Bad Men - Piper Stone Page 0,50

I’ve taken different roads.” Diego glanced into the rearview mirror, his gaze settling on Lindsey.

“Why is this happening?” she managed before taking several deep breaths.

I curtailed the disdain in my voice as I turned toward her. “We will need to talk to you about your father, your life in the United States, and every detail about your time in Brazil. It would seem that someone is out to get you, no matter the cost.”

“I’m not certain what help I can be, but I’ll try. I’ve told you everything that matters,” she insisted.

“You’ve told us nothing about your father,” I countered.

“Or that boyfriend of yours,” Diego added.

As I glanced into the back, I didn’t have to see the horror on her face to know that she was incensed. She’d been telling Diego secrets, ones that I needed to hear. She had no idea that every scrap of information was valuable, especially when someone was trying to kill you.

My thoughts drifted back to the conversation I’d had with Dante the day at the beach. The Specialists wanted additional power and influence. That had to mean Lindsey’s father was indeed more than perhaps she was aware of. I had to follow my instincts on this one. I was beginning to doubt it had to do with Lindsey as a woman. If I had to guess, I’d say she was a commodity. If that was the case, it would crush her to know. First things first. We had to figure out who was after us and the means they’d go to in order to fulfill their duties.

“Tell me about the bomb,” I instructed Diego. Further upsetting her at this point wasn’t going to get us any answers.

“The bomb was sophisticated in design and used with a timer. I was lucky I saw it in the first place. The damn thing blended in with the other crap in the carport. Whoever planted it figured we wouldn’t go looking.” His answer was laced with exasperation.

“Yeah, how did you find it?” I asked, hearing the tone of defiance in my voice.

“Sounds like you’re accusing me of something, Jack. Kinda pisses me off since I saved your fucking ass,” Diego responded, snarling as he jerked the steering wheel.

Lindsey hissed. “Both of you just stop. Please. We almost died. We…” Her anguished sob yanked at my heart.

“Whoever planted the damn thing got in and out quickly,” Diego continued. The only reason we’re still alive is that an old-fashioned timer was used. If not, the second I went outside it would have been blown. That suggests either it was put together quickly or had nothing to do with the Serpent.”

At least we were thinking along the same lines.

“The reason we’re still alive is that you found the bomb,” Lindsey said with such angst in her tone.

Diego inhaled, glancing into the rearview mirror. “I got lucky.”

“I don’t believe that,” she answered then sat back in her seat. “You’re good at what you do.”

At least that meant they expected the bomb to finish us, which could mean it would take some time for anyone to find us. Unless we had a bug of some kind. There were too many obstacles. Had Lindsey been the intended target or merely a cog in the wheel? Or perhaps a way to keep someone in line?

“What did the instrument look like the bomb was housed in?” I asked, thinking about the various pieces of equipment that had been given to us.

“A black box, a window with an LED setting. Cheap hardware that you can find almost anywhere as long as you know what you’re doing.” His answer was clipped.

Reaching behind the seat, I grabbed the duffle, jerking on the zipper and reaching inside. “Like this?”

“Similar,” Diego said quietly as he stared into the rearview mirror. “But not the same. There was absolutely no sophistication from what I could tell, but I sensed immediately what it was. I’ve seen something like it while working the streets in Miami. What are you thinking, a tracker of some kind?”

“We can’t rule it out. Just think about it. I could believe that the asshole who was sent to snag us from the jungle sold out, except that our quick discovery happened not just once.” I shifted the console in my hands, looking for ways to temporarily disengage it. The remote chance that the instrument we’d brought with us had been bugged meant much bigger issues but couldn’t be ruled out.

“Hold on here, Jack. I don’t you want to try and