Heart of Danger by Capri Montgomery Page A

dark,” he unlocked the doors and they both got out. He grabbed his bags out the back. He had packed more than clothes. He had packed several weapons too. He was preparing for a war—one she hoped wouldn’t come. She hoped Special Agent Michaels was wrong about Diego, but something in her gut told her he wasn’t. The man was evil and had the ego to go with it. Having one of his prisoners escape was probably bad for his reputation. He would have to rectify that; she knew he would. But she hadn’t given him much information. And her bag was left behind with the bags of the others who had been killed so she didn’t think he had her identification. Special Agent Michaels had told her they had her things and it would just be a few weeks before her passport was released. So in her mind her identity hadn’t been compromised.
     
    Diego hadn’t been too concerned about all the particulars of her name and her life. He had asked and she had been forced to give him her first name, but he didn’t push for a last name because he didn’t care. She hadn’t told him what company she worked for either. She hadn’t told him where she lived. Unless he could pick up on accents he wouldn’t be able to place her in Austin. Plus, she hadn’t been born in Austin. She had spent the first six years of her life in Colorado until her father obtained a civilian job for one of the military contractors. She didn’t think her Texan accent was all that strong. She could turn it on and off to fit the occasion, but what if she hadn’t turned it off while speaking to Diego? Did he know what region to look for her in?
     
    “Oh my God,” she moaned as the reality hit her. “All he has to do is check out the America to Australia flights for the timeline leading up to my being taken, or check out the tour company and he’ll know who I am.” And once he knew who she was he would know how to find her. She knew this because she had helped these guys locate the package often enough…or at least locate the vicinity of the package. The rest was fully up to them as far as figuring out exact locations and conditions surrounding the area where the package was being held.
     
    “You returned the package and you’re still on the job,” she mumbled.
     
    “First of all,” he caught hold of her arm. “You were never considered the package.”
     
    “I wasn’t?” Every hostage or missing person was considered the package.
     
    “You weren’t,” he assured her. “We never called you that title. We always thought of you as Natalia; not a standard package at all.”
     
    She smiled. Something in those words really told her how much they did mean that she was part of their family. She liked that feeling. She liked it a lot. “And secondly?”
     
    “Secondly,” he winked at her. “You’re a mission worth accepting,” he leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear; “on every level.” He straightened and placed his hand on her low back, ushering her towards her front door. Had she heard a hint of flirtation in his words? Or was she reading something into nothing? She hoped there was a hint of flirtation there and not just her imagination running away with her heart.
     
    He unlocked the door, she disarmed the alarm system and he immediately locked up and armed it again. She knew he was taking precaution. Usually she waited to arm the alarm until she was settled in for the evening, but now she would have to readjust her normal behavior to take more precaution. She would need to make sure the alarm was on the second she was fully in the house with the door closed and locked. Of course she was well aware that these guys had no intention of leaving her alone until this thing with Diego was done and the threat had been eliminated. Still, it never hurt to get used to taking precautions on her own. She made a mental note to herself to lock up and set the alarm as soon as she was in the house from now on.
     

     
    She had been quiet throughout