Heart of Danger by Capri Montgomery Read Free Book Online Page A

to it,” Micah headed to his office to make the call he needed to make. They would find her, alive and he hoped to whatever God there was that she wouldn’t be physically harmed. Emotionally he was sure she was already a mess, but God he hoped they weren’t torturing her, or raping her. He felt the tightening of the muscles in his jaw and he realized he was wound so tight he was ready to pop. “Save it,” he told himself. “Save it for the bastards who took her and then put a bullet in ‘em.”
     
    His contact had only been marginally helpful. He knew of only one Colombian who had ventured into the Australian ring. It seems like every agency from the FBI to the CIA on down to the Secret Service had been keeping their ear to the ground on this man. None of them knew half of what Hector Rodriguez could find out, but this time, not even he could provide all the details.
     
    Valdez was a bastard jerk who massacred an entire family to make a point to the one who betrayed him, and then he had killed the traitor and made an entire village watch. There had been some rumors that he might expand his reach, but nothing was concrete. “They killed ten people and took one,” Micah had told him.
     
    “That’s not really his style. Valdez would kill everybody. Plus, from what I hear he is still in Colombia…wait a sec,” he paused and Micah could hear the printer spitting out paper. It was one of those old Okidata printers, he could tell from the sound of the beast. Hector wasn’t going willingly in to the present technology. He preferred old school ways, and he lived by that.
     
    “Wait a minute. He might be on his way to Australia. Actually, he might be there already. I just got a printout that his private plane departed Colombia thirty-six hours ago. You say ten were killed and one taken?”
     
    “That’s what I said,” he bit out, not out of anger, but out of frustration.
     
    “Was it a woman?”
     
    “That he took? Yeah.”
     
    “White or black?”
     
    “She’s black Irish,” he said. “Very milk chocolate though. Why does it matter?”
     
    “Because Valdez likes the dark chocolate, the milk chocolate and any other kind of chocolate except white chocolate. He hate’s white people man because he says they remind him of the Americans. He hates Americans too in case you didn’t notice. Hell, that woman doesn’t stand a chance. I’ve heard what he does to the ladies. He takes what he wants when he wants and then he gives them to his guards as a reward. Shit, whoever she is, she’s screwed to hell man.”
     
    Micah growled. Those were not the words he needed to hear. “It’s Natalia,” he finally said.
     
    “What?”
     
    “It’s Natalia.”
     
    He heard Hector sigh and then growl out several expletives. “Man, I hate to tell you this but you might as well forget it. He’s going to take her apart, man. He’s going to hurt her so bad—”
     
    “I got it!” He slammed his hand down on the table. “We are not leaving her there.”
     
    “Then I’d suggest you figure out where they’re holding her because once he gets her back to his home she’s as good as dead; or at least she’ll wish she was dead by the time he gets through with her.”
     
    Micah could feel the anger rising from within him. She had to be okay; she had to survive this.
     
    “I’m sorry, man, but that is how it is. There was some chatter about a compound deep in the outback, I’ll get you a spec for the area, but I can’t guarantee the thing is there. Are you near a fax?”
     
    “Always,” he quipped. “Shoot it over to me—quickly.”
     
    “Yeah, I just have to get over to the other room, that’s where the modern stuff is. I’ll send it in five,” he assured him before signing off the call.
     
    Micah took a series of deep breaths trying to calm himself.
     
    “What did he say?” Alex poked his head into the office while trying to stay securely on the other side of the solid divider.
     
    “That