Hostage to Love (Entangled Suspense) (3 page)

Relief eased down her spine. So she wasn’t about to be shot and left in the cave to rot. A hand at the small of her back shoved her toward the far end of cave. Here blankets had been laid side-by-side, but set apart from the area where the rebels were camped.

Her heart plummeted.

Far from being rescued or set free, as Father Tom had wistfully foreseen, it seemed they were bedding down for the long haul. Because surely if the rebels had gone to the trouble of providing shelter for them, then they didn’t plan on setting them free anytime soon.

She stared at the bedding…counted the places…

And rounded on Mwana. “Why are there only three beds?” It wasn’t a simple matter of insufficient bedding, because a stack of blankets stood next to the opposite cave wall.

“Because you, Miss Jones, will sleep elsewhere. Somewhere more comfortable.”

A dark premonition iced up her veins. “Where?”

For a moment he didn’t answer, and in the dim light of the cave, his eyes traveled from the top of her head and past her shoulders to her breasts, where he paused for a moment before moving down to her grimy, ripped, almost blackened linen trousers, to her severely tattered sandals and back up again.

With his lazy scrutiny, she knew exactly why there were only three beds on this side of the cave. His next words confirmed it.

“You sleep over there.” With his gun, he indicated a smaller cavern lit by a dim lamp and concealed by a soiled, torn, makeshift curtain, which she hadn’t noticed before. “With me.”

Chapter Two

Five days! She’d been missing for a total of five days!

Nick Andreakos recalled every second of the conversation with his head of security and the interminable phone calls that had followed, even now, forty-eight hours later. The longest forty-eight hours of his life, during which every subsequent report received from Jameson, his head of security, had brought worse news.

He raked a hand through his hair, his shoulders tense as he braced himself against the reinforced steel door of the cargo plane he’d hitched a ride on to keep from being thrown by the turbulence.

He looked around at the other occupants of the plane—seven men in all. Highly trained, highly expensive mercenaries. Men he wouldn’t normally interact with in his role as CEO of Andreakos Shipping, a conglomerate that spanned the globe and held a market position that made financial analysts drool.

These
men wouldn’t hesitate to cut a man in half. They were the best of the best and exactly what he wanted. He would gladly pay ten, hell, twenty, times their going rate, if they guaranteed him success on this mission.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes to fight off the tension headache pounding his temples.

“I know you think you’re superhuman, but going without sleep before a mission like this is just asking for trouble.”

Nick didn’t open his eyes. He knew Alexandros, the cousin who was more like a brother to him, would be glaring at him with the same pained expression he’d used on Nick since they were kids.

“Yes, and I’m guessing all the sleep
you
got is the reason why you’re looking fresh-faced and perky right now?” he snarked.

Fact was, neither of them had slept in two days, not since Nick had made his phone call and Alex had canceled his plans and hopped on his jet from Athens to London.

Nick glanced over at Alex. Like him, Alex had Greek-American parentage, and they’d both served in the U.S. Marine Corps. For as long as he could remember, Alex had been there for him. Not that he wasn’t a pain in the ass when he chose to be. Like now…

“You forget I’m not vested in this gig. I’m merely coming along for the exercise. Sitting behind a desk day in and day out plays havoc with my six-pack,” Alex said.

Despite his lazy ribbing, Alex’s foot tapped impatiently on the bare metal floor. In fact, the only time either of them had sat down for longer than five minutes on this mission had been on the flight from London to Morocco, where they’d rendezvoused with the hired men. Sitting down made Nick feel like he was wasting precious time.

So he stood.

And he paced.

And he cursed Belle Winkworth-Jones Andreakos.

What on earth had possessed her to fling herself into the middle of a war zone thousands of miles from home? Granted, the unrest in Nawaka had only been minor when she’d first arrived there six weeks ago. But she could easily have returned home once the conflict escalated. Why the hell hadn’t she?

“Oh, and stop with all that pacing before you wear a hole in the plane. You’ll get your chance to interrogate her about all the things she’s done wrong when we bring her home,” Alex offered.

“I’m beginning to regret calling you. All you’ve done since you got to London is attempt to piss me off. Guess what? You’re succeeding.” The fact that Alex had guessed the reason for his angst rubbed him the wrong way.

Alex stood, too, his restless energy echoing Nick’s. “What did Wallace say when you called him?”

During the telephone conversation two days ago, his former commanding officer had brought him up to speed on clashes in the country neighboring where Belle had gone missing.

“Apparently, the skirmishes spilled into Nawaka only in the past three weeks.” Not surprisingly, Nawaka’s rich mineral deposits had finally proved too much temptation for the greedy few who wanted to exploit the country’s resources, and with the continued war and raging famine in that region, the porous borders had been very easy for the rebels to breach. “But the guy we’re dealing with, Mwana, has been in control of the area for the last five years. In the past year, he’s made inroads toward securing more and more of the country. Word is he also has a solid following.”

Alex cursed. “
Theos,
I hate that word—
following
. It’s a short step down from the word
cult.
And it almost always means you’re bound to do a crazy dance with one or two
followers
who’re bordering on fanaticism. Wallace say anything else?”

Nick shook his head. “His area of expertise is now Southeast Asia. He told me if Belle had gotten herself captured in Manila, he’d have been our man.”

Alex smirked and shook his head.

Still friends with General Timothy Wallace ten years after retiring his U.S. Marine uniform, Nick had thought of no one better to turn to, and the older man had come through for him. Within six hours, he’d assembled the men now aboard the plane and found a spare seat on a military jet to transport Nick to the American airbase in Morocco.

Frustration had gnawed at him when he’d been forced to hang around while the mercenaries strategized, counter-strategized, and waited for intelligence to come in from Nawaka. Knowing they were right had not made the wait any easier. And knowing he had to rely on others because his own military skills were hopelessly rusty after ten years’ disuse angered him even more.

He scanned the plane again, thinking how different this was from the way he normally traveled. The Andreakos private jets he and Alex owned, with their state-of-the-art systems and luxurious interiors, were a far cry from this shelled-out cargo plane with jump seats and guardrails lined up on the sides. But since they needed to call as little attention to themselves as possible, he had to settle for this mode of transport.

Wrenching himself from his thoughts, he glanced at his watch for the umpteenth time and willed the lazy hand sweeping its face to move faster. With a start, he noted the date—Friday the thirteenth.

No, he didn’t believe in stupid clichés and silly superstitions.

Still, he could do nothing to stop the chill creeping down his spine. He tore his gaze away and focused on John Allen, the leader of the group, as he approached.

“We’ll be landing in thirty minutes, sir. Transportation is already in place.” Allen was built like a Sherman tank, with bulging muscles testifying to an addiction to weightlifting.

“Fine. Have you gone over the details again with your men?”

“No need, Mr. Andreakos. They know what they’re doing.”

“Good.” Nick raised an eyebrow as the ex-special forces soldier hesitated. “Is there anything else?” Allen had expressed reservations about Nick’s presence on the plane, and he still sensed the other man’s diffidence.

When Allen shook his head, Nick turned away from him and shrugged on the Kevlar jacket he’d left on his seat. Strapping on the belt containing his handgun, he checked the GPS device in his breast pocket.

“For chrissakes, man, sit down. Before I make you,” Alex bit out. “We’ll find her. We’ll bring her home. And you can take delight in tearing strips off her. Or doing whatever it is that you two do when you’re pissed off with each other.”

Gritting his teeth, Nick sat down. After he secured his seat belt, he tilted his head back and rested it against the hard metal. Closing his eyes, he felt the fear he’d been holding back engulf him, his imagination throwing up scenarios that chilled him to the bone. What if he was too late? What if she was—

No
. With steel will inherited from his Greek forebears, he cast the images aside and replaced them with positive thoughts.

What would his wife say when she saw him again for the first time in six months?

…

“No. I will
not
sleep with you.” Belle shook her head for emphasis. “You’ll put me in here with the rest.” She hoped her assertive tone would convey her determination not to succumb to Mwana’s despicable demand.

She watched his vivid scar dance in the dim light of the cave as a smile lifted his mouth.

“I’m not sure you understand. I don’t wish you harm. I only wish to keep you safe, Mrs. Andreakos.”

Cold dread invaded Belle’s bones. He’d found out who she really was.

“Yes, I know your real identity,” he confirmed, his voice markedly chillier than it had been this afternoon. “Which makes you all the more…interesting.”

“I assure you, it doesn’t.”

“I beg to differ. I’m sure the world—and certainly
I
—would love to know what the wife of a billionaire is doing in a place like this.”

“Nick Andreakos and I, we…we’re no longer married.” She squashed her guilt at the white lie and curbed the shaft of pain at the words. Calm…she needed to remain calm. “So if you’re thinking of trading me in for ransom, you’re wasting your time.”

Interest sparked across his face, altering his expression from dangerously formidable to merely terrifying. “You’re no longer married?”

She didn’t want to tell an outright lie, so she shrugged. “N-not all marriages work out.”

“Even if you’re no longer married, I’m sure you will fetch a handsome fee. And you’re still useful to me in different ways.”

“How? I’m just a teacher.”

“No, you’re far more than that.” His eyes narrowed on her face. “But I’m yet to determine whether the benefit of having you around outweighs the risks.”

She breathed through her fear and eased her face into a relaxed smile. “Is that why you’ve relocated us to the caves instead of the camp? Surely you don’t believe that I or any of the missionaries have done anything wrong? We’re only trying to help your people.”

He drew closer, bringing his large, imposing body into her personal space. She forced herself to remain still.

“That’s just it. Nobody asked for your help. You Westerners think you can go anywhere you want and take over people’s lives. Force your will on others regardless of their feelings,” he said in a tone which was soft yet intensely unnerving.

“I didn’t— I don’t. I thought I had something to offer the children,” she said.

“And what prompted your magnanimity? What made you come here in the first place? Was it out of pity or, more likely, a sense of superiority?”

“I just wanted to make a difference, go somewhere I was needed.”

One brow spiked. “Ah, the common ailment of the Western world. You woke up one day, looked around and decided Africa was the right place to come and find yourself, yes?”

“I didn’t make the decision on a whim, if that’s what you’re implying. And I don’t know why you’re condemning Westerners. Aren’t you one yourself?”

He folded strong arms across his chest. “Don’t let the color of my fair skin deceive you, my dear. Nawaka is my home—its blood-red soil flows through my veins, and I will defend her with my last breath. Can you say the same about your intentions for my country?”

The vehemence in his voice made her hesitate. In that moment, Belle knew her very safety could be balanced on the knife-edge of her response. “I know I can’t claim the birthright or devotion you feel for this place, but that doesn’t mean I take my position here lightly. All any of us were trying to do was help—”

“No one’s asked for your help.” Again he interrupted, his harsh tone echoing eerily in the cave. “You take time out of your schedules when you feel like an exotic holiday, interfere in other people’s lives, and then when things get too uncomfortable, you jump on your planes and disappear. Perhaps it’s time to send a clear message once and for all.” His words unnerved her, as did every step he took closer.

Fear and bile rose in equal measures, but she held her ground. “I swear to you, that wasn’t what I intended when I came here. I just wanted to help any way I could. And if you mean what you say about Nawaka being your home, then you should know that kidnapping us will only send the wrong message.”

His smile changed to one of speculation. “So you care about what happens to my people?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then accept my hospitality. Prove it by staying here,” he said, his gaze holding the implacable challenge.

No!
The silent scream threatened to burst from her chest, and she barely managed to hold it in. “What good will I do from here?” Her voice emerged shaky.

“We live in an era of astounding technology, Belle. Don’t let your surroundings fool you.”

Sheer terror threatened to immobilize her. She’d already seen his satellite phone and the powerful weapons his soldiers wielded. God only knew what other pieces of software and hardware he had at his disposal.