Marcos patted one server’s butt and the woman averted her eyes and allowed him a closer inspection. Isabeau kept her expression the same when she wanted to throw her glass at the older man. What did she know about him? What were the others doing allowing him to behave like that? She forced herself to inhale, to take in the scents around her for her cat to process.
Fear was uppermost. Hatred. Rage. All boiled beneath the surface. She certainly smelled lust, but not coming from Marcos. He was playing a part. Just as she was. Just as Conner would be doing. She had to believe that.
She looked at Elijah. He had known. They’d all known. This was more than drugs and kidnapping. They hadn’t told her the things they’d expected to run into. She would never have been able to smile at Sobre had she known coming in. She was made deliberately to look like the innocent in the middle of a jungle full of predators. She’d bet her life that they’d discovered some of the precious tourists Sobre lured to his part of the rain forest disappeared without a trace. It would be so easy.
What was she thinking? That the suave man handing her another glass of wine was really a serial killer of young men and woman? That he used his position for his own sadistic pleasure? To cover her frightening thoughts, she lifted the glass to her lips. She actually took a sip before the scent hit her. It was drugged. She moistened her lips and looked again at Elijah. This time he reacted, smiling back at her and taking the drink from her hand, bringing the contents to his mouth. Her breath caught in her throat and she nearly shouted at him to stop.
The server knocked hard into Elijah, sending the drink flying. The glass shattered all over the floor and the contents ended up on his immaculate shirt. The tray clattered to the floor, food scattering everywhere.
“Teresa!” Philip roared, his fist missing Isabeau by a mere inch as it shot toward the woman’s horrified face.
The crack of flesh hitting flesh was loud. All conversation ceased and the room went eerily quiet. Conner stood in front of the woman, Philip’s hand in his fist. No one had seen him move. He looked hard. Dangerous. His golden eyes burned into the smaller man.
“Perhaps you didn’t notice, but you bumped the woman and knocked her into Mr. Lospostos.” His voice was so quiet, Isabeau doubted anyone other than their small group could hear his words. “And you nearly struck Miss Chandler.”
Philip Sobre looked murderous and then the dark promise was gone from his eyes and he was smiling. “I guess I didn’t.”
Conner let go of Philip’s fist, his arm dropping back to his side. Isabeau knew the cameras had recorded every moment and Imelda would be intrigued with that interesting move on the bodyguard’s part. He’d stood up for a servant. And he’d moved so fast he’d be a blur on the camera. She’d be more than intrigued. She’d want to get up close to such a daring, dangerous man. Not once had he looked at Philip’s bodyguards, as if they were beneath his notice and no threat to him.
Isabeau’s heart began to pound, and she could taste fear in her mouth. Conner was setting himself up, and these people were all killers. She even suspected the weasel Philip—who was smooth and charming all over again and ordering his servers to help Teresa clean up the mess—of being a killer. He appeared to ignore Conner, but she saw him glance several times toward the shadowed wall where Conner had once more disappeared.
If Adan had known about Sobre, he would never have allowed her to talk him into bringing in a team to kidnap back the children. So how had Conner gotten his information, because they definitely knew something was wrong with the chief of tourism and had come prepared. What other sources did they have?
“Come with me, Isabeau, while I get a clean shirt,” Elijah commanded. With another smoldering look at Philip, he took her arm and walked her toward the entrance. “You’re biting your lip.”
“Am I?” She felt like she could breathe again, out of the presence of the chief of tourism and his penchant for hurting others.
“You do that when you’re upset.”
“How did you know about Sobre? He’s a sadist, isn’t he?”
“He’s a killer. He likes to hurt people. He gets off on it. Men and women both from what I understand and he’s got a perfect partner in Imelda. She shares his dirty little secret, in fact, she encourages it. As long as he kills his victims, she can control him.”
“They sound like a perfect couple.”
“They were a couple for a while. I suspect Imelda wants a dominant personality, and Philip would never be that to her. He’s too afraid of her.” Elijah stepped back to allow Rio to open the SUV door for him. Elijah waved her into the car.
“When we go back inside, I want you to look as if you’ve received a lecture from your badass cousin. Sobre will expect that I don’t want you near him—which I don’t. I know exactly the way his mind works. He thinks I have a weakness for my cousin and as he would never stop himself from taking what he wants, he believes neither would I.”
“He makes me sick. His smell. His eyes. The way he looks at me.
Everything
about him. Something was in that drink.”
Elijah nodded. “I got a whiff of it.” He unbuttoned his shirt. “If the server hadn’t bumped me, I would have found a way to drop it. Don’t you find it interesting that he didn’t want me drugged? Cortez is more anxious to talk to me than I expected.”
“How did Rio know about Sobre?”
“Adan gave Rio Marisa’s diary as proof of who he was. He needed to establish that he meant us no harm. She was investigating Sobre. She’d been suspicious of him for some time. Apparently . . .” He pulled a black shirt from a small suitcase, flashing her a small grin. “ . . . always be prepared.”
She rolled her hand in a circle over and over indicating for him to continue. “Apparently what?”
“Several women had disappeared in the area over the past few years, enough that Marisa became suspicious. She was the ‘medicine woman’ around these parts and many people, both from the tribes and other villages, sought her out, so she heard things more than others.”
“And she heard about Sobre?”
Elijah nodded as he buttoned his shirt. “She zeroed in on him after a young woman from England disappeared. The woman had come here with three friends to hike in the rain forest. She somehow got separated from the others and they never found her.”
“Why Sobre?”
“Sobre had told them about a particular trail, one little known and he didn’t recommend a guide. At least that’s what the other two women said. He claims he mentioned the trail in a conversation to them and even handed them cards with the names of tour guides on them.”
“What else?” She knew there was more and she didn’t know whether to be angry or just sick about walking into Sobre’s lair without her team fully disclosing what they knew.
“Sobre came here when he was seventeen years old. He’s now fifty-one. Marisa discovered that girls have been disappearing for thirty-four years.”
She pressed her fingers to her mouth. “My God, he’s a serial killer for real.”
“That was the conclusion Marisa came to.”
“Do you think Sobre knew she was on to him? Could he have deliberately used Suma and the raid on the village to target her?”
“Maybe, but we’ll probably never know. Imelda Cortez has most likely known about this and probably not only encouraged him, but helped him. They have a bond, those two, and it’s sick and perverted and definitely unhealthy.”
“You already knew it going in,” Isabeau said, “and you didn’t tell me.”
“Imelda Cortez would never go out into the open unless she completely controlled the situation, which meant, if she was attending this party at Philip Sobre’s residence, she had him in her pocket. It wasn’t that difficult after reading Marisa’s suspicions to know where to start our research. She wasn’t far off the mark. Every one of our leopards instinctively despised the man,” Elijah pointed out.
“And Conner just set himself up,” Isabeau said. “Sobre despises him and will look for any excuse to kill him after that public humiliation, and Imelda will want him because he made Sobre look small. Am I right?”
Elijah nodded. “That’s why we came, to get our foot in the door.”
“And Conner wanted Sobre’s attention off me and onto him,” she guessed.
“That too. It was important that you handle Sobre without tipping him off, Isabeau. This is your first time going into a situation like this and none of us knew how you’d handle it.”
She raised her chin. “What if I’d gone off with him?”
“No one ever took their eyes off you. That wouldn’t have been allowed. I’m the big bad cousin and Rio and Felipe are our personal protectors. If I ordered one of them to cart your ass to the car, they would do so without hesitation and no one would be suspicious.” His hand was on the door handle, but he wasn’t opening it.
“I can handle it,” she assured him.
“You’re certain? There can’t be any mistakes, Isabeau. Too many lives are at stake and we have no proof of anything. In any case, you can bet any law enforcement around here is either in Imelda’s pocket or terrified of her. Hell, most of it is getting paid extra money to guard Sobre’s party.”
“I said I can handle it. Conner’s hung out there on the line,” she said. “I’ve got his back. And don’t think I won’t do whatever it takes to make certain he gets out of this alive.”
Elijah studied her determined face and then nodded. “Good girl.” He ruffled her hair and rubbed at her face, putting spots of color on her skin and making her lips a little swollen as if he’d been kissing her. “Let’s hope Conner doesn’t rip out my heart and shove it down my throat.”
She forced a smile. “I’m going to make certain I blink back a couple of tears and really make you look bad.”
“Badass cousin doesn’t want his kissing cousin flirting with anyone else and you’ve been thoroughly reprimanded and then we made up.”
“Sobre won’t cross you, not without Imelda’s permission,” Isabeau pointed out.
“And that’s what is going to keep you safe. Stay close to me now. Touch me occasionally, but be subtle about it. I want them to see the relationship without us shoving it down their throats.”
“Like we’re hiding it.”
“Or at least that we don’t want it common knowledge. Now, Isabeau, there is a risk. On one hand, as long as they think they have a chance of doing business with me, this is the perfect way to keep you safe, but if they decide they need to keep me in line, or try to influence me with a threat, you’ll be the first in harm’s way. They think like that.”
She nodded. “I’m aware of that. Really, Elijah, I can do this. My relationship with Conner aside, it was my idea to bring you all here and I’m willing to take the risk right alongside of you.”
He pushed open the door and Rio stood facing the house, his expression remote, as if she were just another body to guard. It was amazing to Isabeau just how they all managed to look grim and dangerous and so businesslike at the same time.
She flashed Elijah a small smile when he put his hand casually on the small of her back. “I’ll bet Sobre would give anything to have our bodyguards.”
“Personal protectors,” he corrected and winked at her.
She walked closer to Elijah then she had before, but still maintained a distance that could be considered discreet. The doorman waved them inside. The music seemed louder and the rooms much more crowded. Elijah took her elbow with a proprietary air and guided her through the throng of people. Rio led the way with Felipe bringing up the rear. She noticed the crowd parted for them and no one bumped into them.
Marcos, with Leonardo beside him, was in a corner talking to Philip. Teresa, the server, stood beside Marcos looking miserable. Every now and then Marcos would rub her arm or the small of her back and she would jump, but she didn’t move. As they approached the small group, Philip looked up, his quick perusal taking in her slightly disheveled appearance. Isabeau made certain he caught the sheen of tears before she blinked them away. Philip’s gaze dropped to Elijah’s fingers digging into her elbow before he looked back at Marcos.
“Teresa will be more than happy to make you feel very welcome, isn’t that right?”
The server nodded, more miserable than ever. Philip scowled at her and she forced a smile. “Of course.”
Marcos patted her butt with familiar intent. “Later. Don’t get lost.”
Teresa quickly made good her escape. The floor where the spill had occurred was immaculate, and Philip was all smiles now that he thought Marcos would use his upstairs rooms. Isabeau reached up and rubbed at imaginary lipstick at the corner of Elijah’s mouth and then quickly dropped her hand.
“You haven’t tried the mushroom cakes,” Philip said to Elijah.
“They’re wonderful,” Marcos agreed, looking as if he and Philip had become good friends. “And the crab cakes are even better. You really must try them, Elijah.”
Elijah nodded with a faint smile. “You’ve always been a great judge of food, Marcos. I know you’d never steer me wrong.”
“He’s a good judge of women as well,” Philip said, his grin malicious as he looked Isabeau over. “Teresa is beautiful.”
Elijah slipped his arm around Isabeau and moved her out of Philip’s way as he led them to the long buffet table. He did it casually, as though he was simply helping his cousin, but he knew Philip would take the gesture as ownership. Isabeau belonged to Elijah and everyone else needed to stay clear of her. Philip had a secret smile on his face as he pointed out the various delicacies to them.
“Would you like to dance, Isabeau?” he asked, with another smirk.
In character, she glanced hesitantly at Elijah, who stared back at her grim-faced. Hastily she shook her head. “No, thank you. I think I want to try the crab cake.”
“You’ll find my chef is amazing,” Philip said.
Elijah looked him over, his expression bored. “It’s amazing how you can lure anyone to this place.”
Philip’s face flushed just a little, but he managed to keep his smile at the implied insult. “Secrets, everyone has secrets. It’s a matter of capitalizing on them.”
A slow smile, with just a faint touch of admiration lit Elijah’s face for a moment. Isabeau was impressed with that look. It was as if he’d waved a magic wand in front of Philip. “I suppose it is. Isn’t it interesting how the right leverage changes minds?”