The Widow's Bodyguard

by Karen Whiddon

  He shook his head. “Unfortunately, I’m not in their inner circle. I know your father has a lot of powerful friends and I’m sure he’s pulling strings to make sure they take quick action.”

  “I know all about my father’s friends,” she replied, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “Most of them are involved in something shady. I wouldn’t trust them as far as I can throw them.”

  “You don’t have to. All I care about right now is catching the murderer and the man who keeps calling you wanting money. I’m beginning to suspect those two might be the same person.”

  Narrowing her eyes, she took another sip of wine. “What about the third person who shot out the window and sent a bomb?”

  “I really think there aren’t a bunch of people out there trying to hurt you,” he said, surprising her. “It’s likely one and the same guy. He’s just trying to mess with your head and make you think you have legions of enemies.”

  She replayed those words as she lay in her bed alone, hours later, trying to sleep. Oddly enough, they helped. She managed to drift off and didn’t wake again until seven.

  Her mood was vastly improved—maybe due to the amazing sex, or the idea that she might be dealing only with one psychotic killer. She went through her morning routine humming, a smile on her face. Freshly showered and dressed, makeup and jewelry on, she felt prepared to face whatever the day threw at her.

  When she headed for the kitchen, she realized Jesse was already there. Her smile faltered—should she act like nothing had happened? Deciding to take her cue from him, she bid him a cheery good-morning and headed for the coffee maker.

  He barely looked up from his phone. While she waited for her cup to brew, she willed her heartbeat to slow. At least he didn’t want to have a deep discussion about their relationship before she had her first jolt of caffeine. She didn’t either. Actually, she hoped he wouldn’t mention it at all. She dreaded telling him nothing had changed. His silence was a good thing. Despite that, her good mood vanished.

  At eight, the doorbell chimed. Eva had just taken a sip of her first cup of coffee as Jesse finished his.

  “Now what?” she groaned. It could only be either the Rowsons or Lori. She needed at least another hour before she would even begin to feel ready to face dealing with reality. She hadn’t slept well, waking frequently and worrying about her son.

  “I’ll get it,” Jesse told her, setting down his mug on the counter.

  Grateful, she nodded and closed her eyes, breathing in the wonderful scent of fresh-brewed coffee. Jesse knew she wasn’t much of a morning person and needed time to get going.

  A few seconds later Jesse returned with her father at his side. Lori Pearson walked a few steps behind the men, her high heels clicking on the tile floor.

  “Come here, baby girl,” Raul said, grinning and opening his arms.

  Unexpected tears stung the back of her eyes as she jumped up and rushed to her father.

  “I got you,” Raul said, patting her back. He grinned at Jesse. “Whatever else my daughter might be, she’s still a daddy’s girl.”

  Slightly embarrassed, she nodded, wiping at her eyes before stepping back. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Do you really have to ask?” he huffed, his expression wounded. “How could you think I’d stay away while someone attacks you? You know better than that.”

  “And he brought doughnuts,” Jesse interjected, grinning as he placed the box in the middle of the table. “Which is perfect. Carbs always help you wake up faster.”

  Heaven help her, she blushed, which earned both her father’s and Lori’s interested stares.

  “Would you like coffee?” she asked, including Lori in her question. Drew’s assistant dragged her gaze away from Raul long enough to nod.

  Glad she had something to do, Eva made two cups of coffee. Black for her father, and one cream, one sugar for Lori. As she handed her father his, she couldn’t help but notice the way Drew’s assistant watched Raul. Hero worship? Or something else?

  She told herself it was none of her business and gestured at the table. “Sit. Let’s drink some coffee and have a doughnut or two. I didn’t sleep well last night, so I need some time to wake up.”

  “Hmmph.” Pulling out a chair, Raul dropped into it. Like everything he did, the gesture seemed large and dramatic. Once, she’d been like that too. “Some things never change, do they, mija?”

  Helping herself to a doughnut—maple frosting, her favorite—she ignored that. She waited until everyone was seated before biting into it, barely suppressing a small moan of pleasure. Chewing and swallowing, she looked up to find Jesse watching her intently, his gaze hot.

  Everyone had a doughnut except Lori, who sipped her coffee and vacillated between shooting worshipful glances at Raul and appraising ones at Jesse. She had a manila folder in front of her and she kept one perfectly manicured hand resting on top of it.

  When she realized Eva watched her, Lori pasted on a confident smile. “I got everything handled that you asked me to. Since you chose to have the funeral on Friday afternoon, all the local networks have been notified so they can cover it.” She shuffled through some papers. “Oh, and I let the Rowsons know so they can make plans with any other family members.”

  “What about Chris?” Jesse asked, his casual expression not fooling Eva.

  Lori blinked, a fleeting look of panic crossing her face before she vanquished it. “Chris?”

  “Yes. Drew’s friend Chris.”

  Lori dropped her eyes, again riffling through papers. When she raised her face again, her expression seemed resolute. “I’m not sure who you mean. If you can give me a last name, I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Never mind.” Jesse reached for another doughnut. “I’ll take care of it myself.”

  “What’s going on here?” Raul looked from Jesse to Lori before his gaze settled on Eva. “Who’s Chris?”

  Eva opened her mouth to answer but Jesse forestalled her. “It’s not important,” he said. “Lori, is there anything else you need? If not, I think you should go. We have important things to discuss.”

  Her lips tightened. “Since when does a bodyguard give orders around here? I was Drew’s campaign manager and personal assistant and one of the few people he trusted implicitly.”

  “Good for you,” Jesse drawled. “I’m sure that’s why you won’t tell us about Chris.”

  Lori met his stare with one of her own. “Tell me what you know. I can confirm or deny any misinformation.”

  Suppressing a flash of anger, Eva set her cup down with a loud thunk. “I’ve had enough,” she said, noting the surprise flash in Lori’s eyes. “What’s with the secrecy? Drew is dead. Why protect his secrets now?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lori drew herself up. “And I’m offended that you would treat me as if I am hiding something.”

  Both Jesse and Raul watched the two women with interest. Eva would have said more if her father hadn’t been present. For now, she decided to let it go. “Thank you for all your help,” she told Lori. “I really appreciate it. This has been a stressful time, and it’s possible I’ve received some misinformation. I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.”

  Lori accepted the apology with a dip of her chin. “Here,” she said, sliding the folder across the table to Eva. “All the details of both the funeral and burial are in here. If there’s not anything else...” She pushed to her feet, stalking toward the exit without waiting for Eva to reply.

  About to say she’d be needing access to Drew’s business office, Eva decided to wait. If she gave the other woman fair warning, Lori would have time to do a purge of any incriminating documents.

  At the kitchen doorway, Lori spun around. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Mendoza. If you need my assistance with any of Drew’s final business dealings, you know how to find me.”<
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  Raul nodded, his mouth full. He didn’t bother to even glance her way.

  Jesse got up. “Let me show you out.”

  “No, thank you.” Lifting her brightly painted lip in a sneer, she strode toward the front door. A moment later, she slammed it behind her.

  “Lock it,” Raul ordered. “I’m glad we got rid of her. Drew might have trusted her, but I’ve never liked that woman. And we’ve got some important things to discuss.”

  * * *

  Jesse admired the way Eva rose to the occasion with Drew’s snippety assistant. For the first time since he’d been here, he swore he caught a glimpse of the old Eva.

  “What’s this about threatening phone calls, blackmail and bombs?” Raul asked Eva, his thick brows drawn into a thunderous frown.

  “I’m sure Jesse filled you in,” she replied, taking another deep drink of her coffee. “Isn’t that why you sent Patches, Shorty, Rusty and Baloo?”

  “I’m impressed you remember their names.”

  “You shouldn’t be,” she shot back. “I might have wanted out of the BOS lifestyle, but the Brothers will always be my family.”

  Raul nodded his approval. “I would have liked to see my grandson. Maybe next time.”

  “You should have come earlier.” She kept her voice low.

  “I would have, but the place was crawling with Feds and cops. You know how uncomfortable that makes me feel.” Raul turned his attention to Jesse. “Did you sweep the house for bugs or video recorders?”

  “Yes.” Jesse told him what he’d found. “I disabled everything, but the FBI has sent an expert to check it out, just in case I missed anything.”

  Though Raul made a face at the mention of the FBI, he didn’t disagree. Instead, he turned toward his daughter, his expression serious. “Eva, I have a pretty good idea of the name of the man who’s been calling you asking for his money. Were you aware of Drew’s business dealings with the Mexican cartels?”

  Eva recoiled, her expression horrified. “The Mexican drug cartels? Drew would never do anything like that. He was running for public office.”

  “I’m guessing he believed he could keep it secret. Drew was heavily involved with them.”

  “Doing what?” Eva demanded, her gaze furious. “So help me, if you tell me that my husband was dealing drugs, I’m going to break something.”

  Raul held up a hand, a diamond pinkie ring flashing. “No need for that. He laundered their money.”

  Eva glanced at Jesse. “Did you know about this?”

  How to answer. Since he had known, both from Raul and intel he’d received from his handler, he decided to stick to the truth. “Yes. I knew.”

  After stewing on this for a moment, Eva shook her head. “Let me guess. While Drew was laundering their money, some of it went missing.”

  “Bingo,” Raul replied. “How did you know?”

  “Lucky guess. Especially since the caller kept insisting Drew had stolen his money.” She took a deep breath. “Do you know how much money is missing?”

  Jesse had heard rumors, but he wanted to hear Raul confirm them.

  “Three million dollars,” Raul said. “And word on the street is that Drew had an accomplice. That person is the one who probably has the money.”

  “One thing doesn’t make sense,” Eva said. “Drew cleaned out all his bank accounts. Why would he do that if he’d stolen that much money?”

  “He probably intended to flee. Leave town.”

  Eva responded exactly as Jesse knew she would. “No. Becoming the governor of Texas was really important to Drew. He’d never run away from that.”

  Raul shrugged. “He might if someone put a hit out on him. These cartels are dangerous. Drew should have known better than to try and cheat them.”

  “Dad, were you the one who set Drew up with them? I know you have a few business dealings of your own with the cartels.”

  Glancing around the room, Raul gave the tiniest shake of his head. Jesse got it immediately. The older man worried about the possibility that some recording devices remained. He wasn’t about to incriminate himself.

  “Of course not.” Raul’s hearty response made Eva start. “You know better than that. I don’t have dealings with any drug cartels.”

  Eva narrowed her eyes but didn’t respond. Clearly, she understood why her father would say something so patently false. Since Jesse had been deeply involved with the Brothers of Sin, he understood Raul’s remark to be technically true. As leader of the motorcycle club, Raul took great pains to keep his hands clean. Or at least the appearance of that. Since he controlled every aspect of the club’s business dealings, including anything to do with the cartels, the ATF and their partners at the FBI considered him accountable. But Jesse had seen with his own eyes the way Raul insisted his men present him with information. He trusted a few of his top lieutenants to take care of things and required reports only when something went wrong. Which rarely happened.

  Privately, Jesse thought Raul intended to retire soon. The wind had seemed to go out from under his sails once his daughter had left.

  “What about Lori?” Jesse asked, deciding to go with his gut instinct. “Is there any possibility she might be Drew’s accomplice? Maybe she wanted all the money for herself, so she arranged to have him killed.”

  Both Eva and her father stared at him, Raul with his eyes narrowed in speculation and Eva with open shock and dismay.

  “It’s possible,” Raul allowed.

  “No, it’s not,” Eva countered. “Drew had zero interest in Lori. Believe me, I could tell.”

  Jesse decided it would be best not to argue that point. Apparently, so did Raul.

  “Anyway, what about Chris?” Eva asked, filling her father in on the old prenup agreement they’d found. “Do you have any idea who Chris might be?”

  Raul shook his head. “Have you looked through the names of Drew’s office and campaign staff? Maybe he had a Chris working for him.”

  “I checked,” she admitted wryly. “No Chris. I’m less worried about that than I am about this person who keeps calling me and demanding a lot of money. Since I don’t have it, I just wish he’d go away.”

  “Do you want me to pay him off?” her father asked. “I have access to that kind of money.”

  “No.” Her response came out a bit too harsh, so she softened her tone. “I do not. To begin with, I have no idea what he’s talking about. It could all be some sort of get-rich-off-the-poor-widow scheme.”

  Raul grunted. “Maybe, but I think it’s more likely that Drew decided to keep some of the dough he was laundering. Stuff like that don’t fly with the cartel boys.”

  She thought for a moment. “If that was the case, then why is this person calling me? Wouldn’t it be the cartel instead? Or do you think he works for the cartel?”

  Her comment had her father grimacing. “Honey, you don’t want the cartel after you, believe me. I’ll tell you what. I’ll personally find out who has been calling you and have some of my guys pay him a visit,” he promised. “He will never bother you again.”

  “No. I don’t want any part of murder or illegal intimidation.”

  Raul looked wounded. “Who said anything like that? I would never...”

  Jesse had to admit the man was good. But Eva knew her father well and was having none of his act.

  “Dad, I want to let law enforcement deal with that guy. Not only are the local police involved, but the FBI and, thanks to the bomb, the ATF are too.”

  Making a face, Raul shrugged. “How about while you let them bumble around doing their job, you come visit me. At least there, I know you’ll be safe.”

  Eva looked down. For one moment, Jesse thought she might actually be considering her father’s offer. But when she raised her head, he saw the answer written in her stubborn expression.

  “I’m not
letting anyone chase me out of my own home,” she said. “I’ve done nothing wrong or illegal, and if my husband stole money, I didn’t know anything about it.”

  Raul sighed. “I kind of expected you to say something like that. But, honey, even if you are totally innocent in all this, do you really think that makes a difference to the bad guys? Think of your son. If something happens to you, he’ll be an orphan.”

  Talk about bringing the big guns to bear. Eva’s proud expression fell. For a moment, she appeared shattered, devastated by the horrible possibility her father outlined.

  Jesse had to suppress a surge of anger at Raul. While he understood—and even respected—the older man’s reasoning, he hated seeing Eva hurt. Even for her own good.

  “Nothing will happen to me,” she declared, her voice steady and strong. “Jesse will make sure of that.”

  Jesse felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Raul’s gaze swung to him before landing back on his daughter. “What if they kill Jesse?” Raul asked, the coldness in his voice giving the words extra impact. “Do you really want to have his blood on your hands?”

  “That’s enough,” Jesse barked. “I’m pretty sure she gets your point. No need to hammer in any gorier details.”

  To Jesse’s surprise, Raul chuckled. “What’s the matter, Jesse? Don’t like me talking about the possibility of you biting the bullet?”

  “I don’t,” Eva interjected. “Dad, believe me, I well understand the risks. If at any time I feel at risk, I’ll leave.”

  “And come home?” Raul pressed.

  “Maybe. Maybe not. I might just go someplace warm and tropical, with a beach and umbrella drinks.” Her grin fooled no one. Both men knew Eva well enough to understand she’d never be able to enjoy herself on a vacation with things so unsettled.

  “Do you still have your bike?” Raul asked, out of the blue.

  “I do,” Eva answered, surprising Jesse, who hadn’t known. “It’s in the garage, covered in a tarp. I’ve made sure to start it up every couple of weeks.”

  “Good.” Raul pushed to his feet. “Then let’s go for a ride. All three of us.”