Phantom in the Night Read online

  What was one more grisly image added to his endless stock of nightmares?

  A gargled noise spewed from the guy's lungs before he jerked, then stopped struggling, his body fluids expelling with his last breath. Nathan discarded the body, yanked out the knife, and used it to cut the ropes that held the girl down.

  His sense of justice was appeased. A small victory, but no other woman would suffer and die for the man's sick lust.

  He should go, now, while she was still in shock.

  But he couldn't leave her like this, any more than he could let her be raped and killed.

  Stoner appeared next to him.

  Nathan spoke to the woman in Spanish, hushing her and telling her she was safe. She could go home.

  She finally quieted and stared at him as though he were both demon and savior.

  "We won't tell anyone about this," he said in Spanish.

  Her wild eyes took in everything around her, then shot to his face, which was still covered in camo paint. Her terror-filled gaze fell to his hand dripping with blood. She started shaking her head, whimpering and scooting backward.

  "Go home. Say nothing. Don't go anywhere alone." When he extended a hand to help her she backed away and scrambled to her feet. Stoner clicked on the flashlight mounted to his weapon, lighting the way out of the cave.

  She needed no more encouragement than that. Nathan followed her outside, but she'd vanished into the thick foliage faster than a rabbit catching sight of a hungry wolf.

  When Pulaski and Duran emerged from their hidden positions, Nathan made a cut signal by drawing his hand across his throat, telling the other two what had happened to the tangos. He then motioned silently for everyone to head out and took the lead again. Stoner had plenty of photos and sticking around at this point would be a bad idea. This entire trip had been a bust, except for freeing that woman.

  Moonlight spilled down between the trees lighting the way back to camp. Nathan sucked in gulps of fresh air, clearing the residue of death from his lungs, damn glad to be out of that unholy tomb. He set the pace for the next five kilometers. The team hiked as quietly as ghosts until reaching their hidden temporary base.

  Second-guessing a decision once he'd made and executed it was just wasted energy. What was done was done. But Nathan had a harder time ignoring that voice deep in his head that accused him of risking the team's safety for one person. He'd have gladly sent them back to camp and dealt with the tangos alone if there had been any way to do so.

  As if Stoner and the other two would have listened.

  "I'm cool with what went down," Stoner said as soon as they entered the clearing.

  Nathan turned to see his three teammates standing there. After all this time, he was still amazed and humbled by Stoner's unquestioning support, but what about the other two? He waited for condemnation, ready to accept his due.

  "Yep," Duran said in his rough Texan voice. "Back home, we'd have filleted the bastard, starting with his balls and finishing with his testicles."

  Pulaski grimaced. "Uh, D, I hate to tell you this, but those are the same things."

  "Not the way we do it, it ain't. See, you have to get the grill—"

  "No more grill stories," Stoner and Nathan said simultaneously.

  Nathan had never been to Texas, and given all the grisly things Duran claimed they barbecued, he didn't want to. The meals he'd heard about reminded him a little too much of his grandmother's potluck gumbo before she passed away.

  Rule number one had been, Never ask Grandma what was in the gumbo. Especially not before you ate it.

  Nathan realized they were giving their stamp of approval on what had gone down and not one of them would say a word about the killings once they left. He owed them for the united stand they were taking with him and wished he had it inside him to let them know how much their support meant. But when it came down to speaking his feelings, he was a simple man. "Thanks."

  Duran turned to Pulaski and Stoner. "I'm heading out." Which meant he was going to set trip wires and secure his section of the perimeter around their camp. "I say we leave Drake on KP duty." He grinned and strode away.

  Pulaski grunted and headed off in an opposite direction.

  Stoner didn't move. "What's eating you?"

  Nathan raked off the headgear and scratched his grungy head. "It's my job not to put any you in danger."

  "Danger, hell, we volunteered for this." Stoner grinned. "You know, this reminds me of that time in Manila—"

  "Let's leave Manila in Manila." His tone was hard with warning, but nightmares should remain in the dark.

  Stoner nodded. "Okay, cool, whatever. But if anyone knew all the things we face and what you've had to do sometimes on these operations, you'd get a damn chest full of medals."

  Like some shiny pin mattered to him? That wouldn't feed or clothe his family. "Don't want a medal. I want—"

  Nathan hesitated. What did he want? His reenlistment papers back? Not even. He wanted to stay in the military, where he'd made a commitment, until his term was up. Except that decision now felt selfish, because his military commitment meant being away from home for another couple of years while his mother needed his help more than ever.

  Damm it.

  "We'll figure out something." Stoner's quiet brown eyes televised empathy. He'd been standing next to Nathan when the call from New Orleans had come through mere hours before they went wheels up.

  Nathan scooped a pile of palm branches up and tossed them aside, cursing himself for the hundredth time. He'd believed his plan had been sound, the best way to help his mother and brother. Finish another tour of duty so he could afford to get his brother into a decent college while Nathan used his GI bill for school. That way, they could both take care of Mom.

  He'd been too ambitious, wanting to be more than a grease monkey his whole life. Wanting a future where he could provide for a wife and family and not be forced to live paycheck to paycheck. That life had been good enough for his father…

  But Nathan had wanted more for the people he loved. His mother deserved security and peace of mind, an easier life. He'd always dreamed of getting Jamie into college.

  Right now Nathan would gladly turn wrenches for the rest of his life to be at home for even one day.

  If only it were that simple. He'd made a pledge to his squad, was responsible to these men even if they could function just fine without him. They were his brothers, too. He'd sworn to watch their backs—the same oath he shared with Jamie.

  "Don't know what to tell you that would make any of this better." Stoner hadn't moved, stubborn as a tick on a dog. His calm tone rarely wavered. Nathan envied the fact that he had Freon running through his veins during the worst of situations and wondered how deep it ran… surely something could melt his arctic tundra. "Sucks that you didn't find out about your mom being sick until after you re-upped. My aunt had ovarian cancer. She beat that shit. Still living."

  Nathan heard him, but his mother was his mother, not someone else's aunt. Big difference. He'd silently promised his father on the day they buried him that he'd take care of her. Now his mom needed him and he wasn't even in the same country.

  Gut sick, he kept uncovering camp equipment hidden by the branches they'd cut and piled. How the hell would he make it through the next couple years and not be in New Orleans to help his mom fight for her life?

  Stoner cleared his throat, just as tenacious as he was undaunted. "Uh, she won't be alone, Nathan. Your brother—"

  "—is the biggest idiot for someone with his IQ." Nathan slung a handful of palm leaves aside. "How can someone that brilliant have so little common sense?"

  "Okay, so he's an absentminded professor."

  "Absentminded doesn't get you in serious trouble." Nathan raised his hand to stop Stoner from defending his brother further. "You don't understand. Jamie was an introvert in high school, didn't make friends easily, especially with guys who thought he was a smart-ass when my brother aced his classes. So when two assholes came to Ja
mie to fix a car, he thought they were asking him as a friend. My brother never questioned why the ignition was screwed up, just got excited to prove he was more than an egghead." Nathan lifted the hammocks and set them aside, then started unpacking MREs as he continued.

  "Jamie got arrested for aiding and abetting car thieves. Took me and Mom three days to get him out."

  "He made a mistake, Nate."

  "I know that." Nathan regretted snarling at Stoner the minute the words were out. He wiped sweaty grime from his itchy whiskers, wishing he could as easily clean away a memory that kept him ever vigilante to protect his brother. "Jamie didn't speak for months after we got him out of jail. No one hurt him in there, but he withdrew from everyone. Even ignored me for a while. Once I finally got him to talk again, he was different. Changed. Determined to prove he wasn't a fool. Watching him try so hard to be something he's not has been worse than before. Every time I turn around he's in some get-rich-quick scheme that goes bust. Failure turns him inside out. I keep telling him to just find a decent job and we'll get him into college soon."

  "So he'll do what has to be done for your mom."

  "Yes… no." Nathan shook his head. "That's the problem. I think he's up to something again and keeping it from me."

  "Like what?"

  "Hell if I know. Just got a gut feeling he's trying to prove he can handle things without me. I don't know. Maybe it's only a new job and he doesn't want to tell me yet until it works out, but Mom can't get better if she has to watch over him, too."

  "He may surprise you and step up now that she needs him."

  Nathan yanked the go rag loose from around his neck and used it to wipe sweat clinging to his forehead. He shoved the wadded cloth inside the waistband of his pants and faced Stoner.

  "Jamie's a decent man, but clueless about the real world. Hell, if I hadn't had my head up my ass when he called the last time, I'd have found out what was going on with him and come up with a plan for the two of them. Instead, I just got pissed off like an idiot and yelled at Jamie for letting the insurance company tell him some of Mom's treatment wouldn't be covered." Mom had assured Nathan she was fine and tried to sound confident, but he knew she was terrified.

  When was he going to learn not to let his temper talk?

  "Give yourself a break, man. You got that call in the middle of packing for this op. Not much time to react."

  "No excuse for lack of discipline." His father's words echoed in Nathan's mind. He'd expected more of his oldest son. "I'm not a civilian. I know better than to pop off. Should have calmed down and talked to Jamie while I had a chance, before I ended up somewhere I couldn't call him. It's my job to make sure they'll both be okay while I'm gone… or if I die."

  "Yeah, right." Stoner snorted. "You re either too mean to kill or that damn Ranger coin of yours has voodoo magic. Just don't forget you promised that coin is mine when you do kick the bucket. I swear you've got more lives than a cat, and one of them saved by that chunk of brass alone. Too bad it's against the rules to carry that thing with you. We could use some swamp magic once in a while."

  Stoner was trying to help, because he was the ranking officer, and a good man. He hadn't meant to drop a shovel full of guilt on Nathan at the mention of his "challenge" coin. It was the size of a silver dollar, made of brass, and engraved with an Army Ranger logo. And it had a dent where a slug had careened off the thick metal piece, saving Nathan's life once. No monetary value, just a reminder of the promise he'd made to his father.

  Most people had photos to carry around. He carried a coin.

  "Like I said, it's yours the day I go to meet the devil." Nathan was ready to get off the subject of him and his family. He couldn't do a damn thing about Jamie and Mom until he got back to base and debriefed. A minimum often days. "I'll finish unpacking and get the hammocks set."

  Stoner shifted his weapon and sighed." You'll figure out what to do. I've never seen you beat by anything or anyone." He checked his watch, then said, "We've got enough to confirm nothing is going on here but sadism. Make the call for an extraction tomorrow." He marched off into the jungle.

  Nathan unpacked their spartan camp before he retrieved the Satellite phone from its hidden spot below a fallen log. He settled back against a tree and booted up the phone, checking for stored text messages. Two from base, one marked as a forwarded message. He grinned. The deal he'd made with his buddy in communications just came in handy. Nathan had won more at the last hand of poker than his friend in Communications could pay, so he'd cut a deal instead—to forward a message from home anytime Nathan got one, no matter where he was on the planet.

  He released his weapon to hang against his chest and used one hand to access the message while he scratched his head with the other. His gritty hair stuck out, longer than allowed in the military, but acceptable for those on the army's clandestine intelligence teams, which answered solely to the CO of Special Forces. Not just trained teams, but the most highly trained in the army.

  When the text message popped into view, his gut tightened as true, raw fear gripped him:

  Nate—Mom starts chemo this week. She's doing ok, so far. Take care. Laissez les bons temps rouler.

  J.

  Laissez les bons temps rouler. Let the good times roll.

  Nathan's face chilled as he read that line again, heart pumping at the true meaning behind his and Jamie's code from childhood.

  The day Nathan faced four boys in a gang bent on pulverizing his brother's face, Jamie had started crying about how they wouldn't survive the beating. Nathan had calmly told him to stay out of the way. As the four boys approached, Nathan smiled and said, "Laissez les bons temps rouler." He'd kicked their collective asses and sent them home to Mommy, crying like little girls with shattered teapots. After that, the phrase became a code between him and his brother for when Jamie was seriously in over his head.

  Nathan dug out a bootlegged commo encryption unit he'd gotten from a company in Bahrain and plugged the unit into a port on the Satellite phone. The NSA could realistically hear his call, but the probability was remote since this equipment wasn't made in the United States. Nathan dialed Jamie's cell phone and got an answer on the second ring.

  "Hello?" His brother's whispered and frightened voice warned him this was going to be bad.

  "It's me."

  "Nate, I'm in trouble. Bad trouble."

  Nathan started to snap at him, but stopped before the rage spilled out. How much money was this going to take to fix? Didn't Jamie realize they needed every penny he'd saved for their mother now?

  "What did you do?" Nathan asked in a tight voice. A calm tone was expecting too much.

  "Nothing, I swear. I got set up. The Marseaux bunch tied me in with a bust, but I wasn't involved. I swear, I—"

  "Jamie!" Not Marseaux, head of New Orleans premier crime family. Nathan leaned his head back against the tree, kept his free hand on his weapon, and allowed his eyes to close for the first time in two days. "What the hell were you—"

  "I went to one of his loan sharks, but I didn't know they were part of Marseaux's network. We needed money. I saw an ad and thought I'd just get a loan until you and I had a chance to figure out something better. I'm sorry, Nate, but you were gone. I was trying to handle this. Wanted to make you and Mom proud."

  "What happened?"

  "I ended up in the middle of a bust. Marseaux's people were cutting deals and fingering me before I even talked to an attorney."

  This could not be happening. "Un-fucking-believable. How bad is this?"

  "We're in trial right now, because the son of a bitchin' DA got this thing fast-tracked. I got a court-appointed attorney who's about as much good as tits on a boar hog. He says I can't beat this, that I'm going to be convicted no matter what." Jamie's voice fell apart with the last words. "I only went to get money for Mom."

  "Don't blame Mom's cancer. If you'd just use your head once in a while and not trust everyone who offers you quick money you wouldn't get screwed over. I send plen
ty of money every month for both of you." Nathan jerked upright and pounded the ground next to his leg. "I could have sent more."

  "You don't understand, Nate," Jamie shouted. "You're not here. The city condemned this area and we have to move. They're going to bulldoze the houses here. Mom got a little money from the state, but not nearly enough for a decent place. I figured if I got some more cash we could get moved and settled somewhere before she got to feeling so bad. I never know when we'll hear from you, dammit."

  Nathan couldn't believe this. He'd been building his savings in case of an emergency back home and would have sent money home before now if not for fear Jamie might squander the whole nest egg in some money scam.

  This pretty much counted as an all-out emergency, but he doubted the little chunk of money he had would save Jamie from this legal jam. Each thump of his heart pounded loud as a death knell in his ears, warning of dire consequences ahead for his family. What the hell was he going to do to keep them safe now?

  Who would be with his mother while she was going through hell?

  "They're gonna put me in prison, Nate. Might be two years," Jamie whispered. "What am I gonna do? What are we going to do about Mom?"

  Nathan covered his eyes with his hand, but that wouldn't block out all the bad scenes running through his mind. His brother would be comatose for the rest of his life if Jamie survived prison, which he wouldn't. His mother couldn't face chemo without help. Her family was worthless, had never lifted a finger for her or her kids. And no family on his dad's side.

  His pulse pumped furiously with each new worry. Nathan wished for a miracle, but realized he'd have to create one or his mother and Jamie would suffer. One from lack of care and the other from lack of sense.

  He bounced his head against the tree, thinking, searching for a better idea than the one that came immediately to mind. But the sickening truth was he had no choice. He accepted what he had to do to protect his family.