“Still safe. You’re going to be safe, too, in a few minutes.”
And Brent’s words came true.
Though it had taken longer than expected to cut away the door and the roof of the car, and remove the seat, Adriana was finally free of the vehicle. She was immediately placed on a gurney and taken in an ambulance to a small hospital, where she would be examined. Brent rode with her in the ambulance. He smiled down at her, still holding her hand.
Seemed like he was more attentive than any Texas Ranger should be. The others had likely noticed by now, if they hadn’t before.
“You’re going to be just fine,” he told her, squeezing her hand. “This is just a precaution, you hear me?”
Was he trying to convince himself? The worry in his eyes, despite his smile, scared her a little.
“Go ahead and tell her she’s okay,” Brent said to the EMT.
“We won’t know anything for sure until the doctor examines you. You might have some internal bruising, but your blood pressure and heart rate and everything else look good.”
“My arm doesn’t feel so good.”
“I can’t tell for sure without an X-ray, but it doesn’t appear to be broken. May just be sore for a few days like the rest of your body. You’re fortunate to have survived.”
She nodded, the news giving her comfort. “And what about the others? The men who abducted me?”
Brent released a heavy sigh. “Out of the four men, only one survived—the one who was thrown from the car. You took a big risk. A dangerous risk.”
“I couldn’t let them take me to Rio. I would rather die.”
Brent’s features pinched. Neither of them had expected to take on a whole army in a small town in the middle of the day.
“I’m sorry you felt that was your only option. I take full responsibility for that.”
“Brent...I don’t blame you.”
“That’s good to know.” But his eyes said something different—Maybe you should.
I blame myself. I blame my brother. But never you.
“Once the doctor examines you and gives the go-ahead, we’re going to be heading out to the safe house quickly. We’re passing up the nearest hospital to keep you out of the line of fire—” he glanced at the EMT “—so that’s why it’s taking some time to get there.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if that’s possible.”
“What?”
“Keeping me out of the line of fire. I never thought Rio would expend so much energy on me.”
“Well, you still possess something he wants.” His look was pensive. “Don’t you?”
“How come you haven’t tried harder to find out where I hid everything I took from that warehouse?”
“I’ve been waiting for you to tell me—when you were ready.”
His words touched her. She could hardly believe them. But that had to be the truth. She flicked her gaze at the EMT, who acted as if he wasn’t listening. Right. She couldn’t tell Brent now. Even though he hadn’t pressured her, she wasn’t ready to tell him anyway. Not yet.
Brent squeezed her hand hard. She searched his eyes and saw that he had a lot more he wanted to say that had nothing at all to do with the hidden drugs and money, but something was holding him back. Maybe he could never say the words. But she thought he might have been as devastated when he’d seen the car flip as she’d been when she watched him fall from a gunshot. A tear slipped down her cheek.
He wiped it away. The simple gesture had her heart rate spiking and the EMT frowning.
Oh, don’t do that. Please don’t do that. I can’t be in love with you. We can’t love each other.
THIRTEEN
“We have to go.” Colt leaned close and lowered his voice.
He clutched Brent’s arm and squeezed annoyingly as he tried to drag Brent out the door of the safe house where they had finally deposited Adriana. But Brent resisted even though they were behind schedule to go chase down the lead on Carmen.
Their intel would be of no use if they didn’t act on it, and now.
Brent was still attempting to grasp the fact that they’d finally made it to the safe house. Garcia’s men had been determined to keep that from happening. Likely they had been tasked with snagging her from the ranch, and failing that, they had resorted to blatant violence in broad daylight.
Colt was trying to drag him out the door before he’d given Adriana a proper goodbye.
A proper goodbye?
What was he thinking?
She was still hugging Rosa, obviously glad to be reunited with her young mentee and oblivious to the fact that Brent was being forced to make a fast exit. He struggled to let her go. Struggled to trust her to the security detail at the safe house, especially after what they’d been through. But maybe she was better off with other, worthier protectors. He’d let her down so many times. He would always be thankful, always be grateful that she had survived, in spite of his shortcomings.
Thank You, God! Thank You... His heart was bursting with gratitude.
He’d thought his heart would fail when he saw the Impala flip repeatedly. Only two of the passengers had survived—Adriana, with her gutsy, risky move and one of her abductors. He was in critical condition and had not regained consciousness, so they hadn’t been able to interrogate him.
Adriana hadn’t come away unscathed. She’d received a few bruises for her efforts, but that was nothing compared to the injuries she could have sustained, including mortal wounds. Given the extenuating circumstances and because Adriana’s injuries weren’t serious, she had been quickly released back into the Texas Rangers’ hands so they could attempt her secure escort to safety once again.
And this time they had used a chopper to whisk her away and out of Garcia’s reach. For the moment.
He squeezed his eyes shut. His heart beat more steadily now, but it wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. She wouldn’t be safe as long as Garcia was at large. But protecting her from her brother was no longer his responsibility.
Colt finally dragged him completely out the door and Brent yanked his arm free. “All right, already.”
He marched with Colt to the SUV they were taking deep into Mexico.
“She’s going to be all right. We’ve beefed up security around the house.” Colt tried to reassure Brent. “It’s in the middle of nowhere, so nobody can find her out here.”
Colt’s words, meant to reassure Brent, missed their mark. After the debacle in the small town, Brent had been shaken to his core. Protecting the border and fighting the cartel was ugly business, as ugly as it got, but Brent had never been so personally invested.
“I don’t know if our efforts are going to be enough to keep her safe. That was a small army back there. We’re playing with a fire like nothing we’ve ever seen before—a cartel leader bent on getting his sister back. Bent on getting his drugs and money back.”
“I’ve seen a lot in my experience.” Colt shifted into Reverse and backed out. “But you’re right. Not sure anything can top this. But you’ve gotten too deep into this to think clearly. I don’t think—”
“I can handle it.” Brent cut him off.
“I’m not sure Vance would agree.” Colt steered the vehicle onto the highway that would take them to the border.
“What have you told him?” Brent angled his head toward his closest friend, hoping the man hadn’t betrayed him. There’d been way too much of that going on lately for comfort. A reminder to Brent that he could never truly trust anyone.
“Nothing. But others have seen how you act around her. And once Vance sees for himself, you won’t be able to hide that you have strong feelings for this woman.”
“Well, it’s not like it’s the first time one of us has fallen for a woman closely tied to our investigative efforts.” Brent turned his f
ace straight ahead, but his eyes flicked to Colt in the driver’s seat. Who was Colt to talk to him about being in too deep? Who were any of them?
“Doesn’t make it right. Makes us weaker, if you ask me.”
“I don’t need to say it—”
“But you didn’t ask me. I know,” Colt said.
“No, I didn’t, but I agree with you one hundred percent. My emotions are clouding my judgment. I’ll admit it freely, but I can’t seem to rein them in. If I’m anywhere near her, a fog moves into my brain.”
“A pleasant fog, I’m guessing.”
“You know it. But I have to kill it while I can. Before it’s too late. That said, I don’t trust anyone to be as invested in protecting that woman as I am.” I’d die for her. And I pray it doesn’t come to that, because even though I know I can’t spend the rest of my life with her, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do. “Let’s get Garcia and be done with it so there’s no reason I need to see her again. I won’t even go back to the safe house after we’re done following up on these leads. I’ll let you guys handle that part of it.” Brent cleared his throat, cleared away the emotion that grew thick at his harsh words. They pained him. Nothing about them sounded right.
“Whatever you say.” Colt didn’t sound convinced.
Brent changed the subject. “How’s Danielle?”
“She’s doing well. I’d like to get back and see her as soon as I can. I think we’ve started a good thing, and I’d hate to have a mission take me away from her for too long. And this Garcia Mission can’t be over soon enough, again, if you ask me.” He chuckled.
Brent allowed himself to relax and laugh a little, too. They had a long night ahead of them. So much had happened in the last few days, he felt like it had been a year and not a week. “Let’s hope we have it all wrapped up before New Year’s so we can be on to something different by next year.”
“That’s just two days away.”
“Yeah. I won’t lie and say I’m confident we’ll have Garcia in custody by then.” Initially their mission had been to prevent him from crossing the border, but with the crimes he’d committed against American citizens, including murder, they wanted to arrest him. Try him in the United States. “We just need to get ahead of this guy, Colt. Right now I feel like we’re two steps behind him.”
“Why don’t you get some rest, buddy. We have a long drive before we hit the border. And we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
God, please let us find Carmen alive and bring her home this time. Brent settled into the seat, putting it in a reclining position, and covered his face with his hat.
Though exhausted beyond words, he couldn’t easily fall asleep, his mind going right to that forbidden kiss he’d shared with Adriana, the woman he’d dreamed about since he first laid eyes on her two years ago. He’d let his heart go free a little in that kiss. To be honest, it had already been halfway out of the cage, eager to be set completely free to love when he’d found her alive in that vehicle. Somehow he had to distance himself from her. He didn’t have it in him to trust anyone enough to truly love them, and she deserved much more than he could ever give her.
Brent woke up as they approached the border. Working with the Mexican authorities via their task force, they were able to enter Mexico to work covertly and bring their weapons with them.
Brent’s cell rang. “Vance, what’s up?” He put the call on speakerphone.
“Heard from Trevor. We got some new intel. All our leads are dead, including the one you were going to check out. But we have a new one and let’s hope this is it. Let’s hope this will be the one to bring Carmen home.” Desperation edged Vance’s tone.
They all had this feeling that with each dead end, the chances of bringing Carmen home alive dwindled further. The news dropped into Brent’s gut like too many bags of concrete.
“Well, what is it?” Colt asked.
“You’re not going to like it. Our informant said he heard of a woman who jumped off a cliff into the Gulf of Mexico. Someone found her still alive. She’s in a village near the Gulf.”
Vance named the village, and Brent scraped a hand down his face. “That’ll take us all night to get there.”
“Are you complaining, Ranger?”
“No. Just stating the facts. I hope this is it. I hope we find her.”
“You know we’ll do our best,” Colt added. “We’re on it. Give us the coordinates.”
Vance replied with the information, which Brent plugged into the GPS.
“Sounds like she was heading for Brownsville, trying to get back across the border. They must have been chasing her down hard. What’s the rest of the story, Vance? Just how bad was it for her to have jumped off a cliff?” He probably didn’t need to ask, but his imagination might make things far worse than they really were.
“It’s bad, I won’t lie. According to our source, we haven’t been able to find her because she’d been held captive for all these weeks after her cover was blown. Garcia’s had her this whole time, and who knows how he tortured her or what intel she gave them because of it. Training to resist is one thing, but enduring the kind of torture Garcia inflicts is another.” Vance released a long breath.
Brent imagined getting his hands on Garcia. He couldn’t wait for that moment. He wanted to bring the man down for what he’d done to Carmen, for what he’d done to his own sister, Adriana. For what he planned to do if he ever got his hands on her.
Over my dead body.
Brent had a feeling it just might come to that.
* * *
They approached the village near the coast just before dawn.
“Let’s make this quick, Colt. In and out before anyone’s the wiser.”
“Right. Garcia’s men could know by now we’ve come across the border. We could get swallowed up by his horde if we’re not careful.”
Brent, who’d been driving the SUV for the last four hours, parked behind a building three blocks down from the house where Carmen had supposedly hidden. They hiked along the edge of the quiet street in the predawn hour, hoping they wouldn’t draw attention.
They approached the small house, and Colt quietly knocked on the door. Brent shared a look with his partner on this mission. They’d held on to hope all this time, but it was fading.
Their weapons were out of sight, but both of them palmed the guns resting in their holsters. Brent slowly drew his.
Colt knocked again.
The door barely cracked open, but no one was there.
Brent nudged his partner to look lower. His gaze slid down to a smallish young child, her sleepy eyes innocent and unafraid. Brent squatted down to be eye level with the child.
“We’re here for the woman,” he said in Spanish.
The child’s eyes grew wide. “Are you going to hurt her?”
The words injured Brent, and he shook his head, softened his expression and replied. “No, sweetheart, we want to help her. She’s one of us. We’re her friends.”
That seemed to satisfy the child.
Then a woman’s voice scolded the child from behind and the door slammed. And the woman bolted the door. Brent stood and knocked on the door, maybe too forcefully this time. “We’re friends. Please let us in.”
“Should we break it down?” Colt asked quietly.
Brent saw window blinds shifting in the houses around them. They were being watched, which meant their time was running out.
“It would seem there’s a woman here, and I hope it’s Carmen, but let’s give it another try.” Just as Brent lifted his hand to knock, he heard the bolt unlatching and the door opened.
An elderly man eyed him.
Brent softened his expression, hoping he didn’t look intimidating. They wanted these people to cooperate. “We heard our friend is here. We’ve come to take
her home.”
The man seemed to look right into Brent’s soul, and whatever he saw there appeased him because he ushered Brent and Colt through the door quickly and quietly, then shut it behind him.
Brent started to introduce himself, but the man wouldn’t have it. “No names.”
The man led them to a small room off the back. Brent’s heart ached at the sight that greeted him. He and Colt eased closer to the bedraggled bed. A dirty bandage wrapped the thin dark-haired woman’s head. Her gaunt face was clean, at least.
“Carmen,” Colt said softly.
When her eyes blinked open, she turned her head as though it hurt to do so and looked at them. Confusion poured from her gaze. Confusion and fear. She scooted back into the corner, as if to get away from them.
“It’s me. It’s Colt. And Brent. Don’t you remember us?”
She shook her head and turned away from them to face the wall as though that action would protect her. She was much worse off than they had anticipated. Still, they were grateful to have found her alive. Colt gently took her hand, but she snatched it back.
Brent noted her fingernails had been removed and were slowly growing back. Garcia was a monster.
The elderly woman who’d closed the door in his face came into the room and apologized. She didn’t want their granddaughter opening the door to strangers. The woman’s expression turned kind now as she explained they’d found this woman on the beach unconscious and concluded that she must have fallen and hit her head.
Men from the cartel had been searching for a woman earlier in the week, and the old woman feared their guest was the one who had been hiding from them. They’d brought her home under the cover of darkness and had hidden her away, only sharing the news with their closest friends in the village, hoping word would get out to the right people such as the Texas Rangers or someone who could take her somewhere safe. She reported that Carmen had remained disoriented and fearful since waking up only days ago.
“But you must hurry now,” the woman added.
Texas Christmas Defender Page 14
