“I doubt it. The source works for the subject. So I think you can take this as gospel.”
Graves didn’t realize he’d snapped the phone shut and dropped it on the bed until his head was cradled in both hands.
***
Baja California Sur:
Tess stopped walking and stared at Max. “Let me get this straight. You’re saying Nick’s involved in something bigger than killing the Vargas family?”
“Yes.”
“But why would he think I knew about it? I wasn’t involved in his criminal activities. Until he murdered that family, I didn’t even know he had any criminal activities.” She struggled to concentrate on the problem at hand, but outrage clouded her mind. This was all a mistake? God, life was so damn unfair. “How could he possibly think I know anything about what he’s up to?”
“I don’t know, but apparently he does. And we need to fix that.”
She rolled her eyes. As comforting as it would be to believe that was possible, she knew better. “You think if I can convince him I don’t know anything, he’ll stop trying to kill me? You can’t be that naïve, Max. Nick wants me dead because I defied him and went to the FBI. It could be as simple as that.”
“I’m not saying he’d stop, but I doubt he’d expend all the money and manpower evident this morning. And if he didn’t try so hard, you’d have a better chance of surviving.”
She shook her head. “You have to understand Nick. He hates being disobeyed or embarrassed. Just look what happened to Bruce. And to Vargas.” Her eyes misted. She cursed herself and forced back the tears. “He won’t stop, and neither will Tony.”
Max leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “Then we’ll have to find a way to make them stop. Now, enough about Nick,” he added. “Since I can’t tell you about my life, tell me more about yours before all this happened.”
She knew he was trying to take her mind off her troubles. And because it felt so good, so normal and safe to talk about something other than the disaster her life had become, she let herself be distracted.
She told him about the pleasure she got from creating unusual and elaborate costumes from ordinary, everyday materials. And about some of the unique items she used to create her effects, like the medieval chain mail she’d made from the flip-tops on soda pop cans.
She talked about Griffin then moved on to her costume shop and her life in Salt Lake City before Nick destroyed it. “I don’t have much good to say about the Mormons, but they do have a lot of activities for their youth. So there are always plays or pageants that need costumes. And making an impression’s a big deal to them, which means designer costumes even for kindergarten plays. Salt Lake City’s a great place to own a costume shop, even if you’re not a Mormon.”
“I’m surprised they didn’t tar and feather you because you didn’t convert.”
She snorted. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m stubborn, so I resisted all efforts to baptize me.” She saw no reason to spoil the mood by going into it in more detail. He didn’t need to know everything.
She was amazed at how easy it was to talk to him and how comfortable she felt being with him. It had never been like this with Nick.
As they approached the village, fear crowded in again, reminding her that her life wasn’t safe. And as long as he was with her, Max’s wasn’t either.
Her good mood evaporated. She couldn’t let him sacrifice himself for her. He didn’t even know who he was. She fell silent, wondering if, when he got his memories back, he’d hate her for getting him involved in this.
He squeezed her hand. “Why so quiet? You okay?”
Yanking her hand free, she stepped away from him and gestured to where the trail curved around a thicket of cacti. “Just around that bend is the village. We should part company here. If you stick with me any longer, you’ll only end up dead.”
He grabbed her arm and hauled her back to him. “What the hell are you talking about? You want me to just abandon you here? Or are you abandoning me?”
Her temper rose as he glowered at her. This was hard enough without his macho bullshit. “Neither. I’ll give you some money for food and a motel room. But I just don’t think it’s a good idea for you to die because of me.”
“I wasn’t planning on it. At least not if I can help it.”
She groaned, her anger losing ground as despair roared up and seized her by the throat. “Look, whether I want to believe it or not, my life is measured in days. Or possibly weeks.” Jerking out of his grasp, she folded her arms across her chest and looked away, certain her anguish showed on her face. “Maybe months if I’m really, really lucky. And if you stay with me, your life will be measured, too.”
“I’d say that’s my decision, not yours.” When she didn’t respond, he put his hand on her cheek and turned her face back in line with his, but she closed her eyes and refused to look at him. “Isn’t it, Tess?”
Pain welled up in her heart until she was drowning in it. “No, Max, it isn’t. You could be some woman’s husband. Some kid’s father.” She opened her eyes and met his. “I won’t let you gamble your life for me when you could have obligations to someone else. Until you get your memory back, you don’t have enough facts to make that kind of decision.”
“You need my help, angel. At least with me, you won’t stand out as a woman alone.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he held up his hand. “I’m not questioning your courage, Tess. And I know you’ve survived on your own for some time. But Nick’s never been right on your doorstep before, has he?”
She shuddered. Nick had been this close, but not for some time, nor had she been this terrified. But if she admitted it, Max would stay, and his death would be on her head. She turned away again, afraid of what he might see on her face.
“I guess that answers my question.” He took her shoulders and pulled her back around. “You don’t really want me to go, do you, Tess?”
She wanted to lie, but couldn’t. “No, but I do want to be fair.”
“Be fair on your own time,” he said and kissed her forehead. “I’m staying with you.”
The glint in his eyes told her arguing would do no good. Accepting defeat, she nodded. If he wouldn’t leave her, there was little she could do about it. At least she’d tried to do the right thing.
“Okay, then, what’s the plan?” she asked.
He glanced around at the desert, his expression thoughtful, then he pulled her over to the thicket of cacti and shrubbery near the bend in the trail.
“We’ll leave the duffel bag and backpack here for now.” He fingered a lock of her hair. “Do you have anything to cover your head with? We won’t be able to keep out of sight.”
“I stole a disguise from town yesterday when I first spotted Nick’s men.” She retrieved the dress and what was left of the tablecloth from her duffel bag. Slipping the dress on over her jeans, she tied the clothesline around her waist then draped the tablecloth over her hair. “How’s this?”
“Disgusting, but it’ll do.” He took the guns out of her backpack and handed her one. “Here, put this in the waistband of the dress and blouse it over a bit to cover it.”
“Like this?”
“Yeah. That should work.”
He stuck the other gun in his own waistband at the small of his back, letting his shirt hang outside his pants to cover it. With what he’d torn off the bottom of his shirt to bandage her arm, she was surprised he had as much left as he did.
Ripping the tape off his forehead, he combed his fingers through the knots in his hair and pulled it down over the gash.
“Now we walk into town like we belong here. Not sneaking, not hiding, just walking casually. Okay?”
“Yeah.”
She led him into the village, keeping to the back streets and alleys. The friendly little houses looked different when seen through fear-colored glasses. The doorways and windows she’d once thought so quaint, with the dried chilies hanging from them, now seemed the perfect place for an amb
ush. Her throat clogged with terror.
Max took her hand. “Breathe, angel,” he whispered.
“Yeah.” She forced her lungs to expand.
“Good. Now where do we need to go?”
She checked her watch. “The parade starts in thirty minutes at the village square, so that’s where we’ll find Pablo’s family. Then after we warn them and tell them about the men in the cave, we need to collect my bags and head out to the chicken farm. The old man there will give us a ride into La Paz for just a few pesos. And he told me yesterday he wasn’t going to the parade.”
“Okay, and where’s the village square?”
“We turn right at the next street.” She pointed. “Go down a block then three to the left.” She guided him down the dirt sidewalk and around the corner then—froze.
The blue Jeep was parked behind the black sedan a half a block down. Joe stood beside the car, reading a girly magazine he’d laid on the hood—next to a gun.
CHAPTER 9
Over the screaming in her head, Tess heard Max whisper, “Don’t panic. He won’t recognize you if you don’t give yourself away.” His words were calm and steady, his breath tickling her ear. “We can’t turn back, or he’ll be suspicious. So just keep going and act natural. Got it?”
She nodded, afraid to trust her voice. Max put himself on the side closest to Joe, slipped an arm around her shoulders, and pulled her close. Tucked against his side, she walked down the block, past Joe, at as steady a pace as she could manage, her eyes downcast, her teeth clenched so hard they hurt.
Obviously engrossed in his Playboy, Joe never even looked up. But Tess didn’t breathe easy until they’d rounded the next corner and were out of sight.
She threw her arms around Max. “Oh, God. I was so scared, I couldn’t even think. How’d you know what to do?”
“Just common sense,” he said and pressed his lips to her temple. “If you act like you’re just doing what you’re supposed to, nobody notices. It’s when you behave in a way they don’t expect, you stand out.”
“I’m glad you were with me.” With a quick glance over her shoulder, she took his hand and hurried down the street. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
When they reached the square, they were swallowed by a mob of people. It looked as if everyone in the village had turned out for the parade. She scanned the crowd but saw no sign of Nick or Tony. Reassured, she eased into the shadow of a giant bougainvillea trailing up a palm tree at the edge of the plaza.
“See the boy in the Aztec costume standing beside the man in the red shirt?” she asked, pointing to where the parade entrants congregated. “That’s Pablo and his father. His mother’s standing right behind them in the blue dress. Pablo should recognize you. He’s the boy who found you on the beach.”
“Okay. You stay here. If Nick and Tony are watching Pablo’s family, they’ll be expecting you. Not me.”
He hooked his finger under her chin and raised her face until his stunning hazel eyes captured hers. The look in them sent a rush of desire through her.
“I mean it. Stay here,” he repeated. “No matter what happens. I’ll be right back.”
“What do I do if they find me?”
He glanced around the square. “You’ve got the gun, but if you don’t want to shoot, start screaming. I doubt they’ll try anything in front of so many witnesses if you’re drawing attention to yourself. So shoot or scream, but don’t move from this spot. I don’t want to risk not being able to find you. Okay?”
“Yeah.” She nodded and put a hand on his arm before he could leave. “Pablo and his family don’t speak much English.”
“Understood.”
He melted into the crowd. Tess watched, amazed, as he joined the throng and became both noticeable and invisible. Noticeable because he stood at least a foot taller than everyone there, his sandy hair a sharp contrast to the black hair of the locals. And invisible because he moved so casually, stopping to say a few words here, shake a hand there, making it appear he’d lived in this village with these people all his life.
He meandered over to Pablo and his parents then crouched down to speak with the boy. After a second, the parents knelt down beside him. They spoke for a few moments, Max gesturing all the while toward the costume as if asking how it was made.
He rose, clapped Pablo on the shoulder, and moved on, only to stop before the next child in line and kneel down to speak with him. And then the next.
He speaks Spanish, she realized with a start. Who the hell was this fascinating, appealing, and frustrating man she’d trusted with her life? She divided her attention between watching him and checking the crowd for Nick and Tony, while trying to curb the urge to run. Then Max was back, his arms around her. She leaned into him, her arms around his neck, taking comfort from his rich, masculine scent and the warmth of his embrace.
“You speak Spanish.”
“Apparently so. I was walking through the crowd wondering how I was going to communicate with Pablo’s parents when I realized I could understand what people were saying.”
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t—”
Over Max’s shoulder, she saw two men turn the corner and head toward them. She whirled around, putting her back to his chest.
“Nick and Tony,” she breathed.
“Where?”
“Coming this way. Behind us.”
“Do you think they recognized you in this getup?”
“Not yet, but they will if they get close enough to see my face. And if we run, they’ll probably just assume it’s me.”
“Then we won’t run. We’ll duck and cover.” He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. “Kiss me and they won’t see your face.”
She didn’t question him, just slipped her arms back around his neck, rose up on her toes, and pressed her lips to his. He pulled her closer and changed the angle of the kiss, bending his head over hers, shielding her face.
Panic twisted her gut. Her legs trembled, and her skin grew clammy, sweat oozing down her back. Someone brushed past her. Bumped her shoulder. She smelled a familiar cologne and heard Nick’s voice say, “Get a room, for Christ’s sake.”
Scrunching her eyes closed as tight as she could, she clung to Max, expecting at any minute to feel a knife or a bullet in her back. Her knees buckled until his arms were the only thing holding her upright.
After what seemed like several lifetimes, he broke the kiss and moved his lips to her ear. “They’re gone, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop.”
As the fear drained out of her, she opened her eyes. Met his. “I—”
“Me, too.”
His mouth covered hers again and this time his tongue slipped between her teeth. Without the panic distracting her, her mind blanked. She melted against him. As her blood burned, she wondered if the sparks would smolder or burst into a flashover and consume them both where they stood.
***
Max wanted to finish what they’d started. Now. Right this minute, damn it. So what if the whole village was here to see? Struggling for control, he broke the kiss then rested his forehead on hers. “Nice save. Nick didn’t even suspect you were there.”
“I was terrified,” she confessed.
He turned her around and steered her down an alley between two buildings. “I know. That’s why I kissed you again.”
“Is that your answer for everything?”
“Can’t remember. But if it isn’t, it should be.” He stopped at the end of the alley and peeked around the corner. “All clear.” Unable to resist, he trailed a finger down her neck. “I want you, Tess.” The shock in her eyes only added to his hunger. “I want you bad. It just gets worse the longer I’m with you.”
“Max, I—” She moistened her lips with her tongue. “I can’t deny I’m attracted to you. But—” She must have seen the gleam in his eye, because her hand shot up. “—I don’t sleep with men I don’t know.”
“You know me.” He took the hand she
still held up, brought it to his lips, and kissed the center of her palm. “Under certain circumstances, people can get very well acquainted, very fast.” Linking his fingers with hers, he pulled her down the street to another alley. “I think these circumstances qualify. You know you can trust me not to hurt you. And you know—or you should—that you matter to me. So what more do you need?” Not sure he wanted an answer, he changed the subject. “Now, would you like to hear about Pablo’s family?”
She let out a little breath, nodded, then listened in silence as he told her what he’d learned about Nick and Tony’s visit to the family’s farm that morning.
“She sent them off to an abandoned house?” she demanded when he’d finished.
“Yeah. Pretty smart move,” he said with admiration. “God only knows how much time she bought us. Then as soon as Nick and Tony drove away, she sent Pablo to the cottage to warn you, but we’d already gone.”
“Why didn’t she just say she didn’t know me?”
“She tried, but they recognized Pablo’s costume as your work.”
“Oh, God.” She stopped dead, and he felt a shudder run through her. “That never even occurred to me. I’ve put them in danger, Max. What am I going to do?”
“Nothing we can do, except follow the plan. Pablo’s father isn’t taking them home after the parade. He said he’d ask the priest to put them up in the church basement with the other out-of -towners. And he’ll tell the padre about the guys in the cave. I told them that we’re going to La Paz, and if anyone asked, they could repeat that. And I also told them not to take any more chances for us. It should be safe for them to go home by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Do you really think it’ll be safe that soon?”
“Yes. I don’t imagine that Nick and Tony will hang around here too long and risk letting you get away.”
“I wish you hadn’t told them it’s okay to say we’re going to La Paz.”
“Couldn’t be helped. You don’t want that family’s death on our heads any more than I do. And from what you’ve told me about Nick, if they try to protect you, he’ll kill them.” He squeezed her hand. “Besides, I figure if Nick doesn’t find you by tomorrow morning, he’ll head for La Paz anyway. It’s the largest town in the area and the most likely place for you to run.” He sighed. It was a mediocre plan at best, but they were out of options. “We just have to pray that if Nick and Tony can’t find the family tonight, they’ll forget about them.”
Black Ops Chronicles: Dead Run Page 13
