California Girl (32 page)

He felt better when Alys saw him and bounced out of the seat
to introduce Lucia to the gang, then lingered at his side as if she belonged
there.

“Milo says they’re about done here and heading for the
Albuquerque leg of the trip. They’ve offered to follow along as insurance.”
Alys tweaked Lucia’s nose and made her smile a little.

“Insurance?” Elliot asked warily, watching grown men with
rings in their ears and gang colors on their leather jackets pay at the
cashier’s desk.

“I don’t think I can tolerate one more sideswipe by a semi,”
she said flatly. “You may thrive on danger, but it scares the . . .
heck . . . out of me.”

That she saw him as a man who thrived on danger stifled any
protest. He didn’t believe he was any such thing, but he enjoyed knowing she
did. Cautiously, Elliot studied Alys and the situation. She’d blown his mind
last night, taught him things about himself he’d never known. He could learn to
look at things from her perspective. If traveling with a motorcycle gang made
her happy, then so be it. “I’m planning on traveling quickly,” he warned.

Alys beamed. “Of course.”

Milo, the man with the huge tattoo of a dragon, strolled
over to join them. “I know Mendoza, man. I used to drive for him.”

Alys halted his words with a single glance. Taking Lucia
from Elliot’s arms, she set her down on the floor so the child could admire a
red teddy bear on the counter, then stepped out of her hearing.

With a nod of approval, Milo continued in a low voice.
“Mendoza used to work with a lot of his drivers before he bought the company.
He pays them well and they owe him a lot of loyalty. He hires only the toughest
men around. Some of those guys would rob banks if he asked it of them. All he’s
got to tell them is that you kidnapped his kid, and they’d beat the brains out
of anyone between them and her. He didn’t get where he is by being crossed.”

Elliot squeezed Alys’s shoulder at her look of alarm.
“Thanks. It’s good to know what we’re up against.”

With a curt nod, Milo strutted over to the counter to pay
his bill. A moment later, he carried a curly-haired red teddy bear to Lucia.
Lucia looked at it longingly, glanced up to Elliot, and seeing his smile of
approval, eagerly grabbed for the toy.

“She belongs with people who love her,” Milo said. Without
another word of explanation, he swung on the heels of his heavy leather boots
and sauntered out of the restaurant, his graying ponytail swinging.

“They’re good guys,” Alys whispered, catching Elliot’s arm
and tugging him out the door after them.

It was a damned good thing patience was one of his virtues,
Elliot decided, heading back for the car. He now not only had to look after a
fey female, an orchid, a kitten, and a five-year-old, but he had to do it with
the escort of a dozen Harley-riding geezers while watching out for dangerous
semi drivers. Life was a circus—or life since Alys had become a circus. The
three-ring kind.

Pulling out of the parking lot with open highway ahead,
Elliot wished he was driving something with more power than the Taurus so they
could reach Albuquerque before Mendoza’s thugs discovered the location of the
GPS device. The roar of the motorcycles around them didn’t give him the
assurance they apparently gave Alys.

When he’d picked up his phone and voice mail, Mame had left
only a message giving the room number in the hotel where they had reservations.
He wouldn’t be happy until he had Mame in the hospital and Lucia safely back
with her aunt.

He deliberately blotted out any thought of what would happen
between Alys and him then.

Half the motorcycles formed a phalanx in front of them. The
other half formed a rearguard. Elliot thought they should have bought balloons
and hung them out the window and called it a parade.

He watched a semi with a purple cab roar past and wondered
if they could be any more conspicuous.

“The Balloon Fiesta Park is right off the interstate.” Retreating
to the security of her old-fashioned maps, Alys pored over their directions
while Lucia napped in the back seat, hugging her new teddy bear.

Elliot tried to close himself up in the little box he’d
created years ago, the one that allowed him to concentrate on the path he’d set
for himself. He’d written books, attained a medical degree, created effective
research groups by shutting out his surroundings and all distractions.

Like a life.

He’d had life in abundance in the last six days, and he was
kind of getting used to it. But the walls of his new box required that he see
to it that Alys and Lucia and Mame lived long and productive lives—lives which
didn’t necessarily include him.

But Alys was too flexible to form much of a wall. Even in
sweatshirts instead of halter tops, she held the power to distract him just by
breathing. He could sense her fear and worry. If he indulged in too much
thought, he’d believe he could build on the attraction and affection
tentatively binding them.

So he’d rather not think about Alys at all. Don his
blinders, focus on one task at a time, and think about anything but Alys.

“We need to take Lucia to the reservation first,” he stated
carefully.

Elliot was certain Alys cringed. She’d grown as attached to
the child as he was, but she didn’t argue. Stoically, she returned to poring
over their maps. “We’ll have to drive all the way through town,” she informed
him, apparently locating the reservation that Mame had described.

She had spent years learning how to handle loss. Elliot
wasn’t certain he had her ability to accept it. “No problem,” he replied,
trying to sound confident. “Our original instructions were to drive to the
tribal headquarters. One assumes they have police there and someone who will
know how to reach her family.”

“Or Sam Wolf may have already found a way to call and tell
them to expect her arrival.” Alys nodded in approval of his plan. “We’ll just
hope the other guys are chasing a train into the mountains and won’t expect her
to be heading this way yet. Or that Milo and his friends scare them off.”

“Exactly.”

He hated leaving the kid without knowing what terrors lurked
around the corner, but he had no authority or expertise in protecting children.
One thing at a time, he reminded himself. Get Lucia to safety. Find Mame.
Finish book. Do radio show. Get a life.

He could see Alys straining to memorize the sights as they drove
the interstate into the city. He’d been in Albuquerque, knew there was far more
to it than the commercial districts seen from the highway, but their little
vacation had just reached its end. Once he had Mame, Alys would have to explore
the old town on her own. He refused to wax sentimental on the fun they could
have had exploring it together—or the fun they could have had if she became a
permanent part of his life.

She’d had enough of permanence. Hadn’t she made that clear
when she’d tried to leave him at the hospital? Hospitals and death terrified
her, and one way or another, they were all he knew. She needed sunshine and
freedom.

But the quick looks Alys darted the sleeping child in back,
and the way she tilted her head down so a shiny curtain of hair hid her
expression, broke his heart. He longed to give her what she wanted, not take it
away.

The motorcycles broke formation in the city traffic, some
drifting to left and right, slowing at entrance ramps, guarding against
intruders. At least with all the traffic around him, Elliot didn’t feel quite
as conspicuous. The damned purple semis seemed to be everywhere. Fortunately,
none of them slowed to notice the child in the back seat, even if they could
see through the tinted windows. Without the pink Cadillac, they were nearly
invisible.

On the other side of the city, the countryside returned to
sagebrush and rocks, interspersed with billboards for casinos. The reservation
where Lucia’s family lived wasn’t on the GPS, but Mame had written explicit
directions. Elliot took the exit indicated and followed the road to a turnoff.
The motorcycles halted at the sign pointing toward the tribal lands.

Relieved that they’d arrived safely without encountering any
more dangerous big rigs, Elliot halted the car and got out. Milo rolled his
bike forward to meet him.

“We’ll let you folks go on from here. Don’t reckon the
natives will appreciate us riding down on them, and they can look out for their
own.”

Elliot held out his hand and shook Milo’s. “If you’re
heading back into Albuquerque, go over to the balloon park for the lighting. We
know some people there. Maybe we can help you snag a balloon ride.”

Milo tipped a hand to his forehead. “Will do that. You got a
nice lady there. You take care of her or someone else will.”

Elliot watched them roar off before returning to the car.
Out of habit, he rubbed his chest, but the pain there had nothing to do with
heartburn. It had to do with thinking of Alys with anyone else but him.

Unable to contemplate the emptiness her absence would cause,
Elliot climbed back into the car. Alys sent him a questioning glance, but he
merely turned on the ignition and drove up the road to the reservation.

No purple cabs followed.

“We didn’t buy a camera,” Alys whispered.

“We’ll come back later, after we find Mame,” he assured her.
He could keep Alys around a little longer that way. He could add “buy camera”
to his list of tasks.

Apparently pleased with his answer since it meant they could
visit Lucia again, she turned to studying the modern structure ahead bearing
the sign of the reservation’s headquarters. Elliot sighed in relief that they
were taking the child somewhere safe. He didn’t know what he’d envisioned, but
this hadn’t been it.

“Have you ever been here, Lucia?” Alys asked, unfastening
her seatbelt as Elliot turned off the car.

Wide-eyed, Lucia shook her head negatively.

“Well, they should know how to find your Aunt Dulce. Let’s
go see, okay?” Alys climbed out, opened the back door, and held out her arms.

Elliot admired the way she knew precisely what to say to
reassure the frightened child. Holding the kitten and her teddy bear, Lucia
allowed herself to be lifted from the car and set on her feet outside the
strange building.

Elliot figured he was going to miss the cat as well as the
kid, but that was another of those things that belonged outside his box. He’d
never allowed himself to miss his brothers or Mame or anyplace he called home.
They were irrelevant to his purposes.

His purposes might be wavering these days, but his means of
achieving them hadn’t. Carrying Lucia’s backpack, he fell in step behind Alys
and Lucia. The child clung to the kitten with one hand and Alys with the other,
staring at the official-looking building with fear.

He didn’t know what kind of places the kid had been living
in lately, but he hoped this one had people who would love her. Elliot prayed
Dulce was a responsible caretaker.

The heavy metal door opened and a slender, black-haired
young woman flew down the walk, crying Lucia’s name and holding out her arms.
With a whoop of joy, Lucia ran into them.

“Well, guess that answers one question,” Elliot said, coming
to a halt beside Alys. He ignored the twinge of his heart at the sight of the
two hugging and crying and talking in three languages at once.

“Dulce is young,” Alys replied, watching the pair through
worried eyes. “But I suppose with a large family they’ll have some sort of
support.”

Had he imagined the wistfulness in her voice? Alys had never
expressed any desire for a large family. She’d barely had any family at all.
She’d said she wanted to learn to live alone.

He wanted to change her mind, but he didn’t dare.

A sturdily built young man approached, and Elliot stepped up
to shake his hand while Alys joined Dulce and Lucia.

“I am Tony, Lucia’s uncle. The family thanks you for
delivering her safely.”

“I can’t guarantee that she’s safe,” Elliot warned, handing
over the backpack. “I think we’ve thrown them off the track, but someone has
been following us ever since we picked her up.”

Tony nodded. “Salvador has been on the phone in a foaming
rage. The law has been out looking for her. But we have a court order. There’s
nothing he can do now except take it to the judge. He had hoped to get her back
in his jurisdiction, where he owns the law and we could not touch her.”

“I’m glad she’s with someone who cares for her.” Elliot
produced the film he’d taken from the camera. “She had a camera with a
satellite-tracking device in it. I’ve thrown the camera on a train going north.
If her grandfather has any other tricks up his sleeve, I don’t know about
them.”

“Our police have been warned. Now that she is safely here,
you should have no more trouble.”

He wanted to believe that. He watched Alys speaking
excitedly with Dulce, her hands flying in time with her words. He wanted to give
Alys some time in Albuquerque, show her the sights. If it hurt this much
leaving Lucia behind, to hell with his box. He needed more time outside of it.

“Why would a man who doesn’t seem to like Lucia very much go
to this much trouble to keep her?” he asked, trying to think of anything but
the emotional scene before him.

Tony shrugged. “He hates losing, and he hates giving up what
he considers his. Lucia’s father was his only son. Maybe he thinks he can raise
her to be the person his son wasn’t.”

Elliot disliked the sound of that. He definitely wanted to
come back and check on the child. “I owe her a camera. May we return tomorrow?”

“You and Ms. Seagraves will always be welcome here.” Tony
held out his hand.

Elliot shook it. One task done. Mame next. One step at a
time. Pretty soon he’d be back where he should be. He dropped his arm around
Alys’s shoulder and gently pulled her away from her animated conversation. “The
Balloon Fiesta, remember? The lighting will take place shortly.”