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“We can’t take Rachel’s plane,” Elle said. “It’s being watched. All the commercial flights are being monitored too. It’s too far to drive to Alice’s location. It would take days, not hours.”
“Helicopters.” Joe folded his arms across his wide chest. “There are a few tourist companies dotted around town. They do the sites from the air. They never go further than the Sacred Valley, but they could.”
“We can’t ask a tour operator to take us into a combat situation,” Callum said.
Julia inched closer to the bedroom. She could feel it. The tension building, like gas filling the room. One spark and it would blow.
“Do I look stupid?” Joe said. “I can fly a copter.”
Callum glared at Joe. Two cockerels getting ready to fight.
“We need weapons,” Ryan said, drawing their attention. “We’re almost out of ammo and we don’t have any contacts in Cusco—at least none that wouldn’t sell us out to Esteban.”
“I can get the Lima team to supply us,” Callum said. “But this is a solo op for Joe. We need you here to protect the women.”
Ryan didn’t like that one bit. He bristled in his seat. Julia felt behind her for the handle of the door. Slow. Easy. Don’t attract attention.
“I need to back up Joe.” Ryan stared Callum down.
Callum’s cheeks turned a dark shade of red.
Oh no! Abort! Run! Hide!
Elle raised her hand, like she was in class. Callum narrowed his eyes at her, and she took that as permission to speak. “Two things. I need to go with Joe too. I’m the only one who can hack any closed-circuit security they are sure to have on the compound. They’ll need me as their eyes and ears—unless the Lima team has a hacker. In which case, the scary hacker with the training and the gun should definitely go instead of me. As for the second thing, why does Ryan need to take bodyguard duty when you’ll be here?”
Callum jerked back as though he’d been slapped, and then his mouth formed a tight line. Julia pressed a hand to her stomach as nausea rolled over her.
“I can’t protect anybody. I’m in a wheelchair.” Callum smacked his palm hard on the armrest.
The noise made Julia jump. Joe’s eyes snapped to hers. She looked away. This was her. This was what she did. She ran. She twisted the handle behind her slowly, so as not to attract attention.
“Uh, yeah.” Elle looked at their boss as though he’d lost his m
ind. “What’s your point?”
“I don’t have any fucking legs!” he roared.
And Julia was running. She barrelled through the door, as though the devil himself was on her heels. She frantically jerked open a closet. Too small. She ran for the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. And then she climbed into the tub and pulled her knees up tight to her chest.
Even through the walls she heard Callum shouting.
“How the fuck am I supposed to protect anybody from a fucking wheelchair?”
Julia flinched and pressed her hands to her ears. She scrunched her eyes shut tight. It would be over soon…it would be over soon…it would be over soon…
She rocked back and forth, counting her breaths in batches of ten, trying to block the overwhelming emotions riding on the air from seeping into her.
It’s going to be okay…it’s going to be okay…
“Jules?” A hand touched her hair, making her jump.
She looked up to find Joe crouched beside the bath. Worried. He was worried.
“Baby,” he said gently, “what’s going on? Callum is just being Callum. You’ve seen him shout before.”
And every single time she’d felt the same way—as though wire bristles were scraping across her skin. He reached for her again, but she moved away.
“I can’t,” she said. “I can’t bear touch right now.”
