Page 19 of Dangerous Liaisons

Chapter Fourteen

Jesse watched almost fascinated when Cole shivered.

“I heard a sound as I pulled on his pants,” he said, “and grabbed his CR-21. I aimed at the door so fast it amazed even me. Landed on my backside, but if anyone had come inside, they would have been dead.”

Cole paused. “My trigger finger itched to open fire on them the way they had us. The knowledge that they were waiting for us stopped me. I knew someone had sold us out. So I melted into the jungle.”

How long had Cole been MIA in the jungle? Tom’s initial report stated all of Green Team had perished. The report must have been premature. But he would have known when she saw him last night and hadn’t said anything. Had it only been last night?

Cole leaned forward. “OIA reported you were the mole. I saw the receipt for a two hundred thousand dollar transfer into a Cayman island account with your name on it.”

Jesse nodded. “Two hundred grand? Try two million.”

Cole’s scowl turned ferocious.

Jesse sighed. She was tired, so tired, and was nowhere close to ending this nightmare. “I can’t be bought,” she said, “and I’m not the one who got the two million.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s Lanton’s blood money. I guess the going rate for a setup is ten per cent of the take.”

Cole studied her. “What proof have you got he’s the mole?”

Jesse’s pulse accelerated. This was a legitimate question, and Cole deserved to know everything—he deserved a helluva a lot more than that, in fact. But the faces of the men she’d seen slaughtered were burned into her memory. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—forget the way the one man dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes after being shot, or the way the other staggered backward as the AK47 emptied into him…or the four bodies lying on the ground like discarded garbage. She had to live with that nightmare, had to live with knowing that had she gone straight to the village she could have saved them. Now, maybe, she had to live with knowing she’d left someone behind. All these reasons were why she had to keep her vision clear. The man sitting across from her might be exactly who he said he was. Then again, he might not. The bell on the diner’s door tinkled, and Jesse glanced up to see a man enter. He made a beeline for the counter behind her.

Jesse waited until he had passed, then placed her elbows on the table and leaned toward Cole. “Green Leader played you the recording of my two calls to headquarters?”

Cole gave a single nod.

“The first call gave the ok?”

Cole nodded again.

“The second call was a threat directed at Lanton?”

“Right.”

“That’s what you heard. That’s not what happened.”

“What did happen?" he asked in a voice that betrayed no emotion.

She didn’t blame him for being noncommittal. For all he knew, she was as good an actress as she feared he was an actor.

“The first call, I’d found no problems, and gave the all clear. The second call, however, I made after meeting with my contact. He informed me we had a mole. But before he could give any details, mercenaries burst in on us and shot him.”

Cole’s face softened. “I’m sorry.”

“He had a young wife and child,” Jesse said. She hadn’t told anyone a thing about Martinez. Unshed tears stung the corners of her eyes. “I called the second time to instruct Blue Leader to abort the mission. Green Leader intercepted the call, then rejected my verification and canceled my code.” She started to say she’d gone back to the village, then stopped. Why talk about the men she’d seen murdered…why own up to the fact she’d left Cole with those monsters?

“The recording was very convincing,” Cole said.

“So I’ve heard.”

“Even if he is the one who tipped Perez, it doesn’t make sense. He could say your call spooked him and ordered Green Team to stand down.”

Jesse nodded. “It makes sense if he wanted to ensure that every law enforcement agency would make finding me a priority. Though that doesn’t explain how I got out of Colombia so easily.”

Cole frowned. “What do you mean?”