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"Enrique has a long reach and a big organization. Prison won't change that."
"At the very least, you should be able to get legal custody of Megan."
"After I'm thrown in jail for kidnapping her?" she asked sarcastically. "I'm the one who's going to end up in prison, Drew, not Enrique."
"I won't let that happen."
"Megan may think you're a superhero, but I know better." She got to her feet. "I'm going home."
"Wait." He grabbed her arm, pulling back down on the bench.
"What? Is there more? Who else did you talk to about me?"
"No one, but we're not done discussing this."
"I'm done."
He ignored her statement. "Why does Enrique want Megan?"
"What do you mean?"
"Is he after her money? Did she witness something that he wants to protect? What was his motivation for hiding her out on the island? He must have taken her away from her home, her friends, the other members of the family. Why?"
"He was afraid Megan would tell people that he killed her parents."
"Would they have believed her?"
"I don't know. Even if they did, they probably wouldn't have acted. The whole family lived in fear of Enrique."
"So there has to be something more to his motivation."
"It might be her money. She comes into an inheritance when she's twenty-five. Until then Enrique controls the money that's allegedly used for her support."
"So if he thought Megan was dead, what would happen to the money?"
"I assume the next person in line, which would have been Enrique, would get it all."
That was interesting. "Maybe Enrique is just as happy that Megan is dead then," he mused.
"I was thinking that might be a possibility," Ria agreed. "But if he finds out she's not dead, he may have to kill her in order to keep using her money. And he'll have to kill me, too, because I'll fight him til my last breath."
He heard the defiance and determination in her voice and knew she would do exactly what she'd said.
"You won't fight him alone," he promised. "Don't argue with me," he said as she opened her mouth. "You may not want me in this, but I'm in. I'm all in. I'm not leaving. I'm not turning away. I'm not pretending you're dead. So you're going to have to deal with that."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah."
Tension flared between them.
"Then you're going to have to deal with this," she said. She threw her arms around his neck and planted her mouth on his.
And as he met her desperate, passion-filled kisses with his own, he knew that every word he'd just spoken was true. This woman was his woman. And he'd protect her with every last breath that he took. He just hoped it wouldn't come to that.
Chapter Nineteen
Late Monday afternoon, Drew got a call from Max just as he was getting off work, so Drew headed over to the police station. He found Max in the Investigations Unit. He was on the phone but waved Drew into the chair by his desk. A moment later, he ended his call and leaned back in his chair.
"You got here fast."
"I'm curious to hear what you learned."
"Well, Enrique Valdez is one bad ass. His official residence is in Spain, but he's wanted in three countries, including the United States, for racketeering, drug smuggling, murder and extortion."
"Then why is he free?" Drew demanded.
"He's smart, and he runs a loyal organization. A lot of men have taken the fall for him. He's also used his wealth to buy off local police in the countries where he has homes, including the island you mentioned."
"Isla de los Sueños," he said. "Island of Dreams."
"That's the one. Unfortunately, while some of his addresses are known, Valdez moves around a lot. He has private planes and luxury yachts at his disposal. He travels with bodyguards, and on one occasion he managed to escape a sting operation by using a body double."
"That's crazy," Drew said in amazement. Ria hadn't been exaggerating when she'd said Valdez was extremely dangerous.
"What's crazy is you being involved with this guy," Max said tersely. "I did what you asked. Now I need information. What is your connection to Valdez? Or what is your girlfriend's connection?"
