"That reminds me, we'd better hurry with this packing. Jose should be back with the van any minute to take another load." He kissed her nose then decided on a lingering merger of their lips.
"Nick?" she asked hesitantly when he finally lifted his head. "You aren't doing anything to delay the search just so ... so we can be together a while longer, are you?"
His eyes grew penetratingly hard. "I swear I would never do that, Alex. I want to find her almost as much as you do. I want . . . you both."
Alex smiled faintly, wondering if it was possible. What would happen to them in the end? Would she lose Nick when she found Jenni? The chugging of a motor out front jarred the uncomfortably quiet moment. "There's Jose. We'd better get busy."
She moved away from his embrace but Nick took her hand. "I know this probably sounds crazy to you, but after all this time, I feel like I know this little girl. I know about her birth, about her life here, how much she means to you. I've seen her pictures, the happy ones as well as the traumatic ones. Jenni is real to me, Alex, not just a name. I want you to know I will do everything in my power to get her back."
Sudden tears welled up in Alex's eyes. At that moment she knew he really cared, knew she loved him deeply for caring. "Thank you, Nick. . . ." She swallowed hard.
"Perdona, Capitan, but this is something you should know." Jose stood breathlessly in the open doorway. He motioned frantically to both of them. "We'll get this stuff later. Come on down to the station. La policia have arrested the man who took Jenni! They’re pretty sure they have him."
CHAPTER TWELVE
Alex's meager belongings, consisting of several boxes of books and teaching supplies, sat piled in the corner. Her clothes were squeezed into Nick's already too small closet. But no one paid attention to the crowded conditions. For hours, Nick's kitchen had served as headquarters for hot coffee and heated debates. The vote was two against one, with Alex losing, until Jose left for dinner with his family. With Jose gone, Alex managed to score some points as she and Nick continued to argue. However, winning was measured between the battle and the war.
"I say, now that we know where she is, let's go get her! Now!" Alex's arms flailed the air helplessly.
“We have other obligations. And the big picture in mind,” Nick reminded her.
“Not the well-being of one little child.” Alex sulked, angry and hurt.
“Jose thinks – ”
"I don’t care what Jose thinks. He doesn't have to go with us. He can stay here and keep your business going – whatever the hell it is."
"Be realistic, Alex. We only know she's been sent out of Hermosillo, probably traveling northward," Nick said calmly. “And we just think it’s her. Not entirely sure.”
Alex pointed a finger as if catching a flaw in his reasoning. "We know she's with a couple, a man and woman posing as a family. Hell, Nick, there are just so many roads crossing that region of Mexico. And we can figure she's bound for the Valencia-Jessup border."
"We think she is," Nick inserted.
"Nick, he said—"
"Dammit, Alex, you can't believe every word of a criminal who would be willing to sell kids on the black market. He would also sing any song the cops wanted to hear in order to sweeten his case."
Alex sank into a chair and propped her elbows on the table. "Then do you believe anything he said in his confession?" she asked earnestly. "That he was actually the one who took Jenni? That he left her at his sister's house, and she took care of Jenni until he made his connections?"
Nick poured fresh coffee and answered thoughtfully. "You have to sort through every word in a pressure confession like this. Yes, I definitely believe he's the man in the photos who snatched Jenni at the scene of the accident . . . and it's possible that he took her to his sister's, or it could have been his girlfriend's. Remember, sister sounds better to the police." He paused for a sip of coffee and let his eyes travel to hers before continuing.
"But I hope you noticed that he insisted the child was alone and unattended and that he thought she was abandoned. He very cleverly didn't comment when questioned about the obvious fact that Jenni was clean and well-cared for. Nor did he give a reason for not turning her over to the police. He was very wily."
"In that identification lineup he reminded me of Raul, the one in Guaymas who wanted to sell us the baby," Alex muttered. "It was easy to despise him."
"Yes, I can understand that."
"So what do you propose to do, Nick? Wait some more?"
He nodded. "Yep, 'fraid so. It'll prevent us from going off on a wild goose chase to Jessup when she might have been taken to Yuma."
"You could fly us there in no time, Nick," she pleaded. "Anyway, the man said there was a connection at Jessup. I feel sure that's where they've gone! It makes the most sense."
"It's the entire chain of connections we're interested in, Alex. The big picture."
"It's Jenni I'm interested in, Nick!" Alex countered hotly. "To hell with the stupid chain. To hell with all the others! I just want my little Jenni back!"
"Take it easy, Alex. We'll get her. In due time."
Alex glared angrily at Nick. He was maddeningly calm when she wanted to jump through her skin! Now they had something to do, a direction, yet Nick was content to wait here. She simply couldn't understand it. "I'm tired of waiting. Your 'due time' isn't soon enough for me. Jenni is heading for Jessup—"
"Maybe!"
"Maybe," she conceded. "And you want to sit here and wait until the Customs officers call."
Nick leaned toward her, his lips tightly drawn beneath his mustache. His tone was tense. "Alex, I'm trying to convince you how important it is for this scene to play itself through all the way to the end. The way the police have explained it, in order to catch everyone involved in this ring, it's crucial that it be allowed to run its course."
"Why?" Alex asked, aghast. "What the hell are you talking about, anyway?"
Nick realized he was damn close to telling her far too much, and changed his tone. "Alex, just because Jenni supposedly left the city with a couple posing as husband and wife doesn't mean she'll complete the journey in their care."
"It doesn't? Sounds like a good way to hide to me. They could take a whole carload of kids across the border and no one would bother to ask about them."
"And maybe they are. A whole bunch of stolen kids. It's possible."
"That’s outrageous. How could they get away with something like that?"
"People use many ingenious methods to cross the border. Sometimes they stow away in special compartments in trucks or vans. They might pose as a family visiting relatives or impersonate American touristas. There are various ways to make Jenni difficult to spot, even with Customs looking for her."
"I never thought of that." Alex scooted anxiously to the edge of her seat. "Nick, they wouldn't harm her, would they?"
"No, not after taking care of her all this time. It isn't likely. She’s valuable to them. Now, they might give her a mild sedative to make her sleep. In fact, they might take the most obvious, least noticed route. Just walk across."
"You mean, slip across the fence somewhere remote?"
"No. I mean walk across at a checkpoint with a sleeping child in their arms. Or disguise her in some way like dressing her as a boy. That's why I don't want us to waste our time going there. We'd never be able to find her."
Alex drew herself up and her indigo eyes flashed like blue diamonds. "I don't know about you, Nick Diamond, but I'd recognize her in any disguise. If I came close to Jenni, I'd know her, and most importantly, she would know me."
"I'm sure you would, Alex," Nick granted. "That could be damn dangerous for both of you. But what if you don't get that close? What if she's already passed through the border and is on her way? What if—"
Alex interrupted angrily, "What if we wait too long and she's sold up the chain, or whatever you call it, and becomes lost somewhere in the States? What if she's sent to Maine or Montana and just disappears? They've do
ne it before, apparently. They could do it again, while we wait in Hermosillo! That's what this whole thing is about, isn't it, Nick? Creating a chain that disappears and is immune to the law because the children are adopted by people who think they’re doing this legally!"
"So far they've evaded capture, but believe me, it won't happen this time. Jenni won't disappear."
Nick seemed so sure of himself, Alex wanted to lash out at him in her frustration. "How do you know?"
"Trust me."
"Trust you? Ha! Nick, I've tried to trust you through all this and there are still questions you refuse to answer. It's damn hard to believe that you'll be able to prevent Jenni from getting away when we're still sitting right here in Hermosillo! What can you possibly do to stop it?"
Nick's voice was a quiet contrast to hers. "I know, Alex. It's a lot to ask."
"Then don't ask it."
"I must," he answered simply.
"Well, with no more explanation than that, it's too much!" She turned away and walked to the kitchen window. She tried to blink away the tears and sought the strength and beauty of the mountains in the distance.
Nick approached Alex and stood close without touching her. She was an emotional powder keg right now and he wasn't sure how to deal with her. He wanted to reassure her. Maybe he should tell her, explain what was happening. How much would keep her satisfied? "Alex, I can tell you this much. We're keeping close contact with Customs. As soon as they know something, they'll notify us."
She swallowed hard and took a deep, shaky breath. "What will they do with Jenni when they find her? Take her into custody? She'll be alone and scared. I want to be with her during that scary time."
"And I want you to be. I'll fly you there the minute we know something for sure."
"You will?" Alex felt like jelly inside. She was anxious, excited, nervous, bursting with every emotion that could prevent her from thinking straight. Maybe he was right. They should wait.
"You know, this arguing is getting us nowhere."
"The way I look at it, sitting here in your kitchen in Hermosillo drinking coffee is getting us nowhere. Meantime, Jenni is heading for the States."
"Look, Alex, you hired me to do a job. That act required trusting me, a complete stranger. Now we're far from strangers. We've come this close to getting her. Trust me a little longer." His hands rested on her shoulders, allowing warmth to radiate from his body to hers.
"Hired you?" She turned to face him and his arms still encircled her shoulders. "Nick, you never let me hire you. You never cashed that check."
He grinned, slightly off-center. "Well, the intent was there, but other things got in the way. Like wanting to help you. Like caring about you and Jenni. Like the urgency to find her and break the back of this human black-market scheme."
Like love? Alex wondered. "Like us, Nick?"
"From the first, I was interested in this case . . . in you, Alex."
"In the case? Why—"
Nick's eyes flickered. He couldn't let her know now. They were too near the end, too close to the culmination of all this work. "You're a beautiful woman, Alex. You intrigued me the first time I saw you. And I . . . wanted you, even then. But I promised myself restraint. It just wasn't enough. We belong together. Let me hold you, Alex. Come here. ..."
Almost frantically, Alex crushed herself against his firm muscled chest, inhaling his masculine scent, absorbing his solid strength. "Nick, I don't think I can be strong much longer."
"Let me be your strength, Alex. I'll be with you . . . all the way to the end."
"Then what?" She muffled the words, not daring to consider the answer.
Apparently, neither could Nick. "Don't think about that now. Just let me love you."
She clung weakly to him and he lifted her and carried her gallantly to the bed. He undressed her with delicate zephyr-like movements. His lavish kisses followed each garment until waves of desire rippled through her, rising slowly higher with each silky touch. They made love with a gentleness she'd never before experienced, a sensuous elegance, a ritual beauty in the uniting of two bodies.
Alex and Nick merged as two languid mountain streams that join at a fork. There was a gathering of speed and force until the rapid rush when the wild river crashed into the mighty ocean at journey's end. Then they lay in each other's arms as if washed up on a beach after a raging storm.
"What's going to happen to us, Nick?"
"We'll think about that later. There'll be plenty of time."
"My life is in such an upheaval right now. I feel like it's all piled over there in the corner of your apartment. I don't know where I'll be tomorrow, or next week. It's an unsettling feeling."
"I understand, Alex. I never know either. Maybe it's time for . . ."
Alex puzzled over his answer and waited for him to finish. But he didn't. For once, she didn't ask him to explain. In due time, when he was ready, he would tell her. Alex marveled at her patience. Maybe she was too tired to pursue it. Or was this the beginning of her trusting him? Perhaps. She wanted to trust him, oh, God, how she yearned for that kind of blind confidence. She wanted them to be together in the end. And Jenni? Like he'd said earlier, she wanted them both. Was that too much to ask?
A knock interrupted their quiet reverie.
Nick bounded out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans, zipping as he strode to the door.
"Jose again? This is getting to be a habit," Alex snapped. One I don't like, she thought, but, maybe it's about Jenni.
"Something's up." Nick opened the door. His conversation with Jose was brief and staccato-like. This time, Alex moved closer and listened.
". . . contact from lobo azul. This one's in the other direction. Pick-up at Yuma tonight. Vamos! Right now!"
"What is it this time? Guns?"
"Quien sabe? Who knows?"
"Damn! Just when this deal with the kid's coming down!"
As Jose moved away from the door, Alex could see his shadowy form. He was dressed all in black.
Nick turned into the kitchen, looking grim and giving orders. "Make us some coffee to go, will you, Alex? Here's the thermos." He set the huge container on the counter and disappeared immediately into the bedroom.
Alex followed him, privately rebelling at the orders. "Nick, what's going on? Is it Jenni?"
"No! The coffee, please! We're in a hurry!" He began peeling his jeans down his firm hips and muscular thighs, ignoring her presence and her questions.
Alex grabbed his shirt, which came down past her knees and proceeded with her assigned chore, her agitation growing by the minute. She slammed the coffee pot onto the stove and flipped the flame on beneath it. This was worse than serving as a getaway car driver! Worse than being secretary to a nonexistent business! Make coffee for us and sit home and wait. WAIT! She could scream for waiting!
When Nick appeared he wore dark clothing, like Jose. His jeans were jet black and hugged his legs snuggly; his black shirt hung loosely over his waist.
"Nick, are you going to explain—"
His hard, dark eyes halted her. His face was taut and angular, his expression closed. What was he thinking? Feeling? He looked the same, but this was a different Nick, one she didn't know and didn't really like.
This wasn't the man who made sweet, tender love to her, who cared for her feelings and the well-being of a child he'd never seen. Here was a man for hire, a man willing to do the dangerous, the illegal—whatever was necessary to make a buck. From deep inside her being, Alex wanted to cry out. What kind of man was this she loved?
"I'll explain as much as I can. As much as you need to know," he said vaguely. His stone expression revealed his seriousness.
She nodded, not sure she would be satisfied but realizing it was all Nick was willing to give.
"Jose and I have some business tonight. I won't be back for at least twelve hours, maybe a little longer. Here are the keys to the van. I want you to have a vehicle in case ... in case anything happens and you need it." He tossed th
e keys on the table.
"What about Jenni?"
"Get some rest tonight, Alex. Nothing will happen before tomorrow, anyway. Maybe later."
"But what if it does?" Alex didn't think she could wait until tomorrow for something to happen.
"Wait for me."
"Wait?" Her nostrils flared. "What if . . ." she paused and finished hoarsely, "you aren't here. What if you don't come back?"
"Then someone else will notify you."
She lifted her chin and murmured, "Nick, I'm scared."
"Don't be." He moved quickly to take her in his arms, holding her close. "I wish I could tell you more."
Alex clasped her arms tightly around his waist, pressing her face to his chest as if to detect the real Nick beneath those strange clothes. Her hands met on the hard, metal object tucked into his belt. "Nick! What the hell is that?" But she knew.
He tore her arms away and kissed her roughly.
"What are you doing with a gun?" She breathed the question, not really wanting to hear the answer.
"No questions, remember? I'll see you tomorrow." He winked then moved toward the cabinet. "Coffee ready?"
She grabbed his arm but he jerked away and began to pour the boiling black brew into the tall thermos. "Nick, I don't know what you're up to but it's dangerous if you've got a gun! It isn't worth the risk. Nothing is! No amount of money is worth risking your life, Nick, and I don't want you to do this."
He continued to ignore her and tightened the lid on the thermos. He started across the room.
She latched onto his arm again. "Nick, don't go! Please!"
Her frantic begging did no good. He reached for the door.
"Nick, I ... I love you."
He stopped and looked at her for a long second. "I'll be back tomorrow, Alex. Believe it. Just trust me."
Then he was gone, a tall, dark shadow joining a shorter, bulkier one. They drove away quickly and disappeared into the night.
Alex stared at the black emptiness long after Jose's car vanished. Her mind raced with questions—unanswered questions.
Alex shivered inside Nick's shirt and hugged her arms, trying to draw some warmth from his garment, but she couldn't. The view of him dressed in black haunted her. She wondered which was real: the cold, hard Nick, the man for hire; or the gentle, compassionate man with whom she had fallen in love.
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