The safe house kept changes of clothes for agents on the run. He'd just never expected to need them when the CIA had briefed his crews on the place's location in case of an emergency.
He stepped from the lone bathroom and studied the three doors. Lucia and Sara were behind one of those doors, but he couldn't speak to them yet. Not until he took care of business with Keagan back in the computer room.
At least he didn't have to worry about Lucia. The local doc had declared her on the mend, not that they could peel Sara from her bedside even though the damn-fool-stubborn woman was weaving from exhaustion.
Lucas resisted the urge to check on them both again. He'd been reluctant to leave, but the doc had insisted on stitching up his arm even though he'd barked at the man to treat Sara first. Washing with his bandaged arm hanging out of the shower had been awkward, but his head was clearer now that he knew the doc was with Sara, hopefully giving her whatever meds she needed to take care of herself.
For his part, he needed to find out about his people at the Cartina National Air Base.
Stopping in the kitchen nook, he snagged a cup of coffee on his way to the makeshift office to find Max Keagan, a former CIA agent, now a civilian employee for the Air Force's OSI—Office of Special Investigation. Keagan's new job enabled him to move from base to base with his Air Force pilot wife, one of the crew members currently in Cartina. This way of life was tough on relationships, but somehow they'd made it work.
Lucas tipped back his mug, the Colombian roast infusing a much-needed jolt of caffeine. Odd how even when he'd proposed to Sara before, he'd never given much thought to day-to-day life and stresses of a military marriage. Especially strange since he was such a methodical planner in every other way.
Only with Sara did he offload logic like cargo out the back ramp. Good God, had he really accused her of being a drug addict? Worse yet, how could he have let his doubts about Lucia fall out of his mouth?
Work, damn it. He had work to do.
The office hummed with running computers and a rattling air conditioner that actually helped muffle conversation. Keagan and two others from the CIA sprawled at desks, studying data and satellite feed on screens, a standard setup to provide shelter and a comm point in the shadows of an operation. Nothing about bringing down Chavez and Padilla was turning out to be standard.
Keagan glanced up. "Are you okay, Colonel?"
"Fine." He settled in a spare office chair beside Keagan's computer. "A few stitches and a tetanus booster. What about my people? My crews? Have you spoken to your wife?"
"Yes, sir. She's fine. Hunt assumed command in your absence as the senior crew member here." Keagan tipped back his own coffee. "The crews are waiting until everyone's accounted for before they fly out."
Good. Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose until the relief faded enough for him to think again.
Keagan's wife was fine. They'd already worked hard for their own peace since Keagan had been undercover on Carson Hunt's flight that had been shot down in the Middle East. He'd handled the fallout better than the rest of the crew, given his intense CIA training.
But damn, telling Keagan's then fiancee, Darcy, about the crash, their prisoner status, had been one of the toughest things he'd ever done. He knew the hell of losing someone and those front-door visits to all the families of the downed crew had catapulted him back to losing Sara.
Just remembering had his feet itching to see her again. Watch her breathe. Hold her.
Not thoughts conducive to keeping his mind on business.
Keagan forked his fingers through his spiked hair. "Your people were pretty freaked out when you left and didn't return."
Now that surprised him. He knew he wasn't a popular leader.
"You are respected."
"Do you read minds on the side?"
"Only at carny shows."
Lucas laughed, soft, hoarse, but damn welcome. Tension unkinked in his shoulders. "Update me. What the hell happened that everything blew up so fast?"
"Padilla launched an attack on Chavez's compound hours ahead of our planned insertion time. While they battled it out, the Delta boys moved in and of course didn't find the target for the smash and grab. So they exited, let the two factions kill each other off, then moved in to clear up the mess at the end. We found enough evidence of drug and arms trafficking for the Cartinian government to lock Chavez away for the rest of his life."
"So we can all breathe easier." Sara and Lucia especially. Tio Ramon could go straight to hell as far as Lucas was concerned.
"Once we find him."
Crap. "We didn't get him."
Keagan shook his head, thudding his empty coffee mug on the desk. "He slipped out before we could secure the compound. He's got panic rooms and underground tunnels that would blow your mind."
Lucas jerked a thumb toward the closed door. "About the smash and grab, she is the woman from the satellite images."