Special Agent Collins buzzed them into a modest single-level structure. The layout was comparable to the spokes of a wheel, with the main hub housing a single desk, computer, and an aging man with a scowl.
Collins nodded to the guard before leading them down one of the narrow corridors. “I have to admit I was surprised to hear your agency was called into Honduras, and more than surprised to hear it less than an hour ago from my superiors.”
“I guess they felt the more eyes and ears they had on the ground, the better.” Stone returned the agent’s strained smile. “After all, we’re all on the same team.”
“Yes, but things run differently here than in the private sector. As much as I’d love to, we can’t just storm the Fuentes distribution hub and call it a day. One fuckup and the Honduran people would be on their own with him, and you could probably imagine the horrific things that would happen if we weren’t here to run interference.”
Rafe intercepted Stone’s sideways glance with a faint nod, signaling he caught on to the oddity of the agent’s statement, too. They’d been down here for months with an operational goal of finding Fuentes’s operational base, and this unlucky bastard just alluded to the fact that they already knew where the hell it was.
Stone lasered his scowl in Collins’s direction. “Can you explain to me again why it is that you haven’t invaded his distribution hub the moment you located it? The longer you wait to shut the bastard down, the more chance you give him to ship Freedom to the States.”
Collins turned to give Stone the full brunt of his snarl. “In case you haven’t noticed, things here are rather sparse. I can’t produce people out of thin air, and I can’t rewrite their fucking job descriptions. And I sure as hell can’t make up my own damn rules. Both my hands and my balls are fucking tied.”
Rafe slid up next to his boss. “Then I guess it’s a good thing Alpha owns all of their own appendages. We don’t play by anyone’s rules except our own. The longer that bastard stays free, the more time he has to fuck with people’s lives.”
Hostilities inflated on both sides. Rafe snuck a look toward Penny and immediately battled the urge to give her hand a reassuring squeeze. He knew she was thinking of Rachel. He wanted to find her, too—for Penny, for himself. In giving her back her family, he’d be making her happy, and that’s all he wanted.
And more importantly, knocking heads and kicking down doors was in his scope of practice. Everything else hovered over his head like a two-ton question mark.
*
Mountains of video feeds—scoured. Entrance and exit routes both for their own use and for Fuentes’s—identified. Logan even shopped at the base’s surprisingly well-stocked arms room like a pimply-faced teen in a video game store. The clock to Fuentes’s destruction slowly started ticking down.
Once they handed Fuentes over to the proper authorities—or peppered his carcass with bullets—Rafe would be off to the next mission and Penny could move on with her life with Rachel by her side. It’s what was best. Still, each time Rafe thought about it, he wanted to ram his fist through the wall.
Body still damp from his shower, he heard the first hesitant knock. Any one of the guys would’ve rattled the door on its hinges or burst their way through it altogether, so he knew before opening it who stood on the other side. Knowing it and being prepared for it were two entirely different things. Rafe opened the door and immediately felt like he’d been sucker-punched in the gut.
Penny had obviously made use of her own quarters. Her hair hung damp around her shoulders, and her cheeks were pink with a healthy glow. Even in unisex olive drab BDUs, she looked so damn touchable he had to cross his arms over his chest to prevent himself from reaching out.
“I-I’m sorry if I caught you at a bad time,” she stammered softly. The badass commando look contrasted with the uncertainty etched on her face. Her eyes roamed over his bare chest, lingering on the towel secured around his waist.
He braced a shoulder on the jamb of the open door and pretended he wasn’t already at half-mast. “It’s only a bad time if you’re going to plead a case to go along on the Fuentes raid.”
She glanced away with a sheepish smile. “I’m more than willing to let the professionals do their work. I’m only wearing this because it was all they had that didn’t smell like jungle. Can I come in for a minute? This isn’t exactly a conversation I’d like to have in the middle of the hall.”