Hidden Prey (Lawmen) (6 page)

She beamed then quickly shuttered her expression. “Thank you.”

“However, my little angel, it is not good enough.” He took her queen with his knight.

Without blinking, she took his knight with a pawn.

After six more moves, a look of triumph flashed across her face. She moved her bishop. “Checkmate.”

Diego steepled his fingers as he leaned back in his chair. The pride he felt for her was more than he could have expressed. He gave a slow nod as he laid down his king. “Excellent.”

He met her gaze and her look of deep pleasure slid away and she looked down. “Thank you, Grandfather.”

“You are a worthy opponent.” He put his hands on the arms of his chair. “Come. Walk with me.”

He rose, as did she. When she became a woman, she would wait for the gentleman to pull out her chair before standing.

The thought of his granddaughter crossing the bridge from childhood to becoming an adult brought him both pride and a sense of loss. He would miss the little girl she had been, always coming to him for her needs and desires. As a woman she would come into her own, broadening her horizons. He was torn between sending her away to college and keeping her with him. He did not like the idea of her going into the world alone. He had too many enemies and she would be but a woman.

She looped her arm through his and smiled up at him. “Where would you like to walk this evening?”

He swept his arm toward the stairs that led below. “I wish to see my gardens.”

“They are so lovely.” Her skirt flowed around her calves as they walked. “The blooms are magnificent and the perfume flows through me like the song of life.” She played the piano beautifully and he could imagine her fingers dancing over the keys as she breathed in the scents of roses or other flowers from his garden. Daily, Diego’s gardener put together an arrangement and the head housekeeper set the vase on top of the grand piano.

Just as they reached the top of the tiled stone staircase, Jaime, Diego’s personal assistant, walked through a balcony that led into the ten thousand square foot home. Jaime approached Diego and Angelina.

Diego looked down at his granddaughter and patted her hand. “I must speak with Jaime. Wait here for me.”

Used to interruptions, she smiled. “I will be at the balcony.” She walked to the balcony, her back to them.

Diego turned to Jaime. “This must be important as you are well aware that I am not to be disturbed when I am with my granddaughter.” His tone held a hint of warning.

Jaime did not betray any emotion, as usual, as he handed Diego an encrypted cell phone. “You have a call from Alejandro. He claims it is urgent.”

Diego frowned as he took the cell phone, wondering why his only son would be calling. Diego did not answer yet as he never talked business where his granddaughter might hear. He walked into the house, leaving Angelina on the balcony. He worked in his library, across the hall from the archway leading to the balcony.

He entered the library, a place that pleased him greatly. He had a love for reading and had books in each of the languages he spoke. He had been raised speaking only Spanish, but in college he had flourished in foreign languages and was now fluent in English, Italian, and French. Every wall of his library was lined with walnut bookshelves filled with books.

When he reached his finely crafted walnut desk, he sat in his leather desk chair and brought the cell phone to his ear. “What is it, Alejandro?”

“The problem you had me take care of has been eliminated, Father.” Alejandro paused. “However, there is a complication.”

Diego narrowed his brows. He did not like complications, especially in dealing with a U.S. federal agent who needed to be disposed of. “What is this complication?”

Alejandro cleared his throat. “A woman witnessed it. I believe she saw everything, including my face.”

Heat rose up around Diego’s collar. Alejandro did not normally do the dirty work, but this time Diego’s son had wanted to eliminate the agent himself. Mateo had gotten deep into the Jimenez Cartel’s family. Diego and Alejandro had trusted the bastard and had taken him in as if he were one of their own.

“You did not take care of this complication?” Diego asked.

“John and Pablo went after her.” Alejandro’s voice hardened. “They lost her.”

Diego surged to his feet, the heat around his collar rising to his face. “They lost her,” he repeated slowly. “And she can identify you.” Diego could not afford for his son to be identified.

“We do know who she is.” Alejandro spoke more quickly now. “She left a bag with her purse that contains her ID, cash, and credit cards. Her name is Tori Cox and she has a Tucson address. We found other information as well that may lead us to her. However, we do not know where she is now.”

“Did you search on the Internet for her?” Diego asked. “She may have family there.”

“Yes, I did do a search.” Alejandro said. “I got multiple Google hits on her. She’s a musician, highly regarded, and has performed around the U.S. However, there is no reference to Bisbee or to family. Her Facebook page is private, but lists her relationship with a Gregory Smith. It does not show her hometown. It is as if she has no ties here.”

“She must have friends or family there.” Diego tried to keep control of his fury. “Send Pablo to Tucson to the address on her driver’s license and see if he can find anything that will lead us to her. Perhaps someone will be there who will know where she must have planned to stay.”

“I have already sent Pablo as well as John.” Alejandro continued, “It should not take them long to reach and search her home, or to interrogate anyone they might need to.”

“Take care of it.” Diego disconnected the call and nearly slammed the cell phone on the desktop. He loved his son and would do anything for him. But Diego had a low tolerance for failure from anyone.

Diego breathed in slowly through his nose then parted his lips and blew out his breath. Deep inhale. Deep exhale. Alejandro, referred to as El Puño, The Fist, was next in line for Diego’s empire. If anything were to happen to Alejandro, Diego’s four brothers would be in line from the oldest to the youngest. Diego had no wish for his brothers to take over the business. It belonged to Alejandro if Diego was no longer in command for whatever reason.

His brothers were fools as far as Diego was concerned.

Once Diego was in full control of his emotions, he left the office and returned to the balcony where Angelina waited. She was looking out at the pool and gardens that were lit with strategically placed spotlights.

When he reached her, he rested his hand on her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. “What are you thinking, my angel?” he asked as he straightened.

She smiled up at him. “That I have the best grandfather in all the world.”

He returned her smile. “As I have the prettiest, most intelligent granddaughter.”

She rested her head on his biceps for a moment and he put his arm around her shoulders. Her squeezed her to him before they linked arms and walked down the staircase to the grounds below.

In their agency SUV, the other agents followed Landon’s vehicle. The whole time, Tori felt like she was going to crawl out of her skin.

At the same time she felt a numbness in her mind, like nothing made sense anymore. She had to struggle to keep thoughts of the murder out of her mind, but they were always there, knocking at the back of her brain.

When Tori asked why Landon was driving in circles all around the Bisbee area, he told her that he wanted to make damned sure no one followed them. “Even though it would be obvious if someone was tailing us in a small town like Bisbee, it’s necessary to take appropriate action. We can’t, and I won’t, take chances.”

Tori felt so jittery that it was as if insects crawled all over her skin. That she could be numb and jittery at the same time was a strange feeling. They spent a good half hour driving to different parts of Bisbee, including the San Jose, Warren, and Galena areas.

She looked out into the darkness as Landon drove, only his headlights illuminating the paved road in some areas while streetlights lit up the streets in other parts of the sprawling town. As far as stoplights in the whole of Bisbee, they could be counted on one hand.

When she felt almost dizzy from driving around and around the town, she turned her gaze from the darkness outside. She looked at Landon who steered the SUV with one hand on the top of the wheel and his other hand lower. The amber glow of the dashboard lights caused his features to look harsher, the scar a brutal slash across the right side of his face. She wondered where he had gotten it.

Since he no longer had an overshirt on, she got a better idea of just how defined his body was beneath his T-shirt. The shirt was snug around his biceps and taut across his chest. She wondered if he had washboard abs—she couldn’t tell because of the T-shirt, but if the rest of him was any indication, then he probably did.

Despite everything that had happened, she found herself attracted to this almost gruff, virile alpha male. Under other circumstances, she would ask him more questions to figure out what made him tick. She had the feeling that Landon had a lot of layers and that it wouldn’t be easy getting past the surface.

He glanced at her, catching her staring at him, and her face warmed.

She sighed. “I wish I could have stayed with my parents.”

He shook his head. “Too dangerous to take chances.”

“I know.” She bit her lower lip.

He seemed to be watching her for something, but she wasn’t sure what. “Did you have any kind of laptop or tablet in the bag that was stolen?”

“I was so upset about…” She trailed off before continuing. “I left my laptop bag with my clarinet at the front door of my home in Tucson.” She rubbed her arms with her palms. “It ended up being a good thing that I forgot them since I never could have run away from the men if I’d been carrying them.”

She wiped her sweating palms on her jeans again. Landon had saved her life, she was sure of that, and now he was helping her when she had nowhere else to turn without putting her family into danger.

She looked outside the window and her skin went cold.

“My—my boyfriend.” Her eyes widened as she looked away from the dark scenery, her gaze cutting to Landon. “He lives with me in Tucson. What if these guys from the cartel go to my home because they have the address from my driver’s license? What if they’ve already gone there?”

Landon snapped his attention to her and he handed her his phone. “Call him. Tell him to leave and stay with a friend.”

Tori’s hands shook as she pressed the numbers for Gregory’s phone. She was surprised she remembered since she always used speed dial to call him on her own phone. She brought the phone to her ear and heard his ring and ring before it went to voicemail.

“Gregory.” Her voice was urgent. “Something’s happened. As soon as you get this message, I need you to go stay with a friend. Get out of the townhouse immediately. I can’t explain over the phone, just do it.” She disconnected the call and redialed his number. Once again it rang several times before she got his voicemail.

“Maybe he’s not home.” She looked at Landon. “Why didn’t I think of him before? If something happens to him—”

“You are not to blame,” Landon cut in. “You’ve had a big scare and a lot to process. And we didn’t know the cartel was involved, so you had no way of knowing he could be in danger.”

Tori bit her lower lip. She’d left Gregory, but she’d never want anything horrible to happen to him. She tried dialing him again, but no answer. She left another message, this time with Landon’s cell phone number when he instructed her to do so.

“What should we do?” she asked Landon when she disconnected the call.

“I’ll take care of it.” He took his cell phone from her, dialed a number, and brought the phone to his ear.

Tori listened as he identified himself and soon he was talking with a lieutenant at the Tucson Police Department and explaining the situation. Landon asked Tori for Gregory’s last name, and she told him that it was Smith. She gave Landon their home address and he relayed it to the lieutenant on the other end of the line.

“They’re sending officers to your house to check on your boyfriend now,” Landon told Tori as he holstered his phone. He didn’t offer her any false hope by saying something like, “I’m sure he’ll be fine.” It didn’t seem to be his style to offer hope when there were too many unknowns.

“Thank you.” She dug her nails into her palms to try and get a grip on herself.

“In case the cartel does have a problem finding your parents on the Internet, does your boyfriend know where your parents live?” Landon asked.

Cold washed over her and her skin prickled. “Gregory has been there once, but I don’t think he knows the address. He’s horrible with directions. He didn’t get on very well with my mom and dad, and they weren’t too crazy about him.”

Considering her parents were good people and she trusted her mother’s judgment, Tori knew she should have questioned her relationship with Gregory. Even her friends had made comments that, in retrospect, were probably meant to tell her in a roundabout way that they didn’t approve of him.