Second Chance Hero (18 page)

“If that saves Lil, I don’t care.”
 

“You might get lucky. You might save Lil. Or you might both die. What purpose would that serve?”

David didn’t answer. He couldn’t very well say he’d rather be dead than alive knowing he’d led Lil to her death. Knowing he’d never told her he loved her. Never taken the chance to save her.

“It might not serve a purpose,” he said, making sure Ortiz heard his unspoken words, “but I can’t sit by while the big shots over there plan. I’ll see you around.”

Degas pulled up to the closed gate of a palatial retreat, one of several mansions in and around the area. Mansions everyone knew were tied to the drug cartels. The people involved in the drug trade never bothered with living secret lives. They just made sure their armed guards were ready to defend as necessary.

If he crossed to the other side of the gate, people were going to die. Lots of people.
 

They’d lost. Somehow, they’d lost.

Lil refused to think about that. Refused to think about what might have happened to Anna and Miguel and Nancy.
 

To the other girls who’d passed through that church and its pink hallway and its concrete floors.

This man was a monster. And he was sitting on the wrong side of a wall that could lead to his salvation. He definitely had an army willing to do what he asked. Who knew what else was behind that wall?

She wasn’t willing to sit quietly and let him win.

“They’re going to catch you this time.” She didn’t know what imp took over her brain, her mouth, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

He didn’t even look at her, just kept his eyes trained on the horizon where a trail of dust rose in the distance. His army or her salvation? She didn’t know. She wasn’t sure it mattered.

“Miguel was a boy. Practically a child.”

He laughed. “Miguel Hernandez is no boy. He and his family knew what they were doing when they challenged me.”

All this over a challenge to his authority.
 

“So you killed them?”

“It’s possible your star pupil is still alive if your boyfriend made it in time.”

Hope sprang forward in her mind, but she tamped it down. She could only pray it was so.

“You could give up now. If you turn this into a battle, you’ll never win.”

The dust cloud was growing nearer. The reddish brown dirt mixing with the sunset to form a perfect imitation of hell.

“I lost this battle the minute I took the Hernandez family from their home. Maybe sooner.”

Was he giving up? She couldn’t tell.

“So turn yourself over to the authorities. Help them locate the girls who are still missing. Tell them who you’re working with….”

He wasn’t listening. Instead he faced west, her words seeming to pass by unnoticed. She could see the vehicle in the distance now. A dark truck, speeding down the dirt roads in their direction. Salvation or destruction? Which did it hold? Would it even matter?

She thought she heard him whisper
mi hijo
, but she wasn’t sure.

What did one say to a deranged drug and human trafficker who’d killed untold numbers of people? She wasn’t sure. She just knew she didn’t want to die.

“Excuse me?”

He turned to face her then and she saw a far away look in his eyes. Something indefinable. Almost sad. “I said, Miss Palmer,
I
am a fool. The ultimate fool.”

Chapter Ten

David shifted into a higher gear as he passed a pothole.

Ortiz was probably right. This could be a suicide mission. If that was the case, so be it.
 

If Ortiz was right and this mess didn’t add up, so be that too. He had to give Lil a chance. He’d do whatever it took. Whatever.

He thought about calling his mother. Saying goodbye. But he couldn’t do it. If he didn’t make it back, she’d know the truth. She understood the power of love. It had filled her life with joy and then nearly destroyed it when his father had died.

How had he been so stupid? That joy was worth everything. Every chance, every responsibility. Lil deserved a birthday party. The big kind with balloons and a birthday cake and candles that wouldn’t blow out. She’d told him once she’d never had one. He’d give that to her.

And he’d teach her to hug and mean it.
 

Maybe he’d even teach her to cook.

He wasn’t letting Degas take her away from him. No way.

God please, don’t let her be hurt. Please.

If it came down to it, he’d trade his life for hers. If he couldn’t give her the love she needed, if he wasn’t able, wasn’t around, his family would. They’d embrace her. Make her one of their own. His mother would give her a birthday party. Anna would teach her to cook. Joseph would teach her to slow dance. Isabel to hug. And when Isaiah came home from deployment, he’d teach her to fight so a bastard like Degas could never take her again.

And maybe she’d be okay one day, without him.

He didn’t want to think about it.
 

His phone rang and he saw the number. His mother. He picked it up after one ring.

When she heard his plan, she told him he had to stop. “Please, David. Let the authorities handle this.”

“I can’t do that,
Mamà
. You know I can’t.”

His mother sounded frantic, her voice broke up. “It’s about you David. It’s all about you.”

She’d been talking to Detective Ortiz.

“Anna will be home soon,
Mamà
. Do me a favor. If Lil comes home without me, give her the family she’s never had. Do that for me. Okay.”

His mother’s voice broke again on the phone, but he didn’t have to hear her. She’d do it. He knew she would.

“You’re breaking up, Momma. I love you. I love you all.”

He hung up the phone and slowed for another pothole then shifted gears again. His mother would understand. And they’d all be okay Somehow, they would be.

He turned onto the next dirt road Ryan had told him about, saw a dark car in the distance, near the wall that surrounded one of the giant estates that dotted this area. Estates built from cattle ranches turned to drug running. Degas’s home.

Strange how he’d been so close all along. So close and so untouchable. Ortiz was right. It didn’t add up.

He’d worry about that later.

The car in the distance grew larger. Degas was waiting outside the wall. One quick move and David’s plan would be shot.

He floored the truck, clenched his jaw as he passed over the bumpy dirt road.

Two silhouettes. Degas and Lil.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

As he stepped on the brake, the truck skidded to a stop. Dirt flew and the bed of the truck nearly hit the car.

He left the keys in the ignition, jumped out. Yelled. “Let her go, Degas.”

No shots fired. No sudden appearance of armed militias ready to fight for their commander, a man who’d done unmentionable terrors to unknown numbers of innocent victims.

Degas and Lil looked at him. The satisfied smile on Degas’s face did little to give David faith this would turn out well. The sheer terror on Lil’s face made him more determined than ever to broker a deal. Somehow.

“She’s a teacher. No one special. It’s me you want. Let her go.”
 

He prayed Lil knew the lie for what it was.
 

Inside the car Degas watched him intently, still not speaking, still just sitting. Dammit. If nothing else, he could give Lil some comfort. Some knowledge.
 

“Come on, Degas. Half the police in Texas are at the church. Miguel told them everything. Nancy’s in custody. They’re coming here next. It’s over. Let her go. If you want a hostage, take me.”
 

His mouth was dry and the last words were nearly whispered and he knew that was a mistake. Lil was his Achilles Heel. Degas knew that now if he hadn’t already.

“I don’t think so.”

The man’s voice was low and even and soulless. And with his answer David knew he’d failed Lil terribly.
 

Completely.

He looked at her then, hoped she’d see the apology in his eyes. But all he saw was anger.

“Why are you doing this? Tell me why.” She practically screamed the questions at Degas, and David wanted to hear her voice forever.

“Why?” Degas repeated her question.

One word. Fully loaded.
 

The man looked at David’s gun and laughed. “Put that away. Put it away and get in the car.”

When he hesitated, Degas grabbed Lil’s face with his hands. Pinched it tight. “Get in the car and you both live. Don’t and she dies.”

“Don’t do it, David. Don’t listen to this man. He’s a liar. A killer. Don’t you dare get in this car.” Lil’s face hurt under the man’s soft hands. Her words made him squeeze harder.
 

What was David doing here all alone? What was he thinking?

He stepped forward and she said it again. “Don’t David. Go back home. Your mother needs you. Your brothers and sisters. Leave me. Let Ryan do this. Please don’t get in the car.”

But it was no use. He’d already tossed his gun to the ground and he was practically running forward. The look of pure pleasure on Degas’s face told her no matter how this ended, the monster had won. She didn’t know how, but she knew the look of victory in a competitive man’s eyes. She’d seen it in David’s eyes after late night Scrabble games. She’d seen it last night as they’d made love.

 
He reached the door and she said go away, but she knew it was no use.
 

And when he climbed into the back seat, she told herself she wasn’t glad. Wasn’t relieved he was in here with his presence, his scent, his comforting surety.

The minute his door closed, Degas started the car. Lil looked at David in the mirror. Met his dark eyes with hers. And prayed he could read her thoughts. Read how even though she was so mad at him she could scream, she loved him completely, totally. That she admired his stupid courage. That she wished this wasn’t their last day together.

His face was grim. Determined. He slid his seatbelt into place and she almost laughed because it was so strange. Why bother when they were headed to death anyway?

She wanted to tell him what she was thinking, but she couldn’t. Degas might guess, but he didn’t know. Not really. And if he did, he’d only use it against them both.

She sat back in the seat and closed her eyes. Where were the helicopters, the DEA planes, the authorities?

And then David spoke, his voice angry, loud. “You got me, now tell me what the hell is going on.”

He wasn’t going to answer. He was going to drive who knew how long, and he wasn’t going to tell them anything. He was probably going to try to use that lethal looking .45 to put a couple bullets through their heads. Screw that.
 

David started to say something along those lines when Degas pulled over at one of the houses near his property. The adobe hut was more ramshackle than finished, but it was there and they were stopping.

“If you want to know what’s going on, you’ll come with me now. No fighting. No problems.”

No fighting. No problems. “Don’t leave the car, Lil.”

She squinted her eyes at him and he could read her thoughts.
Don’t tell me what to do after that stunt you pulled.
He had to admit she was probably right. They were at Degas’s mercy now. No police, no army on either side. Just them and the madman they’d brought down.

Ortiz was right. It didn’t make sense.

“Why?” He repeated Lil’s one word question, but Degas simply nodded to the shack.

“In there. I’ll tell you everything in there.”

Lil climbed out of the car first, glared at him as if daring him to disagree.

At least they were together. Right now Degas had one gun. They could overpower him.
 

He followed Lil and they walked into the hut. A small Formica table stood to one side of the room, two metal folding chairs beside it. A weathered blue couch on the other side. Nothing else.

He pointed to the couch with the gun, told them to sit.

David grabbed Lil’s hand, hoped she could read his mind as they did what Degas said.

And then the man known as a monster started speaking.
 

“You’re both right. None of it makes sense.” Degas sat at the table. Dropped his head as he tapped the gun on his knee.

David held Lil’s hand tighter. Met her eyes with his. Mouthed
I’m Sorry
. She turned away.

Degas continued.

“I’ve figured part of it out, but it doesn’t matter. Miguel Hernandez knew you were working with the federal authorities.”

David started to deny that, but Degas waved his words away with the gun. “No, he knew. He told me so more than once. No matter what we did to him, his story never changed. Why he knew, that I don’t know.”

Lil’s breath caught at the words and David wished he could comfort her. Miguel had known. It’s why he’d sent his brother to Lil. At least that puzzle was solved.

“I tell you this because you need to know. It has little to do with why we’re here.”

 
He needed to know? David tried to focus on Degas, on what he was saying. It was important.
 

“
Lil
has nothing to do with why we’re here. Let her go.” He had to try one more time. Even though she looked like she wanted to kill him, he had to try.

“Lil, Lil, Lil.” Degas stood, paced the small floor. “Miss Palmer has everything to do with this. She’s the key.”

“The key to what?” Lil’s voice was angry. Soft. Sad. “Everyone keeps saying that. What am I the key to?

Degas turned to her then. His smile almost real. “You’re the key to my son. You’re the key to everything.”

His son? Miguel was his son? David tried to keep the story straight. “She’s not the key to your son. She’s his teacher. She cared and wanted to help. That’s all.”

 
“You misunderstand.” Degas turned to him then, shook his head. “She’s not his teacher. His fiancé. His partner. His lover.”

For a moment everything in David stilled. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, but everything else stopped.