Undercover with the Nanny

by Cathy Skendrovich

Once she’d settled into the passenger seat of the Escalade, she made another attempt for freedom. “Mr. Hayes doesn’t care for me in that way. Honest,” she exclaimed when her former boss gave her an “I don’t believe you,” look before settling behind the steering wheel. His gun rested between his legs. “We—we even argued about that right before you called. He—he doesn’t feel the same way for me as I—I do for him.”

  That part was painfully true, at least. Sawyer had never said anything to let her know how he felt. She’d misinterpreted their lovemaking for real emotion. She wasn’t lying. She knew her facial expression said the same to Mr. Cabrera. He shook his head before pushing the garage door opener on the visor above her head. She scrunched her shoulders when he moved his arm, and he cracked a humorless grin.

  “Relax, chica. As long as you don’t provoke me, I won’t have to strike you again. Women. They always mistake a good screw for love.” He started the SUV and put it in reverse. Kate’s heart began triple-timing, and she bit her lip to keep from panting. This was it. She was being driven away from civilization by a violent criminal. Unless there were other listening bugs in Cabrera’s house, no one knew she was with him.

  Within seconds, they’d passed the entry gate, the attendant’s face a blur as the Escalade gathered speed. There was no one else on the road, and, after a few turns, which guaranteed her confusion, Kate realized her former boss was heading out into the desert on a two-lane road that disappeared into the darkness before them. She shivered, and not completely from the air-conditioning seeping through the vehicle’s vents.

  “Why do you want to punish Sawyer?” she blurted, looking at Mr. Cabrera. From the glow of the instrument panel, he appeared ghostly, macabre, an evil chauffer driving her to Hell. She shoved aside her morbid thoughts and continued. “I mean, I get that you think he’s some kind of law enforcement— No!” She raised her forearm in defense as Cabrera lifted his arm as if to slap her again.

  “Shut up. I may not have the proof of what he is, but someone placed that device. The DEA almost caught me in El Paso earlier this year, and they won’t stop until they close down the whole operation. That’s not going to happen, and you’re my bargaining chip.”

  Kate shrank against the passenger door, whimpering. She’d never seen her boss like this, couldn’t believe how different, how…unhinged he acted. He wasn’t just a deadbeat dad. He was crazy. Crazy violent, and crazy-crazy.

  She needed to get out of this vehicle, but she’d heard him auto-lock the doors, and he’d already shown her what he would do if she tried to escape. Besides, she didn’t think she’d be in any shape to run if she jumped out of the SUV at this speed. Better to keep him talking so she could find out where they were going. Eventually, Sawyer would see on his blasted cameras that she wasn’t home and look for her. That was his job, after all.

  “But what about Bobby? I know you love him, Mr. Cabrera. Think about him. You’re just a pilot. Turn yourself in. If Sawyer is what you say he is, he’ll want the drug lord in charge of it all. If you can give him that person, he’ll probably work you some sort of deal. Please, think of your son.”

  Kate’s voice cracked. It was true, though. Arresting a pilot didn’t bring the whole operation down. Sawyer wouldn’t sleep until he had the cartel leader. If Bobby’s father cut a deal, she was sure Sawyer would help him keep his son. It would be bad enough for the boy to lose his father to jail time. How did a kid Bobby’s age ever get over something like this? Her heart, still racing, managed to crumple anyway at the thought.

  “I am thinking about him. That’s why I’ve created this empire, made all this money. It’s Bobby’s legacy. He’ll never want for anything in this land of the free. And I won’t have some stupid-shit DEA agent and his piece of ass bringing me down.”

  He shot a look at her, his eyes glittering in the reflected dash light. Kate scrunched farther into her corner, confusion rising within. His words didn’t make sense. He was a drug lord’s pilot. Yes, the job would cost him jail time. But she was sure he wasn’t as guilty as his boss, nor as rich. So, why was he talking about legacies? It didn’t make sense, and she said so.

  “You make it sound like you’re in charge of the whole thing. You’re the pilot. That can’t be as important as your boss.”

  The SUV lost momentum as Mr. Cabrera let up on the gas and skewered her with one of his cold looks. “You dumb woman. You’re almost as stupid as your boyfriend. When are they going to stop sending idiots after me? I’m not just the pilot. I’m the head of the cartel. I am Armando Ortiz.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  What a colossal mess this investigation had become, Sawyer thought as his truck rocketed down the road in Kate’s wake after she stormed out of his apartment. There was no sign of her. He had an idea something big was going down tonight, and Kate’s anger was blinding her to the oddness of her boss’s demand.

  It was his fault she was angry, it was his fault she wasn’t evaluating the moment properly, and it was his fault this investigation had gone to shit. After months of reconnaissance, a shootout at the OK Corral that left one of his team fighting for his life, and a second chance at the bastard who’d sent Guerrero to the hospital, it all came down to the fact that he, Sawyer Hayes, couldn’t keep his hands off a person of interest in their case.

  He wouldn’t be surprised that, when the dust cleared from this debacle, he’d lose his badge, his career, and the girl. What did surprise him was that, out of all three, losing Kate hurt the most. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told her she’d gotten inside him. She was lodged in so deep, his anxiety over the current situation was like an ulcer eating away at his stomach.

  His phone buzzed. It was Ian. Sawyer picked up on the truck’s touch screen. “I’m almost there. I had to get my gear. Is Tim in position?”

  “When he got to the Cabrera place, there were two unsubs, and no sign of Cabrera and Kate. He neutralized the threat and checked on the boy, who’s fast asleep. There was no vehicle in the garage, and the garage opener light was still on. You might have passed them.”

  A droning started in his ears. His vision tunneled in until he could only see the white line blurring in the light from his headlamps. Cabrera had Kate? They hadn’t come his direction. Was it Ortiz or the pilot who wanted a hostage? Had Cabrera figured out who he, Coach Sawyer Hayes, really was? How? Or was it Ortiz, wanting some insurance when he moved his product? After the sobriety checkpoint arrests, the cartel leader had to know the DEA was breathing down his neck once more.

  Sawyer opened his window, his thoughts and worries suffocating him in the truck’s cab. He gulped in the fresh, night air as he pulled up beside the gatehouse. Ian ran around the truck’s hood and jumped into the passenger seat. Sawyer saw Chang, the team’s fake I.D. guru, inside the guard station.

  “Is Tim sure Kate’s gone?” Sawyer asked, whirling the big truck around the tight turnaround. Ian’s shoulder bounced against him before he got his seat belt fastened. The younger agent shot him a glance.

  “Dead sure. After he took out the firepower and the new babysitter, he searched the place. Cabrera and the nanny are gone. I’m sorry, boss.”

  Sawyer swore under his breath before fishtailing the opposite direction on the road he’d just traveled. Kate in the hands of Cabrera was bad enough. But if Ortiz wanted her? That man was a sadist and a murderer.

  Flexing and tightening his fingers on the steering wheel, as well as stomping on the gas pedal, he said to Ian without looking away from his trajectory, “Rally the rest of the team. It’s going down tonight. Apprise them of our position, have them fall in. Notify Sanchez. Maybe the audio bugs will tell us where they’re going. If not, when Tim’s prisoners wake up, tell him to coerce them into revealing Cabrera’s destination. He can use any method this side of illegal.”

  He heard Ian’s awestruck admiration in his “Yessir.”

  While the younger agent jumped on the phone, Sawyer inhaled through his nose, and cleared his mind of every thought but on
e: Kate Munroe’s life rest in his hands. He would make damn sure she would not die tonight.

  …

  The Escalade bounced off the road they’d been driving on, spitting desert gravel as it continued its pace on a dirt track visible in the glow of the bobbing headlights. Tiny rocks pinged against the vehicle’s body, and Kate concentrated on how pockmarked the SUV would look after the beating it was taking. Anything that would keep her from thinking about how she was the hostage of a drug cartel leader. Or the fact that she’d just blown off the one man who could rescue her. Now she was forced to help herself, or disappear in the desert like hundreds of victims before her.

  She clung to the possibility that Sawyer had planted more bugs in the house than the one Cabrera, no, Ortiz, had discovered. After all, he’d suspected both of them. Even if he didn’t love her, he was sworn to protect the innocent, and he’d told her he knew she wasn’t a guilty party to the drug smuggling. Her heart stalled as she thought about his lack of love, but she shoved the worry aside. She concentrated on the hope that he was even now figuring out that she was kidnapped. But, she wasn’t about to sit around and wait for that eventuality.

  A viable escape plan had yet to come to her mind. Mr. Cabrera, as she still thought of the man beside her, hadn’t bound or gagged her. He cradled his gun on the seat between his legs, a phallic symbol not lost on Kate even in her current state of mind. Though he’d locked the SUV, she wasn’t in the backseat where the child locks could be activated. She surmised that she might be able to jump out at this slower speed, and not get too banged up. It was a better option than wrestling for the gun with a man who had nothing to lose.

  The thought that she would have to run into the vast desert made her sweat. As the perspiration cooled on her skin, she shivered, and decided she’d rather face the unknown creatures in this wasteland, than remain with a criminal who would desert his own son. Poor Bobby. How did all this affect him?

  “Does Bobby know what you do? Is his last name really Ortiz?” she blurted, her heart aching at the thought of the child being a casualty of his father’s lifestyle even before he grew out of building Legos.

  Mr. Cabrera looked at her before returning his attention to his driving. “Cabrera is my real name. Ortiz is fictitious. And, of course, he doesn’t know. He’s just a child.”

  “Did you kill his mother?” Kate threw the question out as she slid her left hand from her lap, to the seat belt latch. Their speed had slowed still more, enough that she thought she might jump out of the vehicle without injuring herself. If she could unhook her restraint without sound. Mr. Cabrera then would have to decide whether to chase her or escape. She was banking on escaping. But she would have to keep his attention diverted until the last moment. Her pulse began to pound so loud she was afraid he would hear it.

  “What? No. She became a junkie from my rival’s inferior product and OD’d, may she rest in peace.” He hurriedly crossed himself. Kate watched the ironic display of piety. He continued. “Don’t worry. I shut his business down and made him pay for leaving my child motherless. And now, by myself, am the largest cocaine distributor in Mexico.”

  He was so proud of his dubious distinction. Kate grit her teeth as she pressed on the release button. It clicked, and she closed her eyes, praying the tire noise covered the telltale sound. Her fingers froze, as she shot a look at her captor. Her hand muscles burned from the inactivity. His head turned toward her, and she flashed him a weak smile. It was the wrong thing to do. His gaze dropped and sharpened on the seat belt clasp. She let it go, grabbing for the door handle in a Hail Mary attempt.

  His arm flashed out, and he snatched at her hair. She cried out, scrabbling unseeingly for the door release. He yanked her toward him. At the last second, he shoved her away so hard that her head slammed against the passenger window. Her vision blackened as she screamed in disappointed dismay. Tears of pain sprang to her eyes. Angry and hurting, she punched at him like a blind person. The SUV fishtailed while he roared from his side of the vehicle.

  “You stupid whore, what are you trying to do? Where are you going to go if you escape me? You’re in the desert.” He slammed on the brakes, rocking them both into their head rests. Kate whimpered from the continued abuse. Cabrera snatched up his gun from the car floor, and then reached across her body to the glove box. She shrank from him. His look promised retribution.

  But the pain in her head drove her to respond. “Anywhere is better than waiting for you to kill me.” It was the truth, though the words might cost her. No matter how much his ruthlessness scared her, it also proved she had to do something.

  From what she knew of cartel leaders, they weren’t in the business of taking care of people. Especially ones who got in the way of their objectives. His previous actions underscored that. She had to escape.

  As she thought that, he grabbed her wrists with his left hand, clasping them together in a viselike grip. Then he looped a zip tie around them with his other hand, pulling it tight. She yanked her hands from his grasp. He backhanded her across the face, and the taste of blood filled her mouth. She yelped, unable to stop the tears that overflowed from the instant pain.

  “Hostages are worthless after a certain point, and I’m rapidly reaching that stage with you.” His voice was ragged, and he took a deep breath. When he spoke again, it was more modulated. “Your presence is supposed to keep the DEA in check until I reach my destination, but now I’m seriously considering pushing you out when I reach altitude. Have you ever wanted wings, Miss Munroe?”

  Kate didn’t bother answering. Her head and face hurt too much, the restraints around her wrists were too tight. His violence exposed the monster he’d hidden during her entire employ. In her whole life, she’d never witnessed such cruelty. She began to shiver.

  She’d wondered if he was taking her out to the desert to kill her, but his words told a different story. They were heading for his plane. Her throat constricted. She had no doubt that he would push her out. She started to pant, and forced herself to inhale and exhale, before she hyperventilated. She had to get away from him.

  “You might begin praying for them.” He laughed, answering his own question as the SUV rolled forward once more. In its headlights, Kate spied a ramshackle building rising from the rocks and brush they’d been driving through. It looked like a strong wind would knock it over.

  “Here we are.”

  He pulled the Escalade behind the structure, which turned out to be an open-ended, carport-type of construction, with tumbleweeds and rocks on the roof to camouflage it from the sky. Inside was a twin-engine plane. The SUV rocked to a stop.

  She stared at the aircraft in the shine from the SUV’s headlights. Time was running out. In a few moments, she’d be flying away from everything she knew, a prisoner of a drug dealer. He was using her to facilitate his getaway, and the man she’d fallen in love with had used her to get close to Cabrera.

  She needed to quit hoping that Sawyer would rescue her, and get out of this predicament under her own steam, whether the notion petrified her or not. She’d be boarding this plane to her death, unless she figured out a way to save herself. And there was no way in hell she was going to take a swan dive from ten thousand feet in the air.

  “Get out. No one is around to hear a gunshot, so no more stupid attempts at escape. Move!”

  Kate scrambled to comply, releasing the door handle and stumbling out of the SUV, her bound hands hampering her. He got out as well, tucking his gun in the rear waistband of his pants before striding to her side. She shrank from him, but he hooked her arm, his fingers bruising. He shoved her forward. She stepped on a rock, and her ankle twisted, sending her to one knee.

  “Christo, quit stalling. You were never this clumsy in my employ.” His foot came out, slamming into her side. She dropped on a gasp of surprised pain, pebbles pricking her palms like tiny nails. Her ribs vibrated with every breath. She was starting to think he kept her around not just as a hostage, but because he had a sadistic need to in
flict pain.

  She sucked in another breath, and that’s when she spied the rock she’d tripped on. Without thinking, she cupped it between her hands and rose, letting herself be dragged to the side of the plane.

  As weapons went, the rock was puny, but it was all she had. If the opportunity presented itself, she would force herself to use it. She was going to die anyway; she might as well go out swinging.

  Cabrera held her at his side as he flung the plane door open and dropped the two-rung ladder, but something outside the makeshift hangar caught his attention. He looked in that direction, and it was the moment she’d hoped for. With the memory of his vicious kick reverberating through her rib cage, she lifted her arms and crashed the rock into the side of his head.

  She was weaker than she thought. It wasn’t the debilitating blow she imagined. He staggered against the side of the plane, and then turned his head toward her. Blood trickled from his hairline. His gaze narrowed on her, as sharp and cold as an ice pick.

  “You bitch,” he ground out, his right arm snaking behind him for the gun. Kate took off running out of the hangar, any minute expecting a bullet to the back.

  …

  “He isn’t going to the municipal airport,” Ian said as they watched Cabrera swing his Escalade off the paved road and onto a dirt one outside of town. They’d caught up to him before he’d left civilization. Sawyer had followed a good distance behind with his headlights off for most of the trip.

  “No, he isn’t.” Sawyer left it at that. His mind was in too much turmoil to make conversation. Everything had gone to hell tonight, just as Ian had predicted. And it could have been avoided, that was the kicker. He should have told Kate who and what he was as soon as he’d deemed her innocent. He should have excused himself from the case, or at least put Ian on point. He should never have slept with her. Period.

  Scratch that. He wouldn’t retract any minute of his time with Kate. She made him feel alive. Being with her was the best part of every day. What he should have done is be honest with her as soon as he’d determined her innocence. She should have been able to decide whether to keep seeing him or not. Instead, he’d placed her in even more danger than she’d already been.