Page 51 of Fixed Asset

“Baby, I’m yours. You can do whatever you want to do to me.”

I didn’t need to contemplate how that made me feel.

Giddy. Happy. Powerful. To name a few.

But mostly it made my heart pound in my chest and my belly fill with the warmth of acceptance.

Chapter Fourteen

With Berta and two of her guards taking up the chairs in the living room, Aiden and Ryan sitting on the smaller couch, and Mason, Fallon, and Cat taking the larger sofa, Pete was perched on the armrest next to Fallon and I was on the one closest to Cat.

And Berta was speaking.

“They’re all safe and gone.”

Meaning the women and children had already been separated into families and moved out of Belize.

“Maria wanted me to thank you again for the teddy bears. The girls enjoyed them.”

Catarina tipped her head back and looked at me.

Surely she saw the girls holding the stuffed animals. Maybe she hadn’t realized they’d come from us. The eldest, at ten, was a little old for a teddy bear, but we didn’t want her to be left out. It was a small gesture, but even small, the girls had relaxed a little when we gave them the bears. We’d essentially kidnapped them, even if their mother had set it up to get herself and them away from an abusive home and give them a future they wouldn’t have in a country that was deadly to their well-being. Anything to help ease the commotion and uncertainty while their mother explained what was happening.

“We’re always happy to help,” Pete told her. “Before we let you get on with your day, we need to ask you about Derek Nicolson and Tom Washington.”

Berta’s expression didn’t change, nor did she prevaricate.

“Derek Nicolson is responsible for the torture and murder of an associate. Manuel was a good man, faithful to the cause. This Derek man came to La Esperanza to meet with Manuel. That night after they met, Manuel was killed in his home. Witnesses place Derek at Manuel’s home.”

The way Berta rapped out the information was testament to all she’d seen. There was no inflection, no sadness. Her tone was matter of fact—this was her life. Manuel wasn’t the first of her friends to be murdered, nor would he be her last.

“How do you know I asked Mr. Washington for this information?”

I waited for Pete to field this question, but Catarina got there first.

“Tom sent me here to find you and give you Derek’s location.”

That garnered a response from Berta. She sat a little straighter, and her gaze turned sharp. “Where is he?”

“Dead,” Pete supplied.

Berta’s attention went to Pete. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. He’s very dead and has been for some time.”

The woman almost looked crestfallen that the man she was after would not feel her vengeance.

“There is a moral dilemma I carry with me,” Berta softly began. “Spiritually with my Lencan ancestors, with the beliefs of my people. We are taught the value of our neighbors, the importance of these relationships. We hold reverence for the land, for the well-being and blessings we receive. To keep that balance we must live a life of morality, love purely. Without the ethical reciprocity, the land will die and the crops will fail. Our rivers will dry up. I fear in my quest to save my people, I am condemning them.

“My journey has always been the way of our warrior chief, Lempira. Only I don’t wish to fend off the Spaniards, I wish to kill every man who dares to break the spirit of our women. Who thinks it is his right to touch, violate, and murder them. I can only hope Ilanguipuca will take mercy on our people, and she will not punish the land for my transgressions.”

Berta paused a moment, jutted her chin in defiance, and finished. “I, however, will gladly accept my eternity in hell. Please send my sincerest gratitude to whomever sent Derek to his final resting place. One day, I will see him there. Until then, I have more work to do.”

With that, she stood and motioned her men to do the same.

“As for Mr. Washington, he is helpful when it benefits him, but I do not trust him.”

“Smart,” Pete muttered.