“Except we won’t be there to help him this time,” Jeff said, his voice still hushed.
“Perfect for us.”
When they didn’t say anything further, Anna assumed they must have fallen asleep. She soon followed them, drifting off to nothingness.
Bjornolf knew he had to speak privately to Hunter about what the brothers had revealed. Once they were all on the trail again, it would be harder to get the word to Hunter without the family overhearing. Bjornolf threw on a fresh set of clothes and left the hut.
Finding Hunter stretched out on a hammock nearby, Bjornolf explained what he overheard. “All I know is that you had to rescue this family, and from the research I did, I learned that William Wentworth is a multimillionaire with more than a dozen businesses. Some have to do with pharmaceuticals and trying to discover new medicines from plants in the Amazon. He also has other more diversified businesses, including computer technology. What I don’t understand is why they were here in the first place. Dragging two little kids and a wife on a trip to the jungle this close to Christmas?”
“According to family friends, they came here on a special tour—to get a look at the jungle that has made so much money for them. What we were told was that the adventure went bad when their tour guides were murdered and the family was taken hostage. Their lawyer received a ransom message and he was concerned that if he paid the money to the kidnappers, they’d take the payment and kill Wentworth and his family. The lawyer relayed the information to my source, who got in touch with us, knowing we could handle the mission.
“We all believed he brought the family here to prove he wasn’t just a desk jockey. That he could handle the Amazon jungle as well as he did a corporate jungle, but then he found himself way out of his element here. What you overheard blows that theory all to hell. What I’m not clear on is how you came to be here.” Hunter waited for Bjornolf to respond.
“Truth is, it needs to remain a highly kept secret,” Bjornolf said seriously, though he was having the damnedest time keeping a straight face.
Hunter shook his head. “Meara sent you.”
Bjornolf smiled a little. “Yeah, she emphasized that both you and Finn were needed home for Christmas. Good thing I don’t have a sister. Or a mate.”
“Speaking of that…”
Bjornolf wondered where this little talk was going.
“Listen, Bjornolf, I know you don’t do team projects any longer. I know about your team being killed on a mission and you being the lone survivor. I know what that kind of thing can do to a guy, so don’t think I’m unsympathetic. But I could really use your help for a job. Right after we arrived in Bogota, I got a call from Tessa. She said Nathan—you remember the teen you brought home after he’d run away?” Hunter asked.
“Yeah, sure. Good kid. Troubled.”
“Yeah, well he’s working at a Christmas tree farm and smelled a couple of dead wolf bodies. Tessa has our police officers looking into it, but they haven’t found any bodies, and we have more of a problem than that.”
Bjornolf wondered why Hunter would ask him to work a job instead of going to his own team members. “What is it?”
“Actually, I need a couple to handle this,” Hunter said.
“A… couple,” Bjornolf said slowly. It didn’t sound like Hunter meant a couple of men.
“Yeah, like you and Anna. You both know each other already to an extent, and I need a highly trained team that can handle a situation that might get ugly real fast.”
“A situation?”
“Tessa said the police officers are certain that two of our wolf kind were murdered at the Christmas tree farm.”
“Hell. Why do you need a couple?”
“We need you to take Nathan in for a bit, serve as his guardians, while you search for clues about the murders. It would be a good cover and would help to safeguard him. We’ll provide one of our beach homes for you to use as you and Anna play the role of being newlyweds. Tessa is having the boy stay with one of the cop families in our pack in the meantime. But Nathan wanted you and Anna to watch out for him. Of course, I told him I hadn’t seen you since the last trouble we had there. So I explained I’d tried to pair up either Allan or Paul with Anna.”
Bjornolf wasn’t sure what he was getting into. “Have you spoken to Anna about the mission?”
“No. I asked Paul or Allan if they wanted to work with her on the assignment, but they both had other contracts after this mission. I’m sure if I told them I had no one else to serve as her partner, one of them would have stepped up. But before I tell Anna, I want to ensure I have someone lined up to watch her back.”
“Watching over the boy?” Bjornolf was surprised. Somehow he didn’t see her stepping in to take care of a teenage boy.
“No. Trying to solve the murder mystery.”
Bjornolf nodded.
“I wasn’t about to assign her the job unless I could find a man I trusted to keep her safe. Then here you are all of a sudden. The two of you could be perfect for the job. Especially since you know Nathan already. And he asked for you specifically. Paul and Allan have never met the boy. If you don’t have any other plans for Christmas and you don’t mind working with Anna—I know she has no plans for the holidays—it could work. Or I’ll ask the other guys again and see if one of them can break his contract.”
“I’ll do it.” Bjornolf couldn’t believe he’d just accepted a mission to work with Anna as a team. He wondered how she’d view it.
“Good,” Hunter said. “As to our current mission, the team intends to get this family safely to the American embassy in Bogota. Whatever other agenda is playing behind the scenes is not our business. Although I fully intend to have my source and others check into the matter to learn what the truth is. I don’t like being played for a fool. And I sure as hell don’t appreciate getting my team shot at when a mission isn’t necessary. For now, we’ll conduct the undertaking as we’d first intended. The family needed rescuing. Eliminate the threat. Get the family to safety unharmed.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“All right.” Hunter settled back in his hammock. “Got to get some rest.”
“Night.” Bjornolf headed back to the hut and climbed the ladder. All he could think of was serving in wedded bliss with Anna—in a pretend role. During Christmas? That should be interesting. He hadn’t done Christmas in eons. Having Nathan around would keep the business more professional, but hell, maybe Anna and Bjornolf could get in a few sparring sessions—just to keep in shape when they had some spare time. When he retired to her sleeping bag and took in her sexy fragrance, all he could think of was “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” with Anna in his bed.
Anna slept until she heard Bjornolf’s approach. The blue-gray light of day hadn’t yet appeared, but the birds were beginning to call to each other high in the canopy. Bugs—from the buzz of mosquitoes to the chirping of crickets—added to the raucous noise.
“Time to go,” he said quietly, his voice rough with tension. His gaze focused on hers at first, then drifted over her scantily attired body.
“What… wait, what happened?” She frowned, feeling disoriented about the time. “I was supposed to have guard duty at some point. And I should have had some outdoor time.”
“You had indoor duty, watching these folks. Hunter wanted you to be here for the woman or kids if they needed you. That was the most important job you could have.”
She snorted. “I slept, you mean.” She couldn’t believe she’d slept soundly through the night.
He smiled gently. She didn’t remember him ever really grinning or laughing out loud. He was more subtle, cool under pressure, all mission-oriented. He was also damned hot, with his chest bare and still only wearing boxers. She thought about spending the night with him and what a real treat it would be to wake up with him first thing in the morning.