Read Online Under the Wire by Cindy Gerard - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Cindy Gerard
Ads: Link
to your people with a price on your head. Poveda won't kill the hunt until he finds a body."
Unfortunately, Manny realized, Cougar again was right. Poveda would not stop looking. Would not rest until he was certain that Manny was dead.
"Let me send you to the States," Cougar said, rousing Manny from his brooding thoughts. "Let things cool off down here for a while."
"Go to the States?" Manny glared at the CIA operative. They'd had this conversation before—or one similar to it. "And do what? Hide like a dog while others fight what is my fight?"
"Learn. You'll join the Army. Get more training. And you have my word, we'll bring you back here in a year with an arsenal of knowledge and skill that will do you much more good than any weapons cache I could give you now."
"Think about it, Manolo," Cougar said when Manny remained thoughtful and silent. "You're a smart man. Just think about it," he repeated. "You'll see the wisdom."
What Manny saw, after giving the CIA agent's suggestion some thought, was that he had no choice. Cougar was right. Manny was now a liability.
Which meant he was a failure.
He'd failed his country.
He'd failed himself.
All because he'd been a fool over a woman.
He rose to his feet, gave Cougar a nod, and walked out of the tent. Only then did Manny allow himself to think about her. About Lily. Whom he'd first met in Poveda's excessively opulent house that had been paid for and furnished on the backs of Manny's countrymen.
If he had been thinking with his head instead of his cock, he'd have listened to her words, not her dulcet voice, at the dinner table when she'd agreed with Poveda about the lost cause of the Contras.
If he had been thinking, he wouldn't have told her secrets that could bring him down. Wouldn't have believed her when ... well. He just wouldn't have believed her.
His father was right. He wasn't a man. He was a foolish boy.
And the next day, when Manny boarded a transport plane that would take him to the United States of America, he felt every bit the boy.
Lily had reduced him to that. She had taken everything that was important away from him. He was leaving his family. Leaving his home and everything he knew. The only thing that kept him from crying like a boy was the promise that he would return.
That and a growing hatred for the woman who had changed his life forever.
PART II
United States, present day
CHAPTER 6
Boston, Mass., Emergency Center, Dowling 1, South Boston
"I guess that does it for the fifty-cent tour, Lily." Howard Rutledge, the balding forty-something Emergency Medicine administrator, extended his hand. "Welcome aboard. I hope the facility measures up to your expectations."
The scream of an ambulance siren bled in from outside. All around them, the emergency center staff attended to the demands of a bustling and well-run ER. Well run, yes, but Lily already had some ideas that would streamline operations even more and improve patient care.
She didn't mention that to Howard, however, who had just taken her on a guided walking tour of the center where, as of today, Lily was officially the new head of nursing. She also didn't mention that she'd stopped having expectations years ago. At least about some things.
And those kinds of thoughts are unnecessary, jaded, and just plain pissy, she chastised herself as one of three ambulance bay doors flew open and a trauma team greeted a blood-drenched gurney surrounded by EMTs.
Chalk up her attitude to buyer's remorse. Wrong sign of the moon. Or most likely, Lily could blame it on worry.
Adam had flown out two days ago. Her baby was halfway around the world in Sri Lanka by now. Sri Lanka, for God's sake. She still couldn't believe he was gone and that he'd be spending the summer assisting in the ongoing tsunami relief efforts.
God, when had her little boy grown into a young man? And of all
Unfortunately, Manny realized, Cougar again was right. Poveda would not stop looking. Would not rest until he was certain that Manny was dead.
"Let me send you to the States," Cougar said, rousing Manny from his brooding thoughts. "Let things cool off down here for a while."
"Go to the States?" Manny glared at the CIA operative. They'd had this conversation before—or one similar to it. "And do what? Hide like a dog while others fight what is my fight?"
"Learn. You'll join the Army. Get more training. And you have my word, we'll bring you back here in a year with an arsenal of knowledge and skill that will do you much more good than any weapons cache I could give you now."
"Think about it, Manolo," Cougar said when Manny remained thoughtful and silent. "You're a smart man. Just think about it," he repeated. "You'll see the wisdom."
What Manny saw, after giving the CIA agent's suggestion some thought, was that he had no choice. Cougar was right. Manny was now a liability.
Which meant he was a failure.
He'd failed his country.
He'd failed himself.
All because he'd been a fool over a woman.
He rose to his feet, gave Cougar a nod, and walked out of the tent. Only then did Manny allow himself to think about her. About Lily. Whom he'd first met in Poveda's excessively opulent house that had been paid for and furnished on the backs of Manny's countrymen.
If he had been thinking with his head instead of his cock, he'd have listened to her words, not her dulcet voice, at the dinner table when she'd agreed with Poveda about the lost cause of the Contras.
If he had been thinking, he wouldn't have told her secrets that could bring him down. Wouldn't have believed her when ... well. He just wouldn't have believed her.
His father was right. He wasn't a man. He was a foolish boy.
And the next day, when Manny boarded a transport plane that would take him to the United States of America, he felt every bit the boy.
Lily had reduced him to that. She had taken everything that was important away from him. He was leaving his family. Leaving his home and everything he knew. The only thing that kept him from crying like a boy was the promise that he would return.
That and a growing hatred for the woman who had changed his life forever.
PART II
United States, present day
CHAPTER 6
Boston, Mass., Emergency Center, Dowling 1, South Boston
"I guess that does it for the fifty-cent tour, Lily." Howard Rutledge, the balding forty-something Emergency Medicine administrator, extended his hand. "Welcome aboard. I hope the facility measures up to your expectations."
The scream of an ambulance siren bled in from outside. All around them, the emergency center staff attended to the demands of a bustling and well-run ER. Well run, yes, but Lily already had some ideas that would streamline operations even more and improve patient care.
She didn't mention that to Howard, however, who had just taken her on a guided walking tour of the center where, as of today, Lily was officially the new head of nursing. She also didn't mention that she'd stopped having expectations years ago. At least about some things.
And those kinds of thoughts are unnecessary, jaded, and just plain pissy, she chastised herself as one of three ambulance bay doors flew open and a trauma team greeted a blood-drenched gurney surrounded by EMTs.
Chalk up her attitude to buyer's remorse. Wrong sign of the moon. Or most likely, Lily could blame it on worry.
Adam had flown out two days ago. Her baby was halfway around the world in Sri Lanka by now. Sri Lanka, for God's sake. She still couldn't believe he was gone and that he'd be spending the summer assisting in the ongoing tsunami relief efforts.
God, when had her little boy grown into a young man? And of all
Similar Books
