Read Online Dangerous Liaisons by Tarah Scott, Evan Trevane - Free Book Online
Authors: Tarah Scott, Evan Trevane
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AK47, and for a horrible moment Jesse was sure she would burst into tears.
Then her mind froze. She’d seen the four bodies heaped together. Only they hadn’t all been dead as she’d assumed. Cole had been alive.
“I didn’t quite walk away with my skin intact.” Cole said.
He glanced around the diner and, as if in a dream, Jesse watched him roll up his left sleeve. Half a dozen cigarette burns dotted his forearm, with more disappearing beneath the bunched roll of his shirtsleeve. She couldn’t tear her eyes from the burns. He’d been alive and she’d left him there.
“There are more in other key spots,” he murmured.
Jesse lifted her gaze to his face.
A corner of his mouth curved upward. “If I display those in public, I’ll get arrested.”
Her stomach twisted. I left him there.
She reached for her coffee. “The report said everyone died.” Jesse brought the cup to her lips, caught sight of the slight shake in her hand, and set the cup back on its saucer.
Cole gave a short laugh. “I wanted to. There were moments, I wished I had. They tied my arms behind my back and hung me up to dry. The first twelve hours are the worst. After that, you pass in and out of consciousness. Eventually, they have to force you awake. I plotted how I would escape, catch each one of them in their beds, and skin them alive.”
He rolled down his shirtsleeve, fastening the button on the cuff before reclining against the seat back. “I’m not sure how long they let me hang. A week, maybe more. After they cut me down, I played opossum every time a guard came in with the slop they called food. They got careless. The last night, when they brought my dinner—” He exhaled as the front door opened and a woman and child entered.
The little girl raced past their booth. Jesse watched her scramble onto one of the stools at the counter, then looked back at Cole. He set his cup of coffee back on the table and looked at her.
“What happened?” she asked.
“The guard left the plate by the door, then crept to where I was laying. He probably figured I was finally dead.” Cole shrugged, but his eyes gleamed with a predatory look that made Jesse shiver. “I took the knife strapped to his belt and…phut.” Cole sliced at his throat with a thumb.
Chapter Fourteen
Jesse watched almost fascinated when Cole shivered.
“I heard a sound as I pulled on his pants,” he said, “and grabbed his CR-21. I aimed at the door so fast it amazed even me. Landed on my backside, but if anyone had come inside, they would have been dead.”
Cole paused. “My trigger finger itched to open fire on them the way they had us. The knowledge that they were waiting for us stopped me. I knew someone had sold us out. So I melted into the jungle.”
How long had Cole been MIA in the jungle? Tom’s initial report stated all of Green Team had perished. The report must have been premature. But he would have known when she saw him last night and hadn’t said anything. Had it only been last night?
Cole leaned forward. “OIA reported you were the mole. I saw the receipt for a two hundred thousand dollar transfer into a Cayman island account with your name on it.”
Jesse nodded. “Two hundred grand? Try two million.”
Cole’s scowl turned ferocious.
Jesse sighed. She was tired, so tired, and was nowhere close to ending this nightmare. “I can’t be bought,” she said, “and I’m not the one who got the two million.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s Lanton’s blood money. I guess the going rate for a setup is ten per cent of the take.”
Cole studied her. “What proof have you got he’s the mole?”
Jesse’s pulse accelerated. This was a legitimate question, and Cole deserved to know everything—he deserved a helluva a lot more than that, in fact. But the faces of the men she’d seen slaughtered were burned into her memory. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—forget the way the one man dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes
Then her mind froze. She’d seen the four bodies heaped together. Only they hadn’t all been dead as she’d assumed. Cole had been alive.
“I didn’t quite walk away with my skin intact.” Cole said.
He glanced around the diner and, as if in a dream, Jesse watched him roll up his left sleeve. Half a dozen cigarette burns dotted his forearm, with more disappearing beneath the bunched roll of his shirtsleeve. She couldn’t tear her eyes from the burns. He’d been alive and she’d left him there.
“There are more in other key spots,” he murmured.
Jesse lifted her gaze to his face.
A corner of his mouth curved upward. “If I display those in public, I’ll get arrested.”
Her stomach twisted. I left him there.
She reached for her coffee. “The report said everyone died.” Jesse brought the cup to her lips, caught sight of the slight shake in her hand, and set the cup back on its saucer.
Cole gave a short laugh. “I wanted to. There were moments, I wished I had. They tied my arms behind my back and hung me up to dry. The first twelve hours are the worst. After that, you pass in and out of consciousness. Eventually, they have to force you awake. I plotted how I would escape, catch each one of them in their beds, and skin them alive.”
He rolled down his shirtsleeve, fastening the button on the cuff before reclining against the seat back. “I’m not sure how long they let me hang. A week, maybe more. After they cut me down, I played opossum every time a guard came in with the slop they called food. They got careless. The last night, when they brought my dinner—” He exhaled as the front door opened and a woman and child entered.
The little girl raced past their booth. Jesse watched her scramble onto one of the stools at the counter, then looked back at Cole. He set his cup of coffee back on the table and looked at her.
“What happened?” she asked.
“The guard left the plate by the door, then crept to where I was laying. He probably figured I was finally dead.” Cole shrugged, but his eyes gleamed with a predatory look that made Jesse shiver. “I took the knife strapped to his belt and…phut.” Cole sliced at his throat with a thumb.
Chapter Fourteen
Jesse watched almost fascinated when Cole shivered.
“I heard a sound as I pulled on his pants,” he said, “and grabbed his CR-21. I aimed at the door so fast it amazed even me. Landed on my backside, but if anyone had come inside, they would have been dead.”
Cole paused. “My trigger finger itched to open fire on them the way they had us. The knowledge that they were waiting for us stopped me. I knew someone had sold us out. So I melted into the jungle.”
How long had Cole been MIA in the jungle? Tom’s initial report stated all of Green Team had perished. The report must have been premature. But he would have known when she saw him last night and hadn’t said anything. Had it only been last night?
Cole leaned forward. “OIA reported you were the mole. I saw the receipt for a two hundred thousand dollar transfer into a Cayman island account with your name on it.”
Jesse nodded. “Two hundred grand? Try two million.”
Cole’s scowl turned ferocious.
Jesse sighed. She was tired, so tired, and was nowhere close to ending this nightmare. “I can’t be bought,” she said, “and I’m not the one who got the two million.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s Lanton’s blood money. I guess the going rate for a setup is ten per cent of the take.”
Cole studied her. “What proof have you got he’s the mole?”
Jesse’s pulse accelerated. This was a legitimate question, and Cole deserved to know everything—he deserved a helluva a lot more than that, in fact. But the faces of the men she’d seen slaughtered were burned into her memory. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—forget the way the one man dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes
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