Before Nightfall - Kat Martin Page 0,28
me,” she said softly.
His throat tightened. He wanted to tell her how much she meant to him, but now wasn’t the time. “Don’t wait more than five minutes. If I’m not back, drive out the gate and keep going. They aren’t checking the trucks as they’re leaving. Just drive out and don’t stop till you get to the landing zone.”
Her chin firmed. “I’m not leaving you here. That was never the plan.”
“Think of Tim and do what you have to. Stay safe.” He loaded a stack of fake parcels into his arms, eased the door shut but didn’t actually close it, turned, and walked away.
* * *
FIGHTING TO BLOCK out Colt’s last words and the terror that had gripped her when he’d said them, Lissa opened the truck door enough to check her surroundings. A heavyset woman in a long red gathered skirt tended a vegetable garden on the far side of the compound. A man in a wide-brimmed straw hat worked in the flower beds pulling weeds. She could see one of the two guards who had been at the gate when they’d driven through, but the other guard must have wandered away.
She looked but couldn’t spot him, and nerves burned through her. Slipping out the back of the truck, she climbed the narrow ladder beside the door and stepped onto the roof of the vehicle, keeping as low as she could.
Choosing a spot where she couldn’t be seen from the bedroom, she reached up, grabbed the iron rail, and hauled herself over. In seconds she was on the balcony, moving quietly toward the French doors.
She was hoping they wouldn’t be locked, doubted anyone in the compound worried about a break-in, but she carried a lock pick just in case.
Flattening herself against the wall, she took a quick look through the small glass panes. The teacher had his back to her. Timmy was facing the door. She stepped out where he could see her, put a finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet, saw the faint jolt of his body as he recognized her.
Lissa carefully turned the door knob. As she had hoped, the door swung quietly open. She drew her pistol as she stepped inside and pushed the barrel into the teacher’s back. The stun gun remained within easy reach. She hoped she wouldn’t need it.
The teacher stiffened.
“Be quiet and you won’t get hurt.” She had heard him speaking to Timmy in English, so she knew he understood. “Turn around, Señor Garcia. Do it slowly.”
He was a lean man, about her height, with a leonine mane of silver hair.
“What do you want?”
“Put your hands behind you. Do it now, professor.”
He did what she told him, and she cuffed him with one of the zip ties in the pocket of her cargo pants.
“Coming here is a death sentence,” he said in slightly accented English. “You must know that.”
Lissa made no reply, just took a roll of duct tape out of her pack, tore off a strip, and slapped it over his mouth. She used the gun to wave him toward the closet, and Timmy raced to pull it open. He seemed to be recovering from his shock. She knew he was still afraid, but he was also determined to help.
“Get in,” she commanded Garcia. “Sit down on the floor and put your back against the wall.” As soon as he was in position, she zip-tied his ankles. “We’ll be out of here in just a few minutes. Stay quiet and you’ll be okay.” It occurred to her she might be saving his life. At least up here, he wouldn’t be caught by a stray bullet when the task force raid commenced.
She closed the closet door and turned. “Time to go, Tim.”
His eyes were huge, a rapid pulse beating in the side of his neck. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“We haven’t got much time.”
He ran toward her, and she pulled him in for a quick hard hug. “We’re going home. You just have to be brave a little longer.”
Some of the color washed out of his face, making his freckles stand out. A wheezy breath whispered out. “Okay.”
She thought of the asthma attack he’d had and a fresh rush of fear slipped through her. “Everything’s going to be all right. Colt’s waiting for us. You just need to stay calm and let us get you out of here, okay?”
He took a deep breath and released it slowly. Some of the strain in his face seemed to ease.