Ripped Apart

by Miriam Minger

  Nothing like seniority to get things accomplished quickly and painlessly but after today, he wouldn’t need that perk again. Now all he had to do was get to the airport and catch the Mexicana flight from Monterrey to Los Cabos International Airport. He grabbed his suitcase and headed out the bedroom door.

  He wasn’t surprised how much it galled him to walk down the steps where Clare Carson had knocked him off of his feet, but he wouldn’t have to look at the staircase or the house again after this morning, either. Everything about the last couple days made his stomach churn so the less he thought about it, the better—yeah, right. Who was he kidding?

  He could no sooner stop thinking about her and Jake puddle-jumping in that plane right over his head than turn down the ecstatic screaming in his brain that he knew exactly where they might soon be headed.

  The phone call to Eduardo a couple of hours ago had helped all the scattered pieces fall into place.

  It didn’t matter anymore that he hadn’t been able to track down Father Gregorio or shake any information out of those weepy kids or their caretakers at the orphanage.

  It didn’t matter anymore that no one in that village had any idea where the young pilot named Cesar had flown his plane, another dead end. He’d see that Eduardo dealt with that kid later.

  It didn’t even matter anymore that he’d sensed from the start that they had fled to the States—they would have been fucking crazy not to—and left him with a logistical nightmare of wild guesses as to their whereabouts. Mike had been left to suffer through one of the worst sleepless nights he’d ever known and the infuriating realization that he couldn’t put off calling Eduardo any longer.

  Now Mike wished he’d called him sooner. It would have saved him from a lot of pacing and a lot of lousy coffee.

  “Only one bag, Mr. Reed?”

  Mike nodded as he handed Hector his suitcase. He opened the rear passenger door himself and ducked into the sedan.

  He swore then and there his next driver would be female and a whole lot nicer to look at—but he couldn’t complain that Hector hadn’t been loyal. Eduardo would have to deal with him, too. Hector had seen and heard far too much, but Mike didn’t want to think about that right now.

  “Mexicana Airlines. Let’s go.”

  Hector nodded and started up the car, but Mike wasn’t looking at him. He stared straight ahead as the sedan rolled out of the driveway and past the tall iron gates.

  He’d be the first to admit he’d been a complete idiot. Why the hell hadn’t he just waited for the dust to settle and then everything would have been clear to him?

  Eduardo had flown the kid to Los Cabos, so it was only a matter of time before Clare Carson would figure out where they’d gone and show up there, too. She had fucking priests on her side, for Christ’s sake. Father Gregorio probably had contacts at churches all over Mexico where he could get information. For all Mike knew, Clare was already on her way to Baja.

  He hoped so. He wanted his fucking money.

  * * *

  “Take my hand,” Jake said to Clare, but she barely heard him. Her gaze was fixed out the right side of the shuttle bus as they sped toward the sleek white jet parked on the tarmac.

  She was shaking. She’d never felt so terrified. She could not bear to think their journey might end here, that death might be so close although she clung wildly to the hope they weren’t riding straight into a trap.

  “Clare, take my hand.”

  She started and met Jake’s eyes, then nodded and curled her fingers into his.

  “Take it easy. You’re white as a sheet. Everything’s going to be all right.“

  “How can you be sure? They might be pointing guns at us right now, fixing us in their scopes—”

  “Or that might be Father Gregorio coming down the steps to greet us and not someone dressed as a priest to look like him.”

  Clare snapped her head around to look out the window. She sucked in her breath as the shuttle slowed to a stop twenty feet from the aircraft.

  “If something were wrong, he would have signaled to me by now.” Jake squeezed Clare’s hand. “Come on, let’s take our leap of faith. I know it’s a huge one for me.”

  Clare met Jake’s eyes. She was startled by his admission that he might be anxious, too. Up until that moment he’d shown her nothing but grim determination to put his trust in Father Gregorio and meet up with the plane—yet why wouldn’t he be uneasy? They had no weapons and nowhere to hide if shooting broke out.

  Jake stood up and she rose to her feet, too. She moved with him to the shuttle door, her gaze following his to where Father Gregorio waited for them just beyond the mobile stairs pulled up to the plane.

  She was so glad Jake still held her hand. She might not have stepped out of the shuttle bus. She disembarked behind him, the full morning sun reflecting so brightly on the tarmac she brought up her free hand to shade her eyes.

  “Gregorio.”

  All the weight of that moment resonated in Jake’s voice, his hand gripping Clare’s so tightly that she winced. His grasp relaxed in the next instant, though, as Father Gregorio waved and then hurried toward them with his arms outstretched.

  “Miss Carson, Jake, thank God you chose to come to the airport. I feared you might not—”

  “It was pretty close, Father,” Jake cut in as Clare found herself enveloped in the priest’s embrace. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re trying to scare me back into church.”

  “A worthy mission, but come with me now. There’s someone you must meet.”

  If Father Gregorio sensed how frightened Clare had been moments ago, he gave no sign and took her hand to lead her toward the plane. Jake was right behind them but that didn’t lessen the anxiety overwhelming her again. She paused at the bottom of the steps. Panic filled her though she tried to keep her composure.

  “I’m sorry, Father, everything’s happened so fast. I was certain this must be a trap.”

  “No trap, Miss Carson. Only those who wish most sincerely to help you recover your son. Come.”

  Clare was so surprised by what Father Gregorio had just said that she tripped on the first step. He led the way up the narrow stairs and Jake followed directly behind her. They were almost to the top when Father Gregorio paused on the step as if someone had just blocked his path.

  “I will speak to her, Father. Let her pass!”

  Clare’s pounding heart leapt into her throat as a woman’s bejeweled hand reached around the priest to snatch Clare’s hand and pull her forward. Father Gregorio had to press himself against the side of the stairway to make room for Clare to maneuver around him. She stumbled forward into the plane as if into a cave, the change was so abrupt from brilliant daylight to dark.

  She blinked and tried to adjust her eyes as the woman clutching her hand so firmly guided her further into the cabin. Clare bumped up against what felt like a cushioned leather chair.

  “Sit here, poor girl.”

  Clare blinked again. She stared with astonishment at the most beautiful Latino woman she’d ever seen, impeccably dressed in a yellow silk suit and who stood no higher than her chin.

  Clare was pushed gently into the chair. A man who Clare judged to be a bodyguard from his massive size came up like a towering giant behind the woman to assist her to her seat, but she waved him away with a flick of her hand and sat down beside Clare.

  “How shall I begin?” The woman leaned forward and took both of Clare’s hands in hers. “How can I ever beg you enough to forgive my daughter Maria?”

  Clare gaped at the woman, no more stunned than if she’d just announced she was Her Majesty Queen of England. “Your daughter?”

  “Yes, yes. Maria Ruiz. I’m Magdalena Salinas Castillo, Miss Carson.”

  “Clare. Please call me Clare.”

  “Of course, but you’re too kind after my family has committed such a grievous wrong against you. To take away your little son Tyler—God forgive my daughter and her husband. It breaks my heart as much t
o say it now as when I heard from Father Ignacio only this morning what had happened. Another priest came to him and told him everything. You must forgive me, too. You’ve suffered so terribly. If I’d only known of this sooner…”

  Clare stared speechless as Magdalena released her hands to draw a delicate white lace handkerchief from her silk sleeve and dab at her eyes. The woman was clearly distressed, and Clare was now the one who leaned forward and touched her arm.

  “This is such a surprise. I…I don’t know what to say—”

  “How could you? How could anyone comprehend such a terrible crime? I fear my daughter must be mad to have asked her husband to abduct your son. As you know, she lost her own child not long ago in an accident in San Antonio. It’s been a horrible time.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Clare said sincerely. “You’ve suffered, too. He was your grandson—”

  “Yes, our Daniel, so bright, so studious and quiet, the perfect child. But I had no idea my son-in-law Eduardo had taken your boy from the hospital. Maria was comatose with grief. I could do little to make her stir. She lay as if dead for days and then suddenly two weeks after Daniel’s death, she disappeared to their ranch and refused to see me or take my calls.”

  “She had my son then. It had been just two weeks since his heart transplant…” Clare couldn’t finish, emotion choking her. She glanced down at her hands but Magdalena covered them with hers again and met Clare’s eyes.

  “You will have your son back, Clare, I swear it. I don’t know why Eduardo would have indulged Maria in such a monstrous thing—not out of love, surely. I haven’t seen love between them for years but a mother always hopes for her child’s happiness, does she not?”

  Clare still couldn’t answer, her thoughts on Tyler. She glimpsed Jake in the hallway standing silently with Father Gregorio, and her sudden longing to feel his arms around her was overwhelming. Another priest also stood in the shadows, his hair snow white and his shoulders stooped. Clare guessed him to be Father Ignacio.

  “It is my understanding that many have died.”

  Clare met Magdalena’s eyes and nodded. “Innocent people—and those who’ve tried to help us. Others, too.”

  “Even one innocent is too many.”

  Magdalena’s low voice held a steeliness that gave Clare a sudden chill. The thought struck her that this was a woman not to cross. Magdalena subtly flicked her hand and another bodyguard appeared as if out of nowhere, this man even taller and bigger than the other one.

  “Have you been able to reach my son yet?”

  “No, Mrs. Castillo.”

  “Keep trying. Let me know as soon as you have Manuel on the phone.”

  As the bodyguard nodded with deference and retreated, Clare caught Jake’s gaze and she felt another chill.

  She’d never seen him look so serious and it wasn’t hard to imagine why. Magdalena must have been speaking about Manuel Castillo…her son, the kingpin of the Castillo cartel. Oh, God.

  “Clare, introduce me to your companion.”

  Clare glanced at Jake but he was already coming forward to stop a few feet from Magdalena’s chair. “Mrs. Castillo…this is Jake Wyatt.” Clare swallowed hard as they shook hands. “If not for him I would be dead. I couldn’t have come this far without him.”

  “Clare’s courage and determination to find her son has brought her this far, not me.”

  Clare flushed with warmth at his words as Magdalena studied her thoughtfully. The awkward moment ended when the older woman turned back to Jake.

  “You have also suffered greatly in my country, Mr. Wyatt.”

  Clare held her breath as Jake said nothing but stared back at Magdalena, his grim expression unchanged.

  Clare wondered what he was thinking to face the mother of one of the most powerful crime lords in Mexico given his efforts in the war against drugs. To Clare’s relief, Magdalena ended another uncomfortable moment by sighing heavily. She once again took Clare’s hands in hers.

  “We’ve a tangled mess here—much left unsaid and some things still unknown but perhaps that’s best for now. As I swore to you, I will do everything in my power to reunite you with your son. That’s my first consideration. After that is done…”

  The same steely edge tinged Magdalena’s voice but whatever her thoughts at that moment, she clearly did not intend to share them. Instead she drew Clare with her to her feet, Magdalena’s strength astonishing Clare in a woman so petite.

  “You’ll sit with me during the flight and tell me more about Tyler. Come. The rest of you find your seats.”

  Clare followed after Magdalena, finding it incredible how the woman’s few soft-spoken words had set the entire plane into commotion as preparations were made to depart. Clare glanced over her shoulder but Jake had taken a seat near the back of the cabin with Father Gregorio.

  She wished he were closer. He was watching her, his intense blue eyes holding hers, and once more she felt warm and flushed.

  “He’s not far away, Clare, only a few seats behind you.”

  Clare met Magdalena’s knowing gaze and flushed even more deeply. “I haven’t known him long, only three days but as I told you if not for Jake—”

  “Yes, yes, a miraculous thing, isn’t it? Love finds its way even in the most cruel circumstances—ah, but we had better sit down so the pilot can do his job.”

  Clare was already sinking into her seat. She had to tell herself to close her mouth. She was certain her jaw had dropped to her knees.

  Love?

  “Fasten your seatbelt, Clare.”

  She bobbed her head at Magdalena and glanced down at her lap to fumble with the seatbelt buckle.

  Love? Her and Jake? She didn’t want to think about that right now, she couldn’t. She wanted to think about Tyler, only about Tyler.

  A reunion with her son would be the miracle. Her presence aboard this private jet with Magdalena Salinas Castillo was a miracle. Living to see this day when she was on her way to Cabo San Lucas was a miracle.

  Clare kept telling herself all those things as the jet taxied to the runway and began accelerating, but her thoughts flew right back to Jake.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  “You said you wanted to help us—but I didn’t know you meant perform a miracle.” Jake turned from looking out the window at the ground falling away as the jet made a steep ascent, to Father Gregorio. “Magdalena Salinas Castillo. Never in a million years would I have thought of that one.”

  Father Gregorio shrugged as if what he’d done had been an easy thing. “I’ve known Father Ignacio for years, and the Castillo family has belonged to his parish about as long. I’d thought of contacting him before we left Monterrey, but I wanted you and Miss Carson safely out of the city first. All I had to do then was get back in one piece—”

  “You came close to not making it.”

  Father Gregorio nodded. “I was on the phone to the hospital where they had taken Father Crispus when I heard the trucks coming.”

  “How is he? Clare and I have been wondering about him…” Jake swore under his breath at the somber look on Father Gregorio’s face. He knew without the priest saying a word that Father Crispus had died from his injuries. His gut clenching, he glanced out the window and vowed to himself that there was one more grievance on his growing list to square in the future with Mike Reed.

  “I saw the commotion at the orphanage from Cesar’s plane,” he said in a low voice, watching the ground swiftly fading to a green blur. “Soldiers swarming all over the place, guns, lights. Figured you headed out into the fields.”

  “I did…until I reached the neighboring village and borrowed an old motorcycle with a sidecar.”

  “Borrowed?”

  Father Gregorio winced, his thick graying brows knitting together. “Stole, but only temporarily. I know the owner. Good man. I knew he’d understand. I rode like hell—” The priest winced again. “You’re a bad influence on me, Jake.”

  “Yeah, but it probably saved your life to ride like
hell.”

  “Probably so. Father Ignacio had left town to perform a wedding in Nuevo Laredo so I hid out at his church until he returned last night.”

  “You told him everything?”

  Father Gregorio nodded. “It was his choice what to do next but he didn’t hesitate to contact Mrs. Castillo first thing this morning. He had a sense she might react as she did—it was either that or she’d have us both shot. There’s still a chance that her son might not appreciate us knowing what we do—”

  “Damn.” Jake rubbed his hands over his eyes. The mess they had dug for themselves was growing deeper every moment. “Father Ignacio told her about Ruiz’s association with Mike Reed?”

  “Everything you told me at Iglesia San Jose, Jake. Forgive me if I’ve gone too far. I didn’t know what would be best to leave out, if anything. I only hoped and prayed for assistance like I’ve never prayed before.”

  “Looks like it worked, Father, at least this far.” Jake glanced over the seats to where he could see the top of Clare’s dark head bent toward Magdalena Castillo.

  The two women were conversing in low voices as if they’d known each other for years, but why not? They had both lost someone dear to them, but Clare at least had a good chance now to get her son back—or so Jake hoped. His gut instincts were clamoring that this unexpected trek to Los Cabos could go either way, and he wasn’t sure yet which outcome held the greater odds.

  “Mrs. Castillo told Father Ignacio she fears for her daughter’s life.”

  Jake met Father Gregorio’s eyes. “Great. If the daughter goes, the boy’s dead. I’ve been concerned enough about that since I saw the San Antonio paper in Monterrey with Tyler’s photo—but I haven’t said a word to Clare. I hope Mrs. Castillo doesn’t say anything about her fears. Clare’s already worried enough about Tyler—shit.”

  “My sentiments exactly. Mrs. Castillo has been trying to speak to her daughter since they arrived at their hotel but Eduardo keeps saying that she’s sleeping. He hung up on her the last call.”