Obsession (11 page)

She shot him a look filled with disbelief. “You’re kidding, right? I’m positive my father killed Janice. If I ever tried to tell anyone, I knew I’d be next. Being the daughter of the cult leader didn’t protect me from his wrath. In fact, I was the focus of his public paddling sessions, to prove his family wasn’t exempt from the rules.”

He stopped and faced her. This woman had been beaten in front of the cult by her father to prove he was in charge. How had she made it out, become the incredible woman who sat in front of him today? “How’d you get away, become a lawyer?”

“Ha. All part of my father’s great and glorious plan to infiltrate the US government, get rid of non-believers, and rule the country. He failed to factor in a few things, like me having a real brain and graduating at the top of my class in law school—then getting a plum clerkship.” She gave him a wry smile and shook her finger at him. “I failed to factor in a few things we won’t go into right now.”

She was holding back. Something important. For some strange reason, he had a sense that it related to him. But how could that be? He’d only known the woman a week—barely. His logical brain wanted to push her, but his gut told him she’d only clam up if he did. “And the baby?”

Her eyes filled with tears, and she gave him a crooked smile. “Best thing that ever happened to me was getting pregnant with Jake. Worst thing that ever happened was I went home to the farm for a ‘quiet dinner’ late in my third trimester and wound up being held captive by my father and mother until I delivered the baby. I almost died.” She shivered and rubbed her arms. “I came to with my father and mother shouting Jake was the ‘Chosen One’ as prophesized by a book that never made it into the Bible, the Book of Enoch.”

That explained the dead cult follower’s obsession with the child—and its mother. “As in the Messiah?” He put quotes around the word in the air.

“You got it. I’m his mother. I’m assure you, Jake is just a normal, healthy little boy. He plays with his toys and friends and loves animals. When we used to go to the park, he had to pet every dog we saw. They ran to greet him.” She shook her head. “One man told me he planned to put his arthritic eight-year-old Labrador down. Couldn’t bear to see him in so much pain. He claimed that after Jake petted his dog, the Labrador was cured of his arthritis. Told
everyone
in the park my son had healed his dog. I had to stop taking Jake to the park. People were lining up to bring their sick dogs and cats to him.” She shook her head. “People
want
to believe. They
crave
miracles.”

She flicked a tear off her cheek.

“Unlike my father, I’m not delusional. He has some serious auditory hallucinations, along with some nasty seizures. Direct pipeline to God, he says. Untreated temporal lobe seizures, my medical friends say. Anyhow, crazy man decided I was Jezebel, undeserving of the honor of being Jake’s mother. His plan was to take my newborn away from me and prepare Jake to rule the world.” She paused and looked around as if seeing the tree and boulder for the first time.

Hands and teeth clenched, Alejandro struggled to keep his own suppressed emotions in check. Everything she said touched on his still raw nerves of grief and loss. Angie’s father had been driven by religious delusions. Isabel’s father had been driven by the need for power and control. Was there any difference between the cult leader and the cartel boss when it came down to what they did to the people around them? Alejandro decided the hypocrisy of the cult leader was worse than that of the cartel boss. At least the thug was upfront about his criminal intents and didn’t suck people in using God as his front man. Part of him wanted her to stop telling the story, to stop scraping at his raw wounds. But the logical side of his brain knew he had to press her for more. “And?”

“I escaped, left Jake on his married father’s doorstep—and got caught by one of my father’s corrupt cops. My father tied me up, beat and tortured me to try to get Jake’s whereabouts. I never broke. Still have the scars.”

She turned her arms over, exposing a myriad of criss-crossed paper-thin white lines.
Razor cuts
. How had he not noticed them before?

“Anyhow, my father did some exciting things,
finally
got arrested and jailed. I was hired by a great lawyer, had a good relationship with Jake’s father and his wife’s family, took up martial arts and rock-wall climbing. Life was good. And you know the rest of the story. Went to the daycare to pick Jake up. He was gone. My lunatic father and mother struck again. I want my happily ever after. I want my kid back. Or I’m gonna die trying. So, why should I trust you to help me get my kid back? What’s
your
story?”

****

Angie stared at the man in front of her and for a split second, Alejandro looked like a deer caught in headlights. A shadow passed over his face, and he reverted to the swaggering asshole he was when they began their run.
What was he hiding?

He glanced up at the sky. “If we don’t get going, we’ll be caught in a deluge. Besides, we should get back before Isabel sends out a search party.”

Hmm. A double ‘Let’s get going’ message. He really didn’t want to tell her anything.
She shivered as the clouds darkened the sky and the wind shifted, dragging the smell of the dead pig to her nostrils. “Yuck. You’re right. Time to go.”

His shoulders relaxed. Good. She’d cross-examine him on the way back. She picked her way across the rocky terrain, careful not to move too fast. “What brought you to Mexico?”

Alejandro averted his head, scanned the sky, and avoided her gaze. At last, he recited what sounded like a well rehearsed story about a dishonorable discharge from the Green Berets, multiple arrests for embezzlement, fraud and money-laundering. Plus being a poster child for Interpol.

Angie had heard much worse from her Baltimore clients. Why would Isabel trust this guy enough to bring him into her inner circle? What did the badass boss see in him, aside from his ridiculous good looks and
other
attributes. She shook off those dangerous memories of him in that tiny bathing suit. “How’d you meet Isabel?”

“Hanging around
El Hombre Loco
. I met Tio and Pepe and asked them if there might be any work for an accountant in the area.”

“An accountant? You really asked if they needed an accountant? Not a bookkeeper, embezzler, or money launderer?”

He laughed. “Well, maybe I mentioned I was good with shell corporations and cooking the books.”

That was more like it.
“So just like that,” she snapped her fingers, “Isabel hired you and gave you the keys to the cartel kingdom.”

His fingers twitched and his face flushed. Ahh. Now she was getting somewhere. “Well? I told you my story.”
Minus a few details.
“I’m waiting. I need to know if I can trust you to help me save my son.
Quid pro quo.”

They came to the top of a little ridge. Below them, Isabel’s sprawling home and turquoise pool beckoned. Just a few more minutes, that’s all she needed.

“Raul had similar questions. His interviewing technique, as you know, lacks finesse. He broke my eardrum in the process. He was about to kill me when Isabel stormed into that same room you were in. If it hadn’t been for her impeccable timing, I’m pretty certain I would have been one of those headless corpses in the desert.” He clenched and unclenched his fists. “Tio told me I ‘passed the test,’ that the
federales
had been trying to infiltrate her cartel for years.”

She stared at his face, looking for any inconsistencies between his verbal and body language. This part of the story was true. His emotions came to the surface when he talked about the rat-faced cop, Raul. She shuddered, recalling the creep’s vile breath and filthy hands.

“So now you’re part of the tribe.”
And what a clan to be part of
. A tight network of arms dealers, drug traffickers, and murderers bound by greed and gang loyalty.

He threw her a sharp look and a grim smile came to his lips. “You might say that. But, being a member of
this
family doesn’t mean you’re any more protected than you were in yours. I’m always watching my back, worried that my usefulness will expire when I least expect it.”

The truth, at last.
The other bullshit had been window-dressing.

Alejandro turned toward the path back to the house, away from this private moment. She had to extract a pledge from him now. She couldn’t go back without it.

“Stop.” She grabbed his hard-muscled upper arm and his head whipped around. “If we’re going to be partners in this rescue, we have to be able to trust each other, despite our differences.”

He furrowed his brow, pondered the question for a moment. “Yeah.”

“Our goals have to be the same, or we won’t save Jake. Do you agree?”

The rising wind ruffled his thick, dark hair. She wanted to run her fingers through that hair, tousle it herself while straddling the huge python in his pants.
Stop thinking about—sex. With him.

He nodded assent.

“I need you to promise me one thing.” He raised an eyebrow, and her heart fluttered.
Nerves. That was all
.
Putting her on edge. Making her think crazy, lust-filled thoughts.
She was about to ask for something totally out of bounds, something that she craved, but would never have requested under normal circumstances.

“What’s that?”

She took a deep breath. “After we rescue Jake, I want you to kill my father. Kill them
all
.”

****

Alejandro stared at the redheaded woman as if he’d never seen her before. Did she have a multiple personality disorder? One minute she’s sobbing over her dead friend, the next she’s asking the unthinkable. “What did you just say?”

She put her fists on her hips and lifted her chin. “You heard me. I want you to kill my father. Kill them
all
.”

“What makes you think I could kill someone?”
Think man
. Don’t let this spiral out of control. “I’m an accountant, remember?”

“Ha. And I’m a lawyer. You think I don’t know you, your type? You may not do the actual dirty work, but you have those two gorillas who would break someone in two if you asked them.”

He relaxed. She didn’t know he was under cover. “Point taken. But you don’t want to pursue this.” Tio and Pepe and the rest of the blood-thirsty lot would be more than happy to comply with her request. But the price was too high. “A thousand followers, whose only sin was to believe your father’s delusions. You want me to have those innocent people killed, too?”

“Not one of them stood up for me when I was beaten in front of the congregation as a child. And his henchmen dragged me back to the farm to be beaten and tortured. There are no innocents in that cult. Mindless robots.”

“Come on, be reasonable. That can’t be the whole commune. You told me yourself there were a lot of elderly folks he duped, stole their money, and sold them the promised land. You want me to kill old ladies?” He hoped she’d understand the absurdity of her demand. This was a rescue effort, not an all out war.

She poked him on the chest. Hard. “You, of all people should understand a blood vendetta. Whether my father lives or dies, if any of them is left alive, they will come after my son. I can’t risk Jake’s life for these crazy people.”

At the moment, the only lunatic he saw was the one in front of him. Not only could he
not
kill unarmed citizens, he couldn’t even think about bringing this up with his handler. The guy would go off like a rocket-launcher. And rightfully so. Alejandro had to get control of the situation right now.

“At the moment, I have no intention of killing anyone. The boss lady told me to take Tio, Pepe, and her best men, rescue your son Jake, and return with him. Period. Slaughter not included.” His technical skills did not need to be displayed, and his cover did not need to blown.

Face flushed, eyes wild, hair falling out of her pony tail, the woman looked like a very sexy Greek fury ready to pursue and avenge unpunished crimes. “Do you think it’s right that I have to live in fear for the rest of my life? That I might have to change my identity, move to another country, leave my friends and job behind? When is it time for
me
to get justice?”

“I hear you. I understand you.” He wanted to grab her, pull her into a passionate embrace, and kiss away her hurt. Instead, he put his hands up in supplication. “I empathize with your urge to kill your father. He has made your life a living hell. And, if he killed that young woman who was your friend, no doubt in my mind, he deserves to die. But I won’t endorse your idea of slaughtering them all. We do that and the
federales
will be crawling all over this place. The costs outweigh the benefits; it’s just bad for business.”

“Bad for business? That’s how you classify protecting my son’s life and his future?”

He passed his hand over his face.
God, woman, let it go.
“I need to talk to Isabel about this. She’s the boss, what she says goes. You want to make a case for killing them, you go to her. But I’m betting she’ll put you on the first plane back to the States.”

Angie’s face blanched, and she whispered. “I have to be here.”

“Then be reasonable. We
will
rescue your boy. But you have
got
to do what you’re told to do, okay?”

She nodded.

Thunder clapped and lightning ripped across the sky, bathing Angie in a surreal purple light. “Now we really have to make a run for it. We have no cover and the lightning strikes out here are deadly—just ask that pig.”