“She doesn’t drink milk yet. Just formula.” Suddenly an awful thought struck her. “Cooper and Marco didn’t use my name, did they? When they checked us in?” she added quickly.
Her heart pounded like a timpani in her chest as she waited for Gil to reply. If anyone knew she was here...
With the can still poised in the air, Gil stared at her quizzically. “Why?”
“Did they?” she pressed.
A man she hadn’t met yet, presumably Marco, came into the room. “We used ‘Mr. and Mrs.,”’ he said. “My name and Gil’s. Makes it simple.”
Her relief was apparently obvious.
Gil was standing in front of her now. “Why?”
She looked up at his dark eyes. Yes, they were as dark as they’d appeared in the car. It hadn’t been the light. She drew in a deep breath. “I need to get the baby settled.”
“I told you. Cooper can take care—”
“Cooper isn’t Ellie’s aunt.” She hadn’t intended her voice to be so harsh. Gil looked as surprised as she felt at her outburst, but she didn’t care. She was entitled to be sharp with him—what she’d gone through today was nothing short of a nightmare. Lucia, an innocent woman who’d vowed to help, was dead. And it was Sonny’s fault. The reason Lucia had put her life in danger was because Sonny had asked her to. No, begged her to.
“You mentioned the baby was your niece.”
She closed her eyes. “Yes.”
Gil looked down at the baby. “Cash’s?”
Had she mentioned that earlier? She wasn’t sure. The way Gil was probing, Sonny knew they’d find out soon enough. She nodded.
Gil glanced at Marco. “Did you know about this? That Cash had a kid?”
Marco shook his head. “Nothing about a baby came up in my research.” He was rummaging through paperwork on his makeshift desk at the table. “No wife. Not even a girlfriend as far as I could tell.”
They were all looking at her now, questions silently blasting at her from their accusing stares.
“Why isn’t there a record of this baby?”
Sonny couldn’t help the smug grin that sprang to her face. “Beats me. I thought you knew everything.”
“I know Cash Montgomery is a drug dealer and he jumped bail. That’s all I need to know.”
Irritation coiled inside her. “If that’s the case, then you don’t need me at all. If you’ll show me my room, I’d like to make a list for Cooper and then give the baby a bath.”
She turned to leave, but Cooper caught her arm. “How is it that you came down to Colombia alone and now you have your brother’s baby in tow?” At a glance from Gil, Cooper released her. “If something is going on, if you’re afraid, we can help,” she said, more gently.
“Help who? Is that what you think you’re doing? You people truly have no idea what you’ve done today,” she said, repeating what she’d already said to Gil for Marco’s and Cooper’s benefit. “None at all.”
“How’d you get the baby, Sonny? You need to come clean and tell us,” Cooper said.
“Not now. Ellie needs me.”
Cooper sighed. “Follow me.”
When Sonny walked into the bedroom, she found two full-sized beds that looked so inviting that Sonny wanted to immediately drop into one of them and sleep for days. Both were big and covered with soft pillows and bedding. After her outburst in the living room, she was totally drained. But she couldn’t sleep until she tended to the baby. And she wasn’t ready to let her guard down, anyway. She still had no idea if she could trust these people.
Ellie’s last bottle was long gone, drained in the car on the drive to the villa. She didn’t need to feel the heaviness of the baby’s diaper to know she needed a change. The scent was enough to let her know.
Sonny went to the en suite bathroom and grabbed a crisp white folded towel from the shelf and went back into the bedroom. Pushing the pillows aside and placing a towel on one of the beds, she lay the sleeping baby down and began to undress her, hoping she could change the diaper without waking her. As she searched her bag for a clean diaper, tears welled up in her eyes and began to fall.
She was still in Colombia. She’d failed. Somehow she had to get word to her father.
Right about now, Dylan was risking his life to get to Cash. That is, if they’d managed to find him based on the information Angela had provided. Sonny didn’t know the details. They’d all agreed Sonny was better off not knowing so they could each focus on their specific mission. But the truth was that they didn’t want her to know any details in case she got caught.
Well, she’d been caught, in a manner of speaking. With any luck, Cash would make it safely home with Dylan and his team’s efforts. But what about her and Ellie?
She wiped a tear off her cheek with the back of her hand. She knew without a doubt that if she didn’t give up, she’d make it home.
With so many people risking so much, it didn’t seem right not to do her part.
She turned at a knock on the door. Cooper walked in.
“Nice digs, huh?” she said with a smile. It was the first time Cooper had smiled since they’d met.
“Do you have that list that Gil asked you to write up?”
Sonny closed the last tab on the diaper and carefully placed Ellie in the middle of the bed. “Just give me a second.”
Placing Ellie in the center of the bed, she quickly walked to the bathroom to wash her hands and then grabbed the pad of paper that was sitting between the beds. Ellie was awake now and looking around at the strange surroundings, stretching and turning to see who was in the room with her. Within seconds she rolled over onto her stomach.
Sonny sat on the bed beside her, a pang of fear hitting her square in the chest. She’d left the baby alone in the middle of the bed when she could have easily rolled off. She didn’t know all that much about babies, being the youngest in her family, but clearly Ellie was old enough to turn over on her own now. She’d have to remember that She quickly scratched down the essentials and decided that would probably be enough for now. If need be, she could send someone out again. Maybe by then she’d have a plan to get out of this mess.
Folding the slip of paper, she handed it to Cooper. “I don’t know your first name.”
The other woman finally met her eyes. “Brooke.”
Sonny nodded. “That’s a pretty name.”
“Thanks.”
“Why don’t they ever call you that?”
As she got a good look at Cooper, she felt bad that she’d thought of her as masculine. There was nothing masculine about her except for her short hair. She had pretty eyes and a small, upturned nose.
“I like to keep gender out of things. It’s easier that way.” She headed for the door and then turned. “I’ll be right back. You look a little tired. You might want to get some rest. You’re in for a long day.”
The door closed and for a moment, Sonny felt like a prisoner. There were no bars on the windows or chains on her hands and feet. But the feeling that she was all alone, confined to a cell, consumed her.
Cooper said it was going to be a long day. Well, it had already been that given the time she’d started out that morning. It seemed so long ago and yet it had been only hours.
As tired as she was, Sonny wasn’t about to stay cooped up, hiding in this room as if she had done something wrong. She scooped Ellie in her arms, cooing until the baby’s face lit with a smile. That smile alone was worth all the fear and frustration and exhaustion she’d been feeling.
As she walked into the common area, she saw Gil slumped on a cushy floral sofa, his feet propped up on the coffee table. He straightened up as she approached. “You looked so tired when we got here. I thought for sure you’d be taking a nap,” he said.
“Can’t sleep. The baby slept most of the way and now she’s awake. I don’t have a crib to put her in and I don’t want her to roll off the bed and get hurt.”
He nodded. “I’ll call the main desk to see if they have a portable crib.
This hotel caters to tourists so we might be in luck. Are you hungry? The villa has a small kitchen and Marco stocked up on food earlier.” He smiled. “There is more than just beer in there.”
She was about to say no when Marco came barreling in from the kitchen holding a piece of paper. “Aztec Corporation deals with shipping art and artifacts. Big deal. Everyone ships something or other down here.” He stopped short when he saw Sonny standing there.
Sonny felt the blood drain from her face. “What about the Aztec Corporation?”
“Marco’s a research genius,” Gil said, looking at her closely. “He did some digging around in your brother’s records and it seems he had some connection to the Aztec Corporation.”
“You mean he hacked my brother’s computer.”
“Whatever. Mind filling us in?”
“No,” she said, trying to keep a poker face.
Gil shrugged with a sigh.
“I’ll keep looking,” Marco said to Gil. “Unfortunately, the kitchen’s the only place we can get an Internet connection. Sometimes. It keeps cutting out on me.”
Sonny’s pulse quickened. They had a computer. She remembered Cooper and Gil talking about Marco hacking into a file. They must have been trying to hack into the Aztec Corporation website she’d found before coming to Colombia. That was how she’d found Ellie.
Like Marco, Sonny was good with computers. More than good. She was paid good money to be great at hacking for her corporate clients. She just needed that computer.
She’d have to be careful. She was sure Gil and his team knew full well what she did for a living. It surprised her that Gil had even offered her use of the kitchen, knowing the computer was in there. But it did give her opportunity to see what kind of setup they had.
Sonny feigned disinterest. “Gil said you went on a food run earlier? I haven’t eaten for hours and I’m starving,” she said.
“There’s not much.” He looked almost apologetic as he gestured at Ellie. “I didn’t know there’d be a baby here.”
“Do you have any fruit? I could probably mash up something for her.”
“There are some bananas.”
Sonny nodded. “Great. She might like that.”
“Wait, don’t you have to be careful what you give babies at this age?” Marco said, worry lines creasing his brow.
Gil laughed. “How would you know?”
Marco lifted his hands in protest. “I don’t. But my sister once gave strawberries to my nephew not knowing he had food allergies and broke out into these hives that made him look like a mutant in a science fiction movie. It happened right before my eyes. So gross. We had to bring him to the hospital.”
Sonny hadn’t thought of that. She felt way out of her depth. But how much harm could bananas do?
“Maybe we could look up what babies eat at this age. Online, I mean,” she said, realizing that was a perfect opportunity.
“Sure. Better to be safe than have the kid needing a hospital run.”
“They really do that?” Gil asked, grimacing. “Look like mutants from a science fiction movie?”
Gil laughed at the look on Marco’s face as he teased him.
“Yeah, okay. You laugh,” Marco said. “But it would freak you out too if you saw it happening right before your eyes.”
“Why don’t you check the kitchen for something that won’t make Ellie swell up like a mutant,” Gil said to Sonny. “This new side of Marco is freaking me out.”
She smiled and went to the kitchen with Marco on her heels. The computer was on the counter near the telephone. Dial up? Really? No. It was wireless. Sonny didn’t risk paying too much attention to the computer. She didn’t want Marco to become suspicious.Instead, she looked at the food that was spread out on the counter, lifting a loaf of bread and some chips to view the few things there.
“There’s chocolate,” Gil said, standing in the doorway. “But Cooper will fight you for it. And I warn you, she always wins.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Find anything the baby can eat?”
“I’m not sure. This vanilla pudding cup might be too sweet for her.”
“Applesauce,” Marco said, reaching past her. “My sister always gave my nephew applesauce. Cooper loves it but she won’t fight you for that.”
She smiled at him in thanks but out of the corner of her eye, she saw the computer, practically calling to her. Her mind was racing. She could contact her father, tell him what had happened. But she was sure both Gil and Marco would fight her for use of the computer.
“Did you call about the crib?” she asked Gil.
His eyes met hers and held for a brief moment. Sonny was tempted to pull away from his gaze but she fought to hold the stare. She didn’t want him or anyone else intimidating her. But the look he gave her was not one of intimidation. It was of sympathy and it almost made her crumble.
“They said someone would bring it up later,” he said quietly.
“I’m really tired,” she said, shifting the baby in her arms with exaggerated fatigue. “If you don’t mind, can you two go down to the office and see if you can carry it back here? After I feed the baby, I’m going to try to nap. I’ll feel more comfortable if Ellie is in a crib.”
“Sure,” he said. “Let’s go, Marco.”
* * *
Nothing about this job felt right, Gil thought as they headed to the hotel office to retrieve the crib. But he kept quiet. There was no sense getting Marco or Cooper fired up for nothing. After fifteen minutes of waiting for someone from maintenance to grab a crib from storage, he and Marco carried the crib across the parking lot to the villa.
“You didn’t come up with anything on a wife?” Gil asked as they walked awkwardly across the cracked pavement.
“Nothing,” Marco said.
“Terrific.” This was going to complicate things. In the past hour since they’d made it back to the villa, he’d begun to believe that Sonny Montgomery really didn’t know where Cash was hiding out. A baby and the possibility of a wife changed things. If they’d known, they’d have tailed the wife, tried to appeal to her concern for her husband’s safety.
Every instinct Gil had was that this job was just the beginning of a shit storm he was willingly walking his team into. And that didn’t sit well with him.
“What about Aztec?” he said. They’d hit a dead end and needed a break. The Aztec Corporation could be the very thing that broke this case wide-open and gave Gil some sense that they were right to risk coming down to Colombia.
“I can’t tell if they’re legit. All these shipping companies look fine on the surface. I have to dig into their private files to see what they’re all about. I’ve got to go deep.” Marco’s eyes lit up. He loved a good excuse to hack deep. “What do you say, boss man? Want me to go on a hunt?”
Gil laughed, rolling his eyes. “I’ll leave that one up to you. See how easy it is to break into their sys—”
He stopped short, pulling Marco back as they reached the villa.
“Did you leave your computer on in the kitchen?” Gil asked.
“No, I shut it down. It’s password protected.”
Gil gave a sarcastic glance. “She’s a hacker by trade, Marco.”
Marco looked at the crib in his hands. “Hey, no one is getting into that computer. I know my shit.”
“We’ll find out in a minute. Hang here for a second,” he said, and moved past Marco into the villa, leaving the door ajar.
He moved quietly, looking toward the bedrooms and around the living room. Sonny had said she was going to feed the baby and then take a nap. She was probably still feeding Ellie—he could hear the baby making noise in the kitchen.
As he moved toward the kitchen, he heard a distinctive sound that was not a spoon going into a baby’s mouth.
“You type pretty fast with a baby in your arms,” he said, leaning against the doorjamb.
Sonny quickly punched a key and the screen went blank. She straightene
d up and turned to Gil.
He should feel sorry for her, with everything she’d been dealing with. But here she was, having tricked them into giving her computer access. She was probably warning her brother that they were on to him.
“Maybe we’ll hold off on the nap so we can have a good chat,” he said, his voice icy. He hated being duped and Sonny had just duped him big-time. Her whole routine had been an act. “You’re a criminal just like your brother, aren’t you, Ms. Montgomery?”
#
Chapter Four
Sonny’d expected them to come back to the villa quickly. She could hack into a computer faster than anyone on her team at work. But she hadn’t gauged the time it would take her to get into the password-protected computer with one hand while holding Ellie with the other.
“Be careful, Gil. Your charm is overwhelming me,” Sonny said, answering Gil’s accusing stare.
“We brought the crib. That is, if you still need it.”
“Why wouldn’t I need a crib?”
“I don’t know. Wasn’t the crib just a ploy to get me and Marco out of the villa so you could go online?”
Sonny glared at him. “You’re absolutely right,” she said. “That was just one part of my master plan. The first step was to lure you into bringing me back to this villa with no baby supplies so I wouldn’t have to get on that plane to Miami. The second was to be holed up in a place that had no food, diapers or sleeping arrangements for this baby. How did you know?”
“Don’t play with me,” he said.
“I have no intention of doing that.”
“What are you doing?”
She shifted her weight and propped the baby on her hip. Ellie wasn’t heavy, but Sonny’s arms weren’t used to holding a baby this long, especially while multitasking. “For your information, I was seeing if I could get an Internet connection to search for safe foods for the baby in case Cooper can’t find anything appropriate at the market. After what Marco said about hives, I got worried.”
He considered what she said. “Someone left their baby in your care and you know nothing about babies?”
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