Page 34 of The Heat is On

“If he’s dead, then you will be too.” He said it low and with lethal truth.

She stared at him in cold horror. “He can’t die because of me.”

Rio’s mouth tightened and then he swallowed and pulled her against himself. Locking those arms around her, as if afraid she might flee. His voice came down beside her ear, soft, a caress to her fraying edge of control. “I’m sorry. I liked him.”

She closed her eyes, turning into him, letting herself sink against his strength, smelling the woods and the exertion of the day on his skin.

“We need to get Darryl to safety,” Rio said softly. “Or all of this is for nothing.”

She pushed away from him, the words a knot in her head. “Why? What is so important about Darryl?” Because yes, she’d been very ready to leave him in the woods.

Rio glanced down at the man, then back to her. “Because Darryl works for a man named Wayne Buttles. He’s the northern head of a human trafficking and drug smuggling operation. If we can get Buttles, then we can shut down his entire Alaskan operation.”

“I’m just a truck driver—” Darryl said, but his voice emerged small and whiny.

“No, you’re not. You know the routes, the places where his cargo originates. You know where the pickup point is for girls coming from the Lower 48 and where you drop off the Russian girls. You’re the last one to see them before they disappear forever.”

Rio’s tone had gotten decidedly darker as he spoke, and now he reached down and grabbed Darryl by his good arm, hauling him to his feet. “You bet you’re talking. I want every last detail of Buttles’s transportation details.”

“He’ll kill me,” Darryl said, and by the look on his face, it wasn’t just a threat.

“Maybe. But your life isn’t worth the girls you’re enslaving.”

Oh. And she got it—why Rio would stick himself in a prison, enduring the humiliations. Because…Aggie. Except, wait—

“Was Aggie real? Or was that…part of your cover?”

Rio looked at her, and she flinched at the glistening in his eyes, the emotion that had clearly boiled over during his fury at Darryl. He considered her a moment.

“Yeah,” he said barely above a whisper. “She was real.”

She felt like a jerk.

“And so are thousands of girls like her every year. Buttles kidnaps them and puts them on ships for Russia or China. And he picks up shipments from Russia, Mongolia and Nepal and sends them across Canada and the U.S. Usually they’re already so drugged they have no idea where they are or how to get help.”

“He’s not the head of the operation,” Darryl said. “That’s a different guy. But…” He glanced at Skye now. “Buttles is the one who will kill me and my wife when he finds out I talked.”

“That’s why I’m here. To make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Darryl jerked away from Rio. “You can’t stop him. He has guys everywhere and…listen. My wife is going to have a baby. Any day, and I just…please. I need to see her. I need to be there when the baby is born.”

Rio looked at him as if Darryl had hit him again. “No way. I’m taking you back into custody.”

“Then I’m not talking.”

Rio balled his fists, stepping back from him.

Skye put a hand on his chest, right over his furious heart. “Just let him see his wife. Believe me, I know what kind of regret haunts you when you don’t say goodbye.” She lowered her voice. “After my dad was arrested, I never…I never went to see him.”

Rio frowned.

“I was so angry and hurt. He had betrayed my mom and me. He was a gambler and racked up so much debt we were going to lose everything. I think he got involved with the FBI because they offered to pay him—I don’t know. I do know that after he went to jail, my mom lost her job, we lost our house, and then she lost her will to live. She still loved him for some crazy reason—and…I couldn’t forgive him.”

Rio wound his fingers through hers, on his chest.

“He died in prison without…without ever knowing that I still loved him.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “That I forgave him. And I can’t forgive myself for not going. I keep trying…but…” She lifted a shoulder, cutting her voice low. “Let him say goodbye. It matters.”

Rio said nothing, his mouth tight. Finally, “Okay. We’ll find your wife. And then, you tell us what we need to put Buttles away.”