Bad Men - Piper Stone Page 0,18

was in danger.

The doctor also needed to realize that neither Diego nor I were good men, our pasts turning us into the same kind of monster the Serpent had portrayed himself to be. Although the bullshit he was doing in the gold mines was sickening. How many men and women had died in order to make him rich?

I stood staring out at the near desert surrounding the house in the middle of nowhere, wondering how in the fuck we’d gotten here. While I’d seen a beach in the distance, this was nothing but dirt and dust, sand and heat. Fuck this place. At least Dante had come through. However, I still couldn’t believe the soldiers had found us so quickly. My instincts were starting to itch.

What pissed me off almost more than anything were the bruises covering almost every inch of her body. While they were superficial, one day, I would make certain the Serpent paid for his merciless bullshit.

“The doctor is resting,” Diego said as he walked into the room. “I finally got her to drink something but she’s pretty weak.”

“Don’t underestimate her, Diego. She will try to run again. I assure you of that.”

Sighing, he inched closer. “She has nowhere to go, no one she can trust, including us. I suggest you give her a break.”

“That never stopped a woman before,” I muttered.

“No wonder she can’t stand you. You’re supposed to be her protector. You’re treating her like what happened is her fault.”

“I told you, I didn’t sign up for babysitting services. Collecting people wasn’t in the job description. Now, where the fuck are we? This is like a damn desert.” I barked out the question, cringing as my heart thudded against my chest. The damn woman had already attempted to crawl under my armor. That wasn’t going to happen. I didn’t need extra baggage or shit in my life.

“Paracas. From what I can tell, a pretty shitty area of the city. Dante had to act fast just in case the other location had also been compromised. At least we can see for miles around us. That has an advantage.”

Yeah, I almost wondered if we could see straight into purgatory, but our handler had at least gotten us out of the damn jungle. I was still trying to figure out why Dante hadn’t told us everything about this particular mission. While I understood that the Serpent has his claws in every business and politician in Brazil, there was something Dante had hidden, and it likely had to do with the good doctor. I’d beat it out of him when we returned.

I could see Diego’s reflection in the partially open glass door. The heat remained oppressive as hell, the area more like a damn dustbowl. “Sounds like you know the location well, my friend.” I was suspicious that our first safe house had been compromised so quickly. While I’d known that Mr. Calderone had eyes and ears everywhere, the fact they’d homed in on the location that quickly either meant they’d been prepared for the doctor’s abduction or had control over the entire area.

Or that Dante had lied to us.

Either way, I was cranky as fuck and ready to give up the damn job, no matter the amount of money on the table.

“Yeah, I know it,” he stated.

I shot him a look, laughing under my breath. “And you’re not going to tell me why.”

“No need to.”

“Yeah, whatever you say. Didn’t think it was supposed to be this damn hot.”

Diego shrugged. “They have extremes during different years. I suggest you stop bitching, Jack. The place is off the beaten path and a hell of a lot better than the shack we were holed up in before. We even have a damn vehicle at our disposal with enough gasoline to get us to Lima if necessary. I’m going to guess that’s where we’re flying out of.”

“You mean if we make it alive,” I countered. We’d been dropped off miles away from the Serpent’s compound, the locals far too fearful of his control. And we certainly couldn’t drive up to the facility. There were landmines in strategic locations. One false move or misstep and we could have been blown to hell. I wasn’t certain I was happy with the limited amount of equipment we’d been allowed to bring either.

While the console we’d been issued was a lifeline to our handler, as well as helping us navigate the perils of the jungle, the other functions were limited at best. In my opinion, we