there, making her pulse react, before moving slowly back up to her face.
“Is there something on your mind, Bailey?”
She shook her head, then shouted over the wind and engine noise, “I’m fine.”
He stared at her for two beats longer before turning away. Erin closed her eyes then and released the breath she’d been holding. She would be stronger than this. No way could she let his every word and every look rattle her. She had to be ready for whatever this mission required of her. This was her only chance to get her life back. No matter how dangerous, she had to make it.
Going back to that prison was not an option.
“WHAT IS THIS PLACE?” Erin asked, her voice sounding oddly loud after the two-hour trip with nothing but the grind and growl of the Jeep’s engine.
The driver had parked the Jeep outside what looked like an ancient city, then disappeared inside its walls. Erin lifted an eyebrow in skepticism as she scanned the crumbling buildings once more. Ruins would be a more apt description than city. Her history and geography were a little rusty, but she recognized the architecture was far from contemporary in any sense of the word.
“Let’s go, Bailey.”
Startled, she looked around to find Logan waiting outside the Jeep for her. He offered his hand. Still stunned or maybe numb, she accepted, allowing him to help her down from the vehicle. His hand felt warm around hers. Warm and steady. Something she needed desperately at the moment.
“What is this place?” she asked again, her curiosity definitely piqued.
“For the next six days it’s home,” he told her without actually telling her anything at all.
When he would have started forward, she snagged him by the arm. His skin felt hot beneath her fingers. She quickly jerked her hand back and flexed her tingling fingers, struggling to remember what she’d intended to say.
“What now?” he groused, frowning down at her from behind those infernal glasses.
She dragged her gaze back to the village before them. That was it. The place looked like an ancient village fallen upon hard times, deserted by its people. “How did you find this place?” She looked back up at him for the good it did with those dark lenses shielding his eyes. “Is this where the mission takes place?” She shook her head then. “None of this makes any sense. I don’t understand.” She gestured vaguely to the village. “What does this have to do with national security?”
He removed the glasses, tucked them into his shirt pocket and leveled that dark as midnight gaze on her. “This is our temporary training post.” He nodded in the direction of the throng of mud huts and rustic stucco buildings. “The governor of Chiapas lent it to us because he owed my deputy director a favor. We have everything we need here. Now come on.” He urged her forward. “I’ll give you the grand tour. Then we’ll eat.” He glanced down at her, his eyebrow arched in clear skepticism this time. “You’re going to need your strength. Lesson one starts this afternoon.”
Erin followed Logan into what looked like a deserted building. A command post had been set up in the dilapidated chapel in the center of the village. Satellite communications—as well as older, less technically advanced radio-transmission systems—were in place. Two computers were up and running, linked to the Net. A massive generator provided the needed power.
There was what Logan called a mess hall and a physical training room. The bathing facilities weren’t glamorous, but they had hot running water, soap and shampoo. What more could a girl on a dangerous mission ask for? Might as well look on the bright side, she told herself, rallying her make-the-best-of-it spirit.
Six of the smaller buildings had been prepared for lodging, Logan explained as they approached the first one of the group. “This one,” he told her, “is yours.” Then he pointed to the hut directly in front of hers. “I’ll be there.”
She poked her head inside the room he’d indicated as hers and was pleasantly surprised by the small but comfortable-looking cot. “It’s better than I expected,” she admitted as she turned back to him. “I was certain there’d be a sleeping bag on the ground in there.” She tried for a smile, but didn’t quite make it. She was just too tired and this was all far too overwhelming to work up enough enthusiasm no matter how hard she wanted to.
But it’s real, she kept telling herself. And she was free. That’s all that mattered, right?
Erin glanced around at the dozen or so armed men moving about. Well, maybe free wasn’t precisely the right word.
“After I’ve evaluated your strengths and weaknesses, we’ll move on to the finer details you’ll need for this mission.”
Here she was, way down in Mexico, right next to Guatemala if memory served her correctly, and she hadn’t a clue why she was here. “Can you tell me more about the mission?” A girl could ask, she mused.
“This way, Bailey,” he offered in reply, smoothly changing the course of the conversation, as well as her little sight-seeing tour.
The next building they entered was one of the largest and very dimly lit. An oily smell she couldn’t readily identify hit her nostrils with the first breath she took. She squinted to better make out the boxes stacked around the room. Crates, she realized, wooden crates. Logan paused at the first one of three she counted. She peered inside. Instinctively she drew back at what she saw.
Guns. Lots of guns.
“M9 Personal Defense Weapon,” Logan announced as he displayed one of the mean-looking guns from the crate. “Weapon of choice in personal defense.”
“M4 Carbine,” he went on, putting the first one aside and reaching for another, seemingly oblivious to her appalled expression. “Lightweight, magazine fed, selective rate, shoulder fired weapon. Even in tight quarters, a target can be engaged at extended range with accurate, lethal fire. Every terrorist’s wet dream.”
“Wait!” Erin backed away another step, her heart beginning to hammer. “I don’t understand. Why are you telling me about these weapons?”
Tears welled unbidden. This was insane and what was worse she was going to cry. She hated crying. It made her feel weak. “I don’t know anything about guns or terrorists or even personal defense.” She lengthened the distance between them by another step, blinking furiously to hold back the infuriating tears. “Just tell me the truth, Logan. What am I doing here?” She flung her arm toward the weapons he appeared to gloat over. “What is all this?”
His glare was as lethal as the weapon he held in those strong, too capable hands. “This,” he ground out, “is just a taste of what you need to know.” He put down the weapon and started in her direction. She wanted to run, but froze instead. Those dark, dark eyes held her in a kind of trance. “You have six days, Bailey. Six days to learn what I have to teach you. And this is only scratching the surface. Then we go in, ready or not.”
She trembled. “What if…what if I can’t do it?” She couldn’t. She was suddenly as sure of it as she’d ever been of anything in her whole life. This was impossible. She couldn’t do this. Not for freedom, not for vengeance, not for anything.
Logan stopped mere inches from her, staring down at her with a face wiped clean of emotion. Her pulse thundered with the fear exploding inside her.
“Then
