Abducted:Reconnaissance Team (Texas Rangers: Special Ops) by Tarah Scott, Evan Trevane Read Free Book Online Page B

small service entryway. They had to be in the rear of the house. The American stepped onto the landing and headed toward the door. An instant later, she and her captor reached the bottom of the stairs. Liz spotted a closed door on the right. A kitchen? A pantry? Hope surged. Liz kicked at the door as they passed and gurgled a scream through the Mexican’s fingers. He yanked her aside. Her foot only grazed the wood, and she flailed in an attempt to lunge for the door.
    He drove her back against the opposite wall and Liz froze when the point of a knife dug into the flesh of her neck. Blood roared through her ears. She closed her eyes against the sting of tears.
    “Try that again and I’ll slice your neck,” he hissed. “Understand?” She didn’t reply and he gave her a hard shake. “Understand?”
    Liz whispered, “Yes.”
    He withdrew the knife and pulled her away from the door. She cast a glance back and strained for sounds of activity, but the pounding of her heart reverberated in her ears. The American opened the rear door and the Mexican clamped a hand over her mouth again. In another moment they would have her outside. Her heart hammered against her ribs.
    “Go around to the side,” the American said.  
    The Mexican stopped beside him at the door. “Get the car. I’ll meet you there.” 
    The American glanced at Liz. “Maybe we should stick together.” 
    “We have to separate to get the car. I’ll hold her here for five minutes, then meet you around the side.” He wrenched Liz’s head back against his chest and said into her ear, “The chica won’t make a sound, will you, bonita ?”
    He nuzzled her neck and she seized his arm with both hands. Liz startled to discover that she still gripped her small clutch bag. Tears blurred her vision. Two years ago, After Nina Bruno’s brother went down in a small plane in Arizona, Nina ordered all company employees to carry a Modu phone, a tiny telephone with a locator. That phone might save Liz’s life, just as it had Nina’s brother.
    All she needed was a moment alone to make a call—before they killed her.
    * * *
    Sanchez shifted from business to small talk about Juarez, El Paso and food, and Ben listened for an opening in the conversation that would give him a clue to Christina Remmey’s whereabouts.
    The kitchen door swung open and a man entered the dining room. A smirk lifted one corner of his mouth. Like Sanchez, he wore an expensive suit, but unlike Sanchez’s other lackeys, this man exuded an air of authority that sent a prickle of unease down Ben’s spine.
    The man reached Sanchez, bent and whispered in his ear.
    Gaze locked with Ben’s, Sanchez listened. The man straightened and Sanchez nodded. The man sent Ben a sideways glance as he passed. 
    When the door closed behind the man, Ben said, “I don’t think your man likes me.”
    “He is paid to be cautious.” Sanchez took a bite of his pork, then said, “You’re a wanted man.” 
    Ben grunted a laugh. “If by ‘wanted’ you mean the authorities want to see me behind bars, then you’re right. But the cops don’t have enough to issue a warrant for my arrest.” 
    “Why did you kill Roger Davis?” 
    “I didn’t kill anyone.”  
    “If you had killed him, why would you have killed him?” 
    “If he made the mistake of mentioning my name to the cops.” 
    Sanchez forked more of the pork into his mouth and nodded. “Then he is the man who told the District Attorney you killed his partner, David Caldaron?”
    Ben’s mind came to a screeching halt. Either Sanchez was testing him, or the FBI screwed up and didn’t fill him in on all the details of his background.
    He shifted his gaze from his plate to Sanchez. “I wasn’t aware Caldaron had been murdered.”
    “No?” Sanchez said. “I was told you were questioned concerning both deaths.”
    Ben shook his head. “Your information is wrong.”
    Sanchez shifted and Ben sensed the tension in the two men standing behind