Warrior Mine (9 page)

He spoke no English, but maybe he understood. His hands fell away from her skin. He straightened and she could no longer see his baby face—much too young for the life he led. The heat from his thighs left hers and they drooped over the edge of the bed. The door opened and clicked shut again. Carmen clamped her mouth shut again, the sob threatening to rupture her delicate grip on sanity.

It came anyway. The force jackknifed her middle and she rolled onto her side. White fabric bunched around the widest part of her hips, revealing the top curve of her butt. She curled into a ball, fighting for control as her torso heaved. Her shaking fingers clamped over her mouth to mute the raging emotions. They poured out of her eyes.

Just when she thought she’d die from the helplessness of missing Sophia, Vail stepped into the forefront of her mind. His stern, steady face eased the death grip sorrow held on her heart. And for that, she was both grateful and ashamed. Sophia should dominate her every thought. Not this man. Not those eyes. Not that chin. Not that mouth. But, unbidden, they did.

S
ophia walked
down the stairs a few hours after dawn as though she hadn’t seen two men murdered before her young eyes the night before. The clothes she had on the night before hung wrinkled and askew on her slight frame. She stopped on the bottom step, gave a hesitant smile and quick wrist-flick wave. That same hand rushed to smooth the fly-aways from her forehead.

“So…” she rocked back on her heels, “what should I call you?”

“My name is Vail Tucker. You can call me Vail.” He gestured at the cup of coffee between his hands. “Do you drink coffee?”

The purse of her mouth told him
hell no
before she shook her head vehemently.

“Why don’t you go get dressed and we’ll head into town, have breakfast someplace, and get some groceries? Judging by the food in the pantry and refrigerator—the term food being a loose generalization—you haven’t had a decent meal in over a month.”

Her mouth dropped open and her eyes swelled. “You’re letting me out of here?”

“Let’s get one thing very clear,” he said, abandoning the stale drink. “You are not my prisoner. I’m here to protect you, find your mom, get some answers, and send you two on about your lives, preferably outside of your uncle’s realm of influence.”

“I didn’t really mean it like that... You told me as much last night. I just… I haven't even been outside, much less in town. I haven’t seen people other than the ones who kept me prisoner in so long. I’m just excited.”

“You might not be after,” he warned. “We have a bit of a hike to my car.”

“I don’t mind, as long as a mountain lion doesn’t eat us.”

He smiled and it felt odd on his face, but then Sophia grinned too and he forgot all about his own awkwardness. Her smile lit up the state with its simplicity and sweetness. “The picture in your room got to you, huh?”

“Yeah. I’ll go get dressed,” she beamed. An athletic hustle brought her halfway up the stairs before she stopped and turned. “Are you going to change? The scratch on your face isn’t too bad, but the blood on your clothes might get us arrested. I’d rather this place than metal bars. Especially now.” Her gaze swept the living area and open kitchen. “It looks like a whole different place with the curtains open and the trash gone. Both kinds.”

“I have clothes at my car.”

“Okay,” she all but yipped and left him to the terrible coffee.

Vail’s dealings with women were limited to operatives who could get battle ready in the blink of an eye. When he’d said get dressed, he imagined Sophia might take fifteen minutes to change. That proved his astuteness lacking. Extremely lacking. She hopped down the stairs an hour later. Fresh spirals and full-bodied curls bounced around her shoulders. A new outfit, still very similar to the one she wore before, covered her slim frame.

Outside, the chill covered the ground in iced dew, but the threatening snow hadn’t fallen. Not yet, at least. Sophia tilted her face to the sun and spread her arms wide. She inhaled and exhaled the clean air, and then shivered.

“Have my jacket.” He hadn’t put it on, suspecting she’d need more layers between her and the cold. His nipples were hard enough to cut glass, but he could handle it.

“It’s huge on me,” she laughed. Her handless arms flapped.

“Be still.” He rolled each sleeve before finding the tips of her fingers. “That should do. You can get to your fingers, if you need them. But keep them tucked inside otherwise.”

“Yes, sir.”

He smiled again. “Let’s go.”

They started out at an easy pace, but the girl had a competitive streak edged in stubborn independence wider and fiercer than the Grand Canyon. He held out a hand to help her over the rocks. She skipped across them on tiptoes. He went first down the steep walkway beside the rock-face he’d missed on the trek up. She skirted him, running wide open down the lofty slope. By the time they reached the highway they cackled and sucked wind.

“Not too bad, Sophie.”

Palms planted on her knees, head lolled between her shoulders, she kicked her head to the side and lifted an eyebrow.

“What?” he asked between laughs.

“Nobody’s ever…called me that. It’s always Sophia. Same amount of letters, but so formal. My mom says, ‘It’s lovely and dignified.’”

“It’s beautiful and a little stuffy.”

“Thank you! Finally, someone understands.”

“Come on, Sophia,” he said, dragging out her name. “The car’s this way.”

They headed across the road and gravel parking lot. Both bay doors were shut tight to keep out the weather, which gusted pretty stoutly every now and again. Through the glass a truck sat in the right slot, its hood up. His car on the other side hid under a tight clean cover. He would’ve smiled, but one already shaped his mouth. Odd. He hadn’t smiled or laughed this much in a while.

“And,” Sophie said, “if I’d known the way, I’d have won. Cutting across that last curve would’ve saved a hundred yards.”

Youth
.

“You’d have ended up at the top of that rock face,” John called from the door.

Vail had heard the door whisper open and the kid step out from the shop. Heck, he’d seen him bound from around the truck, skirt the precious car, and bolt for the door. Sophie, as attentive as she was, had been navigating the dips and pots in the shale. Her head snapped to attention. She stopped mid-step and her prim mouth fell open. He didn’t know why. The kid wasn’t a threat. But he had called her out.

“It was a good thought though,” Vail offered.

“Oh, yeah.” Her gaze flew to him, as though she’d just remembered he stood beside her. She smiled and slipped her hands from the jacket pockets. Hurriedly, she smoothed her wind-whipped mane and looked back at John.

“Yeah, he’s right,” the kid agreed, “you couldn’t have known about the drop.” John’s eyes shifted over and up. “Your car is perfect. I checked the oil, coolant, water, air in your tires. You take real good care of it, sir.”

“Thanks. Is your gramps around? I want to settle up,” Vail said.

“He’s at a doctor’s appointment. Nothing major. Just a check-up. But he said if you came around, to tell you…”

They neared and John offered them inside, holding the door for Sophia and himself, just shy of awkward. As soon as they were through the door, Sophie shed the coat and held it in her small hands. Then she chaffed her arms.

Girls.

John looked from him to Sophie and back again.

“Tell me what?” he reminded.

“Tell you?” John squinted. “Right, to tell you to keep your money. He ordered me to burn it in front of you, if you gave it over anyway.”

“Could you burn it?”

The kid shrugged. “Sure. He told me to. It’s just paper anyway, right?”

Vail decided to put the promised money and a little more into a scholarship for the boy. He may well work in this shop all his life, but it’d do him good to learn accounting and business. “Right.”

“Is this your daughter, sir?” He slipped the question in before Vail could lead in to the next topic.

“Yes. Can you get her some water, while I go change?” To Sophie’s credit she didn’t start at his answer or call him a bald-faced liar. They looked enough alike with their dark hair—dark, graying hair—and eyes, their ages were such that people would assume they were father and daughter. If they denied it, they’d have to explain their relationship. People were automatically wary of older men and young girls when they weren’t related. In Vail’s opinion, they should be always wary and watchful of older men with young girls, related or not. Men were bastards. Girls were impressionable.

“Yes, sir. The bathroom’s through the shop door to the left,” John directed.

Vail headed for the door, but once through it his stomach flipped at the thought of leaving Sophie alone with the kid. Sure, he’d been respectful at every turn, but he was a boy. Boys were horny. John drove—in all likelihood illegally—so they were only three or four years apart at the most.

He removed the cover and popped the trunk, all the while watching the two fumble about for a cup of water. Sophia was a beautiful girl. She took after her mother. Vail switched his ruck for the duffle and walked toward the bathroom. Almost even with the door he poked his head inside the office. “I told you she was my daughter, the most precious things in the world to me, right, John?”

Wise beyond his years, John stepped around the bar dividing the two-chair waiting area and the desk, files, and computer, putting the wood and Formica between himself and Vail’s “daughter.” “Yes, sir.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. Vail smiled.

“
S
o
,” Sophie dragged the word out to three syllables.

“So?”

“Anything you want to tell me?” She shifted in the seat next to him and groaned. “I ate too much.”

“You did pack it away. Made me look bad.”

“The waitress didn’t care about you losing an eating contest. All she cared about was you batting your lashes at her.”

“I do not bat my lashes,” he scoffed.

“Maybe not, but you pour it on thick.”

“She was nice. I was nice. What?”

“Vomit.”

“Yeah,” he said mimicking her teenage girl whine of the word. “Well, the way you and John fumbled over each other made me want to hurl.”

“We’re getting way off track here,” she huffed.

“Agreed. No, there’s not anything specifically that I want to tell you. So, maybe you could be more specific.”

“Were you telling the truth when you answered John’s question? Are you my father?”

Wow. That was specific all right. He cleared his throat. Twice. “No and no.”

“I just thought…” She turned away and stared out the windshield at the highway leading them slowly back toward the cabin.

“Thought…I might be your father,” he finished.

“Yeah.” Her muted tone gave the word a whole new meaning. “I thought maybe you two had a torrid affair, and then you disappeared.”

There were so many different ways he could go with this. First, she shouldn’t know a damn thing about torrid affairs. Second, if he had an affair with Carmen Ruez there would be no end to the sheet melting sex. Third, if he had a daughter nothing could make him turn his back on her. Nothing.

“Sophie, you are a wonderful girl. Any man would be honored to call you his daughter.”

“Not any,” she said, swiping her hand across her cheek.

The girl didn’t know who her father was. That brought a whole new level of crap to a kid’s table. He hadn’t died or run out on her. For her, a father only existed as a concept, not a flesh and blood person. Certainly her mother knew. She’d have had to have at least caught a first name in the exchange. Right? Now Vail had yet another reason to find Carmen Ruez.

“I’ve only met your mother once. Our encounter was strained, to put it mildly.”

“What do you mean?” She turned back, as though glad to have a different topic of conversation.

“She shot me.”

The sadness in her eyes doubled and the perk of her shoulders withered with the news. “What did you do to her?”

“Nothing, she’s fine.”

“I meant, what did you do to her to make her shoot you?”

“Nothing. She didn’t want to shoot me, but your uncle used you, your wellbeing, as leverage over your mother. He didn’t give her much choice.”

“She’s not a bad person,” Sophie defended.

“She was protecting you. So, no. She’s not a bad person. She’s in a bad situation.”

Sophie’s chin rose. “We have been for a long time. She’s tried to change that a lot of times, but my uncle always found out. This time he stole me to keep her there.”

“He used your secret location as leverage to get your mom to go back to the compound on San Carlos. Your uncle is in custody, in a very safe prison no one except your mother has even attempted to infiltrate. He’s under watch around the clock, but I fear something he’s already set in motion will hurt a lot of people. You mother may have information about the event. I need to find her to get the information I need and return you to her.”

She studied him for a minute with eyes much older than her twelve years. “Are you going to hurt my mom?”

“No.”

“She shot you.”

“I’ve been shot before.”

“And what did you do to the person who shot you before?” Her skinny arms locked over her chest and her head tilted in that all too knowing way.

“I killed every one of them.”

“So, why not my mother?”

“Because she didn’t shoot my wife and daughter.”

Both sat quietly as the car wound through the naked trees. Bits of ice hit the windshield and melted on contact. Later, as the temperature dropped, slick roads would be an issue. Especially with the steep incline heading to the cabin. His Southern boy roots itched for his truck, but there wasn’t anything to be done about it now.

They made it to the cabin without incident and both hauled up armloads of groceries from the trunk. On the would-be lawn, tire tracks and footprints decorated the dirt, but he didn’t worry. They marked a path to the shed and back, and he knew it was his clean-up crew. Here and gone with barely a notice.

Inside, Sophie settled her bags onto the counter, turned to him, and held out her hand. “Give me your phone. I can contact her.” His skepticism must have shown. She propped her other hand on her hip. “We’ve made contingency plans. She has a hidden cellphone and checks it daily for my call. I didn’t call earlier because I didn't know where I was and it wasn’t worth the risk of getting caught, just to say hi.”

“Do you think she can get away from the compound?”

She smiled, though not nearly as brightly as she had that morning. “She got the drop on you, didn’t she? She’ll get away and she’ll come for me.”

Vail counted on it.