Again. Yeah, he bet they wanted to talk to him. In a big way. They’d probably picked up a report of a dead man in the water from Coast Guard radio scanners in Tortola. Thank God Kinsey had already been on the Baby Doll and had the boat untied and engines running. Otherwise, he’d be shark bait now instead of the Cuban killer.
Interesting female, Kinsey Hollingsworth. Very East Coast upper crust. The whole package screamed old money. Her attractiveness went way beyond good grooming and expensive packaging. She was genuinely beautiful. Her blue eyes, long blond hair and aristocratic bones were very easy on the eye. She ran to the tall side, maybe five foot eight. In good shape. Just enough curves in the right places to give a man hot sweats. Which set his teeth thoroughly on edge. He probably shouldn’t despise every leggy, gorgeous blonde he met, but damned if he could stop the reaction. Even after all these years, the gall of betrayal tasted bitter in his mouth.
At least the princess hadn’t panicked when the chips were down.
Nobody should’ve known about tonight’s meeting between him and Zaragosa. How in the hell had the Cubans found out about it? Worse, how had they found out about the meeting early enough to position assassins to disrupt it?
He didn’t like it. Not one bit. This was the sort of wrinkle that got a mission scrubbed. But he wasn’t so sure the boys upstairs would call this one off. Too much rode on it. And like it or not, he was the best man for the job. Hell, the only man for the job.
He pushed wearily to his feet. He probably ought to see to his shoulder now.
“I need somewhere dry to stow my bag,” he announced.
Kinsey replied, “Inside the cabin. There’s storage under the sofa cushions.”
She turned away to have a look at the propellers, and he took the opportunity to surreptitiously unplug the microphone from the boat’s radio. He pocketed it quickly, grabbed his bag, and headed inside.
Sure enough, the bullet had grazed the meaty part of his upper arm just below the shoulder joint. After awkwardly cleaning and bandaging the shallow wound, he fished out his cell phone. He needed to let the boys in the Bat Cave know he was alive and find out if the mission was still green-lighted after this fiasco.
The Baby Doll’s cabin was low and compact. A flat-screen TV, tufted leather upholstery, and lots of brushed chrome oozed money. Nearly as sexy and expensive as the woman up top. A tiny porthole let in a wash of red light as he dialed. The phone barely finished a single ring before it was picked up.
“White Horse, here. Go.”
Usually, Mitch worked on the civilian side of the house for Jennifer Blackfoot, the civilian agent-in-charge of the Hunter Operation Team. Casually dubbed the H.O.T. Watch. But for this mission, he’d been put under the control of her equivalent on the military side of the operation, Commander Hathaway.
Mitch replied, “Lancer here. Thought you’d like an update.”
“It’s good to hear your voice.”
Mitch snorted. “It’s good to be alive. This afternoon was a little too close for me.”
“Where are you now?”
“Sitting on the Baby Doll in the middle of the Caribbean watching the prettiest sunset you ever saw. Thanks for arranging the Plan C, by the way. Needless to say, I’m not gonna make the rendezvous at twenty hundred hours.”
“What happened?”
He had to give Hathaway credit. The guy didn’t waste time moaning and groaning when a plan went to hell. He got right to the point.
“I left the hotel early to sanitize my tail before the meeting with Zaragosa. A pair of men picked me up immediately. As soon as I made a move to shake them, they closed in and tried to off me. I ran for the emergency egress point. When I got there, the driver was dead and his boat’s engine sabotaged. You know the next bit. I headed for Hollingsworth’s boat.”
“Did you get away clean?”
“Nope. The bastards followed me. Stole a boat and came after us.”
“Us?” Hathaway asked sharply.
“Uhh, yeah. Small complication to Plan C. When I got to the Baby Doll, Hollingsworth’s daughter was already aboard her. Which worked out pretty slick, by the way. She already had the boat untied and fired up when I got there. I jumped aboard and she took off. Probably saved my life.”
“Then what?” Hathaway asked grimly.
“I exchanged fire with the hostiles while we fled.”
“How’s Hollingsworth’s daughter?”
“Not a hair on her pretty little head out of place. She’s a hell of a driver, by the way.”
Hathaway replied wryly, “I’ll be sure to pass your compliments on to the Congressman. Status of the shooters?”
“One down. Probably dead but not confirmed. The other’s still up.”
“Any idea who they were?”
“I got a half-decent look at the one who’s still alive. He’s a Cuban player. Guy by the name of Camarillo.”
Hathaway whistled between his teeth. “Camarillo’s a heavy hitter. Rumor has it he used to work directly for Fidel himself.”
Mitch retorted in mock shock, “Why, sir! Fidel was a peace-loving guy. He would never stoop to violence to gain an end.”
Hathaway laughed. “Save the politically correct bull for the media. You and I have both operated in Cuba and know exactly what the Old Man was capable of.”
“And to think, the new regime has exponentially less scruples than he had.”
Silence fell between them for a moment. Then Hathaway said, “Any idea who sent Camarillo after you? He could be freelancing these days.”
Mitch turned over the concept. Fidel Castro’s personal assassin cut loose to sell his skills and knowledge to anyone willing to pay? Nah. The regime in Cuba was smarter than that. They’d keep the guy on retainer. “He’s not freelancing. The Cuban government had to have sent Camarillo after me.”
“How did they find out about your meeting?”
Mitch sighed. Aye, and there was the rub. “How well do you know Zaragosa, sir?”
Startled silence echoed in Mitch’s ear. Finally, Hathaway answered, “I’ve never worked with him personally. Supposedly, he’s one of the CIA’s best sources in Cuba. And you’ve got to admit, we couldn’t place a mole in a much higher position if we tried.”
No kidding. Zaragosa was the Deputy Prime Minister of Cuba and widely expected to be the next Presidente of that tiny, but pesky nation.
A shadow crossed the hatch, and Mitch’s eyes narrowed. Was Kinsey eavesdropping or harmlessly moving around the deck?
He switched to rapid Spanish. Even if she spoke the tongue, she probably wouldn’t catch it at first. “Talk to me about the Congressman’s daughter, sir.”
Hathaway didn’t miss a beat. Mitch registered yet again how good it was to work with active field operators. It cut out so much red tape and bureaucratic hemming and hawing. The navy man answered evenly, “Miss Hollingsworth has had a tough year. She caught her fiancé humping her best friend a couple weeks back and dumped him. The tabloids have had a field day with it.”
That was a switch. In his experience, it was the stunning blonde who screwed around.
Hathaway continued, “Apparently the ex wasn’t appreciative of the negative media coverage. To divert attention from himself, he published a series of, uhh, explicit photos of Miss Hollingsworth on the Internet.”
Ouch. What a scumbag. Even spoiled little rich girls didn’t deserve that.
“I