Deadly Games - Cate Noble [56]
Gena came out of the bathroom.
“Get packed,” Rocco said. “I’d like to leave here while it’s dark.”
“Do you still plan to go to Mexico?”
“Yes. I’m also going to hire a backup security person, Gena. I may have to leave you with him long enough to double back and lay a false trail.”
“I’ll be fine on my own,” Gena began.
“No. You saw what happened to Lupe. And now there are new people joining the search. I’m afraid it’s even more dangerous than before.”
Chapter Twenty
Bangkok, Thailand
October 5, 7:00 A.M.
“The woman is alive.”
Luc Skihawtra’s four-word message gave Travis Franks hope.
It had been tough to think ever since learning that his beloved Maddy was in the hands of Minh Tran. The guilt that ate at Rocco Taylor was nothing compared to what Travis felt. If Travis had been more insistent that he and Maddy go public about their relationship, she wouldn’t be in danger.
For a lot of reasons that at one time seemed important, Travis and Maddy had decided to keep their status as a couple private. Their coming together in a romantic sense had shocked both of them. Maddy had worked periodically with Travis’s team for three years, two of which had been spent with Rocco in a relationship that could only be described as intermittent.
But two months ago, after weeks of working late, trying to find leads on Max and Harry, something had clicked, and clicked hard, between Travis and Maddy. Travis invited her out to dinner, and one thing led to another and wham! He’d fallen for her.
But Maddy had been the one who didn’t want to advertise their status until they defined their relationship. They had sex—great sex. But she worried that without commitment, that’s all it ever would be.
And while Travis preferred a committed relationship, he’d secretly worried he was too old for Maddy. He was forty-two. She was twenty-five. That seventeen-year age difference brought up all the old-enough-to-be-her-dad insecurities.
Damn it, once she was safe, Travis would announce to the world that he loved her.
Once she was safe.
He was waiting for Luc to clear security at their meeting place, the same secret interrogation room he used months ago when Travis first met Luc.
Luc had been instrumental in locating Max Duncan and Travis had been working privately with Luc ever since, slowly crafting Luc’s cover as a smalltime arms dealer. Keeping Luc small kept him off everyone’s radar.
Up till now Travis had been using Luc to track down leads on the Agency’s third missing agent, Harry Gambrel. But every lead proved a dead end. It was possible that Harry had died from the abuses Dante and Max had also suffered, or had even been murdered by his captors. But until Travis had solid proof, he would assume Harry was alive somewhere.
Right now, however, Maddy was priority one.
Travis’s phone vibrated. Luc had arrived. A moment later, the door to the conference room opened and Luc was ushered in. Travis stood and shook his hand.
At twenty-three, Luc had more street smarts than anyone Travis had ever met. Luc wore all black, including his backpack, reminding Travis that he took his fashion cues from Western spy movies.
Travis motioned for Luc to take a seat but didn’t wait to begin his questions. “How do you know she’s alive?”
“Minh Tran has an old warehouse near the docks that is for sale,” Luc said. “It’s been vacant for over a year, but last week food was delivered several times a day. Enough for several people.”
“Where is this place?” Travis asked.
“I will give you the location, but the building is empty now. I checked myself.”
Travis gave in to the urge to hit the table. “You said she was alive!”
“She was alive this morning. One of Tran’s helicopters flew in and landed on the roof. I spoke with a witness who saw a blond woman, same size as yours, being forced