by Misty Evans
Sophie felt for the scrap of paper in her pocket. She’d searched the clothing bag for her cell phone but it hadn’t been there. “Could you maybe call this number for me?”
As the nurse dialed, a Ford Mustang roared up to the entrance. Nelson hopped out and leaned his arm against the hood. “Need a lift?”
Sophie’s heart did that flutter thing inside her chest. She touched the nurse’s arm. “Never mind.”
The nurse eyed Nelson and grinned, handing Sophie back her scrap of paper. “That’s better than a taxi any day,” she said, wheeling the chair back inside.
On the sidewalk, Sophie stood still and took Nelson in. He hadn’t shaved yet, and under the parking lot lights, his eyes were black, guarded.
Better to clear the air before she stepped foot in his car. “You told Dupé about the lost girls.”
There was no one out on the sidewalk. No one paying attention to them. “I never said a word, Soph. Blue left a journal of all the undercover agents he’d made deals with. Probably how he kept track of everyone else’s illegal activities in case he needed leverage or ever needed to cover his own ass. Agent Rios said it’s a diary with all the illegal shit he did while undercover and who he did it with.”
“What an ass.”
“Agreed. But I was right. Not only was he providing you with papers for those girls, he was providing Morales with papers for the snakes and had himself a nice little stash of uncut diamonds to fund his retirement waiting in L.A.”
The realization that Nelson hadn’t exposed her illegal activities made her take a step backward. “I’m sorry. I thought…”
“Yeah, well, you thought wrong. I told you I wouldn’t rat you out, and I held up my end of the bargain.”
Her hand instinctively went to her bandaged side. “You saved my life.”
“You saved mine.”
“You thought I was going to miss.”
“Your error margin was a few millimeters. You could have blown my brains out aiming for that damn snake.”
“But I didn’t.”
He limped over, took her bag and guided her toward the car. “Get in. We’re going to be late.”
“For what?”
He opened the car door and helped her inside. “Dinner.”
“Oh, I’m not up for eating out. All I want to do is go home and crawl into bed.”
“You don’t have a home.”
“There’s that.”
He gently lifted her legs and tucked her feet into the foot well. “Got it covered. But we have to make a pit stop first.”
The day’s exertion overcame her. As Nelson drove away from the hospital, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
The motor cutting out woke her. She opened her eyes, saw a house with a wide front porch and a flowery vine climbing a trellis. The porch light was on. “Where are we?”
“I thought you might want to check on Lexie.”
He helped her out of the car. “It’s temporary,” he said, putting an arm around her waist. “Until her aunt from Texas gets here.”
“That’s wonderful.”
They started toward the porch, Nelson hobbling but helping her keep her torso as motionless as possible. She leaned into him, helping him balance his gait. “Coop and your friend in child services worked together to get Lexie transported to this safe house. The aunt will be here first thing in the morning.”
“How much does she know?”
“Pretty much everything.” At Sophie’s heavy sigh, he added, “She’s doing okay, Sophie. She’s scared and freaked out, but mostly, she just wants to see you.”
“Me? But I’m the one who arrested her brother.”
“That’s the part I left out. I took the credit for arresting him when I told her what happened. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“Mind?” She stopped him for a moment. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yeah, I did. She loves you. She deserves to keep your memory intact.”
Sophie went up on her toes and kissed him, nearly knocking him off his booted cast. “You’re pretty awesome, Nelson Cruz.”
He grinned, righting himself. “Wait until you see what I made for dinner. Then you’ll really think I’m awesome.”
“You made dinner?”
“I’m no Little Gran, but I do know how to cook a steak. And Thursday, we’re heading up to L.A. to have Thanksgiving with my sister and her kid. You’ll like Carly. She’s a special little girl like Lexie.”
“I like the sound of that.” Her heart was full. She tightened her grip around his waist. “And I love steak.”
“Any time you want a grade-A piece of meat, cariña, I’m at your service.”
She was pretty sure they weren’t talking steak anymore. “I love you,” she blurted out.
He leaned down and nipped her bottom lip. “I love you, too, Soph.”
At that moment, the screen door at the house opened. “Maria-Sophia? Is that you?”
Limping the rest of the way across the lawn, Sophie and Nelson went to see Lexie.
The day after Thanksgiving
“You ready for this?” Nelson said, pulling into the driveway of a small house in Carlsbad.
Sophie nodded and bit the inside of her cheek. “I loved meeting Brenda and Carly, having a real Thanksgiving dinner with them.” They were planning on doing Christmas with Nelson’s extended family if their work schedules allowed. “I haven’t had many family holidays like that.”
Night had fallen and the driveway was crowded with cars. Nelson parked and shut off the engine. “But…?”
Through the living room windows, Sophie saw men and women, drinks in hand, talking and laughing. On their way home from Brenda’s, Cooper Harris had called and invited them to this party. “Meeting the SCVC Taskforce is kind of…daunting.”
“They’ll love you.” He exited the car and came around to her side, opening her door. “Come on.”
Her side was much better and her stitches had started to itch. Nelson still wore a soft cast and a heavy-duty black boot that velcroed around it.
On the road to Brenda’s, they’d talked about the future. Sophie wanted to start a nonprofit organization and name it Angel’s Wings. The organization would have two main divisions, just like a pair of wings. One division would be devoted to tracking down the girls who’d been forced through Chica Bonita like Angelique. It would take time, but the recovered ledgers would help with that. Those girls who could be found would be rescued, their buyers prosecuted. Then Sophie and her group would find new homes for the girls and give them a fresh start in life.
The second division of Angel’s Wings would be dedicated to helping the lost girls south of the border legally enter America. Nelson had contacted some of his immigration peers, and although it was a holiday weekend, word had already spread through the immigrant community and the federal one. Sophie had two potential donors to get her up and running financially. Monday, she was meeting with a lawyer Victor Dupé had recommended and filling out the paperwork for nonprofit status.
“How many taskforce members are there?” Sophie asked as they skirted around the cars to get to the side door.
“Only a handful. We lost Celina a while back. She decided to be a crime scene photographer. And we lost our NSA consultant a few months ago to the private sector, where she works with her husband for a security specialist. But they’ll all be here, along with Thomas, Ronni, Bobby, and the temporary help Coop called in while I was in Tijuana. Mitch Holton and Sara Rios.”
“I met Celina and Sara in the hospital. They’re pretty cool.”
Nelson rang the doorbell and squeezed Sophie’s hand. She primped her hair and sucked in her stomach. Nelson’s sister was an excellent cook and Sophie was sure she’d gained five pounds overnight.
The door swung open and Celina greeted them with a smile. A small brown Chihuahua ran out between her legs, wagging its tail and sniffing them. Sophie patted the dog and then received a hug from Celina who dragged her i
nside.
Music played, two men played a dart game near the fireplace, and everyone called hellos and how-are-yous to them. A young boy grabbed the dog and went down the hallway. Nelson exchanged manly handshakes with several of the guys, introducing her to Thomas Mann, Bianca’s husband, Cal Reece, and Bobby Dyer.
On their way to the kitchen to find Cooper, she met Bianca and Ronni. Bianca was telling the other woman that scientists had found a “second earth” known as Gliese 581c, but recent findings showed it was uninhabitable.
“That’s too bad,” Ronni said. “I’d like to send Thomas there. By the way, do me a favor and don’t ever let Thomas babysit for you.”
Bianca touched her lower stomach where a slight bulge was detectable. “God, no. The kid would come home spouting inappropriate movie lines.”
In the kitchen, Cooper Harris, who was big and broad like Nelson, was setting a platter of grilled burgers on the counter. “You’re just in time. Nice to finally meet you, Agent Diaz.”
She gave him a smile. “Thanks for sending Nelson to protect me. And for all the help reuniting Lexie with Cortana Morales. It means a lot to me to know the girl is safe and with family.”
He gave her a nod and handed her and Nelson each a cold beer from the fridge. “A friend of Nelson’s is a friend of mine. We stick together, right Cruz?”
He and Nelson clanked their beers and Nelson winked at Sophie over the top of the bottle. He swallowed and said, “Did you know Dupé was her boss too?”
Cooper shot her a surprised look. “Interesting. He must have a lot of confidence in you to send you in so deep without backup.”
“I’m kind of a loner. Do my best work that way. Director Dupé knows that.”
“The Attorney General pulled the deal with Rodrigo Morales off the table. They decided with your intel, Blue’s diary, and the Morales ledgers, they had more than enough to shut down the cartel’s contacts, suppliers, and distributors. The diamonds Morales shipped into America haven’t been recovered yet, but the AG doesn’t care about those at the moment. Morales is going to prison for a long time, and the CIA is getting their ass handed to them over Blue.”
“Good,” Nelson said. “A renegade agent like Blue is a dangerous thing.”
She’d been a renegade agent, too, the question of where to draw the line still haunting her. Being an FBI agent had been her way of life for so long, she’d never considered anything else. Now it no longer motivated her to get up in the morning.
She had another full week to think about it before returning to the L.A. office, but she’d already made up her mind. She wasn’t going back.
“I should thank you,” Cooper said to her, “for connecting the dots on Project Bliss. We’ve shut down the warehouses and arrested most of the distributors.”
There was a time when she would have loved to take credit for wrapping up someone else’s operation. Not anymore. “Nelson’s the one who figured it out, not me. I knew nothing about Project Bliss. I just took him to Rodrigo’s warehouse. He’s the one who put the pieces together.”
Nelson took her hand and squeezed. “Partners in crime. We make a good team, even if you are a one-woman-army.”
Thomas poked his head in. “She’s here, Coop.”
Cooper tensed. “Anyone with her?”
“Another gal,” Thomas said.
He relaxed and smiled. “Agent Diaz, will you go let Agent Rios in?”
“Um.” Sophie looked at Nelson and he shrugged. “Sure.”
Setting her beer on the table, she went to the door, the doorbell ringing overhead. She sensed Nelson falling into step behind her and the others watching her as she passed by them.
The door was a wooden one with three small glass inserts too high for Sophie to see out of. She opened it and saw Sara Rios standing under the porch light on the top step. Moving out of the way, Sophie motioned her in. “Hi. Come on in.”
Sara smiled wide as she stepped across the threshold, lightly touching Sophie’s arm. “How are you feeling?”
“A lot better,” Sophie said, and then she caught sight of the woman standing at the edge of the drive. Sara had been blocking her from Sophie’s view.
The woman was slight of frame, taller than Sophie remembered, and her hair was bleached. But her eyes…
Were they green? Under the porch light, she couldn’t be sure.
And yet, her heart went manic inside her chest. For a second, she wondered if she were having a random vision. “Angelique?” she whispered.
The woman held up a hand and gave her a tiny wave. On her arm was a friendship bracelet. “Hi Soph.”
Tears rushed into her eyes. Her knees shook. “Is it really you?”
Angel bobbed her head. “May I come in?”
Sophie held out her arms. In the next second, Angel closed the distance between them and fell into her embrace.
They cried and hugged and cried some more.
“I’m so sorry,” Sophie said. Angel was all grown up and she had to keep touching her to make sure she was real. “I never should have left you.”
“I’m sorry too, for shutting you out,” Angelique told her. “I needed you so much, but all I could do was hate you for being perfect.”
“Perfect?” Sophie chuckled. “I was a complete failure when it came to holding our family together.”
“You were a kid, barely older than me.”
“Guess where I found her?” Sara Rios asked.
Sophie held Angel’s arm. She was afraid if she turned her loose, Angel would disappear. “I have no idea.”
“She knew your friend Rosalie in Tijuana. I met Angelique at the bingo hall while Agent Harris and I were trying to uncover the smuggling ring. I had no idea she was your sister. Yolanda didn’t know either. Angel was sending girls to Rosalie, who then sent them on to Yolanda at Chica Bonita. When Agent Cruz told me about the girl you were looking for in the ledgers, I started sniffing around.” She winked. “Guess my recovery agent skills aren’t limited to criminals.”
“But I’m not in any trouble,” Angel assured Sophie. “Neither are Rosalie or Yolanda or the others. We shut down the underground operation…unfortunately.”
It wouldn’t be down for long and when Sophie’s organization got up and running, the operation would be legal and better than before. She squeezed Angel’s arm. “I’m still going to help girls down there, and if you’re sticking around, I’d love to have you help out.”
Angel nodded. “Oh, I’m sticking around.”
She’d always assumed Rosalie found the girls who qualified for their illegal activity, but here it had been her own sister. Right under my nose. “How did you escape Chica Bonita all those years ago? The men in the van?”
Angel gave her an odd look. “How did you know about the men in the van?”
Sophie didn’t feel like divulging her visions in front of everyone. “Insider information.”
“Well, it’s a long story, but I did escape before I reached my buyer up north. I eventually made it back to Tijuana and decided to try to help other girls. It’s been a crazy road, and not all of it nice, but I survived and I’m helping others survive too. To find a better life.”
Nelson stepped forward and offered Angel his hand. “Nelson Cruz. Nice to meet you.”
Cooper was next, also offering an outstretched hand. “Welcome to the family.”
“Did you do this?” Sophie asked the SCVC Taskforce leader. “Send Sara to find my sister?”
He shook his head and pointed at Nelson. “This guy here.”
Nelson ducked his head, a grin on his face.
God, she loved him.
Introductions continued as the taskforce members, old and new, crowded in. Sophie’s eyes overfilled with tears as she watched them all accept her sister as easily as they had accepted her.
Wine glasses were refilled and fresh beers passed around as they toasted to family reunions. Nelson kept an arm around Sophie’s waist on one side while she kept her arm around Angel’s
.
There was so much to catch up on, Sophie didn’t know where to start. So many new steps to take in the coming days. What she did know, as the group dispersed into the living room and kitchen again, and laughter once more rang out, was that she’d finally found a place she belonged with a group of people who made her feel wanted and appreciated.
She thanked Sara profusely while Celina got Angel a plate of food. Next thing she knew, Nelson was pulling her into a corner and nibbling at her ear. “Later, I have plans for you.”
They were going back to his condo. “Oh, yeah? Like what?”
“Let’s just say, I’d like a repeat of Tijuana.”
She giggled. “What about my sister? I have to find a place for her to stay.”
“She can sleep on the couch downstairs. You two can get reacquainted for a few hours, and then you can come upstairs and get reacquainted with me.”
Smacking him on the butt, she kissed him lightly, her heart happier than it had ever been. She had a family again, and good friends who would watch out for her and her sister. “Sounds like I better shine up my handcuffs.”
He made a silly growling noise in the back of his throat. “Fifty shades of Sophie. My favorite.”
“I love you, Nels.”
He brushed her lips with his. “I love you, too, Soph. What do you say we get out of here and I take you and Angelique home?”
“I’d like that,” she said. “No, I’d love that. I’ve been away from home much too long.”
Smiling, he took her hand, and together they went to get her sister.
Note from the Author
Dear Reader,
Nothing pulls on my heartstrings more than kids and dogs.
The World Health Organization estimates there are 1.4 million kids worldwide who, like Lexie in Deadly Intent, are blind. Historically in the U.S. blind children and youth did not receive guide dogs until they reached the age of 18.
During my research, however, I stumbled upon the MIRA Foundation. MIRA USA was founded to provide guide dogs free of charge to blind children and youth between the ages of 11-17. MIRA has been successfully pairing guide dogs with children and youth since 1991, and they remain the only organization in the world dedicated to training guide dogs for this age group.