Chapter 2

??Presuming he??s not dead,?? said Trey. ??Do we have any information on what might have been done to him??? He didn??t like the guy he was assigned to rescue, but that didn??t mean he wouldn??t do his job.

??None. I wish we did. Our last surveillance update implies we know where he??s being held. There haven??t been any signs of body disposal so we??re operating on the assumption that he??s still alive. I know that sounds like precious little information but it??s all we have. Let??s move on to what we know of the area he was last seen.??

The next hour was spent looking at partial floor plans and aerial surveillance views while talking about which entrances might provide easiest access.

As the SWAT team went to gather equipment, Trey lagged quietly at the back of the group. He was getting sent to rescue a guy he loathed. It wasn??t like he could back out. Maybe Landon would be dead. Did he still hate the man enough to wish for that option? Enh, maybe not quite that much.

* * * *

When Perez?? fist hit Landon??s face, it knocked the DEA agent??s head sideways. Landon spat blood on the dingy concrete floor. His arms were pulled over his head, held with zip ties and a chain. Blissfully the chain was just slack enough that he could stand and wasn??t dangling like a side of beef.

??Enjoying your day??? asked Perez, his mouth curled in a snarl.

??Absolutely.??

Perez hit him again, this time in the side. It drove the breath out of Landon and he wondered if he??d felt a rib crack.

??What did you tell the DEA???

??I wish you would stop it with the DEA shit. I have no idea what you??re talking about.??

Another blow and more pain. Landon knew he could hold out for a while. Chances were, since they hadn??t killed him already, he had a little time. Everything else was a complete gamble based on a debt. The debt lay in the hand of Sotolongo??s girlfriend, Nina.

Landon had first met Nina about five months before. He had worked his way up through the ranks of the Azor cartel, gaining a reputation as a middleman with a sharp edge. It was a ploy, he made more threats than actual violent acts, but he was good at playing the part.

Nina lived in a huge house owned by Sotolongo, and certainly seemed to fit the part of ??awfully pretty and none too bright??, the quintessential trophy girlfriend. Landon heard rumors she had spent a year or so as a prostitute in the cartel??s stable before Sotolongo had taken a fancy to her. She was average height for a woman, with long dark hair, brown eyes and very nice curves, if that was the sort of thing that turned you on.

As Landon gained the trust of the boss and the rest of the higher echelon of the organization, he??d been invited to live in a room in the guest house, along with three other men in similar positions.

Nina turned out to be far more than she appeared, and Landon wondered if he was the only one who knew it.

That first month at the house, Landon had been very circumspect about what interactions he allowed himself. Nina was easy on the eye and lots of crude commentary was exchanged between the men. In the beginning Landon thought she was ignoring what was said in her presence, but??she was far more subtle than he originally thought. That girl had to have been the most accomplished pickpocket he??d ever seen. Maybe it was because he was a better people watcher than the other men, it took even him a few weeks to realize what she did.

Nina liked to move things. She??d filch a cell phone from one of the men and leave it on the counter in the bathroom, take a wallet and put it between two sofa cushions, stick the car keys in the fridge. She never took anything permanently and she always left things where they could be found with a little hunting. It made the men look a bit like morons, and Landon gradually understood it was part for her amusement and part very careful payback. He caught her at it one day as she put a set of car keys in the kitchen sink.

She saw him looking and a faint look of apprehension stole across her face. Landon merely grinned and walked out of the room. It was their secret. The first one of many.

Together they discovered they both had an affection for martial arts movies and TV shows. Eventually discussions evolved about which ones they loved and which ones were laughable; a friendship grew.