CHAPTER TEN
I lay awake staring into the night, while palm fronds scratched against the windows. My relationship with Selena felt as precarious as our situation with the drug lords. I knew now Selena was using sex to hide from talk about the future. I hadn’t noticed it at first, but last night it had become plainly obvious.
I’d never wanted to share my life with a woman before, but suddenly I was desperate to make Selena mine. But what if she just sees this as temporary? It would be a blow to my ego and a worse blow to my heart.
But her happiness mattered most to me. I couldn’t believe she really wanted to abandon the dream of having someone love her, despite her fears. But how will I convince her to give me a chance? I can promise not to abandon her, but no one can promise they won’t die.
I knew for sure I wanted her on the center of my life’s stage, right alongside my career. I’d make that clear to her and see where things went. Right now staying safe had to be my number one priority. If we were discovered, there’d be no tomorrow for either of us.
The palm fronds scraped against the windows again like witches’ fingernails. A little wind had never made me feel so uneasy before. Every creak in the drywall or door slamming in the hallway made me wonder if those men were about to burst in and murder us. A piece of wrought iron furniture on the patio rattled against something else. It’s nothing to worry about. But I wasn’t convinced. Something bad was going to happen—I felt it deep in my bones.
And so I lay awake, my muscles tensed, my hand on the gun I had hidden under the mattress. Suddenly, I heard the metallic sound of a jiggling lock. I slid out from under the sheets, gripping the gun tightly in my hand, wearing only boxer shorts.
“Lock the door behind me.” I nudged Selena on the shoulder, which was illuminated by pale purple moonlight.
“Why, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t have time to explain. Just lock the door and hide. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I ran from the room, tripping over a bag in the middle of the floor. “Damn,” I said. I wanted to be stealthy, not give myself away.
“You’ll never survive if you confront them,” said Selena. “We have a much better chance if we sneak out.”
It wasn’t my style at all to run like a coward. “I’ll take him by surprise.”
“Not with their kind of weapons.” She leaped from the bed and wrapped her hands around my waist, tugging me back, her silk nightgown brushing against my skin. “Let’s go quickly before they get in.”
Resigned to her suggestion, I ran with her toward the sliding doors. “All right.” At least outside, we won’t be trapped and I’ll have time to think up a strategy.
I eased Selena over the edge of the balcony, so she could make a softer landing on the sand. Before I had a chance to join her, four men had burst out the door. “Look, over there,” someone shouted.
I had seen the shadow of a machine gun an instant before it flared into action and ceramic pots exploded all around me. Holy hell. I turned and fired toward the source of the shots. I had heard a body fall hard on the flagstone before I vaulted over the wall onto the sand. My ankles screamed in protest at the impact. Another shot rang out and a body toppled over the wall and landed nearby. What the hell? Two assailants seemed to be down.
Clutching Selena’s hand, I ran with her down the beach. “Let’s run toward the golf course,” I whispered. I’d studied the map of the property earlier while making phone calls and knew the course bisected the property into two separate sections.
“Look, they’re chasing us,” said Selena.
But we’d established some distance and there were abundant shrubs and hedges on the golf course to hide behind. I ducked into a grove of palmetto palms, pulling Selena in behind me. “Hopefully, they won’t see us.” But one of the men shouted, “They’re over there in that clump of palms.”
All of a sudden, someone bumped my shoulder. Startled, I released Selena’s hand and jerked around just in time to see her being dragged away by an assailant. But I heard their voices over there. She wriggled and punched to free herself from his grasp. “No,” she said. And then she gasped. “What are you doing here?”
I leaped from the bushes. Under the moonlight, I saw the outline of the man. He had released his grip on her waist and now only had her by the arm. If only I could see his face.
“Let her go or I’ll shoot,” I shouted, aiming my gun at the man’s chest.
“No, Nicholas, don’t.”
I stepped in closer, holding the gun steady, intending to pull the trigger. “I won’t let him take you.”
“Please, put the gun down. You don’t understand. Don’t shoot him.”
A large swath of light from a spotlight moved across the grass. “Everyone drop your weapons and hold your hands in the air. We won’t hesitate to fire if you try anything funny.”
I tossed my Glock into the sand and watched as the line of Mexican police approached. “Keep your hands up,” a man ordered. I looked around, noticing all their attention was directed toward me. Selena and her attacker had disappeared.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I strode toward my office, ignoring everyone’s curious gazes. Monday mornings usually struck me as a fresh start, but after a night of drinking whisky to drown out the pain of missing Selena, it felt like a day I couldn’t face.
Michael knocked on the open door and stepped inside. “Good morning, Nicholas. Hey, we really need to talk. Into a little trouble you said. I wasn’t expecting it to make front page news.”
I stood by the window, arms folded, staring at the Santa Catalina Mountains, which stood majestically in the distance, their rocky peaks glowing a rosy pink in the early morning light. Michael’s intrusion irritated me, but I knew I couldn’t’ avoid talking to people indefinitely. “Yes, that was a surprise.”
“You might want to be more selective about the kinds of women you hook up with next time.”
I felt a painful tug in my chest as our final night together ran through my mind. How could Selena have betrayed me like that? She’d struck me as honest—a partner I could trust. Maybe there’s more to this than what I’m seeing. “Michael, I don’t want to talk about this. The woman almost drowned so I saved her. I was just doing what any gentleman would have done in a situation like that. How was I to know she was involved with a drug gang? It’s over now, and I don’t want anyone mentioning this again. Is that clear?”
“Absolutely, sir.”
I wished I could empty my mind of my relationship with Selena as easily as I could pretend to cast it aside with terse words. But every time I blinked, I saw Selena’s haunting, amber eyes gazing at me; pleading me to help her. Why couldn’t you have been real? Hell, I’d been nearly positive what we’d shared was real love. I’d analyzed every minute we’d spent together over and over again and still couldn’t make sense of how it ended. She never said she loved me, but she didn’t have to—somehow I just felt it—at least I really thought I did.
“That’s fabulous, Michael. Now is everything all set for tomorrow’s meeting?”
“Yes, we’ll fly over there at six AM. The VIPs will arrive at eight. We’ll have every kind of coffee and breakfast waiting for them.”
“Sounds as if you’ve got it all well planned. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really need to catch up on some work. We’ll finalize the rest of the details during our three o’clock meeting.”
“All right. Let me know if you need anything else.”
Once Michael left, I walked over and shut the door.
The Mexican police had evacuated me from the country safely, but they hadn’t caught any of the cartel members or come up with any leads on Selena’s whereabouts. At the police station, I’d arranged for my pilot to pick me up at the La Paz airport and fly me back to Tucson. Every newspaper report I’d read and TV broadcast I’d watched had suggested that Selena was Manuel’s mistress. She was unlikely to be found alive, they’d said.
As angry as I was at her for betrayin
g me, the thought of her lifeless body being found discarded somewhere upset me more than it should have. Why do I care? Everything about our relationship was a lie anyway. I felt so foolish for imagining it could have turned out differently.
After answering some emails, I pulled up CNN news on my browser. Another headline about Manuel Suarez popped up. I clicked on the link.
Recent leads from the San Diego police indicate that Suarez took a temporary job as a janitor at Costa Verde Elementary School while establishing drug trafficking networks in Southern California.
“Holy shit.” I stopped reading and leaped from my desk. My phone beeped.
“You have a call on line one,” said Jocelyn.
“Who is it?”
There was a long pause. “I’m not sure, but the man insists on talking to you. He says its urgent and a matter of life and death. The man may be a bit unbalanced, but I don’t think he’s a salesman.”
“Put him through.” I waited to hear the click of the transfer. “This is Nicholas Gallero.”
“Yes, I know that. I’m hoping you might be able to help us,” said an accented voice.
I shifted uneasily in my chair. “Who is this?”
“My name is Jose Gomez. I’m Selena’s brother.”
I drummed my fingers on my slick wooden desktop, pondering how the man got my number and why he’d called. Unless…no, it can’t be. “What can I do for you, Jose? Do you know anything about Selena’s disappearance on Friday night?”
“Yes, but Manuel and his men are still trying to hunt us down. We need to get out of Mexico fast.”
“We?” My heartbeat intensified. Is it possible she’s safe?
“Selena and I, of course. I’m the one who took her away from you. A quick escape seemed her only chance. Once the men were distracted, I figured they’d go after you and not notice us.”
I let out a long breath. She’s still alive. I was glad Selena’s brother couldn’t see my expression. Tears clouded my vision. I hid my elated relief behind an irritated voice. “Thanks for that. If the police hadn’t showed up when they did, I would have ended up full of bullet holes.”
“I’m sorry, man,” said Jose. “But my sister’s life was at stake and I didn’t know about your history together. She’s worried about you. She told me you rescued her and cared for her after that.”
If she shared our relationship with her brother, maybe us did mean something to her. “I understand. I feel better knowing she’s not with that bastard. I had no idea what was happening. I thought she might be dead or that she betrayed me.”
“No, she’s too good for that. You spent a lot of time together. Didn’t you know?”
I paused, unsure of what to say. I’d wanted to believe she wasn’t with Manuel, but doubts had piled up since she’d sidestepped discussing our future. Guilt clutched in my gut. The first time conflict had struck, I’d written her off. How could I do that to the woman I love? She deserves better than that. “I uh...” I paused for several seconds, not feeling ready to discuss this complex subject with someone I’d never met.
He sighed. “I guess not. Now do you have a way to get us out of here? I can’t get her out without a passport.”
“Sure. Your line isn’t tapped, is it?”
“No, this is a secure line. So what’s your plan?”
“I’m going to call my pilot. We’ll fly down in my private jet to pick you up.”
“You have a private jet? Selena said you were rich—I guess she wasn’t kidding. What kind is it?”
I didn’t want to discuss personal things with Jose yet, but technology felt like a safe subject. “A Gulfstream g150. Not only does it fly fast and allow for super high-incline descents, it also has lots of tech geek add-ons, which will come in handy if we’re pursued. I’ll fly low over the water as soon as we cross the Mexican border so the plane can’t be tracked.” Nerve-tingling adrenaline surged through me as I reflected on the danger behind my proposal. Evading traffic control was illegal and if my mission failed, the woman I loved might end up dead. There’s no room for mistakes.
“How are you going to avoid other aircraft without support from air traffic control?” asked Jose.
“I’m a defense system executive. I’ve updated the instrumentation on this aircraft so it cannot only detect anything around me, but it tells the shape, dimensions and exactly what’s inside of them. I can see someone urinating in a lavatory in an adjacent aircraft.”
“Isn’t that a violation of privacy?”
“Yes, but I don’t go around announcing my aircraft is equipped as such. Now do you know of a place I can land that’s not an airport?”
“Yes. There’s an abandoned landing strip just north of La Paz. Can you land on dirt?”
“Yeah, that’s no problem.”
“Here are the coordinates.” He read them off to me.
“All right. I don’t want my plane spotted, so we’ll need to do this at night. How about if we meet sometime between nine and ten PM tonight.”
“That would be fine, but are you sure you can land on a dirt strip without runway lights.”
“Trust me, it won’t be a problem. The landing gears I designed for this baby are amazing. My pilot will just have to pass over the runway once first before landing to process the dimensions, so don’t be alarmed when that happens.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Our afternoon meeting droned on long past five. I wrung my hands together and looked at my watch again. Five thirty-five. The last time I’d checked had been only a minute earlier. I felt anxious and jittery, like I’d downed too much coffee. I have to stay calm and in control.
My pilot was already waiting for me at the airport and had obtained clearance and filed our flight plan. The flight to La Paz would take less than an hour. But before we took off, I wanted to run through all my checklists meticulously; to make sure all my James Bond add-ons were functioning optimally.
My pants and dress shirt clung to my nervous, sweat-drenched skin. I can’t wait anymore. I stood from the table and tugged on the lapels of my suit jacket. “I think we’ve got tomorrow’s tests under control. It’s been a long day, let’s wrap this up.”
“You have someplace more important to be tonight?” Michael’s voice was laced with irritation. The five other engineers sitting around the table gave me an array of astonished expressions.
“Not really. I just think we’ve got all our bases covered. And we’re starting early tomorrow, so we should end now so we’ll be fresh and alert in the morning. Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me.”
I grabbed my briefcase and left the room. After telling Jocelyn I would see her early the next morning, I strode toward my red Ferrari FF, which was parked in front of the building. Shucking off my jacket, I tossed it into the back seat before removing my tie.
After a tire-screeching acceleration from the parking lot, I stopped at a drive through for a burger and gobbled it down on the way to the Tucson airport. Once I boarded the plane, my pilot, Ethan Wilson, looked up and greeted me with a smile. The cabin lights reflected off his shiny, bald head. “Our flight plan says we’ll depart at eight ten PM for Tijuana. Now why don’t you go make yourself comfortable in one of the reclining seats? I’ll talk to you over the intercom if something comes up.”
“Sounds great. Thanks, Ethan.” I stepped out of the cockpit and shut the door. I changed into dark jeans and a black T-shirt before pouring myself a cup of coffee.
“We’re clear for take-off. Take your seat now and buckle up.”
I wondered how quickly news of my disappearance would travel once we dipped below an altitude detectable by radar. Hopefully, not fast enough for Manuel and his thugs to find out.
As the plane made a graceful ascent, I leaned back in the soft leather chair and tried to relax. In less than an hour, Selena and I will be together again. I fantasized about every phase of our reunion—what I’d say to her, how I’d kiss her and entangle my fingers in her hair and pull her soft body against me. I
missed everything about her from her adventurous nature to her scent.
Now that Selena knew her brother was safe, maybe she wouldn’t feel so afraid to let someone else in her life. Selena had come into my two dimensional life, where work was all that existed and introduced me to a multisensory three-dimensional world. But we live in two different cities. How can we move forward together?
Ethan’s voice broke into my thoughts. “Nick, I’m going to drop low and hug the water now so they won’t see us. We’re approaching Tijuana.”
I rose from my seat. “Okay, I’ll come up there with you in a second.” I opened the door leading to the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot seat as he angled the plane steeply over the water.
A ground control communicator spoke on the radio. “Pilot Wilson, this is ground control at Tijuana airport, do you read? We lost your signal a minute ago. We need you to tell us your coordinates to clear your for landing.”
Ethan shrugged and turned toward me, offering a wry smile. He clicked off the radio. “It’ll make me feel less guilty if I don’t hear their distress.”
“Hell, I’m paying you enough money for this, you should be able to quit and retire after this if you want.”
Ethan chuckled. “Retire? No way—not when things are just starting to get exciting.”
“We’ll see if you’re still pumped up about this if those goons end up following them and point their machine guns in our direction.”
“Yeah, well…I could do without that. We’ll be there in about ten minutes, Nick.”
Ten minutes until we’re together again. My heart rate raced, and blood rushed to my groin. As much as I wanted to kiss her, make love to her, the first thought that popped into my head was marry her. Is that crazy? But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I’d never wanted anything more in my life. I wanted this new life that included companionship and love as well as work. I had to know if the love I felt for her were mutual and if her fear was the only thing standing in the way of our future or if there was something else.
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