Delta Force Rescue - Elle James Page 0,45

lip. “I suspect this will be Alejandra now. She called earlier. She knows what is at stake. Now, it’s only a matter of time as to when she will return to her country. When she does, we might decide to let you go.” He shrugged. “Or maybe, we will keep you and sell you to the highest bidder or use you as an example to others who might interfere in our operations.” He waved his hand.

The guard dragged her toward the door.

The cartel leader let the phone ring a few more times, tapping his fingers on the desktop, as if letting Alejandra stew.

As her captor escorted her out of El Chefe’s study, Briana heard the man talking. She couldn’t make out the words and wouldn’t have been able to translate, anyway.

If it was Alejandra, it meant Hank had been successful in moving her to Montana. It also meant that all Briana had done to protect the woman and her baby was for naught. Thankfully, Hank’s men had moved her before the Devil Boss’s men had arrived at the shelter.

She hoped Alejandra would refuse to make the trade. The woman’s baby needed her more than Briana needed to live.

At the same time, Briana worried about the forms of torture the cartel leader would inflict on her to force Alejandra to comply. Could she withstand the pain?

The guard took her to a room at the end of a long hallway, unlocked the door and shoved her inside. As soon as he released his hold on her arm, Briana spun and darted around the guard. She almost made it past him when he grabbed her hair and yanked her backward.

Briana fell, landing hard on her ass.

Instead of letting her rise to her feet, the guard dragged her by the hair into the room, stepped back, pointing his rifle at her chest and backed through the doorway.

Scrambling to her feet, Briana ran for the door. It shut before she reached it. The metal click of a key being turned in the lock let her know she was well and truly stuck in the dark prison. With no windows and no lamps or light fixtures, she had to wait for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. The only thing saving her from pitch blackness was the sliver of light coming from beneath the wooden door.

Briana closed her eyes and willed her vision to adjust quickly. The sooner she could see, the sooner she could inspect her prison for possible ways to escape.

When she opened her eyes again, she looked around at the dim interior of a small, square room. In one corner was a toilet and a sink. In the other was a cot, bare of pillows or blankets. Not that she needed blankets in the heat of the El Salvadoran jungle. She tested the sink. The water appeared to be clear and fresh. She washed her face and hands, careful not to ingest any for fear of parasites. Eventually, she’d have to have water, but for now, she preferred to do without.

Footsteps sounded on the Saltillo tile outside the door of her prison, and the metal lock clicked.

The guard who’d brought her there pointed his rifle at her and said something in Spanish she assumed translated to “Stay where you are, or I’ll shoot your ass.” Another guard brought the tray of food she’d left in the study into the room and set it on the bed. Then he backed out, the door closed, and the lock sealed her inside.

The tray contained a small round pancake-looking things that appeared to be thick flour tortillas.

Briana lifted one, sniffed and tested a bite, only to find the interior filled with refried beans. It tasted all right and wasn’t too spicy. She ate all of one and started into another. On the tray was also a plastic bottle of water. Trusting it only slightly more than the water out of the tap, she sipped it, trying to quench her thirst. The humidity and the close confines of the room already had her sweating. She’d need the water to keep from dehydrating. After she’d finished two of the small, stuffed pancakes, she fit one into her pocket to hold in case she managed an escape.

Another careful study of the room helped her to identify items she might use for weapons. If she could knock out a guard, she might sneak past him to get out of the main house. The challenge would then be getting out of