No One to Trust (4 page)

Porter muttered a curse under his breath.

The pops sounded again and they were followed
by loud shouts and whoops. The noise grew farther and farther away,
but her heart still pounded erratically. “What is that?”

He moved away from the window and grabbed his
neatly folded jeans from the coffee table and started to tug them
on. “You need to pack a bag. For at least two weeks.”

She cautiously crept up from behind her
hiding place. “What’s going on?”

“Someone just made a mess of your lawn and
shot off a few rounds overhead—probably to make sure you woke up to
see what they were doing. We’re lucky they didn’t aim at your
house,” he growled.

“What did they do to my lawn?” An unbidden
tremor raced through her voice.

“See for yourself.” He motioned with his head
as he zipped and buttoned his jeans.

Fighting panic, she headed toward the window
and lifted one of the wooden slats a fraction. Her heart caught in
her throat. Someone had burned something into her front yard.
Burning orange embers danced and floated under the moonlight. “What
is that? It looks like numbers. Why would someone burn numbers into
my yard?”

Porter wrapped his arm around her waist from
behind and pulled her away from the window. She nearly jumped out
of her skin. Despite the fear humming through her, she enjoyed the
intimacy of the way he held her. Turning, she faced him and didn’t
move out of his embrace. The rational part of her brain told her to
move away but instead, she wrapped her arms around him. Screw
rational. Right now she needed that extra bit of strength.

He tugged her completely away from the window
and into the shadows of the living room. “Those numbers mean you’ve
made a serious enemy, Lizzy. It’s a seventy-nine.” His tone was so
dark and ominous and he made the statement with such finality, as
if she should have any sort of clue what he meant.

“And…what? I’ve got seventy-nine days to
live?” She tried to sound light but her question came out
raspy.

“It’s a message from the Seventy-Ninth Street
Gang. They used to do a lot of low level work for Alberto Salas
before he died. Looks like they’re working for his son, Orlando,
too.”

“Why would they or he come after me?” She
might have made him angry earlier today but her brother owed
Orlando money, not her.

Porter’s face was a virtual mask. “This is
probably about your brother. He could be trying to threaten you in
order to get Benny to pay whatever he owes. Or maybe I made Orlando
angry by knocking him out and he feels like he needs to save face
in front of his men. I don’t know enough about Orlando to know the
answer. Either way, I’m keeping you under lockdown until we have a
better idea what his intentions are.”

“How do you even know what that number means?
It could mean—”

“Grant works for the Miami PD and he’s done a
lot of undercover work with the local gang task force. I
know
what that number means and it’s a message. This is just
a warning. You don’t want to be around when they come back.”

She’d forgotten his other brother was a cop.
“Shouldn’t we call the police then?”

He nodded. “While you’re packing I’ll call
Grant. He’s a detective now. You can make a statement to him later
and he can have someone head down here to document your front yard.
I don’t want to stick around in case these guys decide to make
another visit tonight.”

That was fine with her. The more reality set
in, she didn’t want to hang around her house either. And she hated
that. Her home was her safe haven and now she felt violated. She
wiped sweaty palms against her pajama pants as she stepped out of
his embrace. “I’ll go pack.” As she passed the guestroom, she
paused when she saw a folded piece of paper on the nightstand.

She hurried toward it and picked it up.
Glancing over her shoulder, she sighed when she realized Porter
hadn’t followed her. Her hands trembled as she unfolded it. It was
Benny’s handwriting.

I’m so sorry
,
hermana. I’m a coward
to leave in the middle of the night but I’m too ashamed to face you
in the morning. For the first time in months everything is clear.
Next time I call you asking for help, I beg you not to do it. I’m
so ashamed I asked you to Orlando’s house knowing what a monster he
is. I don’t deserve a sister like you and I’m sorry for all the
trouble I’ve caused you. I’ve done something stupid but I needed
insurance. Orlando doesn’t know what I’ve done yet but he will soon
enough. My insurance will keep you alive. I left it for you in our
childhood hiding place. You’ll know what to do. Don’t trust anyone
with what I’m giving you. Te quiero, Benito.

Insurance? What did that mean? And what could
he have left for her?

“Elizabeth?” Porter’s voice trailed down the
hall.

Fighting back the sting of tears, she
crumpled the paper and hurried to her room. There would be time
enough later to figure out what kind of trouble her brother was in.
She didn’t care what Benny said, she could never abandon her
brother.

* * * * *

Orlando stared at the picture of Elizabeth
Martinez on his computer screen. Everything about her was perfect.
She came from a respected family, she was well-liked around Miami,
and she was beautiful. Not in a showy, trashy sort of way, but
elegant and refined. Exactly what his family wasn’t. And exactly
what he wanted in a wife.

He’d made a mistake yesterday by striking
her, but he’d finally gotten her right where he wanted her and he’d
lost control. At every function he’d ever spoken to Elizabeth,
she’d been a quiet little thing and he hadn’t expected her to fight
him. It had taken months to get her brother, Benito, in a position
to owe him money. Orlando had wanted to push him into a corner and
force the man to call Elizabeth and beg for help. After that time
and planning everything had gone to shit in seconds.

And all because of Porter Caldwell. Orlando
hadn’t recognized the guy until it was too late. Porter’s
involvement with Elizabeth put a wrinkle in his plans.

He’d known she worked for the Caldwell family
but hadn’t realized the apparent extent of her relationship with
them. If it had been
anyone
else, he’d simply kill them and
be done with it. But if he had a member of the Caldwell family
executed, it would surely fall back on his doorstep ten-fold.
Porter’s family had ties with almost every branch of the
government—and he was pretty sure Porter’s father was a retired spy
if the rumors around the city were true. Orlando didn’t need that
kind of heat.

Despite the fact that growing up his father
had always told him what a screw-up he was, Orlando wasn’t stupid
and he certainly didn’t have a death wish. No, he’d have to deal
with Porter another way. More subtly.

A sharp knock on his office door jerked him
out of his thoughts. Frowning, he glanced at the clock. It was
barely five and the sun hadn’t yet risen. There was only one person
who would be up as early as he.

He clicked off Elizabeth’s picture and pulled
up a spreadsheet. “Come in.”

Miguel, his cousin and one of the few people
in the world he trusted, stepped in. His dark eyebrows pulled
together in concern. “Hey, you busy?”

Orlando shook his head. “What’s up?”

Miguel cleared his throat. “I just got a call
from Juan.”

“And?” Orlando had sent Juan and Eddie, two
members of the Seventy Ninth Street Gang, over to scare Elizabeth
at her house. If he hadn’t been sure that Porter would be there, he
might have had them do more than scare her, but he couldn’t risk
Porter getting hurt in the crossfire. Not yet anyway.

“Looks like it worked. They did as you asked.
Currently her car’s still there but it looks like she’s cleared
out.”

“Good.” He’d expected her to leave. If she
was scared she’d be more amendable to listening to him next time.
He had eyes all over Miami and he knew exactly where she worked.
Even if she stayed in hiding, all he’d have to do was follow her
home from work one day. Well, he’d have one of his men do it.

He needed her terrified of him, to realize
that she had no other choice but to listen to his demands. From
what he knew about Elizabeth, she was loyal to a fault to her
brother and Benny’s debt wasn’t going to go away anytime soon. He
needed to convince her to pay off her brother’s debt with herself.
Yes, he’d have to scare her again very soon. If he let too much
time lapse between what the gang had done tonight and another
incident, it wouldn’t make as much of an impact.

When Orlando’s cousin didn’t make a move to
leave, he arched an eyebrow. “Is there something else?”

Miguel cleared his throat again, a definite
sign he was nervous. “I don’t understand why you’re using our
manpower for something as trivial as a hundred K. With our new
product, it doesn’t make sense to focus on this. We should just
kill Benny and make him an example. Why not leave the sister
alone?”

“Since when do you question my decisions?”
Orlando didn’t understand his cousin’s view toward the opposite
sex. Women were nothing more than entertainment—or trophies to
display—but for some reason Miguel had a soft spot for women. He
knew that was the real reason Miguel wanted him to back off from
scaring Elizabeth.

His cousin held up his hands in a placating
gesture. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” He quickly backpedaled and shut
the door behind him.

Sighing, Orlando sat back in front of his
computer and pulled up another picture of Elizabeth. Need burned
deep inside him as he stared at her. Her head was thrown back and
she was laughing at something her mother had said. All that dark
hair of hers spilled around her face and shoulders. The woman
looked like a goddess. The picture was from a charity function for
animals or some other crap. He might not remember the reason for
the event, but he remembered everything about her from that night.
She’d only had two glasses of champagne before switching to water,
and every time she’d moved, her long black dress had swayed
seductively, showing him peeks of her mile-long legs. She was a
tall woman, especially for being Cuban, and her body was her best
asset. Well that and her family name.

He’d tried to talk to her, but she’d been
surrounded by her family. Her two oldest brothers hadn’t left her
side the entire night. They’d been like rabid guard dogs, baring
their teeth to anyone who got too close. But he’d find a way to get
to her. It was all about timing. One way or another, Elizabeth was
going to be his. Her family was highly respected in the Miami
circuit and he needed that clout. He might have money but his
father had never made an attempt to gain any respect around town.
No, all he’d cared about was people fearing him.

Fear was important to Orlando too, but he
didn’t want a life like his father’s. He wanted someone classy like
Elizabeth to be his. Not some trashy dancer like his father had
married. Orlando’s lip curled up as he thought about his dead
mother. Good riddance to both his parents. His life was going to be
much different than his father’s. He’d make sure of it.

Chapter 3

Porter tried calling his brother again,
impatient as he waited for Grant to pick up. He’d gotten in touch
with him last night and Grant had sent a uniform over to document
Elizabeth’s yard. He’d wanted her to come down to the station but
Porter had been adamant that she make a statement later. The time
lag wouldn’t make a difference since they knew who’d left that
insignia in her yard. Leaving a calling card wasn’t exactly a
genius move.

Next he’d called his other brother, Harrison,
and told him that Elizabeth wouldn’t be coming to work—though he
expected her to fight him on that. That was too bad.

Now he needed more info from Grant so he
could figure out how best to protect Lizzy. After eight years in
the Marines and the six after that spent protecting people, he had
a lot of training and experience when it came to security
situations and he wanted to know as much about this enemy as
possible. Any edge he had to keep Elizabeth safe.

Grant answered on the second ring. “Hey, I
was just about to call you back.”

“What do you know?”

“Good morning to you too.” Grant’s voice was
wry.

Porter didn’t bother with niceties or an
apology. Right now he was too wired. “I’ve got a lot on my
mind.”

“I know, man. We’re going to keep Lizzy safe.
Has she been able to tell you anything else?”

Porter ignored the twinge of annoyance by his
brother’s use of Elizabeth’s nickname. So far everyone in his
family was at perfect ease around her. She’d been working for Red
Stone Security for the past couple years, and hell, she was the
best friend of Harrison’s fiancé. If it hadn’t been for all the
security jobs he’d taken around the globe the past couple years,
he’d have met her in person long ago. Instead he’d only met her
face to face months ago and he hadn’t been able to get her out of
his mind since. He
should
feel comfortable around her and he
hated that he always seemed to be edgy in her presence. “No, but
she’s still sleeping. Didn’t want to wake her yet. And you know
everything I know. Her youngest brother seems to have gotten into
trouble with Orlando Salas and now Elizabeth is being targeted by
the Seventy Ninth Street Gang.” Porter guessed to give Benny more
of an incentive to pay up. Going after Benny through Elizabeth was
actually smart. The Martinez family might have washed their hands
of Benny but they’d never let anything happen to their
daughter.

Grant cursed. “This gang’s been a thorn in my
side for years. If we can bring them
and
Salas down it’ll be
big for the department and the city. You gonna keep Lizzy at your
place today?”

As if he’d let her go anywhere. “Of course. I
have a meeting in a few hours but I’m going to work from home most
of the day.”