Evasive Action (Holding the Line Book 1)

by Carol Ericson

  He gritted his teeth. He now had in his possession a surefire way to pry April away from her unhealthy codependence with her brother—and he planned to use it.

  He threw open the car door and stepped into the street. Adam must’ve seen him immediately because his head jerked up and he moved behind April’s car.

  “Damn him.” Clay jogged across the street, facing them down the sidewalk. As he moved rapidly toward them, April swiveled her head around and held out one hand.

  Adam created some space between himself and April, and Clay lurched to a stop when he saw the gun jabbed into her side.

  Clay’s eyes darted to the pedestrians on the street behind Clay and April. Nobody could see a thing.

  With his hand hovering over his holstered gun, Clay drew closer to the car. “Let her go, Adam. I know everything. I know you’re the one who killed Jimmy. Jimmy’s blood was all over, not yours.”

  April gasped and wrenched away from Adam.

  Adam pinned her between his body and the passenger door of the car, the barrel of the gun still beneath her ribs. “Stay back, Archer, or I’ll kill her, too.”

  “He means it, Clay. Let us go. I’ll be okay.”

  Adam reached back and yanked April’s hair. “You told him you were meeting me? You liar.”

  April opened her mouth, but Clay growled. “Of course she told me. She didn’t trust you.”

  Adam snorted. “That’s rich. She didn’t trust you, either. That’s why she never told you why she called off your wedding. Thing is, Archer, she was having a fling with Jimmy Verdugo while she was engaged to you.”

  “Clay.” His name ended in a cry on April’s lips as Adam yanked her hair again.

  “We’ve got some business to attend to. So, back off or I’ll shoot her right here, right now. You don’t think I’d hurt family? Think again.” Adam chuckled, and the hair on the back of Clay’s neck quivered. “I did it before.”

  April sagged against the car, her mouth gaping open.

  “Now, back off or I’ll kill her and find my own way to my father. At least this way, once she helps me, I’ll let her go. And don’t send the cops after us because one hint of that and I’ll off both of us.”

  Adam opened the door and forced April in ahead of him. He held the weapon on her as she crawled over the console into the driver’s seat.

  The only thing keeping Clay from charging Adam was that gun pointed at April...and the fact that he’d be able to track them wherever they went. Adam believed April had told Clay where she was going, and he wanted to make sure Adam was still under that impression. Did April realize he’d tracked her car through GPS?

  He wanted to give her some sign, but he didn’t want to reveal anything to her psycho brother—and he was a psycho. Had he really killed his own mother, as he’d implied?

  Clay held his hands out to his sides. “If you harm one hair on her head, I’ll come after you, Adam. I don’t care if you’re in Mexico or Morocco. I’ll find you.”

  Adam slammed the door and waved a hand out the window as April made a U-turn and rolled up to the intersection.

  As he charged back to Meg’s car, Clay brought up the GPS app. He’d have to stay far enough behind them so that Adam wouldn’t catch a glimpse of him, but close enough so that he could help April if she needed it.

  She needed it.

  He got behind the wheel and gripped the top with both hands, ready to take off now. He had to take several deep breaths to keep still and not make any rash moves.

  What Adam told him about April and Jimmy was a lie. Whatever April was, she wasn’t a cheat. Adam had wanted him to turn on April, abandon her. That would never happen.

  He’d follow April to the ends of the earth. And when he got her back—he’d kill her brother.

  Chapter Eighteen

  As they barreled through the Sonoran Desert hell-bent for the border, April licked her dry lips and flicked a glance at Adam, still pointing the gun at her. They’d barely said two words to each other on the ride from Phoenix. Too many thoughts had been jumbling around her brain for her to give voice to any of them—until now with the border looming ahead of them.

  “What did you mean back in Phoenix about killing another family member?” A sob escaped her lips despite her best efforts. “Did you kill Mom?”

  “C’mon, April. You never suspected?” He tucked a long strand of dirty-blond hair behind his ear. “You always saw what you wanted to see when you looked at me—the little brother in need of rescue.”

  “When I should’ve seen what?” She dropped her voice to a raspy whisper. “What Mom and Dad always saw?”

  “That’s right.” He turned his blue eyes on her, more vacant than usual. “They were afraid, ashamed, to admit that I might have issues. So, they just shut me out and tried to punish the disturbed kid who liked to set fires and kill birds.”

  “The pecan grove by the Dillons’ house?”

  “Yeah, that was my handiwork.” He took a swig of water from the bottle in the cup holder. “Old news.”

  “It’s not old news to me. Why’d you murder Mom?”

  “Money, mostly.” He rolled his shoulders. “Of course, you got the big bucks, but I always figured I could get more out of you than Mom.”

  “And Dad? Why did he run if he didn’t do it?” Her gaze dropped to the gun leveled at her midsection. Maybe if she kept Adam talking, the gun would slip and she could get away from him.

  She scanned the vast, empty desert that stretched before them. She wouldn’t be able to get away from Adam unless she killed him. “I actually admired Dad’s get-rich-quick schemes, but he did wander into illegal territory. I was tracking his activities. I knew exactly what he was involved in—and I hate to shatter your illusions, but he was dabbling in the drug trade.”

  “That doesn’t explain why he ran, why he took the rap for Mom’s murder. He must’ve known he was a suspect.”

  “He did. The drug dealers who killed Mom made sure of it.”

  “You killed Mom. Why did Dad think drug dealers got to her?”

  Adam flicked his fingers in the air. “I made him think that. You may be the one with the college degree in the family, but I was always smarter than you, April. My IQ tested off the charts.”

  “Deviousness is not intelligence.” She grabbed her throat. “The threats. The threats I got regarding Clay. That was you?”

  “I couldn’t have my own sister married to a Border Patrol agent. That would seriously put a crimp in my activities. I had to keep you on my side. I knew Archer could turn you against me.”

  “But you weren’t in Paradiso the other day when I got that note.”

  “I still have friends in Paradiso, very loyal friends. This particular friend even followed you home from dinner and shot out Archer’s tire.” He chuckled with no humor. “Larissa always was a good shot.”

  “Larissa? The waitress at the Paradise Café?”

  “I told her to keep an eye on you two and let me know if you were together. I knew it would be trouble if you ran to Archer—and I was right.” Adam curled his leg and bashed his foot against the glove box. “He found evidence in the trunk of your car, didn’t he? Evidence that he must’ve had tested to prove Jimmy was the one bleeding and in distress, not me.”

  “Clay was telling the truth? You murdered Jimmy?”

  “Hey.” He patted his chest with his open palm. “I thought you’d like that one. Jimmy never got physical with you, but he probably would have. He was a scumbag. I would’ve saved you from him even if you hadn’t figured out his true identity.”

  “Why?” She held out her hand. “Never mind. You killed him over the flash drive, didn’t you?”

  “The minute I saw the information on that flash drive, I knew I had to have it. It’s my big break, just like Jimmy knew it was his big break.” He hunched his shoulders. “O
ne of us had to go.”

  Adam directed her off the highway, down a utility road, and April’s gut twisted. He was going to force her across the border—probably through one of the tunnels Las Moscas detailed on the map.

  Would Clay be able to find them? She knew as soon as Clay told Adam that she’d texted him with their location that he must’ve put some sort of tracking device on her car or in her purse. That’s how he’d found them in Phoenix. That’s why he’d risked letting her get in the car with Adam—not that he could’ve done much in that situation. The minute he pulled his gun, Adam would’ve shot her. She had no doubt in her mind that her brother was a stone-cold sociopath. He had no feelings for her other than a need to use her.

  If Clay had planted the GPS device on the car, once they left the car he’d no longer be able to find them. As her gaze tracked over the desert landscape, she knew they were going to leave the car.

  “If Dad knows what you are, why do you think he’ll help you now?”

  “As El Gringo Viejo, Dad has moved up in the world. I didn’t know he had it in him. He’ll understand now how much I can bring to his organization.” Adam patted her hand on the steering wheel. “You’ll help me find him, April. You’ll help me, just like you always have.”

  His touch made her flesh crawl, but she tried not to jerk away from him. “I will help you, Adam. We’ll look for Dad together, and then you have to let me go. You can stay down here and work with El Gringo Viejo. I’ll go back to LA and forget all about this.”

  Adam twisted a strand of hair around his finger. “No, you won’t. You’ll go back to Archer, just like you always do.”

  “I won’t. I swear I won’t. It’s over between us. H-he’d never take me back, anyway.” She curled her hands around the steering wheel so tightly the car wobbled.

  “Right. That guy would take you back even if you were the one who committed murder.” He drove a finger into his chest. “Even someone like me who doesn’t understand love can see that Archer will never let you go—but he has to. Do you understand me, April?”

  “I do. I do. I’ll go to LA.” She swallowed a lump in her throat. “I did it before. If Clay’s life is in danger, I’ll never see him again.”

  Adam swept his finger from pointing at himself to pointing at her. “Don’t forget that. If you don’t forget that, everything will be fine. You might even want to stay with me and Dad. You could do his books with some creative accounting. It could be a family business.”

  April managed a weak smile as she nodded. “Maybe.”

  But she knew in her heart that Adam would kill her. Once she’d served her last purpose for him—finding their father—he’d get rid of her.

  Adam pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and consulted it. “We’re almost there.”

  Five minutes later of hard driving over a sand-swept utility road, Adam knocked his knuckles on the window. “Here. Pull the car over by that rock.”

  April parked where Adam directed her. “Is someone going to pick us up here?”

  “Why would I need that?” He shook out the paper in his hand. “I have a map to a tunnel that’ll get us right across the border. We’ll have to walk some on the other side, but I’ve made arrangements. It’s amazing what doors are opened for the daughter of El Gringo Viejo.”

  “It’s hot. Do you have water?”

  “I’ve taken care of everything. I only pretended to be an idiot to get your help.” He winked. “I’m not really an idiot, April.”

  You’re something worse.

  “Open your door and get my backpack and sweatshirt from the back seat. Then start walking toward that cactus on the right. I’ll be right behind you.”

  With her fingers resting on the keys in the ignition, she said, “You don’t have to wave that gun at me anymore, Adam. Where would I go?”

  “You’re not going anywhere without me.” He slapped her hand away from the ignition and yanked the keys out. “But if I don’t have the gun, you could get your hands on the gun.”

  “I—I’d never hurt you, Adam.”

  He cocked his head and a lock of hair fell over one eye, like it used to when he was a kid. “Out of the car. No sudden moves.”

  She followed his instructions and studied the sand beneath her feet. Could she leave footprints for Clay to track her to the tunnel? The sand in the desert never stayed smooth. Animals, reptiles, birds, the wind, the rain...all had an impact on the environment, leaving indentations and imprints on the desert floor. One step in the sand might look like a footprint, but the dry, shifting winds could just as easily cover it up.

  Clay would know the direction of the border, but how long would it take him to find the entrance to the tunnel? It’s not like they had neon welcome signs at the entrance. But Clay was Border Patrol. He’d found his way into many tunnels along the border.

  Adam scrambled out of the car, still keeping her at gunpoint. “Let’s get moving. The tunnel is just about a five-minute walk.”

  In desperation and with her back to Adam, April yanked the double strand of beads from her neck and curled both fists around the smooth, wooden pellets.

  If Clay couldn’t follow their footprints, she’d leave another kind of bread-crumb trail. She’d been protecting him all this time from her brother. Now she needed Clay’s protection.

  * * *

  CLAY ZEROED IN on the stationary red dot on his phone’s display. Thank God, they’d stopped moving. They’d stopped moving in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, just north of the border. Adam planned to cross through to Mexico from one of the cartel’s tunnels.

  Would he be able to discern Adam and April’s direction once they left the car? And if Adam saw his car roaring up? He didn’t have a choice. He could leave the car farther back, but he had to get close enough so that he could reach them before they went too far into Mexico.

  As he rumbled along the access road, he noted just enough undulation in the landscape that he could keep the car out of sight.

  He caught his breath when he saw April’s car abandoned by a large rock. He pulled to the side of the road, and then made his call to Border Patrol. By the time the agents showed up, April wouldn’t be under Adam’s threat anymore.

  He’d make sure of it.

  He left his own car and made the trek to April’s. When he got to the car, he gulped back some water and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

  Nobody on the horizon. They must’ve already entered the tunnel. He estimated the location of the border, but the tunnel could be anywhere along there.

  Trying to track footprints wouldn’t do much good. He dropped his head and scanned the ground, an unrelenting sea of beige tones.

  A darker pebble caught his attention and he strode forward and crouched down. He reached for the object and sucked in a breath when he cupped the blue-and-yellow painted wooden bead in his hand. April had been wearing this necklace—and now she was using it to show him the way.

  * * *

  APRIL DRAGGED IN lungfuls of fresh air as she staggered from the tunnel, blinking in the waning daylight. When Adam had pushed her through the entrance to the tunnel on the other side of the border, she’d expected crawling the half mile on her belly, warding off scorpions and desert rodents. Instead, she’d walked upright through a large space fortified with wood and swept clean of debris.

  She had two seconds to herself before Adam joined her outside, the gun still clutched in his hand as it had been through their entire journey.

  “What now?” She rubbed her arms with hands now empty of all the beads she’d deposited at the mouth of the tunnel on the US side of the border.

  “We walk to a meeting place about a mile ahead. I arranged transportation for us to Rocky Point. We went there with Mom and Dad when we were kids. Remember?”

  She nodded, blinking back tears. She remembered Mom trying to create some family
memories that didn’t include trying to manage Adam.

  Once they walked away from this tunnel and got into a car, Clay wouldn’t be able to find them. He wouldn’t be able to save her.

  She scuffed through the sand, away from the tunnel, and perched on the edge of a rock, wrapping her arms around her legs. “I need to rest before we undertake a mile hike through the desert.”

  “It’s almost night.” Adam spread his arms wide. “The sun will set shortly. We’ll be fine.”

  “I want to wait until it goes down a little more. I’m kind of claustrophobic. Walking through that tunnel drained me.”

  He leaned against the outcropping that masked the tunnel’s entrance, taking refuge in the shade of the scrubby bush that protruded from the rock—just where she wanted him. “Don’t try anything stupid, April. There’s nowhere for you to run, and once my associates get here there’s not going to be anyplace for you to hide, either. Let’s just find Dad, and then we’ll figure things out.”

  Figure out how to kill her and get rid of her body.

  “What if Dad isn’t El Gringo Viejo? What then?”

  “If he isn’t, which I highly doubt, I still have the flash drive with the tunnels. With that information, I’m sure I can gather a team to help me take over business from Las Moscas.”

  “They’ll kill you.”

  “They haven’t yet.” He rubbed a hand across the dark blond stubble on his chin. “They’ve been easy to play.”

  “Play?” She rolled her eyes. “You’ve played Las Moscas? Like that big man who came to Paradiso to threaten my life—and yours?”

  “Yes, play, as in directing their attention to Gilbert and the others in Jimmy’s crew, while I took care of Jimmy.”

  “Gilbert and Jimmy’s entourage are all dead?”

  “Do you think I’m an amateur, April? Is that what you think? I’ve been playing these games for years—you just never wanted to see it. Your obtuseness came in handy, or—” he tapped his boot against the rock “—maybe it was a survival mechanism. Maybe you knew on some level you had a dangerous sibling, and you stayed on my good side to protect yourself.”