Sounds of Silence (18 page)

Isabel watched the two men fight—one tall and muscular, the other smaller and agile as a jackal. She didn’t understand why they hadn’t already beaten one another into a bloody mass, but they continued to stagger around the room, swinging at one another.

At last, she saw Eli step back, crouching a bit, and with a shock she realized his hands were balled into empty fists. Where was his gun? Then she saw with horror that Medieros had his own gun pointed at Eli’s chest. Screaming, she swung the chair leg with all her strength at Medieros’s kneecaps.

The gun went off, blasting into the ceiling as he fell backward.

Newton’s third law of motion went into effect as Isabel slammed into the desk. Her head glanced off its corner, and the world went black.

Eli’s every instinct urged him to grab Isabel, but Medieros was struggling onto his elbow. He had managed some time ago to snatch Eli’s gun and fling it into a corner; now he lay in obvious agony, his face a mask of anger as he tried to steady his pistol.

Eli reached down and yanked it out of his hand. “It’s over, Medieros. Get up.”

Medieros cursed. “Your woman has made that fairly impossible,” he spat. “I should have slit her throat when I had the chance.”

“In that case, I’ll just cuff you right where you are.” Eli took the handcuffs off his belt and knelt to lock them around Medieros’s wrists. “Forgive me if I don’t have a lot of sympathy for you. They’ll give you an aspirin at the hospital.”

“Is no problem.” Medieros panted. “My men will be here momentarily I am sure, and the two of you will be back where you—”

Eli grinned when a sliding whistle chirruped from the direction of the porch. “I have a feeling my brother has eliminated that possibility as well.” He turned to gather Isabel into his arms. “In here, Owen.”

Chapter Seventeen

I
sabel opened her eyes to find herself in Eli’s arms, surrounded by half a dozen Mexican police officers. When she reached up to touch a goose egg on the back of her head, a wave of pain crashed from her ears to her tailbone. She groaned and slammed her eyelids shut again.

Which didn’t help, because the lights strobing from the squad cars parked willy-nilly in the yard still somehow penetrated her brain. “Turn it off,” she muttered.

“Isabel?” Eli’s voice rumbled against her ear. “How’re you feeling?”

“Like somebody played baseball with my head.”

He chuckled. “
You’re
the home run hitter, lady. Medieros may have to have knee replacements.”

“You should see me swing an ax.”

“What?” She heard the smile in his voice.

“Never mind. I’m so glad you’re okay.” She clutched his T-shirt. “Where’s Danilo?”

“Getting checked out by a police medic. Mercedes found him in a tool shed and let him loose, bless her.”

“
Mercedes
found him?” Isabel knew she wasn’t thinking straight, but that
really
sounded wrong. “How did she get here?”

“Something about a spider. She walked all the way here by herself from the factory where you left her.”

“Where’s—where’s Medieros?”

“On his way to jail.” Eli paused and added somewhat reluctantly, “After they take him to the hospital.”

Isabel sat quietly for a moment, contemplating how close she’d come to losing everything that really mattered to her. As she absorbed Eli’s strength and warmth, the pain in her head began to subside.

“There’s a lot I don’t understand,” she said, “like how you knew where I was, and how you got here so quickly. But you know, I really need to hug the children.”

Eli gave her a gentle squeeze and looked at a scruffy young plain-clothes cop who, oddly, seemed to be in charge of the group of officers. “How about it, Artemio?”

The policeman glanced over his shoulder. “We’ve had a hard time keeping them still long enough for the medic to take a look. I’ll get them.”

A minute later Isabel was nearly strangled in a group hug. Danilo seemed not one whit the worse for the wear, more than compensating for Mercedes’s silence with a tongue that seemed loose at both ends. “I wasn’t scared a bit, Mama,” he finished, sitting back on his heels to pat Isabel’s cheeks. “Mercedes rescued me!”

“I’m proud of you both, honey,” she said, “and I’m so glad to have you back. But no more hide-and-seek for a long time, do you hear me?” Isabel swallowed fresh tears and somehow her stern look turned into another hug. She kissed Mercedes’s cheek tenderly, thrilling when the little girl shyly returned the caress.

I love you
, Mercedes signed.

“Oh, darling, I love you, too.” Isabel looked up at Eli and caught an indecipherable expression in his eyes.

He looked away. “I hear Owen coming with the helicopter,” he said, laying a hand on Danilo’s head. “Come on, big guy, let’s get your mama to the hospital. I think she needs a shot, what do you think?”

Eli had been up for so many hours straight that even the sun in his face couldn’t keep him awake on the flight back to Del Rio. He woke up when the chopper’s runners bumped against the Border Patrol helipad.

A team of EMTs jerked open the doors to help Isabel and Danilo into a waiting ambulance; though Mercedes was basically okay, Isabel had to be watched for signs of concussion, Danilo for post traumatic stress.

Eli himself felt like he’d been in a barroom brawl. He climbed down from the helicopter and limped over to Isabel, who was being loaded onto a stretcher. He couldn’t get close enough to touch her, but stood where she could see him. “Mercedes and I’ll come get you, as soon as I debrief, okay?”

“Can somebody bring me my car?” she asked. “And my phone. I need to arrange for a hotel room tonight.”

Eli smiled at her annoyed expression. Isabel didn’t like to be fussed over. “We’ve got you covered. Relax and enjoy the ride.”

“Eli—”

But the ambulance doors slammed, cutting off whatever she’d been about to say.

He stood there for a minute, feeling unaccountably desolate, but looked down when a small hand slipped into his. Mercedes smiled up at him like a ray of sunshine. He noticed one of her front teeth was coming in, giving her an oddly grown-up look. She blew him a kiss, and he winked.

Owen walked up and slung an arm around him. “You better go home and go to bed, yard boy. You look like a punch-drunk sailor.”

Eli yawned. “Can’t. Dean wanted to see me ASAP.”

Owen’s brow furrowed. “Dean needs to take a—” He glanced down at Mercedes, who was watching him with big brown eyes. “She reads lips, doesn’t she? All right, I’ll take her to McDonald’s for breakfast and get her temporarily settled with somebody from church. Maybe take her back to Benny. Meanwhile,” he whacked Eli’s shoulder with mock roughness, “don’t let me see your face for a full twenty-four hours.”

“We’ll see.” Eli squeezed Mercedes’s hand, and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Be good for Uncle Owen, okay?”

She kissed him back and skipped off beside Owen in the direction of the parking lot.

“Lord, this is complicated,” he muttered as he headed for the station. “Please lead me, here.”

He walked into Dean’s office expecting anything but the sight of silver-haired, elegantly dressed Pamela Hatcher. She sat in a metal folding chair, knees crossed and sipping coffee from a cup.

Dean pointed to an empty chair next to her. “Sit down. There are some things I can tell you, now that this is all over.”

Eli sat, mostly because his legs wouldn’t hold him up any longer. “Pamela?” he said stupidly. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to thank you for cleaning up that nest of drug dealers that destroyed my family.” Eli saw her lips tremble as she hid her mouth behind the coffee cup.

“I was just doing my job.” He looked at Dean, who was opening and shutting the drawer where Eli knew he stashed a box of cigars. “Did you want me to come back later?”

“No.” Dean folded his arms across his lean stomach. “I brought Mrs. Hatcher in because she can fill you in on her part in this. It’s fairly straightforward. She discovered her son Bryan was picking up a little spending money as one of Medieros’s mules, carting drugs across the border.”

Since this was no surprise to Eli, he looked at Pamela for clarification. She’d certainly kept her knowledge to herself.

She pressed her lips together. “It started when one of his friends told me he’d seen Bryan in a hot spot over in Acuña, hanging out with a prostitute and doing cocaine.”

“Las Joyas Bellas,”
Eli said.

“Yes.” Pamela hung her head. “To make sure, I had Bryan followed, and that’s how I found out about the drug transportation. I was devastated, because he was supposed to be in college, studying business. Rand wanted him to take over the family interests.”

“That was when she came to me,” said Dean. “I’ll be honest, Carmichael, I didn’t know you when I transferred into Del Rio Sector, and I’d heard things about your family that made me nervous. People say you have friends across the border, spend a lot of time there.”

“I do missionary projects over there.” Eli felt numb. Had Dean really distrusted him that much?

“Yeah, well, that kind of thing can cover up a multitude of sins.” Dean rubbed his forehead. “For what it’s worth, Carmichael, I owe you an apology. By the time I found out you were really the straight-up Puritan you seem to be, it was nearly too late.”

Eli nodded uncertainly.

“I’m so ashamed that our son was involved in all this.” Pamela looked away. “I wanted to hold him accountable for his mistakes, Rand wanted to protect him. Apparently Medieros tried to blackmail Rand, in order to find out where Mercedes was. By the time he realized the seriousness of Bryan’s crimes, it was nearly too late to help. But we found some e-mails on Bryan’s computer that eventually helped locate Medieros’s camp.” Pamela dug a tissue out of her handbag. “I contacted Agent Dean right away.”

“Thank you for that.” Eli knew he should feel pity for this unhappy woman, but at the moment he was too sleep-deprived to do more than lay an awkward hand on her shoulder as he rose. “Dean, may I be excused for a couple of days? And…as a favor, would you allow me to be the one to settle Mercedes Serraño’s affairs? She’s been through a lot for such a little girl, and I’d like to make sure she doesn’t wind up back on the street.”

“That’s a reasonable request, Carmichael.” Dean took a cigar out of the drawer and began to fidget with it. “In fact, take up to a week. We’ll cover for you here. But tell your brother I need to see him no later than tomorrow morning. Something else has come up.”

Too tired to be curious, Eli nodded gratefully at his dismissal and left the office. A whole week off, he thought as he limped toward the parking lot. He couldn’t even remember his last vacation. Maybe he could take Isabel and the children horseback riding at his mom’s place.

Come to think of it, he didn’t even know if Isabel knew how to ride. He’d have to ask her.

He got in the Jeep and sat there trying to process everything he’d just learned.
Lord, You brought me through a war zone
, he thought.
Just like You said You would. Not by my own power or might, but by Your Spirit
.

So if You’d do that, I want to see what You’ll do between Isabel and me
.

No matter how tired he was, he couldn’t go home until he knew Isabel was okay. He headed for the hospital.

Holding Danilo by the hand, Isabel came out of the ER treatment room with a whopping headache and a bunch of prescriptions. She’d been poked and prodded to the limit of her endurance. All she wanted was to go home.

Too bad she had no home to go to.

The sight of Eli, head back against the wall, snoring like a lawn mower, took the edge off her agitation. Beside him sat Owen with Mercedes in his lap, looking at the pictures in a big blue book of children’s Bible stories.

When she saw Isabel, Mercedes slid off Owen’s lap. Isabel knelt to grab her, heart swelling like an over-inflated balloon. How was it possible to love a child this much, a child not of her body? She’d give anything to be able to keep her.

She caught Owen’s twinkling gaze. “I brought your car,” he said. “You up to driving?”

“Absolutely,” she said stoutly, then looked at Eli, who slept on, oblivious. “Don’t wake him up until I’m gone. He needs to go home and rest before we talk.”

Owen looked doubtful. “He’ll murder me. Where are you going?”

“I talked to Benny. I have no money and no place to go, so we’re going down to stay with her for a few days until I can get adoption proceedings started, and get my financial affairs in order. Insurance to settle and the property to sell…Benny’s got room and says she could use my help.”

Owen’s mouth opened as if to object, then he seemed to think better of it. He grinned a little. “You do that. And let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

Isabel’s gaze turned to Eli again. A longing as sharp as a physical pain stabbed through her, followed by fear, equally acute. “Tell him I’ll be in touch,” she said.

Eli couldn’t believe Isabel had left the hospital without him. And she’d taken Mercedes, too.

He glowered at Owen, who stood over him jingling the car keys. “I’m not sure if this pain in my neck is from sleeping two hours in a plastic chair or from having to deal with you.”

“Oh, really?” Owen folded his arms. “Well, let me see if I can help you figure that one out. Who’s the one been flying your butt all over Mexico for the last twenty-four hours?”

Eli looked away, ashamed of his outburst. “Why’d you let her leave without waking me up?”

“Because,” Owen sighed, “I could tell she’s freaking out over something you’re in no condition to deal with.” He surveyed Eli in patent disgust. “Look at you. You look like a malaria patient.”

Eli passed a hand over his face. Owen was right. Even after his nap, his eyes still felt like fine-grade sandpaper, and he was sporting a three-day beard. No telling what he smelled like.

“Okay. Point taken. I’ll go home and clean up and sleep a couple hours. Where’d she go?”

“Something about helping Benny down at the orphanage until she can get adoption proceedings started.”

“Sh-she wants to adopt Mercedes?”

“Apparently. I don’t know why that surprises you.”

Eli pushed himself to his feet and hooked an arm around his brother’s neck. “Take me home, brother. I’m obviously not working on all cylinders.”