Silence in the Dark (7 page)

“The woman and child?”

He bared his teeth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Talking cost him strength. Strength he had to save for thinking. And for trying to get untied. He wiggled his hands, feeling the rope that bound him give.

“Your niece. And the woman with her. Where are they?”

A shred of relief spread through him. If they didn’t have Maria, she and the necklace were safely on their way to the States. Now all he had to do was stay alive long enough to get to her. “How would I know? The last time I saw them was at the restaurant.”

The man questioning him swore. Joel closed his eye and braced for another blow to his head. When it didn’t come, he risked another look. The man stood, his arms folded.

“They went to the airport. What’s their destination?”

He wasn’t stupid. If he gave up the information, he would be of no further use to them. “Why do you—”

“No questions. You owe—”

A door burst open, and a flash of light followed by an explosion rocked his head.

“Police! Put your guns down!”

Gunfire rang out. Joel rocked the chair, managing to tip himself over, and crashed onto the floor. He lay unmoving until the shooting stopped. Then someone lifted him, and rough hands jerked the ropes loose. He inched his stiff arms forward, and a wave of pain tore through him. He groaned.

“Are you all right?”

“Do I look all right?” Joel eyed the wiry Mexican who knelt beside him.

“Sorry. I’m Sergeant Quinten Chavez—with the PFM. And you are?”

Police of the Federal Ministry. The big guns. “Joel McDermott. I work for Montoya Cerámica.” He worked his shoulders, and circulation returned to his arms. “How did you know—”

“Lucky for you, someone saw them bring you into the warehouse and reported it. We knew this was a Calatrava operations building, and we jumped on it.”

“So it was the Calatrava?” But why? It hadn’t been the cartel he’d lost money to.

“
Was
is correct
.
”
The inspector jerked his head toward two
bodies on the floor. “At least for these two. They won’t be hurting anyone else. Do you know why the drug cartel took you?”

Joel rubbed his arms. There was not a muscle in his body that didn’t hurt. “No.”

Chavez lifted his eyebrows.

“If I knew, I would tell you.”

A beep on the sergeant’s phone interrupted whatever he intended to say. Chavez read the message. “Your niece. Where is she?”

Joel’s heart stilled. Chavez already knew about Maria? “On her way to the States with her teacher.”

“I’m afraid not.”

“What do you mean?”

“According to the message I just received, Bailey Adams and Maria Montoya were no-shows on the plane.”

Joel’s heart sank. This could not be happening. “The cartel doesn’t have them. That was the information they wanted from me—their whereabouts. If they’re not on the plane, then I don’t have a clue.”

“What would the Calatrava drug cartel want with your niece, Mr. McDermott?”

“You have to ask? How about ransom? Her great-uncle Edward Montoya is quite wealthy, and it’s common knowledge wealthy people in Mexico carry insurance.”

Chavez nodded. “And you yourself have such insurance.”

“Yeah. So?” He leveled his gaze at the detective. “You seem to know a lot about me.”

Chavez ignored his inference. “Can you call Miss Adams?”

He felt for his phone. Gone. He swore. He needed that phone. He nodded to the men on the floor. “They must’ve taken my cell.”

Chavez took out his phone. “Give me her number, and I’ll call.”

Joel closed his eyes and tried to recall Bailey’s number. He gave the sergeant what he thought the number might be.

Chavez dialed it, then disconnected. “That’s not the number.”

“That’s why I need my phone. I can never trust my memory.” He tried once more to visualize Bailey’s number, but it was no use. Joel shook his head. “I’m sorry. If you find my cell phone, it’ll be in it.”

“Let’s see.” Chavez rifled through the pockets of the dead men, producing two black smartphones and a wallet. First he flipped the wallet open, then handed it to Joel. “Yours, I believe.” Then he held the phones up. “And one of these, maybe?”

Joel took the first one he handed him and turned it on. “Not this one.”

The detective powered up the one he held, and it showed a photo of Claire and Maria on the beach. “I assume this is a photo of your wife?”

“My sister.” Joel reached for the phone. He was pretty sure Chavez already knew that.

Chavez moved it out of his reach. “I also assume you have Miss Adams’s cell number in your contacts, so first let’s see if she will answer.”

What was the man’s problem? “Hey, I’m not the bad guy here.”

“I never said you were.” The detective’s hooded gaze said otherwise. He scrolled through Joel’s contacts and pressed Bailey’s number. The call went immediately to voicemail. “She doesn’t seem to be available.” Chavez tossed the phone to him. “Maybe you have another number where you can reach her?”

“Look, Detective—”

“Sergeant.”

Joel took a deep breath. He knew that many of the federal police supplemented their meager salary by extortion. Pretend that a victim was actually the perpetrator, and for a price, the harassment could end. “Sergeant Chavez, let’s stop playing games. I don’t know why they kidnapped me or why they want my niece. If you know, please tell me.”

“If I knew, you would probably be under arrest. The drug car
tel doesn’t beat up innocent citizens—they only demand money from them.”

“Well, this time, they did.” He waited for the extortion demand.

“We’ll see. How much insurance do you carry on your niece?”

“I carry five million on both of us. Not sure how much her great-uncle carries.” Joel couldn’t wrap his mind around the sergeant’s strategy, and he didn’t have the time or brain cells to figure it out. He stood, and dizziness threatened to put him back on the floor. “I have to find Maria. With or without your help.”

“You are unable to drive in your condition.”

His car.
He’d forgotten he left it in a parking lot near the cafe. Joel felt his pockets. “They took my keys.” Which probably meant the Mercedes was long gone by now. Or stripped.

“Was your house key on the ring?”

Joel nodded. His day had just gotten a whole lot worse. No. Even if they got into his house, he’d locked the safe before he left. Without the combination, it’d take dynamite to get the door off . . . or a plastic explosive.

Chavez’s mouth settled in a firm line. “I’ll take you to get your car, then follow you to your house. Direct me to where you left it.”

Talk was minimal as the sergeant drove. As they turned the corner where Casa del Pan was located, Joel caught his breath. Smoke hovered over what was left of the cafe. He turned to Chavez, and the intensity of his gaze made him flinch. The sergeant had purposefully not told him of the fire to see his reaction. “When did this happen?”

“Not long after you were taken.”

“Maria?”

“No
child’s
body was found.”

But a body had been found. “Who? Why?”

A slight shrug lifted Chavez’s shoulders. “That seems to be the question of the day. But for your first question, the size of the body indicates it was the cook.”

The image of the small woman who waited on them flitted in his mind. “How about the waitress?”

“She seems to have escaped. I want to know why someone would kidnap you, burn down a cafe, and commit murder to find your niece.”

“I’m telling you, I don’t know.” Joel forced himself to not look away from the dark eyes that bore through him, but he couldn’t do anything about the sweat that trickled down his back.

Chavez cocked his head. “Where did you park your car?”

Joel’s shoulders relaxed. “Around the block.”

Chavez drove to the lot. The car wasn’t gone, but it might as well be. Only the shell remained. Everything else was stripped away.

Chavez’s cell phone rang, and he answered. “I see. We’ll be there in ten minutes.” After he hung up, he turned to Joel, his expression unreadable.

“Maria?” Joel fisted his hands, waiting for the bad news.

The detective shook his head. “Your house has been ransacked.”

6

D
anny kept his eye on the traffic behind them, but so far it didn’t seem that anyone was following them from the airport.

“Will you find my uncle?” Maria asked again.

Danny knew he shouldn’t make that sort of promise, but the look in the child’s eyes made him want to try. “I’ll do my best,” he said. He wished Bailey would look at him the way Maria did. So far, they might as well be strangers. No. With a stranger, at least he had a chance. With Bailey there was no hope.

Maria climbed out of Bailey’s lap and into his and hugged him. “You can find him, I know you can.”

“I’d rather you sit with me,” Bailey said. “I wish the taxi had a car seat for her.” She tugged the child back into her lap and frowned at Danny like it was his fault there was no safety seat and that the car reeked of stale cigarette smoke. “Why didn’t you call me back?”

“When did you call?”

“I don’t know. Before we went to the airport.”

Danny took out his phone and checked his missed calls. He frowned. How did he miss her call? It was right below the call to his secretary at the plant. No wonder she was angry. “I must have been talking to Tiffany.”

Her shoulders stiffened.

“I called her to get your flight number.” Was she still upset about what had happened with Tiffany? Or rather what didn’t happen. But even if something had happened, after she broke the engagement, she shouldn’t have cared what he did. Unless . . .

Maria wiggled free. “I want to sit in Mr. Danny’s lap.”

Bailey sighed but let her stay with him. Maria leaned against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. An emotion he wasn’t familiar with filled his chest. Who would’ve thought a little girl could wrap her fingers around his heart so fast?

Maria raised her head to look up at him. “Who was that man? The one who carried me.”

“I’d like to know that as well,” Bailey said.

Before Danny could answer, Solana turned where she could face them. “His name is Angel, and he’s a good man.”

Admiration for Angel rang in her voice, but a question nagged at Danny. Everyone else in the restaurant had run when the shooting started. But Angel had rushed to rescue them. Why? Danny had a few questions for Angel Guerrera when they reached the hotel.

“Do you know his last name?” Bailey asked.

“It’s Guerrera,” Danny said and shifted his gaze to Solana. “How do you know Angel?”

“All the small businesses know him. We call him the Angel of the Streets because he and his friends patrol our businesses. They are fighting a war against the Calatrava. His men were there, trying to put the fire out at the cafe today, but they could not save Juan.”

He jerked his head toward her. “What fire?”

“The cartel. They came back after you left, and they beat up Juan, trying to find out where . . .” Solana faltered and glanced at Maria. “Then they set fire to the cafe and left. I tried to put it out, but it was too big. Angel’s men came, but it was too big for them too. They helped me escape.”

Bailey pressed her hand to her mouth. “Did Angel’s men say why . . .”

Solana shook her head. “The cartel doesn’t have to have a reason.”

“He was a nice man,” Maria said. “Will we see him again?”

“Yes. He’s coming to the hotel.” Danny chewed the inside of his cheek. The cartel had gone to too much trouble for their actions to be random kidnappings. Maybe Angel would have answers. He leaned as the taxi made a sharp right turn.

“Casa Grande.” The taxi driver pointed toward the hotel on their left.

Half an hour later, Danny opened the connecting door between the two rooms. Solana lay on the bed beside Maria as the two of them napped, but Bailey stood at the window, staring out. She turned, dejection showing in her slumped shoulders.

Quietly he walked across the room and took her in his arms. She leaned against his chest. “Thank you for coming after me,” she said. “I . . .”

“I was so scared when I couldn’t find you in the cafe,” he murmured against her hair. What he wouldn’t give to hold her like this all the time. “Are you okay?”

She stepped away from him, and some of the sass returned to her eyes. “Let’s see. Joel’s been kidnapped, I’ve hidden in a cellar, and you know how I hate being in dark, dank places. I called you and you didn’t answer. I’ve been chased. Twice. I missed our flight and have no idea how I’m going to get this child to her grandparents. I lost Maria’s medication for her headaches, and I understand when she has one, it’s very painful. The medicine was in a bag with her prescription and contact information for the grandparents that I left at the cafe. And last of all, I’m holed up here with you.” She folded her arms across her chest, but a tiny smile played at her lips. “What’s not to be okay about?”

His heart swelled with pride. Bailey had more courage than anyone he knew. She might get knocked down, but she always bounced back up. He held up his hands. “Hey, I’m just trying to help.”