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“Love her. And you’re worried about her. I know.” Matt shoved him back to the mattress, as if the guy knew he got dizzy and queasy every time he stood. “But you can’t help her if you don’t heal first.”
Trees cursed the limits of his body. “I also can’t help her if Victor kills her.”
“Given what I saw, he’s not going to.”
Trees hoped not, but the asshole sure could make Laila wish he had. That’s what worried him most. “How much fucking longer am I going to feel like shit?”
“I’m not a doctor and my Spanish sucks, but I’m pretty sure he said twenty-four hours. It’s been more like six. You’ll have to at least wait until morning.”
No. Fuck no. According to Matt, Victor had dragged her away from his prone form by her hair, and Trees could only imagine all the awful things that monster could do to her overnight. “It can’t. Get that quack back here and make him give me something for this fucking headache so I can go and—”
“You have a concussion. You need to rest. If I get the ‘quack’ back here, it will be to give you a sedative so your body has time to heal. Jesus…” He sighed, sliding the cowboy hat back on his head.
Trees wanted to bat the Stetson off and punch the bastard, but Matt had saved his life. And he probably wasn’t wrong. Still… “I’m losing my fucking mind worrying about her.”
“I know you think she’s a tiny thing who’s no match for Victor. But she made it six years with him. If he wanted her dead, she’d be dead.”
“Is it supposed to be better that he just wants to rape her?”
“No. There’s no good answer right now. But if you run to her rescue when you’re not up to the fight, then Victor will kill you…and she might be under his thumb forever.”
Trees tried to stifle his frustration. He heard Matt’s logic. He didn’t even disagree. Well, he wouldn’t if he wasn’t so fucking worried about Laila. Goddamn it. “Has anyone heard anything from her?”
“Let me check in.”
Matt disappeared down the hall with his phone, leaving Trees to pant against his pillow, feeling clammy and weak. He stared at the yellowing industrial ceiling, lamenting that the stitches in his ribs where the bullet had grazed him and the others at his crown where he’d fallen back on his head itched like hell. At least Matt had shot the son of a bitch coming at him with a blowtorch between the eyes, then dragged him to safety. Trees was grateful for that. He’d just be a helluva lot less agitated if he was already on the road finding Laila.
As much as he wanted to hop to his feet and track her down, he couldn’t even take a shower right now without his head throbbing and his stomach pitching.
Unfortunately, lying here for hours gave him nothing better to do than imagine all the ways she was suffering.
Matt returned a few minutes later, clutching his phone. “Good news. Laila reached out to Valeria via a gaming app.”
She must have gotten her hands on Victor’s phone. Laila might be a little thing, but she was crafty. She was a survivor. Hope buoyed him. “And?”
“She’s in one piece.”
“Does Valeria know where she is?” If it wasn’t too far, maybe he could muster the energy to jump in their rental and take off after her. After all, if he played this right, his gun would do most of the job. It wasn’t as if the world, especially Laila, would miss Victor.
“No.”
And there went his fucking hope.
“Even Laila doesn’t know where she is, except in a motel southwest of La Pesca.” Matt shrugged. “Sorry.”
At least he had a clue to start with. Trees grabbed his phone and launched his map app.
Matt yanked the device from his hands. “No electronics for now, remember?”
It took most of his strength, but Trees lurched up and snatched it back. “This is fucking imperative. Life-or-death shit. My head will recover. I don’t know if the same can be said of Laila if we don’t go after her.”
“I’ll look for you.” He pinched and flared his fingers along the screen, scrolling up, then down, before finally settling on an area. “There are a few villages she could be in. I’d have to do more research to narrow it down. That will take time.”
“Hurry. A lot of those villages will be so small they won’t even have a motel, so we can rule them out.”
“Sure. I’ll have something by morning. What do you want to eat?”
“Fuck food. And fuck you. Let’s figure out where she is. I have the rest of my life to eat.”
“You have to fill your tank.”
Trees huffed because Matt clearly wasn’t listening. “I won’t care if I don’t find her soon.”
The other guy sighed and plucked off his cowboy hat. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a stubborn motherfucker?”
“Zy mentions that all the time.” His mother used to tell him that, too. Said he was a lot like his father. Once, that had made him smile.
Trees shoved the thought away. He couldn’t afford this stroll down memory lane while Laila hung in the balance.
“I’m not shocked. I’ll get on this and find some food. You’re not going to get far in your rescue attempt if you don’t eat.”
If wolfing down a sandwich would make Matt finally shut the fuck up? “Fine.”
“Good.” Matt’s phone dinged and he glanced down at the device. “Valeria just heard from Laila again. She asked for your email address. Why would she want that?”
Trees wasn’t sure. Maybe she’d found a way to send him a map of her location or her surroundings… Whatever it was, he’d take any help finding her.
“Give her this address.” He rattled off one that downloaded to his phone. Whatever she sent, he needed to see it as soon as possible.
“Roger that.” He texted the address. “Let’s focus on food until we hear something.”
The audible swoop told Trees the information was on its first leg to reaching Laila. Anticipation gripped him.
An hour passed. Then two. Food came and went. They focused their conversation on the villages southwest of La Pesca. There weren’t many, and even fewer with lodgings. They were discussing the merits of two different ones when Matt sighed and stood from the nearby desk. “How do we know any of this is right? It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
Matt wasn’t wrong, but… “I’m not giving up.”
“You’ve made that clear, buddy.” Matt sounded exhausted.
