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still didn’t like that he’d have to let Anna fend for herself, no matter how good she was at her job.
    When he returned to the group, Hunter gave him a quizzical look. Bjornolf couldn’t tell him in front of the family how they had overheard that the men knew something about the Wentworth’s kidnapping. Bjornolf instead gave Hunter a thumbs-up, and he took the girl in his arms again. First chance they had, either he or Anna would let Hunter know what had happened.
    The team traveled with the family for four more days through the jungle in the same manner as before—sleeping with guards posted, eating and drinking all together, and keeping a low profile. At the end of the fourth day, they reached the outskirts of a village and, before anyone saw them, they scrubbed the camo paint off of each other with soap and water from a nearby river, not wanting to give the villagers the impression that they might be trouble.
    Anna smiled when Elsie scrubbed the paint off Bjornolf’s face, dragging a wet soapy cloth this way and that over his skin. He exaggerated his expressions of pain and surprise, groaning and moaning, making Elsie giggle. He caught Anna’s gaze and grinned at her. Leaving the girl to her mother, Bjornolf advanced on Anna.
    As he closed in on her with a feral gray wolf’s heated look, she felt her body temperature elevate in the steamy heat.
    “You didn’t quite get all your makeup off,” he said, pulling a cloth out of his sack and soaking it with a container of soapy water. He stood too close— way too close.
    She gave him a skeptical look, not wanting to believe him, but since she didn’t have a mirror, she wasn’t certain. The parents were washing their kids’ faces and Wentworth’s brother was working on his own, but her team watched Bjornolf as he washed her face.
    Feeling her cheeks heat, she folded her arms and silently entreated him to hurry it up.
    But he didn’t. He took his time wiping every inch of her face, her lips, her ears, and neck so gently, she didn’t think he could have removed anything.
    When he was done, she said, “Let me see the cloth.”
    His eyes widened a bit. “You don’t trust me?” he asked with feigned innocence.
    She knew he was all pretend when he was balking at showing her the cloth. She stretched out her hand, raised her brows, and waited.
    He let out an exaggerated sigh and handed the cloth to her. “See, what did I tell you?”
    A faint green cast covered a section of the white cloth, and one dark brown smudge colored another spot. This time she sighed audibly. “Thanks. Good job.”
    “You’ve got to learn to trust your partner,” he said.
    She looked at him, trying to read the meaning behind his words. She swore he was trying to tell her something.
    The show over, Hunter moved the group through the village to a couple of cabanas that he had rented—all the buildings decked out in Christmas lights, decorated Christmas trees sitting in front of some of the windows. Despite the Christmas decorations, the jungle atmosphere reminded them they were still far from home.
    “Anna, you’ll stay with the mother and the kids tonight. Paul, Allan, the two of you also. The Wentworth brothers will stay with Bjornolf, Finn, and me,” Hunter said. “Better protection for all concerned.”
    “I want to stay with my wife,” Wentworth said, looking cross and obviously used to getting his way.
    “Sorry, Mr. Wentworth,” Hunter said, his tone curt, not the least bit sorry. “You’re under my orders until we drop you off safely at the embassy. After that, it’s your decision.”
    “Honey, do as he says,” his wife said as she held her kids’ hands. “They got us this far without any of us being hurt.”
    He gave her a murderous look. Anna saw a flicker of relief on the woman’s face when her husband didn’t get his way.
    Hunter was clearly giving Anna a chance to question the mother without the husband being present. Paul and Allan slid looks in