Chapter11
Kelissa held David’s hand, walking down the hospital corridor and toward the exit doors.
“Deep breath,” David said. “I’ll give the statement that Aaron prepared, then we’ll leave, and they’ll bombard the sheriff with questions until he cuts them off so we have a chance to get out of here before they do.”
“I just don’t understand why the media is here. They’ve been camped outside since they found out about Julia’s death and my kidnapping. I guess I thought that being in the hospital for two days would afford us some peace and quiet.”
“That’s something you’ll have to get used to when you’re a famous model,” he said, putting her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles. “La Jolla is pretty insulated from major crime, so San Diegans take notice when they hear about a kidnapping and murder at a remote beach house in the quiet suburb.”
“Aren’t the cartels pretty much everywhere?”
“They are, but this is still different. We’re not their normal targets. And we’re not mentioning the cartel.”
“Why not?”
“Because that will piss Salvador Chacon off even more, and we have a better chance of luring him here if he thinks that his ‘message’ wasn’t heard. It’s all about machismo.”
“I still think this is dangerous. Don’t you think we’ve been through enough?”
“We can do this now or we can spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders.”
“Or I could move home.”
He stopped, staring at her in shock.
“Would you give up modeling?”
She shrugged.
“What other choice would I have? I don’t want to be a target the rest of my life, and I don’t want to bring violence on my family. It’s just me and my dad, and I can’t bear to lose him. You can see your parents whenever you want, so I understand that you don’t get that.”
“Actually, that’s not true,” he said, ignoring the uniformed officer at the front door motioning for them to hurry. “I have a lot to tell you. A lot. I’m not saying I lied, but I have a lot of secrets I’ve been carrying around awhile and you don’t just share those on the first couple dates.”
“We’ve known each other longer than the few weeks I’ve been here.”
“That’s true, but I’m asking you, begging you really, give me a chance to explain it all before you decide what your next move is. I love you and I don’t want to lose you, but if you hear everything I have to say and still decide to leave, I’m not going to get in your way.”
“You love me?” she whispered.
“I do. I said it before, didn’t I?”
He was smiling, but the insecurity was there in his eyes. She could see that he was terrified of how she was going to react, and that the fear of losing her was real. He did love her.
“You did,” she said. “And it was what I’d been waiting to hear since that first night on the beach, but I thought maybe it was because you took a hit to the head, or because we both thought we might die for a minute there.”
“I thought I was going to die for about five hours, but you’re right, that last few minutes was intense.”
He smiled, chuckling.
“You have a very unique way of looking at things,” he said.
“And you have a lot to learn about the world, but we have an audience waiting, and I need to sleep in my own bed in my own room tonight. I’m done with the hospital and the trunk of cars. I haven’t slept a full night since Thursday night and it’s Sunday now.”
“I understand,” he said. “Come on, let’s do this.”
He led her out the door and the reporters started shouting almost immediately. David walked up to the podium that had been erected in front of the hospital, and right away, Kelissa noticed Aaron in the crowd. Cade wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but he wasn’t the kind of guy who could just blend in.
David looked to the sheriff, who nodded that he could start, then he looked directly at the camera in the front of the crowd and started talking.
“This weekend has been very hard on our family, and I’m asking that once we leave here, you allow us time to grieve the losses we have suffered. I’ve prepared a statement, but I will not be answering questions at this time. Once I’ve read the statement, I will turn it over to Sheriff Martin and let him deal with the particulars.”
He pulled out a piece of paper and started reading, looking up from time to time to make eye contact with the members of the press as they listened silently. Only the sounds of camera shutters clicking interrupted the quiet, an eerie sound that set Kelissa’s nerves on edge. Were Chacon’s men in the crowd right now? Were they in danger out here in the open?
“Friday night, we returned to our beach home in La Jolla to find that my dear friend and long-time employee Julia had been murdered. I was attacked, leaving me unconscious on the floor while they kidnapped Kelissa. I don’t know their intentions, but I know that they are cowards who will be brought to justice. Julia deserves that, and so do Kelissa and I. I will be funding a reward for tips leading to an arrest and conviction. I thank you for your concern for us in this difficult time, and once again, I ask that you respect our privacy as we work through this and learn to live again without fear of the coward who has turned our lives upside down. Julia’s murder was senseless, and I will not rest until the persons responsible are brought to justice. Thank you.”
“David!” a woman shouted from the front of the crowd as David turned to leave the podium. “Will you be going back to Bonita until the house in La Jolla is cleared, or will you be staying in La Jolla?”
Kelissa was angry at the insensitive question, but David smiled, his back to the media so that they couldn’t see, then he set his expression to neutral and turned back around.
“We will not be returning to La Jolla any time soon; the pain is too much. We feel much safer in Bonita and would prefer to grieve surrounded by friends and neighbors.”
This time when he turned, he took Kelissa’s hand and they hurried away to the waiting car. They got into the back seat, and Kelissa was relieved to see Cade in the driver’s seat.
“Hey, Tiny,” she teased, drawing a smile from the sometimes gentle giant.
“You both look much better,” he said. “Are you ready for this?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Good. Everything is in place. I’ve been advised that there’s suspicious movement near the area, so be prepared.”
David nodded, but Kelissa didn’t feel nearly as calm as David looked. He had to be insane. There was no way that she could do this and feel as calm as he looked.
“Aren’t you scared?” she demanded.
“Not as scared as I was when I woke up and you were gone.”
“I’m scared.”
“It’s alright to be scared. Just don’t lose focus.”
“This is a bad idea.”
“Stay positive,” Cade said. “Don’t you trust me?”
“I do trust you, but I don’t trust these men. This man Salvador is crazy. He’s just going to blow the house up with us in it.”
“He’s not,” David assured her. “It’s a matter of pride. I called him a coward, and even if most of San Diego doesn’t know that he’s involved, the important people do. If word gets out that Chacon can be thwarted by a curvy model from Iowa, and a real estate agent, his reputation is going to take a hit. It already has since you escaped. Chacon is going to head this one up himself. He’ll come in with backup, but he’ll do all the talking, and no one is going to try to kill us while he’s there. The only thing Chacon is more afraid of than failure is his own death. He won’t risk taking a stray bullet. He never has.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I know I am, and this is Aaron’s brainchild. He’s been tracking Chacon for years, trying to catch him at just the right moment. But now, we have an opportunity to put the man away for a long time on this side of the border. As much as I don’t want to risk our lives twice in one weekend, I don’t want Chacon rearing his ugly head again years from now. I thought he was out of my life for good before. This time, I’m going to make sure that he never threatens me or the people I love again.”
They reached the private road that ended at David’s house just after sunset. Kelissa’s stomach flopped inside her belly, and she was struck with the urge to get out and run. Knowing that something was coming, but not what or when was almost worse than being kidnapped, tied up, escaping and rolling a car in a ditch, then running for her life while bystanders pretended not to see her.
Almost.
Cade pulled up to the gate, waiting patiently for it to roll back before driving through calmly. He parked at the front of the house, then turned around and drove away once they were walking up the steps to the main entrance.
“He’s leaving?” Kelissa said, shaking.
“He won’t be far away.”
“I’m scared.”
“It’s going to be alright,” David said, whispering so that only Kelissa could hear him.
He put his hand against the scanner, which looked like part of the house until David’s hand touched it, deactivating the sleep mode screen saver. The door opened and Kelissa braced herself, but no one rushed to push them into the house, and Kelissa breathed a small sigh of relief.
The door closed behind them and a single lamp in the entryway turned on to light the room before them, leaving everything else in darkness.
A man sat in the chair in front of them, two large, angry looking men with guns on either side of him. He wore a pressed, gray suit, and reminded her of the man from all those beer commercials, but she couldn’t remember which beer. She stared at him, shocked that the man who had caused so much pain and destruction could be so petite. She’d expected a man the size of Cade, or bigger, but this man was Kelissa’s height if that, and had the muscle tone of someone who didn’t lift a finger for themselves.
“I guess you’re the fun-sized drug dealer,” Kelissa said. “At least I know why you send henchmen to do your job. You’re afraid I’m going to crush you.”
David turned, looking at Kelissa with shock and a bit of amusement. But mostly shock.
“Sorry, David. But you told me this man was scary and he looks like batman’s geriatric sidekick.” She turned back to Chacon. “Are you for real? You can’t come here by yourself and talk? You need babysitters?”
Chacon was smiling, amused by her outburst, but Kelissa couldn’t stop herself. She looked at one of the men beside Chacon and shook her head.
“You again? You want another taste of the wrench? I can’t believe he’s letting you work for him when you couldn’t hold onto one woman. I mean, I was tied up and you still lost me.”
“Kelissa,” David warned under his breath.
She looked at him, shaking her head, then looking back at the trio at the chair.
“You know what, I won’t be silenced. I’m mad as hell, and I’ve spent the entire weekend either in the trunk of a car, next to some stinky man who could use a bath, and in the hospital recovering from a car wreck. You think I’m scared of you, peewee? I’m not. You’re a coward, and you’ll always be a coward. If you had the balls to kill me, I would be dead.”
Chacon was laughing now, and that was only making Kelissa madder, but he held up his hand for silence.
“I can see why David loves you. It’s a shame he had to cross me, and that you both have to die. I’d love to keep you for my collection, but I can’t trust my men to keep you contained, so I regretfully—”
“Your collection? Do I look like a doll to you?”
“You do,” Chacon said, still laughing. “I wish I had seen you jump out of the trunk and attack my best courier here, but I sadly was busy with other endeavors.”
“Like what?” Kelissa pushed, shaking with rage and wishing she could end this now.
Where were Aaron and his men?
“Well, first, I was thinking about taking a trip. Where are some places you like to visit? Florida? The Caribbean? Iowa?”
“You shut your mouth,” she said, her bravado shriveling in an instant.
“Not feeling so brave, now, are you?”
“You leave my family alone,” she said.
“Family? You mean your father?”
“What do you want, Salvador?” David asked.
“It’s too late for that. You let me down, David. When your old man took over the business, he was easily swayed, and he became one of my most dependable assets. No one could turn a blind eye like your father. I didn’t expect his son to have integrity and courage that your father never had. But then, you didn’t have a young child at home and a wife with family back in Mexico. So, maybe you didn’t have as much to lose.” He looked pointedly at Kelissa. “Until now. You sold the business, knowing that the person buying it was going to tear it down and turn it into a dog park. Can you believe it?” he laughed. “A dog park in the middle of the city. As if San Diego doesn’t have enough dog parks. You cut off a large part of my business, and I wasn’t happy about that. But now, now I feel like you owe me.”
“I owe you nothing,” David said through gritted teeth. “I paid my father’s debt, and you got some shipments through before I sold the place. You didn’t deserve that.”
“You’re right, but I find your behavior funny. Do you think that just because you’re a good guy that it’s okay what you’re doing? What you did?”
“I didn’t know what was happening until I took over for my father. I didn’t set it up, and I didn’t just turn a blind eye.”
“But your father did.”
“His friend left him the business without telling him what was really paying the bills. That’s not my father’s fault.”
“Your government doesn’t care about culpability. They want to cut off the arms of the operation, and punish the little guy. But they never cut off the head.” He turned to Kelissa. “Sorry if this is hard to follow, since you’re not a criminal like your friend here, but I’m the head. I’m the leader and as long as I’m around, the Chacon Cartel runs this territory.”
“Your mother must be so proud,” she taunted.
“You haven’t met my mother. She’s a wonderful woman. She would have liked you.”
“I’m sorry I can’t say the same,” Kelissa said.
Chacon shook his head, putting his hand out to one of the men. The man gave him the gun, a confused look on his face, but blind obedience took over and he didn’t question.
He held the gun in his hand, admiring the piece as if it were a fine piece of jewelry.
“You know, I bought this for Efrain on the fifth anniversary of him working for me,” he said, nodding toward the man that had handed him the gun. The man Kelissa had pummeled with a wrench not long ago. “He’s one of my best, and when I have an important job, I always give it to him. I’m not surprised that you almost got away from the three I sent to kidnap you. They are, how do you say, like the Stooges?
They are always making mistakes, but they get the job done. But Efrain; he was the one who was going to keep you safe until I made it to the compound. I don’t know how you managed to get the upper hand with him, but I was upset about it, to say the least. He is my best man, as they say.”
Salvador Chacon’s eyes were locked with Kelissa’s and she glared back at him. She was terrified, but she wasn’t going to show it. If she died today, she was going to spend her dying breath staring into this man’s soul and making sure he knew that she had every intention of haunting him for all of eternity.
The gun went off and she flinched, surprised that she didn’t feel a thing. But then Efrain dropped from where he stood like a bag of rocks, dead before he hit the floor.