She grinned, and he fell a little deeper under her spell. Even rain-soaked and harried, she was breathtaking.
Remarkably, she was also calm enough to tread quietly, rather than racing in a panic through the undergrowthand giving away their position. Her green dress made for pretty good camouflage except for her arms and legs. Kurt shrugged out of his blazer and held it forward, tapping her on the shoulder. “Here, put this on. You’ll be less visible.”
Wordlessly, she donned the jacket and kept moving.
His gray shirt—not yet darkened by the rain—wasn’t as effective, but it was better than nothing.
A few minuteslater, the rain stopped, leaving only the sound of water dripping from the leaves and the roar of the ocean. Kurt slipped and slid in the mud but managed not to trip.
No matter their decision, he and Caitlyn were at a disadvantage. Lambert had enough men on his security detail to cover all the avenues of escape. But if they could take the guards by surprise, they might make it out of this alive.And if they didn’t, then Kurt had never deserved the title of PJ. After all, his special tactics squadron did nothing but sensitive missions, rescuing other special forces, pilots, and high-value personnel who were stuck deep in enemy territory. It’s what he had excelled at.
Of course he’d always had a team, and about six backup plans. And his own legs.
They huddled inside a nest of fern plants,cool water drizzling onto their heads from the broad leaves, and waited, breath shallow, as Lambert’s men crept by in the near darkness. When several minutes passed and the men didn’t return, Kurt slipped out of their hiding place and stood, listening for any signs of additional men. None of the noises were close, so he waved to Caitlyn and she joined him.
They trod carefully, as quietly as possible,keeping to the jungle, which meant they had to skirt all the way around the outside of the airfield, adding precious time to their trek. But it only took a quick glance at Caitlyn’s plane to see they’d made the right choice. Several men surrounded the small aircraft, and half a dozen more were stationed around the perimeter of the fence.
They wouldn’t have had a chance at escaping via air. Especiallynot right now, when everyone was on high alert.
When they reached the north side of the house, red and white lights flashed atop an ambulance, and several police cars had jammed themselves into the circular drive near the front entrance. The beehive of activity in the driveway served as a perfect distraction as first responders and guests milled about on the column-lined porch and spilled ontothe brick walkway, voyeurs, reluctant to leave the spectacle.
And probably forced to stay by the police.
Kurt’s body tingled with the awareness of Caitlyn at his side, but he pushed away the distraction and scanned the elegant cars parked along the quarter-mile private drive that led to the main gate. And more guards. They wouldn’t get two feet if they tried to steal a car and drive out of here.
“I see five guards, all near the house,” he said. “Do you see any I missed?” If even half of Lambert’s security team was out searching for them, they were spread thin.
“No.”
They needed to get off Lambert’s property and find the rescue van. They didn’t dare call for it to come to them, not with the police and security guards all over the place.
About a hundred yards from where he and Caitlynwaited, on the other side of the fence, two drivers leaned against their parked cars chatting. The heavy one smoked a cigarette, his foot propped on the back bumper, while the skinny one had his phone out, showing the smoking man something on his screen.
The rain started up again, just a few drops at first, quickly turning torrential. Both men swiftly sought the safety of their vehicles.
Undercover of the noisy downpour, concealed by vegetation and rain, Kurt and Caitlyn trudged toward the tall fence that lined the property. This far away, and through the rain, the people and commotion at the front of the house were blurry and dim. Most of the guests now huddled on the porch, as the paramedics brought out someone on a gurney.
“Do you think that’s Glenn?” Caitlyn asked.
“Yeah. I probablygave the other guy a concussion, but I doubt he’d need a stretcher.” Kurt gripped her cool, wet hand. “They’re protecting him from the rain, and they didn’t leave him in place for the crime scene techs, so he’s probably still alive.”
A short sigh that he could only interpret as relief escaped her lips.
“Let’s take advantage of the commotion and the rain. To get over the fence, we need to movefurther down where no one will see us.”
The black fence gleamed under a security light, each post shiny and slick and topped with a dangerous barb. No cross braces to serve as footholds. The climb would be difficult under any circumstances if not for one flaw. Every twenty yards or so, the fence was interrupted by a four-foot square stone column topped by a decorative cement pedestal with a planteron top.
“On my signal, run to the column and get out of sight,” Kurt said. They were hidden from the house but not from the men standing watch at the front gate. “I’ll give you a boost—”
“No need. I can get over that.”
Of course. If anyone were going to fail at this, it would be him.Luckily, he’d spent the last six years building his upper body strength to compensate for his legs. “Okay,go.”
Caitlyn sprinted to the fence, keeping to the east side of the column, out of sight. She removed her heels and his jacket and tossed them onto a bush on the other side of the fence. Then, she hiked her dress up to her hips, revealing her long, lean legs, grabbed the edge of the pedestal, and stuck one foot into a crack between stones.
Hoisting herself up, she slithered across the top ofthe column and jumped down on the other side. Tugging her dress down to her knees, she donned her shoes and the coat and stood watching through the rails, concealed from the row of limos and the guards by a thick hedge.
Well. He had no chance in hell of being that graceful.
