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“She wasn’t. Not by the authorities. Someone tipped me off to what she’d done.”
“Someone who owed you.”
Hamilton smiled tightly. “You can put it that way, if you like. The point is, I took care of it.”
Meaning, the colonel had used his considerable clout to bury the incident.
“I told Mia. I thought she’d be grateful. Instead, she was terrified. She said the people who owned the cocaine would think she’d cheated them and come after her.”
“Well, she’s probably right.”
“I told her she’d be safe under my protection, but she didn’t believe me. This was four days ago.” Hamilton took a deep breath. “Yesterday, she disappeared.”
The word made the hair rise on the nape of Matthew’s neck. “Kidnapped?”
“Maybe. Or maybe she ran away. Either way, she’s in terrible danger.”
Matthew didn’t bother disagreeing. “You’ve gone to the authorities,” he said, even though he knew the answer.
“I can’t. I’d have to tell them the whole story. Implicate Mia—”
“Implicate yourself.”
The colonel didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. After a minute, Matthew nodded.
“I see your problem, colonel, but I don’t understand how you think I can help.”
“You can find her.”
“That’s out of the question.”
“You know this country.”
Matthew narrowed his eyes. “And you seem to know a lot about me.”
Instead of answering, Hamilton took a photograph from his breast pocket and pushed it across the table.
“This is Mia.”
Reluctantly Matthew picked up the photo and looked at it. He’d expected the colonel’s fiancée to be attractive. A man like this wouldn’t have a woman who wasn’t, but Mia Palmieri had the kind of face and body that inspired painters and sculptors.
The picture had been taken on the beach on a day windy enough to have tossed her dark curls into a sexy mane and plastered her tank top to her high, rounded breasts. She wore shorts that showed off a pair of endless legs. Her eyes were wide and dark, her cheekbones sharp enough to etch glass, and her mouth…
Her mouth was made for sin.
A curl of desire knotted in Matthew’s belly. It caught him by surprise.
“She’s very attractive.”
“She’s beautiful,” Hamilton said thickly. “More than beautiful. She’s everything a man could want…and I want her back.”
“Go to the authorities.”
“I just told you—”
“You can’t. Yes. You did tell me. And I’m telling you—”
“She’s involved with the Rosario cartel. Does that name mean anything to you, Mr. Knight?”
