Chapter Three Print this Page Suddenly he was hauling her up by her arms. "I called you twice.

Where the hell were you?" She blinked, hoping he couldn t see her tears. "!"" shopping at Saks, where else? It s sale day." #ick s e$pression soured. "Stay more alert, ! Toole. %our kidnappers could come up on us easy." "Then I guess you ll &ust ha'e to "ight them o"" i" you want your payment, huh?" She shrugged o"" his touch. "(od, you re mouthy." ")orgi'e me, my debutante beha'ior got le"t behind when I was stolen "rom my bed at gunpoint." *ot "or the "irst time, #ick considered what she d been through in the past week. +e didn t like the images snapping through his mind. "We ll bunk here "or a while." ",unk?" "Sleep, rest, drink water." (lancing around, -egan saw only thick 'ines and tree roots. Then #ichard pushed back tall "erns, re'ealing a spot where trees bending to reach the chips o" sunlight had cupped the earth. It looked like the #it. to her. "It s cooler in there and we re hidden enough i" someone comes along." "/o you think they will?" )ear clouded her 'oice and she looked around. "!h yeah, this is their backyard. 0nd these guys are out their "i'e million1dollar package. They ll want it back." It. -egan "elt suddenly 'ery empty and alone. "(ee, nice to be so...necessary." The hurt on her "ace de'astated his senses. When had he grown so cruel? "-egan..." She cut him o"" be"ore he could say more. "I m a commodity. 2ike pork bellies or crude oil." "That s not true. *ot to your "ather." "2et s not dissect this, please. I m the pawn." She raked her "ingers through her hair and they snagged. ",ut i" the kidnappers knew anything about my "ather, they d know he would string them along till he got the upper hand." She met his ga.e, her eyes "lat. "Which in this case was you." She ducked inside the enclosure. #ick remained outside "or a moment, then "ollowed her. She was seated on the ground, remo'ing her boots. "I didn t mean it like that." "Sure you did. %ou don t get paid "or a dead hostage. I m a means to the end "or e'eryone. )or your money, their money, my "ather s satis"action that absolutely no one will take anything he considers his."

-egan adored her "ather, but she was twenty3se'en and chie" e$ecuti'e o" South 0merican !perations, yet with regard to her personal li"e, /ad o"ten treated her like a hormonally challenged teenager. /ad thought he knew best. +e didn t. !r he d ne'er ha'e "ired #ichard. "%our "ather lo'es you. !r he wouldn t ha'e hired me." "Why did he ask you, #ichard?" +earing his name tugged somewhere deep inside him. She was the only one who called him that. It le"t an intimate calling card, a reminder o" the last time he d touched her. 0nd how much he wanted to do it again. *ow. "I m good." "!b'iously." She stared up at him "or a second, thought"ul. "%ou re a mercenary, a gun "or hire, aren t you?" "Sounds illegal when you put it like that." ",ut it s true?" +e lowered himsel" to the ground. "I m a hostage negotiator and retrie'al e$pert." That didn t con"irm her suspicions. "0mongst other things, I ll bet." "I" the pay is good enough, I m open." -egan "elt struck across the "ace. *o matter how much she wished otherwise, to #ichard Callahan, she was an opportunity. She really should be more &udicious when she "ell in lo'e. "So what did it take "or you to come "or me, Callahan?" she said 4uietly, looking down at her hands, at the blood crusting on her wrists. "!ne million, two? )i'e?" )resh blood dripped down her skin like a web and #ick reali.ed when he d pulled her along, he d reopened the wounds. "We need to see to those." +e dug inside his pack "or a medical kit. "It can wait and I m tired." She curled down on her side, using her boots "or a pillow. +is price must ha'e been huge, she thought, and deep in her soul she wished he d come on his own, "or a dollar. "-eg. Those will get in"ected." "They can wait," she said on a yawn. She was asleep in an instant. #ick sho'ed his "ingers into his hair, pulling o"" the bandanna and angrily snapping it aside. +e had the social graces o" a rhino in heat. +ad he taken this &ob &ust "or the chance to wound her? !r to show her that he wasn t good enough "or her then and wasn t now? +e was out o" her league, and that he d crossed the line with his charge was unacceptable to him. +er "ather had trusted him with her. -eg had trusted him and though she was more than willing to play with him two years ago, he should ne'er ha'e broken the cardinal rule. *e'er get in'ol'ed with the targets. It would hurt too much when you "ailed. 0nd he had, he thought, rubbing the old wound. +e d lost more than a &ob and a little blood that night. 0 part o" his soul went missing, too. Carrying his backpack, #ick le"t the natural hut and set a couple nasty little surprises "or anyone who tried to get past them. +e wanted to get "ar away right now, but -egan needed rest and

though he had no choice but to push her hard, it didn t make him "eel any better that she was hungry, bleeding, and he still didn t know what they d done to her. The way he "ound her said they hadn t gi'en her a single lu$ury and though most hostages had it worse, her situation had been pretty bad. Traps set, he reentered the enclosure, placing the main sensor be"ore their makeshi"t entrance. The tiny red light blinked slowly and would hum when the sensor was tripped. While she slept, #ick cut an escape route in the underbrush surrounding them. This country didn t ha'e too many "riendlies5 it paid to ha'e a couple o" options. +e settled down beside her, drinking some water and watching her. The bleeding had stopped, and when she rolled toward him, curling into a tight "rightened ball, #ick s reser'e ca'ed. +e slid down to the ground, his back braced on the pack and pulled her into his arms. She whimpered, and struggled against him, and he whispered, "It s all right, Irish, you re sa"e." She rela$ed a bit, her "ingers gripping his shirt as i" he were the last thread in her li"e. #ick rubbed her back in slow circles, and crushed down memories o" her willing in his arms, concentrating on getting them out o" here when he knew in a couple hours the &ungle could be crawling with guerillas. -en who wanted her "or a money trade. #ick wasn t much di""erent. +e might be sa'ing her, but he was e$changing her rescue "or cash so he could stop this li"e. 0nd then what? ,e alone? a 'oice asked and he looked down at -egan tucked in his arms. (ently he pushed her hair o"" her "ace. +e could keep telling himsel" that it was "or the pay, but deep inside, where he kept his secrets o" loneliness and the need to end it, he knew he hadn t come a thousand miles into the 0ma.on &ungle "or cash.