“Any cop. That’s rule number one.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
She rolled her eyes. “You two are hopeless. But we’re in this together. I’ll meet you out front at three.”
“Why so early?” Esteban complained.
“Because it’s a long drive to Memphis, and I want to be there and get the deal made before Beau could catch up to us.”
“How?” Rafael asked. “How will you sneak out without him knowing? Cops have a sixth sense about these things. He’ll probably wake up the second you open the door.”
Her heart heavy, she said, “Leave that to me.”
Chapter Nineteen
Beau came awake with a start, surprised to see daylight seeping in through the window blinds. It definitely wasn’t dawn. He’d overslept by at least an hour, judging by the light. He sat up, then groaned and lay back down. The room seemed to be spinning around him. He was light-headed, dizzy. He closed his eyes and drew slow deep breaths. What the heck was wrong with him?
“Sierra?” He reached out toward her, but his fingers only touched air. “Sierra?”
He opened his eyes, wincing at the still-spinning room. The bed was empty. The bathroom—she must be in the bathroom, probably mad as a hornet that he’d overslept. He smiled at the anticipation of seeing her eyes narrow and her hair bouncing around her shoulders as she yelled at him in a mixture of English and Spanish.
Wait. Her brothers were supposed to meet them here at dawn. Was everyone in the living room, letting him sleep? They were wasting time. Including the hour it would take just to reach Chattanooga from Mystic Lake, it would take nearly seven hours to drive to their father’s home on the outskirts of Memphis. He’d mapped out the route last night. They should have been on the road long before now.
He threw back the covers and swung his legs over the side, groaning when a bout of nausea had him breathing fast and hard. When he finally felt like he could move without throwing up, he opened his eyes. The room wasn’t spinning anymore. But he still felt like hell. What was going on?
It wasn’t like he’d stayed up late partying and drinking. Well, he’d had one drink. Sierra had brought it in when she came to bed and… His gaze flew to the nightstand. There was his drink, or what was left of it. And sitting beside it was a note.
His stomach sank with dread even before he read it. He already knew what it would say.
Beau, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. Or at least understand. I care about you too much to let you risk your life in this mess my brother created. No, not my brother, my father. This is his fault. He’s an evil man to have taken away the precious gift that my mother was. I couldn’t bear it if he took you away too. I’m so, so sorry I ever dragged you into this. But now I’m getting you out.
I put a little allergy medicine in your drink last night to make you sleep. Drink water and take a hot shower to help you feel better in the morning. I didn’t see any other way to keep you safe. Please don’t follow us to Memphis. We’re leaving at three, so obviously we’ll have a huge head start. By the time you get there, it will all be over. I’m almost positive I know exactly where my mom would have hidden the evidence in the library. I know her favorite books, and there’s an inspirational poetry volume she loved calledSafe and Secure. Pretty obvious, right? I think she did that on purpose, put that hint about safety and security in her journal in case things didn’t go as planned. Everything’s going to be okay. When I see you again, the bargain will be made, and we’ll all be safe.
Forgive me. Sierra.
Beau swore viciously and hurried to the bathroom, bumping into furniture as he went. He dropped to his knees in front of the toilet and shoved his finger down his throat, forcing himself tothrow up. A splash of water on his hair and face helped wake him up. After quickly taking care of his other needs and brushing his teeth, he threw his clothes on. A shower would have been great, as Sierra had recommended, but he didn’t have time to spare.
After grabbing a burner phone and his pistol and shoving an extra magazine in his pocket, he jogged into the living room. As soon as he reached it, he stopped. They’d left at three. He didn’t even have a car, just the boat tied up at the dock. And Mystic Lake was landlocked. The boat was useless.
Think, dang it. Think.How could he get to Memphis in time to keep those three fools from getting themselves killed? He thought about calling the Memphis police, but quickly discarded that idea. Getting police involved would mean there’d be no way to make that bargain with Michael Covington. Without that bargain, they were as good as dead. How could he get there in time to stop them?
A commercial flight could work, in theory. He quickly calculated in his mind the drive time to the airport, the duration of the flight. The math worked, but only if there was no traffic, no delays at the airport, a flight leaving just when he needed it, no lines at a car rental agency and no traffic around Memphis. And he wouldn’t be able to bring his gun. He shook his head. No way. Too many variables. Heck, he didn’t even have a car to get out of Mystic Lake to begin with. Nix the commercial flight idea. What else? How could he get there on time, or better yet, early enough to get the documentation and make the deal before Sierra and the others even arrived?
He blinked. Of course. That was it. He clawed for his cell phone and quickly punched in a familiar set of numbers.
The line clicked. “Mystic Lake Marina, Bobby speaking.”
“Bobby, it’s former Police Chief Beau Dawson. I need a favor.”
Sierra clutched thethick packet of papers to her chest and stepped out of her father’s office, closing the door behind her. She looked to her left at Rafael, then to her right at Esteban.
“We did it,” she whispered.
“We did,” Rafael agreed.
Esteban remained silent.
“Let’s get out of here before he calls his men to come to the mansion and they try to take the papers from us,” Rafael whispered. “We need to get it hidden before that can happen. That’s the only way the bargain we just made will keep us safe.” He led the way to the back hall where they would exit through the bolt-hole the same way they’d arrived.
