Unraveling Jane Doe (Holding The Line Book 3)

by Carol Ericson

  “No, no. He would’ve hurt you.”

  Rob perched on the arm of the chair across from them and asked, “Is she Libby James?”

  “Yes.” Teresa touched Libby’s hand. “You don’t remember? You’re Libby James, the artist.”

  “I own a gallery in Rocky Point?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why is Pablo, or whatever his name is, trying to kill me? Why did those other men try to kill me? Are they doing this for El Gringo Viejo?”

  “No!” Teresa clutched the baby to her chest so hard, Luisa squeaked. “I don’t know anything about El Gringo Viejo.”

  “But he’s in Rocky Point.” Rob hunched forward, his hands on his knees.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know anything.” Teresa whipped her head back and forth, and the baby whined.

  “Your lip is bleeding.” Libby touched her own lip. “Rob, can you please bring Teresa a towel and some ice? Water and ibuprofen would be good, too.”

  Rob stood up and cranked his head as he walked to the kitchen. “Ask her what she’s doing here if she’s not going to give up Pablo or El Gringo Viejo and can’t tell you anything you don’t already know.”

  Libby shook her head and drew a finger across her throat. Seeing the gesture, Teresa started up from her seat on the couch.

  “Don’t worry. Nothing’s going to happen to you here. Rob will protect you.”

  Teresa dropped back to the cushion and repositioned the baby in her arms. “I’m sorry. I can’t tell you anything more about yourself. I know your name is Libby James and you’re an artist who lives in Rocky Point. You crossed the cartels in some way, but I don’t know how. You left Punto Peñasco in a big hurry, and they went after you. They tried to kill you but failed, so they sent...my husband after you. He brought me and the baby to make you think she was yours.”

  Rob came back with a wet paper towel, a glass of water and two ibuprofens cupped in his palm. “Why are you here? Why didn’t you stay on the bus back to Mexico?”

  Teresa’s dark eyes glistened with tears. “I’m afraid he’ll kill me one day. I—I have relatives in Texas. I want to go there, leave...him. You helped Libby. Maybe you’ll help me, too.”

  “Here, let me have the baby. Take the pills and press that paper towel against your lip.” Libby held out her arms for the sleepy baby and cuddled her on her lap.

  Rob gave Teresa the makeshift first-aid supplies and jabbed his thumb into his chest. “What am I now, the savior of displaced women?”

  Libby cocked her head at him and winked. “Maybe we just know a safe harbor when we see one.”

  “She does know I’m Border Patrol, doesn’t she?”

  “I don’t think so, Rob, and you’re not telling her. Let her go to her relatives. She’s trying to help me, and we should help her.”

  “Is she trying to help you?”

  “What does that mean?” Libby glanced at Teresa, but she and Rob were speaking too fast for her to follow the conversation.

  “Ask Teresa how she knew my house. How do we know Pablo isn’t out there right now waiting for us?”

  Libby asked Teresa and she admitted that Pablo already knew that Libby was staying with Rob and knew Rob’s house. They’d driven past the house earlier. Pablo had asked her to write down the address and that was how she knew how to get back here.

  “She’s gonna have to give us more, Libby. If we’re going to help her, keep quiet about her presence in the country and send her on her way, she has to give us more than your name and the fact that bad guys are after you. We know all that. We figured it out on our own.”

  Libby took a deep breath. How did you strong-arm a terrorized woman with a baby? “We want to help you, Teresa. We will help you and Luisa get to your relatives, but I have no memory and that puts me in grave danger. If there’s anything else you can tell me—what the other men look like who are after me, why they’re after me or even if there’s someone I can call in Rocky Point for help, someone who knows me.”

  Libby slid a quick glance at Rob. Had he understood that last part? It’s not that she thought she had a husband who could come to the rescue, but maybe she had someone who could fill her in on the details of her life.

  Teresa stopped dabbing her lip, her gaze darting from Libby to Rob. She understood the implications of the questions. “I don’t live in Punto Peñasco. I don’t know you. I overheard my husband’s conversations, and they want to stop you before you remember everything that happened. I don’t know what that is. He never spoke of it in front of me. I do know when you left Punto Peñasco, you were coming here to Paradiso.”

  “Rob?” Libby crossed her hands over her chest. “Did you get that?”

  Rob looked up from his phone. “Don’t rub it in. You two are speaking too fast for me. What did she say?”

  “She said she overheard a few of her husband’s conversations, and from what she can gather, Paradiso was my destination when I left Mexico.”

  Rob shoved his phone in his back pocket. “That’s weird. Why would you be headed here? It must be because of our Border Patrol office. We’re the closest one to the border.”

  “How would I know that? Average, everyday people minding their own business do not generally know where their nearest Border Patrol office is—especially people living in Mexico.”

  “Ask her if she heard anything else, and let me have the baby.” Rob crouched in front of her.

  “Why?” Libby pushed a finger into Rob’s chest. “You’re not going to imply that you’re going to take Luisa if her mother doesn’t cooperate, are you?”

  His dark eyebrows collided over his nose. “Never even occurred to me. It’s great that you can’t trust the only person you can trust.”

  “You are in law enforcement, Rob, and sometimes—” she shrugged “—you show that hard edge. I know you want to do your job, and I know you want to help me.”

  “Yes and yes, but not at the expense of a mother and her child. Ask her.” He tilted his head toward Teresa on the couch. “She’s beginning to think we’re plotting against her.”

  Libby handed off Luisa, who’d begun fussing, to Rob, and she moved closer to Teresa. “That’s helpful that you told me I was originally headed to Paradiso. Can you tell me anything else? Do you know why I was coming to Paradiso?”

  “I don’t know that—sorry.” Teresa twisted the wet paper towel in her fingers. “I-is he going to help me?”

  “Yes, we’re going to help you.” Libby put her hand over Teresa’s. “You need money to get on a bus to Texas?”

  “Yes, El Paso.”

  “Did you get that?” Libby twisted her head around to Rob, who was bouncing a giggling Luisa in his arms.

  “She wants to go to El Paso.”

  “Muy bueno.” Libby winked at Teresa. “Can we do that?”

  “She’s gotta get a ride up to Tucson.” Rob pinched the baby’s chin. “Don’t look at me like that, Libby.”

  She widened her eyes and fluttered her eyelashes. “Like what?”

  “Like I’m the last hope for mankind.”

  “You are, or at least for displaced women. Can you take Teresa to Tucson tomorrow morning? Or—” she grimaced “—I guess that would be this morning.”

  “We can take her. I’m not leaving you here on your own, and this little one—” he held Luisa up in the air and jiggled her “—needs a car seat.”

  “Where are we going to get a car seat at this time of the morning?”

  “I can borrow one from my buddy. He and his fiancée are adopting a baby, and even though the adoption isn’t final yet, they do have a car seat for visits.”

  Libby turned and translated their conversation, or most of it, to Teresa, the crease finally disappearing between the other woman’s eyes.

  Rob handed the baby back to Teresa. “You two get ready to go. I’ll get the
car seat. Do not open that door. If you need it, there’s a loaded pistol in my nightstand drawer.”

  While Rob went to his friend’s place and made up some excuse about why he needed a car seat at five in the morning, Libby kept watch at the window with her hand curled around the handle of Rob’s gun and watched Teresa feed and change the baby.

  Nothing stirred outside until Rob pulled his truck into the driveway.

  He used his key to get into the house, as he told her not to open the door for anyone—even him. He burst through the front door, rubbing his hands together. “All quiet here?”

  “Everything’s fine, and Teresa and Luisa are ready to go.” Libby set the heavy weapon down on the table by the front door. “Did you have to do much explaining to get the car seat?”

  “Luckily, my friend was home alone. His wife, who would be the one asking all the questions, had already left for the academy.”

  “Oh, she’s the one who’s going to be a cop.” Libby wrinkled her nose.

  “Yeah. My buddy’s a lot more laid-back than she is, so when I told him I had a friend staying with me who needed to borrow a car seat for the morning, he handed it over with no more questions asked.” Rob waved his hand behind him. “He’s the one who owns all the pecan groves in town and has half ownership of the processing plant. The dude has no worries.”

  “Must be nice.” Libby grabbed her purse and turned to Teresa. “Estás lista?”

  Teresa nodded and answered in English, “Ready.”

  As they walked out to the truck, Rob led the way and called over his shoulder. “My friend Nash told me if the baby is under one year old, the car seat faces the back. He helped me put it in. I never realized Nash knew so much about babies.”

  Libby said, “You’re not so bad yourself in that department. I saw how you entertained Luisa. You did good.”

  “I have plenty of nieces and nephews—some with no fathers around. I learned by doing.” He held the back door open for Teresa, who ducked in the truck to secure her daughter in the car seat.

  Libby patted Teresa’s shoulder. “You can sit in the back with Luisa. You’ll be fine now. Does your husband know you have family in El Paso?”

  Teresa shook her head.

  Rob eyed his rearview mirror. “I’d stop for coffee, but I think it’s best we get on the road.”

  Libby lowered her voice and touched Rob’s thigh. “Do you think Pablo might be following us?”

  “Don’t know, but he’s not going to follow us to Tucson, not if I can help it.”

  Both Teresa and Luisa fell asleep in the back seat, but Libby’s nerves wouldn’t allow her to doze off. She flicked her gaze to the side mirror almost as many times as Rob glanced at the rearview, her only conversation an occasional “See anything?”

  As far as she knew, which wasn’t much, she’d never heard of Paradiso before, had never been here, didn’t know anyone here. Why would she be on her way to Paradiso?

  If she had family here, wouldn’t they have seen and recognized her by now? Maybe not. Paradiso was small, but as Rob had pointed out, it had grown with the pecan processing plant. She doubted she’d seen every person who lived in Paradiso.

  The only person she wanted to see in Paradiso now was sitting right beside her. If Rob weren’t so honorable, they could’ve made love last night. Maybe she just wanted him because she needed someone to feel close to, someone to fill all the emptiness inside her.

  Maybe he was right. Even if she found out she didn’t have a significant other in her real life, once she discovered that life she might feel completely different about him. Did that even matter? He didn’t want to be hurt. She understood that. Despite his background, despite his buffed-up physique, Rob Valdez was a sensitive guy.

  Once he fell for someone, he’d fall hard and never want to let go. Knowing that about him made her ache to be possessed by him, body and soul. You’d know who you were if you were loved by someone like Rob.

  “We’re just a few miles out. I’m going to take her directly to the bus depot downtown. She can get something to eat there.” He flicked a finger at the rearview mirror. “We weren’t followed. I know that for a fact.”

  “Good. He probably thinks she’s on her way back to Mexico, still under his thumb. Even though she didn’t give us that much info, I’m glad she came to us...you.”

  “She gave us another piece of the puzzle. We’d wondered where you were going when those two forced you off the road. Now we know you were close to your goal.”

  “But why?” She scooped her hair back from her face.

  “We’ll get that piece, too.” He cranked his head around to the back seat. “Teresa, estamos aquí.”

  Libby turned around and patted a sleeping Teresa’s knee. “Estamos aquí.”

  Ten minutes later, Rob pulled the truck into a parking space on the street and helped Teresa get Luisa out of the car seat.

  Libby grabbed Teresa’s small bag and joined them on the sidewalk in front of the bus terminal. Downtown was just waking up, but most businesses were still closed. Nobody on the street watched them or paid them any attention.

  She and Rob escorted Teresa and her baby into the terminal. Rob checked the schedules and discovered a bus leaving for El Paso in thirty minutes. He handed Teresa enough cash to buy a ticket and get something to eat along the way.

  When they saw the bus off, Rob expelled a long sigh. “At least that’s taken care of. I don’t know about you, but I need something to eat and I can’t wait until we drive back to Paradiso this time.”

  “Breakfast sounds good. I feel like I haven’t eaten in forever, so I’m up for anything.”

  Rob rolled his shoulders and flexed his fingers on the steering wheel. “I’m thinking we should publish your picture in town now. If someone there is waiting for you, they’ll recognize your photo and come forward.”

  “Someone like Pablo Bustamante.” She gripped the edges of the seat. “I don’t know enough yet.”

  “You know you’re Libby James, an artist from Rocky Point.”

  “What if another Pablo comes out of the woodwork?”

  “I won’t let you go...off with just anyone.”

  “I’ll think about it.” She snapped her seat belt. “Where to?”

  “There’s a place north of downtown called First Watch. Not sure where it is.” He handed his phone to her. “Can you look it up?”

  She looked up directions to the restaurant and let the GPS lady call them out to Rob. He navigated the streets of Tucson until he pulled into a shopping center.

  “Yeah, I remember now, and it looks like it’s open for business.”

  Several minutes later, they took a table by the window and ordered coffee. When it arrived, Libby dumped some cream into her cup.

  Taking a sip, she closed her eyes. “Ah, I needed this. We didn’t get much sleep last night, did we?”

  “You seemed to sleep well.” Rob slurped his own coffee and hid behind the menu the waiter had dropped off.

  She tapped his menu. “Why didn’t you go to your bedroom?”

  “Like I said, you seemed to be sleeping soundly, and I didn’t want to wake you up.” He peered at her over the top of the menu. “I think I’m going to have one of these skillets.”

  “I don’t think I would’ve woken up if you’d slipped out. You must’ve been uncomfortable sitting up all night.”

  “I kinda slumped over. It wasn’t bad.” He ran a finger down her menu. “They have some healthy stuff—oatmeal, yogurt and granola.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Slumping over was comfortable?”

  “All right.” He snapped his menu down on the table. “I wanted to stay there and hold you all night long. Is that what you want to hear?”

  “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.” She smiled as she buried her chin in her hand and studied the menu. �
�Since you rejected me, flat out.”

  “Libby, you have no memory. Someone has to be thinking clearly for both of us.”

  The waiter’s eyes popped open as he approached the table. “Y-you ready to order?”

  Libby took Rob’s advice and ordered the yogurt, granola, fruit bowl. When the waiter walked away, she hunched forward. “Wanting to be with you is the clearest thought I’ve had since climbing out of that wreck.”

  “What happens when you remember your husband? You’d feel guilty. I’d feel...guilty.” He gulped down some coffee, obviously burning his tongue, as he grabbed his water next.

  “Rob—” she smoothed two fingers along the inside of his wrist, tracing the line of his veins “—Libby James doesn’t have a husband. If she did, why wasn’t he in the car with her...with me? Think about it. I witnessed something, probably a murder, and I fled. Wouldn’t I go to my husband first?”

  “Maybe your husband’s in Paradiso.” He swirled his coffee with one hand, leaving the other in her possession. “Did you ever think of that? You were running to him.”

  She sat back in her seat, pulling her purse over her head and setting it beside her. “That never occurred to me—and that’s further proof he doesn’t exist.”

  “Really.” Rob folded his arms in that way he had that dared her to prove him wrong.

  “The fact that it never crossed my mind proves that there is no husband. I think if I’m going to remember anything in a hypnotic state, it would be a husband, someone I loved and wanted to get to.”

  “Not necessarily. You remembered the incident that fueled your flight from Rocky Point first. That makes sense.”

  “Rob—” she curled her fingers around his wrist “—I can’t ever imagine forgetting you, forgetting your face. Ever.”

  His dark eyes glittered, and she knew he felt the heat between them.

  “California skillet.” The waiter set Rob’s plate on the table and slid her bowl of health in front of her. “Anything else?”

  “My toast.” Rob tapped her cup. “And more coffee when you get a chance.”

  Libby whistled and grabbed her spoon. “Saved by the waiter.”