Keep My Baby Safe

by Bella Grant

  She watched Tony, admiring his muscular backside as he walked slowly towards the dwelling. He paused at the door and lifted his head the way a hound would when catching a scent. Frowning, she leaned forward in her seat, fascinated by this reticent man whom she trusted as if she’d known him her entire life. She had no reason to base this trust on, but it was there nonetheless.

  Tony stepped closer to the door after smelling the tell-tale coppery odor of blood. He glanced briefly over his shoulder at Grace to be sure she had remained in the jeep before stepping into the one-room shack. He scanned the scene, sighing when he saw Pablo hunched over a table with part of his head missing.

  “Damn.” The man had been a piece of shit, ranked high in the cartel before growing too old to be as useful as his bosses wanted him to be. Because they’d left him to die, he’d turned to the American government, offering tidbits of information here and there to keep his pantry full and his liquor stocked.

  With his passenger in mind, he pushed Pablo’s body off the chair and covered it with a blanket he found on the only other piece of furniture, a twin bed. Before covering the body, he wiped the table with the blanket to remove the blood that had seeped there. He used the sheet from the bed to cover the table, then stepped outside and called to Grace, beckoning her inside.

  He watched as she scurried across the dirt to the door, admiring her movements. She was a graceful woman, one he’d seen naked from afar. The vision returned to him briefly, and he banished it, telling himself that should be the furthest thing from his mind while they were in very real danger.

  “Before you go in, you should know Pablo is dead,” he warned her.He watched as she reeled in her emotions, cleared her throat, and joked, “Would it be too much to ask that he died of natural causes?”

  He smirked at her. “His head might have exploded on its own, but that’s rare.”

  She stared at him a moment, then threw her head back and began to laugh, loud and long, until tears streamed down her face. He watched her, a small smile on his face. He hadn’t thought his little jeer had been that funny, but she probably needed the release. She looked beautiful when she laughed because her whole face lit up with the humor. As her humor subsided, she looked at him and rolled her eyes.

  “Your face won’t break if you laugh, Tony,” she commented, pushing past him and into the shack.

  “I didn’t think it was that funny.” Frowning, he followed her and watched as she skirted around the body and began digging through the foodstuffs on the shelves hanging on the back wall. She read each can carefully before depositing it on the table or back on the shelf. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m hungry, and you’re going to be hungry,” she announced as she plopped another can on the table. “Hopefully, I’ll find a bag to carry some of this stuff with us and we can eat in the jeep.”

  “We can eat here,” he told her. “And we’re taking the car.”

  “That heap?” she asked, swinging around to look at him. “You sure it works?”

  “It was part of the plan, so I’m assuming it does,” he answered as he joined her search, looking for utensils rather than more food. She’d found six cans of various vegetables and soups. “Pablo’s death could unravel the plan we made. I’m not sure yet.”

  As she plopped down with the hand-operated can opener and attacked a can of green beans, she froze and looked up at him. “Are we still safe?”

  “For the moment.” She looked as if she could use some reassurance, but he wouldn’t lie to her.

  “Will you tell me the plan?” she asked, adding, “What kind of vegetables do you want?”

  “I’ll take the corn,” he answered. She’d taken the only chair, so he walked around and sat on the corner of the filthy mattress he’d bared when he’d removed the sheets. She handed him his can and they began eating as he spoke. “Pablo was taking us to a cabin he built years ago. Near that cabin is an airstrip. If we can get to it, we can hopefully contact my buddy, who’s a pilot.”

  “Sounds like a good plan to me,” she conceded. She waited for him to continue, and when he remained silent, she grumbled, “What’s the problem?”

  “I don’t know who killed Pablo. Nor do I know what he told that person,” Tony intoned.

  Grace swallowed a bite of green beans, nodding as she did so. “I guess that’s a risk we have to take, right?”

  He stared hard at her as he tried to think of other options, but there were none. He had no idea if de Velazquez had sent his people to retrieve them or if he had decided they weren’t worth the effort. But the man had proven relentless when he wanted something, according to what he’d learned about him. A woman had escaped him; he wouldn’t take that lightly.

  “Finish your food,” he ordered, rising and tossing his empty can into the corner where other trash was piled. “We need to get going.”

  Grace narrowed her eyes at him, her fiery expression clearly showing she wanted to explode into words, but she upended the can and finished the last of her food. She tossed hers near his and rose, collecting the remaining cans in her arms and heading for the door. He watched her with respect. She’d wanted to retort, probably a biting comment, but she hadn’t. This woman is dangerous, he thought as he wished Pablo a good afterlife. She would have escaped on her own, I’d bet my paycheck.

  He fought with the door for a moment, jerking it loose and jamming it back into place before walking to the jeep to get his backpack. Grace waited by the car, watching him, a strange expression on her face.

  “Why did you close the door?”

  He scowled and said, “To keep the animals out.”

  Her brow furrowed as she opened the back door of the car and deposited the cans there. “Huh.”

  Tony lifted an eyebrow at her, but a glint in the distance caught his eye. “Oh, shit!”

  She jerked around and saw the vehicle as well, which skidded to a stop about thirty yards from where they were standing. “What do I do? What do I do?”

  “Get around here!” he yelled, motioning her to come around to his side of the car so it would be between them and the newcomers.

  “Where are the keys?” she hissed when she knelt beside him.

  “Supposed to be in it,” he growled, “but they aren’t in the ignition. He probably put them in the glove box or under the seat.”

  Grateful he’d grabbed his backpack first, he replenished his clip and reinserted it in the gun, cocking it. Four sets of footsteps approached and stopped behind the jeep, using it as a shield. Grace grasped his shirt and held on tight, repeating ‘Oh God’ in a mantra. He hissed at her to be quiet, and she pressed her lips together.

  “I’m going to talk to them,” he whispered to her, his face inches from hers. “I’ll open the door and you search for the damn keys. Do not lift your head high enough to be seen through the window.”

  “Okay,” she said, her head nodding. Her eyes were wide with fright, but she climbed into the car and began her search just as a voice called her name.

  Chapter 9

  “Grace?” The woman’s voice was melodic, low and soothing when she said her name. “We’re not here to hurt you.”

  Grace nearly hit her head on the dash when she jerked up from her search for the keys. And once the woman’s words registered, she snorted loudly, hoping she could be heard at that distance.

  Tony looked at her and lifted his eyebrows, a question in his expression. “That’s Anna, the one I hit with the lamp,” she hissed, her face aching from grinding her teeth so hard. Every scathing remark in her head begged to be released, but she refrained. No need to goad murderers.

  “Hi, Anna,” Tony called, grimly smiling at Grace when her mouth fell open and indicating for her to continue her search. “Grace told me about you.”

  “We know nothing about you, American,” Anna replied smartly.

  “Of course not,” he mocked as he lifted his body to peek through the car windows. “And you won’t have a lesson today.”

  A
nna grinned maliciously, murmuring to her men in Spanish. She returned her gaze to the car where they hid. “The lesson will be yours if you don’t leave the woman behind.”

  Grace glanced at Tony, her hand under the driver’s seat. He shook his head at her, his expression daunting even to her. His eyes were like ice, freezing her in his deadly gaze. “Can’t leave her. Getting lots of money to take her back to the U.S.”

  She chafed a little at that, but rationally, he had no other reason to be in Mexico rescuing a reporter from New York. Charles was probably paying nearly as much as the ransom, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

  “My boss would be more than willing to compensate you,” Anna promised lazily, as if picking up on Grace’s wavelength.

  “You’re a fucking idiot.”

  Grace lifted her head to look at Anna, who she could tell was seething, even from that distance. “You pissed her off.”

  “Good.” His negligent attitude over offending the woman both assuaged her fears and added to them.

  Anna’s voice, which had attempted friendliness, was hard when she replied to his insults. “Leave now, asshole, and we’ll forget you were here. Senor de Velazquez doesn’t need to know about you.”

  Tony laughed mirthlessly, loudly so she and her men could hear. “Pretty sure de Velazquez already knows Grace didn’t escape alone. If he sent you to get her, he won’t be happy if you don’t bring me with her.”

  “So you surrender?” Anna jeered.

  “Only cowards who send women to battle for him surrender,” he provoked, his face serious despite the jabs. Grace stared at him, amazed by his daring remarks. If all four of them opened fire, she and her rescuer would probably be killed or wounded. He saw the look on her face and whispered, “They aren’t going to kill us. de Velazquez wants us alive, or they already would have.”

  “That’s comforting,” she murmured, her scowl of fear holding tears in her eyes. She blinked rapidly, and when he stretched his neck to look through the window, she did the same. Three men were with Anna, one of them the rat man who had waterboarded her. Glowering, she turned to Tony. “The skinny man with the rat face is one of the men who waterboarded me,” she told him angrily.

  “Yeah, I recognized him from the video,” Tony revealed, shocking her.

  “You saw it?” she whispered hotly as embarrassment filled her, causing her face to pinken.

  “Not the time, Grace,” he rebuked her, a look of irritation on his face.

  Because he was right, she dropped it, though her stomach clenched painfully. She felt violated by the idea of people watching that video and wondered how many had seen it. It made sense Tony had seen it, but the feeling of personal violation remained. When Anna spoke in Spanish, she discarded her thoughts because if they didn’t escape, the violation of her person would be much more physical.

  “What did she say?”

  “Not to kill us, but to shoot us if necessary,” Tony told her calmly, as if she’d said they needed to have lunch on Wednesday.

  “Oh shit,” Grace said, lifting her head to look again. She began searching frantically for the keys under the seat, running her hand in every direction. Her fingers brushed over something other than carpet and the metal of the seat track, and she snatched the keys out from under the seat, jiggling them so Tony heard and saw them.

  He nodded sternly. “Get in but stay low. Put the keys in the ignition, but do not start the car until I tell you to.”

  She slipped into the car and put the keys in the ignition. She lay awkwardly with her ass hanging out the door in Tony’s face. She looked backwards, barely able to see him, and asked, “What are you going to do?”

  She caught him looking at her ass when he glanced her way before his eyes roved up to meet hers. “I have no idea, but if we get caught now, we’ll die worse deaths than you’ve ever seen.”

  Grace agreed with him and hunkered down, wishing he would mince words a little so she didn’t freak out. She waited for him to give her the order to turn the car on and drive away. He left the driver’s door, swinging it mostly closed before opening the back door. She could no longer see him, so she angled her body so she could look between the two front seats. His pistol was in his hand, and he was digging in his bag. He pulled out a second pistol, which he lay on the seat next to him.

  “Be ready,” he told her without looking at her. His eyes were trained on the four people near the jeep.

  She nodded and shifted her hand on the keys, ready to turn them at a moment’s notice. Thinking her biggest fear should be the four people on the other side of the jeep with guns pointed in their direction, what she feared more was the car not starting on command. With a quick, silent plea to the gods of the universe, she closed her eyes and waited.

  “Grace, I really don’t want to take you back with a gunshot wound,” Anna called, her voice friendly again. “But Senor de Velazquez didn’t say unharmed. Just not dead.”

  “Shooting me would ruin his fun, and you know it,” Grace replied after a nod from Tony. “We both know what he wants me for. I won’t let that happen.”

  “Oh, Grace, you’re so naïve,” Anna said with a laugh. “You have no choice. He’ll have you, and he’ll do what he wants with you. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories.”

  Grace wished she knew if Anna had been close to Esmerelda. She wanted to say something that would shake her, so she attempted with, “Where’s your partner?”

  “Dead. Because of you,” she taunted, her voice more mocking than pained. “How does that feel? To know you caused a woman’s death?”

  Grace shuddered at the backfired gibe and looked at Tony for reassurance. He whispered, “Don’t let her get to you. De Velazquez killed her, not you.”

  She nodded but didn’t speak. Her mind raced with guilt, but it couldn’t be helped at this moment. With a viciousness she hoped she could sustain, she yelled, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  “Grace, Grace,” Anna chided, tsking loudly against her teeth. “Your sarcasm isn’t helping this situation. Leave your friend at the car and come over here. We’ll just take you. He can run off into the jungle.”

  “Fuck you, Anna,” she yelled. “And tell your boss he can fuck off too!”

  The rat man yelled in Spanish, and Grace cringed with recognition. She moved so she could see Tony, who had repositioned himself across the seat. He peered through the window, assessing their positions, she assumed, and she wanted to know what his plan was. Instead, she asked, “What did he say?”

  “You don’t want to know,” Tony growled.

  “Tell me.”

  “He’s saving money so your pretty pink pussy can be his,” he repeated furiously.

  The green beans she’d eaten wanted to leave her stomach, but she swallowed hard. She shook her head and said, “If they take me back, Tomas will have me. He won’t sell me.” The terror in her voice couldn’t be hidden, and tears tried to flood her eyes again. She blinked, fighting them.

  Tony watched her gather her strength and rid herself of the tears, and she was certain she saw real respect in his eyes. “I won’t let that happen, Grace. I’ll kill you myself before I let them take you.”

  Her face slackened at his words, but she gritted her teeth and nodded, her nostrils flaring. “I’d rather you kill me.”

  The rat man yelled in Spanish again, something far worse if the look of loathing on Tony’s face was any indication. She didn’t ask what the bastard said as she watched Tony lift his gun and aim carefully, warning, “This will be loud.”

  Grace, afraid to release the keys in case he wanted to go, covered one ear with her free hand and pressed the other into the seat. The shot reverberated through the car, jarring her bones and hurting her ears despite the fact that she’d covered them. She jerked her head up and looked towards their pursuers. The rat man was gone, and the other three stared at the ground then ducked behind the jeep.

  “Direct hit,” Tony murmured. He je
rked his head around to look at her briefly before returning his eyes to the jeep. “I’m going to shoot another one. When I do, you start this car and drive through the field behind the house. Don’t stop, don’t slow down. Just drive through any fences and around any obstacles.”

  “Okay, okay, okay,” she mumbled, her voice high-pitched due to the fear of this cold-blooded killer in the back seat blocking her words. He’d killed for a damn good reason, but he’d done it so easily.

  “Ready?” he asked, gazing at her again.

  Her eyes hadn’t left him, and she was certain he could see her fear. He didn’t placate her or try to ease it with pretty words. He expected her to accept this death and the next one because they were necessary for their survival. She swallowed her fear and nodded her head rapidly, shifting in the seat again so she would be able to drive as soon as he told her to. She sent another prayer to the gods, whichever ones would listen, that the car would start instantly.

  “I’m ready.”

  Before Tony could fire a shot, the three remaining cartel members began firing rapidly at the car. Grace let out a scream and ducked as far down in the seat as she could. Her legs were jammed under the dashboard, her body twisted uncomfortably. The windows of the car exploded, and Grace covered her face with her free hand, her other still on the keys in the ignition. The shooting stopped as suddenly as it began, but she was too afraid to look behind her to see if Tony was all right.

  “You okay?” he asked, and she let out a pent-up breath.

  “Yes.” She was panting, so close to a panic attack she worried she wouldn’t be able to drive. Three calming breaths, and she didn’t feel much better. Her mind cleared when Tony spoke again.

  “They’re trying to scare us into giving up,” Tony told her. “Not one bullet hit the doors, which means they aren’t trying to shoot us.”

  “But they’re shooting the windows?” she screeched quietly, looking at the doors, which were unharmed, confirming his theory.