Maya Banks - Hidden Away

Pain that had nothing to do with his injuries washed through his chest. “I’m going to have to figure out a way to do my job—do what’s right—and hope that she’ll understand—and can forgive me—for doing what needed to be done.”

SARAH stirred and tried to blink away the groggy, hungover feeling that cloaked her like a thick fog. It took her a moment to even remember what had happened and that Rio had drugged her. She was also no longer in the SUV they’d traveled in, nor was she on a helicopter that she knew they’d intended to take into Belize.

She pushed herself upward, taking in her surroundings. Immediately her gaze locked with Garrett, who was sitting up, his back to the side of what looked to be an old utility van. Briefly she gazed around to see Rio also sitting in the back, as well as Terrence and another team member she hadn’t caught the name of. Browning and Alton were in the front, Browning driving.

Then she glanced back at Garrett, who studied her with frank appraisal.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“That’s a ridiculous question,” she grumbled. “The real question is, how are you?”

He cracked a grin and then patted the small space beside him. She crawled over and nestled into his side.

“I prefer you close to me,” he murmured. “And I’m okay. Just stove up. I’ll be sore for a couple of days, but that’s all.”

She was skeptical of his self-diagnosis but she didn’t argue. What she did do was glare over at Rio, whose lips twitched suspiciously.

“He’s going to a clinic at least, right?”

Rio nodded. “Yes ma’am. Whether he wants to or not.”

She nodded. “Good.”

“Glad I have such a say here,” Garrett said dryly.

She laid her head on Garrett’s shoulder. “What do we do then? I mean, where do we go? I assume you’ll need to check in with Marcus. I don’t know what your arrangement is with him, but he’s very used to being on top of things.”

He tensed a moment before moving so he could put an arm around her. “You let me worry about Lattimer, okay? Rio and his team are going to stay with us so we don’t get into any more situations like before.”

She sighed and knew she needed to come clean with everything. Before ... before there were several reasons she held back. She wasn’t entirely certain she could trust Garrett—at first. That had faded away, and now he was the only person she did trust. And she was ashamed. Deeply humiliated by what had happened to her and her sense of betrayal had been so numbing that she hadn’t been able to fathom telling anyone. Not Marcus—especially not Marcus.

Garrett needed to know exactly what he was dealing with, because from the moment he’d told her that Allen’s brother had hired someone to find her, she knew. She was a threat to Stanley Cross. If she was ever hauled into court to testify against Marcus for killing Stanley’s brother, the whole sordid tale would come out. Allen was dead, but Stanley wasn’t, and he could still be held accountable for his role in her rape.

“Sarah?”

The question in Garrett’s voice told her he knew something was bothering her. But she couldn’t tell him now. Not in front of his men even though they’d have to know later.

So she shook her head to let Garrett know it was nothing. And later, after he’d been taken care of, she would divulge the last of her secrets.

ʺOKAY, now that the doctor has assured you all that I’m not dying, can everyone stop with the babysitting?” Garrett grumbled as they exited the small, rural clinic where Rio had taken him to be examined.

Sarah rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t say all that bruising is nothing.”

“No broken bones,” Garrett reminded her. “Probably fractured a few ribs, but that’s nothing I haven’t done before.”

They stood in the sunshine a step away from the van that had taken them thirty miles from Corozal. Rio and his men stood to the side, and Garrett leaned against the van as he looked to his team leader.

“Okay, what now? I assume you have a place off in the wilds somewhere where you can stash us. Donovan was going to send us to Alaska, but that’s out now. Too risky. I don’t want Sarah out in the open for that long.”

It also needed to be a place where they could draw Lattimer. The sooner they ended this madness, the sooner Sarah would be safe again, and then he could address this thing between them.

“As a matter of fact I do,” Rio said. “Always pays to have a few safe places that even the bosses don’t know about.”

Garrett shot him a look. Rio shrugged. “I’d be a dumbass if I didn’t plan for every contingency.”

Garrett couldn’t argue with that logic.

“I have a place on the Belize River several miles from the nearest village. It’s well stocked, isolated and it gives us several escape routes. I have a chopper there and a boat. We can bail at a moment’s notice by air, water or roadway.”

“And how big is this place?” Garrett asked. The last thing he wanted was to be tripping over five other men in close quarters.

Rio grinned. “Big enough. Besides, we’ll be taking position in a perimeter around the house. No one will get within a mile unless we want them to.”

Armed with painkillers, the trip over less-than-ideal roads wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Still, by the time they turned onto the winding road that led to Rio’s safe house, Garrett felt like he’d been beat all over again.

There was a large security gate that couldn’t be seen from the road. Security cameras were mounted at each post on the left and right and Garrett raised his brow as Rio opened the gate by remote.

“Exactly how much are we paying you, man?” Garrett joked.

Rio snorted. “Not nearly enough.”

The drive was a half mile long and looped around the incline to where the house rested atop a hill, completely surrounded and sheltered by dense trees.

Garrett whistled when he caught sight of the place. He’d been expecting a shack or maybe a stone building that more resembled a cave. Rio and his men had reputations for being staunch, cave-dwelling loners who kept to themselves when they weren’t on assignment.

Rio liked his privacy—obviously—but he damn sure wasn’t suffering in some hovel.

“Can’t wait to see this,” he muttered as they piled out of the van.

A high-security fence circled the house in addition to the barrier provided by the trees. The house was modern and sleek and spread out over at least three thousand square feet. When they entered, Garrett was struck by how clean and efficient the house looked, but what immediately took over his notice was the high-tech surveillance gear, the computer system and the weapons locker located just inside the door.

“Van would cream himself,” Garrett said.

Rio laughed. “That he would. I’d have to kick his ass because he’d be touching my stuff.”

He guided Sarah and Garrett into a kitchen that looked like something out of a catalog. All the modern appliances, granite countertops and a professional-grade stove with six gas burners.

“The kitchen is fully stocked. If it’s edible I probably have it. Freezer and fridge have all the necessary foodstuffs. Staples in the pantry. Plenty of bottled water. Don’t drink out of the tap. We don’t have the best water.”

They carried on into a sprawling living room, which Garrett immediately approved of. He cast a sideways glance at Sarah, wondering if she was noting the differences.

“This is the type of place you hole up in when you’re hiding,” he said. “There aren’t any open areas for anyone to see into the living room or take a shot at you from a distance. All the windows are high to allow light to enter but this is a completely safe room.”

“Oh yeah?” she muttered. “What if they have a grenade?”

Rio laughed. “Well then it’s KYAG time.”

At Sarah’s raised eyebrow, Garrett supplied, “Kiss your ass goodbye time.”

“Ah, very succinct.”

“The bedrooms are through here,” Rio said as he led them down a long hallway. “Each has its own bathroom and the master suite has a Jacuzzi tub and separate shower. Take your pick and make yourself at home.”

“This is your home, isn’t it?” Sarah asked softly. “Not just a safe house. I mean it’s your safe place.”

Rio was silent for a minute. “Yeah, it is. It’s the place I go when I want to be alone, but hey, a guy likes his creature comforts too.”

Sarah grimaced. “I’m sorry we’re intruding then. But thank you for sharing your private getaway with us.”

He smiled at her then and leaned over to ruffle her hair affectionately. “Well, if it was only Garrett I would have stashed him in some hovel somewhere. Much more in keeping with his winning personality. But I couldn’t very well treat a lady like that.”

“Oh, for God’s sake. I’m going to puke over here,” Garrett grumbled. “Don’t you have something better to be doing?”

Rio grinned again and gave a snappy two-finger salute before he sauntered back down the hall to round up his men.

Garrett and Sarah were standing in the doorway to the master suite and Garrett waited for her to venture in. “It’s beautiful,” she said as she turned in a circle in the middle of the room.

Garrett dropped their bags on the floor, startling her. She looked at the bags, looked at Garrett and then color rose in her cheeks.

“I’ll take one of the other bedrooms,” she said as she started toward her bag. “You can have this one. I don’t need much room.”