Anton pulls a wicked-looking blade from a sheath at his side. One that looks more suited to fileting fish than anything else, and holds it to Dane’s throat.
“Spent the last hour sharpening it myself. You move, and it’ll slice right through.” Anton’s eye is swelling shut, and he spits. A red glob lands in the sand. “I won’t feel bad about it either.”
What is wrong with these people?
Dane’s gun lies on the beach in front of him, just out of reach.
“I get more if he’s alive. Vargas wants to do the honors. But if he moves, fucking kill him.”
Dane jerks forward, and blood spills down his throat as the blade cuts into his skin. His nostrils flare, the rage burning hotter.
“Why take her? Why not just me?”
“Because I increase my profit margins with her, and there are no pesky loose ends,” Vander says with a note of twisted humor.
“You know enough about me to know that there’s always someone coming next. They won’t stop until you’re dead.”
“I’ll be long gone. I’m not afraid of your little band of commandos.” His tone turns darker. “And your wife will never be seen or heard from again. I already have buyers lined up to bid for her. You’ll die knowing you couldn’t save her. The most important mission of your life, and you fucked up. Pitiful excuse for a mercenary.”
A battle cry comes from behind Vander, stealing his attention away from Dane.
A man charges him, but Vander is too quick. The gun leaves my head and two shots are fired into the man’s chest, dropping him to the sand.
Chapter 34
Dane
My unwilling helper takes two bullets, and there’s not shit I can do to help him. I wrap a hand around Anton’s wrist and snap it backward, breaking bones until the knife falls to the ground.
The sound of another boat coming toward the island sends a shaft of unease down my spine, but all I care about is getting to Kat.
I grab Anton’s knife and charge toward Vander. Only a few feet of sand separate us when he turns toward me, the barrel raised, his finger on the trigger. I brace for the impact, but it doesn’t come from him.
The sound of automatic-weapon fire rips through the darkness as hot lead hits my thigh and I stumble to my knees. Sand flies up all around me from the impact of bullets.
Vander spins around and yells, “Don’t fucking kill him yet, you idiots!”
Three men splash into the water and race up on the beach, all holding AKs.
Any plans I had of taking out Vander and getting the hell out of here with Kat are just as fucked as this rescue attempt.
Vander stalks over to me and swings, the butt of the pistol catching me on the cheekbone, whipping my head sideways.
“No!” Kat screams. Her anguished tone guts me as she crawls across the sand, tears spilling down her bruised face.
Vander brings the barrel to my head and she freezes.
I failed.
I fucking failed.
“Forget her. She’s not yours anymore.”
“The fuck she isn’t. Always and forever.” I say it for Kat, but it doesn’t soothe the despair in her tear-filled eyes.
I failed her.
In a hoarse whisper, she repeats it back to me. “Always and forever.”
“Fucking precious. But you’re both wrong.”
Vander swings the pistol again, and then I feel nothing at all.
Chapter 35
Kat
“No!” I scream in a hoarse voice as Dane’s body falls forward, landing facedown in the sand. I’m silenced by the back of Vander’s hand.
A man in a black shirt and pressed khaki pants stalks toward us.
All I can focus on are the knife-like pleats in his khakis as my brain reels, unable to process everything that just happened. My face throbs, but all I want is to crawl to where Dane lies unconscious in the sand.
Never before in my life have I ever wanted to live more than I do right now.
Vander snaps out his orders. “Take her to the boat. We’re leaving.”
“What about him, sir?”
“Jan and Borne stay with him. Arrange for another pickup, right the fuck now. Get him to the port for the handoff yourselves. No more fuckups by the locals.”
“Yes, sir.”
Anton rises to his feet. “Ain’t my fault—”
Vander points the gun at him, and with one shot to the head, Anton goes down.
I squeeze my eyes closed, wishing I could unsee what I just saw. All of it. I want to rewind. This can’t be real.
The man in the black polo shirt reaches for me, and I pull away. It doesn’t matter, though; he jerks me to my feet by the bindings on my wrists. My arms feel like they’re being torn from the sockets.
“Try not to break her. Buyers pay less for damaged goods.”
Two other men close in on Dane. They each grab an arm and drag him through the sand, still facedown.
Vander stops beside me. “Get a good look, Kat, because that’s the last time you’re ever going to see your husband. The man I’m going to deliver him to will torture him for days before he finally ends him.” A ghastly smile stretches over his face.
I stumble as the man takes me toward the boat and away from Dane. “Why? Why would you do this?”
“Your husband pissed off the wrong member of the cartel. Walked right into his house and helped his wife disappear and never come back. He needs to restore his honor, and since he can’t find his wife, he’s taking it out on your husband, and generously compensating the person who delivers him. You’re lucky he didn’t ask for you. He has no more patience for women, and only wants revenge.”
Prickles of fear trail down my spine, and part of me wishes that the man had asked for us both. At least then, we’d die together.
How morbid.
My thoughts are cut off when I’m picked up, tossed over a shoulder, and carried the rest of the way to a speedboat.