Bad Men - Piper Stone Page 0,12
he hadn’t been able to get out of?
That’s one of the reasons I’d made the decision to leave, to get away from his dominance. I was far too old to allow my father to control my life.
“We have our sources, Doctor, and you might be surprised about the people your father associates with. Obviously, he had enough clout to hire our organization. The why is obvious. In order to save his daughter’s life. Any personal connections or mitigating factors we weren’t privy to.”
“In other words, you couldn’t care less. This is a paycheck to you.”
He finally bristled, his jaw clenching. “We are paid well for our expertise, Doctor, as I assume you normally are, the current situation notwithstanding.”
He had no understanding of my father. That was certain. Maybe that’s the way his organization worked. I almost laughed at the thought of my father daring to hire unscrupulous men himself. He didn’t like to get his hands dirty. I honestly doubted he’d risk his huge bank account at this point in his life and certainly not for me.
Unless…
No. No. I couldn’t think this way.
I had a feeling the various operations Jack and Diego ran were on the fringes of criminal activity.
“Uh-huh. What are you, Black Ops gone rogue?”
Diego laughed, the sound bitter. “We have special skills and the people we work for are very… powerful. I assure you that we can handle the Serpent and his men, but only if we follow a plan that’s been laid out. I only know what I was told about your father, his request matching our criteria. That’s all we needed to know.”
“God, you make it sound like you’re working for some secretive world organization.”
“As I said, we have varied capabilities that certain people find necessary.”
“A need to know basis?” I pressed.
He only nodded, his gaze taking one giant sweep before settling on my eyes.
I shot him a look before shaking my head. They really weren’t going to tell me anything. “Why aren’t we going to the airport? Why are we stuck in this hell hole?”
“You have no idea how expansive the Serpent’s hold is. He has thousands of soldiers likely combing the jungle. Going down river will buy us some time, or so we hope. Given it appears your disappearance has been detected, he will make certain and cover every airport throughout Brazil and likely into Peru at minimum. We’ll need to lay low for several days before attempting to move out.”
“Lay low. That means staying in this wretched jungle?” I asked, exasperated as hell. There was nothing more I wanted than to get as far away from here as possible. I was worried about the group I’d been with. Were they okay? Had they been killed?
He gave me a curious look before shaking his head. “We will move to a more suitable location tomorrow if the time is right.”
More suitable. What the hell could that mean, other than I’d be spending an exorbitant amount of time with the two brutes? I wasn’t certain I had it in me to be able to do so.
“I’m curious, Diego. How do you know I’m a doctor? Is that something my father told you as well?” The demand in my voice was evident, adding to his level of amusement that I’d bother to ask anything at all.
“We know everything about you. Where you grew up. Where you went to school. The date you arrived in the jungles of Brazil to work for Doctors Without Borders. Your likes and dislikes, including your allergy to chocolate. We are also aware of the day you came to the attention of the Serpent. What we don’t know is why. I admit I’m curious about that. Did you meet him somewhere?”
“I never saw him before he had me kidnapped. The Serpent,” I whispered, having heard every single soldier call him that or sir since the day I’d been dragged into the monster’s chambers. “That suits him.”
“And do you know why?” Diego asked.
“I would assume because he’s a true snake, a bastard who refuses to follow any laws.”
He chuckled. “That is one reason, yes. He is truly a…”
“Monster. I already know that. I overheard him talking about his money and his influence. He’d ordered several people killed while in my presence. It was like he was showing off, making certain I understood what he was capable of. That was immediately after he released me from a darkened cell.”
Huffing, he looked away. “I hope you never have to find out what he’s truly capable