Yep. Definitely in on it, and she was right. She wasn’t about to appreciate anything.
Could she refuse? She didn’t want to eat or drink anything for fear of it having a sedative in it. It’s what she would do. A passed-out captive would be far easier than an awake one.
“After she drinks this juice she won’t be much trouble for the next four hours or so,” Marta said in Spanish. “We can all take a break. I’ve got lunch set up in the dining room.”
Damn it. She’d known they would try it, but she’d been hoping they would wait until nighttime.
Mateo was suddenly interested in what was happening in the living area. He stood and started to move for the door.
Tessa’s heartrate ticked up, and she could feel adrenaline start to pulse. Did she have time? She would bring her hands up over her head and pull them down and apart as hard as she could. Stand up and then slam back and break the chair. Pop up, get her gun in hand, and take them all out.
If Mateo would walk away for a minute and a half it could work. He stopped at the door.
“Let her in.” Mateo turned back to Tessa. “Marta is bringing you food. Eat and drink or there will be trouble.”
“I’m not hungry.” She wasn’t going to let herself get sedated. She had to stay in control. If she went under, they could do anything they wanted to her. They could also move her, and she wouldn’t have any idea where she was or how far away David was.
Mateo frowned down at her, his big body in tight lines. “You will eat and drink whatever Marta tells you to do. Am I understood?”
She was going to have to risk it, but she needed to wait for the exact right moment. She nodded.
Mateo moved back to the door as Marta walked in with a tray. “Decís si te da algún problema. Esperaremos hasta que ella haya bebido todo, quiero asegurarme que no esté consciente antes de dejarla en paz.”
Tessa frowned, hoping she looked like she had no idea what they were saying. Mateo wanted to make sure she drank the whole mug. He wasn’t leaving until he knew she was sedated.
“I’ve been ordered to stay with her even after she’s out,” Marta replied in Spanish as well. “Luis doesn’t want her alone for even a minute, but I think I can handle one drugged girl. Lunch is waiting in the dining room. It might be your only break. Would you rather stay here and I’ll bring you a plate?”
Mateo grunted and walked out, his decision obviously made.
Marta walked in and put her tray on the dresser. This might be Tessa’s shot. She would have to get to the gun before Mateo got back into the room or it would be over.
Marta turned Tessa’s way, the glass of juice in her hand. “You will drink this, girl.”
She was ready to head butt Marta then free her hands. She would have to go for the gun with her feet tied to the chair, but she could do it.
Marta stood in front of her. “Yes, that’s good.”
What?
Marta yawned and then took a drink from the glass herself. “Drink it all up and you can have some food.”
Marta swallowed the rest down and sat the empty glass on the tray. She picked up what looked like a bowl of soup as Mateo poked his head back in.
“Do you want to stay and watch me feed her?” Marta asked as though she couldn’t care less.
What the hell was going on?
Patience. This was one of those times when she needed to reassess and give this situation a minute to play out because she didn’t understand what was going on. She was starting to think what was going on might work in her favor.
Mateo grunted and said something about how Marta better not fuck things up.
She kind of hoped Marta was about to really fuck things up.
Marta simply shrugged again and gave him another yawn.
“What’s happening? I feel weird.” Tessa slurred her words. Marta had given her a cue and she was going to take it. She yawned. “What was in the juice?”
“Just go to sleep, little girl,” Marta said with a long sigh.
Mateo seemed to take that as a good time to get out of there. He told his friend they could grab some lunch. Marta would handle things here.
She heard the door shut and the sound of the men walking down the hall.
“Are you going to do the American operative thing? The one where you break all the furniture and attack? It’s dramatic, but I brought a knife.” Marta reached into her pocket and pulled out a small knife. “I can get you out or I can wait for you to look like Charlie’s Angels or something.”
Or Marta could be intelligence. The bitter sarcasm totally gave her away. “Argentinian intelligence?”
She rolled her eyes, and the accent was completely gone when she spoke again. “Agency. You know we’re not all twenty-five-year-old models. Eddie Montez has business dealings with some people we’re interested in. At least he did until these morons came along. I’d like to keep my cover. I already called in the big guns, but god only knows how long it will take Taggart to get the message.”
Hope sprang up inside her. “You called my boss?”
“I had someone call him. I don’t know his number. I just thought he would like to know that his brother’s stepson was about to be kidnapped. Are you really a bodyguard? You know you shouldn’t have told them.” Marta…probably not her real name…expertly sliced through the zip ties. “Also, the next time you want to pretend like you don’t speak a language you shouldn’t smile at jokes you’re not supposed to understand.”
“I’m a bodyguard, not a damn spy.” She didn’t want to do undercover. She wanted to stand to the side and jump in front of bullets if she had to. Easy-peasy. Tessa rolled her wrists to get the circulation flowing as Marta worked on her ankles. “When did you send out the message to Ian?”
“Yesterday afternoon, when I realized they were going to make their move. They offered to pay me a lot to help out, and I thought I should take the cash and do what I needed to do,” Marta explained.
“Or you could have given us a heads-up so I could have gotten my client out of here.”
A brow rose over Marta’s eyes. “Seriously?”
“Fine. My boyfriend.”
“I had to decide whether or not I wanted to put a year-long op in jeopardy to save your asses,” she admitted. “The truth of the matter is it could help me enormously to have something to hold over Eddie’s head. It would have given me some real nice leverage to use.”
It was good to know her death could have been useful to the Agency. “What changed your mind?”
“I sent your info to my handler and he crapped his pants.” Marta straightened up and slid the knife back in her pocket. “I was hoping Taggart would show up and save the day and my op, but we’re out of time.”
Tessa stood, stretching for the first time in hours. “Why does your op have to be ruined?”
“Well, I don’t think you can handle them all on your own. Once Eddie sees me kill a man, he’ll wonder where his cook learned to do that.”
It was Tessa’s turn to roll her eyes. “I might not be a spy, but I can handle these assholes all on my own. You can be the helpful employee who saw something going wrong and waited until you could do something about it. He’ll trust you like no one else after this. I won’t say a word.”