Page 9

Special Forces Sergeant Callum “Baggs” Baggnell strode at a fast pace away from the safe house. Buying sandwiches was an excuse. He had to get out of there. He needed to think, to process.

When he’d walked into the dining room, he thought it was Iona standing in the Wizard’s arms, and it infuriated him.

More than infuriated. He’d felt all kinds of territorial.

Then she’d turned and he realized it wasn’t his woman.

It took a second before he remembered Io had an identical twin, and fuck did they ever look alike.

But he didn’t feel anything when he glanced at Ayla Desmond.

Io was a different story. From the first instant he’d seen his Wild Thing, he’d been hooked. Something about her reached deep inside him and wouldn’t let go.

For all their physical similarities, the twins seemed to have completely distinct personalities.

Ayla came across as more timid for one. For another, if Cal tried to call Io something like the handle the Wizard was using for her sister, she’d skin him alive.

Reluctantly, his lips curved. Damn, he missed her.

It didn’t take long for Cal to sober. Io was in trouble, and from what he’d heard, it sounded like it was deep, serious shit.

The argument that killed his relationship with Iona was about her career and now, because of her job, she was in such a big jam that her sister flew to Puerto Jardin to bail her out. Her sister who was terrified of flying, if he remembered correctly.

Cal wanted to be pissed off that Io hadn’t contacted him for help.

Anger would drive away the fear that had settled in his gut.

But he couldn’t lie to himself. His personal cell phone was back in Florida.

If she had tried to call him, she rolled to voicemail and she didn’t have the number for the mobile he was carrying on the op.

No matter how badly things had ended between them, Cal wanted to believe that Io would reach out to him before she tried her sister. She knew he was Special Forces, and her sister seemed in over her head on day one in the country.

But Io might not call him.

She might worry about opening the door between them again.

Or maybe Iona was afraid he’d gloat about being right, that her job was too risky.

He shook his head. Cal told her that last day that she should contact him if she ever needed him.

He stepped around a pair of nuns walking slowly ahead of him.

Nuns. Cal wasn’t too far from the convent. He headed to the open-air market. He’d be able to move around freely, and he could pick up sandwiches before returning to the safe house.

The situation was damn frustrating. He didn’t have contacts in Puerto Jardin, not yet. As a medic, he usually tried to meet some of the local doctors when he inserted, but he’d been working on other assignments. There hadn’t been any opportunities.

Now, the woman Cal would never forget, the one he’d never get over, was in trouble and he had nothing. It wasn’t as if he could walk around a city the size of Trujillo, searching for her. That was needle in the haystack time and she could easily be in San Isidro or some other town in the area.

Where are you Wild Thing, and what the hell kind of mess are you in?

Archer sat at the desk in his show office and tried to focus on the file in front of him.

Today, the white desk, the white and gray marbled floor, and the tasteful gray pinstripe chairs jarred him, leaving him unable to concentrate.

The floor-to-ceiling windows with their view of Los Angeles beckoned, and he fought the urge to get up and walk over to them.

He hated it when an operative missed a check-in.

It happened. Not frequently, but often enough that he didn’t allow it to bother him. In most circumstances. The difference this time was that Iona Desmond was in Puerto Jardin, and she was there to find Fuentes, the man hunting the Treasure of Trujillo.

A treasure with an estimated worth over one billion dollars.

Laying down his pen, Archer frowned. Other employees of his had already been put in danger because of the treasure.

The second event had been precarious enough to recall Nyx Templeton from the country and bring her home.

The report she’d given him about the different groups of men interested in the treasure fueled his concern over Iona.

Unable to sit any longer, Archer got to his feet.

Instead of crossing to the windows, though, he entered his private office, the one hidden behind a wall of bookcases and file cabinets.

Only his assistant knew it existed and that was the way he liked it.

Taking his seat, he opened the program that tracked the Paladin League phones he issued to his team.

Two pinged, both in Trujillo, and both belonged to other employees.

At least Ellis and Francesca were accounted for.

Iona remained missing.

Archer frowned, but it didn’t mean there was trouble. She would switch off the location pinger unless he’d explicitly instructed her otherwise. Iona loathed being monitored and made no secret of it. It could be as simple as that.

Except she’d missed a call.

Swiveling in his chair, Archer stared out the windows and contemplated the situation. He knew Iona made it to Trujillo. Her last successful check-in happened from that location. That was the sum total of his knowledge.

Then there was what Nyx told him when she’d returned to the States and summed up what she dealt with. It seemed as if it was common knowledge that the Paladin League was in Puerto Jardin to find the treasure. That intel might have been nice to have before Iona left.

Turning back to the computer, Archer did another search for Iona’s phone, encompassing a wider parameter this time, but it remained dark.

The idea of getting assistance to locate her tempted him, but Archer quelled the urge.

Ellis and Francesca would only get themselves in trouble, and Nyx, who could handle herself, was no longer in Puerto Jardin.

He thought about the Special Forces captain he’d used in the past, but unless it was a known emergency, he couldn’t risk abusing the connection.

Not if he wanted to call on Nguyen in the future.

Archer contemplated his options. He didn’t care for any of the scenarios that occurred to him.

His secure line rang, and he went still for a moment before reaching for the phone. It wasn’t Iona. “Captain Nguyen, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

There was a pause and Archer suspected Nguyen was gritting his teeth. His mood improved.

“I have a Paladin League employee in my safe house.”

Archer’s amusement disappeared in a heartbeat. “Iona Desmond.”

Another pause, but Archer couldn’t read this one. When Nguyen spoke, his tone was dry. “No. Her twin, Ayla. She came to Puerto Jardin to find her sister. Why am I not surprised that Iona works for you using the cover story of a photojournalist for Corporate Communications?”

It was a rhetorical question, so Archer ignored it. “Why is Ms. Desmond looking for her sister?” Only the years he’d spent as an operative for ARC, the Agency for Reconnaissance and Covert-ops, allowed him to pull off the nonchalance.

“Ayla says she came to rescue her, that Iona is in trouble. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“About Ayla Desmond’s presence in Puerto Jardin? Of course not. She works in Public Relations and is ill-equipped for the country. It would be best if you returned her to California.”

Another pause and Archer guessed his sidestep had been noted.

“Unfortunately, Ayla ran into some Russian gentlemen who believed she was her sister, and Ivanov has a presence in the US. Are you prepared to hire bodyguards for her until whatever situation Iona is involved in is resolved?”

Archer was familiar with Yaromir Ivanov. ARC had worked for years to undermine his power and had yet to curb that particular Russian mob boss. “You know better than that, Captain,” he said. “Ivanov’s reach is deep enough that it will be difficult to find trustworthy bodyguards.”

“Why is Ivanov after Iona?”

This time Archer was the one who paused. “I was unaware that he had an interest in her, but were I to hazard a guess, I’d say it’s the same thing that’s attracted the attention of everyone else.”

“That treasure.” There was a growl in Nguyen’s voice that expressed his exasperation with the entire thing. “Where is Iona?”

“I don’t know.” Archer could predict what was coming and headed it off. “That’s the truth, Captain. Iona missed a check-in two days ago. The last time I heard from her was on Saturday. She was in Trujillo.”

“Six days. Anything could have happened in that time.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“She could be anywhere now.”

“I’m aware of that, too, Captain Nguyen. If Ivanov’s men are searching for her, Iona likely went into hiding.”

“Not according to Ayla,” Nguyen shot back. “She’s insistent that her sister is in real trouble and suggested that someone else has her locked up.”

“Why does she believe this?”

“That’s unclear. She hasn’t provided any evidence. Why did you send Iona to Trujillo?”

“To hunt for the treasure, of course.”

“Archer, if you want my help to find your person, you better stop lying. Frankie and Ellis are here to hunt for the treasure. Nyx was here to hunt for the treasure. Iona isn’t a PhD candidate. She’s a photographer. Why did you send her to Puerto Jardin?”

Ivanov’s involvement made the decision easy.

Slowly, he admitted, “A man is looking for the treasure who calls himself Fuentes. He’s a shadow, an enigma.

I haven’t been able to learn anything about him, not even what he looks like.

I sent Iona to identify him and return with as much information as possible. ”

“You’re worried he’ll beat you to the cache.”

Archer frowned. “Everything reported to be part of the treasure holds cultural significance to one degree or another. I don’t want to see so much as a single piece disappear into someone’s private collection. These items belong in museums.”

“Provided you can even locate a treasure missing for more than two hundred years.”

There was that minor detail. Archer changed the subject. “Are you going to watch over Ayla Desmond?”

“What do you think?” Nguyen didn’t give him a chance to reply. “We’re looking for Iona, too. Are you sure you don’t know anything else about Fuentes?”

“The only intel I have on Fuentes is that he operates in Trujillo.” Standing, Archer walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked out on the city.

“You don’t need to cross-examine me, Captain.

Iona already did that. She said sending her to find the man was the equivalent of a Hail Mary pass, but sometimes, the quarterback needs to throw the ball and hope for the best.”

“And sometimes the wide receiver gets clotheslined. I’ll be in touch.” Nguyen disconnected.