Hidden Prey

by Cheyenne McCray

  “She must have friends or family there.” Diego tried to keep control of his fury. “Send Pablo to Tucson to the address on her driver’s license and see if he can find anything that will lead us to her. Perhaps someone will be there who will know where she must have planned to stay.”

  “I have already sent Pablo, as well as John.” Alejandro continued, “It should not take them long to reach and search her home, or to interrogate anyone they might need to.”

  “Take care of it.” Diego disconnected the call and nearly slammed the cell phone on the desktop. He loved his son and would do anything for him. But Diego had a low tolerance for failure from anyone.

  Diego breathed in slowly through his nose then parted his lips and blew out his breath. Inhale. Exhale.

  Alejandro, referred to as El Puño, the Fist, would inherit Diego’s empire. If anything were to happen to Alejandro, Diego’s four brothers would be in line from the oldest to the youngest. Diego had no wish for his brothers to take over the business. It belonged to Alejandro if Diego passed away.

  His brothers were fools.

  Once Diego regained full control of his emotions, he left the office and returned to the balcony where Angelina waited. She looked out at the pool and gardens lit with strategically placed spotlights.

  When he reached her, he rested his hand on her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. “What are you thinking, my angel?” he asked as he straightened.

  She smiled up at him. “I have the best grandfather in all the world.”

  He returned her smile. “As I have the prettiest, most intelligent granddaughter.”

  She rested her head on his biceps for a moment and he put his arm around her shoulders. He squeezed her to him before they linked arms and walked down the staircase to the grounds below.

  Chapter 5

  In their agency SUV, the other agents followed Landon’s vehicle. The whole time, Tori felt as though she would crawl out of her skin.

  At the same time, she was aware a numbness in her mind, as if nothing made sense anymore. She struggled to keep the memory of the murder out of her thoughts, but it refused to leave, always knocking at the back of her brain.

  “Why are you driving in circles all around the Bisbee area?” she asked Landon.

  He glanced at her. “I intend to make damned sure no one follows us. Even though a tail should be obvious in a small town like Bisbee, it’s necessary to take appropriate action. We can’t, and I won’t, take chances.”

  It felt as if insects scuttled all over Tori’s skin. How could she be both numb and jittery at the same time?

  She peered out into the darkness as Landon drove, only his headlights illuminating the paved road in some areas while streetlights lit up the streets in other parts of the sprawling town. As far as stoplights in the whole of Bisbee went, they could be counted on one hand.

  They spent a good half hour driving to different parts of Bisbee, including the San Jose, Warren, and Galena areas. When she felt almost dizzy from driving around and around the town, she turned her gaze from the darkness outside.

  She looked at Landon who steered the SUV with one hand on the top of the wheel and his other hand lower. The amber glow of the dashboard lights caused his features to seem harsher, the scar a brutal slash across the right side of his face. She wondered where he had gotten it.

  Without the overshirt, she saw more of his body’s definition beneath his T-shirt. The shirt hugged his biceps and tightened across his chest. Did he have washboard abs? She couldn’t tell because of the T-shirt, but the rest of him indicated he probably did.

  Despite everything that had happened, she found herself attracted to this almost gruff, virile alpha male. Under other circumstances, she would ask him more questions to figure out what made him tick. She had the feeling Landon had a lot of layers and it wouldn’t be easy getting past the surface.

  He glanced at her, catching her staring at him, and her face warmed.

  She sighed. “I wish I could have stayed with my parents.”

  He shook his head. “Too dangerous to take chances.”

  “I know.” She bit her lower lip.

  He seemed to be watching her for something. “Did you have a laptop or tablet in the stolen bag?”

  “When I left, I was so upset about…” She trailed off before continuing. “I left my laptop bag with my clarinet at the front door of my home in Tucson.” She rubbed her arms with her palms. “It ended up being a good thing I forgot them since I never could have run away from the men if I’d been carrying them.”

  She wiped her sweating palms on her jeans again. Landon had saved her life and now he was helping keep her safe when she had nowhere else to turn without putting her family in danger.

  She thought again about Gregory and a sick feeling washed through her belly. When would they hear back from the Tucson Police Department?

  Gregory had become such a negative in her life. Considering her parents were good people and she trusted her mother’s judgment, Tori knew she should have questioned her relationship with Gregory. Even her friends had made comments that, in retrospect, were probably meant to tell her in a roundabout way they didn’t approve of him.

  Why hadn’t she seen it?

  She’d been so taken in by what he’d appeared to be. She’d thought he was intelligent, caring, and she’d liked being around him. Gradually that had changed, but she hadn’t seen the verbal and emotional abuse for what it had been. How could she have been so blind?

  None of that mattered at this moment. His safety did. Gregory could be in trouble.

  Her heart thumped hard. Or he could be dead.

  She turned to Landon again. “Do you think any of my friends could be in danger? If they somehow got my address off my laptop…although it is password protected.”

  “How easy is your password to break?” he asked.

  She thought about how carefully she’d selected her password. “It’s a complicated one using lower and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols.”

  “Good.” Landon nodded. “They’re probably fine.”

  “Unless Gregory gives them up.” She heard the anxious note in her voice.

  * * *

  Landon gritted his teeth and didn’t respond. What could he say? For now, he had to concentrate on keeping Tori safe.

  In his previous cases, he’d had no problem assuring a witness that she or he would be protected. This time, he had to force himself to tell Tori all would be fine. He didn’t like it—he wanted to tell her she needed to get out of town and go far, far away.

  People who witnessed crimes by the Jimenez Cartel never lived to testify against them.

  Landon’s gut twisted. He didn’t need to go there mentally. It would only make things harder when it came to reassuring Tori.

  He frowned to himself, thinking Tori’s parents and her boyfriend, then focused his gaze on the two-lane running through part of the town.

  As he drove, he couldn’t help but think about Tori’s beauty. He certainly hadn’t chosen the appropriate time to find himself attracted to any woman, much less a witness. Not to mention she had a boyfriend.

  He attempted to pull his thoughts away from his attraction to Tori while he guided his vehicle onto School Terrace Road.

  They passed Bisbee High School and Tori stared at the illuminated school and fields. “It hasn’t changed a lot since I went to school there.” She glanced at Landon. “Go, Pumas.”

  He shook his head, a brief smile curving his lips.

  They headed up a rise to a shaded street with good entry and exit points and nondescript homes. Landon turned into the driveway of a home mostly hidden behind a line of mature Cyprus trees and pulled up to the detached garage.

  Tori looked over the white house with fading forest-green trim and squinted at the low-maintenance landscaping illuminated by his headlights. “Is this the safe house?”

  “Yep.” He left the engine running. “We’ll wait for your guard detail before we go in
.”

  Moments later, the black SUV pulled up next to Landon’s vehicle in front of the garage. He kept the engine running and buzzed down his window when Johnson and O’Donnell got out and approached him.

  Fair-headed O’Donnell had his game face on, his off-duty mischievousness gone from his light brown eyes. The muscular Irishman’s temperament showed up when he needed it. “We’ll clear the place.” O’Donnell tilted his head in the direction of the house. “Hang tight.”

  Johnson’s shaved head gleamed in the soft glow of a nearby streetlight. The slightly more serious man nodded once to Landon and strode at O’Donnell’s side toward the house.

  The men kept their weapons concealed but ready as they went inside the single-story ranch-style home and turned on the lights. The agents returned to Landon and Tori a short time later.

  O’Donnell walked up to Landon’s window. “Clear.”

  Johnson’s dark gaze constantly monitored their surroundings.

  Landon buzzed up the window, killed the engine, and looked at Tori. “Wait until I come around to your side and I’ll open the door. When you’re out, we’ll escort you into the house.”

  Tori gripped her hands in her lap but nodded.

  Once Landon had Tori out of the Explorer, the three men surrounded her to walk up to the front door.

  Landon’s senses remained on full alert as they approached the safe house.

  O’Donnell and Johnson had left the door open and the lights on. Landon walked inside, his gaze sweeping the room even though it had been cleared. Tori came in behind him, followed by the agents. Landon locked the door behind them.

  The blinds were all closed. Whoever took care of the house furnished it with only the basics. Couch, overstuffed chair, end table, coffee table, a lamp, and a TV. The kitchen would be minimally stocked with canned fruits and vegetables, dried pasta, canned sauce and other easy-to-make food items in the pantry.

  Tori took in her surroundings and Landon couldn’t read her expression. She glanced at him. “So this is what a safe house looks like.”

  “It’s not much,” Landon said. “But no one can get to you here.”

  She walked around and ran her finger along the dusty TV. “Doesn’t look as if it’s been used for a while.”

  “We have several safe houses around the county.” Landon walked with Tori toward the kitchen. “I’m not sure when this one was last used.”

  “I’ve got TV duty.” O’Donnell grinned as he turned on the TV and changed the channel to watch a baseball game. He sat on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table.

  Landon turned to Johnson. “I’ll be in the kitchen with Tori, hunting out something we can fix to eat.”

  Johnson nodded. “I’ll take a look around the house again and make sure everything is locked tight.”

  When Tori and Landon were in the kitchen, Landon caught her by the shoulders and brought her around to face him. The cop in him wanted to tell her to testify but the man in him wanted to tell her she had the right to refuse.

  He paused before telling her, “If you don’t want to testify against the cartel, just say the word.”

  She glanced at him with surprise in her eyes. “Just like that?”

  He held her gaze. “Just like that.”

  She looked away for a long moment, then brought her gaze back to his. “Someone has to pay for killing Miguel and all the other bad things a cartel does. Someone needs to help bring the cartel to justice.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “Seems as though that someone is me.”

  “You’re positive?” Landon studied her, drinking in the beautiful woman who faced more danger than she could possibly imagine.

  “Yes.” She straightened. “It’s the right thing to do.”

  “I’ll make dinner.” He inclined his head to the kitchen. “You’ll probably want to cancel your credit cards and report your driver’s license stolen.”

  “My bank accounts could be cleared out by now.” She shook her head, clearly in dismay. “But you won’t let me use my phone and I don’t have my laptop.”

  “You can use my tablet to handle anything you need online and use my phone.” He rested one hand on the counter. “I’ll send one of the other agents to get the tablet out of my vehicle. Will that do?”

  “Yes, the tablet should do.” She rubbed her palm on her thigh. “Thank you.”

  Moments later, Johnson had retrieved a case from Landon’s SUV and handed it to him. Landon thanked the agent and gave his tablet and phone to Tori to use.

  Landon gestured to the table. “Have a seat and take care of whatever you need to.”

  She took it from him, sliding into a chair at the kitchen table. “Thank you.”

  He grabbed bottles of water from the fridge, cracked one open, and handed it to her. “You could probably use one of these.”

  “I think what I really need is a glass of wine.” But she needed the water more than anything. She gave him a small smile before she took a drink. The cool water quenched her thirst. “I should be helping with dinner.”

  He peeked into the pantry and pulled out a couple of packages of pasta. “You can fix breakfast.”

  She left the water bottle on the kitchen table. “Deal.”

  “Spaghetti all right with you? I think there’s enough for all four of us.” He looked through cabinets as he spoke. He retrieved a stockpot that had seen better days then placed it beside the stovetop.

  She slipped out of his shirt and hung it on the back of her chair then took off the ball cap and let it flop on the table beside her. “Spaghetti is more than all right.”

  As Landon started to make dinner, Tori contacted her bank and credit card companies. She blew out a breath of relief that no unauthorized charges had shown up on her cards and she canceled them. Thank God none of her bank accounts had been emptied. By the time she finished, she’d emptied her bottle of water. She felt drained, the jitteriness gone. It had been a long, horrific day.

  She shut off the tablet’s screen, set the electronic device aside, and gave Landon his cell phone.

  The scene of the man being murdered and the chase played over and over in her mind, no matter how hard she tried to think about other things. Would she ever get over seeing a man shot? She didn’t know if she ever would.

  While Landon finished up dinner, his phone buzzed. “Agent Walker,” he answered.

  Tori held her breath, wondering if the call had anything to do with the case.

  After a moment, Landon said, “Yes, Officer Berstrom.” He listened prior to asking, “No sign of breaking and entering?”

  Tori straightened in her seat. Landon could be talking about Gregory.

  He listened a little longer before thanking the officer and ending the call.

  “You probably guessed the call came from the Tucson Police Department.” Landon leaned back against the counter. “No one answered the door at your townhouse when the officers stopped by. They searched around the outside of the premises and found no sign of forced entry.”

  “That could mean anything.” Tori swallowed. “But it’s so strange Gregory didn’t return my call when I left your number. I am surprised he didn’t jump at the chance to talk to me.” And berate me for getting myself into trouble, even though it wasn’t my fault, she thought. For some reason she felt like she should explain. “I left him and he wants me back,” she told Landon. “I avoided his calls earlier today, but he did get hold of me once when he called from a number I didn’t recognize.”

  Landon had heated the canned spaghetti sauce while she’d been taking care of her credit cards and bank accounts. A thought slipped through her mind that she’d love to have made homemade pasta and a special sauce for him.

  She almost beat her head against the table. She must really be falling over the edge to have thoughts like that at a time such as this. Maybe her mind had grasped onto the thought of something normal in the midst of all the chaos.

  He served up four plates of spaghetti and sauc
e. He gave her one then took plates to the agents in the living room. When he returned, he sat across from her at the table with a plate for himself.

  She took a bite and chewed. “It’s wonderful.” The warm meal was already making her feel better.

  He looked at her over his water bottle as she ate. He took a swig then set the bottle down. “It’s not gourmet, but it hits the spot.”

  “Right now it’s better than gourmet.” She twirled her fork in her spaghetti. “I feel better now.”

  * * *

  Landon and Tori ate in silence for a moment. She stared at her plate, seeming lost in her thoughts, while swirling spaghetti around her fork. Even with the worry lines on her forehead and her concerned expression, she had a natural beauty that could never be hidden. Her short black hair shone beneath the kitchen lights. She had looked cute in his shirt, but now that she had it off, he noticed again the full swells of her breasts that would fill his palms. A slice of her flat belly showed beneath her crop top and he thought about the tattoo at the small of her back.

  He nearly groaned and reminded himself of all the reasons why thinking about Tori in that way was a bad idea. A really bad idea.

  Conversation might get her mind off what had clearly been a traumatic day for her. And it would get his mind off her body.

  “Where did you learn to run?” he asked.

  She blinked at him as if drawing herself back to reality. “I ran track in high school, mostly distance. I still run regularly, but it’s mostly flat, nothing like Bisbee’s hills.”

  Her gaze clouded and he figured she was probably thinking of why she’d been running. His might have been an inappropriate question because it had probably brought up the memory. He changed the subject. “What do you do for a living?”

  She looked up from her spaghetti. “I teach, compose, play clarinet with the Tucson Symphony, and bass clarinet in a woodwind ensemble. I have the summer off and I’d planned to thoroughly enjoy the break.” She raised the fork with the spaghetti wrapped around it. “I sure didn’t plan to spend it this way.”