Chills & Thrills: Three Novel Box Set (32 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

"
COCA, COCA, COCA.
”DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY THE
 wops are making off of it?" Emilio asked Javier, who'd been in Colombia for meetings all week.

“There is a lot of money to be made.”

“You're so right. But the problem is old habits die hard, and I don't think my brother is going to be too keen on getting into it."

“Is that why you asked me here without Antonio's knowledge?" Javier sat back in the chair and crossed his arms in front of him. Antonio was his dearest friend and partner, but this ruffian of a brother of his left a bad taste in Javier's mouth.

“Precisely."

“I don't think he'd like us meeting without him. I was under the impression when you phoned that he would be here."

"Yes, I know, but he took the girls on a vacation. You know Rosa has been so upset, so withdrawn since her mother died, even now — this many years later.” He shook his head. “The poor girl needs to be in an institute. She is out of her mind. My brother has felt so guilty about her despair. Life is unfair. I believe he keeps hoping she'll regain her senses.” He shrugged. “He's taken them on their annual trip to Europe. I thought you knew that. He said something about their going to visit Bella in Paris.”

Javier looked away, his own guilt consuming him. He missed his daughter dearly. Every time he looked at Carlotta lately, he couldn't help despising her for putting a wall between Bella and him. Carlotta had convinced him late into her pregnancy with Stefan that it would benefit Bella and Miguel to attend boarding schools. After much deliberation and argument, Carlotta won out, and Bella was sent to France to a girls' school that evolved around an equestrian program.

“I won't have time for the other children when the baby arrives and you are traveling so much these days. It will be best for all of us, and then by the time they come home for holidays, the baby will be old enough to be taken care of by a nanny and we'll be able to bond again and all of us will have a lovely time together. All of the wealthiest families in the world send their children away for their education. It is the best for Isabella and Miguel. They can't get what they rightfully deserve in an education here in Mexico,” Carlotta said. “And, we'll be able to dote on our new baby without making the other children jealous, which would be natural. You know how Isabella can be. To be honest, I'm not so sure she wouldn't harm the baby.”

“That's ridiculous,” Javier retorted. But he knew that she had a point. Bella was not happy that her stepmother was having a baby and had told Carlotta one night when she went into her room and offered to read her a bedtime story that she would hurt the baby when her father or Carlotta wasn't looking. When Javier asked Bella about it, she stared at him and said nothing. Javier at that point had acquiesced to Carlotta's suggestion, and he'd sent his beloved daughter and the boy he'd come to know as his son away to their respective schools in Europe.

By the next year, after the baby was born, Javier had begun pleading with Bella to come home, missing her terribly and knowing that he'd made a huge mistake. However, she made it perfectly clear to her father that she had no intention of coming home. She'd held her grudge for nine years now, only visiting during Christmas and spring breaks, and during the summertime. Javier doubted, after all this time, that they would ever share the closeness they once felt for each other.

As for Miguel, he'd been sent to a boys' Catholic school in Spain, preparing him for the seminary and priesthood. Javier knew that Miguel was pleased with this arrangement. He'd expected his mother to send him away. Javier realized that the only real despair Miguel had felt about it at all was leaving his stepsister when she was still so upset about everything. Fortunately, according to the letters he received from Miguel, the children spent at least one weekend a month together. His stepson usually went to France via the train to visit Bella. He was a good boy who took care of his sister. At least they had each other.

“Javier, you listening?”

“Yes, I'm sorry. I knew Antonio was going to Europe, but I hadn't realized so soon. I wish he had contacted me before he left. I would've sent along a gift for Bella.”

Emilio squirmed in the leather chair across from Javier, while they continued to converse in Antonio's study, as if he had something to hide.

“It's not like him to not let me know when he is leaving.”

"Yes well, he was very busy right before he left. I'm certain he planned to phone you. Regardless. Look, Javier, I'm not going to waste your time here. You know my brother is an old-fashioned sort. He likes being the 
Patrón
, but times are changing, and our organization needs to change with them."

"We're making enough money selling 
mota,
 and with our other businesses. Leave it at that, Emilio." Javier didn't like where this conversation looked to be heading. Since Emilio had come on board, he'd seen the cocky bastard try to weasel into running everything. He should've brought Pedro along on this visit. Pedro seemed to be the one person who intimidated this little 
pendejo
. Unfortunately, Pedro had come down with the flu, and at the last minute couldn't make the trip.

“You're wrong on this, Javier. We have the land and the manpower. Don't think like a dinosaur on this one. Cocaine is going to be the drug of the future. I'm telling you, I've tried this stuff. There is nothing comparable to it. The high you get from this white powder is excellent. When you're on it, the power you feel is immeasurable. I swear that it actually increases your intelligence."

Javier shook his head. “We don't use drugs in this organization, and I doubt there is any drug that can make you more intelligent.”

“The money will pour into our laps." Emilio stood up and paced back and forth. “We have the means, right here in our own backyard, to produce the purest, highest grade available. I don't think you realize how much money people will spend for this stuff."

Javier looked away. This did not interest him in the least.

“Listen to me. You think selling 
mota
 for five hundred a key is big? It isn't anything compared to 
six thousand
 a key for the white gold."

"Did you say six grand?"

"Ah, did I find your number?" Emilio laughed.

“You've got my attention, anyway." A number like that would get anyone's attention.

“Good." Emilio walked over to the wet bar and poured two shot glasses of tequila.

“What would my role be in all this? What do you want from me?"

“First, to convince Antonio that this is the wave of the future, where the real 
dinero
 is. Once you've achieved that, you would head up the political end of it. Since you're a government official, it's important we make nice with the police and the Immigration."

"What kind of risk are we talking, as far as Stateside goes?"

"A little more than the 
mota
. Shit, man, a drug bust is a drug bust, but it's not a problem if you've got the right connections. I've got some guys in the States ready to deal, and they'd make damn sure we don't have any problems."

"I'll think about it. But I think we should talk to your brother before we decide anything."

"Yes, I agree," Emilio replied. “That is your department. I think the way to handle him is not to even let him know this is my idea. You take all the credit for this, man. He still sees me as a snot-nosed kid. And, you after all are my brother's keeper.”

“And you, Emilio are exactly what your brother and I think you are and that is a snot-nosed punk.”

“Fuck you.”

"I think I know your brother better than anyone — lies don't go over very well with him."

“Who's lying? It's worth a little fib to me if it's going to bring in that much more money. Think about it."

Javier nodded. “I'll consider it.”

“You won't be sorry.” Emilio handed Javier some tequila.

Javier shot back the tequila and wondered what Emilio was really after.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

THE SEVENTEEN HAND GREY HANOVERIAN MARE CLEARED 
the four-foot
-
six-inch jump with graceful ease. Bella's petite stature only enhanced the giant's height and build. The two together were equestrian perfection. They turned the tight corner and cleared the next two jumps, making a difficult feat appear effortless.

Bella trotted Samson's Delilah to the center of the arena, where Jean Luc, her trainer, stood with his hands fixed upon his khaki breeches. “Wonderful, 
cherie
.”

He patted the horse on the neck. Bella swung her right leg over the saddle and slid down Delilah's side. “You, my dear, will be ready for next month's horse trials in Italy if you and Delilah keep this up. Tomorrow we go out on the course.” Jean Luc playfully slapped Bella on the rump.

Bella took no offense at this. The entire school knew that Jean Luc maintained a preference for men. The girls at the school had a running bet going, to see if they could convince this gorgeous specimen to change his ways. But he never swayed. He chided and teased them about their incorrigible hormones, but Bella was different. She'd set her sights on becoming a world-class rider from the day she arrived at the school as a little girl, and had never wavered from that goal. Jean Luc had seen her potential from the start.

She never missed a lesson, rarely complaining of aches and pains like the other girls. If she fell, she always got right back on and rode the fences.

With any luck, Bella would make the Olympic team and head to Barcelona in a few years — riding for the French. She had done all her training in France so it was appropriate that she ride for the French. She would be France's “golden girl.” Not only was she a talented equestrienne, but she was also intelligent as well as beautiful.

Even though Jean Luc desired men instead of women, he knew a beautiful woman when he saw one. He also saw the way other men looked at Bella when they would go shopping together or go for a 
café au lait
. She was still only a child at nearly seventeen, with eyes as green as emeralds. Her long hair made everyone in the street stare. Bella never seemed to pay much attention. Her thoughts were a constant mixture of horses, fences, strides, dressage tests, cross country courses, saddles to clean, and breeches to wash. She never allowed anyone to mess with her tack, much less her prized possession — her Delilah.

Her father had bought the mare for her five years earlier as a birthday present. Delilah was four years old at the time, and was sold because her owners had gone bankrupt in a bad business deal. Javier was fortunate to grab her for Bella. The horse had come from wonderful bloodlines, and although her jumping lacked the experience that Jean Luc would have liked her to have for his star student due to the fact that Delilah was still a baby at the time, he had seen the horse's possible abilities and felt that with the proper training the horse and girl could go far together. And he could also see that a quick and certain bond had formed between the two “girls.” It didn't take much to convince Bella's father to make the purchase.

Jean Luc walked beside Bella, who led the mare to the barn to be put up in the cross-ties. She stripped off the saddle, bridle, and protective boots from Delilah's legs. Since the breeze was quite cool, Bella decided against a bath and reached for a large sponge in her tack box, and sponged her horse down.

Jean Luc went into the small room off the barn and poured them each a cup of coffee. He set Bella's down, until she came in to wipe off her saddle and bridle she carried in.

After blanketing Delilah and giving her a handful of carrots, she led her horse to her stall. Bella then dragged the heels of her boots along the ground on her way back to the office, where she carried in her tack and sat down across from Jean Luc. He handed her the coffee, which she quickly drank. The warm liquid satisfied her aching joints. Although complaints weren't a part of her makeup, the aches she chose to ignore were still there.

After drinking half the coffee, she picked up a sponge and a container of leather cleaner from the cleaning box and began rubbing down the saddle.

“Quite some ride today,” Jean Luc remarked.

“Thanks. She's an amazing animal, isn't she?”

“You can say that again. You know that I believe that your dreams of becoming an Olympic champion aren't so farfetched.”

“You really think so, Jean Luc? Do you really believe I have a chance?”

He set his cup down on the desk next to him and crossed his arms over his chest. With his legs out in front of him, Jean Luc leaned back in the worn leather chair. “Now let me think about that question for a minute,” he teased as he tried to assume a serious expression.

Bella threw the sponge at him and they both laughed. His crystalline blue eyes were full of amusement at her playful gesture. He pushed away a strand of his straw colored hair, which continually fell into his eyes, and threw the sponge back at her.

“Seriously now,” he said. “I don't only think you've got a chance, I 
know
 you do. You and that mare of yours are destined to be winners. It's all up here, Bella.” He tapped his finger to the side of his head. “And in here.” He tapped his chest. “It is will and belief that will make you achieve your dreams. I believe you can do it, but it isn't up to me. It's up to you. What do you think?”

There was a slight pause before she answered. “I think you're right.”

“Good. Then half the battle has been won. Now I'm late for an appointment,” he murmured, glancing at his watch and thinking about Pierre, who would become impatient if he were kept waiting. “And I'm certain you have a great deal of homework to do.”

“Some. I'm also meeting old friends from home for dinner — my godfather, actually, and his daughters.”

“Great. Well, have a good time. I'll see you tomorrow, same time, same place.”

“I'll be here.”

As Bella finished her daily ritual, her mind tiptoed back home to her father. She tried not to think about home very much, but with Antonio and the girls visiting that evening, it was hard not to.

She missed him dearly, but she would never let on. He'd made his choice nine years ago, when he chose Carlotta over her. She had hated being sent away, even though now, when she reflected on it, she knew it had been the best thing for her. However, she would never give either her father or her conniving stepmother the satisfaction of knowing that this was how she truly felt.

She realized she would've never had the experiences or the opportunities she had in France if she'd remained at home in Mexico. The only thing she regretted was she sincerely missed Miguel and Pedro, both of whom she wrote to on a regular basis. Miguel's visits had slowed because his schooling was increasingly difficult as was hers, and any spare time she had she spent it with her horse.

Her dad had done everything he could to appease her, as when he bought her the horse. But the pain and jealousy of being replaced by her stepmother angered Isabella every time she thought about it.

Maybe one day she would find it in her heart to forgive her father for this betrayal, but she didn't see it happening anytime soon. She knew Antonio would lecture her about it once again tonight, but she was a strong-willed young woman. On this topic, her mind was made up.