“It’s back at your friend Marisol’s house along with my dirty clothes.” I didn’t tell him I still had the knife strapped to my calf because I honestly didn’t expect to hang on to it for long. I had to assume Santiago’s men would take it off me as soon as we arrived.
The ride seemed to take forever, much longer than the ride from Gelada to Marisol’s small village. It most likely meant we’d gone deeper into the mountains and further away from anyone who could help us even on the off chance I could figure out a way for us to escape.
Carter’s body moved closer to mine with each bump of the Jeep until his thigh was pressed up against mine. I leaned over until our shoulders touched. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Don’t be nice to me right now, damn it.” Carter’s voice held a shaky tone that worried me. “I don’t want to be handled. I want to be trusted. Is this one of the executive kidnap-and-ransom situations? I have K&R insurance. It was why I was trying to get you to stay behind.”
“I don’t think that’s what this is.”
“What else would it be? I mean, unless they were looking for a doctor? They seemed to know I was a cardiologist. Maybe someone needs medical help?”
I took a minute to determine the best course of action. He was right. He deserved the truth. At least some of it.
“I believe we’ve been picked up by men who work for a cartel,” I said as softly as I could, not daring to mention the man’s name in case I was overheard. “One that’s connected high up in the Venezuelan military and government.”
Carter made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “Oh, is that all? We’ve been snatched by a cartel. No problem.”
“We have no chance at getting out of this if we don’t stay calm,” I reminded him. “And a very good chance of getting out if we do.”
“Easy for you to say,” he hissed. “Mr. Super Soldier Special Force—”
“Jesus,” I hissed back, cutting him off. “Shut the fuck up. Are you trying to get me killed?” I didn’t mention how annoying it was for a Marine to be referred to as a soldier even when there weren’t armed combatants present.
The sound of his silence lay heavy between us for a few beats. “Riggs… fuck. I’m sorry.”
I pressed my arm against his again. “Just keep quiet as much as possible and let me think.”
Thinking wasn’t easy while I was pouring sweat inside of a stifling, stinky hood. It brought back memories of my time in Afghanistan, which was both good and bad. Bad, because I didn’t like remembering those dangerous times. But good, because it was the same mindset I needed to get back into now.
The survival mindset.
“I can get out of the zip ties, but there’s no way we can make a run for it with that gun in the back and whatever firepower the two in the front have,” I said. “Our best bet is to go along with them until we find a better moment to escape. We might be able to make a deal with them.”
“I have…” He hesitated. “You know my grandfather. I have resources if we need them. I told them my name was Dr. Carter, but we can tell them the truth if you think it’d help.”
He meant money, and that was a good thing. Drug lords in general tended to be opportunistic. They liked money. If Carter’s family could pay a ransom, even if that wasn’t the motive for the kidnapping, it could possibly get him out of here. I knew Champ would do the same for me if needed.
But my gut was telling me this wasn’t that kind of situation—too many things just didn’t add up—and I wasn’t going to ignore my gut again.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Keep that information in our back pockets while we assess, yeah?”
Carter didn’t say anything, which was frustrating when I couldn’t see him to assess how he was doing.
“Duchess?” I asked softly.
“Yeah, I’m here. Just thinking.”
“Don’t volunteer the grandpa thing, okay? Let’s wait and get a lay of the land first.”
“Yeah.”
We bumped along in silence for a while. The periodic chatter from the men up front seemed to be mostly about irrelevant topics like movies and music, someone’s brother who’d gotten the wrong girl pregnant, and even a petty argument about the best rum to use in guarapita.
After what seemed like an entire day, I finally felt the Jeep rumble to a stop. Shouts of greetings came from around us, and the warm press of Carter’s body against mine was suddenly gone. Someone yanked my hood off, and I took a deep, grateful breath of clean air while I blinked against the blinding sunlight.