AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Carlos. Take care of my sister,” he said solemnly.
“I will. Just make sure that son of a bitch never comes near her again.”
Carlos closed the door. “He’s going to be fine,” he said to me, continuing to speak in English. He lifted his arm as if he wanted to touch me, but dropped it before he did. “But you need to get him to a doctor to properly tend to the wound.”
“Thank you,” I said, chest tightening.
“I have to go back with father. If I don’t, I’ll have no way of knowing what he’s doing.” He paused, remorse filling his eyes. “I’m sorry I let it get this far. I’ve tried to protect you from him. I failed this time.”
“No, you didn’t. I’m not on that plane.”
Carlos snorted, picked up Stone’s hat off the ground, and held it out to me. “Before we left your apartment, I called my phone with your phone so I could text these coordinates to it. Just in case someone looked for you.” He roughed his hands through his hair. “I’d very much like the chance to know you if you’d let me. Call that number any time, day or night.”
I held out his gun, hesitating before I released it. “I’d like to know you too.”
“I’ll speak to you soon.”
“Soon.”
After one last look, he rounded the back of the truck and secured me in the driver’s seat. Carlos nodded, then walked toward the hangar.
I started the truck, adjusted the seat forward so I could reach the pedals, and put it in drive. The sound of a plane engine roared to life behind me. I glanced in the rearview mirror to see it crawling from the hangar. As I swerved around my car and the General’s SUV to head back down the dirt road, dread filled me at the sight of my father escaping to safety as the plane lifted off. There was nothing I could do about that now, and I had to get help for Stone. When I reached the main road, I realized I had no idea where we were or where to go. And then I saw three SUVs speeding toward us.
“For the middle of nowhere, there certainly is a lot of activity,” I said, looking over at Stone. His eyes were closed, but they blinked open at the strain in my voice.
“Must be the security team.”
The first SUV squealed to a stop blocking my way, and the back passenger door popped open.
“Daniel’s men? I thought the panic button didn’t work.”
“There were some streets blocked off and they had a hard time getting around. We told them to come here.” Stone’s voice was gritty, even as he tried to hide his pain.
Cautiously a man approached our truck as one remained positioned near their dark SUV. I cracked the window.
“Miss Morales, are you all right?”
If I was supposed to be surprised the man knew me, I wasn’t. Daniel didn’t leave details to chance. They probably knew more about me than I did myself.
“Fine. Thank you for coming.”
“I apologize ma’am for not arriving sooner.” His slight Southern accent was overshadowed by the no-nonsense tone. “Where is Calderón?”
I pointed toward the sky. “Gone.” The man’s mouth pinched in the corner. “If you don’t mind, we need to be on our way. Mr. Jacobs has been shot.”
The only indication he’d registered my words was a raised eyebrow. Then he gave me a sharp nod and motioned for the driver of the SUV to unblock our path. “Some of us will stay here to secure the other vehicles and the scene, ma’am. The rest will escort you wherever you need to go.”
I maneuvered onto the road, heading back the direction the security team had come from.
“Do you have a phone I could easily access?” I asked Stone once I reached cruising speed.
“Yours is in the cupholder.”
I picked it up and dialed.
“Muriella?” Daniel answered hoarsely. It sounded as if he’d swallowed a handful of sand, and I ached at his worry.
“It’s me, Daniel.”
