by Erin Wade
##
The land around the quarry was flat and covered with brown grass and low-growing cedar bushes. I knew the cover of darkness was my only hope of sneaking up on Alex’s captors if they were in the quarry.
I pulled my car between two tall cement walls and listened. The only sound was the hot Texas wind blowing through abandoned buildings. There were no lights anywhere. I scanned the land for any sign of footprints or vehicle tracks. I saw none.
Moving from building to building, I found nothing to indicate another human had been in the quarry. I opened the door to the largest crumbling building. A single candle burned, lighting the area around it.
“Alex!” I gasped as my wife turned to face me.
Something hit me in the chest. In a stupor I stared down between my breasts where a dart had lodged. I recognized the handiwork of one of Africa’s elite hit squads.
I fell to my knees. The last thing I thought before pitching forward was, I hope it’s a sedative and not a poison.
##
Chapter 25
“Sloan! Sloan, honey, wake up.” Soft hands slapped my face as I struggled to open my eyes. “Come on, baby, wake up,” the voice insisted.
I tried to focus my eyes but squeezed them shut as the bright sunlight hit my retinas, causing excruciating pain.
“What time is it?” I mumbled. None of my body parts wanted to cooperate. My lips felt numb and I couldn’t feel my limbs. My eyes fought opening, and my throat felt as if it might constrict at any moment.
“Sloan, wake up, honey.” The soft voice continued to coax me from my stupor as strong arms lifted my shoulders and pulled me into the warmth of someone’s lap. I inhaled slowly, not trusting my throat to allow the action. The scent of the woman filled my senses. It was soft and exciting. Fragrance in which one could lose one’s self.
I knew without opening my eyes that the arousing scent didn’t belong to Alex, but I did recognize it.
“Leigh?” I moaned.
“I’m here, Sloan,” Leigh whispered. “I’ve got you, baby.”
I struggled to sit, but Leigh pressed my head back into her lap.
“Be still, Sloan,” she insisted. “We don’t know what’s in your bloodstream. We don’t want to kick up your heartbeat and pump something deadly throughout your system. The ambulance is here.”
“Alex,” I muttered. “I found her.”
Leigh nodded without replying. I swear I saw her wince before my eyes slammed shut again.
##
For the second time in less than a year, I awoke in a hospital room. I listened as a doctor talked to Leigh. “Be sure she drinks a lot of water and relaxes. No strenuous activity,” he instructed. “We couldn’t identify the toxins in her system, so we don’t know how they will affect her. Hopefully, they’ll completely pass from her bloodstream in the next twenty-four hours. I gave her a wide spectrum antidote to counteract the toxins.”
I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. I wondered why Alex wasn’t with me. “I’ll release her around eight in the morning,” the doctor continued. “I want to keep her here tonight for observation. Just in case there’s a reaction we haven’t anticipated. She’ll need someone with her for the next few days.”
“I’ll be taking care of her,” Leigh informed the doctor in a tone that didn’t allow for argument. “I’ll stay with her tonight and then take her home with me in the morning.” ##I kept my eyes closed as I tried to put together the pieces of the strange puzzle I was working. I had remembered that Leigh and Ross were my partners and that we formed an elite group of US Treasury agents who worked multi-billion-dollar fraud cases.
Ross and I worked under cover of being hard-news reporters and documentary producers. Leigh’s cover was a job in the New York governor’s office. Both of my partners were outstanding.
I could now recall my life with Alex up to the time I had left her to do the documentary in Africa. Then my memory still had large pieces missing.
I groaned and opened my eyes. Leigh was close to me, watching my every move.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
“Not bad.” I grimaced. “Whoever hit me with the dart didn’t intend to kill me, or I’d be dead.”
“I’m glad you aren’t,” Leigh said, smiling. “We arrived as they were dragging you to a panel van. They wanted you alive. I’m thankful we arrived when we did.”
“Yeah, me too.” I looked around the room. “Where’s Alex?”
“She evaded us,” Leigh said.
“Evaded? You make it sound like she’s a criminal.”
Leigh hesitated. “I just meant she wasn’t at the quarry when we arrived.”
“Did you even look for her or try to rescue her? My God, Leigh, she was kidnapped!”
Leigh shrugged.
“How did you know where I was?”
“You turned on your GPS to locate the quarry,” Leigh said. “That was the break we’d been anticipating.”
I glared at her. “Well, now that you have me, what are you going to do with me?”
“What would you like me to do with you?” Leigh trailed her fingernails down my arm.
“Take me to Alex,” I said.
“Sloan.” Leigh’s exasperation was obvious in her tone and on her face. “Why are you so obsessed with Alex? I thought you were over her.”
“Over her?” I snorted. “How could anyone ever get over a woman like Alex? Besides, she’s my wife.”
“No, she isn’t,” Leigh hissed. “She divorced you while you were in Africa. She sent you a “Dear John” letter.”
I couldn’t stop my mouth from gaping open. Leigh’s statement was like a stab in the heart. “Divorced me?”
“I guess that part of your memory hasn’t returned either,” Leigh mumbled, “or you’re still in denial”
I dragged my hands down my face, trying to figure out what was happening. “I don’t believe you. Alex would never leave me.”
“She divorced you and took everything,” Leigh was without mercy. “She left you penniless, and now all she has to do is crook her little finger, and you go running back to her.”
“Oh, man, don’t tell me I was fool enough to cheat on her?” I knew Alex loved me. I didn’t know what game Leigh was playing, so I decided to go along with her.
“No one knows why she divorced you,” Leigh’s expression was sympathetic. “You simply received a packet of papers to sign while you were in Africa. You were devastated and wouldn’t talk about it. Ross said you were inconsolable.
“Yes, that would have destroyed me,” I said.
“So, you are a free woman.” Leigh watched my eyes as she traced the back of my hand with her fingers. “I want to help, Sloan. Please let me help you.”
“I will,” I said, more confused than ever.
##
Chapter 26
“How did you get here so quickly?” I asked Leigh as she unlocked the door to her motel room.
“As soon as I learned Alex was here, I flew down,” she said. “I knew she would lead me to you.”
I looked at my duffle bag on the bed then glanced at Leigh.
“One of the officers drove your car back to the motel when they took you to the hospital. I brought your things here. Your bullwhip is in there too.
“As soon as the doctor releases you, we’ll fly to Washington. Your handler needs to debrief you.”
“Leigh, I still can’t remember what evidence I have or where I sent it.” I sat down in one of the two chairs in her room.
She studied me for a long time but seemed to believe that I couldn’t remember.
She sat down in the chair next to mine. “What do you remember?”
“I remember going to Africa,” I said as I tried to recall the things that had come back to me. “I know that Ross and I had over five hundred hours of video for our documentary.
“I remember preparing to leave Africa,” I thought out loud as new memories filled my mind. “Ross and I were shooting some
last-minute footage when men in black Hummers attacked us. Their gunfire enraged a mother rhino, and she shoved our jeep off the cliff. The next thing I knew I was in the hospital.”
Leigh nodded. “Ross wasn’t as badly injured as you, and he managed to get to the embassy where we picked him up and brought him home.
“I was sent to make certain you were safe and to bring you home as soon as you were well enough to travel,” Leigh said, narrowing her eyes at me. “Imagine my surprise when Alex showed up claiming to be your wife.”
“She is my wife. I—”
“Do you remember how to use a computer?”
“Of course,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Leigh pulled a laptop from her suitcase and placed it on the small desk. She opened it and logged onto the motel’s internet.
“Here.” She stood, offering me the desk chair. “The internet is full of information about you and Alex. See for yourself. Just type in Alex and Sloan Cartwright.”
I pulled the laptop toward me and typed in our names. Photos of Alex and me flooded the monitor. I looked at our wedding photos and pictures of us sailing. Photos of us in Africa, Alex sitting in the back of a jeep while I struck a Great White Hunter pose. Alex laughing as we played with a pair of lion cubs at Camp Elephant.
There were pictures of us accepting awards in our respective fields. Videos of us dressed in gorgeous gowns and holding hands as we walked on red carpets.
Hundreds of photos and in every one of them, we only had eyes for each other. She never would have divorced me.
I typed in Alex and Sloan Cartwright divorce, and there it was, all over the internet. Alex on a popular talk show announcing to the world that we had gone our separate ways.
“Why?” The talk show hostess grilled her mercilessly.
“People change,” a distraught Alex replied. “Our relationship had simply run its course.”
“But just last month the two of you were seen cavorting in Spain,” the woman said, continuing to push for the sordid details.
“We met to hammer out our divorce agreement,” Alex mumbled. “Look, I can’t do this.” She stood and left the set as tears filled her eyes.
The talk show hostess tried to cut to a commercial, but her camera operators were too busy consoling Alex to pay the hostess any mind.
I turned off the computer. I couldn’t bear to watch any more. I fought the urged to throw up as I stumbled to the bathroom to throw cold water on my face.
“Do you believe me now?” Leigh touched my elbow. “The agency sent me to get you. I pretended to be your wife so the hospital would release you to me, but Alex interfered with that.”
I nodded. “Where do we go from here?” I mumbled. Before she could answer, I flung out another question. “And what about Amarosia? Who is she?”
“She’s a mystery to me,” Leigh said, sighing. “Never heard of her before. I was as shocked as you when the three of us showed up claiming to be married to you.”
“I’m not like that,” I said, glancing at Leigh. “Am I? I mean, I’m not the type to cheat on my wife?”
“No.” Leigh snorted. “You are all about commitment and loyalty. I don’t know why Alex divorced you, but I do know you would never cheat on her as long as you were married.”
“After our divorce . . . ” I stopped for a minute, blinking back the tears I felt pooling in my eyes. “Would I seek solace in another woman’s arms?”
Leigh shook her head. “No. Believe me I tried to console you.”
“Oh, um, I’m sorry.” I bowed my head.
“Don’t be. When you finally get over Alex, I’m certain you will be just as devoted to me.”
I had to laugh at her confidence. She was a beautiful woman, and honestly, if I weren’t insanely in love with Alex, I would probably be with Leigh.
“So, we both agree that Amarosia is an unknown in our equation?” I asked, still trying to figure out the whole convoluted mess.
“She is for me,” Leigh said.
My stomach growled, and we both jumped at the sound before bursting out in laughter. “I think I’m hungry,” I said.
“Why don’t I take you out to dinner?” Leigh said. “On the company credit card, of course.”
“Of course.” I walked to the bed and dug in my duffle bag for my bullwhip.
“Are you going to carry that thing?” Leigh said.
“No, I’m going to wear it.” I watched her eyes widen as I draped it around my waist. “How’s this?”
“Unbelievable,” she said with a chuckle. “It looks like a fashion accessory.”
She looped her arm through mine, and we headed out the door.
“Just for tonight, Sloan,” she glanced sideways at me, “can we pretend to be a couple?”
“Okay, but just during dinner. The game ends when we return to this room.”
Leigh agreed, but not before I caught the look of disappointment in her eyes.
We walked arm in arm along the Riverwalk until we stopped at Boudro’s and waited for the
maître d' to seat us. “Want to dine riverside?”
“You order our wine,” she said as we were led to our table. “You always order the best wine.”
The waiter appeared as soon as we were seated. “I’m going to have the filet,” I informed him. I salivated as I recalled the thick, tender steaks for which Boudro’s was famous. “So, let’s pair it with a nice 1960 Faustino 1 Gran Reserva.”
“Now you’re just showing off,” Leigh said, shaking her head. “They probably don’t even carry it.”
“Oh, but we do, senorita,” the waiter assured her. “We have over seven thousand bottles of wine in The Wine Cellar.”
“The Wine Cellar is another restaurant connected to Boudro’s,” I explained as the waiter returned with two wine glasses and our wine in an ice bucket.
“Oh my goodness!” Leigh’s whole face lit up as she sipped the wine. “I was right; you do know how to select wine.”
We dined and drank two bottles of the wine. “Hey, I muttered as the wine relaxed me, “if the agency wants to send us all over the world, the least they can do is pay for fine wine.”
The evening was pleasant. A breeze ruffled the trees along the Riverwalk, and soft music floated around us. Leigh looked up at me through long lashes. The twinkling lights that lined the Riverwalk danced in her eyes. She truly was a beautiful woman. I found myself wanting to lean in and kiss her full, red lips.
I shook my head. I was certain I belonged to Alex. The wine, in combination with the lingering toxin in my body, made me dizzy and threatened to impair my judgment.
I closed my eyes.
“Are you okay?” Concern filled Leigh’s voice.
“I, um, uh, just a little dizzy,” I mumbled. “Drinking a bottle of wine right after being shot with a toxic dart wasn’t my best decision.”
“We should return to the hotel so you can lie down,” Leigh said.
“No, let me sit here for a few minutes.” I motioned for the waiter and ordered coffee for us and the check.
As the coffee did its best to offset the effects of the wine and my head cleared, I asked Leigh the question that had been bothering me all day.
“Leigh, what is being done to locate Alex?”
She pursed her lips and paused as if organizing her thoughts. “She is none of our concern. The agency’s purview doesn’t include Alex.”
“Whether she’s married to me or not, she’s an American citizen whose life is in jeopardy because of her association with me. She’s been kidnapped to use as leverage against me.”
Leigh cocked her head at me. “Sloan, can’t you forget Alex for one evening?”
“How can I? How can you? Her life is in danger.”
“As soon as her captors realize she means nothing to you, they’ll release her—”
“Or kill her,” I said. Both of us knew she was spewing bullshit.
“Dammit, Sloan, she divorced you!” Leigh raised her voice, and diners sit
ting around us tuned into our conversation. “What part of she wants nothing to do with you don’t you understand?”
I jumped to my feet, causing my head to spin. I gripped the table to steady myself. Leigh leaped to my side.
“Sloan, honey, let me help you!”
“I’m fine,” I mumbled as my vision cleared, and I started walking back to the motel.
Leigh linked her arm through mine to steady me. “I’m sorry, Sloan. I didn’t mean to be insensitive to Alex’s predicament. I’m still angry that she showed up in Africa and the two of you ran away together.”
I said nothing, concentrating instead on putting one foot in front of the other.
“Why was she there?” Leigh asked.
“Maybe she still loves me.” I snarled at her, making no effort to temper my snarky attitude.
“Or maybe she was trying to locate the evidence you have amassed.” Leigh was having no part of Alex loving me. “That evidence is worth millions to the criminals involved. Hell, to the countries involved.”
We walked in silence for a while. God, I wish I could remember where I sent my evidence.
“Alex is incredibly wealthy,” I pointed out. “I seriously doubt she would get involved in anything as criminal as stealing my evidence and selling it to the highest bidder.
“Her life is in danger, plain and simple, and it’s our fault.” My voice was a low rumble as I tried to control my temper.
Before we got much further, I heard a wolf whistle behind us. I looked over my shoulder as a group of young Mexican men approached us.
“Hey, mama,” one of them said to me. “You lookin’ for some fun?”
“I’ve had all the fun I can stand for one night,” I growled as my hand slid to the stock of the bullwhip.
“Hey! No, problemo.” He grinned, his perfect white teeth gleaming against his dark complexion. He held out his hand as if to shake on it. His dark eyes begged me to take his hand. For some unknown reason, I did.
As we shook hands, he transferred a scrap of paper into my palm. “You enjoy the evening, mama.” He winked at me and sprinted to catch up with his posse.
I slid my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “I’m exhausted,” I said to Leigh. “I need a shower and a good night’s sleep.”
