Ice Woman Assignment by Austin Camacho Read Free Book Online Page B

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    â€œMistress, you are in no danger from them,” he said in Spanish. “The serpent will fly high. The Hawk and the Puma will fall beneath her.” Then Anaconda had his eyes again. His tremors gradually eased, then stopped. He breathed deeply and sweat burst out on his body.
    â€œImpressive,” Morgan said. “Can you tell me what’s in my pockets too?”
    â€œYou bore me,” Anaconda told Morgan. Then she returned to her chair behind the desk, picked up the telephone and pressed one button. “Garcia. Pull over for a drop.” Then she turned to the man on Morgan’s right, “Renaldo. Take him out and hurt him. Break something.”
    Air brakes hissed again and the world ground to a halt.One man opened the rear doors. Another gripped Morgan’s shoulder and shoved him out. Three of the big men followed him, leaping to the ground. One of the two remaining men pulled the door closed and flipped the latch, locking it shut. Anaconda pressed the button on the phone again and said “seguir,” and the truck lurched forward again. Felicity felt a shudder run down her spine, but not from the night air that had come in.
    When the vehicle reached cruising speed Anaconda moved to stare down into Felicity’s eyes. Her face softened, revealing something like empathy.
    â€œYou know why I don’t kill you right now?” Anaconda asked. “We are two of a kind, you and I. Two women succeeding in a man’s world. And of course, because Frederico assures me you are harmless. And he is never wrong.” Anaconda walked back to her desk, but while she spoke Felicity watched the boy. Ignored by his Colombian mistress, he never let his gaze wander from Felicity. She finally had to close her eyes to refocus her attention on Anaconda.
    â€œTell me; is all this hostility just because you’re a wee bit of a lass? Are you angry just because you’re a shrimp?”
    Anaconda whirled, Morgan’s boot dagger in her hand, rage flashing from her silver eyes. She stepped deliberately toward Felicity, the knife held in front of her. The two guards moved aside allowing her plenty of room. Frederico scampered back into his corner. When Anaconda stopped, she held the knife less than two inches from Felicity’s nose.
    â€œYou think you are better because you are tall?” Anaconda all but shouted, shivering with contained rage. “You could not survive what I have. Have you ever been raped by a man half again your size? Or been given as a sexual gift to seal a business deal, just because some men like young girls?”
    Felicity spoke carefully in soothing tones. “I’m sure yourlife has been hard. But you’ve done much more than survive. You’re in charge here. I can’t even imagine how you reached the top of this organization, in a business that is so, well, male dominated.”
    â€œNo secret there, chica,” Anaconda said, sliding the blade softly against Felicity’s cheek. “I left my native country early, with a man who liked what I had to offer. He took me to Cuba. There I learned from the experts, some of Fidel’s closest men. I learned how to use my differences to influence the small minded. How easy it was, being female, to turn one man against another.”
    Felicity was fighting not to move when the cold steel touched her skin. “If the communists trained you, I’m surprised you didn’t stay with them.”
    â€œOh they wanted me,” Anaconda said, sliding the side of the blade down Felicity’s neck. Felicity shivered, and sweat broke out on her face. “I returned to my own country because I knew I had talents the Escorpionistas could use.”
    â€œTalents?”
    â€œLet’s say gifts,” Anaconda said, moving the knife so the point rested half an inch from Felicity’s right eye. “I have a gift for organization. And I knew I had qualities that could be used to