The Guardian (The Wolfe Series) (8 page)

At any rate, he figured i
t was past time to leave New York.  The one known as Lobo Diablo was causing problems, most recently killing two of his best coyotes and that kind of interference was no longer going to be tolerated.

“Thanks for a lovely day,” Laurie said as she dismounted and led Aragon into the barn. 

“It was my pleasure,” Luzaro said as he also dismounted and led his horse into the barn, handing the reigns to a stable boy who had been waiting for them.  He took Aragon’s reigns out of Laurie’s hands and handed them to the stable boy as well.

“The boy will see to their care,” he said when he saw
Laurie frown.  He gave her his most winning smile in return and said, “We’ll be late for our dinner reservation if we tarry.”

Laurie ran her hand along Aragon’s beautifully arched neck
and crooned to him, “Until next time, boy.”  Since leaving the foster home where she’d spent her high school years, Laurie had almost forgotten how men could resort to using high-handed tactics to get what they wanted.  

Emma and Charlie Watson had been good enough to her
in their way but she’d felt smothered by their constant vigilance, never allowing her any freedom or an opportunity to think or feel for herself.  As the years had passed she’d found herself giving Charlie more and more of a wide berth, sensing an unhealthy interest in her on the older man’s part.  She had found excuse after excuse to leave the house if Emma wasn’t going to be home.  Not that Charlie had ever tried anything, the man was too smart for that, or too afraid.  She wasn’t sure which.  Laurie shuddered.  Enrique Perez reminded her of Charlie Watson, always watching her as though he were waiting for an opportunity to pounce. 
Men, can any of them be trusted?

Laurie stiffened her spine and faced Luzaro.  “Aragon is my responsibility, Luc.  I enjoy working with him and it’s not your place to make decisions where he’s concerned.”

Luzaro was not surprised by Laurie’s response.  He found her quite headstrong in her own way.  He wondered how long it would take him to break her of that nasty habit once she was firmly under his control.  “Of course, Querida,” Luzaro said smoothly as he took her by the elbow and escorted her out of the stable and toward their waiting Escalade.

             
Beloved, sweetheart, darling? Laurie wasn’t sure what the word Querida meant but she didn’t feel she was any of those things nor would she be.  The incident with Aragon had shown her that a macho man like Luc wasn’t the kind of man she was looking for.  She wanted a man who would love her for herself and allow her the freedom she needed in order to breath and experience life to the fullest.  She sighed, recognizing that Luc River would never be such a man.

             
She knew that Luc was planning to leave New York soon, she also knew that she wouldn’t be going with him.

             
Laurie refused to meet Enrique Perez’s reptilian gaze when he opened the car door for her and smiled smugly before motioning her into the back seat.  Grabbing her purse from the floor Laurie dug her phone out to check for messages and saw that Julie had called several times.  Laurie retrieved Julie’s voice mail as Luzaro slid into the back seat beside her.

             
“Oh my God, Laurie!” Julie cried.  “You have to get away from Luc!  He’s not who we thought he was!  He’s some notorious drug kingpin and the DEA is searching for him all over New York for questioning, him and that creepy Enrique guy.  It says he’s never been successfully prosecuted because he kills anyone who tries to testify against him.  Call me the minute you get this message, I’m going to call the police so don’t be surprised if they show up out there.”

             
Laurie was shaking so badly she could hardly hold the phone to her ear.  Breathing deeply, she slipped the phone back into her purse and pasted a smile on her face.

             
“Is anything wrong?” Luzaro had been quick to notice Laurie’s trembling hands as she listened to her voice mail and he was curious as to what could have upset her to such a degree.

             
“It was Julie, she’s all exited about an offer a publisher has made us on my latest novel,” Laurie lied.  She could see that Luc, or Luzaro or whatever his name really was, wasn’t buying it.  She could tell by the suffusion of color that was staining his neck and creeping slowly up toward his hairline.  “I need to get home.  The publisher wants to meet us for dinner tonight to discuss the terms.”

             
“And what of our plans?” Luzaro said, a note of steel hardening his voice.

             
Laurie turned the full force of her brilliant emerald gaze on Luc and said, “A rain check?  Please?  I’ve been working so hard for this.  It could be the break I’ve been waiting for.” 

She could see that Luc was
softening, heck she almost believed the cock and bull story herself. Besides the overwhelming fear she suddenly felt she felt sad, sad that she had started to trust Luc and that he wasn’t who she had thought he was.  She had so rarely allowed herself to get close to a man and now look what had happened, now she was going to be afraid to trust anyone. 

             
Luzaro patted her hand like he would that of a small child and said, “We must hurry home then.  I wouldn’t want you to miss such an important opportunity.”  Inside he was seething but counseled himself to have patience and wait for the day when she would be totally under his control and his to do with as he chose.

             
Enrique growled in disgust and got behind the steering wheel, shutting the door as he motioned for the other bodyguard to get in on the passenger side.  The bodyguard had barely shut the passenger side door before Enrique slammed the car into drive and floored the Escalade, sending a giant plume of dust and gravel into the air.  The bodyguard looked at Enrique and shook his head in disgust before turning his attention back to the road.

             
Even though Laurie now feared Luc, she was actually even more afraid of Enrique Perez.  Somewhere deep down inside she had always known what kind of man he was and felt trapped as they sped away from the equestrian stable.  She felt bile rise in her throat as Enrique turned in the opposite direction of her home and drove into a remote, marshy area, finally stopping the car at the side of the rode.  Laurie turned and looked out the back window but didn’t see the other Escalade. 

             
“What’s going on?” Luzaro shouted as Laurie turned back in time to see Enrique point a gun at the bodyguard sitting beside him and pull the trigger.  The boom of the handgun in such close quarters was deafening and Laurie covered her ears, her scream mingling with the acrid smell of gun powder.  She watched as though in slow motion as the man’s head hit the car window, blood and chunks of brain matter dripping down the passenger side window as he slumped in the front seat.

             
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Luzaro shouted again, this time shielding Laurie’s body with his own when Enrique turned toward the back seat and pointed the gun at Laurie’s head.

             
For a fraction of a second Enrique considered killing both Luzaro and the woman but thought better of it when he saw the second Escalade pull up behind them.  “Eliminating a mole and a potential witness,” Enrique said without emotion.  He pointed his gun toward the now dead bodyguard and said, “That piece of filth was a DEA agent.  Enough said?”

             
Luzaro could have cared less about the dead agent.  He knew what Enrique was capable of.  Laurie was lucky to be alive and he knew she wouldn’t have been if he hadn’t acted so quickly.

             
“She’ll not tell anyone.  I’ll make sure of that.”  Luzaro dug his phone out of his pocket and punched in a telephone number.  “Jose, I want my plane ready to go in twenty minutes, we’re on our way.” 

             
Laurie sat frozen in fear, her eyes awash in emerald tears as she watched Luzaro tuck his phone back into his pocket and turn toward her.  “Everything will be all right.  I wont let any harm come to you.  You’ll come with me to Nogales.  That’s the only way I can assure your safety.”  He motioned toward Enrique who had started the car moving again.

             
When Laurie saw the possessive look that suddenly filled Luzaro’s eyes she felt herself flush.  Righteous indignation filled her as she the thought of the DEA agent’s horrific death. 
Did he have a wife, children? Would they now have to grow up without a father because of these two monsters?

Laurie shuddered and drew
what little courage she had around her like a blanket and said stubbornly, “I won’t go with you Luc.  I won’t tell anyone what I saw here today, but I’m not going with you.”

“How very naïve you are, my dear,” Enrique said, looking at her in the rearview mirror, his reptilian eyes pinning her to her seat.

Luzaro took Laurie’s cold hands into his and nodded his head toward Enrique again.  “You really have no choice, my dear.  As I said, that’s the only way I can protect you.”

“You aren’t being very considerate of your friend, either,” Enrique said in a silky voice.  “Julie, isn’t it?  I could spend a very entertaining evening with Julie if you fail to cooperate.  I may choose to do so anyway, who knows, eh?” 

Enrique looked thoughtfully at the woman in the rear view mirror again, and decided he would try practicing his mind control on her once Luzaro tired of her.  He had found he was able to control some types of the more aggressive animals with his mind and who knew?  It might work on humans, too.

A chill traveled the length of Laurie’s spine and settled deep into her bones.  Her shoulders slumped in momentary defeat knowing there was no way she was going to jeopardize her friend Julie’s life.  She would watch and she would wait and she would plan her escape, taking immediate steps to protect Julie when the time came.  Laurie was a fighter and a survivor.  She hadn’t survived the foster care system
only to be controlled by men like these.

“Everything will be all right,” Luzaro cajoled, patting her hand.  “You’re goi
ng to love it at my estancia.  You’ll have no worries, none at all.  Believe me.”

The wolf was black like the night, a phantom.  He was crouched as though ready to spring and snarled in frustration, barring his canines. 

Jake had run for hours during the night, knowing that something was wrong and that he was powerless to do anything about it.  He wasn’t used to feeling helpless and knew that both of his brother’s were concerned about his nightly prowling.  He could feel his mate’s fear somewhere deep inside him and knew that she was in serious trouble.  Drawing closer to the ranch house he shifted effortlessly into his human form and picked up the clothes he’d left beneath one of the Palo Verde trees near the outbuildings.

“You know you’re going to get yourself in trouble if you keep this up,” Rand said in all seriousness as he walked out of the barn and toward Jake who had pulled on a pair of jeans and was slipping a t-shirt over his head.   

“Hell, don’t you and Taggert have enough to do to keep your own places going without hanging out at mine?”  The ranch was huge and the brothers had thought it best that they have
their own places knowing that too much togetherness wasn’t a good thing where they were concerned.  “I can take care of myself.”

“Hell if you can!  You’re out of your fucking mind right now, that’s what you are,” Rand growled.  He’d finally succumbed to Taggert’s badgering and agreed to see what was up with his older brother.  “You know you shouldn’t go out in the desert alone unless you tell
one of us.”

Rand looked away uncomfortably
when he saw the bright sheen of tears that glistened in Jake’s eyes. 
Hell, Taggert was right!  Damn!

“She’s coming Rand.
I can feel it deep in my soul.”  A lump lodged in Jake’s throat and he swallowed hard.  “She’s in big trouble, the worst kind of trouble.”

Rand placed his arm around Jake’s shoulder and drew him toward the house.  “We’ll handle it, brother, whatever it is, together.”

“Thanks, man,” Jake said stiffly.  He couldn’t remember the last time Rand had shown affection toward anyone, Jake and Taggert included.

Rand removed his arm, somewhat embarrassed by
his show of emotion.  “Just remember what I said.  No more going out at night in wolf form or any other form without us, okay?”

Jake hesitated, knowing that was a promise he might not be able to keep.   “I’ll try to let you guys know what’s going on.  I’ll probably need your help if she’s in the kind of trouble I think she is.

              The two men walked slowly toward the adobe and wood frame house that Jake called home as a Learjet Bombardier Global 8000 carrying Laurie Kincaid, Luzaro Rivera, and Enrique Perez streaked across the Arizona sky high above their heads.

C
hapte
r
E
leven

C
asa Fortuna was a massive enclave, a captivating natural paradise with 360° mountain views of the surrounding area that could be seen from every corner of the property.  To one side Laurie could see the city lights of Nogales and to the other the hills that surrounded the compound.