Read Online Spy Hard by Dana Marton - Free Book Online

feet away. Someone had carefully snipped the aluminum wire. She had a pretty good idea who that had been.
    “Where are we going?” she whispered, wondering if she was jumping from the pot into the fire.
    “North. Time to see about a new job.”
    North worked for her. The research station was that way.
    Jase helped Mochi through the hole first, then held the wire back with his bare hands to help her pass through.
    She angled her body. The contortionist act would have been much easier if she didn’t have a beach ball attached to her midriff, but she made it through. She was going to be as tough as she needed to be. She was going to survive this.
    Then she was outside the compound for the first time in months. She glanced behind her, her muscles tight with tension. But she didn’t see anyone back there. Nobody seemed to realize what they’d just done.
    She was free .
    She straightened her spine and drew a deep breath, looked up to the sky. No man was ever going to control her again. Her fingers tightened on the gun as she looked at Jase’s back. He’d already turned his attention to the forest and was moving rapidly forward into deeper cover.
    Mochi turned back to her with a look of concern, as though to make sure she was all right.
    She flashed him a smile. “We’ll be okay.” And the boy nodded, as they both hustled forward.
    She watched where she stepped, wary of snakes and spiders. She might not spot them in the dark. Some of the plants, too, were poisonous, but she didn’t know all of them, only a couple. She hoped Jase did, and wouldn’t lead them into something that could kill them.
    Okay, so he’d broken her out. But she was pretty sure he wasn’t helping her out of the goodness of his heart. Chances were, he’d gotten cold feet and just wanted to avoid the battle, deciding to sit it out in the jungle than pledge allegiance to the winner. He was probably only bringing her with him for entertainment, since she’d done her best to pretend the last time they’d met that she wouldn’t mind entertaining him.
    “Where are Cristobal’s men?” she asked, wary of running into them.
    “Still some distance away, I’d guess.”
    “The explosion?”
    “I needed a distraction.”
    “Where are we going?”
    “Away from the fighting.”
    “More specifically?”
    “Plenty of logging down river where a man can find a job. Other kinds of work, too.” He didn’t mention what she would be doing. Did he plan on making her his camp woman?
    Mochi looked back again to check on her. Again, she did her best to reassure him with a smile. She wasn’t sure why the boy was with them. Maybe Jase hoped the kid would help them navigate the jungle. She hoped the same. Her chances of reaching safety would triple if she could get Mochi to help her.
    Truthfully, as long as she had Mochi, she didn’t really need Jase, who was at least as big a threat as help, if not bigger.
    The boy held a branch aside so it wouldn’t hit her belly.
    “ Gracias, Mochi.”
    She padded deeper into the forest behind them, and after the first couple of yards the undergrowth thinned enough so she could see better in what little moonlight filtered in through the canopy. She weighed the gun in her hand and lifted it, pointed the barrel at Jase’s back as he moved carefully ahead in the semidarkness. She hesitated for a long moment, then adjusted her aim at his right shoulder. Newfound resolution or not, she didn’t think she could kill a man in cold blood.
    Not unless it became absolutely necessary.
    Which wasn’t the case right now. He’d gotten her away from camp; now she just needed to get away from him. She didn’t have to kill him for that. She hoped.
    She moved up closer behind Mochi, who walked between her and Jase. The kid barely reached her nonexistent waist. She couldn’t possibly hit him as long as she aimed well over his head.
    Deep breath. Her finger hesitated on the trigger. Not because of that kiss they’d shared, she told