by Jill Sanders
What should she do? Should she tell Ryan? There was nothing he could do. Would he let her go? Should she go? Of course. This was her father. Like Ryan had said, he’d probably come up with a plan to protect her and had gotten himself captured. It was all her fault that he was in danger now.
If she hadn’t been trying to be a big shot, she would have just given Reece information about his brother instead of trying to deliver him.
Not only had she screwed up with her dad, but she’d put Ryan in danger too. It was her fault that they’d attacked him that night. She’d blown his cover. She closed her eyes and moaned. This was all her fault. She had to fix it.
It took some lying, but she finally got Ryan to leave an hour later under the assumption that she was staying home all day due to a headache. The second he drove off, she packed her bug-out bag with everything she’d need. She noticed that one of her twenty-twos was gone, but there were still plenty of bullets left.
Taking the bag, she walked to the end of the driveway and waited for the cab she’d called. The entire trip into Houston, she worried if she was doing the right thing. She’d left Ryan a note explaining what had happened and hoped he’d understand why she couldn’t chance asking for his help. Not when her father’s life was at stake.
When she finally arrived at her house, she paid the cabbie with her credit card and sighed. It felt good to use her own money again. Even if it was just for a short while. She looked around and prayed that her plan would work. It had to work.
When she opened her front door, she wrapped her fingers around her gun and hoped that she would have the guts to follow through.
Ryan hobbled into the house and plopped down on the sofa. He’d been gone less than thirty minutes, but he hadn’t planned on being kicked off his horse. The beast had been spooked by a snake, and he’d landed hard enough that he’d ended up calling it a day.
Nikki didn’t come out of the bedroom, so he walked back to check on her. He found her note, and instantly he was in the truck and heading towards Houston at the fastest speed it could travel, praying the entire drive that he’d get there in time.
The drive seemed to take forever, his mind continuously conjuring up images of the trouble Nikki could be in, but finally, he pulled up in front of her place. He could see her standing in her living room with two men he knew all too well and his heart skipped. He rushed to the door and flew through it quickly with her gun in his hands. He stopped cold when he saw what the actual situation was.
She stood there facing the men with her gun held strongly in both hands and pointed at the men’s chests.
“Ryan?” She turned her head towards him, and he watched in horror as her gun wavered. Pablo, the larger of the two men she’d been aiming at, reached over and snatched her wrist and twisted until he pulled her in front of him.
“Drop it,” he yelled at Ryan. He had no choice but to obey.
“Where’s my father?” She tried to jerk out of the man’s reach. “Ryan, they have my father.” Her eyes pleaded with his as he tossed his gun onto the floor.
He looked between the men. “I’m the one you want. She has nothing to do with this.” He watched the men look at one another and sneer.
“She’s the one the boss wants. You’re just a nice extra.” The skinny man he knew as Julian walked over and picked up his gun and pointed it at him. “We’ll take ’em both to the boss and maybe get a bonus.” He smiled and Ryan felt like kicking in his teeth.
“You mean Dante?” Ryan laughed. “Dante won’t know what to do with me again.”
Julian shook his head, and Ryan noted that he’d always been the brains out of the pair. The man he knew as Dante had been in charge of them but had never wanted to get his hands dirty. “No, Dante was taken care of after the boss found out that he let you get away last time.”
Ryan laughed. “It was you two goons that we got away from.”
“Yeah, but it was Dante’s responsibility to make sure we did the job right. Then when the boss found out that you were a snitch…” He whistled.
“Boss shot him right between the eyes.” Pablo laughed.
The two men smiled and nodded to each other. “Now we answer to the big man himself.”
“Yeah,” Pablo said, holding Nikki closer to him. Ryan watched her cringe and her eyes searched his. He wanted to scold her for going off on her own, but all he could focus on was coming up with a plan to get her safe.
Pablo tied Nikki’s hands behind her back and then did the same to Ryan. The rope was coarse and strong and when he tested the knots, he realized that Pablo knew how to secure a man.
“How did you get in here?” Nikki asked, looking around and frowning at her high-tech security system.
“Funny thing,” Pablo said. “The front door was wide open and the security system was all shut down.” He chuckled. “Looks like you forgot to lock up after you left.”
Ryan frowned. They had locked up when they’d left. He remembered her punching in her code, and he’d used her keys to bolt the doors. He had hoped the security system would save her place from being trashed, like it was now.
Pablo shoved Nikki into the back of a dark sedan that was parked in her garage like it belonged there. When the man pushed Ryan into the car beside her, Ryan kicked out and caught the man’s knees and watched him fall down to ground. Then he felt the gun poking him in his ribs and froze.
“Try that again and I’ll start shooting first,” Julian said behind his back. Nikki stared at him, her eyes huge, as she begged Julian not to hurt him.
Ryan went into the car when he was pushed, then Pablo punched him and everything went black.
Chapter Sixteen
Nikki held onto Ryan’s hand tightly and prayed that he’d wake up soon. He would know what to do. She tried to watch where they were going, but several times the big man had reached around and pushed her head down.
Ryan had a cut on his forehead where the large man had hit him. As she looked at his dark eyelashes resting on his face, she realized that she loved him beyond words. She knew without a doubt that she’d follow him no matter where he went. No matter what job he did, she would stand by him. But first she had to tell him how she felt, and she hoped that he would wake up soon. She felt the car slowing and by some miracle, Ryan’s eyes opened.
“Ryan,” she whispered, not wanting to alert the men in front that he was awake.
He shook his head and closed his eyes as the man looked back at her. She rubbed Ryan’s head and pretended to try to wake him up again.
When the man turned around again, she shook Ryan and he opened his eyes again. He looked around and then looked up at her and she mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
His hands came up and brushed her hair away from her face as he nodded.
“I love you.” A tear fell down her face and landed on his hair.
He smiled up at her and nodded slightly again. She watched him working the ropes at his wrists. Trying to get them undone.
“We’ll get out of this,” he mouthed to her just as the car came to a stop. He closed his eyes and stilled his hands, pretended to be out again.
She chanced a peek over the back of the car and felt her heart skip. They were at a large house and at least a dozen men were walking around with very large guns.
They were so screwed. Her arm was yanked as they helped her out of the car. Then she was shoved into the house while they dragged Ryan by his arms behind her.
She knew that crying wasn’t going to do any good, but she couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her face as she watched in horror as they dropped Ryan on the ground.
“So, you have brought me a present.” She looked up and saw a man in his early thirties walking towards them. They were in a large room that looked like a jungle. There were mounted animals covering every wall. Large palm trees stood in big planters around the room. There was even a small fountain with a statue of a naked boy peeing into its clear waters.
The man took a few more steps to
wards them and dusted off his hands. Dirt from the pot he’d been working in dropped to the floor.
“Yeah, boss. He showed up shortly after she did.”
She pushed her shoulders back and demanded in a clear voice, “Where’s my father?”
The man looked at her and then laughed. “Oh, I like this one.” He walked over to her and ran a finger over her chin. She could smell the dirt and fertilizer on his hands. She pulled back and repeated her question. His hand whipped out quickly and she had no time to brace for the blow that knocked her to her knees.
Since her hands were still tied, she fell hard onto the tile floor and cried out when pain shot up her legs.
Then Ryan was on the man. The ropes on his hands had been untied somehow, and he was hitting the man so quickly that even the goons that had been standing around hadn’t had the time to respond.
By the time they did respond, he had the shorter, skinnier man who had hit Nikki in a chokehold flat on the ground.
“Call off your men,” he warned, looking around as several guns pointed in their direction.
Nikki didn’t know what to do, so she held very still and tried not to be noticed.
“You think you can come in my house and do this?” Hijo del Diablo laughed up at him.
“Call them off or I snap your skinny neck.” Ryan squeezed a little more, cutting the man’s airflow off for just a moment.
“Back off,” the man cried out.
His men obeyed and took a step backwards, but their guns were still raised towards him.
“Tell them to drop their guns and untie Nikki.” He knew he was pushing his luck, but he needed to try.
Hijo del Diablo laughed up at him as a trickle of blood oozed from his lip. “I’m not stupid, Kevin. If I give you the upper hand, what do I gain in return?”
The use of his undercover name told him what he needed to know. In the last month and a half, they still hadn’t discovered his true identity.
“Yes, I know who you are.” The man sneered up at him. “I was very impressed with you until your partner made the stupid mistake of being recognized by one of my men. Apparently he’d busted the boy years before.” He laughed. “The kid remembered him and before your partner died, he mentioned that there was another nark. We didn’t know who it was at first, but since you were asking around to meet me…” He shrugged his shoulders. “She was just a bonus until I saw a picture of her with her dear old dad in her house; I couldn’t believe how lucky I’d gotten. He’s the man who made me, the one who ruined my life!” he screamed.
Ryan looked over at Nikki and frowned. “Where is her father?” he asked, leaning a little harder on the man’s neck.
Hijo del Diablo laughed again.
“You’d better pray that he’s still alive,” Ryan growled next to his ear. “And if you ever lay another finger on her...”
He smiled and nodded towards his men. When Ryan glanced over, he shook in horror as one of Hijo del Diablo’s men pointed a gun at Nikki’s temple.
“You think I would let you just walk out of here?” The man pulled Ryan’s hands away from his throat. “I’m in charge here. You come into my home and give me demands.” He laughed as he pushed Ryan aside and got up off the dirty floor.
“I’ve been in charge since her old man betrayed me,” he screamed and pointed at Nikki. “It’s all his fault and he is going to pay for what he did.”
Nikki shook her head and tried to get free of the large man holding her. “Where’s my father?” she begged softly.
Hijo del Diablo didn’t even glance at her. “Now, you’ll pay for breaking my trust.” He walked over to Ryan with his fists balled and hit him in the gut, causing him to double over.
He waved his hands. “Get them out of my sight.” He turned to go back to his potting.
“Wait,” Nikki screamed. “Where’s my father?”
Just then there was a loud crash as a canister was thrown into the room. Ryan jumped across the floor and plowed into the man who held Nikki. He heard something crack as they fell towards the floor.
“Cover your eyes and breathe shallow,” he warned Nikki as he rolled with her towards the small fountain. She screamed as a bright light went off and smoke filled the space. There was shouting and shooting. He just prayed that no stray bullets would hit them as they sought shelter behind the stone statue of the boy.
He splashed some water from the fountain in Nikki’s eyes as she started to cough. “Shallow breaths,” he warned her but then started to cough himself.
Men ran into the room and when one of them yanked Ryan up, he swung out as he tried to shield Nikki with his body. The man he’d hit in the gut grabbed his wrist, and Ryan stopped fighting when he noticed what the man was wearing.
He was dressed in all black and had a gas mask on. He pointed to Nikki and waved for them to follow him. Ryan picked Nikki up and tossed her over his shoulder and then followed the man out a side door. His breathing was labored as they rushed from the room. His lungs screamed for more oxygen and his throat burned from the gas. His eyes were so watery that he could hardly see to follow the man.
By the time they made it down a long hall, the shooting had stopped. There was still a lot of yelling and he could hear police sirens in the background. He could hear people running upstairs as they exited the house, but his eyes were too watery to see clearly.
“Son, set her down,” the man said, and then he patted him on his back.
“Daddy?” Nikki coughed.
Ryan set her down and took the wet cloth he’d been handed to wipe his eyes clear. Someone pulled on his arm and pushed him into a chair. He reached out and took hold of Nikki’s hand to make sure he wouldn’t lose track of her.
“Daddy?” she called out again just as his eyes started working again.
“Right here, baby,” someone said, and Nikki jumped up from the chair next to his and flung herself into the arms of the man in black who had led them outside—her father.
Chapter Seventeen
Nikki held onto her father and let her tears come. Her knees hurt and she was sure her cheek was twice its usual size thanks to Hijo del Diablo.
She shivered, remembering the look in the man’s black eyes.
Finally, her father pulled her back. “Let’s get you checked out.” He nodded back to the paramedic station where Ryan sat looking at them. His face was covered in soot and blood, and he was holding his left arm funny. When she started walking over to him, her legs almost gave out.
He jumped up from his chair and held onto her.
“I’m so sorry,” she cried over and over again.
“Shhh.” He ran his hands over her hair and she realized she probably looked terrible. She felt like she had a layer of dirt over every inch of her, and there was dried blood all over her mouth and chin.
“How did you find us?” Ryan asked her father as he held her tightly.
“I wasn’t actually looking for you.” She pulled back and looked at her father.
“What do you mean?” She frowned and Ryan helped her to a bench. A paramedic walked over to her, but she waved him away. “Dad?”
He moved closer to her. “Well, ever since Ryan first called, I’ve been working on locating Hijo del Diablo. I hadn’t thought about the kid in years.” He shook his head and closed his eyes. “But after talking to you”—he looked at Ryan—“something jogged in my memory. I remembered that when I was getting close to him, I’d also befriended his mother. Maria had talked about a ranch that her husband had given their son, Franco. That’s Hijo del Diablo’s real name. Anyway, the boy had talked about his horses and sheep, and Maria had talked about being close to the ocean. It was just a matter of finding the right place.”
“How did you?” Nikki asked.
He laughed. “We didn’t know we had until we saw them unloading you from the car.” He shook his head. “Actually, we were just about to give up. The infrared wasn’t showing much.” He shook his head.
Then her father turn
ed towards a man in all black who was walking out of the building.
“I’ll go see how things are going.”
Nikki looked over at Ryan and realized he’d been getting cleaned up while her father had talked. The blood on his face was all gone, but his eyes were bloodshot from the smoke. She was sure hers looked similar. He was still holding his left arm funny.
“Is it broken?” She moved closer to him.
He looked down at it and shook his head. “Hopefully not.” He used his good hand to brush her hair aside. “Let them clean you up.” He waved to a paramedic, who quickly walked over to her and handed her a cloth and started looking over her cuts and bruises.
By the time her father walked back over to where they sat, she felt a little better.
“Well?” Ryan said, pulling her closer.
Her father shook his head. “Hijo del Diablo’s dead. So are most of his men. They found three missing people tied up in the basement. One of them was already dead.” He shook his head and sat next to her, then looked over at Ryan. “Last time I talked to you, you promised me you’d keep her safe in Fairplay.”
He nodded. “I tried.”
“Daddy, it’s not his fault,” she burst in. “I got a call from your cellphone. They told me they had you and would kill you if I didn’t come home.”
Her father frowned. “I was staking out your place when I was interrupted. I must have dropped my phone.” He frowned. “That’s one of the reasons I retired.” He shook his head. “That never would have happened when I was younger.”
“So, that’s how they got into your place,” Ryan said, reaching over and taking her hand in his. He was warm and felt like heaven, and she knew that once things settled down, she would have to talk to him about what had happened.
“Let’s get you guys somewhere where you can clean up and change.” Her father stood up. “We’ll have hours of clean up and paperwork to deal with soon enough.”
Ryan nodded and helped Nikki up. Her knees really hurt, and she leaned on Ryan.