Free Ultimate Escape by Lydia Rowan

is involved in this?” Even that simple sentence was heavy with threat.
    “My lady friend is none of your concern, Saint,” Cruz said.
    The tension that had left was back, and Saint, who was impossibly tall, stood even taller. But Cruz didn’t back down and the two men stared each other down, a battle about to erupt at any moment.
    “You two ever gonna get past this bullshit?” Ace asked.
    If either man noticed Ace speaking, they gave no indication, and Nola’s nerves snapped, along with them the reason she’d managed to corral.
    “I’m glad you think your little…pissing contest is important, but people are trying to kill me, so can you save it?”
    Cruz was the first to break the heavy stare, and Nola felt oddly comforted at the knowledge he’d done so to look at her, the jaw that he’d clenched tight relaxing as he stared at her.
    The other man looked at her as well, traced her from head to toe with cold, assessing eyes. And then to Nola’s surprise, he lifted one corner of his mouth. It was a nanometer, less, but it was something.
    “Yeah. There are a few guys moving product through the Americas and into Vietnam.”
    “That’s new. Why the change?” Ace said.
    “The government’s trying to put on a good face and is making the right noises about protecting the environment. China and many of the other Southeast Asian countries and Russia are still active routes and destinations, but the Americas are a good alternative. Few people are willing to risk it, so there’s less competition, and though security is tight, no one’s really looking for illegal game and what have you.”
    “So how does it work?” Cruz asked.
    “Best guess, they have someone inside. Wouldn’t need much, just some idea of when Customs might single out a shipment for a bit of extra scrutiny.”
    “Seems like a lot of effort,” Nola said, “especially planting something on me.”
    “It’s actually genius if you think about it,” Sam said excitedly, rebounding from Saint’s cold shoulder.
    “Why?” she said.
    “Well, if you’re running an international trafficking syndicate, keeping info in your head or with pencil and paper ain’t gonna cut it. But do you want to risk using a network? Probably not. I mean, if we know anything it’s that the Internet is not private. So this is a great middle ground. Load up a practically unlimited amount of data on a jump drive, have it brought into the country by some clueless tourists”—Sam looked over at Nola—“no offense.”
    “None taken.”
    “So they get the drive, drop it wherever, and have access to the information without leaving behind too much of a digital footprint.”
    “But would it be something to kill over?” Nola asked.
    “Wouldn’t you?” Sam asked, voice serious.
    Before Nola could answer, Saint cut in. “Why am I here again?”
    “If you lived in this area and you needed to move product, where would you do it from?” Cruz said by way of answering Saint’s question.
    “For the animal trade, I’d probably move several hours up the coast. It’s secluded and you can transport down the rivers and tributaries. I can call a guy,” Saint said with a shrug.
    Cruz turned his eyes to her, smile on his face. “Nola, you up for another trip?”
    She didn’t even bother to hold back her sigh of resignation.

14
    “ Y ou see it ?” Cruz asked.
    “Yep,” Ace replied.
    They’d been in the car for several hours, the road getting bumpier the farther they got away from the city. But they’d also encountered less traffic, something that, until this moment, Nola had counted as a positive.
    Saint said nothing, but Nola felt the tension in each man, which skyrocketed her own. She lifted her gaze to the rearview mirror and saw a green truck rolling up on them quickly, moving with a purpose, and the dread that had seemed almost a memory roared back at full force. She suddenly wished Cruz was with her in the backseat, that she could reach out and touch him, steal