With his arms wrapped tight around her, he closed his eyes and hoped for a miracle. Because he suspected they’d need one to get out of the rainforest alive.
Chapter 27
“This is why civilians shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near an operation.” Callum’s face had gone red, and he looked like his head might explode. “What the hell were you thinking calling the press in?” He took a step towards the actor and Daniel flinched.
Isobel stood right in front of him and patted his chest. “We talked about this. You aren’t in the SAS anymore. You have to deal with civilians and you can’t kill everybody who annoys you. Now, calm the hell down.”
If Ryan hadn’t been mad enough to spit, he might have found watching tiny Isobel take on her raging husband amusing. As it was, he didn’t see anything funny in their situation. It had been a long day. The team were tired and hungry. They’d barely had time to clean up before they met to debrief, and now they were dealing with yet another setback. Callum was only saying what everyone else was thinking.
“I’m sorry,” Daniel said. “I was helping.”
That didn’t calm Callum down any. His fists clenched and his eyes narrowed. Isobel took one look at his face and launched herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and held on like a limpet. Callum had no choice but to hold his wife.
He looked down at her, clearly exasperated, and opened his mouth to tell her so.
“Don’t you dare,” Isobel said. “You won’t punch him with me here, and you know it.”
There was a chuckle, and everyone turned to see Elle snapping photos of the pair. “For the company brochure,” she said, and laughed while Callum growled.
“Okay,” Lake said, and there was instant silence. “You contacted the press. What exactly did you tell them?”
All attention focused on Daniel. He cleared his throat. “I, uh, told them Belinda had been taken and that the baddies had asked for a ransom.”
Ryan groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with his good hand. Now he wanted to punch the guy. Baddies? Daniel was calling the cartel baddies. Like this was one of his movies and he’d ridden in to save the day. Yeah, the baby actor needed punching.
“Did you tell them who took her?” Lake asked.
Daniel nodded. “The Martinez cartel.”
“Where did you arrange for this press conference to happen?” Callum said. “Is this one of those phone-in things?”
As soon as Callum said the words, Ryan knew it was the exact opposite. He shook his head. The guy was dumb as dirt.
“I, uh, told them to meet me here,” Daniel said. “They’re coming in the morning.”
Callum looked down at his wife, who was still wrapped around him. “Can I hit him now?”
She slid down his body and stepped aside. “Have at it. He’s a bloody idiot.”
“Let’s not hit the wealthy and famous actor,” Rachel drawled from where she was perched on a stool beside the bar, flicking at her phone screen. She was dressed in a cream trouser suit. The jacket buttoned up and it looked like there was nothing beneath it. Her nails were bright
red to match her four-inch pumps, and her face was perfectly made-up. This was Rachel. In the jungle.
“What time did you say you’d talk to them?” Lake said.
“Breakfast?” Daniel didn’t sound sure, which was a worry.
“Then we have to get out of here before they turn up, or we’ll end up searching the jungle with the press on our tail.”
“We have another problem,” Dimitri said, and Belinda’s brother looked relieved when the attention moved from him. “The Martinez men are out in force, herding the pair towards the mining operation. We stumbled on a couple today. After some persuading, we discovered they had orders to either force the pair to head for the river or take them straight to Martinez. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d already found Beast and Belinda. According to our source, the Martinez brother had every man in their operation out scouring the jungle.”
“Did your source survive your talk?” Lake asked.
“Absolutely, boss,” Dimitri said. “We take internal memos seriously in the London office. Julia printed the one about no unnecessary killing and posted it on the noticeboard.”
Lake’s lips twitched, but he didn’t break out a smile.
“What did you do with the bastards, then?” Callum said, cutting to the chase, as usual.