to keep her safe—and you’ve thrown her into a snake pit.”

Adena growls.

“We didn’t. She came up with this idea.”

My jaw slackens.

“Why? What did you threaten her with?”

Caleb frowns.

“Nothing, man. She volunteered.”

The floor seems to shift beneath me, the air too thin to breathe.

Volunteered?

That doesn’t make sense. Why would she walk straight into danger like that?

I rake a hand through my hair, trying to get a grip, but the pieces aren’t adding up. None of it fits. Unless?—

No. She wouldn’t do it for me. Would she?

“She volunteered,”

I echo, barely recognizing my own voice.

“This is a suicide mission.”

Adena exchanges a look with Caleb.

“She’s wearing a camera, and she’s giving your sister the best chance of survival. Thanks to her, we’ll be able to find out who we’re dealing with.”

Caleb nods.

“And with the directional mic Adena placed, we’ll hear what’s happening.”

I drag my hand over my face.

“What if they search her?”

“They won’t find the camera. It’s in a button in her shirt.”

Jake’s face darkens.

“Unless they have an RF detector. Then we might have?—”

Adena glares at him, and he raises his hands, pulling a face at his lack of tact.

“Go get the SIGINT kit,”

she barks.

Jake’s face creases in annoyance, but he exits, muttering as he heads back to retrieve the high-end signal intelligence gear Hightower brought with them.

“She’s inside, and we’re receiving,”

Caleb says.

I’m so focused on her—and desperate to see Brooke—that I nearly miss the seat beside Caleb, my eyes already fixed on the screen. Caleb removes his headphones and turns the volume up on the laptop. I lean closer, every fiber of my being tuning in to hearing what Samantha could have to say in a situation like this.

The video is coming in at an angle. All I can make out is an olive-green blur, but it’s apparent they’re patting her down when we hear her protests coming through the mic.

“I’m not armed,” she says.

The green blur steps back, not far enough away from her that I can see his face, but we all hear his voice.

“How did you find us?”

“I didn’t. The Coast Guardsman spotted the boat you’re using. He figured out you were headed to the Glades.”

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know. I stole his phone and ditched him in Miami two hours ago.”

An audible slap makes me grip the seat of the chair.

“Here… check his phone. His boss keeps calling him. He’s probably returned to the base before he loses his job.”

A smattering of Arabic fills the air, letting us know there must be others in the room. My eyes dart to the text translation.

“Go check on the street again.”

They’re not stupid. They know full well this could be a setup.

Samantha curses.

“I have information that can help you and your cause. I know how to get access to places you couldn’t dream of.”

Caleb tenses.

“What is she doing?”

“What she does best,”

Adena says.

“Make men think she can give them everything they want.”

I shake my head.

“Not with these maniacs. They wanted her dead.”

Jake isn’t so sure.

“If that was all they wanted her for, why not kill her the second she walked in the door?”

I eye Caleb, who shrugs his massive shoulders and gives me a pointed look.

“We assumed they were shooting at her at the marina. Maybe they weren’t.”

I let out a grunt.

“Why kill the owner of the yacht?”

Adena points at the screen.

“Listen, and we might find out.”

Frowning, I twist back to watch the scene on the screen unfolding. Whoever it was who slapped Samantha steps back, and for the first time we get a clear view of the layout of the room she’s in.

She moves slightly, and the man’s face comes into focus. Dark beard, a prominent nose, crooked teeth, and calculating eyes that are penetrating even through the glasses he wears. His face remains impassive as he speaks in a heavy accent.

“There is nowhere we can’t reach.”

Samantha holds her ground.

“If that were true, you wouldn’t need people like me.”

A flickering of a cold smile appears on his face before he lunges at her. Samantha yelps, and the camera blurs again.

With no way of being able to see what is happening, I leap to my feet, pull my gun out, and make for the door.

“This ends now. I never should have let this happen.”

Caleb grabs my arm, pushing me back.

“You do that, you’ll all be dead before you reach the front door.”

I try to shake him off.

“You shouldn’t have let her go.”

“Why? Because it doesn’t suit your agenda and your plan?”

“Because she’s going to get my sister killed.”

“You have to trust. God has been preparing her for this moment.”

“You’re serious? After all this, it comes down to a con artist?”

Caleb releases me, but his gaze holds me fast.

“No. It all comes down to God’s providence.”

I shake my head.

“Not for this. Not with Brooke’s life at stake.”

Adena steps in, putting herself between me and Caleb.

“You’ve lost perspective. Samantha isn’t going to do or say anything to risk her life—or Brooke’s.”

As if backing her up, Jake chimes in, his phone in his hand.

“Delilah’s going through the information Samantha gave you. It looks like she really does have something she can give them. Something she can bargain with.”

In frustration, I start to pace, my gun still in my hand. “But how?”

“Pipe down,”

Caleb says.

My eyes snap to him, and I hastily apologize and slide my weapon back into my holster before settling down on the chair again. In the seconds I tore my eyes off the screen, Samantha has moved. The angle is different, lower, and we get a good view of two heavily armed men in the room with her.

Adena speaks softly.

“Caleb, are those XM7s?”

Caleb growls.

“Yeah. American made. They were only rolled out last year. Think I just vomited in my mouth.”

I groan.

“Someone is supplying them with weapons our troops probably haven’t even tried out yet?”

Jake says.

“Delilah said she’s looked at some of the info on the memory card. She thinks there’s stuff about a weapons manufacturer. She needs more time to look at another encrypted file.”

His statement only adds to the gloom descending on the room.

Caleb glances at him before returning to the screen.

“Has to be connected. Too big of a coincidence. They hire her then go to extreme lengths to locate her again.”

A thought penetrates past everything else that’s going on. Past the worry and doubt, past the scattered thoughts and fear, and crash lands heavily. She said as much, but I didn’t want to believe her.

“You think Samantha gained access to top-level security information?” I say.

All eyes slide to me, and from the grim expressions, I know I have my answer.

On screen, Samantha clears her throat.

“I want out of the country. Get me to Cuba, and I’ll give you everything you need to gain entry to the US embassy there.”

Nobody moves. The only sound in the room comes from the Arab who assaulted Samantha.

My eyes move to the screen, and I hold my breath as the translation appears.

“Put her with the other one. See if she’s carrying it. If she isn’t, find out where it is.”

One of the men with the automatic rifles nods and wrenches Samantha to her feet, causing her to curse at them both. An order is given, and we get a good view of the carpet then a boot aimed at her middle as Samantha’s viewpoint changes.

I close my eyes, praying feverishly, trying to calm the rage and frustration that’s boiled up from knowing she’s being assaulted and I’m sitting here watching it play out.

Adena groans and frowns at Caleb.

“We should have given it back to her.”

“We don’t know what’s on it yet,” he says.

I’m so out of sorts that it takes me a full five seconds to work out what “it”

is. When I do, I almost wish I hadn’t.

The same terrorists who think it’s an honor to kill innocent Americans want the memory card.

Samantha’s low groaning and the sound of her feet being dragged along the floor make bile rise in my throat. How can I sit here and watch?

These men are savages. And there’s no telling what they’ll do when they realize she doesn’t have what they want.