“Tell him we want one million as ransom.” The tattooed man blew smoke into the air and laughed. “Then when we get our money, we kill her anyway. Word will get around that we are no man’s dog. Morro dos Pobre will belong to us.”
Lexi looked around the small, nasty house. The dirty wood floor reeked of filth and excrement. She had no idea how humans could live in such a demoralized state. Only she didn’t feel sorry for them. She despised them. Both men walked outside. She waited a minute to make sure they weren’t coming right back. This was her chance to call Brayden. She may not be able to talk long, but even if she got a call to go through, he would know she was alive.
She kept her head down on the floor and reached her hand inside the bodice of her dress. Her cell was tucked away inside her slip. Brayden had been the last person she called, so she blindly tapped the screen, hoping to hit the redial. Rings sounded from inside her dress. She took care to lie perfectly still in case they came in. When she heard Brayden’s voice she wanted to scream out to him.
Instead, she whispered just enough so that he could hear her. “Brayden. Brayden. Can you hear me?”
“Lexi! Where are you? Stay on the line! Don’t hang up!” he screamed into the phone.
“I won’t.” She lay there listening for footsteps.
“Sweetheart, stay on the line but talk quickly. I don’t want you to run down your battery. We’re going to get a trace on your cell, and we’ll come get you. Are you OK?”
“Yes,” she said into her dress. She jumped when the front door of the shack banged closed.
“Enjoy your freedom while you can. Soon you will be tied up and burned alive for your father to see. I hope he likes scary movies,” the tattooed man said, then grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the counter and headed back out the door.
“Hurry,” she whispered, then disconnected the call. She couldn’t take a chance on them catching her with her phone.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn’t know how her life had come to this. This was probably how Jace felt in his last moments too. She closed her eyes and began to pray. Even as her minutes on earth seemed to be ticking away, she wasn’t sure God was listening to her. Why should he? She’d lived twenty-six years and hadn’t really done anything for Him, so why should he listen to her now? Still, she felt the need to talk to Him.
God, why is this happening to me? I had so much living left to do. I haven’t married or had children. I know it’s selfish to feel this way, but I’m not ready to die. Not like this. Not here. Please don’t let me die here. Amen.
She waited for some miraculous sign from God, but when the door opened and one of the men walked in, she figured God was too busy to listen to her.
The tattooed man walked to her and kicked her leg with his dirty boot. He chuckled sadistically and leaned down to pull her head up by her hair.
“Now you cry? Save your tears. You will have a lot of time to cry later.”
He shoved her face hard into the filthy floor. Bits of dirt pressed into her cheek, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.
He laughed at her again and let her hair fall to the floor. She lay still as she waited for him to leave the room. When the front door slammed shut, she started to cry. Anger welled inside her. Between her father and God, who deserved the most indignation? Tears fell. She cried for Jace and for a life he wouldn’t be able to live. She cried for all the things she’d done wrong in her past and couldn’t forgive herself for.
She stifled a moan and bit her lip to keep from wailing. Fatigue overcame her, and she fought to stay awake. With tears streaming down her face, she fell into a deep abyss and drifted off to sleep. Her last thought was of God. If He was really with her, why wasn’t He saving her from this?
****
Brayden called Luke to tell him he’d gotten a call from Lexi. He gave Luke her cellphone number and they immediately put a GPS trace on it. He waited for Luke to give him the location.
“She’s in the favela of Morro dos Pobre. But stay where you are. Don’t be the hero. I keep saying that, Brayden, and I really mean it.”
“I know you do.” Brayden hung up. He knew he wasn’t supposed to interfere, but this was personal. He was going to find her and bring her back. He didn’t have time to wait on red tape, bureaucratic protocols, or international laws.
He dialed the police station in Rio and asked for Roberto Santoro. Roberto had helped him on the teen’s murder case he’d investigated a few years ago. He hoped he’d help him now.
“Roberto, it’s Brayden McCoy.”
“Brayden! It’s good to hear you!”
“You too. Listen, it’s a long story, but I need help. I need to go to Morro dos Pobre.”
Brayden cringed at the silence on the line.
“You do not need to go there, amigo. It’s dangerous for you.”
“I don’t have a choice, Roberto. I need your help.”
“Something is wrong?”
“Yes. A friend of mine has been kidnapped. She’s there in that city.”
“That is no city, Brayden. That is favela. Policia don’t go there. Only Cavieras like your FBI go in there. No one else will go there and come out alive. Drug lords, they own the favela. No one is welcome. If your friend is there, your friend is not safe.”
His heart sank. He refused to believe it.
“I cannot go in there with you. I will be shot at first sight. I will see what I can do. And I will pray for your friend. I will pray for you too.”
It looked like Brayden was going to have to run this mission alone.
7
Brayden gathered his emotions and stuffed them down deep to keep his mind in check. He had to think with his head, not his heart. He needed to tap into his military training and come up with a plan to save her. He knew he could do it, if only he could find her. He shoved his phone in his pocket. One of the hotel security officers appeared to notice something was wrong and headed in his direction.
“You OK, sir?”
He was a young kid. Probably all of twenty, if Brayden had to guess.
“Could you tell me how to get to Morro dos Pobre?”
He shook his head and sighed. “I’ve heard terrible things about that place. The favelas are like a thorn in our side. Every time we think we’ve cleaned one up, another one takes its place.”
“So I hear. Can you tell me how to get there?” Brayden’s patience was about to wear thin.
“It’s a dangerous road.”
“I can take care of myself. Just write the directions down for me.” Brayden handed the young man a piece of paper and a pencil and watched as he scratched out some directions with a couple of sketchy drawings to go with them.
Brayden took the paper from him and read the directions silently. “I think I’ve been here before. I’m almost sure of it.”
“Then you know that going twice is worse than going once.”
“Couldn’t have said that better myself. Thank you for your help.”
“Sure,” he said. “I better get back to my monitors. It’s a busy night.”
Brayden didn’t bother saying another word. He had to find a car and figure out a way to get to the favela. Time was running out, and he’d wasted too much already.
Brayden called Pedro and asked for a driver to bring a car to the hotel for him. He explained that he knew where Lexi was and that he was going to go pick her up. He didn’t lie; he just withheld a few facts. If her family inadvertently believed she was OK and that he was only going to get her, that was good. They didn’t need to know anything more at this point.
Brayden sat on the steps of the hotel and waited. He closed his eyes and prayed to God for wisdom, for Lexi’s safety, and for his own. When he was done, he glanced at his watch. He had been counting every second.
The car arrived twenty minutes later. Brayden thanked the driver, whom he recognized from Sofia’s house staff, jumped into the 1997 white Cadillac, and sped away. He’d memorized the directions. From where he w
as, it should take thirty to forty-five minutes to get to Morro dos Pobre. Getting there was the easy part. Finding her was going to be much harder.
His cell rang, and his heart skipped a beat. He glanced at the caller ID. It was Luke. He answered as he drove. “Hey.”
“Where are you?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“You’re driving.”
“Yep.”
Expletives came through the phone.
“Aw man, what did I tell you?”
“Yell at me later. Have you brought his fiancée, Selena, in for questioning? Lexi tried talking to her, but she wasn’t helpful.”
“Yes, we talked to her. She’s not giving us much to go on.”
“Something isn’t making sense.” Brayden said.
“Like what? It’s black and white to me. The old man is running drugs through his business. His son got caught up in a bad deal, and they killed him.”
“I’m not buying it,” Brayden said. He crammed a hand into his hair. His gut told him there was more to it.
“Explain it, then. Working for Lexi, you’ve been closer to this family than most of us can get. What do you know?”
“I don’t think she knows anything about her family being involved with drugs.”
“You’re losing your touch, Brayden. If she did, you think she’d tell you?”
Luke was right. Maybe he was losing it. His feelings were getting in the way of being a detective. Just what was he going to do if Lexi was involved in any of this? After all, her name was Ramos, and it was her family’s company. All the evidence they’d gathered so far hadn’t implicated her, but it hadn’t exonerated her either.
“You’re right. I’m going off gut feelings, and I know better. My gut tells me that neither Lexi nor Jace knew anything about the illegal drug activity. On the other hand, how could they not know? There would have to be some pretty good secret keeping going on in that family for them not to know where their money was coming from.”
“Exactly.”
Brayden’s stomach sank. He really wanted to believe that she was innocent of any criminal activity. But the last time he’d thrown all his trust into a woman, he’d been deceived beyond his wildest nightmares. Coming home from the war to a cheating wife was a blow he hadn’t recovered from yet.
“Why would she hire me? Didn’t she think I’d find out about the drugs?”
“You took the spotlight off her. She looks totally innocent hiring you. You’re investigating the murder of her brother. She’s smuggling drugs behind your back.”
Brayden shook his head. “Doesn’t make sense. What was she going to do if I found out the truth about her family while I was investigating her brother’s death?”
“Kill you, maybe?”
Brayden squeezed the phone in his hand. He wanted to pitch it out the window rather than listen to another word his friend had to say. Lexi wasn’t the person they were describing. He may have been duped by a woman before, but his judgment couldn’t be this far off.
“So what are you doing to find her?” Luke asked.
“I can’t tell you that. I’ll call again soon.”
Brayden hung up. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How could Lexi have turned into the villain? How could he have missed all the signs? He had to find her.
****
Lexi pulled her phone from her dress to check the time. Her battery was at forty-five percent and she was afraid it wouldn’t last through the night. If that phone died, all hope was lost. It had been an hour since she’d talked to Brayden. Was he coming for her? Surely someone was going to help her. She fought to blink back hot tears.
Voices filtered in from the front of the house. It was after two in the morning. She wondered if criminals ever slept. She decided to chance another call to Brayden. Just as she pulled her phone from her dress, the door squeaked open. A man she hadn’t seen before came in with the woman from the car right behind him. Even in the dim light, she could see he was wearing much nicer clothes than the others. His black dress slacks held a crease down the front, his button down shirt was made of a shiny blue fabric, and he wore a thick gold chain. The heels of his pointed boots pounded against the floor.
He knelt down where she lay in dirt. He put a finger under her chin, lifted her head, and smiled. She tried to look away.
“Bruxa!” He squeezed her face hard.
Lexi’s heart sank. He’d called her a witch.
“Look at me!”
She didn’t want to look up, but knew she’d better not disobey his demands. She stared into dark eyes, and the smell of mint tickled her nose. It was a surprise since she expected liquor and smoke. In spite of his well-kept presence, he reminded her of a serpent.
“You’re going to call your father.”
For a split second, she felt elated. But it was short lived.
“You’re going to tell him you’re alive. You will not screw this up like your brother did!”
She fought to pull her face from his hands, which caused him to squeeze harder.
“You killed him,” she hissed.
He laughed in her face.
He thrust her face down to the floor and held it there. “Enough! If we could find him, we’d have him here with you.” He let her head go and stood up.
She glared up at him. “Why? So you could kill both of us together?”
“Yes, there’s that, but we could get more money for two of you.”
The serpent’s hand pulled her aunt’s emerald necklace from her neck and handed it to the scantily dressed woman from the car. She laughed and kissed him as a thank you. Lexi’s heart sank at the thought of losing the heirloom emerald necklace. She pressed to her lips together and turned away to keep from shrieking in protest.
The serpent left and took his entourage with him. She was alone in the house again. Her hands trembled as she pulled her cellphone from her dress. She had to call Brayden.
Please, God, let him answer. The prayer came from her without a second thought.
She heard two rings and then his voice.
“Lexi?”
“Yes, it’s me,” she whispered.
“Are you OK?”
“No…no…listen to me. I don’t have much time. Some man came in here and told me they want me to call my father. They keep saying they don’t know anything about Jace. That if they knew I had a brother, he’d be here too. They said my father was into drugs. I can’t believe what they’re telling me.” She whispered as quickly as she could for fear they’d come in and catch her talking.
“Lexi, listen to me. Can you describe the car you were in?”
“It was old and green with gray seats.”
“What kind of car?”
“I don’t know…I…” She heard the door knob rattle. She shoved the phone into her dress and lay still.
“Esta na hora!” said the serpent.
Lexi stopped talking. It was time.
****
Brayden’s stomach lurched. “Lexi,” he whispered into the phone. He heard the man say that it was time. Time for what? He listened carefully. The sound of the car drowned out the phone so he pulled off the road and killed the engine.
“Sit up, bruxa. Take this phone and call your daddy.”
“OK,” Lexi said. Her voice shook with fear.
“Dad? No, this isn’t my phone. Dad, listen to me!”
“Give me the phone,” the man said. “Hola, Señor Ramos. I would listen to your daughter. She has something very important to tell you. Since you will not listen to her, I will tell you. Ah, now I have your attention.”
Brayden increased the speaker volume on his phone.
“I will not give you my name, but you know who I am. You owe me money, Mr. Ramos. A lot of money. We want what is ours. You will pay us twenty million dollars for the ransom of your daughter.”
Brayden heard silence. He could only guess that Henry Ramos was trying to negotiate.
“No deals. We want our drug s
hipment back or we want the money for it. That is the deal. You will get the money to us in two days or your daughter will die. This is how we do business from now on, Mr. Ramos.”
Brayden struggled to make sense of what he’d just heard. Henry Ramos was a drug smuggler. He could only think of what Lexi must be going through as she heard the truth.
“And Mr. Ramos, if you don’t pay, we kill your whole family. That means you too, Mr. Ramos. We kill you too.”
Brayden’s breathing hitched in his chest. He stayed quiet for fear they would know she was on her phone.
Seconds later, Lexi’s voice was on the line. “Brayden,” she whispered. Tears were in her voice.
“I’m here, baby.”
“Dad…” Her voice quivered. He wished he was there to hold her. To calm her down and make it all go away. He wished he could keep her safe.
“Lexi, don’t think about that right now. I need you to do something for me. Can you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“I need you to be careful, but I want you try to look out a window. Don’t let them see you and don’t take your phone out. Keep it hidden.”
“OK.”
He waited for a couple minutes and then glanced at his phone to make sure they still had a connection. Dear God, please keep her safe and help me find her.
“The houses are all stacked into the hills…one on top of the other. Different colored shacks all blended together. I can’t tell where one ends and one begins. It’s hard to describe.”
“I’ve seen them before. What about stores, shops? Did you see any of those near you?”
“It looks like it. One shop has clothes. Another only shoes.”
“That’s good. Now, what does the street look like?”
“Paved, sort of.”
“Are you sure no one saw you looking out the window?”
“I’m sure. There are several men standing around with big guns. I have to get out of here, Brayden. I have to figure a way to get out. They’re going to kill me.”
“I’m coming for you. I’ll think of something. I am going to get you out of there. I promise. I want you to hang up. You’re going to need to save the battery. I’ll text you. Keep your phone on silence, but check it often. Don’t let them see you.”
Ransom in Rio Page 7
