Ransom in Rio

by Theresa Lynn Hall

“That's a good point,” he said. “Anything else that seems out of the ordinary?”

  “Not until I received the package in the mail. And please don't say it.”

  He shot her a confused look.

  “Please don't tell me you don't work off hunches or feelings.”

  “Ms. Ramos...”

  “Call me Lexi.” She straightened out the crumpled tissue in her hand. “I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other a lot, so we can skip the formalities.”

  “OK, Lexi, I was going to say that my business runs on about ninety-nine percent hunches and feelings.”

  She looked up and saw a gentle smile lift one corner of his mouth. His earnest blue eyes met hers. She felt safe with him. Something she wasn't sure she'd ever felt with anyone but Jace.

  “Good, because that's about all I've got right now.”

  “Well, that only leaves one other thing to discuss. Are you willing to cover the expenses that this investigation might cost you?”

  “Yes, it's not going to be a problem. I will pay all expenses. You're my only hope. I can't report this to the police. Technically, they have accidental drowning as a cause of death and no reason to think there was any foul play. The authorities in Cozumel won't help me. They said there’s nothing to investigate.”

  “I'll make a few phone calls and see what I can find. I may need to go there myself if I can't get any information over the phone or through e-mail. I’ll see what I can dig up, and I’ll call you. In the meantime, please let me know if you think of anything else. Again, Ms. Ramos…Lexi, I’m really sorry to hear about your brother.”

  She stood and allowed him to show her out. She noticed the blond flecks in his light brown hair and how the cowboy hat hanging behind his desk had flattened it out. A lot of people had given her their condolences, some even knew her brother personally, but most didn’t seem sincere. Something in Brayden’s eyes said he felt bad for her, and he wasn’t saying the words because he had to. He had consoled her. And more than anything, she wanted to trust him. She needed to trust someone.

  She hoped she wasn’t wrong.

  ****

  Lexi sat at her desk staring at the computer. She’d managed to get to her office without breaking down today, but actual work was a different matter. There were times she wished she could walk away from the family business altogether. More now than ever.

  She’d joined the company only because it was her grandfather’s dying wish. It was her last year of medical school the year he’d fallen ill. She'd gone in to check on him before heading home that day. She'd never forgotten the way he held her hand and told her how proud he was of her. Then there was the “but not for being a doctor” speech. He was proud of her for being a Ramos. Few knew that leaving the family circle was taboo. And that circle reached far and wide. As far as she knew, all her cousins were involved in running their branch of the family business, too. Some here in the U.S. and some in other countries.

  Her grandfather had passed away a few days after that conversation. She'd finished medical school then decided to join the family business. Jace told her she was making a huge mistake. She’d come to that decision out of guilt but with the promise to herself that someday she’d free herself of the burden and be the doctor she’d wanted to be.

  A chill enveloped her as she realized the resentment for her dad was growing every day. Since Jace’s funeral, Dad acted like things were business as usual. She despised his cold, calculating manner of dealing with people. She didn’t know how he was able to pretend Jace wasn’t dead. How could he pretend he hadn’t lost his only son? Before she allowed the anger to take over and ruin her day, she stood and looked out the third story window behind her desk.

  Leaves floated through the air as large raindrops hit the glass in front of her face. She wondered what the private investigator was finding. She hadn't heard from him all week and had been patiently waiting, but her patience was running out. What if he wasn't working on the case? What if he never called her back? Maybe he was enjoying a nice tropical vacation. Paranoia gripped her, and doubts pummeled her brain like the raindrops outside.

  Something he'd said when they'd first met raced across her mind. “You and your family will be in my prayers.” Her heartbeat slowed to a steady rhythm and her thoughts eased back into a normal reality. She had to trust him. Something was forcing her to trust him. She thought about him praying for her. Prayer was something she hadn't done since she was young. Her grandparents had taken her to church with them many times, but she'd never continued to go as an adult. It wasn't that she didn't believe in God, she did. At least to some extent. She believed that He existed, she just didn't understand Him. She'd prayed when Jace died, but in the end what good was it? It wasn't going to bring her brother back. Nothing could do that.

  Lexi sat behind her computer and watched the screensaver fish swim back and forth. She opened the top desk drawer and pulled out a spare key to Jace's office. She’d refused to go in there since she'd been back. Selena had asked that no one bother his things because she wanted to come and get them herself, but she had yet to do it.

  Lexi stared at the key and swallowed the lump in her throat. Maybe there was something in there that could help them. Today was as good as any to find out. She tucked the key back in the drawer and waited until most of the staff had gone home. Later that evening, she walked into the central office and asked her father's secretary if he'd gone for the day.

  “He's still here,” Margaret said. “He's leaving in about five minutes to meet someone for dinner. You'd better catch him quick if you need him for something.” Margaret never looked up from her computer. “Anything else, hon?”

  “No, thanks.” Lexi glanced at her watch and walked away. She'd wait in her office a few more minutes until her dad left. The last thing she wanted was to explain why she was digging around in Jace's office.

  A couple minutes later, the door to her office creaked open. “Hey, sweetheart, I’m leaving. Would you like to join me for dinner?”

  Lexi closed her laptop and smiled. “Thanks, Dad. I think I’ll just head on home and take a long, hot bubble bath. I’m exhausted.”

  “All right, then. I’ll see you tomorrow. We have a meeting with the Cardosa family to set up those new shipments of armoires to Brazil. I need you here first thing in the morning.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  Lexi waited for him to shut the door then grabbed her key to Jace’s office. Once her dad was out of the office, she slipped around the corner and unlocked the door. The curtains were drawn and the blinds shut. A glimmer of the fading evening sunlight leaked into the room around a crooked slat in the blinds. It was all the light she needed to indicate that someone had already been here. She flipped on the light. His book shelves were empty, his computer was gone, and his closet was bare. Knickknacks and pictures of Jace and Selena were the only things on the shelves, but they weren’t in their usual places. And Jace was very particular about how he arranged his office. Someone had been looking for something.

  Lexi pulled her cellphone from her pocket and called Brayden. She bit her bottom lip waiting for him to answer. After five rings, he picked up.

  The sound of his deep voice sent the same shiver through her as it had when she'd first met him.

  “Hello?” he repeated, and she realized she hadn’t yet spoken.

  “It's Lexi Ramos,” she whispered.

  “Are you in trouble?” he whispered back. “Why are you whispering?”

  “I'm in Jace's office and things are moved. Nothing is where he left it. Someone has been in here.”

  “Well, then why don't you get out of there and call me back when it's safe for you to talk. And don't touch anything.” His voice was stern and serious.

  Safe? Lexi stared at the floor in confusion. Did she really feel like she was in danger at her own company? Her imagination was getting the best of her. And why on earth was she whispering?

  “Lexi?” His deep voice was no longer a whisper an
d hinted at urgency.

  “Yeah, I'm still here,” she said. “I just feel stupid, that's all. I don't know why I called you.” She cleared her throat. “I'm sorry. I'm acting like a kid playing a silly game. I think my grief has caused me to lose my mind.”

  “So now you don't think your brother's death is suspicious? I'm not following.”

  She didn't have to see his face to know what he was thinking. She was nuts, and he knew it.

  “No, I still believe I have to find out what happened to him. But I don't think I'm in any danger. I just realized how crazy I must sound calling you from his office and whispering like I'm on some covert operation.”

  Brayden laughed. “It's OK, really. I don't think you're nuts. Actually, I believe you do have reason to be suspicious, but I don't think you're in any danger. At least not at this point.”

  “Well, that's good to know. So, have you found out anything?”

  “I did. Do you think we can meet somewhere to discuss it?”

  Lexi looked at her watch. “Sure, I need to get out of here. Do you want me to come by your office?”

  “I'm actually closer to your office than mine right now. We can meet at that Tex-Mex place on Jefferson Street.”

  Lexi swallowed around the knot that sprang up in her throat as soon as the words were out of his mouth. What is wrong with me? I'm technically his employer, for crying out loud. “Sure, that'd great. I'll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  “All right. Whoever gets there first can grab the table.”

  Lexi went back to her office, ignored the uneasy feeling in her stomach and grabbed her purse. This was for Jace. She didn't have time to think about the involuntary attraction to Brayden. And she sure wasn't going to give into it.

  3

  Brayden stood in the front of the restaurant scoping out the dining area. He hadn’t seen her yet so he let the maître d’ seat him. He had found some interesting information to share with Lexi, but he knew she was in a fragile state. He needed to pick his words carefully. Maybe meeting in a public place was a bad idea, but it was better than being alone with her. The thought of being alone with her irritated him. There was no denying she stirred something in him that hadn’t been touched in a long time. He’d been alone with hundreds of female clients. Not one of them did to him what Lexi Ramos did. At the moment, he was doing his best to forget what she looked like, smelled like, talked like. He wasn’t ready to feel those things again. In the years since his divorce, he’d learned to keep things casual with women. He enjoyed their company, the occasional dinner date, a movie, but more than that, and he was out. Most women neither understood nor accepted his reclusiveness without taking it personally. Without intending to, he’d upset and offended a lot of women. Which convinced him he was better off alone.

  He grabbed a menu from the table and read the food descriptions as if he were studying for a pop quiz. Anything to take his mind off the fact that he was going to see her in a few minutes.

  “Hi.”

  He jerked his head from behind the menu when he heard her voice.

  She pulled out the chair from across the table. He jumped up and took the chair from her, holding his breath so he wouldn’t smell her perfume. Smiling, he pushed her chair under her, forcing his eyes to focus on a large fichus tree across the room. He exhaled as he sat down and pulled a notepad from his briefcase.

  She smiled at him from across the table and reached for the glass of water in front of her. What was left of the ice jingled the side of the crystal. He was staring, but he couldn't stop.

  “Were you waiting long?” she asked.

  “No, not at all. Would you like to eat first or would you like for me to go ahead and start telling you what I found so far?”

  “I think we can go ahead and start. That’s if you don’t mind eating while we talk.”

  “Actually, I haven’t eaten all day, and I’m starving. I’ve been trying not to eat these chips, you know carbs and all, but chips and salsa are my weakness.” He regretted choosing a Tex-Mex place. Normally, he would’ve eaten his way through four baskets of those things by now and washed it all down with lots of sweet iced tea.

  She laughed and stared at her hands in her lap. She was nervous. Or was he making her nervous with his idle banter that meant nothing to her? He was out of his element. Until now, it hadn’t occurred to him just how reclusive he’d become. He really liked being alone, but he didn’t like to think he was losing the ability to talk to beautiful women. Either way, it was how he lived and he had no time for silly crushes. It was time to get back to business and forget this adolescent attraction thing. She was beautiful, and she was his client. Period. Besides, his attraction to her was ridiculous. And irritating.

  “Well, then let’s get started.” He pulled out a notepad and flipped through a few pages until he found what he needed. “I made a few phone calls to Cozumel. I have a buddy who still works down there, and he owed me a couple of favors.”

  “It’s always good to have connections. I hope he found something we can use.”

  “Maybe. First of all, you said your brother chartered a fishing boat. The major charter boat companies we checked all require reservations in advance and a credit card deposit. They accept only cash payments when you get to the boat. None of the ones we checked out have any record of your brother paying a deposit by credit card. Is there any way you can find out the exact name of the charter company? Maybe he paid with someone else’s card. Selena’s? Or a company card?”

  “Selena would be the only one who might know since she was with him. But I’ve been trying to call her for days, and she isn’t returning my calls. She’ll only text me to say she’s fine but doesn’t feel like talking to anyone. I’m really worried about her. She’s acting so weird and ignoring me since the accident. It’s almost as if she blames me. Or us.”

  “Keep trying to talk to her, and let me know what she says. Once we figure out how he paid, it will give me a place to start. We have to find someone who remembers seeing Jace on that boat.”

  She pulled her phone from her bag. “I’ll try to call Selena right now. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

  He stared at her hands as she dialed the number. Her fingernails weren’t fake like most women’s. They were neatly manicured and painted a light pink. She wore a small diamond ring on her right hand and nothing on her left. He liked how feminine she was without overdoing it. Her gaze met his, making him painfully aware that he was staring at her. He grabbed a chip, smothered it in salsa, and crammed it into his mouth. He hoped the heat from the jalapeños would mask the heat of embarrassment blazing in his cheeks. Next time he’d suggest they use video chat. Yeah, that would be a lot safer.

  ****

  Lexi didn’t know how much more of his deep voice and sultry blue-eyed stares she could endure for one evening. She should’ve never agreed to meet him. This was a mistake. How was it that her heart could betray her mind? She hoped Selena would finally pick up. She was about to hang up and text her when she heard the faint voice on the line.

  “Selena? Hey, it’s Lexi. How are you?”

  “I’m fine. Everything’s OK, but I just can’t talk to anyone right now.” There was a desperation in her voice.

  “Selena, you don’t sound fine.”

  “Really, Lexi. I’m going to be OK. I can’t talk to anyone right now. Please stop calling me. Please, Lexi.”

  Stop calling her? Like a knife in her heart, the words cut deep. Selena was like a sister to her. Alarms went off in Lexi’s brain. She had to keep Selena on the phone. “Selena! Please don’t hang up. I need to talk to you. I don’t think Jace’s death was accidental. Please… talk to me.”

  The phone went silent. Lexi stared at Brayden and shook her head slowly.

  “All right,” Selena whispered.

  Lexi’s body relaxed. “Thank you. I know this is hard, but it’s for Jace.”

  “Hurry up, Lexi. Before I change my mind.”

  Lexi jolted. She’d never he
ard Selena snap, never heard her talk to Jace like that.

  “What happened?” Brayden whispered from across the table.

  Lexi scrambled to get the words out. “I’ve been talking with a private investigator about Jace’s death. I need to know if you can remember the name of the fishing company where he chartered the boat.”

  “You did what? Please tell me you’re kidding.”

  A knot twisted in Lexi’s stomach. She knew she’d been right from the beginning. Was Selena to blame? Was she hiding something? Now it was Lexi’s turn to be defensive.

  “I know Jace didn’t like to fish, Selena. You know it too. So tell me what happened down there.”

  “I don’t like your tone, Lexi. If you think I had anything to do with Jace’s death…”

  Lexi could hear crying, and her heart sank. How could she, even for a split second, think that Selena could hurt her brother? How could she imply such a sweet woman could do such a despicable act? “No, I would never think that. Selena, please…talk to me.”

  “Lexi, I can’t. The only thing I can say is you’re right. You’re always right about everything. And I don’t want to end up like Jace. So please don’t ever call me again. I love you.”

  The phone went dead. Lexi’s stomach churned with emotions. Thankful she hadn’t eaten anything all day; it gave her time to race from the table and into the restroom before dry heaves wracked her body. When it was over, she patted her face with a cool, wet paper towel and dabbed some powder under her eyes in a feeble attempt to hide the dark circles she’d worn for a few weeks. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. The fact that she'd been right all along was a relief and a nightmare.

  She opened the door to the ladies’ room to find Brayden waiting for her, his hands in his front jeans pockets as he leaned against the wall.

  “You OK?” He brushed a strand of hair from her neck.

  Tingles shot through her body. This time, ignoring them was futile. She needed him, but not because it was him. She needed anyone who could be there for her. And that truth made her realize how alone she was.