He laughed. “Because he told me so. Well, not in those words, but I know Noel well enough now to know.”
“It’s a strange way to show me.”
“You’re a danger to him and him to you if they believe he loves you. Trust me, Harper. Noel is in love. I do believe it’s a first for him. You’re going to have to be patient.”
There was a commotion outside my door. Archer rushed to it, his gun out as he opened the door.
“I hired you!” Bran yelled as Jose Luis had Bran pinned to the wall.
“He’s with us,” Archer said.
Jose Luis looked at me. “Is he okay, Ms. Erickson.”
I nodded. “Yeah. He’s okay.”
Bran rushed in and hugged me. “For a minute, I thought you might tell him I’m not okay.”
I held on to him. “At another time, I might have. But I’m glad you’re here.”
He leaned back and studied me. “Once this is over, I want to hear about everything. Including my niece or nephew.”
“Once this is over.”
I watched as the group of men continued to strategize and plan. Every now and then, a few would get on a phone or one would be on a computer. The best I could sort out, they were accessing personal information of Lupe and Bastion to gather evidence of their crimes.
“If they were that easy to investigate, wouldn’t the authorities already have what they need?” I asked Archer.
“We’re not looking for cartel crimes. Lupe was the one that transported the child to Noel, right? We’re looking for evidence of her getting custody and crossing the border. Finding something on Bastion is harder as he’s been listed as dead for over a year, but we know he saw you at the restaurant, so we’re trying to track his border crossing which would have been illegal as there’s no record of Bastion James entering the United States.”
Okay. I felt a little better about their efforts. I reminded myself that Archer was the expert. I had to trust him.
Thirty minutes later a takeout food order arrived and right behind it a sharply dressed woman who was introduced to me as Mayor Rivera arrived.
I watched them all as they solidified their plan, wanting to feel hopeful that Noel and Dax would be freed, but knowing that they were up against a foe that didn’t care about laws. They would burn down the world to get what they wanted, even if it burned them too.
As much as I was glad a plan was coming together, I also knew that when they executed it, Noel would be in more danger. Danger he would welcome and give his life for.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SEVEN
Noel
A waterfall of water doused me, jerking me awake from a semi-unconscious sleep. When Bastion learned I’d offered to fuck Lupe, he went bat shit crazy, beating me until I lost consciousness.
Now soaked in water, sweat and filth, I was awake although I couldn’t say I had all my mental faculties.
“Jesus, what the fuck happened to you?” Dax yelled from the next cell.
“Months of torture in a mud hole filled with spiders and snakes is what happened to me,” Bastion replied. “Wakey, wakey Noel. I’ve got a surprise for you.”
I didn’t reply. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of showing pain or fear. I wouldn’t beg for my life.
His goons hauled me up from the cot and set me on a chair, tying my arms down to my sides and legs to the chair legs. They brought in a table from the hall and Bastion, with his Dirk Dastardly smile pulled a car battery out of a bag.
Fuck. I was in a world of hurt.
“Hook these on him.” He handed his goons clips with wires. Then he bent over to look me in the eyes. “Good news. I’m going to make sure you can’t have any more children. I hear you don’t want the one you actually made.”
I bit back the rush of fear. The last thing I needed was for him to know how much I was afraid for Harper.