Rogue Renegades (Rogue Trilogy) Read online

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  Chapter Six

  Waking early, Ryan ignored his throbbing dick and let Abby sleep. She’d turned towards him in the night and just enough light filtered through the crack around the blanket to make out her face. Flawless even without makeup, her mouth begged to be kissed. Her hands were folded up beneath her chin and her fingers were bare of rings. Her watch was very striking. Larger than usual for a female, it had a thick black plastic band. It told the time in four different time zones and it also had a tiny compass. He hadn’t asked her what line of work she was in, but she must travel overseas frequently.

  Before she could wake and see the evidence of his desire, he left the bed, dressed quietly and went in search of breakfast.

  Feeling Ryan’s eyes on her, Abby pretended to sleep as he studied her face. She knew almost nothing about him and wished they could speak freely. The walls might be made of thick concrete, but sound tended to travel. She’d been awakened more than once by moans of pleasure, cries of pain and the blow of a hand striking vulnerable female flesh.

  When her captor left the room, she put her boots on then used the bathroom. While she trusted Ryan, she didn’t trust anyone else in the compound. She would remain alert and ready for action at all times. No one had searched her or her bag and found the knife that she’d surreptitiously stolen from a market stall soon after her arrival in Rio. Abby never went unarmed if she could help it and the knife was insurance that she would be able to defend herself if she needed to. She’d hidden the weapon beneath the mattress where she could retrieve it quickly enough.

  Pacing the floor, she retreated into the corner near the bed when she heard someone at the door an hour or so later. Ryan paused when he saw her then gestured for her to take the tray. Seeing fruit, bread and several bottles of water, she walked over to take it.

  He left with an apologetic and shamefaced look and she settled on the bed to eat her breakfast. There was enough food to last her through lunch and dinner as well, so she figured Ryan would be busy all day. She’d taken to reading electronic books on her E-reader device. It could hold three thousand books and was currently loaded up with over a hundred novels that she hadn’t read yet. She’d be able to keep herself occupied while she awaited her fate.

  Settling onto the bed to read after breakfast, her mind kept wandering back to last night. She replayed being held down by Ryan over and over. Abby could almost feel him sliding against her again and grew moist at the memory. She’d been without a man for far too long if she was this worked up about a virtual stranger. She’d managed to hide her excitement from him last night, but she wasn’t sure that she’d be able to contain her lust if he held her down and stroked himself against her again. It would take all of her skills as a former operative to hide just how much she liked having his hands on her.

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  Chapter Seven

  Ryan tried to keep his mind on the job, but it kept returning to Abby. He’d only seen her naked from the waist down so far, but the image was burned into his mind. Miranda had been a pretty woman with a girl-next-door type of beauty. She’d been almost as tall as him with golden blonde hair and light blue eyes. Despite her height, his wife had been girly rather than a tomboy and she’d become frightened fairly easily.

  Abigail was the complete opposite of his wife, yet she still drew him. Small and brunette, she apparently wasn’t afraid of anything. If their circumstances had been different, he’d have liked to see if they could have had a normal relationship. Fresh guilt hit him at that thought. Miranda had died because of him. He hadn’t even avenged her death yet and he was thinking about dating another woman.

  Disgusted with himself, he refused to allow his carnal needs to take over. It wouldn’t be long now before Montoya would arrive. Ryan would kill him, get Abby to safety then finally put this whole mission behind him. He wasn’t sure where he would go or what he would do after that, he only knew that he couldn’t return to his old life now. Watts would have him arrested and locked away forever for walking out on the job and turning renegade. Rogue agents were far too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. He should know, he’d hunted down a few in his time.

  The truck hit a pothole and he ducked to avoid hitting his head on the roof. The driver gave him an apologetic shrug then immediately drove into another ditch. It was almost impossible to find a road that wasn’t riddled with potholes in the jungles of Brazil. In the back of the truck, one of the men thumped on the cab in complaint. His derisive calls were too muffled to make out clearly.

  It took them four hours to reach their destination. This time, their task wasn’t to rob some clueless tourists, but to collect protection money from various businesses around Rio. Diego had his hand in many pockets and he had spies everywhere. He knew who the rival gangs were and who was in charge of them. For a weekly fee, he offered protection to prosperous business owners and the promise of keeping them and their merchandise safe from the other gangs. It was a profitable endeavor and all Ryan had to do was visit each store in his allocated area, collect their money and listen to any complaints the shop owners had.

  Halfway through his route, he encountered a complication. The owner of a pawn shop was in a frenzy when Ryan and his team arrived. Seeing the man he knew as Alejandro, Manny immediately broke into a panicked babble. “My daughter, Angelica, was taken moments ago! Please hurry and get her back!” Ushering Alejandro to the back door, he pointed at a white sedan that was fleeing down the narrow alley.

  Ryan’s men retreated to the truck and the driver fired up the motor even before his boss climbed back in. They drove in grim silence, closing in within sight of the sedan then following it at a distance. Ryan motioned for the driver to slow down when the car disappeared into another narrow alley. The truck was too wide to fit inside, so he climbed out and gestured for four of his men to follow him. “Circle around the block and cut them off on the other side,” he instructed the driver then took off on foot.

  People stared as he and his four banditos thundered down the alley. Buildings had been erected on top of each other in a haphazard, unsafe manner. Most of the structures looked like they might topple at any moment. Someone pointed helpfully at the direction the car had gone and they took a sharp left. With the help of the frightened civilians who knew that two gangs were about to become embroiled in a battle, they finally found the sedan parked on a side street.

  Sensing that he may have been drawn into a trap, Ryan looked up at the building where the girl had been taken. A high, girlish scream rang out and his first instinct was to burst inside and rescue her. He’d been an Army Ranger for four years before he’d become an undercover agent and protecting innocents was as natural to him as breathing.

  “You two, take the stairs and shoot anyone with a gun that tries to run,” he ordered. “You two, come with me.” His men obeyed his orders and two trailed after him as he searched the building across the alley from where Angelica had been taken.

  Finding a set of stairs, he climbed up to the fourth floor and found a window at the end of a hallway that overlooked the alley. As he’d hoped, he was a floor higher than the room where the girl had been taken. Peering through the dirty glass, he saw Angelica tied to a chair near the window. A man stood beside her, leering down at her as he fondled her bare breast. Her dress had been torn open to the waist to expose her to his view. She was barely sixteen years old and tears of fright streamed down her face.

  Feeling the need to murder rise, Ryan pushed the window open and prepared to fire. His sixth sense alerted him to ambush and he threw himself to the floor just as a door behind him was kicked open. A man leaned out and fired his assault rifle wildly, narrowly missing Ryan and his two men. Landing on his side, Ryan’s handgun spat out a single round that took the man through the heart.

  “I know him,” one of his henchmen said shakily. Both men had wisely dived to the floor as well when the door had been kicked open.

  “So do I,” Ryan said. Ignoring the dead man f
or now, he stood and turned back to the window. Staying out of sight, he looked down to see the girl’s assailant squinting upwards.

  “Did you get him, Pedro?” the man shouted.

  Ryan pulled his trigger again and the man jerked as a hole appeared in his forehead. Angelica began shrieking when he slumped over the windowsill. She was quickly dragged out of view, but Ryan saw all he needed to. The hand that had dragged Angelica’s chair away had been scarred by fire. He’d long suspected that Marcos had it in for him and now he had the proof. He’d recognized both of the men that he’d just killed as well. Both had worked for Marcos.

  Motioning for his men to stay behind and to keep him covered, Ryan went into action. Racing down to the ground floor, he crossed the alley and silently ran upstairs to the third floor. Dropping to one knee, he peeked around the corner and spied a man at the far end of the hall. They both raised their guns then grinned in relief when they recognized each other.

  Ryan signaled for his man to stay where he was then stepped around the corner. The room he needed to enter was three doors down. Going in through the front door would be suicide, so he instead approached the door to the closest apartment and tried it. It was locked, but it was flimsy enough that it wouldn’t stand up to much pressure.

  Putting his shoulder against the door, Ryan took half a step back then rammed it. It popped open and he aimed his gun at the woman and half a dozen children who stared at him with frightened eyes. Signaling for them to remain quiet, he made his way through to the living room and pushed the window open. The body of the dead henchman still hung over the window two apartments away.

  Climbing out onto the narrow sill, Ryan steadied himself on the drainage pipe and jumped over to the second window. He heard the low murmur of voices coming from the next room as he shuffled closer.

  “Be ready,” Marcos said to whoever else was with him. “Alejandro will be coming through the door at any moment.” Anticipation of his rival’s impending death came through his tone loud and clear.

  There was no drainage pipe to assist him to cross to the third window and Ryan had to make do with a rickety satellite dish instead. It was one of several that clung to the wall precariously. Reaching out, he grabbed hold of it then swung himself over onto the body of the dead man. Crouching down, he noted three men standing or kneeling with their backs to him and their weapons trained on the door.

  Angelica saw the man that she secretly had a crush on appear in the window and made an involuntary sound of joy. Alerted that they were no longer alone, Marcos began to turn, but his hated rival was quicker. Both of his men went down with bullets to the head and he instinctively ducked behind the girl and used her as a shield. Putting his gun to her temple, he wrapped an arm around her chest and squeezed her perky young breast hard.

  “You might kill me, Alejandro, but know that I used this bitch like the whore she is first.” Marcos laughed and squeezed the girl hard enough to make her groan in pain.

  Marcos thought he was protected by hiding behind the girl, but he might as well have been standing out in plain sight with a target on his head. Ryan had been a very talented sniper as a Ranger and he was still a crack shot. Almost casually, he aimed and fired. Angelica let out a shrill scream when Marcos’ hand momentarily tightened on her flesh. Then he fell sideways and thumped to the floor with a neat hole in the middle of his forehead. The back of his head wouldn’t be quite as neat, but Ryan hoped the girl wouldn’t see the damage that had been wreaked.

  “Are you ok?” he asked Angelica as he knelt to cut her feet loose. He’d suspected for months that she had a crush on him. It was confirmed when she sat up as straight as she could and thrust her breasts out towards him. She might be young, but she was no virgin. He had no doubt that she would reward him in any way that he wanted.

  Nodding, Angelica made sure her breasts jiggled as much as possible. She’d been trying to catch Alejandro’s eye for months and this was as close as she’d ever gotten to being naked with him. “You saved me before the pigs could rape me. You are so brave,” she gushed as he cut her hands loose and helped her to her feet. Throwing her arms around him, she pressed herself against him and was disappointed when she didn’t feel an erection forming.

  Patting the girl on the back, Ryan felt absolutely nothing from the sight of her bare breasts or her nubile young body pressed firmly against his. She was a child and she couldn’t even compare to a sexy woman like Abigail.

  Gently pushing her away, he ignored her obvious disappointment and searched for something she could wear over her torn dress. He found her a semi-clean T-shirt and handed it over. “Don’t shoot, it’s me!” he shouted before opening the door.

  “Are you ok, boss?” his lackey asked as he jogged down the hall. Ryan had no fear that the police would be called until long after they were gone. The gangs ruled this particular town and most of the cops were on the take. They would stay out of this for fear of retribution from Diego Montoya and his people.

  “I’m fine. Let’s get out of here, we have work to do.”

  Angelica pressed herself up against Alejandro’s side when he helped her into the truck. Her dress was short enough that the diver kept taking his eyes of the road to stare at her legs as he drove them back to her father’s store. The object of her desire barely seemed to notice her and stared out the window during the journey.

  Ryan waved away the profuse thanks of Angelica’s father when he escorted the girl into the store. “How can I ever thank you?” Manny gushed and clasped his daughter tightly around the waist.

  It wouldn’t be a good idea to let the man know that his daughter had been used as bait, so Ryan kept that to himself. “I just need the protection money,” he said instead.

  Taking a wad of cash from his pocket, Manny handed it over, then pointed at his display case. “Please, take anything you want. Consider it to be a token of my thanks.”

  It would offend the man if Ryan didn’t accept his offer, so he strode over to the display case and leaned down to examine the jewelry. Most of it was cheap, but a few pieces of purer gold caught his eye. Pointing at a necklace with a small pendant, he said, “I’ll take that one.”

  “Ah. You have a good eye!” the proprietor beamed and withdrew the necklace. Placing it in a small blue box, he handed it over. Angelica eyed the box with interest and pouted in disappointment when Alejandro put it in his pocket instead of handing it to her.

  “Until next time,” Ryan said, hoping there wouldn’t be a next time and that his plan to kill Diego would go off without a hitch. He felt Angelica’s hot young gaze on his back as he strode outside.

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  Chapter Eight

  Reading the same paragraph for the fifth time, Abby finally gave up and put her E-reader down. She usually enjoyed reading the dozens of spy books she bought, finding them to be highly amusing for the most part, but she couldn’t get into this one. Not when she’d unexpectedly found herself back in danger once more.

  Hot and sticky, she glanced out the window to see that it was nearly dark. She’d eaten everything on her plate and still had half of her water left. Ryan was doing a good job of keeping her safe, secluded and fed, but the inactivity was getting to her and she was starting to feel more and more restless.

  Stepping into the bathroom, she took a quick shower and washed her hair with the cheap shampoo. There was no conditioner and she grimaced at the knowledge that her hair was going to become hopelessly tangled. Using Ryan’s towel for the second time, she shivered at the thought of it sliding over his naked body. She’d only seen him partially naked so far, but she had a vivid imagination and could picture the rest of his body all too well.

  Dressing in the clothes that she’d hand washed earlier, she briskly dried her hair then used the comb she found under the sink to tug the tangles out. It fell down her back in damp clumps but it would dry quickly enough in this humidity. She’d worn one of Ryan’s black shirts while her clothes had dried. Completely naked beneath the shir
t, she’d fantasized about him barging into the room, stripping off the shirt, bending her over and taking her from behind again.

  Fanning herself with her hands, she recalled her fantasy again and felt her face flame. Abby wasn’t usually the type to get herself off by manual manipulation, but she’d come very close to resorting to it. She was both looking forward to Ryan’s arrival and dreading it. He had a job to do and she was an unwanted complication as well as a distraction. She had to keep her growing lust secret, at least until after his mission was complete.

  Ryan put off going to bed for as long as he could. The other five bandito leaders had questioned him about Marcos’ death and Ryan had explained the story. Their rivalry had been well known and they’d all expected it to end in blood one day. No one was surprised that Alejandro had won the battle. He was a cold, heartless man and he would let nothing stand in the way of his goals, whatever they might be.

  Hostile, wary and curious eyes watched him as he finished off his eighth beer and stumbled to his feet. Even when he was drunk, he remained disturbingly alert. No one was brave enough to cross him now that Marcos was dead. By eliminating him, Alejandro had just elevated himself to the number one position beneath Diego himself.

  Making sure to weave as he made his way towards his bedroom, Ryan wished he was even half as drunk as he was pretending to be. He had an arrangement with one of the women so he could keep up the appearance of being just one of the guys. Carlotta brought him beers that he only pretended to drink. She took away his mostly full bottles without letting anyone know that he was still sober. He slipped her enough money to keep her children clothed and fed and she kept his secrets.