Ghostwalker 09 - Ruthless Game

She’s pregnant with my baby, and you’re damn well not going to shoot her.
    “They’re real y angry with you, aren’t they?” Rose sent him a wry smile. “They’re right, you know; you’re in danger.”
    “If you’re going to make your try, Rose, do it now, before they send someone else in.”
    She studied his face, and he couldn’t help using the opportunity to do the same with her. Those long, sweeping eyelashes of hers drew his attention.
    From there his gaze dropped to her high cheekbones, her smal , straight nose, and her lush mouth. The women had been taken from orphanages, and Rose had most likely come from China, but how Whitney had managed to get hold of her, Kane couldn’t guess.
    She touched her tongue to her ful lower lip, and his body tightened. “I’m not going to do anything stupid. You’re ready for me to try something.”
    That didn’t tel him if she stil planned on running, and he was going to have to help Mack and the others get the hostages out. He sighed and changed the subject. “Tel me about the hostages.”
    “About a week ago, there was a sudden influx of cartel members. It isn’t al that difficult to make them; they carry some serious hardware and scare the crap out of the decent people around here. Two murders occurred, heads severed as a warning for everyone and the bodies dumped in the fountain two streets over. The buzz on the street was something big was going down. At first I thought it was a big drug deal, and then I spotted the prisoners. They were brought in at night, dark SUVs with tinted windows. I thought maybe members of a rival gang, but as soon as I saw them—a woman of about thirty-five and a little girl of maybe ten—I knew this had nothing to do with a drug war.”
    “Actual y it does,” Kane corrected. “ El presidente is waging war with the cartels to get his country back. The cartels have been hitting high-profile members of the government in retaliation. El presidente cal ed in a favor from our president and asked for help. His wife’s sister and his niece were taken on their way to church. Al the bodyguards were kil ed, as wel as the driver. He was told to back off or he would find his sister-in-law’s head rol ing down the middle of the street. Next would come his niece’s head. He believed them.”
    “And he was afraid to trust his own military or the police,” Rose guessed. “He should be. These people are armed to the teeth with the latest weapons, Kane. Something isn’t right here. They’ve al but declared war.”
    “Corruption here is rampant,” Kane agreed. “Someone would tip off the cartel. El presidente is a very intel igent man. He knows his administration and his military as wel as police departments have been infiltrated by paid informants for the cartel. He asked a personal favor from our president, and we pul ed the assignment. None of us had any idea the informant would be you.”
    “I thought long and hard before I cal ed it in,” Rose admitted. She ducked her head, refusing to meet his eyes. “It was selfish of me, that I waited, but I knew there was the possibility that if the hostages were who I thought they were, that a GhostWalker team would be cal ed in. It was a calculated risk, but I couldn’t just ignore the fact that those monsters would kil them. I was afraid to try a rescue myself with so many of the enemy guarding them.”
    His heart slammed hard against the wal of his chest. She’d contemplated the idea, that much was obvious. His Rose, pregnant with their child, would have risked herself for strangers.
    “We’l get them out, Rose, but you stay put. I don’t want you running again. You need care. I can offer that to you, as wel as safety. The last thing I want is for Whitney to get his hands on you or the baby. I don’t know why you trusted me to be the father of your baby, but you did. I’m asking for that same faith now. I swear to you, on my life, I wil protect both of you.”
    She lifted her head and looked him straight in the eye, searching his expression. For a moment he had the uncomfortable feeling she was looking into his mind, which was entirely possible with a GhostWalker. There were things buried there best kept hidden. Especial y from Rose. He refused to look away, keeping his expression blank. A faint smile curved the bow of her mouth. His breath nearly exploded from his lungs. He dreamt of her, night after night. He thought of her every minute of every day.
    Intel ectual y, he