Page 66 of Dangerous Liaisons

Chapter Forty-Nine

All sunlight had vanished by the time Jesse pulled herself onto the thick foliaged branches where Cole waited. He had climbed high enough that the canopy afforded protection from the large predators below, while allowing slivers of moonlight to filter through the thinner foliage above. Jesse grasped the nearest branch above them and climbed until she broke through the top branches. The tree grew atop a gentle rise. Hundreds of bats flittered across the deep blue sky like an intense dogfight. Jesse gave a small cry at seeing lights dotting the horizon.

“A village, maybe eight kilometers. An easy hike,” she called down.

“It will be at first light. We’ve been awake for two days with nothing to eat. I need rest. So do you.”

Jesse pushed aside a little of the foliage and looked down at Cole. Moonlight streamed through the opening and she saw he had eased onto his side and propped his feet on the trunk. The guard’s jacket he wore hung open, leaving his chest in deeper shadow. He patted the massive limb next to him. He looked a little like a monkey, and the spot he expected her to settle on was close enough to snuggle—and maybe a little more. Monkey-sex might not be so bad. In fact, it might be just what she needed. Fast, hard, and without thought.

She looked back at the village, marked its location by the stars, then scanned the terrain between. The trees thinned about three kilometers north. All they had to do was stay on course until the jungle opened up. After that, they could follow the stars to the village.

Jesse crawled back down to Cole, where she felt along the limb and stretched out. He caught her other hand as she settled facing him. His grip lingered for a moment before he released her. She studied him. His face remained hidden in shadows. He had been quiet while she followed him up the tree, but he might as well have been repeating over and over those words he’d said as he started up the tree: “We’ve got to discuss how we’re going to get back so we can make sure Amanda’s all right.”

Surprise, surprise. Aside from the comment he made the night after they went to Judge Menendez’s, tonight was the first reference to Amanda. But Jesse now realized he’d known all along Amanda was her priority.

Jesse shifted onto her back. “With Perez dead, Lanton needs me dead. The way to ensure that is through my sister. I have to get to Amanda before he does. So you see why I have to reach that village tonight. I’d rather you went with me. I don’t like the looks of your leg.” She paused. “You’ve been MIA for over a day. Think your men are looking for you?”

“Count on it.”

“They might have already reported Perez’s death to Lanton.”

“This isn’t a Green Team mission,” Cole said. “I’m team leader, and this mission is personal. They’ll try to find me first.”

Jesse closed her eyes in relief.

“If I don’t show they’ll eventually go to Lanton,” he went on. “But we’ll get to them beforehand. Don’t worry about the team. They’ll follow my lead.”

Something in the way he said follow my lead gave her pause. He was still holding back. No. She was doing it again. Dammit. What had happened to her? Trust had never come easily. In this business, suspicion was a requirement. But she had learned to depend upon team members. With everything she and Cole had been through, why didn’t she trust him? What more did he have to do to prove himself—die? Or was her lack of trust a way of keeping him at a distance? She was already wondering what they would do after this was over. Would she drop out of sight while he went back to Green Team?

“Cole,” she began quietly.

A murmur of voices wafted on the night breeze. Jesse tensed. Cole pressed a warning hand to her arm. She instinctively reached for his shirt and found her fingers buried in the luxurious hair of his chest.

Couldn’t have planned it better if I’d tried.

A day late and a dollar short.

Cole’s hand covered the hand resting on his chest. She tensed, her attention on the sounds around her, waiting for another burst of speech in order to pinpoint the location of the voices. Two seconds passed and the click of what Jesse recognized as a radio squelch kicking in was followed by a faint voice. Who the hell was wandering around in the jungle with a radio? Not Perez’s men. The only people she could think of were—

Cole abruptly leaned close and whispered, “Stay here.”

He started to pull away, but Jesse seized his lapel and pulled him back. “I know U.S. made equipment when I hear it,” she whispered. “Who are they?”