“She’s also delusional.”
“Whether you like it or not,” Vera mumbled, her eyes on the email, “you’ve been talking to this woman for ten years. She knows your entire life story, and it sounds like she just wants to help. Like she cares about you.”
“She’s in law enforcement,” Luke said.
“Doesn’t mean shit.” A vein bulged in Tomas’ forehead. “She’s probably a small-town cop. I grew up in the Chihuahuan Desert in Texas. She must be a local there. It’s the only way she would’ve ended up with my girl’s coat.”
“She probably printed every message you sent. She could send those transcripts to someone who can destroy us.”
“I said I’ll handle it.” Tomas gritted his teeth.
“La Rocha will see the email she sent, if they haven’t already.”
“There’s nothing damning here.” Vera gave the phone back to Tomas, her brow furrowing. “She was careful in her wording. She knows exactly what she’s doing.”
“It could be a trap,” Luke said.
“I’ll find her before Saturday and follow her.” Rage boiled through Tomas’ voice, turning his neck crimson. “I’ll figure out who she is and what she wants before she ever sees me. If she sees me.”
“You’re taking this personally.”
“Damn right, I’m taking it personally. She invaded my fucking privacy for ten years!” Tomas rubbed his hands down his face and reined in his temper. “I’ll be careful.”
He studied Tomas for a moment, gaging his friend’s emotional state. Tomas was the calm one in the group. The level-headed, stern-faced, untouchable guy who handled his problems on his own and avoided drama like the plague. He would deal with this as quietly as possible.
“All right.” Luke blew out a breath. “I’ll arrange an escort with La Rocha to get you out of here.”
“You’re coming with me.”
“No, I’m not. I planned this out before you showed me the email.” He glanced at Vera, bracing for her fury. “I’m going to make an offer to buy Vera, an offer the cartel can’t refuse, and you’re going to take her with you.”
“No!” Tomas and Vera shouted in unison.
“They won’t let me go.” Vera raged, shoving him in the chest. “Even if they agree, I won’t. I’m not leaving without you.”
“They will, and you don’t have a vote in this.”
“You son of a bitch.” She spat a rapid-fire barrage of Spanish before switching back to English. “I will fight you and—”
He clapped a hand over her mouth and hauled her against him. “Shut up and listen.” He looked at Tomas. “There’s a massive wall surrounding this compound. How many properties in California are built like this one?”
“A lot,” Tomas said. “Paranoid rich folks, hiding their dirty deeds from outsiders.”
“But you’ve spent the last few days studying the layout, memorizing every detail. Once you’re outside these walls, you’re going to pass along those specs to the team. They can survey maps and fly a chopper over the region. You’ll find your way back.”
Vera squirmed and bucked in his hold until he released her.
“Great.” She spun away, panting through labored breaths. “You can both leave and return with your army.”
“I’m not going anywhere until every single person who hurt you is dead.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
“What happens, Vera, if all three of us leave and never find our way back here?”
Her stubborn chin tipped down, her eyes blazing with rancor. “The girls remain enslaved, and the bad guys win.”
“I won’t let that happen. What did you see on the other side of the wall?”
“I’m not agreeing to this.”
“Answer the question.”
“A junkyard.” Her nostrils flared with indignation. “The compound is bordered on one side by a massive graveyard for old cars.”
A grin pulled at his lips as he turned to Tomas. “How many properties in California are surrounded by a stone wall and a junkyard?”
“Probably not more than one.” Tomas’ mouth twitched, unleashing a matching smile.
“Excellent. I’ll arrange your immediate departure and negotiate a purchase price for my mouthy new sex slave.”
“You can go right to hell, Luke!” Tears welled in her eyes, and her hands balled into infuriated fists. “I won’t let you do this. They’ll kill you. No. You know what? Fuck that. I will kill you.”
She could despise him and curse him to hell. He would still win.
Sending her far away from this place was priority number one, even if he had to shackle and gag her to see it done.CHAPTER 24Luke had to shackle and gag her.
By nightfall, Vera still wouldn’t see reason. She threatened to scream his secrets from the rooftops if he forced her to leave without him. She would never blow his cover, but he didn’t put it past her to race off and hide somewhere on the property.
He didn’t have time for that. So he bound her with rope and silenced her with a strip of cloth. Then he ordered Tomas to carry her to the waiting limo. The sight of her thrashing and heaving with every fierce breath in her body gutted him at a depth that couldn’t be mended.