Ransom in Rio

by Theresa Lynn Hall

  “I’m sorry, Lexi I just got your text message and there was no time to call the ambulance.”

  Pedro ran to Brayden and knelt down. He prayed a quick prayer and then gently nudged Brayden’s shoulder. “Can you hear us?”

  Brayden nodded. Lexi let out a sigh of relief. “Brayden, we’re going to pick you up. Lean on us and try to walk to the car.”

  Pedro got on one side and Lexi the other. Brayden put his arms loosely around their shoulders. “On three, Brayden. One…two…three.”

  Lexi grunted as she hoisted his heavy body onto her shoulder. He moaned in pain and bit his lip.

  “You’re doing great,” she told him. “The car is right in front of us. We’re going to ease you in, and you’re going to need to lay down in the backseat. We’ll get you to the hospital.”

  “The ambulance?” he asked, his eyes still closed.

  “No time,” she replied. He didn’t ask any more questions.

  The stress of the night was slipping off her, and the relief of being rescued was setting in. She wanted to break down but knew she had to hold it together for Brayden’s sake. It was too soon to fall apart. She climbed into the front seat and plugged her phone into Pedro’s charger. She thanked God for modern technology. In a time when so many people complained about society’s constant use of cellphones, hers had saved their lives.

  Lexi watched her uncle as he drove. He didn’t say a word, but she could see the fear in his features. He was a man of few words on a good day, so she knew whatever he was thinking, he wasn’t going to say it.

  “Tio.”

  “Si,” he said as he glanced quickly at her, then put his eyes back on the road.

  She stared out of the window as she spoke. “I don’t know where to begin.”

  “Then don’t. Let this all come to an end before you try to talk about it.”

  She nodded. They were words of wisdom.

  “We will be at the hospital in a few minutes. He will be taken care of soon.”

  “I know. It’s just that…it’s just…” She let her words die. No matter how hard she tried to talk about her feelings for Brayden, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

  Pedro pulled into the emergency room drive. Lexi climbed out and ran inside. “We need help. Please! My friend has been shot.”

  Two women and three men rushed to the car. She hoped one was a doctor, but she couldn’t tell. “Get the stretcher,” someone yelled.

  “Start an IV. We’ll need to get him up to imaging for a CT scan. Get me three pints of O negative. Patient showing signs of shock.”

  Instructions and medical demands flew as they transported him through the ER. He was losing a lot of blood. She had done what she could to stop it. She’d done all she could. It was time to stand back and allow them to do their job.

  As they wheeled the gurney past her, Brayden whispered her name. She bent to put her ear to his mouth.

  “Don’t mention anything to your uncle.”

  Lexi straightened and nodded. She didn’t know why he felt that was important, but it must’ve been for those to be his last words before being taken to surgery.

  She went back outside to the car where her uncle waited and climbed inside. Her head fell against the car seat. Lexi closed her eyes and waited for her uncle to speak first.

  “Lexi, you should come home with us.”

  “Thank you, Tio, but no. I’m going to stay with Brayden. I can’t leave him alone.”

  She placed a hand on her uncle’s. “Thank you, Tio, for coming. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

  He picked up her hand and kissed it. “Call us if you need anything.”

  She nodded and unplugged her phone from the charger. “You know I will.”

  Lexi went back inside and sat on a couch in the ER waiting room. She leaned back and closed her eyes. She was beyond exhausted. Her phone vibrated in her hand, and she jerked awake.

  “Hello?”

  “Lexi. This is Sergeant Luke Johnson with the Texas Rangers. I’m a friend of Brayden’s. I’ve been trying to reach him for hours. I called the hospital and was told a man fitting his description was brought in by an elderly man and a young woman. I assume you’re both OK since you’re answering your phone.”

  “No, he’s in surgery. He’s been shot.”

  “What? Is it bad?”

  “Yes. He doesn’t know that, but it’s bad from what I can tell.”

  “He’s a tough guy. I know he’ll be all right.”

  Lexi waited in silence for him to speak again. No words were needed to convey how worried they both were.

  “Listen, Lexi, we’ve got your father in custody. Did he tell you?”

  “No, but I figured out a few things on my own. My dad, my family in Rio, they’re all part of the cartel. Dad owes the cartel a lot of money. They were kidnapping me for a ransom. What I don’t know yet is how Jace died. Or why.”

  “I would rather Brayden tell you, but considering the circumstances, I will. Your brother was sent to Cozumel by your father for a fake kidnapping. He called the insurance company to file a Kidnapping and Ransom claim. When Jace died, it cancelled the claim. He collected a pretty large sum of life insurance money instead.”

  “And it still wasn’t enough, so he sent me to Rio—knowing I would be kidnapped for a ransom too.”

  “I’d say you have most of it right,” Luke said.

  “Dad sent me to Rio because a shipment was coming in. He told me the last shipment had been damaged, and I needed to be there to check out the new shipment. I had my doubts but never thought for a second it was because I was accepting a drug shipment.”

  “I know this has to be hard for you. And for what it’s worth, I am sorry.”

  “I wonder what my father’s reaction was when they told him they were going to kill me.”

  “Your father is on suicide watch, Lexi.”

  The words hit her like a sucker punch. The resilient Henry Ramos having a mental breakdown. It was an ironic turn of events. “How’s Mom?”

  “She’s seems to be doing pretty well, considering.”

  “What’s going to happen to my family?” She needed to hear the words.

  Luke cleared his throat. “It’s not good. A lot of people in your family are going to jail. We’ve got enough on your dad with the drug charges that he’ll be away for the rest of his life.”

  “Jace died for nothing more than drug money.”

  “I wouldn’t say that. He died for you. He tried to save you from your family’s legacy of corruption. Selena finally talked to us. Jace figured out why your dad was sending him to Cozumel before he ever left. He knew the company was embezzling money and smuggling drugs. Your father wanted him out of the way because a shipment was coming into Houston with drugs. He was worried your brother would stop it, or worse, turn them in. Your father told him there was a job he needed him to do in Cozumel. He asked Jace to meet the men on a fishing boat. We don’t believe he had any idea he was supposed to be held for ransom and then be released. Your dad was going to collect millions. I don’t know all the details of that night yet, but Jace drowned.”

  “I don’t know if I believe it was an accident. That’s what they tried to tell me in Rio.”

  “I doubt it was either. But Jace tried to warn you. He wanted to give you the information he’d found because he knew you’d do the right thing with it. And you did. You hired Brayden.”

  Tears filled her eyes. She missed him so much. But she was not the same broken woman who’d come to Brazil. She was stronger now, and she had to go on living to repay her brother for what he’d done to protect her.

  “You said you talked to Selena.”

  “She said Jace had found out about the family’s involvement with the cartel several months ago. She was afraid to talk until we told her you’d been kidnapped. After she found that out, she told us she was the one who’d mailed you the package at Jace’s request.”

  “Bless her heart. I can’t imagine wha
t she’s been going through. Is she safe?”

  “We think so, but until we know how deep this cartel’s reach is, we’re going to keep someone on her. Speaking of that, we’ve got people watching out for you in Brazil. You’re not safe until you’re on that plane home, so stay out of sight if you can.”

  “Aunt Sofia and Uncle Pedro? Are they safe?”

  “They’ll be OK. They were informants for us. Have been for months. They helped us build the case against your family. It seems Pedro and your grandfather never really got along. He was more than happy to see this come to an end. We offered to put them in the witness protection program, but they refused.

  She sank down in the uncomfortable chair. She couldn’t wait for this nightmare to end.

  “Call me when Brayden comes out of surgery.”

  “I will. Thanks for filling me in on everything.”

  “No problem. And for what it’s worth, I’m going to go ahead and say I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  Luke laughed. “Brayden will tell you. And don’t hold anything against him. He’s a private investigator, not FBI. There was only so much information I could share with him. Even though we’re friends. He knows that he may have been misled on a few things, so cut him some slack, OK?”

  She agreed and hung up. She couldn’t wait for Brayden to come out of surgery. She closed her eyes and prayed for God to protect and heal him. She prayed about the girl she’d shot. There would be a lot of emotions to deal with for years to come over it.

  Lexi opened her eyes and stared across the room. A plaque hung on the distant wall with a Bible verse inscribed on it. She squinted to read it from where she was sitting. For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

  She’d heard the verse before but she’d never felt it in her heart. Until now.

  “Miss Ramos.”

  Lexi’s flinched at the sound of her name.

  “Yes?” She sat up to give the doctor her attention. “Is he OK?”

  He smiled and extended a hand to her. “I’m Dr. Bradshaw. Yes, he’s going to be fine. The bullet didn’t hit any major organs or arteries. He will make a complete recovery.”

  “Thank you so much. When can I see him?”

  “He’s not quite awake yet, but I’m sure he’d like for you to be the first person he sees when he wakes up.”

  “Thank you.” Lexi stood, and the room faded from her sight.

  “Whoa.” The doctor grabbed her arm. “Are you OK?”

  She sat back down and waited for the room to stop spinning. “It’s just my blood sugar. I haven’t eaten in hours, and the stress isn’t helping.”

  “Come on, I’ll see to it that we get you some breakfast. One of the nurses will bring you something to eat.”

  She stood, slowly this time, and followed the doctor to where Brayden was recovering. The doctor slid a curtain back. What she saw ripped through her heart. Brayden’s color was faint, he had tubes and wires attached to him, and he was still knocked out from the anesthesia. Even her medical training hadn’t prepared her to see him like this.

  Lexi pulled up a chair and sat next to his bed. She pulled and tugged at the horrid green dress that she’d come to loathe. “Doctor? Would it be too much to ask to get me a pair of scrubs or something? I’m really tired of wearing this dress.”

  “Of course. I’ll have the nurse bring you something when they bring your breakfast.”

  She thanked him and laid her head on the edge of Brayden’s bed. She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep when a nurse tapped her on the shoulder. She took the clothes and the breakfast and thanked her several times. She didn’t want to leave Brayden’s side but she had to change clothes. She wriggled the shirt over her head and pulled the pants on under her skirt. She wormed her way out of the dress and stuffed it into the garbage can in the corner.

  “Now that’s something I’ve never seen before,” Brayden said. “How did you put on clothes without taking clothes off? You’re like Houdini.”

  She spun around. He was smiling at her. “You’re awake.” She was at his bedside in two steps. Before she could stop herself, she smoothed the hair back from his forehead.

  “How are you doing?”

  “I’m fine. Can’t wait to get home.”

  “Me too. Brayden, I talked to Luke while you were in surgery. I know everything.”

  He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, Lexi.” He opened his eyes and stared at the wall. “I couldn’t tell you until we knew for sure. This was way more than a murder investigation or money laundering.”

  “That’s what Luke said to me too. That he was sorry. He said to go easy on you.”

  “At times he allowed me to believe that you might be part of all this.”

  Her heart clamped shut. She swallowed hard. “And do you still?”

  He set his eyes on hers. “I never once doubted your innocence. I’ll admit that the things he said made me think about it, but I never doubted you. Come here,” he said as he patted the side of the bed.

  She sat, and he grabbed her hand. “Lexi, I don’t usually say things like this, and it might be the anesthesia talking, but there’s something about you that I can’t shake. I’ve felt it from the day you first walked into my office.”

  Lexi let the tears fall this time. She didn’t believe they showed weakness anymore. They were a sign of her strength—of where she’d been and of where she was going. “I can’t say I felt it that day, but I can say I feel the same way now. I don’t know when or how it happened, but it did.”

  “When we get home, I’m going to take you on a real date. How do you feel about fishing?”

  “Fishing?” She laughed. “I’ve never been, but I’d go anywhere with you—at least once.”

  “Good. Someone I know owes me a fishing trip.”

  “Brayden, I want to warn you…I come with a lot of baggage. It’s going to take a while for me to get through all of the things that have happened. Not just here, but my entire life.”

  “I have a few things to work on myself. If we keep God first, we’ll make it through anything. Besides, I think we make a pretty good team.”

  “We sure do. If I haven’t said it yet, thank you for saving my life.”

  “Thank you for saving mine,” he said as he squeezed her hand.

  Epilogue

  Lexi put eggs, bacon and toast on two plates while she waited for Brayden. She poured two cups of steaming coffee and sat at the table. They’d been home two weeks, and he’d promised to start taking her to church with him. She had to admit, she was a little nervous.

  Brayden came into the kitchen and kissed her on the cheek. “I have something to tell you,” he said as he sat next to her. “Remember those accounts I told you about? The ones that we couldn’t figure out where the money came from? Have you talked to Selena?”

  “Yes, but not about that.”

  “I guess she knew I would tell you, eventually. Well, there’s this thing called asset forfeiture. Your brother opened an account in his name with you and Selena as beneficiaries. It looks like all of the money he put into it was from the sale of damaged furniture and some antiquities he’d sold recently. In all, he had over a million dollars in the account. He kept good receipts from the transactions and nothing ties the money to the drugs. Looks like you and Selena will get to keep the money.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “He knew we’d be flat-broke once the feds busted Ramos Furniture,” she said.

  “So what are you going to do now?” he asked.

  She wiped tears from her eyes. “I need to go see my father.”

  “Are you ready to do that?”

  “I have to. I have to tell him that I forgive him. Not for him, for me. Lying on that dirty floor in Rio changed me. I’m not the woman I was before I left.”

  “Jesus changed you.”

  She nodded. “Yes. And somehow I thought my heart would feel
this incredible difference. But I’ll be honest, I’m struggling. I wake up some nights drenched in sweat from the nightmares of what happened to Jace and to me in Rio. And I want my father to feel what Jace felt. What I felt. I get so angry, and sometimes I’m filled with hatred. I thought my heart would be completely different now, but I feel the same anger I’ve always felt. And I’m ashamed to admit it.”

  Brayden wrapped his arms around her and held her. “Your heart is different now, but being a Christian doesn’t make you perfect. The difference in you now is that you’re forgiven and you have salvation. And every day you’ll keep trying to be better than you were the day before. Forgiveness for your dad may not have come to you completely yet, but in time you’ll forgive your father and you’ll feel it in your heart. It’ll happen. Keep praying about it.”

  She nodded against his chest.

  “And I know something else you can do.”

  She shifted so she could look into his face. “What’s that?”

  He grinned. “You could start the rest of your life by getting married.”

  “Married? But I don’t know anyone who wants to marry me.”

  Brayden pulled out of her arms and laughed. He knelt on one knee and grimaced as it rested on the hard kitchen floor. “Lexi, I thought I would never trust again. I thought I was happy on my own. I was wrong.” He pulled a black box from his pocket and held it open. “Lexi, will you marry me?”

  Tears filled her eyes. A green emerald ring surrounded by diamonds glistened against the black velvet.

  “Where did you get that?”

  “Would you believe I found it in my pocket?”

  Her hand flew to her mouth. “You mean this is from my necklace?”

  “I’ll tell you later. Can you just say yes or no? My knee is killing me.”

  Lexi laughed and threw her arms around his neck. “I think that sounds like the perfect way to start the rest of my life.”

  Thank you

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