“That’s a very idealistic way of looking at things, Lucy,” Nathan said softly. “But I’m proud of you.”
Lucy expected Nathan to laugh at her declaration, but she actually saw understanding in his eyes. Could she be wrong about him?
“Illiteracy and poverty is what’s driving terrorism,” Nathan said. “If we give everyone a better education, a better life, we can avoid another 9/11.” He narrowed his sapphire eyes at her mockingly. “What? You think I’m some jock with no clue about what’s happening in the world?”
“I’m sorry, Nathan,” Lucy said. How wrong she was about him!
Nathan grinned. “I forgive you, Lucy babe. I forgive you if you give me a big one right now.”
She smiled, leaned forward and gave him a big kiss.
***
“I’ll be sad to lose you. You’ve been blending well with the team. They like you,” Coach Bates told him. Nathan had pulled his coach aside after evening practice to tell him that his work here was nearly done.
“So you got what you came for?” Bates asked.
“Pretty much. Miss Pierce says she owes you,” Nathan said. He wondered how Bates and Pierce knew each other. His coach was in his fifties, stocky but well-built with solid muscles. Had he been a Guardian at some point?
“Marker. She knows that,” Bates gave a full-on shit-eating grin.
Nathan jerked his chin up in agreement and without another word to any of his team mates, he left the men’s locker room. He quickly pulled out his phone to check for any messages from Lucy. None. Frowning, he texted her again. He had sent her a message earlier asking if he could come over after practice. It was pushing 10:00 p.m. so he knew it was kind of late for a school night. But their schedules had not jived lately and he had not seen her in three days. She had said she had some catching up to do before spring break and needed to write several research papers and had not wanted any distraction.
Well, tonight was the same thing and he was missing her desperately. It wasn’t even about sex. He would be content simply sitting on the couch as she worked on whatever she needed to do for school as long as they were together in the same room. Fuck, he had turned into a sap.
There was no doubt, he was falling in love with her.
After ten minutes with no response, he kicked the tire of his bike. Fuck it, he was just going to drive over there and pound on her door. He was seeing her tonight whether she liked it or not.
It was a short five minute trip from the school to her apartment since she lived so close to campus. It was a two-story structure having a unit on each floor. She was renting the second floor apartment, accessible by outside stairs attached to the side of the house.
He parked his bike in front of the building and glanced up. Her unit was dark. He frowned. She couldn’t be asleep already if she was working on a paper. Quickly making his way up the rickety steps, he did a series of quick raps on the door.
“Lucy?” Nathan called. “Babe, it’s me, Nathan.”
A dog started barking in a neighbor’s yard.
Exhaling in frustration, he tried to call her but after the requisite few rings it went to voicemail. Was she blowing him off?
A strong foreboding twisted in his gut. He had an app to track her phone. Tim had hacked into her network provider’s system which allowed him access to her account.
He fired up the app and clicked on her ID to check where she was. The location, when it came back, made him curse. She was not home. She was fifteen miles clear across town. She had lied to him.
***
“I’ve cross-checked the girls’ identities with their families,” Lucy told her brother. They were at the house of Felipe Sanchez—a close friend of her brother’s. She and Eva had been meeting at this location in a middle-income DC suburb for the past three nights. The house had a walk-in basement which they had converted into “command central” doing database searches of the kidnapped girls’ families, logistics, and videoconferences. All access was provided of course, by one ryker569 tapping into missing persons and police databases. Ryker569 also provided the secure laptop that she and her brother were using to communicate. Lucy was getting a buzz on all this high-tech sleuthing, she thought she might have a future with the FBI when all was said and done.
Eva weighed in. “I agree, it’s better if we do not inform the girls’ families yet. The less number of people that know about our operation, the better. It might cost us some dough to set the girls up somewhere, but I’d rather not raise their families’ hopes up until we have them securely across the border.”
Leo nodded in agreement. Lucy smiled at her brother. She had not seen him in over seven months. He had gone to California to visit their mother the same time Lucy was back there before she had started school again. Leo was a masculine version of Lucy. Three years older than her, he had jet-black hair and a light olive complexion. Although he was a couple of inches taller than her and lanky, there was no doubt they were closely related. He liked wearing heavy-framed glasses and looked like a nerd. But he was a cat burglar, and a very good one. He justified his heists as Robin Hood-like: he stole from the rich and gave it to the poor. Lucy wished he would just quit and join her permanently in the US. He could go back to college and they could be together as a family. But their disappointment with their Papa ran deep. They could never overlook the fact that their father sold women into slavery.
“Have you seen Papa, lately, Leo?” Lucy asked.
“Yes, at Aunt Clarita’s dinner. He asked after you,” Leo said. “I told him you were fine and that he should give you a call sometime.”
“He’d never risk calling me, my phone is not all that secure,” Lucy said.
“So is everything set then?” Eva broke in.
They had finalized their working plan. The house in Tampico would have the fewest guards when everyone would be attending a fiesta in the adjacent town. They were expecting little resistance from the security guards. The women were in three rooms on the second floor. Leo had an inside man who worked in the kitchen who kept him updated on what was going on. The location was confirmed last week when Leo visited the house which belonged to a distant relative of theirs—also a member of the Braga Cartel. Lucy was nervous. Though she knew her brother could handle a gun well, he was in no way a soldier. But he did have three people working with him that were experienced in urban conflict and extraction work.
“Yes,” Leo replied firmly. His eyes zeroed in on Lucy. “I’ll see you next week at the border, Luce.”
“Good luck, Leo,” her voice came out strangled.
“You’re not falling apart now, are you?” Leo asked in amusement.
“No, I’m not,” Lucy retorted, her voice stronger. “Let’s call it a night. I have an early class tomorrow.”
“Bye, chiquita,” Leo said softly before the video transmission ended.
Lucy felt her eyes burn. She missed her brother desperately, and she wanted more than anything to be with him right now.
“You’re not going to cry, are you?” Eva eyed her warily.
“Don’t be silly,” Lucy said, but wiped her eyes anyway.
“He’s going to blow an aneurysm when we show up at his place in Monterrey.”
Lucy smiled gleefully. “Oh yes he will.”
Rapid footsteps descended the stairs. Lucy always harbored a giant crush on Felipe Sanchez. He was a big guy, though not as tall as Nathan, and looked pretty badass with tattoos running up both arms. He and her brother had a love for muscle cars, and that was how Lucy learned to drive them so well since she tagged along whenever they took their cars for a spin. Back then, Felipe lived in Los Angeles and whenever Leo came up to visit from Mexico, the two would meet up and test out their cars.
“Your brother gave me a shout. Told me you guys were done and to take you home.”
“Yes, we’re about wrapped up here,” Lucy said wearily. “Thanks for helping us out, Felipe. You didn’t have to pick us up earlier.”
“Always, m
i chiquita,” Felipe announced as he slung an arm around her. “You’re like my herminita.”
Well, thank god for older brothers, Lucy thought with a smile.
CHAPTER FOUR
Lucy had dozed off on the way back to her apartment, she had barely registered Eva being dropped off first at her house. The past three days had been so hectic—catching up with school, coupled with getting the logistics ready for their planned extraction of the kidnapped women—at one point she thought her head would explode from sifting through so much information and she wondered if they were taking on too much. She and Eva were barely twenty-one and her brother wasn’t much older. Great, now she was having doubts, just when the operation was almost upon them.
“There’s a guy sitting on your landing,” Felipe said as he pulled the car in front of the apartment. Lucy’s heart jumped into her throat for many reasons: first, she missed Nathan, second, she had lied to him and third, her arriving with Felipe was not exactly ideal. And she was right. Nathan got up slowly and even in the pallid glow of the streetlight, he looked furious.
“Who is that guy?” Felipe’s voice rumbled with big brother overprotectiveness.
“I know him. He’s a friend,” Lucy muttered. “You probably should not get out of the car.”
Felipe cast her an irritated glance that said she was crazy. He got out at the same time Lucy opened her car door. A myriad of excuses raced through her mind, but she couldn’t process a single one that might placate Nathan. She approached him warily. He was glowering at them, his hands fisted at his side.
“Where were you Lucy, and who the fuck is he?” Nathan growled.
“Nathan—”
Felipe flashed past her and shoved her behind him. “What the fuck, man? How dare you speak to Lucy that way?”
“Who the fuck are you?” Nathan rephrased his question to address Felipe directly.
“Her hermano, asshole,” Felipe growled.
Nathan’s face registered surprised, but his face quickly shuttered. “Lucy never mentioned a brother,” he said quietly.
“I’m a friend of her brother’s. I watch over Lucy because he’s not here,” Felipe said. “I just flew in today and Lucy came over because we haven’t seen each other in a long time.”
Great, Lucy thought, now Felipe was lying for her. How was she to keep track of who said what?
“I do not like you, man,” Felipe continued, giving Nathan a once over. “You—”
“I don’t give a fuck if you don’t like me,” Nathan cut him off, lips pulling back in a snarl. “I’m her boyfriend. Move out of the way.”
And it happened the way Lucy feared. Felipe was a hothead, and Lucy suspected, so was Nathan. Her brother’s friend had fought in the streets since he was a kid, and she was afraid he was about to wipe the ground with Nathan. So she tried to step between the men, but she was too late.
Felipe threw the first punch. Lucy gasped, expecting Nathan to crash on the stairs. But everything happened in a blur. Nathan dodged the blow and quickly planted his fist into Felipe’s solar plexus. Nathan grabbed the other guy’s wrist and twisted it behind his back before slamming him face down on the steps, his knee against the small of his back.
What the hell just happened? Lucy thought, bewildered.
“I told you to move out of the way,” Nathan smirked.
“Fuck you!” Felipe snarled, trying to push back.
“I’ll let you go, but you are going to get in your car and drive away. And maybe, after we’ve cooled down, we can grab a beer, and sort out this mess,” Nathan said calmly.
Felipe stilled, and then burst out laughing. “Let me up, you fucker.” But there was no heat in his voice.
Nathan released him and backed away, but his eyes never left Felipe even as he grabbed Lucy’s hand and pulled her to him.
Felipe swaggered up to them. Lucy noticed a kind of respect in his eyes for Nathan despite the words that came out of his mouth to her: “You’ll be OK with this guy, chiquita?”
“Of course, Felipe,” Lucy said irritably. “Nathan would never hurt me.”
He bent down to kiss her cheek. “Later, Luce.” Felipe lifted his chin to Nathan before getting into his car and driving off.
Nathan pulled her away from the glow of the streetlight, gathering her in his arms and giving her a deep, possessive kiss. Lucy felt her insides flutter, wow she missed this.
“You owe me an explanation, Lucy,” Nathan murmured against her lips, his eyes glittering with residual anger.
“Felipe just explained...” Lucy squeaked.
“I can smell bullshit a mile away,” Nathan muttered. He studied her for a beat, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “Let’s go.” Not relinquishing her hand, he half-led, half-dragged her up the stairs.
“I’m tired, Nathan.”
“So we’ll sleep.”
“Nathan—”
“Shut it, Lucy. I’m still pissed at you. Quit while you’re ahead.”
So, Lucy shut up.
***
Nathan stared up at the ceiling, lying on Lucy’s bed. His girl was tucked securely in the crook of his arm, but he was uneasy. Something was up, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
When Lucy pulled up with Felipe beside her, Nathan felt his heart splintering. He thought the worse. That she was two-timing him, that she was cheating. Then the guy introduced himself as her brother and then in a span of a few seconds he said he was her brother’s friend. And then he gave some bullshit line about just arriving in town and Lucy wanting to see him. Nathan wasn’t born yesterday. Felipe was covering for Lucy and Nathan wanted to know why.
He glanced down at his beautiful girl. His beautiful, lying girlfriend. At least she was not cheating on him. Deep down, Nathan knew she was not capable of such duplicity, she was not that kind of girl. But damn, she had secrets, deep ones and everyone seemed to be hiding it for her including her friend Eva.
Emotionally compromised. He could see Viktor’s point now. Had he not reacted the way he did tonight, he probably would be drinking beer with Sanchez right now and gotten him to spill. Fucking way to go, Stark.
Nathan noticed Lucy wore expensive clothes and leasing this apartment so close to the university was not cheap. But AGS had done a full background check on her. She had a hefty trust fund and seemed like a normal college-age girl. She got good grades and consistently made the dean’s list. Nathan made a mental note to ask Tim to check on the trust fund to see if there were any red flag transactions in it. Might as well include credit card transactions and phone records.
Lucy stirred beside him. He tried to keep his breathing even, but she glanced up at him.
“Can’t sleep, Nathan?” Lucy whispered.
“No. Go back to sleep, babe.”
“What’s bothering you, honey?”
She rarely called him an endearment, but when she did, his heart skipped a beat.
“I’m worried about you, Lucy.”
She shifted and propped up on one elbow, gazing down at him.
“Why?”
“I sense that you’re in some kind of trouble and you’re keeping it from me.”
Her gaze wavered for a moment, a look of panic crossing her face. She sighed in exaggerated irritation before flopping back on the bed and burying her face into his chest.
“You’ve got a wild imagination,” she muttered.
She was hiding something, Nathan concluded grimly. “Yes, I sure do,” he whispered.
He debated whether to push her on her whereabouts tonight but decided against it. Her hackles and guard were up—she was lying as stiff as a board beside him. He stroked her arm and kissed the top of her head.
“Go to sleep, Lucy.”
***
“Anything on the trust fund?” Nathan asked Tim. It had been a few days since he had discovered Lucy lying about her whereabouts. Between attending his classes and two lacrosse games this week to keep up his front, he was not able to get down to AGS often enough. He had just fi
nished his weekly briefing with Maia and informed her of Lucy’s unusual activities.
Tim also pulled up information on the house that she went to that night. The owners of the house were Enrique and Melissa Sanchez. Felipe was their son. They had immigrated to the US from Mexico fifteen years ago and were upstanding citizens. No criminal records and they paid their taxes on time. Their son Felipe owned an auto shop specializing in restoring classic muscle cars. He paid his taxes on time too. He did have a few speeding tickets and a few citations for illegal racing.
Now, Leo Cortez, Lucy’s brother was an interesting character. There was not much information on him and Lucy never mentioned him. Why was that?
“There were several lump sums withdrawn in the past few weeks,” Tim said.
“How much?”
“Eighty grand.”
“What?” Nathan hissed, alarm bells echoing in his head. “Can you tell what they were for?”
“Well, according to the money trail— jewelry, clothes from some high end retailers. Down payment on an apartment in Brooklyn. Makes sense to you?”
“She dresses well, but Lucy rarely wears jewelry.”
“And the apartment?”
“She has not mentioned anything about New York, when exactly was the closing date of the property?” Nathan asked.
“Three weeks ago.”
“I was with her almost every single day except those past three days. Could it be done by proxy?”
Tim shrugged. “Possibly. But all the documents bear her signature. Let me dig deeper.”
Nathan rubbed his palm across his face repeatedly while Tim’s fingers flew across the keyboard.
“Are you going to confront her?” Tim asked, glancing up briefly from his screen.
“How? I can’t come clean to her, Maia’s forbidden me to do such a thing until Francisco Cortez is in custody.”
“If the money is being diverted, do you have any idea what it could be for?”
Nathan shrugged. “I have a feeling it’s for her brother. She never mentions him. She was at his friend’s house that night. I wonder if he’s in some sort of deep shit with some drug cartel down in Mexico. Doesn’t make sense for him not to be in US with the rest of his family when he’s not tight with his dad.”
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