Password to Her Heart (The American Soldier Collection 9)

“Well, maybe I do.”

“No way. You’re just playing hard to get, but I’ll get you to come around. I’ll keep wearing you down until you say yes to me.”

She chuckled. “In your dreams, Mike.”

* * * *

Keith listened to the message numerous times. His best friend, one of his fellow team members, Lee, offered his help. He couldn’t call him. He wouldn’t put his friends, his fellow soldiers in harm’s way. But things were getting worse. Montoya’s men were in the vicinity. They wanted the thumb drive he confiscated off of Guazipan in Morocco.

Chavez threatened to take them all out, including Keith’s sister, if Keith didn’t cooperate. He knew he was working undercover. Keith had done this before, but never so intense and never this close to Montoya. But he took the assignment because he wanted revenge. Revenge on Montoya for killing all those innocent people, and justice in being part of eliminating a terrorist cell group determined to spill blood on US soil. That just wasn’t acceptable. Chavez was an informant gone bad. Or so he thought until a few days ago. Chavez was a spy, an agent, and his loyalty lay with the bad guys. Keith had been gathering evidence, and recordings on Chavez, too. He documented everything so that whether he survived this or not, at least his team, his sister, Shawna, would be safe and the bad guys would be behind bars or dead. He was hoping for the latter one. It was a mess.

Chavez figured out that Keith was a soldier working undercover. He also was tied to Montoya and recently became partners in a small business venture. When Keith showed up at a meeting as part of the security team hired by one of Chavez’s associates, he recognized Keith immediately. Keith thought he was a dead man walking, but then Chavez did nothing.

A day later he found Keith and told him that the only reason he didn’t give Keith up was that then Montoya would know that Chavez was a rat, paid by law enforcement agencies to give up information. But now Chavez owned him until Keith was able to confirm the terrorist cell, pinpoint a manufacturing site, or even confirm a delivery of weapons. Time was running out for him.

Keith made the copies of the thumb drive, minus the specifications for making the weapon and the specific location of that weapon. It was sealed up and packaged along with the other evidence that Keith would mail to his team, the only men he trusted Shawna with. At least she would have a place to stay and men who could protect her if Keith died.

Originally, Keith was after information of smuggling and general terrorist activities like training facilities, names of members, locations of key terrorist cells, but he got way more. He had been shocked to realize that the drive also contained information on Montoya and Guazipan’s newest endeavor. The specs and the location of the hidden lab in Mexico where Montoya and Guazipan’s money helped fund the development of a weapon of mass destruction. This was heavy shit. He fucked up when he took that thumb drive, read its contents, and then called it in to headquarters. Commander Louis Smuthers was bad, too. He immediately called Chavez.

But in all honesty Keith thought the thumb drive would contain some of Montoya’s secret drug manufacturing facilities, his bank accounts abroad, perhaps a list of the members of his organization. Shit that could help put the fucker in jail for life or get him executed by his disloyal affiliates. No such luck. Instead he stole this damn thumb drive the moment the opportunity presented itself.

His obsession with capturing and killing Montoya had ruled his every thought.

The man was a ruthless killer, a womanizer, and a heartless bastard. But Montoya was smarter than Keith anticipated. Now Keith had a bull’s-eye on his forehead and had placed his sister, his only family, in jeopardy. Chavez was working Montoya over in a double covert operation. He was paid off by a competitor, a sworn enemy to Montoya, who wanted to take over Montoya’s assets, as well as his ideas for the weapon. These sick fucking terrorists were now fighting over whose name would be attached to the destruction they caused and the innocent lives that would be lost. Keith was stuck in the middle, uncertain how he was going to get out of this, help to put Montoya and Chavez behind bars for good, and ultimately survive.

He swallowed hard as he watched Shawna walk from the bar to her apartment. The poor kid suffered enough. She lived in a bad neighborhood, struggled to put herself through college, and now her life was in jeopardy because of him. He had to do something. Just then he saw the SUV. So did Shawna as she started to run.

Tires squealed and Keith jumped from the car to head toward them. It was too late when he felt the gun to the back of his head and heard Chavez’s voice.

“Don’t be stupid or weak. This is exactly what Montoya wants. Your sister will survive for at least a few days. You need to think things through before you fuck up everything.”

Keith heard his sister scream, saw her fighting for her life, and then he saw the big man strike her hard. She fell to the sidewalk and didn’t move.

Oh God, Shawna. I’m so sorry.

* * * *

Shawna knew she was in trouble the moment the SUV

pulled up alongside the curb. She turned to look as the window went down and she recognized the man from the bar. She took off running, trying to keep the backpack in place. The strike to her shoulder came out of nowhere. She knew she needed to either run faster or try to stand her ground. The decision was made for her when the one guy grabbed her hair and struck her in the cheek. She struck back, breaking his nose and making him holler. As she went to escape she turned and took the hit to her jaw from the big guy. It was lights out instantly. The last thing she felt was her body hit the concrete pavement with a thump.

* * * *

Jerry Chavez brought Keith back to the car where they watched the three men gather Shawna off the ground and dump her into the SUV. It took off with tires squealing as they both watched. Keith felt like vomiting. Shawna was going to die because of him. How could he let this shit get this far?

“You need to focus on the objective at hand. Your sister will only die if I call Montoya and tell him that you are in fact a spy.”

“You’re such an asshole. He’s using you like you used him. You were a federal agent, a spy for our government, and now you’re selling them our secrets? You’re part of the development of that missile?”

Chavez struck Keith in the back of the head, surprising him. “I need that thumb drive.”

“Where are they taking my sister?”

“Someplace safe and where her screams won’t alert police of any kind.” Chavez chuckled.

He was a traitor and the one person Keith least expected to be double-crossing him and the United States. He was still working undercover and coming up with squat. Especially while Montoya and Guazipan kept Chavez on the payroll.

“What do you want from me? I don’t have anything you need.”