“Ben’s got a couple of snitches he thinks might be able to help
us find them. Better yet if the cops bring them in. We need a connection to
Sabrina’s cousins. Garcia and Zamora don’t give us something, we’re going to
need a way to flush them out.”
“Bait?”
“Maybe. Policewoman who’s petite and red-haired, somebody
trained for that kind of work.” Whoever it was, it wasn’t going to be Sabrina.
No way was he going to let that happen. “We aren’t at that point yet.
Unfortunately, this morning another problem came up.”
Trace raked a hand through his thick dark brown hair. There was
a faint crease beside his temple from the cowboy hat he’d hung on the rack
beside the door. “Never rains it doesn’t pour.”
Alex briefly filled Trace in on Bagley and the threat he posed
to Ginny. When he finished, his friend’s expression looked tense.
“So what’s your play?”
“Joe McCauley’s staying with Becca round the clock. He’s a good
man. Tough and smart. Bagley’s a worm. I don’t think he’ll want any kind of
physical confrontation. In the meantime, I need to talk to Sol, see if we can
come up with something that might help the police figure out where the bastard’s
hiding.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Will do.”
From Trace’s desk, Alex headed into Sol Greenway’s
computer-lined office. Sol rolled his chair back from his desk.
“Hey, Peaceman, what’s up?”
“Bagley’s zeroed in on my sister’s little girl.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. She’s staying at home till the cops can find him. I
thought maybe we’d brainstorm, see what we can come up with that could help them
figure out where he’s hiding.”
“You’re thinking a friend, maybe?”
“Once he was arrested, his so-called friends scurried like
roaches in the opposite direction. I can’t think of anyone who’d welcome him
with open arms, but I guess it could happen. I’m thinking real estate, too,
someplace he might own under an alias.”
“Okay. Let me take a look at his file, see if something jumps
out at me. Since we’re starting with zip, it might take me a while.”
Alex nodded. “Appreciate it.”
He left Sol pounding away on his keyboard and went back to
where Sabrina was immersed in reviewing her mining portfolio.
She looked up and saw him, cast him a brilliant smile. Alex’s
chest squeezed. Damn, he didn’t get it. She was just a woman. Over the years,
how many had he known? His mind strayed to Melissa Carlyle, then the beautiful
French model, Gabriella Moreau.
The truth was, Sabrina was nothing like the others. She was
beautiful in a completely different way and somehow more real.
He took a deep breath, waited for his heartbeat to slow. He
wasn’t sure what was going on with his over-the-top attraction. And he wasn’t
sure he wanted to find out.
Twenty-Eight
R
ina tucked the Desert Mining portfolio
under her arm. She’d made good inroads into understanding the information in the
packet and she liked what the company was proposing. Next she needed to go to
Presidio and see the mining operation at work.
Far more important, she needed to find out who was behind the
attempts on her life.
“How did it go?” she asked Alex as he walked toward her. Before
he could answer, the disposable phone in her purse started ringing. Very few
people had the number. Aside from Alex, only her mother, Sage, Jake and Arturo.
She dug out the phone and pressed it against her ear.
To her surprise, her cousin Priscilla’s voice came over the
line. “Priscilla?”
“Hello, Rina. I’m sorry to bother you but I’m at the hospital
with your mom.”
“Oh, God, what happened? Is she okay?”
“She’s had an allergic reaction. I don’t know what happened. We
were having our usual Tuesday lunch at Pete’s Café and suddenly she started
wheezing, couldn’t catch her breath. The owner called 911 but before the
ambulance could get there, her face turned blue and she passed out.”
“She’s not...she’s not...”
“No, no. She’s doing better, but she’s going to be here at
least overnight. I found your number on her cell. I knew you’d want to
know.”
“Tell her I’m coming, will you? I can be there by tonight.”
“Good. That’s good. I’ve been really worried. Aunt Flo is...you
know, really great. She’s always been good to me.”
Sabrina felt a catch in her throat. Priscilla loved Sabrina’s
mother, and her mother loved Sill and her two girls. “I’m on my way. Thanks,
Sill, for calling.”
She tucked the phone away and looked into Alex’s worried
face.
“You’re white as a sheet. What’s happened?”
“That was Priscilla. Mom’s had an allergic reaction. She’s in
the hospital.”
“Bee sting?”
“Peanuts. We used to laugh about it, since we’re not blood
related. It’s life-threatening, Alex. I have to go to Uvalde.”
Alex rubbed a hand over his unshaven jaw. “Jesus, what
next?”
“It’s okay. I’ll rent a car. I know you don’t want me going by
myself, but your sister needs you.”
“Bullshit. Can’t you see? This could be a trap. Maybe Priscilla
wants you down there so she and her boyfriend can get another shot at killing
you.”
Was it possible? It all sounded so completely wrong. Sabrina’s
attention snapped toward the sound of heavy footfalls and she saw Ben Slocum
striding toward them.
“More problems?” He always looked so dark and forbidding. And
yet he seemed to care very much about his friends. She wondered what his story
was.
“Sabrina’s mother’s in the hospital,” Alex said to him. “I told
her she can’t go to Uvalde—that it could be a trap, but—”
“I’m going, Alex. This is my mother.”
“Okay, hold it,” Ben said. “I’ll take Rina where she needs to
go and you can stay here, keep an eye on your sister, work on finding Zamora and
Garcia. Or you can take her and I’ll keep an eye on your sister and keep things
moving here. Whichever you want.”
Sabrina’s throat closed up. Everyone was trying to help but the
nicer they were, the more helpless she felt. She tried to hold back the tears
burning her eyes, but it was all just too much. A sob escaped and the dam burst,
her body shaking as she turned away and started to cry, wishing she was anywhere
but there.
Alex caught her shoulders and eased her into his arms. “It’s
okay, baby.” He rested his cheek on the top of her head, held her close against
him. “Things happen. We’ll handle it. We’ll make it work.”
She leaned into him, wished she could burrow right under his
skin. “I’m sorry. I’m usually tougher than this.”
His hold tightened around her. “You’re plenty tough. I’ve
already found that out.”
Her throat ached. The shooting at the minimart. Edward Bagley
and little Ginny. Now her mother. She took a shaky breath, determined to regain
control.
“I’m okay.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I’ll go with
Ben. You stay with your sister.”
Alex shook his head. “The cops are all over Bagley, and Joe’s
there. Sol’s working on it, but it’s bound to take some time. I’ll fly us down
and we’ll rent a car. It’s less than three hundred miles. We can be there in a
couple of hours. While we’re gone, Ben can take care of things here.”
She was too weary to fight him. She simply nodded.
“We’ll swing by Ben’s and pick up some clothes in case we need
to stay overnight. Then head out.”
He turned away from her, spoke to Ben for a couple more minutes
about Bagley, Zamora and Garcia.
“Keep me posted, will you?” Alex said to him.
“You got it.”
An hour later, after a quick stop to pick up fresh clothes,
they were in the air, headed for the hospital in Uvalde.
Rina prayed that Alex was wrong, that it wasn’t any sort of
trap. She prayed they would be safe.
* * *
The flight was smooth all the way to Uvalde. Heat rolled
up from the tarmac as the plane dropped down and made a low, gliding descent
onto the runway, then taxied to a stop in front of the executive terminal.
Alex had phoned ahead and had a rental car waiting. As soon as
the paperwork was completed, he guided Sabrina out to the compact silver-gray
Nissan SUV parked in the lot and they headed for the Uvalde Memorial Hospital on
Garner Field Road.
The air was hot and dry, dust blowing up along the side of the
road as they passed. The hospital wasn’t far from the airport. Before they’d
left Houston, Sabrina had called the floor nurse and been given an update on her
mother. Florence was breathing better, resting peacefully. Sabrina had told the
nurse to tell her mother they would be there very soon.
As the automatic doors to the lobby swung open, hitting them
with a blast of cold air, doctors and nurses in scrubs hurried past them. Alex
guided Sabrina toward the information desk, wishing he could wipe away the
worried look on her face.
“We’re here to see Mrs. Eckhart,” she said to the dark-haired
woman behind the counter. “I don’t know her room number.”
Peering through a pair of half-glasses, the woman checked her
computer. “That would be room 321.” She pointed across the lobby. “The elevators
are right over there.”
“Thank you.”
As they walked in that direction, Alex scanned their
surroundings, checking for anything out of the ordinary, any sign of danger. His
senses were running on high alert and had been since they’d left his Houston
office, the semiautomatic pistol in the shoulder holster beneath his
short-sleeved shirt within easy reach if he needed it.
They arrived on the third floor without a problem. Halfway down
the hall, Sabrina saw her cousin Priscilla standing outside the door to room
321. In a hard, tired sort of way, Priscilla was a beautiful woman. Long, dark
brown hair, smooth skin, full lips shiny with a layer of pink lip gloss. Her
low-cut red tank top and tight-fitting jeans showed off a dynamite figure.
Didn’t make him trust her any more than he had before.
He watched the two women. They didn’t hug as he suspected they
would have before all of this started. But the smile Priscilla gave Sabrina was
filled with relief.
“I’m glad you came. I’ve really been worried.”
“How is she?” Sabrina asked.
“Sleeping. The doctor says she’s improving. She really scared
me at the restaurant.”
“What happened?” Alex asked.
Priscilla wiped the palms of her hands on her jeans. “I don’t
know. We each ordered a salad. The next thing I knew, Aunt Flo was wheezing,
trying to catch her breath. Her face turned blue and she passed out. I caught
her before she hit the floor.”
“You said it was a reaction to peanuts. Were there peanuts in
the salad?”
“No. We had the Cobb Salad, the Tuesday special. We order it a
lot.”
“Is the doctor sure peanuts are what caused the reaction?” Alex
asked.
“Apparently so. They gave her some kind of test or
something.”
Alex’s gaze swung to Sabrina. “We’ll talk to the people at the
restaurant, find out how this could have happened. In the meantime, why don’t
you go on in and see your mom?”
She shot him a grateful smile and headed for the door, pushed
through and disappeared inside. Priscilla didn’t follow her in.
“I...umm...I’ve been wanting to thank you.”
“Why is that?”
“I heard about the help George and Millie are getting with
Janie. I heard rumors it was you. Was it?”
“I work with a couple of different charities. The little girl
needed care. I’m glad I could help.”
Priscilla’s dark eyes misted. “It was really nice of you.” She
dashed a tear from her cheek. “Aunt Flo told me about the shooting. She said you
saved Sabrina’s life. I guess you were right. Someone is trying to kill
her.”
“That’s the way it looks.”
“I...umm...I want you to know it isn’t me. I don’t know
anything about any of it.”
He kept his gaze steady on her face, looking for the lie, or
confirmation of the truth. “What about your brothers? They both need money. Are
they hungry enough to kill for it?”
Priscilla closed her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know. I
can’t imagine it. You said if Rina dies we inherit the property but none of us
knows anything about mining. That’s the reason Dad left the land to her instead
of us.”
“That the only reason? Because he thought she’d be interested
in mining the property?”
Priscilla’s gaze dropped to her red high-heeled sandals. “Dad
was a terrible father. He never had time for any of us and we hated him for it.
Then he and Mom got divorced. She was never happy, not even after she remarried.
We blamed him for it. By the time we grew up, it was too late to fix
things.”
“But your father didn’t have those kinds of problems with
Sabrina.”
“My dad and his brother were close. Rina was his niece, the
youngest girl in the family, and Dad doted on her. She believed all the crap he
told her. It just made things worse for the rest of us.”
Sabrina pushed through the door just then, returning to the
hallway. “Mom’s awake. She was glad to see me. I think she feels better just
knowing I’m here.”
“Then it’s good you came.”
She smiled, seemed relieved. “She’s sleepy, but she’s got a
great attitude. She’s already wanting to leave.”
The doctor walked up just then, an Asian man with smooth skin
and black hair, wearing a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. “I’m Dr. Wong. You’re
Florence’s daughter?”
“Yes, I’m Sabrina, and this is my friend...Alex Justice.”
Friend.
They were a helluva lot
more than friends. The word put his teeth on edge.
“Your mother is going to be okay,” the doctor said. “We’re
still trying to piece together how she ingested the nuts. It was her niece’s
quick thinking in recognizing the symptoms and getting the ambulance there that
kept the situation from being far more severe.”
“She’s always had to be very careful.”
“So you think it was an accident,” Alex said, and saw Sabrina’s
gaze shoot to his.
“I would presume so.”
Alex wished to hell he believed that, but the way things were
going it was hard to swallow.
“The good news is, she’s going to be fine.” The doctor scanned
his chart. “I’m planning to release her in the morning.”
“That’s very good news, Dr. Wong,” Sabrina said. “We appreciate
all you’ve done.”
The doctor nodded, smiled and walked away, his mind on his next
patient.
“We’ll get a room somewhere,” Alex said, “stay till morning,
take your mom home and get her settled.”
“What about your sister?”
“I’ll call Joe, see what’s happening, check with the police,
see if they’ve found any trace of Bagley. Sol hasn’t called, so he hasn’t come
up with anything. Whether we’re here or in Houston probably won’t matter.”
She worried her bottom lip, made him want to settle his mouth
there, taste her. Not appropriate thinking at the moment.
“All right, if you think it’s okay.”
Once the plan was set, Priscilla went home to take care of her
kids. Alex made the necessary phone calls but got no new information, ducked
into the room for a brief hello to Flo, then waited while Sabrina went back
inside to sit with her a little longer.
When visiting hours were over, a heavyset nurse with iron-gray
hair and a thick Texas drawl shooed her out of the room. “Your mama needs her
rest. Ya’ll come back in the mornin’. If Doc Wong says it’s okay, you can take
her home then.”
Sabrina waited for the door to close on her mother’s room then
Alex guided her toward the elevator. It was dark outside now, the dry night air
much cooler. Alex checked the rental car, saw no evidence of tampering, scanned
the parking lot and surrounding area, led Sabrina over to the car and settled
her inside.
“The Sunset Motel is a few blocks away,” she said as he slid
behind the wheel. “It isn’t too old and it’s clean. There’s nothing fancy in
Uvalde.”
“I don’t need fancy,” Alex said. Leaning over, he pressed a
soft kiss on her mouth. “I just need you.”
Her mood seemed to lighten. She gave him a slow, sexy smile.
“That’s good to know, flyboy. Her gaze drifted down to the bulge at the front of
his jeans. “Looks like you’ve got exactly what
I
need.”
Alex grinned. “How far did you say it was to that motel?”
* * *
Night had finally settled in, the cooler air drying the
sweat that had his faded brown T-shirt sticking to his skin. Henry was damned
sick of sitting in the frying heat. Nearly half a damned day wasted waiting in
the van, watching for the bastard to get there.
He’d known they would come. Rina and her mother were tight.
Something happened to Flo, she’d bust her sweet little ass to get to Uvalde.