Morgan's Wife by Lindsay McKenna Read Free Book Online Page A

scared him enough that he moved his profitable operation from our country to the Caribbean . Now he's had ten years on Nevis to set up another empire, which has proven equally profitable."
    " Berenice , do we have an operative there?" Jim fervently hoped so.
    "No, sir, we don't."
    "Damn," he muttered, then glanced apologetically at both women.
    Nodding slightly, the lieutenant continued the briefing. "Garcia calls his fortress Plantation Paloma ." Berenice looked at Pepper. " Paloma is spanish for dove. "
    "Rather an irony, isn't it?" Pepper drawled.
    "To say the least," she agreed. "Garcia is as cold-blooded a killer as Ramirez. All the bosses who work for Ramirez pattern themselves after him. When you make your jump, if Garcia discovers either of you, he'll kill you without question. Although we don't have an operative on Nevis right now, the CIA is working to come up with one. At one time we had an informant." She frowned. "She was a local Nevis woman, a laundress for Plantation Paloma . She was in Garcia's employ for five years, and we were able to gather a great deal of useful background information about his fortress from her. Unfortunately, Garcia somehow found out she was working for us."
    "What did they do to her?" Pepper asked quietly.
    Jim looked up. "You don't want to know."
    "Don't protect me, Colonel. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I can't handle the gory details." Pepper looked at Berenice , who obviously agreed with her.
    Stung, Jim nodded. "All right, give her the information, Lieutenant."
    "Yes, sir. Garcia is known to use truth drugs on anyone he suspects isn't loyal to him. They shot the operative full of a truth drug, and she spilled everything. After that, Garcia threw her to his men, and she was gang-raped." Berenice sighed. "We know because we found her body on the beach at the opposite end of Nevis from the fortress. One of the locals found her stripped of her clothes, and the CIA autopsied her body." The distaste in Berenice's voice was obvious. "Garcia is a torturer—an expert. He picked up his methods from Ramirez, who's nothing short of a sadist." She handed Pepper a photo from the file.
    Pepper's stomach rolled as she stared at the photo of the woman's body lying on a morgue slab.
    "That's who we're going up against," Jim said in a steely tone. He met Pepper's narrowed gaze. "And that's why I don't want you along." He jabbed a finger at the offending photo. "Now do you see why I'm against you coming on this mission?"
    Bile coated Pepper's mouth as she laid the photo down and pushed it slowly in Berenice's direction. The lieutenant picked it up and slid it to the bottom of the file. Swallowing against a dry throat, Pepper rasped, "Don't you think he'd do the same thing to you, Colonel? What makes you think a murdering bastard like that cares if you're a man or a woman?"
    Jim scowled and leaned back. Pepper was right, but he had hoped the photo and briefing session would discourage her. "There's an old military saying—‘Take no prisoners.' Garcia doesn't. And you're right—he'll do the same to a man as he will a woman."
    Rubbing her brow, Pepper whispered, "My heart aches for Laura Trayhern . I mean, what has Garcia done to her already? My God…"
    Jim's heart lurched in his chest at her whispered words. He saw tears in her eyes and felt unexpectedly touched by the depth of her reaction to Laura's plight. He didn't think anyone else had fully appreciated the terrible trouble Laura was in. As Pepper wiped tears from her eyes, his heart swelled with an unknown emotion. He dug in his back pocket for his handkerchief and handed it to her.
    "Here…"
    Pepper nodded, taking it from him. "Thank you." She dabbed at her eyes, not caring whether her companions approved of her nonmilitary emotional response. As an officer like Lieutenant Romero, she wouldn't have dared allow the tears to show. But as a civilian, Pepper wasn't about to apologize for wearing her emotions close to the surface. Not