by Tess Summers
She felt like she was going to hyperventilate and put her head between her legs. Dante was immediately kneeling at her side, rubbing her back.
“Breathe,” he quietly coaxed.
Cassie reared her head up. “Breathe?” she hissed. “You tell me you’re going to put my child up for adoption and marry me off and your follow-up to that is, breathe?”
He sighed but kept his hand on her back. “First of all, it is not me doing this. I think it’s a despicable practice, but it’s one my family likes to use on our enemies’ loved ones, so the best I can do is make your stay here as comfortable as I can.” He slipped back to his seat, readjusting his napkin. “I promise you will go to someone kind.”
“How can you promise such a thing?”
“I just can that is all you need to know,” he said as he spooned sugar into his coffee.
“You could let me go,” she whispered.
“I could, but I am too, what’s the word? Selfish. I do not wish my father’s wrath, which I would surely get if you somehow escaped.” He stirred his coffee, then tapped the rim of his china cup with the spoon and set it on the saucer, looking very much like a regal gentleman and not a kidnapper.
“It doesn’t matter. Luke will find me,” she said defiantly, reaching for the butter on the table.
“I’m counting on it,” he murmured in Spanish before taking a drink of his coffee, pinkie finger out.
Cassie didn’t let on she understood what he said and instead, buttered the pancakes in front of her. They smelled delicious, and if she was going to find a way out of here, she was going to need her strength.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Cassie
Dante treated her like a guest over the next few days even taking strolls with her on the grounds and sitting by the pool while she swam. He had eaten with her for all her meals, and she actually found him intelligent and charming. He was a true gentleman, you know, except for the whole, holding her hostage and selling her and her baby thing.
She’d had a lot of time alone to miss Luke and thought about him constantly. She hoped they’d at least been able to find Lucas; the thought of Luke being separated from his little boy pained her almost as much as being separated from him herself.
Cassie should have told him she wanted to marry him the last time he asked her. She wanted that more than anything, but she had still been hurt, angry, and unable to trust him. She knew he was sorry, but somehow, it felt like it’d been too easy for him. Like he decided he wanted to be with her again, and poof!, she was just supposed to be on board with everything now that he was ready. It pissed her off how on board she really was, so she fought easily giving in.
She prayed he knew deep down, she loved him and wanted to be his wife. The idea of never seeing him again without him knowing consumed her.
It had to be Stockholm syndrome that made her trust Dante would make sure she and the baby were treated well, but she really did believe it. Besides, she was going to escape before the baby came, so it didn’t matter.
An opportunity to set that plan in motion came on the third day of what Dante liked to call, her stay. One of the servants handed her a note he’d left when she was served lunch.
Cassandra,
Please forgive my absence today, unexpected business has come up I must attend to. I have arranged to have some more magazines and books delivered to you, and Raul will accompany you should you desire to go to the pool. Please let Maria know if there’s anything you require. Staff has been instructed to grant your (reasonable) requests. I hope to return this evening for dinner.
Best regards,
Dante
Today would be the ideal day to plot her escape. There had to be more days he would be called away, she merely had to take in more details of her surroundings while out with Raul today to formulate a plan for the next time he was gone. Dante always watched her carefully, so she consciously made an effort to not appear interested in camera placements or where guards were positioned. She doubted Raul would be as concerned about her curiosity; the young twenty-something viewed any time he had to spend with her as a cakewalk babysitting job even going so far as to be on his phone, surfing the internet when he had to escort her on the patio when she had a snack or asked for a breath of fresh air when Dante was unavailable to accompany her.
She was floating on a raft in the pool when her sitter jumped from his patio chair, rushing to respond to a loud disturbance, leaving his phone on the glass table.
Cassie almost tipped over as she clambered to get the raft to the steps and out of the pool to the unattended cell. She had just reached the table when she heard a high pitched, “Madrastra!”
Spinning around, she saw Lucas running wildly toward her, his little arms outstretched as he did. Dante stood in the background observing. She knelt down and opened her arms to embrace the boy when he crashed into her at full speed, knocking her back onto her bottom.
“Whoa, buddy! You have to be careful of your little sister in my belly!” she told him with a laugh.
“I’m sorry! Please don’t be angry.”
His sweet, anxious face almost broke her heart, and she kissed him while soothing his hair. “It’s okay, baby, I’m happy to see you. Have you been a good boy?”
It wasn’t until she was hugging him tight, she realized she’d had her conversation with Lucas in Spanish. She looked over at Dante who had a knowing smirk on his face.
“I thought you might be keeping that from me,” he said in Spanish as he took deliberate steps toward them. He stopped short when he noticed the phone on the table and narrowed his eyes at her.
She glanced over at the table where he had been looking, feigning surprise when she turned back to him. “I didn’t even know it was there, I swear!”
The corners of his mouth turned down in a disbelieving scowl, and he walked over to pick up the phone, briefly inspecting it before slipping it into his suit pocket.
“Why is he here?” she asked in English as she looked down at Lucas, careful not to use his name and draw attention to the fact she was talking about him.
Dante sat down in the patio chair previously occupied by Raul and poured a glass of tea from the pitcher sitting on the table. “I told my father what you said about the boy looking like Lu….” He glanced at Lucas still in her arms. “His father. Apparently, someone else had the same concerns and voiced them, so a DNA test was done. He is not a Guzman.”
“I told you. So, you’re going to let us go?” she asked hopefully, squeezing Lucas a little tighter.
The older man grimaced and stated matter-of-factly, “I’m afraid not” while gesturing toward the pitcher as if to ask if she’d like some tea.
She shook her head no, and he suggested to Lucas he dip his toes on the front step of the pool. Once Lucas was out of earshot and Cassie seated opposite him, he continued in a quiet voice. “He is also going to be… adopted.”
“Dante! No! You can’t!” she gasped, reaching for his closed fist resting on the table.
He took her hand gripping the top of his. “I’m trying to arrange it so he goes with his sister, then he would be able to stay here until she’s born. But to be honest, Cassandra, I’m not optimistic. He will most likely fetch a higher price by himself.” He squeezed her fingers before releasing them.
Cassie snatched her hand back as if she’d been burned. She’d almost forgotten who the man in front of her was and what he did. His charming demeanor and easy smile had made it seem like she really was here on vacation. The reality was he was facilitating the sale of her children. Children. She loved Lucas as much as the little girl she was carrying in her stomach.
“Dante, please. I’ll do anything.” The look she gave him conveyed her meaning of anything.
He gave her a sad smile. “As beautiful as you are, Cassandra, I only fuck women who are willing and who want to be in my bed.”
A tiny tear escaped the corner of her eye. She quickly brushed it away before Lucas noticed. He may not
completely understand what was happening, but he would definitely understand her crying.
“You can’t do this,” she whispered. “You’re not that cruel.”
“While this particular unpleasantness is a part of my family’s business I want no part of, you’re wrong. I am this cruel.”
“Why not just let us go?”
“Because I really am a selfish bastard, Cassandra. Don’t be fooled by my good manners.”
“I don’t believe you. It’s more than good manners. Why keep us here and treat us kindly if you don’t want any part of this particular unpleasantness?”
“I have my reasons, and they have everything to do with my own self-interests and nothing to do with you. I saw an opportunity when my nephew had you taken, nothing more. Although I am glad I have been able to make this at least tolerable for you, comparatively speaking, I didn’t do it because I am a good guy and can save you. I’m not the man who can do that.”
No, but the man who could was out there, and if she knew Luke Santiago Rivas like she thought she did, he wouldn’t rest until he found them.
Hopefully, while there was still time.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Luke
The raids where Cassie’s phone and car were located proved to be less fruitful than he had hoped. The men taken into custody were more afraid of the Mexican cartel than the American justice system, so they refused to provide any information.
Still, Luke wasn’t going to stop until he found his son, daughter, and future wife. Fortunately, the men on his team shared his determination and resolve and worked tirelessly alongside him.
He was leaving the station on the fourth evening Lucas and Cassie had been missing when Adriana appeared out of the shadows in what was supposed to be a secure parking lot.
“Luke,” she said quietly.
He whirled around, pulling his off-duty weapon from his waistband as he did. He’d been on edge and what one could call slightly paranoid since his family’s abduction. Recognizing it was Adriana, he lowered the gun to his side but didn’t holster it.
“Where is my son, Yanna?” he snarled.
Luke knew he could easily take her into custody, but also knew she would lawyer up and remain silent like the rest of the people they’d already arrested. Right now, getting information about Lucas and Cassie was more important than arresting her.
“They took him, Luke,” she sobbed. “You have to get him back.”
He didn’t exactly understand who the they were she was referring to but knew he had leverage, and she would talk, so he quietly escorted her inside to an available interview room. He brought Nathan Dickenson, the lead detective on the case, in the room to question her, but she refused to talk to anyone but Luke. Which proved to be a blessing and a curse because she told him everything. It took every bit of his willpower to remain calm and not throttle her in front of the cameras set up in the room.
She was married to Javier Guzman, the grandson of the brother of a high-ranking cartel member. The only power the man really had was the clout his last name provided him in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico. Adriana found him in bed with one of her friends and fled to the United States where she met Luke and proceeded to get pregnant. After marrying Luke—while still married to Javier—her first husband found her and demanded she return home to Mexico with him, not realizing she was pregnant with Luke’s child.
Once she was back in Mexico, Javier quickly lost interest in her again. This time, she fled to her mother’s home and managed to hide her pregnancy and Lucas, once he was born. Javi was content since she was in Mexico and gave her money from time to time. That coupled with the money she’d taken from Luke kept her from being destitute, but her funds were dwindling. Then the private investigator showed up.
“And you saw an opportunity to get more money,” Luke wistfully remarked.
“I saw an opportunity for Lucas and me to have a better life,” she lamented tearfully. “I thought we could be a family, and you’d take care of us. But I know you don’t love me anymore, and Lucas told me about his madrastra picking him up from daycare. I worried you were going to take him from me, so I called Javi in desperation. I let him think Lucas was his, but you were trying to claim him as yours so Javi would help me cross the border undetected because I knew you would have it guarded. I thought once we went back to Mexico, things would go back to Javier not having any interest in us, and we could at least go back to how it used to be. We were preparing to sneak back into Mexico when his grandfather demanded a DNA test. Once Javi found out Lucas wasn’t really his, he took him from me. He’s going to sell him on the black market, Luke.” She burst into inconsolable sobs.
“Over my dead body,” Luke seethed.
Nathan, who’d been quiet the entire interview, asked, “Do you have any idea where they might have taken him?”
Adriana wiped her eyes and nose with the department provided tissues stocked in every interview room. “The first night, after we left and were lying low, I heard Javier on the phone, telling someone they’d taken the girl to his cousin’s compound in Ensenada until her baby was born.” She turned to Luke. “I had no idea at the time they meant her, Luke. It wasn’t until Javi was in a rage when he found out Lucas wasn’t his that he started ranting about having to teach me a lesson like he had you. That I’d also learn what it was like to lose someone important. When they took Lucas, I heard them talking about packaging him with his sister when she was born.” She started to sob again.
Nathan offered her comfort when Luke made no attempt to. He couldn’t. He was too livid.
While his coworker comforted his… what was she? Ex-wife? Wife? Their marriage was never legal since she was already married when they tied the knot almost four years ago, so what did that make her? His son’s mother?
His son.
Luke needed to follow-up with the FBI about the leads Adriana provided. They had gotten involved the night Cassie was taken since kidnapping is a federal offense. Cranston and Williams, the agents he’d been working with, were at the station within the hour. After telling them everything Adriana had admitted, the two men looked at each other.
Finally, Cranston spoke. “You thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked his partner.
“We need to get Kenny involved,” Williams answered.
“We need to get Kenny involved,” Cranston confirmed.
“Who’s Kenny?” Luke asked.
“An agent who knows Dante Guzman better than anyone. He’s the relative we think is keeping Cassie and your son.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?! Call him!”
The agents chuckled, Cranston answering for them. “It’s not that easy. She can be a little hard to locate.”
“Well, can you try?” Luke was getting beyond frustrated.
Williams seemed to be finishing a text, then set his phone on the desk. “Done. If she’s available, we’ll hear from her shortly.”
No sooner had he said that than his phone started vibrating on the desk. The agent picked it up, looked at the screen, and smiled.
“Speak of the devil.”
****
The bio of Kennedy Jones, a.k.a. Keni was impressive, to say the least, especially when it came to the cartel. A former Marine, she knew their inner workings and hierarchy better than anyone, and it was rumored she’d been able to develop a relationship with a high-ranking member and get far enough in his inner circle to be able to kill him.
She’d been underground ever since, but when she learned about Cassie and Lucas, she was willing to come to San Diego the next morning and meet with the agents and Luke’s team.
Luke went to Cassie’s that night feeling more optimistic than he had since this whole ordeal started. Brenna had suggested he stay at Cassie’s in order to be closer to her and Ron so they could help with Rex. He readily agreed; being there made him feel closer to his baby mama. With any luck, tomorrow night, his son and future-wife would be back home with him. When he got Cassie back, she w
as marrying him—he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
He was up early the next morning, raring to go, even taking Rex for a walk on the beach at sunrise. He couldn’t remember the last time he walked his poor dog. Thank God Brenna and Ron had been taking care of him.
Keni arrived shortly before eight in the morning and wasn’t at all what Luke was expecting. She walked in with her flowing auburn hair perfectly coiffed and cascading below her shoulders, petite stature and features, and high heels that made her five-foot-five, tops. Her cleavage in her black mini-dress distracted more than one man in the room. As they discussed strategy, Luke quickly realized her appearance was part of her advantage—no one expected a beautiful, petite woman to kick their ass or worse.
His ego inflated a little when she seemed to be impressed with his resume.
“Former Marine, former sniper, and current sergeant,” she said matter-of-factly, flipping through a stack of papers in a plain manila folder she’d brought with her, then looked up at him and smiled. “Glad we’re on the same team.”
They had a plan in place by eleven.
She knew exactly where Dante Guzman’s home was located two hours away in Ensenada, Mexico and had a good knowledge of the layout of the house and grounds. She wanted to do surveillance that day and evening, learning how many guards they were dealing with and, hopefully, catching sight of Cassie or Lucas for visual confirmation they were there.
“Normally, I would insist on doing surveillance alone, but I think it’s important you come with me, Luke,” she said as they were wrapping things up in the conference room.
He was as surprised as anyone in the room, assuming he wouldn’t even be allowed to go on the mission because of his personal involvement.
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” his lieutenant asked. “I mean, he’s…”
Keni interrupted him. “I think if anyone is motivated for this extraction to be successful, it’s Luke, don’t you?”
