Chapter Sixty-Six
Bree
“Oh, god, Nathan, this might be him,” I hissed.
Nathan glared at me. “You’ve said that at least a dozen times now, Tanya.”
My breath caught in my throat. I’d used his real name!
I dropped my voice another level and leaned across the table so only Nathan could hear me. “This time I’m serious. He’s coming straight for us.”
“What does he look like?” Nathan asked.
His fingers knotted together until his knuckles turned white. Nathan was worried whoever approached about the ‘job’ would recognize him.
“You have to relax, remember? Your memory won’t clear up if you try to force it,” I said. I leaned back a little as Nathan glared at me. “All right, I’ll describe him: heavy-set, wider waist than shoulders, dark hair, can’t tell if it’s dyed or not. He looks older. Fancy suit.”
Nathan groaned. “That doesn’t help. I have to look.”
He swiveled around right as the older man stepped over to our table. Quick fingers checked his cufflinks, then the man extended his hand to Nathan.
“Nice to meet you. Both,” the man said.
Nathan’s shoulders relaxed a notch as he shook the man’s hand. They had clearly never met. The man stepped back when Nathan stood up and looked him over thoroughly.
“Sorry. I like to think two people are better than one,” Nathan said in his fake Southern accent.
“Well, you do make a good couple,” the man said. “Americans.”
It wasn’t a question, just a confirmation. He gave a bored but professional courtesy smile. A younger man brought him over a chair and he sat down at our table.
“Thank you for the lovely meal,” I said.
The man’s dark eyes seared onto me. I felt him see my age and my inexperience. Then his gaze fell to my body and took on the gleam of an appraiser.
Nathan cleared his throat. “Yeah, thank you, but we didn’t order anything. We didn’t come here expecting to pay for a meal.”
The man tore his gaze from me and smiled at Nathan. “Don’t worry about the bill. The real issue is that we have transportation needs. You, obviously, have money needs.”
“What do you mean ‘transportation’ issues?” Nathan asked.
“We need nice, unassuming Americans to return from vacation with more than the normal junk. And we are willing to replace all those trinkets with money,” the man said.
“Like mules,” Nathan said.
The man nodded and sat forward, heartened by the fact he didn’t have to explain further. “We don’t expect our employees to lug heavy backpacks through the brush and across the border, though some find that easier to handle. No, for you, we have an excellent deal.”
Nathan leaned forward to look at the photograph on the man’s phone. I started to lean as well but felt the man’s eyes move back onto my body. I stayed back and forced myself not to cross my arms over my chest.
“An RV?” Nathan asked.
“Exactly. You return to the United States in an air-conditioned, luxury recreational vehicle. Then all you have to do is make it to the specified location at the correct time, and you’ll be paid in full.”
I shook my head. “What if they ask to see our IDs?”
Nathan gave me a sharp glance, then covered by saying, “We don’t want to get caught with illegal cargo and have it on our permanent record.”
The man patted Nathan’s arm. “An excellent point. You will be given all the necessary paperwork including the RV’s registration and new passports and driver’s licenses. Does that about cover it?”
“Um, wow,” I said. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It is,” the man said. “Unless you prefer other forms of work?”
Nathan jumped in. “So, you do this a lot? What’s the phrase, ‘success rate?’ What would you say your success rate is?”
The man checked his cuff links again. “I don’t have the exact numbers but our employees are very pleased with their pay.”
“Unless they’re in jail,” I muttered.
Nathan walked a fine line between asking for the information we wanted and blowing his undercover persona. “I think I’d be more comfortable if I knew you set this kind of thing up every day.”
The man gestured for his young lackey to bring him a glass. The young man returned in under a minute and opened the bottle of light red wine himself.
Once he’d gone through the ritual of smelling the cork, tasting the wine, and accepting a pour, the man turned back to us. “I find myself in this situation often enough to assume my explanation is sufficient. Yes, there is a risk but it is offset by a large gain. The decision is yours.”
He offered me a glass of wine and I accepted. “Is it always an RV?” I asked.
He smiled, feeling conversational as he lingered over my glass. “We have different methods. Some tailored to fit the individual.”
“So, you don’t have a type?” I asked.
Nathan reached for my hand under the table but I batted away his warning. If I had to flirt to hear what we needed to know, then I was going to do it.
The man wrapped his hand around mine over my wine glass and guided it to my lips. Then he watched as I sipped the fruity vintage and licked his own lips.
“In our business, everyone is a potential employee from a child to a man to a woman—”
“To a couple?” Nathan interrupted.
“Wait. Did you say you use children?” I asked.
The man shrugged and sat back to sip from his own glass. “Children are small, hard to spot, and they usually follow directions very well. Better than most adults, to be honest.”
“Why?” Nathan asked. “They’re just kids.”
“As I said before, we have transportation needs. Those needs supersede childhood. Our employee pool must remain as large as possible.” The man looked around his restaurant, bored with us.
“But we’ve got to be a better bet than some poor kids,” I said. “Don’t we look like the perfect couple for a big job?”
The man raised an eyebrow and smiled at me. “Perfect? I can’t say that you are perfect.”
I pouted to Nathan. “I think we’re perfect.”
The man put his hand on my wine glass again. “I normally look for people who are unassuming, who don’t stand out in a crowd. You stand out.”
“Is it my hair?” I joked, springing one of my curls up and down.
“And your boyfriend can’t hide his feelings. He wishes he was sitting between us right now,” the man said with a teasing smile. “I need someone with a good, how do you say it? Poker face.”
“Oh, Hank’s real good at poker. That’s what he was doing hanging around that bar where he met your guy,” I said.
The man nodded. “That part’s good, but you two need to blend in with the tourists more. The fewer people who look your way the better.”
“We’re just a couple on vacation. That’s not an act,” Nathan said. “And we’re not going to perform some big show. If this is too complicated, we walk.”
The man sat up and held up his hands to sooth Nathan. “No complications. That’s what we want, too. And, in order to make sure there are none, we have certain benefits available.”
“Like dental?” I asked.
“Like a tail to the border who will ensure you are not bothered by petty criminals or the local police. We also give you half the money up front, the rest on delivery. All cash. All unmarked.”
The man snapped his fingers and his lackey handed him a leather-bound pad of paper and a pen. He scribbled a number, tore off the page, and handed it to Nathan.
Nathan didn’t have to feign shock at the number but he had to muster up a look of excitement for me. I saw in his eyes the realization of just what a huge monster we were up against.
“But what happens if we get caught?” I asked.
The man stroked my hand and prompted me to take another sip of wine. “We provide lawyers if you should be detained by the authorities. They will see to it that you come out free. Mostly they can prove you were coerced and then you walk.”
“I think we have a deal,” Nathan said.
He couldn’t bear to hear any more. The cartel had more resources, more networks, and a farther reach than he had ever considered. Nathan wanted to retreat and regroup.
I stood up as the men shook hands, then took Nathan’s arm. He stepped away from the table but the man laid one hand on his chest.
“Now that we have a deal, there is a van on its way. Go to the back door. It will arrive in ten minutes.” He smiled at me. “I suggest you think of all the fun ways you are going to spend your new fortune. Enjoy your trip.”
The bottom of my stomach dropped out as I realized we’d had a lucky encounter. The man walked off and two large bodyguards followed him. Our meeting could have gone one of two ways and we chose the pleasant one.
Nathan knew it, too. He grabbed my arm and pulled me close. “They were never going to let us walk.”
“At least the lawyer will be able to prove we were forced,” I said.
I nodded toward the two returning bodyguards. They followed behind us to the back door and then stood there like a wall between us and the restaurant. There was no way out except the door and it was soon eclipsed by a black van.
Nathan got in first and then pulled me onto the seat next to him. I huddled in his arms as the door slammed and we sped off into the night.