Ransom (Benson Security 4)

Ryan leaned in and whispered, “Maybe he’ll turn up later.”

She shrugged. It was forced. “No biggie.”

Yeah, right.

“Elle,” Lake said. “You got anything else for us?”

“I have satellite pictures coming in right now,” she replied. “Give me a minute to go through them. I might be able to narrow this location down even further.”

“Impressive,” De la Cruz said. He spoke English with an American accent, but Ryan would guess it wasn’t his first language. It was his mannerisms more than anything. Americans weren’t generally as expressive when they spoke.

Megan plopped into seat on the other side of Elle. “At least David sent some eye candy in his place. Damn, that man is hot!”

Her husband, who stood behind her, tugged her hair.

“What?” she demanded as she looked up at him. “He’s the sexiest Latino guy I’ve seen since Ricky Martin. And I’m still upset that he plays for the other team. In fact, women everywhere are still upset about that.”

Dimitri smiled and shook his head, leaving Ryan to wonder, once again, why any man would take Megan on.

“Megan,” Lake said with a long-suffering sigh. Sometimes, Ryan forgot that, living in the same small town in Scotland, Lake had watched Megan grow up.

“What?” Megan said.

“Want to keep your voice down? Nobody cares how hot De la Cruz is.”

“I do,”

De la Cruz said. He winked at Megan.

Dimitri let out a threatening rumble, and Megan looked up at him. “Don’t worry, baby. Nobody is hotter than you.”

“And this is why we shouldn’t let couples on the team,” Callum said. “It’s distracting and unprofessional.” He shook his head. “I wish I was back in the army,” he said at the same time as everyone from the London office.

He glared at them as laughter broke out.

“Okay, settle down,” Lake said with a grin. “It’s good to let off steam, but we need to focus. Elle?”

She was studying the photos on her screen. “Can the new guy come look at this?”

De la Cruz didn’t wait for permission—he strode around the table and came to stand behind Elle. He peered over her shoulder and tensed. “What’s the location?”

She tapped her keyboard and brought up a map. He nodded.

“Go back to that photo,” he said. An aerial view of an encampment surrounded by jungle appeared on the screen.

It seemed like everyone present was holding their breath while they waited to hear what the man had to say.

“Zoom in, bonita,” he muttered. “Scroll left. Zoom again.” He stiffened before standing straight. “It’s the Martinez family for sure. I recognise their setup. All of their jungle camps look exactly like this one. Each camp is isolated and rigged to blow if it’s penetrated by the enemy. The only access in or out is by boat, and usually the river is a hike from the camp.” He looked at the photo again. “This one is closer to the water than most. But still a good few hours on foot—if you take the shortest route. Days if you head in the other direction.”

“Aren’t they making it hard for themselves to get out of there, if there’s only one way in and out?” Megan said. “If we take their path in, it will be like shooting fish in a barrel.”

De la Cruz shook his head. “They grew up in the jungle. They know the area inside and out. They’ll just scatter into the trees if they’re attacked, and meet up at another encampment later. It’s one of the reasons they’ve been so difficult to eliminate. That and the fact they are merciless in making a name for themselves.” He looked back at Lake. “You know what they do to their kidnap victims?”

“Yeah,” Lake said, but didn’t elaborate.

“I don’t,” Ryan said.

De la Cruz looked down at him, his brown eyes turning black. “They cut and brand the men. They gang rape the women. It’s their way of putting their stamp on their victims and increasing the fear people feel for them. They want people to be terrified of being taken by them. They want to be able to ask for more ransom each time.”