Brody (20 page)

After what seemed like twenty minutes, although was probably three, light penetrated the gloom. Elena held another small door open, gesturing with her hand to hurry.

What choice did he have? They might only have minutes before they were discovered. He had no reason to trust Elena, but who else could he trust? No one in this place.

Olivia poked him in the back. “What are you waiting for? Go.”

She was right, of course. They either escaped or they were killed or captured again. Standing in the cramped passageway was only going to give him cobwebs in his hair or a crick in his neck.

Brody started moving again and crowded through the small door. To his surprise, they were in a barn. He hadn’t realized the buildings were connected. Either they had walked underground, which was unlikely because the passageway wasn’t sloped, or the passage was camouflaged from the outside. Anyone walking past wouldn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Lucinda and Rodrigo were smart, he knew that, but they were smarter than he’d thought.

Elena led them to the stalls where their horses munched placidly on feed. She stood there staring as Olivia and Brody started to saddle their horses with as little noise as possible.

He had just smoothed the blanket on the gelding’s back when Elena appeared beside him.

“You must leave Mexico.”

“I figured that one out on my own.” Brody reached for the saddle. “I appreciate your help getting us out of there.”

She waved her hand as though dismissing his gratitude. “My mother and brother do not own me. I do as I want, not as they want.” She leaned in close, her breasts pushing into his arm. “You must tell her not to come back. The boy is not here.”

As Brody looked into Elena’s dark eyes, he thought he might be hearing the truth for the first time. “Where is he?”

“I do not know. Three boys were sold to work haciendas in Texas. One was not.” She blinked rapidly. “He was left near the arroyo east of here.”

Brody’s jaw tightened to the point he heard teeth crack. “Who killed him?”

“Rodrigo. I do not know which boy, but I do know the one you seek is not here.” Her fingers bit into his arm. “You must never come back.”

After he nodded, she moved away. Brody would sort out all she’d told him later. For now, he would heed her warning and hightail it out of town. He finished saddling the horse and checked on Olivia. To his surprise, she was finished as well. He kept forgetting she was a rancher’s daughter and likely spent every day on a horse.

Another reason he felt at home with her at his side. They were a perfect match, even if he didn’t say it out loud.

“Lead the way.” He turned to Elena but she was gone. “Shit.”

“We need to go east, back toward Forgata. Then we can turn toward home.” Olivia held up a sack. “She even gave me food.”

The mystery of Elena would likely never be solved. She did things no woman ought to, yet she had showed remarkable kindness to them as well.

“She told me there’s a back door to the barn that we can use.” Olivia tied a dark cloth around her head to disguise her hair. She took her mare’s reins and led the way.

Brody wondered how many women would be so calm in the face of mortal danger, or the aftermath of killing a man, or if any woman would have followed him this far into hell. Likely not.

“Here it is.” She walked into another stall and sure enough there was a door just large enough for a horse to fit through if it ducked its head. Another clever escape route unnoticeable to most.

She went through the door first with Mariposa and he brought up the rear. They were hidden from view from almost every building in town since there were few with windows facing east.

“She also told me to avoid the arroyo just east of here but wouldn’t tell me why.” Olivia mounted her horse and turned to him, a challenge in her eyes. “You know, don’t you?”

He avoided her gaze as he got on his own horse. They had to keep the horses as quiet as possible until they were out of earshot of town. That meant they couldn’t do much more than a canter for now.

“I don’t know.”

“You have never lied to me, Brody. Don’t start now. If you don’t tell me why, I will head for that arroyo and find out what you’re hiding.” She kneed her horse into motion beside his.

He debated what to tell her but in the end kept silent. She didn’t say anything for the next ten minutes as they put distance between themselves and town. He hoped she’d forgotten it.

But she hadn’t.

“You have about two more minutes.” Olivia leaned down and patted her horse’s neck. “Mariposa is going to fly soon.”

Brody glanced behind her at the town. “No one is following yet. We can pick up the pace now.”

He urged his horse into a gallop and heard Liv do the same. If he wasn’t careful she would find that arroyo and the body left out there by Rodrigo. The question was, should he tell her about it or let her find out herself?

“Elena said your brother wasn’t there anymore.”

“I know that. She told me too.”

Brody hesitated. “One boy did end up in the arroyo but there—”

Before he could finish telling her there was no way to know which boy it was, she had taken off in a dead run. Her horse was fast as hell too.

Shit.

Olivia saw the edge of the arroyo from far away. She leaned down low over the horse, not caring what happened to her. She had to get to that arroyo. God whispered in her ear that she would not like what she found, but she would not be dissuaded from riding hell for leather toward it.

It couldn’t be Benjy. It wouldn’t be Benjy.

She did not want to be the person who found his body. What would she tell her family? Her heart ached so hard, tears stung her eyes and her breath stuck in her throat.

Closer, yet closer still. She couldn’t get there fast enough. Why couldn’t she reach the arroyo? Olivia didn’t realize she was crying until the wind cooled the tears on her cheeks.

She finally got close enough to recognize a lump at the edge of the dry creek. That shape was definitely a human body, a small human body. Her stomach clenched up enough to send bile into the back of her throat. She had to remember that whatever she found, her family would survive. She would survive.

Olivia pulled Mariposa up hard, a cloud of dust bursting from her hooves. She jumped off the horse, wrenching her ankle but not stopping to care.

“Olivia, wait!” Brody’s voice came from far away, too far for her to worry.

The smell hit her first, the rancid, familiar stench of rotting flesh. Then the sound of buzzing flies filled her ears. A small moan crept up her throat. She could do this.

She dropped to her knees and forced herself to look at the body. It was a small boy, dressed in tattered pants and shirt. His left arm was thrown up over his face, as though warding off a blow, and dusty hair was the only thing she could see.

The size and age were right. It could be Benjy. Her stomach roiled, pushing burning bile up her throat. She swallowed with difficulty but the taste remained on the back of her tongue.

She wasn’t sure if she could touch him, but did she have a choice? Her heart pounded so hard, her ears hurt, but she reached with a shaking hand for the small arm.

“I just need to see your face, little one. I just need to see who you are.” Her tears fell in the dust and her hands trembled as she moved his arm from his face. She clenched her eyes closed for a moment, then another until she had the courage to look into the face of the dead child.

It wasn’t Benjy.

Grief welled up inside her, traveling through her heart, into her throat and finally exploding out of her mouth. She screamed with all the pent-up agony flowing through her. Tears fell in rivers from her eyes. She cried for herself, for Benjy, for her family and for the nameless child tossed away like a piece of refuse.

The little body was barely larger than the rock beside it, coated with dried, rusty blood. The sound of the flies filled her ears, the stench of death filled her nose, her mouth. She couldn’t stop sobbing, couldn’t stop the overwhelming anguish, couldn’t find a way to pull herself out of the deep, dark hole she’d fallen into.

She wanted to hurt someone, cause as much damage to them as had been done to her. Her hands turned into claws, her nails digging into skin. She didn’t realize Brody had come near her until she felt his hand at the center of her back.

“Liv, it’s not him. Even I can see there’s no resemblance.”

She threw off his touch, turning to snarl at him. “I know it’s not him. Do you think I’m an idiot?”

“No, I never thought that.”

“Liar.” She scrambled to her feet, not caring that snot and tears mingled on her face. “You thought me stupid from the moment you met me. I forced you to take me with you. And now this.” A sob burst from her throat. “This poor child is dead and no one will bury him. His parents will never know what happened to him.”

She could easily picture Benjy here, in the dirt and covered with maggots, left to rot in the sun. It could be him. A fresh wave of grief scraped her battered heart.

Brody’s expression was pained, but she had no time for his hurt. He seemed to understand she just needed to let it all fly. There was no room for anything but her primal rage and sorrow. “He’s in Texas.”

It took a few moments for Olivia’s mind to recognize what he’d said. Her heart jammed into her throat so fast, she choked.

“What?” She grabbed his arm. “How do you know?”

“Elena.”

Mention of the whore, no matter whether she was a willing participant in her trade or not, made Olivia’s fury rise. She punched him once, then twice, then found herself beating his chest, sobbing. Her mind, heart and soul screamed for Benjy, cried for the unknown boy and wept for her own pain.

She dropped to the ground, not caring that she sat in dirt and muck. The world was a dark, dangerous place and she had had enough. Her heart slowly cracked into a thousand pieces, the pain radiating out to every ounce of her being.

As she slipped further toward the precipice of nothingness, she vaguely recognized that Brody had picked her up. His strong arms held her boneless form. She didn’t care where he took her. She couldn’t care anymore. She had nothing left inside her to care.

Olivia had given up.

Brody had never been frightened before now. Oh, he’d been in situations where he felt a pinch of fear, but he’d kept his head and got through it. Seeing Olivia collapse into a pile of despair scared him to his bones.

She had been hard as nails, with brass balls any man would be happy to have. The discovery of the dead boy, who was not her brother, had broken her. It was the last thing he’d expected and he damn sure didn’t know what to do about it.

The woman had been through hell and back without batting an eyelash, and yet the body of a child destroyed her. It was right sad what had happened to the boy, but he was nobody to her, just a nameless child. Brody didn’t understand what had happened to Liv. It upset and scared him.

He didn’t like it one little bit.

Olivia was strong, smart, clever and, dammit, he had already admitted to himself that he loved her. He hadn’t found the courage to tell her yet and now he could’ve lost the chance. His stomach quivered at the thought she might not come back from this. He didn’t think he would ever be the same if she didn’t.

Brody carried her to her horse, realizing she probably wouldn’t sit on the mare. He couldn’t throw her over the saddle belly down or she would fall off, which meant he had to carry her on his own horse.

They were only half an hour outside of the town they’d just escaped from. No chance they could sit there until she found her head again. They had to keep moving and fast.

“I need you to sit up here for a minute, honey.” He spoke softly into her ear and she moaned, a pitiful, disturbing sound. With a little bit of effort he got her up on his saddle, then held her there while he threw himself up behind her. It wasn’t comfortable but it would do. They needed to get out of the area before Rodrigo realized exactly what had happened.

Brody hadn’t intended on crossing the Mexican warlord. Rodrigo was smart, angry and hungry for power—three things that spelled trouble for anyone who got in his way. If Brody and Liv were lucky, Rodrigo would think they’d died after leaving his mother’s tavern. After all, the desert was an unforgiving place.

Perhaps it would be hours before Manuel’s body was discovered. Lord knew no one would believe Olivia had been the one to shoot him. Remembering just how close he’d come to dying at the big man’s hands made his stomach twist.

Now here she was in his arms, a shell of the woman who had faced down the world with nothing but gumption and a gun. He had to believe she was just exhausted and overwhelmed by everything that had happened.

He had to believe.

Mariposa stood placidly by, waiting. The mare was attached to her mistress in a deep way. He’d never seen the like before. He leaned down to catch the horse’s reins and lead her back to Texas. It was time to go home. Without Benjy.

As a man of the law, it stuck in his craw that they hadn’t been able to find the boy. Elena had told him three children had been sold to work at haciendas in Texas. He hadn’t lied to Olivia—one of those children was probably Benjamin Graham. Elena remembered the boy’s eyes because they were so much like Olivia’s.

His gelding was strong enough to carry both of them for a while, but not all day. He pushed him for the next two hours as fast as he could go without hurting the horse. They took the long way around Forgata, across the driest land he could find. The less evidence they left the better. In the softer soil, they would be easily tracked.

The next arroyo they found had water in it, which was lucky for them. He pulled the horses to a stop and glanced down at Olivia. Her eyes were open, but she wasn’t really there.

“I’m going to get off now. Can you sit by yourself for second?”

She didn’t answer but she sat up straighter. He took that as a positive sign and dismounted slowly, keeping his hand on her hip. Once his feet touched the ground, he reached up and pulled her off the saddle.