Even in the Darkness

Even in the Darkness

Shirlee McCoy

ISBN: 9781408966037

Even in the Darkness

© Shirlee McCoy 2006

First Published in Great Britain in 2006

Harlequin (UK) Limited

Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, including without limitation xerography, photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

This ebook is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated, without the prior consent of the publisher, in any form or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

All characters in this work have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.á.r.l.

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If I rise up on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.

—Psalms 139:9–10

To my nieces and nephews who’ve already arrived—Joshua, Skylar, Danielle, Brianna, Trey, Jacob, Kaitlyn, John Paul, Elijah, Elijah, and Amirah—my life is brighter because you are in it. I love you all!

And to the one who hasn’t arrived—baby Parker. Love begins on a breath of hope and rushes forward to embrace a dream. You are that dream. Safe travels, little one!

Special thanks to Kitty McCoy, proprietor of Kitty’s Little Book Shoppe, and my biggest Smith Mountain Lake fan. Get the tea ready, I’m on my way!

Dear Reader,

Life is filled with choices—stay or move, spend or save, take a new job or remain at an old one. If you’re like me, you’re faced with decisions every day. Sometimes it’s easy to choose what path to take. Other times all the paths look the same, no choice better or worse than any other. That’s when fear can take hold. We worry that we’ll make the wrong choice, that somehow our decision will lead us to a place we shouldn’t be. Fortunately, God is in control. He can and will lead us toward the goal—a life lived well for Him.

That’s what happens to Tori Riley. When a trip to Thailand puts her in the path of one of the region’s most notorious drug cartels, she wonders if what she thought was the right decision is actually the worst mistake she’s ever made. As she races through the jungle of Mae Hong Son, she must trust DEA Agent Noah Stone to keep her safe. His steadfast faith forces Tori to reassess her own wavering beliefs. Only then can she see God’s hand guiding her decisions and leading forward into His perfect plan for her life.

I’m sure you can sense how enthusiastic I am about this story! I hope you’ll share my excitement as you join Tori and Noah on their journey. And when the journey is complete, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a line at shirlee@shirleemccoy.com.

Blessings,

Contents

About the Author

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter One

The heat woke her. That and the silence. Until then there had been noise, movement, hushed voices—sounds both terrifying and comforting. Tori Riley levered up, biting back a groan as she forced herself to a sitting position. The room was the same—ugly and mean, its watermarked walls and rotted carpet reeking of age and neglect. Sunlight filtered through the dirt-crusted window, burying the room in stifling heat. Tori’s throat was dry with it, and she reached for the cup that sat beside her on the floor, the shackles on her wrists clanging together.

The cup was empty. Just as it had been last night.

How much longer would they make her wait? She glanced toward the door, wishing it open, straining to hear above the pounding of her heart. The world beyond her prison seemed empty of life, the sounds she’d been hearing for the past few days absent.

Abandoned.

The word slipped into her mind; icy terror pumped through her veins. Did they know? Had they found the box? Or worse, had they found Melody?

The thought brought renewed energy. She threw her weight against the chains that held her, ignoring the harsh stab of pain in her wrists and the blood that seeped from the gashes there. Breath gasped from her lungs, her chest heaving as she struggled in an effort she knew was futile. Hadn’t she tried before? Hadn’t she failed? But she wouldn’t fail now. She couldn’t fail.

Sweat poured down her face, soaking the sweater she’d worn to keep warm on the plane ride home. Only she’d never made it to the airport, and now the heavy knit only intensified the heat and her panic.

Stop! Think! The words roared into her consciousness. How many times had her grandfather barked those words at her? Tori stilled her frantic movements and closed her eyes, letting herself picture Pops, the old farmhouse, the gray-blue lake shimmering in the distance. Home. She’d been a fool to run from it.

A sound drifted into the silence, a soft sigh of air that whispered of danger. Tori’s eyes flew open. Someone was coming. Rescue? Or death? She counted seconds by the throb of the pulse in her throat, each beat a moment closer to whatever would come.

When the door opened and he stepped into the room, she knew.

Black pants, black shirt, black ski mask. Tall, fit and strong enough to kill without ever using the gun he wore strapped to his side.

Tori shrank back, then straightened, refusing the fear that coursed through her. “I told the others I mailed the box home.”

He didn’t speak, just stalked toward her, his movement fluid and pantherlike.

She tensed, wanting to run but knowing there was nowhere to go. The only thing left to do was fight. She grabbed a length of chain in her hand, feeling the heft and weight of it, refusing to imagine the damage it could do.

He bent close, blue-green eyes striking against the black of his mask, his gaze softened by what looked like compassion.

Tori blinked, looked again, and the softness was gone, replaced by a hard determination that had her lifting the chain and swinging hard with her closed fist.

She should have known better. Dehydrated, weak from hunger, her body aching from what must have been days of torture, she was no match for the man’s strength. His hand wrapped around hers, stopping its forward motion and forcing her fingers open. Dizzy from the effort, Tori slumped back against the wall, closing her eyes.

“Don’t give up now, Red. You’re almost home.” The voice was deep and harsh, his tone distinctly American, not the more lilting intonations of her Thai captors.

Was he the ringleader? The boss? Did it matter?

She opened her eyes, met his gaze. “What do you want?”

“You home and safe. So pay attention and do exactly what I say.” He spoke as he pulled a slim tool from his pocket and used it to pop the lock on the manacles that bound Tori’s wrists.

She winced as metal pulled away from torn and bleeding flesh. Winced again as he lifted her wrists and looked at the raw wounds. “These’ll scar, but you’ll live.”

He dropped her hands and pulled an envelope out from under his shirt. “Passport, plane tickets, money for a taxi. You leave this building, flag down the first taxi you see, and head for Chiang Mai International. Your flight leaves for Bangkok in half an hour. When you get there, don’t leave the airport. You’ve got a flight home at eight this morning.”

He thrust the envelope toward her and Tori grabbed it, hands trembling as she pulled out a passport with her picture and another woman’s name, two plane tickets and a thousand baht. “Why are you helping me?”

“There’s no time for questions. Just do what I tell you, and everything will be fine.” He put a hand under her elbow and helped her to her feet. “Let your hair down so it covers the bruises on your face, and pull your sleeves over your wrists.”

She did as she was told, the hope of escape overshadowing the questions that raced through her mind. Still, she hesitated as he led her to the door. “How do I know I can trust you?”

“What makes you think you have a choice?” With that he stepped out of the room.

Tori followed, hurrying along a dark corridor and into a trash-littered stairwell, down flight after flight of steps, then out into early-morning sunlight. The roar of Chiang Mai traffic filled her ears and the tangy scent of garlic and spices rode the air. A hundred yards away, Buddhist monks made their morning rounds, gathering the first portion of their supplicants’ morning meals in the alms bowls they carried.

Tori took a step toward them, wanting desperately to make contact, and felt the heavy warmth of a hand on her shoulder. She turned, ready to fight for her freedom. It wasn’t necessary.

Her rescuer dropped his hand, staring down into her face, his eyes blazing. “Remember what I said.”

Then he stepped back inside the building and disappeared.

Tori dashed down the narrow street, heading in the direction the monks had disappeared. A flower vendor called out to her as she passed, holding up a bouquet of stunning purple and white orchids. She considered stopping, asking for help or directions, but rushed on instead. She didn’t know her enemies, and couldn’t be sure they weren’t lurking somewhere close by. Up ahead the monks had paused to accept plastic bags filled with thick curry, the daily bintabat ritual providing them with food and Tori with the chance to overtake them.

Should she ask them for assistance?

No. Better to flag down a taxi and get as far from her captors as possible. She stood at the curb, raised her arm, wincing as pain shot through her ribs and side. Nothing was broken, though the bruises were enough to make deep breaths painful. Her captors had been careful, more interested in inflicting pain than in causing damage. That, at least, was a blessing.

A yellow cab pulled over and Tori clambered inside, ignoring the stench of sweat and tobacco that drifted from the torn vinyl seat. “How much to the nearest bus station?”

“One hundred baht.” The driver spoke in heavily accented English, his craggy face solemn, his dark eyes meeting hers in the rearview mirror.

She nodded and settled back into the seat, trying to quiet the wild throb of her pulse as the taxi eased through traffic. In the distance a Buddhist temple speared the sky. Beautiful, exotic, different. When she’d come to Thailand three weeks ago that’s what she’d been looking for—something more than the quiet, small-town life she led. Now she’d give anything to be home, riding in Pop’s old Chrysler, traveling familiar roads, hearing the same stories she’d heard a hundred times before.

She could be. She had a passport, money, plane tickets. What she didn’t have was the assurance that Melody was safe, and that was something she needed more than she needed home.

The taxi turned onto a narrow side street, and Tori glanced back. No cars followed. No motorcycles moved into place behind the cab. She wanted to believe she was safe, that the nightmare she’d been living was over. But that was a foolish hope. One she couldn’t allow herself. She leaned forward. “How much longer?”

“Twenty minutes.”

Twenty minutes too long. She needed to be in Mae Hong Son now. Anxiety clawed at her stomach, burning a fiery trail up her throat. She swallowed it down and tried to speak past her fear. “I’ve got a hundred baht more for you if you get me there in ten.”

The driver nodded, turning down another street and picking up speed.

Hurry. Hurry. The words thundered through Tori’s mind, a dizzying accompaniment to her racing pulse. How many days had passed since she’d given the box to the jeweler Chet Preteep? Five? Six? He’d told her then that it would take a week to make a locket like the one Tori wore, the one Melody had admired so much. A week, and then he’d put the locket in the rosewood trinket box Tori had provided and deliver it to Melody.

Tori glanced down at her wrist, looking for the date on her watch. But her watch had been taken, as had her locket and other jewelry. Was it already too late? Had the box been delivered? Tori shuddered at the thought of what that might mean for Melody. “What day is it?”

“Huh?”

“The day. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.”

“Yes.”

“It’s Thursday?”

“Yes.”

Five days. Maybe she wasn’t too late. She settled back into the seat, caught the driver eyeing her in the rearview mirror and lowered her head so that her hair fell forward. How bad were the bruises? She didn’t dare try to get a look, could only imagine what the driver had seen. Would he talk to friends and family? Mention the bruised foreigner who had paid him double the fare to take her to the bus station? And if he did, how long would it be before the men who’d kidnapped her found her again?

Bone-deep cold, scared in a way she hadn’t been in years, Tori tugged her sweater tight around aching ribs and tried desperately to come up with a plan. Her mind raced with images of Melody, beaten and tortured, her eyes filled with fear and pain. Tori had to get to Mae Hong Son before the box was delivered, had to make sure that the men who’d abducted her didn’t get their hands on Melody.

She leaned her head back against the seat, trying to clear her mind, but it was too filled with terror and worry to focus. One minute she’d been packing, getting ready to return home. The next, she’d been chained to a wall, questions screamed into her face. Why?

She didn’t have an answer. All she knew was that her longed-for trip to Thailand had turned into a nightmare, and because of that, Melody and her parents were in danger.

Please, God, keep them safe. Help me get there in time.

The prayer echoed through Tori’s mind, a desperate plea. One she doubted would be answered. She’d lived life on her own terms for too long to expect help from God now. Tears clogged her throat and swam behind her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Like praying, crying did no good. Clear thinking, determination—those were the things that would get her out of the mess she was in.

Up ahead, buses lined the road. A swarm of people hovered on the sidewalk waiting to board. Soon Tori would be waiting with them, ready to travel back to Mae Hong Son and the box that shouldn’t have been a threat, but was.

“Bus terminal.” The driver pulled up in front of the entrance.

Tori handed him payment and pushed open the door.

Despite the warmth of the day, she felt cold, fear shivering along her spine. She wouldn’t let it stop her. With a deep, calming breath, she stepped out into the crowd.

“You have her?”

“Yeah.” Noah Stone spoke into the cell phone as he followed his quarry inside the bus terminal.

“Guess your informant gave you good information.”

“It pays to have contacts.” Even if they were slimy as eels and twice as nasty.

“You at the airport?”

“’Fraid not.”

“So she decided not to take the easy route home.” Jack McKenzie’s voice was calm, easy. As always.

“It’s what we were banking on.”

“You don’t sound too happy about it.”

“Using civilians doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Not a civilian. A courier, paid to pass information for the Wa.”

“We don’t know that for sure.”

“And we don’t know anything different. Her record might be clean, but there are plenty of others just like her who’ve gone bad.”

“Can’t argue with that.” And he wouldn’t try. Not when he’d known so many people who were clean on the surface and dirty deep down where it counted.

“One way or another, she’s got the box. Once we’ve secured it, we’ll give her a chance to tell her story.”

“You’re assuming we’ll be able to secure it.”

“With you here, it’s a safe assumption.”

“Guess that depends on whether Ms. Riley goes along with our plan.” He watched as Tori stepped to a wall of pay phones and made a call.

“She will. The information on the box is worth millions. She won’t leave the country without it.”

“She’s on the move. I’ll keep in touch.” He slipped the phone into his pocket and stepped into line at a ticket counter, his gaze tracking Tori as she stepped into a line half the building away. She stood with her head high, her shoulders straight. Only someone looking closely would notice the bluish welts on her face, or the way her hand shook as she paid for a ticket and shoved it into her pocket.

She might be in deep with Lao, perhaps deep enough to double-cross him and grab the box, but Noah doubted it. There’d been something in her eyes when he’d freed her—a softness that seemed too genuine to fake. That, and a quiet desperation that surpassed greed or fear for herself. She was terrified, but heading back into the fray. Why?

Her daughter. It was the obvious answer, one Noah couldn’t discount. If Tori was what she appeared to be—a small-town veterinarian who’d come to Thailand to visit the daughter she’d given up in an open adoption thirteen years before—then her first instinct would be to ensure the safety of the girl.

If she was what she seemed.

The DEA had good reason to suspect otherwise. Noah would reserve judgment. He’d follow Tori, find out what had sent her running from safety. Then he’d know more about her motivation and her guilt.

A white bus rattled to a stop in front of the terminal and Tori hurried outside. Noah followed, holding back as she purchased a straw hat from a vendor. Then he followed her onto the bus. One quick glance found Tori squeezed into a backseat between two Thai women. From her position she’d have a good view out the back window. Maybe she thought she’d catch a glimpse of any pursuers. If so, she had no idea the caliber of men who’d soon be scouring the countryside. Noah did. The ache in his left shoulder and back were a grim reminder of just how deadly men like Lao could be.

The bus lurched forward as Noah slid into a front seat. Several people still stood in the aisle, clinging to handholds and swaying with the motion. In other circumstances Noah would offer a seat to an elderly passenger as a sign of respect and honor. Not today. His black hair and tan skin might blend with the Thai passengers, but his height and large build gave him away as a foreigner. At this point, he couldn’t afford to call attention to himself.

He settled back into the seat, listening to chatter and laughter, catching phrases and words—English and Thai, as well as several other languages he wasn’t as familiar with. It didn’t take long to determine the bus’s destination. Mae Hong Son. A seven-hour drive. Longer if the bus made tourist stops. The knowledge should have eased some of Noah’s tension, but adrenaline pulsed through him, warning him that time was running out.

He glanced back, eyeing the cars and trucks that followed behind the bus. He’d been hoping for a few hours’ lead time. Had thought the men he’d left bound and gagged in the building where he’d found Tori would need longer than that to free themselves.

He’d been wrong.

He didn’t question the knowledge. It was part of who he was. Part of what made him a survivor in an industry where death lurked around every corner. The other part was faith—a deep understanding that all that happened was choreographed by God—who was much more powerful than any government, agency or enemy.

It was that, more than anything, that had drawn Noah out of an early retirement and back into a game he no longer wanted to play; it was a deep knowing that he had to take the assignment. That something vital depended on it. Something beyond securing the box and stopping the distribution of millions of dollars’ worth of heroin.

Maybe once Tori led him to their destination he’d get some answers. Noah wasn’t counting on it.

Chapter Two

“We share?” The young Thai woman who sat beside Tori held out a bottle of Coke, her face wreathed in a smile.

“No. Thank you.” Tori’s own smile felt more like a grimace, her voice gritty from fatigue and dehydration. Despite her parched throat and empty stomach, she hadn’t dared get off the bus at the last tourist stop. Not when a dark sedan and white pickup truck had been following the bus since its first stop earlier in the day.

“You come visit me in Mae Hong Son, yes?”

“If I can. I’ll only be there for a short time.”

“You come. We will be there soon. Ten minutes. Your family will meet you, yes?”

“No. I’m meeting a friend.” Tori shifted in her seat, turning away from the other woman, hoping, as she had been hoping for the past seven hours, to discourage conversation. So far she hadn’t been successful. Which meant eventually other people would know she’d been on this bus.

Sweat trickled down her temple, and she used the sleeve of her sweater to brush it away, ignoring the palsied trembling of her hand. Just a few more minutes and she’d be in Mae Hong Son. Then what? She glanced out the back window of the bus, saw the sedan a few cars back. The pickup was nowhere in sight, though Tori had a feeling it still followed. How much time did she have? Could she make it off the bus, make it to Chet’s jewelry shop before they caught her?

She bit her lip, forcing back the panic that threatened to overtake her. She’d do what she had to do to escape the men who followed her. There was no other choice. Then she’d make her way to Chet’s shop. If he had the box, she’d take it and run. If not, she’d try to call the clinic again and hope that this time someone answered.