“Well, I…”
Nick elbowed her. “Sure. What about the other boy? Would his father know something?”
She lit up and took a long drag, blowing the smoke to one side. “Doubtful. He stays drunk when he ain’t working. Wetbacks are miserable drunks. All their money goes for booze.”
“Did you ever see a man over there when his mother was home and his dad wasn’t?” Emily asked.
The woman shook her head. She took another puff and blew it out. “Nope. But when she was paying the weekly rent, she kept complaining about how a guy was hanging around. Even had the nerve to say a few of her friends had left and she thought they’d gone with him.” The landlady chuckled. “She thought there was some kind of racket going on, like anything even close to that would happen here. Looks like she followed him too, I guess. Guy must have a real wanger.”
“Did you ever think she’d been kidnapped?” Nick asked.
The woman broke out in laughter. “She won’t no prize. Who wants a dirt-poor wetback? ’Sides women give it away on the outskirts of town for a little whiskey and a bite to eat.”
“You know what?” Emily said. “You have…”
“A lot of insight,” Nick interrupted. “What about Jésus?”
She laughed. “That little Jésus was actually a pretty nice kid. His mama was decent ’til she got a wild hair. But if you’re looking for him, he kept insisting some guy came and took her and drove off in a green car with Florida plates. I expect he’s looking for that car.”
“Have you ever seen a car like that?” Nick asked.
The woman reached over and pinched his cheek. “You’re just about the cutest stud I’ve seen in all my born days. I wish you weren’t married. Yeah, I saw a car kinda like that, but the guy was a real bear of a man and was just hauling shit up to the country. The dump, you know. Said he just stopped to see if anybody needed their garbage dropped off. I thought that was nothing but neighborly, considering he was in the middle of dumpsville.”
“Thanks for your time,” Nick said. He jerked Emily back from the woman and pushed her toward their car.
“Why’d you get me out of there so fast?” Emily glared at him.
“Because I didn’t want to end up back behind bars, and we got all the skinny we were going to. Now we know the accessory in the kidnappings has a green car with Florida plates.”
“But what about Carlos?” she asked.
He shook his head as he held the door open for her. “We still don’t know anything, but we know Jésus’s mother disappeared. She was probably kidnapped.”
Emily sighed. “Look, I know I should be happy we got all that information, but I’d trade it all to save Carlos.”
He leaned down and kissed her. “So would I.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Luke packed up the last of his church supplies and sat on top of his suitcase to close it. “Too bad I have to leave so soon,” he murmured to himself. Damn those ladies. If they hadn’t interfered, I could’ve made more money than I had anywhere.
He twirled around. A brawny, burly man filled the open space behind him, dark eyes narrow and piercing, tattoos covering both arms. His black, dull hair, to his shoulders, lay grimy against his over-tanned skin. “Who are you?”
“Not a friend.”
Luke chuckled. Use humor to diffuse his intense anger. “Look, my man, perhaps you didn’t approve of my lectures, but we all have own viewpoints don’t we? Besides, you don’t need to worry about me anymore. I’m leaving town.”
“You are that.” The man laughed.
Maniacal, menacing, merciless.
“What do you mean?” Luke asked, perspiration pouring from his face as the man’s true meaning sunk in. Leaving. Forever.
The guy vaulted at him, grabbing his shirt. Luke jerked loose, the fabric ripping. He lunged for the door, felt the man’s hands, talons, grab the back fabric of his shirt. Exerting unearthed power, Luke wrenched free and ran.
Ran from the trailer, primed for evasion. Ran down the path, terrified of capture. Ran like the hunted, straining to survive.
He darted into the woods, his breath coming in ragged gulps, his mind racing like an over-wound toy. The shadowed forest of a slowly setting sun dotted his view with dark patches of hopelessness. Run for escape. Run to the dark. The man won’t see me there.
Hiding behind a dense thatch of trees, he heard nothing. Maybe I lost him. He stayed silent, trying to calm his heaving chest. Maybe he left. His heart whammed against his ribcage, pounding anger at his foolishness. Where did he come from? His mind slapped him, laughing at his ignorance. He should have known. He’d failed. Failed his assignment. For a drug lord.
A twig snapped behind him and he turned, ran forward, away from the sound, away from the fright. Tripping, his feet fell out from under him. He screamed as his feet twisted upward, free-falling into the air, surrounded by netting. He struggled against the binding of the net. The man’s haunting laughter resounded against the stillness of the darkening sky.
“Easy trapping, but you ain’t no Easter Bunny.”
****
As night fell, Emily felt tears trickle down her face. Her hair hung lifeless, matted from the humidity of the early autumn day, and she stood, gripping Nick’s hand like it was her lifeline. Her hands were filthy from scrambling back up creek banks, pants legs soaked at the bottom and covered in dirt. “I don’t know where else to look.”
Cal approached them from his patrol car. “Well, folks, Quent covered a lot of territory back there. It’s getting too dark to see real good. I don’t think we can keep this up without maybe calling in the state and getting some helicopters to fly over. But Quent says he didn’t even see a footprint, much less see a kid or a body.
Terror prickled the hairs on her arm. “You don’t think he’s…dead…do you?”
His eyes flew open. “Oh, Lord no, I’m sorry, Em. You know the drill. There’re a lot of things we have to consider when searching for a missing person. We have to take everything into account.”
She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “I know. It was easy when somebody was lost and I barely knew them or didn’t even know them at all. I didn’t ever think it would be someone I cared about.” She sniffed some more. “I never have a tissue when I need one.”
Both men took their handkerchiefs out of their pockets. She tried to smile, knowing it was a weak attempt. “Thanks, guys, you’re the greatest.” Accepting Nick’s, Emily dabbed at her face.
Nick turned to Cal. “Listen, the landlady at the trailer park said several women over there have vanished after claiming a man was following them around and bothering them. He had a green car.”
“You went looking for him, didn’t you?” He glared at Emily. “I told you not to. You could get in a heap of trouble.”
“But we didn’t,” Emily said. “We got information that will help.” Emily shook her head. “What the landlady said wasn’t exactly like Nick told it. She said Carlos’s mother insisted a guy was following her friends around. But nothing about a green car. It was Jésus who insisted his mother was carried off by a guy in a green car with Florida license plates.” She sniffed. “Years of working for the sheriff. I’m trained to remember.”
“Right,” Nick said curtly. “Still some guy’s going over and selecting his merchandise, shall we say.”
“Now you’re going to be forthcoming.” Cal tapped the information into his Blackberry. “If we’d known what you knew earlier, we could have been a lot further along with the whole ring deal.” He leaned over and squeezed Emily’s hand. “Don’t worry so much. We’ll find them. I’ve never let you down.”
Suddenly, a Lincoln Continental pulled up. Lyle Burton got out of the driver’s seat. “Cal, I saw your lights.” He walked up to them, squinting in the low light. “Emily.” He looked up at Nick. “You must be the guy who’s building the distribution center.”
He nodded and held out his hand. The man shook it. Emily watched as a shadow crossed across
Nick’s face. He suddenly released the man’s hand. “Nick Troy.”
Lyle glanced back at Cal. “I have a present for you.” He strode to the car and opened the back door. “Come out, you two trespassers.”
Carlos and Jésus, both staring down at the ground, scooted across the seat and exited.
Emily’s heart leapt out of her throat. “Carlos, oh my God. Honey, come here.” She ran across the street and grabbed the little boy, yanking him off the ground, despite his size, and twirling him around.
“For crying out loud, Emily,” he said, as she set him back on the ground. “I’ve only been gone a few hours.”
All of her anxiety, her worry and fear, rushed through her like an uncontrolled brush fire and emerged as anger. “Do you know what you did, young man? You scared the hell out of us. I thought you might be dead. What about Nick? He was half crazed out of his mind some lunatic had gone and kidnapped you.”
Carlos’s eyes flared, and his bottom lip trembled.
Nick massaged Carlos’s shoulder. “We were scared, guy. Emily’s happy you’re here, but you frightened us.” He patted her on the back, laughing. “Will you calm down? The kid’s back. We’ll talk to him when we get him home.” He winked at Jésus. “I expect your dad’s going to be worried about you, too.”
The kid hitched a shoulder. “No, he’ll be drunk by now.”
Emily felt a pang of heartache as the words tumbled from his mouth. If only she could bundle up the kid and take him home, too. No children should be treated, have to live like that.
Cal and Lyle walked up behind them. “Lyle here,” Cal said, “tells me the kids were snooping at the forest edge on his property. One of the boys said he saw a green car up there. The one in which his mother was carried away.”
Lyle nodded. “And as I told Cal, I can’t think of any green car that’s been up there. Unless perhaps, it was our gardener’s. Justine would know that better than I would. But he hasn’t been there for almost a month. Justine or I, or both, have been out of town so much. The kid must have seen it at another house outside of town.”
“Your gardener’s not Hispanic, is he?” Cal asked.
Lyle shook his head. “No. He’s from Florida. Think he may be of Cuban descent.”
Emily’s eyes flew open. “Florida?”
He stared at her and then laughed. “Yeah. The orange juice state.”
“She’s just tired,” Nick said, putting his arm around her. “We just need to get this boy home and decompress. Thanks for your help.”
He nodded and walked off.
Nick glanced over at Cal. “Do you want us take Jésus home?”
He shook his head. “No, I will. Boy’s an American citizen. I want to see what he’s putting up with.”
****
Mark ambled down the path to the lake. He saw Sam sitting there. As he stepped onto the dock, he placed the cooler on the floor. “Where’s Luke?”
Sam shook his head. “I don’t know. His clothes are gone, the money from the offering, everything’s been cleaned out.”
Mark dropped down onto a seat along the railing. “Our own brother wouldn’t cut and run on us.”
“I know,” Sam said. “Especially with one load yet to be retrieved and the money still hidden in the cemetery.”
“Sure it’s still there?”
Sam nodded. “Checked last night. Buried in the northwest corner under that big old oak and covered with rotted limbs.”
“We may need to move it. If we can’t find Luke we don’t have privy to when the funerals are being held around here.” Mark hit his hand on the seat. “Damn it, I’ve had a bad feeling about this whole thing for awhile. Look, no one’s found the money yet, and right now we need to find Luke.”
“What if the big guy decided to get rid of him? You know his usefulness as a diversion had come to an end. Most of the time these guys don’t like loose ends.” Sam exhaled harshly.
Mark nodded. “Yeah, tell me, how do you think like a madman? A wealthy money-hungry madman?”
“They’re all mad. How about your partner? Since he has an in with the big guy, do you think you can find out who the man is?”
He shook his head. “He might be crazy, but he isn’t going to share his gravy train. I wouldn’t be surprised if he took Luke out for the syndicate. How about your contact? He should know too.”
Sam rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe. He’s got a real attitude right now, but I’ll ask. But I think both you and I are treading on thin ice. I say we get that last load of coke out of the hole behind Emily Franklin’s and hightail it out of here.”
“Won’t that blow your cover for future gigs?”
“Better blown than blown away.”
“I guess you’re right. Besides, with the money we can leave the country and live high on the hog for the rest of our lives.”
“That’s what I’m talking about.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“I can’t believe something’s going right.” Nick stared at the foundation of the building. “Poured at last. These guys did a quick job of it once we had a green light. And that inspector approved both the reinforcement materials and the preparation for concrete.”
Grady nodded. “Yeah, man, all in two days. Now we have to let it settle, probably for a week before we begin building on top of it.”
“Good work.” Nick smacked his back. “I’m afraid I wasn’t much use yesterday, but at least we got Carlos back home and after a firm discussion last night I don’t think that will happen again.”
Grady raised an eyebrow. “It will. I remember my son when he was that age. Every time I turned around, he was in some kind of mess. There were moments when I wondered if he’d live through puberty.”
“Some little boys don’t have the chance he’s getting right now. Like Jésus.”
Grady spread his legs apart and crossed his arms. “Yeah, what was that all about anyway? I saw him this morning and wondered how Carlos deserved a friend over for a sleepover after all that ruckus last night.”
Nick shook his head. “He didn’t come home with Carlos. Cal brought him over a couple hours later. First, Cal took him back to his father at the trailer park, and the guy was strung out on cocaine. He found all the paraphernalia in the house. Cal called backup and got the boy out of there, and they took the man into custody. So, Cal notified social services. Since we already have Carlos, Cal asked if Jésus could stay overnight until they could make arrangements to come pick up the child.”
“Wow, this drug stuff seems to be pervasive around here.”
“No kidding. The boy thought his dad was drunk, probably because his mom told him so. I mean, the guy drank too. There were empty bottles in the trash. When they went in, Jésus told Cal the syringe was his dad’s medicine.”
“Too bad you can’t keep that kid at the house, too,” Grady said.
He shook his head. “One is enough. But that little Jésus was already working on Emily. I could see it in her eyes when she was feeding the kids this morning.”
Grady smiled. “Children are like puppies. They’re all cute when they’re little. But then they become teenagers and change into snarling creatures from the deep.”
Nick chuckled. “Emily and I were talking about that the other night. I was the villain in Halloween and she was starring in The Exorcist.” He sighed. “I’m just glad we can all get out tonight and have some fun. No problems at the moment with the building, Carlos safe back home, and all the Azaleas reasonably well-healed.”
“Well,” Grady said, “Millie’s still on the mend. Hasn’t wanted to have sex yet. That tells me she’s still hurting quite a bit.”
“It’s the only way you’d know it.”
He nudged Nick. “But, before she left for the pharmacy this morning, she told me to put my spurs on for tonight.”
Nick scratched his ear. “Come again?”
He laughed. “She’s ready to ride.”
****
Luke woke up, sore and
groggy. Struggling to get up, he realized he couldn’t. His arms were over his head and, as he jerked his hand, he felt the heavy clutch of metal encasing his wrists. Luke kicked his feet. His legs were spread and metal bit into his ankles. Lifting his head as far up as he could, he gazed down at his body. Nude.
“Help!” he screamed from first instinct and stared around the room. A bedroom, painted pale green. Windows, blinds shut. No extra furniture. Then he saw it. Something odd. A camera on a tripod. A back light for a photo shoot.
“What the hell is going on?”
Then, he remembered. The man, the running. The net. The hit on the head. Why aren’t I dead?
At a sudden movement, he turned his head. Clanking, moaning, pounding. Others? In similar chains? In the room outside mine?
A door creaked open. The bear of a man stood there, his eyes glassy and black, lifeless, like a shark’s. His smile, a leer, only crystallizing the truth.
Luke was captive.
“I have to admit it, preach. You have a lean body and a mighty big cock. You’ll do nicely.”
“What the hell are you doing? Why am I here?” He struggled again against the chains.
“All you’ll do is bleed if you keep it up.” He laughed, but not with mirth. It was like the wail of hawk as it swooped for dinner.
“What do you plan to do with me?” he asked. “Am I being sent to Mexico, South America? Is this a slave trade?”
He shook his head. “We don’t want men.” He strode to the bed and grabbed Luke’s penis. “For that.”
Luke ground his teeth as his fickle unit reacted, despite his intense disgust.
“I plan to use you.”
“I’m not gay,” Luke said.
The man sounded off again, this time like an inmate in solitary. Forever. Totally out of his mind. “I’m not gay either. I like pussy. But I also like to watch.”
Luke struggled again as the man squeezed his cock several times. “Just about ready for filming.”
“What do you mean filming?” He stared again at the camera. “Look man, I have money. I can pay you off. You don’t need to do this, okay?”
Unforgettable Heroes II Boxed Set Page 147
