Chapter Fourteen
Alex sped down the dirt road with his arm stretched in front of him as he held the phone, glancing from the road to the phone, looking at the bars.
He’d gone around the cabin but hadn’t seen any sign that Isabella had walked into the wilderness. She had to have gone in the vehicle. With dread grabbing hold, he’d tracked the vehicle onto the paved road, and north, but from there, he couldn’t tell where they’d gone. His chest tightened with fear, but he pushed it away. This was his job. He couldn’t think about Isabella and whatever feelings he had for her. He couldn’t think about how scared she would be. He had to follow the clues to learn who had her, where they’d taken her and how he’d find her. He wished he knew how much of a head start they had.
No bars yet. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. He pounded his fist against the steering wheel, looked across the cab at her purse, beside the rest of her things that he’d flung into the truck. She’d left the cabin without them, so she must have gone out to meet whoever had come. He hadn’t seen any sign of struggle inside.
Had it been Saldana’s men? Someone had to know how to secure her cooperation. Whoever it was had more than likely used Hector.
How many people knew about her searching for her son? Too many, and that was his fault. He should have kept that information quiet, should have known it could be used against her. He just hadn’t thought someone would come out to the Everglades to find her.
Finally two bars. He dialed with his left thumb, swerving a little on the two-lane road. He brought the phone to his ear and as soon as Julian answered, he barked, “Where’s Isabella?”
Nausea rose up in Isabella as Lionel Danes barreled over the bumpy road. She couldn’t tell if her stomach rebelled because of the road, or the blow to her head, or the terror that lumped the chili in her stomach. Alex had trusted this man to keep them safe, and he’d betrayed them.
“Are you working for Santiago?” she managed.
He glanced over with a jerk of his head, as if surprised she was conscious. He hadn’t bound her, her hands were free. She was only restricted by the seat belt. What she would do about it, at this speed, she didn’t know.
Alex would know what to do. She needed to think like Alex. He would try to get as much information as he could, no doubt. So she swallowed her nerves and pressed.
“Is Santiago paying you?”
“There’s a price on your head.”
Her skin iced. “Dead or alive?”
He blew out a harsh breath, his attention back on the road. “More alive than dead. But I think that’s because it’s his preference to punish you.”
“Does he have my son?” Because if she had that to look forward to, she could calm down. Then it wouldn’t matter so much if Alex couldn’t find her. At least she’d have her child.
Danes didn’t answer.
“Do you even know?”
No answer.
His phone rang and Isabella tensed, but he didn’t react. He glanced at the display, then at her, before answering it.
“Who knew we were out here?”
She could hear Alex’s voice through the phone. Danes must have the volume turned up high. Relief washed through her. “Alex!”
Hesitation on his end, a roll of the eyes from Danes, then, “You?” Disbelief from Alex. Betrayal? She could hear it even through the phone’s tiny speaker. “You sent me out on those traps so you could come get her?”
The older man sighed. “I didn’t want to fight you.” He almost sounded sorry.
“You didn’t have to fight her?”
“Just a little tap to the head.” Danes looked over at her and grinned, thin lips stretching. “She’s nice and feisty now.”
“Where are you taking her?”
“You don’t want to follow, son, believe me. Let it go.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“I warned you not to get involved.”
She couldn’t hear what Alex said next because his phone crackled. Her initial relief at hearing his voice returned to panic. He was still too far away. “We’re in an SUV, Alex,” she shouted toward the phone, hoping he could hear her. “A big blue one, a Chevy—”
Lionel backhanded her, sending her head bumping off the passenger window. She cried out and heard Alex swear as Lionel righted the vehicle on the road. Liquid gushed into her mouth, a coppery taste, and her ears rang as she tried to focus on the conversation.
“I’m just a delivery guy, son.”
“Delivering her to Santiago?”
Danes was silent.
“He’s going to kill her.”
The connection was clear now, because Isabella could hear the frustration in Alex’s voice.
“Not sure he will,” Danes lied, though to appease her or Alex, Isabella wasn’t sure. “Make her suffer, most certainly. But you know women like this, my boy. She deserves what she gets, no matter how tasty she is.”
Her skin crawled when the old man reached across the cab to caress the cheek he’d just hit.
“Lionel, don’t do this.”
Danes turned his focus back to the phone. “You’re mistaking lust for affection, Alex.”
“She’s a mother looking for her kid. He’s just a little guy. What chance is he going to have without her?”
The old man’s expression in the dashboard light tightened. “With the price on her head, what chance will I have?”
Isabella understood, then. He was in debt to Santiago in some way and she was the payment. She was nothing more than currency. He must have crossed a line with Santiago. He must really believe turning her over would get him off.
“It’s a done deal, Alex,” Danes continued. “Walk away.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Look, son, I’m sure she’s a nice piece of ass, but you know as well as I do, they’re a dime a dozen. Walk. Away.”
“No, sir. I’m coming after her.” Alex hung up.
Isabella’s heart tripped over his words. He was coming after her.
How, she had no idea.
Several miles passed before she dared speak again. Her cheek still stung from his last blow. But anger and resentment bubbled forth, and she decided to risk speaking out.
“He trusted you,” she said, low.
He glanced at her in surprise, as if he’d forgotten she was there. “What?”
She gained confidence, straightening in her seat as she turned to him. “He came to you because he trusted you.”
“I didn’t hurt him. I didn’t want to hurt him.” The old man was on the defensive. Did he really think he’d done nothing wrong?
“You betrayed his trust. To Alex, that’s the same thing.”
He whipped around on her, and the truck swerved in the lane. “What do you know about Alex? For that matter, what do you know about trust?”
“I trust Alex,” she said, lifting her chin. “He said he’d come after me and he means it.”
“I’m a Ranger, like him. He won’t choose a woman over a fellow Ranger.”
The words silenced her for a minute. Maybe he was right. But no, the Alex she knew protected those who couldn’t protect themselves. The choice wouldn’t be easy, but he would choose her.
Maybe he would hate her afterward for making him choose.
She couldn’t care. She had to stay alive, had to get away, had to stick with Alex until she found her son. That was more important than anything else.
Isabella could see the lights of a city glowing ahead. Which city, she didn’t know, but they were approaching civilization.
And anonymity. The realization chilled her.
Danes would ditch the SUV, or it would blend in with others, and he’d put her back in Santiago’s custody. Her only hope was that Hector would be there too and that she would survive Santiago’s wrath to raise her son.
Before they reached the outskirts of the city, Danes turned right, onto a long narrow stretch of road. She felt the car hesitate, as if he’d eased off the accelerator, as if he was having second thoughts. She wouldn’t have another chance.
“Santiago will kill me,” she murmured, hoping she could appeal to his human nature but hearing the hopelessness in her own voice. Of course, if he had a conscience, would he be doing this? “Can you live with that?”
“I’ve lived with worse.”
She swallowed the tears she’d held back for days. “All I want is to raise my son. Please, you have to turn back.”
He cast her a disgusted look. “Those tears may work on Shepard, but they won’t work on me.”
Just the mention of Alex’s name was another kick in the gut. She wouldn’t see him again. Would he find Hector for her and keep him safe? Or would he forget about her? No, he was too honorable. He would get to her son because he was a protector. He would punish himself for not protecting her.
She dropped her concern for Alex the moment Danes rounded a hangar and she saw two black SUVs parked at odd angles around a small plane, headlights blazing through the dusk. Even with the six men in silhouette in front of them, she recognized the stocky shape of Santiago Saldana.
Alex snatched up the phone the minute it rang. Thanks to Julian tracing Danes’s GPS, they were tracking the man and Isabella, who had started out about forty-five minutes before him. With his foot to the floorboard, Alex had been able to make up most of that time before he contacted Danes and alerted the older man.
“Where are they?”
“A private airfield west of Miami. You should be close,” Julian said. “We’re at the base now, getting a chopper out. Don’t go in on your own.”
Alex snapped his teeth together. Going in alone was against everything he’d been trained to do, but one thought was foremost in his mind. “He has Isabella.”
“You don’t know what you’re walking into. Wait for us. We’ll be there in half an hour.”
“That’s too late.”
“Saldana won’t be there.”
Julian thought that was what worried him? Of course he did. What else did Alex care about? Julian didn’t know what Saldana had done to Isabella. He only knew Saldana was the mission objective.
“He’ll get away.”
“Better he get away than you get dead. We’re at the helo now. Wait.”
Alex folded the phone and tossed it on the seat beside him before accelerating. The hell he would.
Good thing Danes had such a firm grip on Isabella’s arm, because her knees could barely hold her when he dragged her from the truck to come face to face with her nightmare. She was shaking all over, unable to hide her weakness. Had she learned nothing from Alex? With that thought in the forefront of her brain, she forced her chin up as Santiago took three deliberate steps toward her.
Only a few months had passed since she’d seen him, but he’d lost weight, and gravity dragged at the loose skin of his cheeks and jaw. His dark eyes appeared sunken, the skin around them baggy and lined. Still, his body was powerful, broad shouldered, stocky, his hands wide and strong and capable of inflicting pain at the slightest frustration.
She swallowed hard and did her best not to flinch from his gaze. “I want to see Hector.”
“I do not care what you want. You have caused me too much trouble, wasted too much of my time looking for you.”
“I didn’t ask you to look for me.”
He took another step. His expression was relaxed but his eyes were hard, flat. She knew that look and cowered against Danes despite herself. He didn’t move away or shake her off, oddly, though he stood stiff when Santiago flicked his gaze to the bigger man then back to her.
“You belong to me.”
The last of her courage was buried deep, but she found it and dragged it up. “Not anymore.”
He swung in an arc toward her but she didn’t duck, taking the blow full on the cheek. Her skin split and she staggered into the front fender of Danes’s truck, realizing he wasn’t holding on to her anymore. The heat of the engine beneath the metal seared her palms, but she didn’t have the energy to push away for a moment.
She was at Santiago’s mercy. From experience she knew that he had none.
The squeal of tires behind her made her heart jolt, turned Santiago’s attention away. She knew the sound of that engine. God help her, Alex had come. She shoved her hair out of her face, looked toward him, past Santiago. Her heart dropped, her hope with it.
He was alone, against seven men.
But Alex didn’t hesitate. He shoved open the truck door and ducked behind it, his pistol in front of him, trained on one man.
Beside her, Santiago laughed and moved in front of her, toward Alex. “The shining knight has arrived, Isabella,” he said, his voice booming. “Do you remember what I did to your last shining knight?”
She would never forget watching Eric die, screaming, then whispering her name. What had happened afterward, to her, hadn’t been as horrible. She could not bear living it again. She couldn’t let Alex die that way, but was powerless. “There’s nothing between us,” she lied, desperate, knowing Alex heard, hoping her words didn’t hurt. But it was the only way she could think to save his life.
He’d come for her. Had risked his life. The reality of the danger they were in threatened to choke her. Meeting Saldana had been more acceptable, less frightening, when only her life was at stake. Her gaze riveted on Alex, his lean face illuminated by the headlights, the muscle in his arms corded as he held the gun straight in front of him. A real hero. But he was all by himself.
“Send her over here.” Alex didn’t shout the words, but they carried a level of command she’d never heard him use.
Santiago shook his head slowly. “You are brave but foolish.” He looked back at Isabella with a bemused expression. “What is it about you that makes men willing to die for you?” Turning toward Alex, he reached inside his jacket.
The headlights glinted off metal as Santiago drew his gun.
“Alex!” she screamed in warning, frozen as she watched Santiago extend the weapon in slow motion.
“Get down,” Alex shouted at the same time.
Her muscles tightened, unable to obey his command until the first shot rang out over the tarmac, then her body loosened and she dropped to the asphalt, covering her head with her arms as gunfire erupted, striking the metal of the vehicles, eliciting shouts of pain, drawing the scent of blood.
Afterward, she would count less than ten shots, but an eternity passed before she could lift her head. Lionel Danes lay at her feet, vacant eyes staring at the darkening sky. Santiago stood at an odd angle, favoring one side, and blood dripped down one arm, pooling on the ground.
Beside his truck, Alex lay on his back, one leg bent. Completely still.