a spot with a higher elevation than the property, which allowed them to see over a section of wall and into the courtyard below.
No matter how hard she tried to block it out, Hope couldn’t shake the nerves that came with being this close to the place where she’d been held captive for months. Just looking at it resurrected a host of unpleasant memories. The sleepless nights. The constant fear. The waking up each morning and wondering whether today would be the day Aranza put a bullet in her brain.
But she wanted to help, and what she lacked in combat experience she made up for in operational intelligence. She peered through the binoculars and took stock of the guards patrolling the grounds. “I don’t see the guy I slipped past when I escaped.”
“Aranza probably killed him.” It was the most Wade had said all day. He wasn’t a talkative guy to begin with, but he’d been especially quiet since Hector died. Not that she blamed him. It wasn’t every day a man found out his closest friend had repeatedly betrayed him.
A knot formed in her stomach as she lowered the binoculars. “You think?”
Wade shot her a no shit look from where he sat beside her. “He’s not the kind of person who tolerates mistakes. Most likely, he did it in front of the other men, to serve as a warning. What? Don’t tell me you feel bad about that.”
The tone of his voice made her feel defensive, and she bristled in response. “I’m a doctor. I’m supposed to preserve life, not extinguish it, directly or indirectly. I don’t like the idea of being responsible for somebody’s death, even if they’re an asshole.”
The hard-etched lines of his face softened with understanding. “Then consider it an act of self-preservation. If you hadn’t escaped, you’d be dead by now. And if you weren’t, you’d wish you were.”
He was right, of course, and the knot in her stomach tightened as she thought of what happened to Carmen. That could have been her if she hadn’t scrambled over the wall, if she hadn’t chosen to sit next to Wade in that dive bar in Viento Tranquilos.
“How about the guy by the Jeep? What’s his story?”
Wade’s questions broke her train of thought. He’d probably asked them on purpose to stop her mind from venturing down a dark, dangerous path. Though he’d never own up to it in a million years, she appreciated it nonetheless.
Hope raised the binoculars back up to her eyes and took a good look at the tall, thin man in brown pants and dingy red tee. A huge cross tattoo covered most of his left upper arm, while a semi-automatic rifle hung from a strap on his shoulder. “I don’t remember his name, but he used to bring me dinner every so often. He never said much, but he always made sure I didn’t keep any of the utensils.”
“Did you try?”
“Of course. Wouldn’t you?” A steak knife wasn’t the greatest of weapons, but she’d wanted something with a little more heft than a surgical scalpel. She’d repeatedly tried to keep one in her stash but abandoned her efforts when one of the guards threatened to chop off a finger the next time he caught her.
Wade made a low huff of amusement. “What about the guy walking toward him?”
When her focus shifted to the short, pudgy guy on the right, her upper lip peeled back. “Ugh. He was a real jerk. I overheard him talking about me a few times before they realized I understood Spanish.”
In a rare show of surprise, Wade’s mouth went slack. “They didn’t know you spoke Spanish?”
“They assumed I didn’t.” She shrugged. “I don’t know why, but I figured it was to my advantage if I let them believe it.”
Her written Spanish was fairly decent, though not nearly as good as her German. Unfortunately, her conversational Spanish was rough at best, but it had improved over the months she’d worked in Guatemala. Native speakers often spoke too fast for her to catch every word, but she typically understood enough to get the gist of the conversation. And when she didn’t, other members of her medical team had provided her with a translation.
Hope passed the binoculars back to Wade. “Anyway, it was typical asshole guy stuff. Nothing I haven’t heard before, but it’s more than a little unnerving when you’re on the receiving end of a power imbalance.”
For the most part, Aranza’s men had followed his orders to leave her alone.