The Billionaire From San Diego

by Susan Westwood

  “I won’t let you take me to Chacon,” she hissed, digging her heels in and trying to wrest her arm away from him.

  “I’m not taking you to Chacon,” he said. “But I will carry you if you won’t run.”

  A familiar engine revving in the distance caught her attention, and she knew that Chacon’s men were coming back to get her. With everyone scattering on the sidewalk, they might not have seen the hulking man pull her into the ramshackle building, but she had no doubt that some frightened citizen would give her away, and they would drive through the front of the shop to kill her if they had to. It was either go with the stranger or take her chances with the enemy she knew.

  She decided to run, ducking when the man crashed through the back door without stopping to open it, his body easily taking it down. The sound of cracking wood followed them, the sedan ramming the front of the building with no clear idea which part they were in.

  The door led into a very narrow alley that was barely wide enough to fit the black Jeep that idled there, let alone open the back door wide enough to accommodate the man she followed. But he managed, stopping to toss her into the back seat and climbing in behind her. He took a gun that was handed to him and turned to face the back of the vehicle, the tip of the gun out the window, his body braced for stability.

  But it wasn’t the man with the gun or the familiar face in the driver’s seat that had her attention. It was David, smiling weakly at her, propped against the door and wincing every time his head hit the side of the vehicle.

  “David?” she said, kneeling on the floor in the middle and taking his face in her hands. “Are you alright?”

  “We found you,” he said, the relief evident.

  Gunfire erupted, but the glass in the back window held.

  “It’s bulletproof,” Aaron said from the front seat just before Cade opened fire on the sedan chasing them down the alley.

  The engine exploded, flipping the car spectacularly and sending it flipping front over rear before it came to a stop upside down.

  “How many were following you?” Aaron asked.

  “You mean now or when after I escaped from the compound?”

  “Now.”

  “Just that one. I think the other cars wrecked when I did.”

  “Wrecked?” David croaked, but she put a finger to his lip to quiet him.

  It was obvious that he was badly injured and barely hanging on.

  “I think there were three or four and only that one managed to make it through the wrecks. There’s a very angry guy somewhere at the compound if I didn’t kill him with the wrench, but the three assholes that killed Julia and kidnapped me are somewhere else in the city.” She looked at David apologetically. “They blew up your Porsche.”

  “I can buy a new one.”

  “That’s good, cause I’m not giving the Jaguar back.”

  Aaron guided the Jeep out of the alley, skidding across the sandy pavement and racing down the main street until he encountered traffic. Kelissa looked out the back window, but she didn’t see anyone following them anymore. Aaron must have decided the same, because he slowed down a little and his driving became less erratic.

  “David needs to go to a hospital,” she said, patting his hand to keep him awake.

  “I have someone ready to meet us and take care of him,” Aaron said.

  “No hospitals,” David said, smiling. “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine.”

  “Thanks. You look amazing.”

  “Pfft, please. I look like hell.”

  “You look like a woman who didn’t need a man to rescue her.”

  “What was it you said before?” she teased. “You can take a girl outta the hood, but you can’t take the hood outta the girl.”

  “I’m proud of you.”

  “Thanks. How did you even find me? I left my cell phone in the bathroom and the Porsche is nowhere near here.”

  He pointed to her throat and she put her hand to her neck. Only then did she feel the necklace that she’d tucked beneath her shirt.

  “Are you serious?”

  He nodded, hissing in pain, then smiling.

  “I didn’t want to scare you, but I had to know that you were safe.”

  “Wouldn’t it have worked better if you just didn’t work for the cartels?” she said, her voice angry though she tempered it because she felt bad that he was injured. “It seems like that would have protected me better than giving me a necklace with a tracker. Is it even a real diamond?”

  Aaron snorted from the front seat, slowing with traffic as they got closer to the border crossing.

  “It’s real,” David said.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “For what?”

  “For taking care of me even though you’re the one that got me in this mess.”

  He smiled, kissing the palm of her hand, then holding her hand against his heart.

  “I love you,” he said softly.

  She was shocked, but she shook her head and laughed.

  “I think it’s too late for that,” she said. “I can’t be with a man who runs drugs, David. I’m not about that life.”

  “I’m not a drug runner.”

  “You’re something. Why else would the cartel want you?”

  “I can explain.”

  “You should have told me before.”

  “I should have; you’re right. But by the time it became an issue, it was too late. I hadn’t heard from them in years, and I thought I’d paid my father’s debt.”

  “Your father’s debt?”

  “It’s a long story,” he said. “I’ll explain it all to you, and I’ll answer any questions that you have, but trust me when I tell you that I wasn’t involved with them by choice, and I got out as soon as I could.”

  She wanted to yell at him; wanted to tell him that if it looked like a duck, then it must be a duck, but something about what he was saying rang true. He wasn’t denying that he’d worked for the cartel, but he could explain why and how, and she realized that he deserved an opportunity to explain. Yes, he was the reason she’d been kidnapped and had run all over Tijuana in sandals and what amounted to not much more than pajamas, but he had come for her, and he’d ignored serious personal injuries to find her. It wasn’t the circumstances that she’d fantasized about hearing him say “I love you,” for the first time, but he did love her, and that was obvious without him saying it.

  “Fine,” she said, holding his hand in hers and squeezing it tight before she turned to Aaron. “What are we going to do about Chacon?”

  “I have a plan,” Aaron said as Cade moved to sit beside Kelissa, hiding his gun in a secret compartment in the floor. “I’ve been trying to get that man for years, and I think I finally have the perfect opportunity.”

  “That sounds sketchy,” she said.

  “If I show you a satellite map of the city, do you think you can show me where you escaped from?”

  “I can. And I can show you where they moved me into the second car.”

  “Was there a building there?”

  “A warehouse looking thing.”

  “Perfect. If you can show me both of those, I’ve got this. I’m going to need you to trust me.”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Not really,” Aaron laughed.

  She looked at Cade, then back at Aaron.

  “Is Tiny going to be there?” she asked, motioning toward Cade.

  Aaron threw back his head and laughed, while Cade looked embarrassed.

  “I’ve never met anyone brave enough to call him that to his face,” Aaron said. “Yes, Cade will be there.”

  “Then, I’ll do it.”

  Aaron arched an eyebrow.

  “You don’t trust me?”

  “Forgive me if I’m skeptical, but aren’t you the guy that put the new security system in?”

  “They used Julia to get in,” Aaron said.

  “That’s fine, but the bottom line is that they got in, th
ey cracked David’s skull open and kidnapped me. I’ll take my chances with Tiny there. So far, he’s one for one.”

  David laughed in the seat beside her, clearly amused at Aaron’s expense.

  “Fine,” Aaron said. “But I need you to do exactly as I say. Chacon isn’t going to let this slide, and I have a feeling that he’s going to try to handle this himself. This is our shot, but we’re going to have to take out the entire operation at once, or his men will scatter and set up shop somewhere else.”

  “Who is ‘we’?” Kelissa asked.

  Aaron smiled at her in the rearview mirror, stepping at the border crossing and pulling out his wallet to hand to the border agent. She waved them through without bothering to look through the heavily tinted glass at the rest of the occupants.

  “How did you do that?” she asked.

  But then she caught a glimpse of the badge inside his wallet and she knew.

  “You’re DEA?”

  His smile told her everything she needed to know.

  Chapter11

  Kelissa held David’s hand, walking down the hospital corridor and toward the exit doors.

  “Deep breath,” David said. “I’ll give the statement that Aaron prepared, then we’ll leave, and they’ll bombard the sheriff with questions until he cuts them off so we have a chance to get out of here before they do.”

  “I just don’t understand why the media is here. They’ve been camped outside since they found out about Julia’s death and my kidnapping. I guess I thought that being in the hospital for two days would afford us some peace and quiet.”

  “That’s something you’ll have to get used to when you’re a famous model,” he said, putting her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles. “La Jolla is pretty insulated from major crime, so San Diegans take notice when they hear about a kidnapping and murder at a remote beach house in the quiet suburb.”

  “Aren’t the cartels pretty much everywhere?”

  “They are, but this is still different. We’re not their normal targets. And we’re not mentioning the cartel.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because that will piss Salvador Chacon off even more, and we have a better chance of luring him here if he thinks that his ‘message’ wasn’t heard. It’s all about machismo.”

  “I still think this is dangerous. Don’t you think we’ve been through enough?”

  “We can do this now or we can spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders.”

  “Or I could move home.”

  He stopped, staring at her in shock.

  “Would you give up modeling?”

  She shrugged.

  “What other choice would I have? I don’t want to be a target the rest of my life, and I don’t want to bring violence on my family. It’s just me and my dad, and I can’t bear to lose him. You can see your parents whenever you want, so I understand that you don’t get that.”

  “Actually, that’s not true,” he said, ignoring the uniformed officer at the front door motioning for them to hurry. “I have a lot to tell you. A lot. I’m not saying I lied, but I have a lot of secrets I’ve been carrying around awhile and you don’t just share those on the first couple dates.”

  “We’ve known each other longer than the few weeks I’ve been here.”

  “That’s true, but I’m asking you, begging you really, give me a chance to explain it all before you decide what your next move is. I love you and I don’t want to lose you, but if you hear everything I have to say and still decide to leave, I’m not going to get in your way.”

  “You love me?” she whispered.

  “I do. I said it before, didn’t I?”

  He was smiling, but the insecurity was there in his eyes. She could see that he was terrified of how she was going to react, and that the fear of losing her was real. He did love her.

  “You did,” she said. “And it was what I’d been waiting to hear since that first night on the beach, but I thought maybe it was because you took a hit to the head, or because we both thought we might die for a minute there.”

  “I thought I was going to die for about five hours, but you’re right, that last few minutes was intense.”

  He smiled, chuckling.

  “You have a very unique way of looking at things,” he said.

  “And you have a lot to learn about the world, but we have an audience waiting, and I need to sleep in my own bed in my own room tonight. I’m done with the hospital and the trunk of cars. I haven’t slept a full night since Thursday night and it’s Sunday now.”

  “I understand,” he said. “Come on, let’s do this.”

  He led her out the door and the reporters started shouting almost immediately. David walked up to the podium that had been erected in front of the hospital, and right away, Kelissa noticed Aaron in the crowd. Cade wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but he wasn’t the kind of guy who could just blend in.

  David looked to the sheriff, who nodded that he could start, then he looked directly at the camera in the front of the crowd and started talking.

  “This weekend has been very hard on our family, and I’m asking that once we leave here, you allow us time to grieve the losses we have suffered. I’ve prepared a statement, but I will not be answering questions at this time. Once I’ve read the statement, I will turn it over to Sheriff Martin and let him deal with the particulars.”

  He pulled out a piece of paper and started reading, looking up from time to time to make eye contact with the members of the press as they listened silently. Only the sounds of camera shutters clicking interrupted the quiet, an eerie sound that set Kelissa’s nerves on edge. Were Chacon’s men in the crowd right now? Were they in danger out here in the open?

  “Friday night, we returned to our beach home in La Jolla to find that my dear friend and long-time employee Julia had been murdered. I was attacked, leaving me unconscious on the floor while they kidnapped Kelissa. I don’t know their intentions, but I know that they are cowards who will be brought to justice. Julia deserves that, and so do Kelissa and I. I will be funding a reward for tips leading to an arrest and conviction. I thank you for your concern for us in this difficult time, and once again, I ask that you respect our privacy as we work through this and learn to live again without fear of the coward who has turned our lives upside down. Julia’s murder was senseless, and I will not rest until the persons responsible are brought to justice. Thank you.”

  “David!” a woman shouted from the front of the crowd as David turned to leave the podium. “Will you be going back to Bonita until the house in La Jolla is cleared, or will you be staying in La Jolla?”

  Kelissa was angry at the insensitive question, but David smiled, his back to the media so that they couldn’t see, then he set his expression to neutral and turned back around.

  “We will not be returning to La Jolla any time soon; the pain is too much. We feel much safer in Bonita and would prefer to grieve surrounded by friends and neighbors.”

  This time when he turned, he took Kelissa’s hand and they hurried away to the waiting car. They got into the back seat, and Kelissa was relieved to see Cade in the driver’s seat.

  “Hey, Tiny,” she teased, drawing a smile from the sometimes gentle giant.

  “You both look much better,” he said. “Are you ready for this?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “Good. Everything is in place. I’ve been advised that there’s suspicious movement near the area, so be prepared.”

  David nodded, but Kelissa didn’t feel nearly as calm as David looked. He had to be insane. There was no way that she could do this and feel as calm as he looked.

  “Aren’t you scared?” she demanded.

  “Not as scared as I was when I woke up and you were gone.”

  “I’m scared.”

  “It’s alright to be scared. Just don’t lose focus.”

  “This is a bad idea.”

  “Stay positive,” Cade said. “Don’t you trust me?”

/>   “I do trust you, but I don’t trust these men. This man Salvador is crazy. He’s just going to blow the house up with us in it.”

  “He’s not,” David assured her. “It’s a matter of pride. I called him a coward, and even if most of San Diego doesn’t know that he’s involved, the important people do. If word gets out that Chacon can be thwarted by a curvy model from Iowa, and a real estate agent, his reputation is going to take a hit. It already has since you escaped. Chacon is going to head this one up himself. He’ll come in with backup, but he’ll do all the talking, and no one is going to try to kill us while he’s there. The only thing Chacon is more afraid of than failure is his own death. He won’t risk taking a stray bullet. He never has.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I know I am, and this is Aaron’s brainchild. He’s been tracking Chacon for years, trying to catch him at just the right moment. But now, we have an opportunity to put the man away for a long time on this side of the border. As much as I don’t want to risk our lives twice in one weekend, I don’t want Chacon rearing his ugly head again years from now. I thought he was out of my life for good before. This time, I’m going to make sure that he never threatens me or the people I love again.”

  They reached the private road that ended at David’s house just after sunset. Kelissa’s stomach flopped inside her belly, and she was struck with the urge to get out and run. Knowing that something was coming, but not what or when was almost worse than being kidnapped, tied up, escaping and rolling a car in a ditch, then running for her life while bystanders pretended not to see her.

  Almost.

  Cade pulled up to the gate, waiting patiently for it to roll back before driving through calmly. He parked at the front of the house, then turned around and drove away once they were walking up the steps to the main entrance.

  “He’s leaving?” Kelissa said, shaking.

  “He won’t be far away.”

  “I’m scared.”

  “It’s going to be alright,” David said, whispering so that only Kelissa could hear him.

  He put his hand against the scanner, which looked like part of the house until David’s hand touched it, deactivating the sleep mode screen saver. The door opened and Kelissa braced herself, but no one rushed to push them into the house, and Kelissa breathed a small sigh of relief.