Hijacked (Licking Thicket - Horn of Glory 1)

“C’mere,” I said, pulling him into a hug. “You did a good job.”

He struggled against my hold for a few seconds before giving up and letting himself slump in my arms. “Santiago was unstable to begin with, and now he’s having low blood pressure.”

Fuck. I could tell he was stressed and scared, and I wanted to do whatever I could to put him at ease.

“You did good, Duchess,” I said. “You got him settled. But, listen. I need to tell you something.”

I led him over to the velvet sofa and pulled him down next to me. He looked completely wiped out. I knew he was more scared than he wanted to admit to me, and having the pressure of everyone’s healthcare was clearly weighing on him.

Before I could say anything to try and ease his mind, the door opened again and a woman came in carrying a tray of food. I was starving, and whatever the tray held smelled amazing.

Carter wasn’t interested in the food, but I forced it on him. “You have to eat. If we can find a way out of here tonight, you’ll need the calories.”

“How can you eat food from that kitchen after everything that happened?” He eyed the chicken soup with suspicion.

“Because Marines learn to compartmentalize, or they faint while on a mission and get dead. Eat your damned food, Carter. Don’t think about it, just get it down.”

He reluctantly tucked into his food and alternated between bites of it and the fried flatbreads that accompanied the soup. “I guess this is better than whatever you had to eat in Afghanistan.”

“You don’t even know,” I said, appreciating the soup even more.

“Who’s the guy who got hurt? And why does he sound like he’s from Tennessee?”

I thought about what to tell him. “He’s from Tennessee,” I admitted. “He was kidnapped by the cartel to do some computer work for them.” All of that was true. I felt uneasy about the parts I left out, but the more information Carter had about the connection to Horn of Glory, the dark web sale, and the cartel’s financial transactions, the more danger he could possibly be in, not to mention we were now somewhat dealing with a Champion Security client, albeit an ex-one. And Champ had made his stance clear on talking about client business.

Especially to people I was sleeping with.

Especially to men who were chronic overtalkers when they got stressed-out.

“What kind of computer work? No offense to Mullet Dude, but he doesn’t seem like my first choice for a computer genius.”

“His name is Buck,” I said, deliberately not telling Carter his last name, if only to keep from laughing. “And he tried selling his services to the wrong people. They decided to take what he was offering without giving him money in exchange.”

“Oh.” Carter’s forehead crinkled in concern. “Are they planning on keeping him forever?”

“Either that or they’re planning on killing him after he finishes the job. And it’s due to be finished tonight. Pretty much when Gustavo gets back, we’re all in trouble.”

Carter dropped his spoon in his empty bowl. “What do you mean ‘when Gustavo gets back’? Where’s he going? He’s not stable enough to travel right now. Did you see him faint?”

I took a breath and reached for his hand. “Apparently, the man we know as Gustavo is actually his brother. His name is Gianluigi, and he’s impersonating his brother, who actually does have a heart condition. He’s getting treatment in Houston. Gustavo doesn’t want a rival cartel to find out he’s gone.”

Carter blinked at me in shock. “Well… what do we know about Gianluigi? Is he bad? Dangerous? What?”

“I don’t know. He’s not a known player in the cartel as far as I know, but he has to be in charge of Gustavo’s guards while Gustavo is gone. And those guys have real guns. I think… I think he’s not as much danger to us as the real Gustavo would be, but we still need to get the hell out of here as soon as possible. Especially before Gustavo returns and realizes his brother kidnapped two Americans.”

Carter leaned against me. “Riggs… this is too much. What do we do? Are you going to ask your friend Hux to try and find us?”

He looked pale and tired. Inky smudges lined his eyes, and his hair was a mess. The usually put-together cardiologist was scared, and it was literally my job to make sure he wasn’t.

I swallowed my pride. “Yes. I’m going to contact Champ, my boss, and tell him what’s going on. He’ll find a way to get us out of here.”

Carter let out a breath and sank into the chair. “Good. Okay. I think that’s a good idea. We need to save this guy Buck before Gustavo gets back and takes his anger out on all of us.”