Son of a Gun (24 page)

“We both know it’s unlikely Dorothy just happened to win the lottery the same month I was kidnapped,” Emma said.

“Highly unlikely,” he agreed.

“Do you think it’s possible she was in on this with Caudillo from the beginning?”

“I know it’s hard to accept that a woman you thought of as a good friend could turn on you,” he said. “But, yeah, I think there’s a good chance she sold you out.”

“Then she couldn’t have understood the full extent of what she was doing. I can’t accept that she’d knowingly put me through anything that heinous.”

“I guess we’ll never know.”

“I refuse to settle for that, Damien. I know I was the one who wanted to run from everything in the beginning, but not anymore. I intend to find Dorothy and talk to her face-to-face. I want her to hear what every day of my life was like locked away with a monster.”

He loved the fight in Emma and hated that he was going to have to steal if from her. He tugged her to a stop and took both of her hands in his.

“I know where Dorothy is, Emma, but talking to her may not get you anywhere.”

“Where is she?”

“In a Portland nursing home.”

“Why? What happened to her?”

“Three months after you were kidnapped, a neighbor found her slumped over the wheel of her new luxury car in the closed garage of her new Oregon home. The carbon monoxide poisoning left her with severe brain damage.

“Reportedly, she has occasional lucid moments, but most of the time she just repeats nonsensical phrases.”

Emma tensed and pulled away. “She must have realized what she’d done to me and tried to kill herself.”

“Seems if she’d been that upset, she’d have just gone to the authorities and had them rescue you.”

“So you don’t believe she tried to kill herself?”

“I’m not convinced of it,” Damien said.

“You think Caudillo tried to kill her?”

“Him or someone he’d hired to do it.”

“As punishment because she’d misled him,” Emma said, catching on fast. “She told him I could get him access to secret files when I couldn’t. And then she got me to the Caribbean and Misterioso Island to make it easy for him to kidnap me. And I played into the scheme without missing a cue.”

“You trusted Dorothy.”

“I’d still like to see her, Damien. Maybe seeing me will jolt some part of her brain that’s not as damaged as they think. But I don’t expect you to take more time off from the ranch to fly me out there. I can do that much on my own.”

“And you’d be playing right into Caudillo’s hands again.”

“I don’t see how.”

“Think about it. She was your best friend. He’d expect you to look her up and then try to see her.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“I’m working on one, but you have to make some modifications to our original agreement.”

“Such as?”

“I need to tell Tague and Durk everything. I need the help of people I can trust, and there’s no one alive I trust more than my brothers.”

“If they’re smart, they’ll tell you to kick me out of your life and forget Caudillo.”

“Not a chance, not once they know the whole truth. They’ll say it’s time to kick butt and take the low-down kidnapping, woman-torturing arms dealer down. Of course, they’ll throw in a few additional descriptive adjectives.”

“It would be a lot simpler and safer for all of you if I just walk out of your life.”

“You know, if you keep threatening to run away from me, I’m going to develop a complex. Next thing I know you’ll be vomiting on me.”

“Not unless you spin me instead of swing me in that tire.”

“Right now, I just need you to give me some time. Go back inside and don’t mention any of this to Mother, Grandma or Sybil when she gets home. There’s no need to alarm them.”

“Aren’t you coming in?”

“Not yet. I’ll be in the office with Tague in a phone conference with Durk. He’s waiting on my call.”

“Does that mean you’ve already told them everything?”

“No, but I’d planned to tell them tonight whether you agreed or not. Caudillo has got to be stopped, and you deserve to get your life back without living in the shadow of fear.”

“Okay. Tell them what you want, Damien. But if they just want me off the ranch, I want you to tell me that.”

“I promise, but that’s not going to happen.” He touched his lips to hers, just one sweet taste, but the thrill raced through him.

“And the sooner you get your life back, the sooner I get to see you in—or out of—that hot-pink nightie. Before you drive me out of my mind.”

* * *

CAUDILLO STRETCHED OUT ON the bed in his room at the New Orleans Ritz-Carlton. It wasn’t quite as luxurious as his bedroom on the yacht, but the yacht was speeding toward Rio de Janeiro without him. All according to plan.

His warehouse on the island was cleared of all traces of weapons and instead stocked full of cashew nuts. He didn’t have to worry about Emma’s DNA being on any surface in the house or gardens. After all, she was his wife, though she’d chosen to leave him.

He reached for the room service menu and searched until he found a seafood dish that titillated his taste buds. Life was good.

He’d take care of Emma and then he’d finish off Dorothy Paul, as well. Though he had to admit that the failed attempt on her life that he’d orchestrated and paid for had given him immense satisfaction. A giant joke after she’d been so thrilled with his original payoff. But she shouldn’t have lied and made him think that Emma had more clout than she did.

His cell phone vibrated. He picked it up from the bedside table. “You’re calling late. You must have news.”

“I know where you can find Emma Muran.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Damn,” Durk said. “When you said Emma was in serious danger, I figured it was something like writing bad checks or lying to the Mexican police. I never dreamed you were talking about evil that spanned continents and threatens national security.”

“Right,” Tague agreed. “If those weapons are getting into the hands of the drug cartels, it’s bad enough. They might be going straight to terrorist organizations buying our weapons illegally to use against us.”

“Add that to kidnapping, torturing and killing women, and you’re looking the devil in the face straight on,” Durk said.

“What worries me the most,” Damien said, “is that Caudillo always seems to be one step ahead of the game, like filing that marriage license. And I’m sure he’s behind Dorothy Paul’s brain damage.”

“I’d have to agree with that,” Durk said. “Whether it was payback or to make sure she didn’t talk, it proves what he’s capable of doing to avoid getting caught.”

“I say turn it over to the FBI and let them call the shots,” Tague said. “Our concentration can be on keeping Emma safe.”

“I don’t know,” Durk said. “I keep thinking about the women he kidnapped and killed. There could be dozens of them. Every one of them someone’s daughter or sister or wife. Maybe even a mother.”

“It would be a lot less complicated if he was operating from inside the United States,” Damien said. “But once the arms are smuggled out of the country, things get sticky. Even if the FBI can put together enough solid evidence to arrest him based on Emma’s testimony, it could take months for them to get to him with all the rules and regulations they’d have to follow.”

“If we knew he was holding an American citizen hostage now, things could be expedited,” Durk said, “but as far as we know, that’s not the case.”

“You’re right,” Tague said. “But if we’re talking about waiting months, who knows how many women he might have kidnapped by then?”

“Damien, you’ve been working on this for a few days,” Durk said. “You must have some ideas about how to proceed from here.”

“I’ve given this a lot of thought,” Damien said. “Caudillo is smart. There’s no doubt about that. We have to be smarter.”

“And you have a plan?” Tague asked.

“Based on what I’ve seen and heard, I think Caudillo was telling the truth about having friends in high places. It explains how he’s kept operating so long. I have a strong hunch that one of his sources is with the Nashville ATF office. That’s likely how he found out that it was Dorothy and not Emma who’d lied about what security-protected files Emma could access. At the time Emma was kidnapped, Caudillo’s source might have even believed she had more clearance than she did since they worked in different departments.”

“Do you have a suspect?” Durk asked.

“No, but I think if it’s leaked to the media that the arrest of an ATF agent in that office is imminent, the traitorous bastard may out himself.”

“I’m not following you,” Durk said.

“I think I am,” Tague said, “and I like it. The guilty agent will know that Caudillo’s not going to risk getting outed by his source, a man who’ll have all the scoop on him. So he’ll bolt or possibly become so desperate that he does something to give himself away. He may even turn himself in before Caudillo has him taken out.”

“Either way, once he’s identified, the authorities can offer him protection in exchange for his help in leading Caudillo into a trap,” Damien said. “I admit it’s a long shot, but it could work. I just haven’t figured out how to handle the details yet.”

“Your only chance of getting it to work is to persuade the ATF or some other government agency to work with us on this,” Durk said. “Tell you what, I have a very good friend with the CIA, Jerry Delaney, who I know I can trust. Why don’t I give him a call in the morning, pick his brain and get back to you?”

“That’ll work,” Damien said. “But be sure he knows we’re dealing with a psychopath, and under no circumstances do I want Emma involved in his capture or anything said publicly that could lead Caudillo to the Bent Pine.”

“Don’t worry. I have family there, remember? In fact, I think it’s time you hire protection for the ranch. If Caudillo is as smart as he seems, he’s out gathering information and making plans the same as you.”

“I’ll take care of that first thing in the morning. And thanks, guys. I knew I could count on you for support.”

“That’s what brothers are for, but bear in mind that I can’t make Delaney do anything he doesn’t agree to. We just have to hope he and the department see it our way.”

* * *

EMMA SAT ON THE EDGE OF the bed, watching Belle as she slept in the same cradle that Damien had once slept in. So sweet and innocent.

Emma trailed a finger down Belle’s soft cheek. “Your mother loved you very much, little princess. I wish you could always know that. Maybe I’ll find you one day when you’re old enough to understand and tell you how much she loved you.”

Emma stood and walked to the window. She had no idea why the aching sense of loss that had haunted her through much of her childhood was surging so strong tonight.

Her growing attachment to Belle likely had something to do with it. So did watching Carolina’s face as she’d adoringly held the picture of Damien and his father.

Or maybe it was just a factor of the emotional turmoil that had started churning inside her the night she was kidnapped and that had refused to settle down. How could it, when Caudillo still controlled her life? Not only hers now, but Damien’s, as well.

She hated Caudillo with a fierceness that she’d never known existed until she’d endured his mental torture month after month after agonizing month.

Now she was dwelling on that hate, when love was all around her. Carolina brought that to this family.

Carolina’s words played in her mind like a sweet country ballad.

Choose love, Emma. Always choose love.

Even without promises of forever, the words made sense. Not to choose love was letting priceless moments of life slip away.