During the brief silence, I was sure his head was exploding. "You went to Mexico with Noel?"
"No. I came down by myself to get answers about Noel. He followed me down to drag me home.” I figured Bran would like that part. “Some pirate guy is out to get him and had him arrested. I want to see Noel, and I need you to help me do that. I know you have lots of questions and I'm going to answer them all for you. I might even let you put a guard on me for the rest of my life. But right now, I need to get in to see him. Can you help me?"
In the background I heard movement, which likely meant Bran was getting up, grabbing his coat, and heading out. It was all right with me if he came down here, but I wasn't going to wait that long. He needed to use the phone and his powers of persuasion to get lawyers, someone from the embassy, the pope, God, or anyone to help me.
"Are you sure these charges are bogus?" he asked.
"Absolutely. Whatever Noel has done in the past that might be questionable, it’s never involved in trafficking." I didn’t know that for sure, except having known Noel, I didn’t see it. A man who loved Mo like he did wouldn’t traffic people.
"Please tell me, Harper, you're not mixed up in the cartel."
He knew about Noel’s past work?
Of course, he did. Although, why would he have hired his company to guard me when I had a stalker if he knew they’d worked for a cartel?
Bran continued. "Noel’s company once worked for one down there. He assured me he's out, but —"
"I've only been at my hotel and now at the jail. Please Bran, I'm begging you."
"I'm getting on the plane and flying down, but I will have a team of lawyers to you ASAP. I’ll also give a call to our senator and see if there's any pressure that can be put on the local authorities."
That was exactly what I needed to hear. "Thank you, Bran."
"I assume Archer knows about all this."
"Yes."
I suspected Bran would still call Archer, but at this point I didn't care what else he did as long as he got help so I could get in to see Noel.
Twenty minutes later four well-dressed, fortyish-year-old men strode up to the jail.
"Ms. Erickson?" one of the men asked me.
"I’m Ms. Erickson." I was so eager for help, I didn’t pause soon enough to consider whether these men were sent by Bran, or perhaps the pirate. I’d revealed who I was already, so it was too late.
It turned out, three of the men were lawyers and one was a retired judge, all of them sent by my brother. The fact that there were so many, and one was a judge, I hoped that not only would I see Noel, but that he could be freed. The authorities couldn’t have proof he’d trafficked, so they had nothing to hold him on.
We entered the building and when the woman saw me, she rolled her eyes. When she saw the lawyers and the judge she looked annoyed. They started talking in Spanish, which unfortunately I didn't know well enough to keep track of what they were saying.
Finally, the judge turned to me with sympathetic eyes. "She says the rule is only family members are allowed in. Are you related to the prisoner?"
I gave her a quick glare because she hadn't told me only relatives were allowed. But of course, it wouldn't have mattered because Noel and I weren’t related. But then I remembered the baby. I might not be related to Noel, but the baby growing inside me was. Would that be enough to get me in?
"I'm pregnant with his child. Surely that counts."
The judge said something to the woman, who, with a reluctant expression, picked up the phone and made a call. A few minutes later, the door on the other side of the room buzzed.
"You can go in, but you only have fifteen minutes," the judge said.
I wanted to ask them to come with me because my nerves were now in full on panic mode at the prospect of entering the locked part of the jail.
"He needs a team of lawyers. Please help him."
The judge put his hand on my shoulder. "We're working on freeing Mr. St. Martin. We'll do our job. You go see him."
"Aren't you going to talk to him?" Weren’t prisoners allowed to talk to their lawyers?
"The cartel is like the mob in America. In some places, they have long tentacles.” The retired judge glanced briefly toward the guards. “Some even extend into the justice system. I'll be honest, it's possible that our being here could be bad news for him."