The Widow's Bodyguard

by Karen Whiddon

  “I had to prove my loyalty to the cartel.” Eyes gleaming, Lori spoke the words as matter-of-factly as if they were discussing the weather. “That got them off my back for a bit. Plus, I was super hopeful that I’d be able to dig up a clue as to where Drew stashed the money.”

  The money. All Lori really cared about was the money. Maybe Eva could somehow convince the other woman she knew where it was hidden, if only to buy herself time.

  “Were you?” Eva tried hard not to sneak a look out the window at Jesse. Her one real chance at salvation. She hoped if she could keep Lori talking long enough, Jesse might be able to get in here and help her. If not, she’d have to figure out a way to help herself. Despite the way her knees were shaking, she couldn’t think of a better time to reclaim her strength. For Liam.

  Lori snorted. “I looked, believe me. Despite that, I still haven’t a clue what Drew did with it, but I’m guessing it’s sitting in some private offshore account right now. I would venture a wild guess that Chris knows exactly where it is, but I haven’t had any luck in locating him.” With her gun still trained on Eva, Lori squinted her eyes. “I don’t suppose you know where he is, do you?”

  For a second, Eva considered shaking her head. Instead, she decided to go with the truth. “He’s in police custody in downtown Anniversary.”

  “What? Why?”

  “He’s been threatening me. He’s the one who shot out my back window and sent a package bomb.”

  “No.” Though the hand holding the pistol never wavered, Lori appeared on the verge of hysterical laughter. “Are you serious?”

  “I am.” Eyeing the gun, Eva decided she might as well ask point-blank. “What are you doing? Why are you holding a gun on me?”

  “Tying up loose ends.” Lori glanced around Drew’s office. “You truly didn’t have any idea about anything, did you?”

  “You mean about Drew being in love with someone else? No. Or about you and him engaging in illegal activities like money laundering?” She thought of the video recordings that Lori didn’t know she had. “I’m going to venture a wild guess that there’s a lot more that I didn’t know.”

  “Definitely.”

  Catching a glimpse of Jesse from the corner of her eye, Eva prayed he’d finish up his call. “Lori, are you going to shoot me?”

  “Not yet.” Lori’s ambiguous answer didn’t make Eva feel any better. “But I will shoot him, if I have to.” She gestured toward Jesse with her pistol. “Just like what happened to the two biker goons outside. They were so busy smoking and shooting the breeze that they never saw what hit them.”

  “You shot them?” Pushing down the panic clawing at her, Eva tried to remain calm. “I didn’t hear any gunshots.”

  “Silencers.” Lori pointed toward some sort of attachment she’d put on her weapon. “They’re very effective at keeping things quiet.”

  Plural. Which most likely meant Lori hadn’t come here alone.

  “What if I know where the money is?” Eva asked.

  Lori snorted. “You don’t though. Or you would have told me already.”

  Could Eva manage to convince the other woman? Or should she abandon this line of defense and try something else?

  Carefully, heart still pounding, Eva began to look for something she could use as a weapon. “Please don’t hurt Jesse.”

  “Aw, you care about him, don’t you?” Lori sighed. “He’s easy on the eyes, I’ll give him that. But you know what? He’s a Fed.”

  “What? No, he’s not. He works for my father.”

  “You really are gullible, aren’t you? I just found out from one of my contacts that Jesse Wyman—which probably isn’t his real name—is an undercover ATF officer. He’s been using you, honey.”

  “He’s not.” At least Eva could speak with authority. Though she remembered what Jesse had said earlier, when he’d tried to tell her about lying to her and how he wasn’t who she thought he was. What if it was true? Devastated, she pushed the sense of betrayal away. “I don’t know why your contact, whoever he is, would say such a thing, but Jesse is on my side.”

  “Right. At least until he’s finished his job. I’m not sure what that is, but I can take an educated guess that it has a lot to do with the cartel, BOS and a large shipment of drugs.”

  “How do you know all this?” Eva asked, stunned and not sure what to think. “How reliable is your source?”

  Now Lori grinned. “Pretty damn reliable. He works for the ATF too. Only he’s in it for the money. And I can promise you, the cartel is going to pay a lot of money when we deliver you and your precious Jesse to them. Now move.”

  Aware she had to stall to at least give Jesse time to realize what was happening, Eva stood frozen. “Move where?”

  “Here. In front of me. You’re going to be my shield in case your bodyguard gets any foolish ideas.”

  Outside, Jesse appeared to be finishing up his call. Though he continued to talk, he turned and made his way toward the door.

  “Now,” Lori barked. “He’s worth ten times more than you are, so don’t make me shoot you.”

  Reluctantly, Eva moved closer to Drew’s former campaign manager.

  As Jesse reached for the door to come inside, he looked up, glanced through the window and locked eyes with Eva. His expression hardened as he caught sight of Lori and her pistol.

  “He saw,” Eva said, warning Lori. “He’s not going to let you get away with this.”

  “Really? I’m willing to bet you’ll be his first priority, Eva.” Lori grabbed her arm, yanking her up closer and putting the barrel of the gun against Eva’s temple. “I guess you’ll find out quickly how much you actually matter to him. Will he rush in and try to save you or run off and alert his law enforcement coworkers?” Lori’s savage grin made Eva feel ill.

  “We’ll know any second, won’t we?”

  Eva swallowed hard. “Yes, we will,” she replied. In her heart, she had to believe Jesse would choose her. In her head, she wasn’t entirely certain.

  Chapter 16

  As soon as he turned enough to see in the window, Jesse took in the situation in an instant. Lori Pearson, armed with what appeared to be a .38 with a silencer, had her weapon trained on Eva. Since she shouldn’t have been able to gain entrance to the house with two biker guards on duty, and two more close by, he could only guess at what must have happened to them. Hopefully, that supposition would turn out to be wrong. He considered those guys part of his family. They had no part of the group working in drug trafficking. They were just bikers, loyal to the club and to Raul, not criminals.

  He still had E.J. on the phone. Instead of hanging up, he murmured a request for help and dropped the phone, still connected, into his pocket. Hopefully, E.J. would be able to hear well enough to understand exactly what was going on and would send agents, as well as medical personnel in case the wounded bikers were still alive.

  Either way, he couldn’t afford to worry about them right now. Not with Eva’s life in danger.

  Moving slowly, keeping his hands in plain view, he opened the door and entered the room. “Lori. What the hell are you doing?”

  “Exactly what I need to do,” she replied. Her confident demeanor and tone should have warned him. Instead, he didn’t turn until Eva squeaked out a warning, which came a millisecond too late.

  Three men, cartel from the looks of them, stepped inside. They were all armed, with their weapons pointed at Eva and Jesse.

  “Three cartel members,” he said loudly, needing to make double sure his handler heard. “Why so many of you?”

  The tall man in front sneered. “Because we couldn’t afford to take any chances. We know what you are, Lawman. And you’re going to be our insurance to make sure no one interferes in our business. Got it?”

  Outed. Jesse didn’t dare glance at Eva to see her reaction. He’d wanted to tell her himself, but
now that choice had been taken away from him. But he couldn’t allow himself to focus on that. Right now he needed to worry about keeping them alive.

  Four armed against two unarmed. If Eva hadn’t been there, Jesse might have taken a wild chance and tried to fight. As it was, he had to do whatever it took to protect her. Again, he thought of Shorty, Patches, Rusty and Baloo. Two of them would have been on guard duty outside. No doubt Lori had done something to neutralize them. However, the other two might still be upstairs safe, assuming Lori had no idea they were here.

  His BOS brothers were now his and Eva’s best chance. If only he could figure out a way to alert them. Even if E.J. could hear well enough to decipher what was going on, any assistance he could send would arrive far too late.

  “Now what?” he asked, looking from Lori to the three armed men. “What’s your plan?”

  “You’re coming with us,” the man who’d spoken earlier declared. “You’ll be our hostage until we’ve completed our transaction without interference by the police or DEA.”

  He noted they didn’t mention the FBI. Minor detail, which could mean something or nothing at all.

  “What about her?” he asked, jerking his head toward Eva.

  The tall man laughed. “Lori here will take care of her. She’s not our problem.”

  “No.”

  All four of them looked at him, clearly surprised.

  “I’m not going anywhere until I know she’s safe,” he continued. “I mean it.”

  The three cartel guys shifted their weight, appearing uneasy. Finally, their spokesman replied, “Again, this isn’t up to you. Now move.”

  “No. Go ahead and shoot me. I have a sneaking suspicion you need me alive, as hostages generally are. I won’t be of much use to you dead.”

  He had them there. And relished the moment they realized it.

  Movement behind them caught his attention. Lori opened her mouth to shout a warning, but by the time she got the words out, Shorty and Patches had already jumped in swinging.

  Baseball bats? Though he couldn’t be sure, he couldn’t focus on that now. Instead, he leaped forward, intent on taking out the third cartel guy and hoping Eva could deal with Lori. Left hook to the jaw, and his opponent went down like a rock, dropping his pistol.

  Jesse jumped on top of him, and a few more well-aimed punches knocked the guy unconscious.

  Someone squeezed off a shot. Then another, a rapid volley that could come only from a semiautomatic or fully automatic weapon. Praying no one had been hit, he turned to look for Eva.

  She was gone. Along with Lori.

  Damn.

  “Help, please,” Shorty called. He’d grabbed one man from behind in a restraining hold and seemed to be struggling to hang on. Patches and his target were struggling. Jesse saw a spreading red stain on Patches’s side and realized he’d been hit.

  First, he helped Shorty. Once they’d used a lamp cord to tie the guy up, they joined Patches and tag-teamed the final cartel member.

  “Round up all the guns,” Jesse ordered. “Shorty, take a look at Patches’s wound and call 911 if necessary. I’m going to find Eva.”

  Lori couldn’t have taken her far. Praying they hadn’t left the premises, he heard a feminine voice scream for help from what sounded like the backyard, near the pool.

  He sprinted outside, skidding to a halt just as Eva broke free of Lori and shoved her in the pool, gun and all.

  “Are you okay?”

  Looking up, Eva exhaled, dusting her hands off on her jeans. “Yep. In fact, I’m better than okay. I’ve been wanting to push that witch in the pool for a good while now.”

  Damn, he loved her. No more unable to help himself than breathe, he crossed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. She hugged him back for just a moment, before laughing up at him. “You’d best let me go or I might let you go swimming too.”

  He glanced at the pool, stunned to realize Lori hadn’t surfaced. “Apparently she doesn’t know how to swim,” he commented, right before he jumped in to save her.

  Later, after the sheriff and his men had arrived and taken the prisoners into custody, even though they’d only be holding them for the FBI, he checked on Patches. The other man sat perched on the back bumper of the ambulance, arguing with Shorty and two paramedics.

  “What’s going on?” Jesse asked.

  “They fixed me up,” Patches answered. “Right as rain. I’m fine now, but these fellers want me to go to the hospital to get checked out.”

  “Maybe you should,” Jesse pointed out.

  “He definitely should,” Shorty concurred. “They say he lost a lot of blood.”

  “I’m fine.” Patches stuck out his jaw. “I know my rights. They can’t force me to go without my consent.”

  “He’s right,” one of the paramedics said, his tone glum. “So if you’re not going to let us take you to the hospital, can you please get off the bumper so we can be on our way?”

  “I’ll move when I feel ready to move,” Patches shot back. “And I’m not ready yet.”

  “He’s dizzy from loss of blood,” the other paramedic said with a sigh. “Sir, I really think you should let us take you to the hospital.”

  “I already told you...” Patches began.

  “Enough.” Jesse shook his head. “Patches, go with these men to the hospital. That’s an order. Shorty, take the car and follow them so you can bring him home once he’s done getting checked out.”

  “Fine,” Patches mumbled. A bit of relief crept into his voice. “I’ll go to the hospital.”

  Jesse watched until the ambulance had driven away and Shorty too, in Eva’s car. Eva had taken a seat on the curb and put her head between her hands. Even as he debated whether or not he should, he approached her. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” Her dismissive look told him she was anything but.

  “Do you want to talk?” he asked, still clinging to the stubborn hope that a future between them might be possible.

  “Not now,” she responded. “Not today. Maybe not ever. I’m not sure we have anything to discuss.”

  Though his heart sank, he managed to smile and nod. “I understand.” And the sad part was that he did. Clearly, he needed to resign himself to a life bereft of her.

  * * *

  Despite trying not to watch him, Eva saw the myriad raw emotions cross Jesse’s handsome face. For the first time since she’d met him, he appeared vulnerable. She shouldn’t care—she didn’t care—or so she told herself.

  Her father had trusted him. She had trusted him. As had numerous other members of BOS. The thought that he could betray them made her feel sick to her stomach. Especially her father. With all her heart, she prayed Raul had made it out of the country. A horrible thought occurred to her. Had Jesse even let him go?

  “My father?” she asked, pitching her voice low so that only he could hear. “Is he...”

  “Gone.”

  She waited for him to elaborate. Instead, he turned and started to walk away.

  “Wait.” Without thinking, she reached out and grabbed his arm. “The thumb drive. I need to get the thumb drive to the authorities. But not them.” She jerked her head toward the Anniversary sheriff’s deputies. “Someone higher up the chain.”

  For a moment he only stared at her, his expressionless face matching the flat look in his eyes. As their gazes locked and held, she swore his softened.

  “I can take you.” His lopsided grin tugged at her heart, a reaction she ignored. “We can go to the FBI office in Dallas, if you like. Or the ATF office. Your choice.”

  “Which one is the one where you work?”

  Something flashed in his eyes, gone too quickly for her to analyze it. “ATF. We’re working in conjunction with the FBI on this, so either one is good.”

  “Your office,” she
answered. “Since you’ll be with me, at least I know they’ll take me seriously.”

  He nodded. “Let’s get on the road. It’s a long drive. Do you want to drive or should I?”

  The thought of sitting beside him in a car for a couple of hours made her stomach hurt. “Let’s take the bikes,” she responded. “I need to ride after everything that’s happened.”

  He nodded and turned to head for the garage. After a moment, she followed, grabbing her helmet along the way.

  On the road, driving her Harley, she felt like herself again. With each mile the motorcycle ate up, she felt bits of her sorely flagging confidence return. Though just about everyone she’d known, loved and trusted had betrayed her with lies and avarice, she still had this. The strong part of herself that no one, not even Drew, had ever been able to completely destroy, though she’d allowed it to be banished temporarily.

  By the time they reached Dallas, she felt centered and once again in control. Normally, the congested traffic on I-635 would have agitated her, but with her powerful bike rumbling underneath her, she hung on to her patience. Having Jesse with her helped. This was his world, his people. Her own would turn on him once they knew the truth. The Feds would probably regard him as a hero.

  Again her stomach turned. She swallowed back her rancor and reminded herself to focus on the task at hand.

  They pulled into a paid garage, got their tickets and parked. Removing her helmet, Eva combed her fingers through her hair while she waited for Jesse.

  He left his bike and approached her. His expression seemed grim and she thought he might be slightly nervous. Even now, she knew him well enough that she could read him. She almost asked him why the nerves, but told herself it really was none of her business.

  “Are you ready?” he asked, removing his riding gloves and shoving them into his jacket pocket.

  She nodded.

  They walked side by side toward the building, neither speaking.

  Jesse pushed through the front door, greeting the security guard by name and heading toward the elevator. Eva kept close to him, noting how out of place he seemed in the professional building. Men and women in suits hurried past and one or two even gave them the side-eye, which meant they must look as out of place as she felt.