by Linda Warren
While she maneuvered through Houston traffic, her cell buzzed again. It was her mother. Myra groaned. She knew a lecture was coming.
She clicked on. “Hi, Mama.”
“You come to High Cotton and you don’t take time to visit your parents.” No hello. Just go right for the juggler.
“You weren’t home and I had to get back to Houston.”
“You always have to get back to Houston. You never have time for your family.”
One. Two. Three.
“There’s a girl who works in the office and her boyfriend beat her into a coma and took their little boy. We’re working very hard to locate him.”
“I know. Jessie told me. I have to hear everything from Jessie.”
One. Two. Three.
“As soon as everything settles down, I’ll come and spend a weekend.”
“We do have phones, Myra. If you had just called, we could have been home today to see our only child.”
One. Two. Three.
“I’ll call soon, Mama. Tell Papa hi. I’ve got to go.”
And that was the weekly sermon for the ungrateful, disrespectful daughter. Her parents had never understood her desire to be a career woman. They wanted her to be a wife, a mother and a homemaker, and they never failed to remind her that a woman’s place was in the home.
Myra never went gaga over babies like Jessie had. Nor did she ever have the urge to bake cookies. Her mother was domesticated enough for both of them. She wasn’t sure why she was so different.
Until she was about nine, they’d had a normal life. Her dad had worked as a welder at a trailer manufacturing company and her mom was a housekeeper for Roscoe Murdoch. Then two things happened that changed their lives forever. Her father was laid off from his job and Roscoe’s niece was kidnapped and murdered.
Since her father had been in Vietnam and knew how to use a gun, Roscoe had hired him to guard Jessie, and the Delgado family moved in with the Murdochs. The house had been a little cramped, so Roscoe had built a fortress and they had plenty of room. Her parents poured all their energy into watching over Jessie, and sometimes Myra felt invisible.
She loved Jessie dearly and she didn’t begrudge her one second of her parents’ time. But sometimes she wished her parents had recognized that she needed them, too. Myra had become tough and independent and determined to make it on her own.
Roscoe had paid for her college education. He made it very clear, though, if her grades slipped or she got in trouble, her educational funding would stop. She’d graduated in the top 10 percent of her class and gone on to law school. She’d had boyfriends along the way, but not once did any of them instill in her the urge to settle down and have babies.
Until Levi.
She’d often wondered if they could make a marriage work. He wanted kids and she didn’t want to be forced into that situation. Both partners should want a baby with all their hearts and she hadn’t been there yet. She’d kept stalling and, in the end, it hadn’t mattered. She’d lost him, anyway.
She found a spot in the parking garage at Memorial Hermann Hospital and made her way to the critical care unit. She stopped at the nurses’ station. Since she’d been here so many times, most of the nurses knew her.
“Any change?” she asked one of the nurses.
“No, and the doctor just checked Ms. Stevens.”
“They’re bringing Mr. Stevens from the home,” Myra said.
“I know. The nurse called. The doctor’s going to allow it for a few minutes.”
“That’s about all he can handle. I’ll wait for him.” She walked to the waiting area and sank into a chair, feeling hopeless. She needed a miracle, but they seemed to be in short supply these days. Pulling out her cell, she called Detective Tom Hadley, who was handling the baby’s disappearance.
“Hi there, Myra. How are you today?” Tom was divorced and considered himself a ladies’ man. Being unattached made her a target for his unwanted flirting.
“Any news?”
“No. Nothing is popping up. It’s as if he’s disappeared into thin air.”
“Have the Brownsville police made another visit to Marco’s parents’ house?”
“Now, sweet cheeks, they’ve got as big of a caseload as we do and they’re not going to keep tabs on that house. They don’t have the manpower.”
She took a deep breath. “A little boy is missing.”
“I know that and we’re doing everything we can. If I hear anything, I’ll call you.”
“I’m hiring outside help.”
“Well, sweet cheeks, that’s your prerogative. But I didn’t know the D.A.’s office was into funding preferred cases.”
“This has nothing to do with the D.A.’s office. This is personal and we’re not using public resources, so you can take your snotty-nosed comments and stick ’em.”
“C’mon, Myra, I—”
She clicked off and took several deep breaths. “Idiot.” She wasn’t going to let that chauvinist ass upset her. As a lawyer, she’d met numerous Tom Hadleys and their egos were the biggest part about them.
She checked her messages. Why hadn’t Mick returned her call? He was usually very prompt. Movement by the nurses’ station caught her attention and she saw Stu and an orderly had arrived. Myra hurried over.
“You okay?”
“Yes. Just a little tired.” Stu was in a wheelchair with a portable oxygen tank attached if he needed it, which he did. His face was flushed from the drive over.
“I’ll take him in,” she said to the orderly.
“Have you seen her?” Stu asked.
“I was waiting for you, but the doctor says there’s no change.”
She pushed Stu into one of the small rooms that faced the nurses’ station. Natalie lay completely motionless with tubes in her arms and a ventilator tube in her throat. A tube was also attached to her head where they had drilled holes in her skull to release the pressure on her brain. They’d shaved her head, too. The left side of Natalie’s face was badly bruised, as was her neck. She was very pale and the only color on her face was the dark eyelashes lying softly against her skin. The only sound in the room was the beeping of the monitors.
“Oh, my poor baby girl.” Stu reached out a hand to touch his daughter. “Baby, it’s Daddy. Can you hear me? Please wake up. Daniel needs you. I need you. Baby, please wake up.”
As Myra watched her lifeless friend, she blamed herself. She’d seen all the signs, the bruises and heard the lame excuses Natalie made for them. They were roughhousing or making love and Marco didn’t mean to hurt her. Then her vibrant energetic friend had turned into someone Myra didn’t know. Natalie was continually late for work, broke their lunch dates and, most of the time, looked stressed. When Myra questioned her, Natalie would become defensive, so she’d backed off and let her live her life her way. Looking back, Myra should’ve had the bastard arrested the first time she saw a bruise. Why hadn’t she? She respected Natalie’s privacy. But that counted for very little now.
“Ms. Delgado,” a nurse spoke from behind her.
She turned. “Yes.”
“There’s a man asking for you.”
“Here?”
“He’s in the waiting area.”
“Did he give a name?”
“No.”
“Give me a minute.”
The nurse walked out.
It had to be Mick. He must have tracked her down, but that was odd for him. “I’ll be right outside,” she said to Stu.
“Take your time. I just want to look at my baby girl.”
Myra patted Stu’s shaky hands and went to the nurses’ station. The nurse pointed to the waiting area and whispered, “If he’s single, I want his phone number.”
Myra was taken aback. Mick was portly and bald.
She couldn’t imagine him generating that kind of response. She stopped short in the entrance to the room. The place was empty except for the man standing at the window looking out: tall, broad shoulders, in jeans, boots and a Stetson. Only one person stood that straight with a proud lift of his head.
Levi.
She swayed as the blood rushed from her head to her now-wildly beating heart. Had he changed his mind?
“Levi, what are you doing here?”
* * *
LEVI SWUNG AROUND, wondering the same thing. He did what he’d been taught his whole life. He told the truth and didn’t stonewall. “You wanted to hire me. I’m here.”
“But you said—”
“I know. I let my anger get the best of me, but I realized I don’t have to work with you. You’re just the middle person. I’ll do my best to find Stu’s grandson and then we’ll part ways again. This time for good.”
“I see.”
The hurt look in her dark eyes got to him for a second and then he quickly pushed it away. He wasn’t making this personal.
“What about Valerie?”
“She understands my job takes me away from time to time and she trusts me.”
“Must be nice.”
“Mutual trust always is.”
She opened her mouth to say something and snapped it shut. Myra wasn’t known for holding back. Maybe she had matured.
“If the trail leads to Mexico and the drug cartel, Stu will have to admit it’s a lost cause. There’s no way to guarantee anyone’s safety in that situation.”
“I’ve already contacted another P.I.,” she said more to herself than to him, it seemed.
“Good. I just didn’t want to not take this case because of something that happened between us.”
“He hasn’t agreed to it yet.”
“Make up your mind, Myra. We’re wasting time.”
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and he watched her graceful movements even though he didn’t want to. “Okay. I know you’re the best and, as you said, we’re losing time. Stu is here visiting his daughter.”
“I know. I’m waiting to see him.”
She walked away and he blew out a breath. He didn’t quite understand what he was doing here, but he couldn’t discard his code of ethics to help people just because Myra was involved. And it was for Stu. Levi owed the man. His emotions were all over the place and that was odd. He’d been told by more than one woman that he didn’t have any. It seemed one dark-eyed dark-haired woman brought out the worst in him.
Myra pushed Stu in a wheelchair into the room. His ashen skin and gauntness seemed to have worsened since Levi had last seen him. His heart went out to his friend.
“Hey, Levi.” Stu held out his weak hand and Levi shook it. “I knew you’d come.”
“You kind of know me inside and out.”
“You bet.”
“But, as I was telling Myra, I have some limitations. I will not get involved with the Mexican drug cartel.”
“You locate my grandson and I’ll take it from there.”
“Deal.” They shook hands again. “I’ll need a photo of the baby.”
“Sure. Myra will get you one.” Stu’s voice was hoarse and now it was more of a wheeze, and Levi could see his old friend was exhausted.
“My daughter doesn’t know that monster took him. At least, I don’t think she does. Myra and I haven’t mentioned it in case she doesn’t. No one knows what happened in that apartment.”
“When did the father take the child?”
Stu had to stop and take a breath, so Myra answered. “It happened on Monday. Natalie has an hour for lunch, and when she wasn’t back in two hours, I got worried. At three, I drove to the apartment and found her in a pool of blood. I immediately called 9-1-1, and an ambulance had her at the hospital in minutes. The E.R. team worked with her and then they took her into surgery. I realized it was time to pick up Daniel from day care, so I called another girl in the office to see if she could get the baby and keep him for a while. In fifteen minutes, she called me back to say Natalie had gotten him at noon.”
“My grandson probably saw his mother being beaten,” Stu choked out.
Myra patted Stu’s shoulder to comfort him and Levi stared for a moment. This was a different side of Myra, one he’d never seen. And it was a little jolting.
He swallowed. “The police have confirmed that Marco Mortez is the assailant?”
“Yes,” Myra replied. “Nat told me Marco was in town and she was meeting him for lunch.”
“But she didn’t mention picking up the baby?”
“No. Marco must have told her to bring him.”
He caught her eye. “When did you start accepting assumptions for facts?”
She gave him a heated glance that could melt chocolate in a refrigerator. “There was a call on her cell from him at 12:05 p.m. The last call she took. That’s fact. Jerry Black, who lives in the apartment complex, said he saw her go into her apartment with him and the baby. That’s fact.”
“Just checking.” He stopped her before she got all fired up.
“I do my job, Levi. Thoroughly.”
He let that pass. “You said Marco was in town. Did Natalie live with him?”
“No. He stays with her when he’s in town. He’s away a lot on family business.”
“Which is?”
“As far as I can tell, they restore vintage cars and ship them all over the world. Marco drives a Jaguar. Natalie said some of the cars are worth millions.”
“What’s his father’s name?”
“César.”
“He lives in Brownsville?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else you can tell me?”
“Marco was very secretive and he never let anything slip.”
“Levi, find my grandson. He has to be here when my daughter wakes up.”
“I’ll do my best, Stu, but as I told you, if—”
“Let’s stay positive,” Myra said.
“It’s difficult, Myra.” Stu coughed into a handkerchief.
Myra squatted by the chair. “You’re getting tired. Levi and I will take it from here.”
An orderly walked up. “Ready to go, Stu?”
Stu looked at Levi. “You’re the only investigator who can bring my grandson home. I trust you, Levi.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“If you’ll come back to the home, I’ll write you a check.”
“Don’t worry about it, Stu. Just take care of yourself and I’ll catch you later.”
“Thanks, Levi. I’m indebted to you.”
The orderly pushed Stu down the hall, and Levi and Myra stared until they were out of sight.
“Why did you interrupt me?” he demanded, not letting her off so easily.
She faced him. “Haven’t you heard of finesse, Levi? You’ve already told him you weren’t getting involved with the drug cartel. You didn’t need to jam it down his throat again.”
“He’s a cop. He knows the truth just like you and I do.”
“Leave him with some hope.”
“When did you get to be so damned considerate?”
“When did you get so hardhearted?”
“Myra—” He slammed his hat onto his head. “This isn’t going to work. Maybe it would be best if you hired the other guy.”
“You gave your word to Stu.”
“Then stay out of it. You don’t need to control everything.”
“I’m only trying to help a man I admire who’s been blindsided by grief and tragedy.”
“I know that, but Stu needs to be aware there is a very good chance that baby is in Mexico and there is no way to get him back.”
She l
ifted a dark eyebrow. “Is that a fact you can back up? You’re big on facts.”
“Damn it, Myra.”
“You can’t,” she said with a touch of glee in her voice. “Until you can tell him with certainty, you’re not mentioning it again.”
He stepped closer to her, so close he got a faint whiff of her fragrance. The gardenia-scented lotion she wore. It used to weaken his concentration. Now it only infuriated him. “Let’s get one thing straight. You will not tell me what to do. I get it, you’re concerned about Stu and Natalie. I am, too, but my patience is not as good as it used to be. So back off.”
“Fine. Do you need the detective of record on the case?”
He sighed and walked past her. He knew his job and he didn’t need her to explain it to him.
“Levi.”
He told himself to keep walking, but against every sane thought in his head he turned back.
“Thank you.”
He nodded, trying not to look into her dark eyes, trying not to get caught in the allure that was Myra Delgado.
CHAPTER FOUR
MYRA WASN’T UPSET at Levi’s high-handedness. He was on the case and that’s what she’d wanted. But she did wonder what had changed his mind. He probably couldn’t ignore his code of ethics and honor, and he had a soft spot for kids. Of course, Stu was a big pull, too. She was glad her old friend hadn’t been proven wrong. Now Levi just had to find Daniel.
Levi had a rocky relationship with his mother. She’d remarried within six months of his dad’s death, which was something Levi just couldn’t understand. At nine years of age, he’d refused to move with her and her new husband to Virginia. It was one of the few personal things Levi had shared with her. In his childish mind, he’d been hoping his mother wouldn’t go, but she did, leaving Levi with his grandfather. He’d felt deserted by a mother he loved and he’d never quite got over that. It made him tough, independent and, without a doubt, bullheaded. When Levi made up his mind, very little could change it. That’s why she was so surprised to see him today. But the thought of a child being separated from his mother had hit Levi in the heart.
The buzz of her phone interrupted Myra’s thoughts. Looking at the caller ID, she saw it was Tom. She quickly clicked on.
