Show No Fear Read Online Free PDF Page B

headed straight to customs with their backpacks, submitting them to a laughably lax inspection.
     Colombia wasn’t big on catching smugglers, evidently.
    “What is the nature of your visit?” inquired the bespectacled official at their next hurdle—immigration.
    “Business,” Gus answered for the two of them, and Lucy nudged his toe, reminding him to let her do the talking.
    The man frowned down at their false passports. “You’re with the UN?” he inquired.
    “Yes,” said Lucy, her stomach churning. Carlos had warned them during the in-briefing that the Colombian army would jump at
     the chance to follow a UN team into the rebels’ hideout. Yet nothing was more guaranteed to get the hostages killed.
    “Which areas of Colombia will you be visiting?” he asked.
    “We’re staying in Bogotá,” Lucy lied. If rumors of an arriving UN team were circulating airport security, this man might report
     their arrival to the army.
    “At which hotel?” he pressed.
    Lucy shrugged. “We don’t know yet. We don’t have reservations.”
    Pursing his mouth with disbelief, he stamped their passports. His myopic gaze glinted watchfully as he slid them under the
     glass partition. “Enjoy your stay.”
    “Thank you,” Lucy breathed.
    Gus snatched up their passports and propelled her toward the exit. Shouldering her backpack, Lucy glanced casually back.
    “He’s making a phone call,” she warned.
    “Walk faster,” Gus urged.
    With a firm grip on her elbow, he drew her into the crowd thronging toward the glass doors. Together they scanned the crush
     of humanity for Carlos, who’d promised to pick them up.
    Lucy spotted him first, lounging beside an advertisement for the TransMilieno rapid-transit system. At their approach, the
     Spaniard turned and marched ahead of them through the glass doors.
    Humid air, choked with the smell of car exhaust, enveloped them as they hurried after him. Carlos had waved down a taxi. He
     yanked open the rear door for Gus and Lucy. “Get in,” he urged, his dark eyes snapping.
    Lucy dove into the rear with Gus immediately behind her. “Hotel Hacienda Royal,” said Carlos, jumping into the front.
    “
Sí, señor.
” The driver peeled into traffic and immediately switched lanes, overtaking the taxi in front of it.
    Lucy groped for a nonexistent seat belt. “Do we have company?” she asked, catching Carlos’s eye as he peered over his shoulder
     to look behind them.
    “I dare anyone to catch us,” he replied as their driver veered into the oncoming lane, going head-to-head with a busload of
     passengers before lurching back onto the right side.
    Dear God.
    “How was your flight?” Carlos added as the taxi rumbled along boulevards of hand-laid brick.
    “Good,” said Gus, shaking off his backpack and digging out a small, oddly shaped cell phone. Lucy recognized it as the device
     he would hide inside his hiking boots. The heels of both boots were hollow, allowing him to stow his phone in one, a spare
     battery in the other. She watched him dial a lengthy number with quick thumb work. Leaning toward him, she hoped to overhear
     snatches of his conversation.
    “
Buenas tardes,
” Gus casually greeted the man who answered. “We’re here. Do you see us?” he asked in Spanish.
    One of his buddies, already situated at the Joint Intelligence Center within the U.S. embassy, answered with an affirmative.
     Their microchips were working. Gus murmured that they’d arrived on time to make their appointment that afternoon. Then he
     dropped the phone into his shirt pocket.
    Everything was going as planned. The knowledge eased Lucy’s agitation, giving her assurance that she would soon regain her
     equilibrium. She would be exactly as she was before—composed and fearless.
    The vision of the queen-sized bed as she entered their hotel room minutes later brought her up short. Considering Gus’s broad
     shoulders, sleeping together on a bed, even that size, was going to resemble a