She squinted in the fading light at the old homestead ahead divided into apartments at the edge of town. He swore the safe house was active as of three days ago. If the personnel had moved, then he would have to gamble that the locals weren't in league with Ramon or Padilla. With Lucia unconscious and twitching in her father's arms, it wasn't as if they had any other choice.
How had the world gone so insane? She was quite finished with excitement, thank you very much. She wanted a normal place to bring up her child, a place without fences or stone walls.
Please, please just let her child be all right.
Three hours ago, Lucia's screams of agony had dwindled to whimpers. Then she'd gone terrifyingly limp and silent, but for the occasional convulsive jerk. Lucas kept her cradled to his chest, blood soaking through his bandages as his wound reopened.
They'd spent two days worrying about Ramon and Padilla, watching for snakes, jaguars and heaven knows what else. Lucas had been prepared to shoot wild animals and criminals. Yet none of those threats ever materialized.
Instead, a stupid little spider had attacked.
The sun dropped the final inch into the horizon with tropical speed. Humid night blanketed them, the dim lights filtering from their orange stucco destination offering an unwavering beacon. "How will we know if this is the place?"
"We're told a certain phrase to say that sounds innocuous—"
"But is actually a code?"
"Right. I know what the answer should be to verify this is indeed a safe place."
What kind of life did Lucas lead? Not the everyday flyboy life she'd once thought. Perspiration trickled down her chest, itching. What an odd thing to notice now as they charged up the walkway to the arched side entrance.
With each outside step up to the second-floor apartment, she could sense Lucas growing more brusque. He transformed from the man who gently promised chocolate-covered bugs to a child into a distant soldier.
"Knock," he ordered, his arms full with their limp daughter.
She rapped her knuckles against the wooden door. Twice. Hard. Trying not to sound as desperate as she felt in case anyone watched.
The door creaked open, a local in ratty tennis shoes lounging against the frame. "Quepasa?"
She stifled her groan of disappointment. This couldn't be right. This man looked more like a scruffy hoodlum than some safe house agent.
"Is Jorge back from the dentist yet?"
"Yes, he's recovering from his root canal in the back room," the man said without the least hint of a Cartinian accent. "Come inside. He'll be glad of the distraction of a visitor."
He opened the door wider.
Lucas brushed past and into the sparsely decorated flat.
A second man with spiked blond hair and eye-shocking flowered shorts ambled from the back room. "Rodriquez? Who's—" He stopped short. "Jesus, Colonel, we'd about given up hope. Where the hell have you been?"
This man knew Lucas? That had to be good. She hoped.
Lucas shouldered past to the first of three open doors in the hall, two bedrooms and a room packed with high-tech computer equipment. "We can talk about that later, Keagan. The kid needs medical attention." He lowered her onto the empty single bed, Lucia too vulnerable in the middle of the stark white spread, a crucifix over the headboard. "Spider bite. We're counting minutes here."
Sara trailed after, her eyes taking in the ramshackle apartment providing cover for these people Lucas worked with. Her months at the embassy had taught her enough to know this place housed more than weary soldiers. Undercover agents worked here and somehow Lucas was connected, all things she couldn't think about now with her child in danger.
The beach-bum-looking man he'd called Keagan un-clipped a cell phone from his waistband. "Roger. We've got a doctor on our payroll for emergencies."
This definitely qualified.
Sara dug her fingers into the cool plaster wall behind her and watched the strangers gather around her daughter. Intellectually she knew they'd arrived in time. Their race through the jungle had gotten them here in less than twelve hours. Spider venom was slow.
Still she couldn't stop the dull roar in her ears, the surreal sense of it all. After five years she had her wish to be free of Ramon. Lucia was free to enjoy a normal childhood. Lucas and Tomas were alive. Her head thunked back against the wall.
She should be rejoicing. So why couldn't she escape the sensation that something was still horribly wrong?
Lucas combed back his damp hair. The borrowed khaki cargo shorts and black T-shirt didn't fit as well as his flight suit, but at least they were clean.