Read Online Midnight Rescue: A Killer Instincts Novel by Elle Kennedy - Free Book Online Page A

extraction gig with us, about eight years ago, but he had a violent streak none of us liked. So Morgan cut him loose. Devlin went to work for Blanco a couple years later.”
    “His dream job,” she said, sarcastic. “He gets to beat and torture people all day long.”
    “Not many people survive his
interrogations
.” His green eyes searched her face. “Why didn’t he kill you, Abby?”
    She shrugged. “Blanco had other plans in mind for me.”
    “I take it you’re not going to share those plans with me.”
    “I can’t.” She curled her fingers over the handle of the mug, a wave of desperation rising in her chest. Damn it, she shouldn’t be here. She needed to get back to Bogotá, needed to plan an attack. She’d been in perfect position before Kane and the men decided to rescue her, and now she’d be forced to start from scratch, figure out a new way to rescue those girls before Blanco sold them off like cattle.
    Damn it
.
    “We can help,” Kane said roughly. “Whatever you’ve gotten yourself into, you don’t need to do it alone.”
    She met his gaze, startled by the intensity in his eyes, the sincerity of his voice. For a moment she was tempted to spill everything. Tell him about the girls she so desperately wanted to rescue. Tell him
why
it was so important to her. But in her entire twenty-eight years, she’d opened up to only two people. One was dead. The other didn’t know the meaning of judgment.
    Would Kane judge her if she told him about her past, the things she’d done to stay alive?
    Maybe. Maybe not.
    Either way, she couldn’t trust him. He was a stranger to her. And a good-looking stranger to boot. Those movie star looks alone were reason not to trust him.
    Lifting her mug, she took another long sip, then said, “Alone is the only way I know how to do things.”
    “I assure you, the festivities will go on as planned,” Blanco was saying as Devlin marched outside.
    Holding the phone with one hand, Blanco raised his other one when he noticed Devlin. An order for silence. Tightening his lips, Devlin drifted across the terrace to the iron railing overlooking the yard. He stared down at the lavish kidney-shaped swimming pool below, surrounded by healthy green foliage and colorful exotic flowers. Trying to control his impatience, he listened to Blanco’s half of the conversation, battling the impulse to grab the bloody phone and whip it into the pool.
    “There won’t be a raid, Juan,” Blanco told the caller in a reassuring tone. “The assault you’re referring to has been highly overexaggerated. The men involved weren’t government. I have everything taken care of.” He paused. “I know you’ve invested a large amount of money in this invitation. Everything is under control… Yes, I know… My solicitor will be in touch with details by the end of the week.”
    Blanco was fuming as he hung up the phone.
    “Will Juan Cortez be a problem?” Devlin asked with a pleasant smile.
    “Damn that woman,” Blanco said without responding to the question. “I ordered the guards not to speak of lastnight’s activities, but word seems to have gotten out. The bidders are growing uneasy.”
    “You could always cancel the auction,” Devlin said in a bored voice.
    “Cancel it?” Blanco sounded outraged. “I will do no such thing. This is going to be something extraordinary, the festivities we’ve planned. Dear Devlin, we are offering a service no one else in the world would even dare advertise!”
    Devlin didn’t give a bloody rat’s ass about Blanco’s auction. As far as he was concerned, they had more pressing matters to deal with. He reached up to rub his eye, grimacing when he encountered the coarse material of the ridiculous eye patch one of the guards had brought back from the market. As his impatience spilled over, he twisted his mouth in a lethal scowl. “Why isn’t the jet ready?” he snapped. “I told you I wanted to head out this morning.”
    Blanco’s features hardened.