Harper felt an unwanted tug at her heart. She tried to tell herself it didn’t matter what Chase did or didn’t do. The problems they faced were just too much to overcome.
She grabbed her friend’s hand. “Come on. I’ve got a lot to tell you. It’s going to take a while.”
Shana cast a last glance at Maddox, clearly enjoying the view, then a glance at Chase, sizing him up and maybe sending him a warning.
She turned back to Harper. “I love a good story.” She smiled. “I can’t wait to hear it.”
Eduardo Ramos stood in front of the massive oak desk in his employer’s study. The report he had given Montoya had thrown the man into a blinding rage. His meaty hand slammed down on top of the desk.
“You said you could handle it! You told me it would only take a few more days! I want the Winston girl! I want her father to pay!” He ground his teeth together, making his lower jaw stick out. “This is my country. No one goes against Luis Montoya without paying the consequences. Not Knox Winston. No one!”
Behind his back, Eduardo clenched his hand into a fist, working hard to maintain his highly prized control. He did not appreciate being scolded like a schoolboy. If it weren’t for the obscene amount of money he’d amassed through his work for Montoya, the man would have been dead long ago.
“A problem came up,” Eduardo explained. “The men ran into unexpected interference. Some of them paid for their mistake with their lives.”
Montoya grunted. “Good riddance. I will not tolerate incompetence. I will see the rest of them dead if they fail me again.” He rose from his chair. “Since you assured me you could take care of this, I expect you to do exactly that. You will travel to Texas. You will find the girl and bring her back to me.”
Eduardo had been expecting this, in a way looking forward to it. He had always enjoyed a challenge. “It will take some time and require more men.”
“I don’t care if it takes an army! The girl killed my cousin. Family honor alone requires retribution.”
“Sí, mi jefe.You are right, of course.”
“Do not come back without her. If you fail, do not bother to come back at all.”
Eduardo made a curt bow of his head, turned and walked out of the study, closing the door softly behind him. Once he arrived in Texas, he would meet with his lieutenant, Roberto Chavez. Chavez had survived the encounter, but failed to deliver the girl.
The young man was undoubtedly fearful. He understood what failure meant to Luis Montoya. Chavez would do Eduardo’s bidding. He would hire the extra men they needed and assemble the weapons they would require while Eduardo located the girl.
He would take a commercial flight to Texas, first-class, of course, but charter a jet for his return to Colombia. Easy to board with their unwilling cargo and few questions asked. Easy to get through customs after they landed in Santa Marta.
When he produced the Winston girl at the villa, he would be a hero in his employer’s eyes. Montoya rewarded loyalty and success with amazing amounts of money.
In the drug business, the vast sums acquired were endless. That kind of money made up for the occasional abuse he suffered at his boss’s hands. Eventually he would have enough to deal with Montoya, retire from the business and live the life of wealth and privilege he had earned after all these years.
Eduardo thought of his upcoming journey and smiled.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Flames licked the grate in the gas fireplace built into the wall of Chase’s study. Propped against a pillow, he rested on the sofa, his mind running over the meeting he needed to have with Knox Winston.
He’d call him, try to set up a mutually agreeable location for the meet. Earlier he’d called Mindy and sent her on an errand. Sometime during the car chase and shoot-out, he had lost his iPhone. Wherever it was, it no longer worked. He had pinged it, trying to track its location, but no luck. Probably crushed into a thousand pieces on a Dallas city street.
Fortunately, he’d downloaded his contact list onto his office computer. Mindy had replaced his old iPhone with the newest model, then loaded his contacts before she brought it over. Chase smiled. The girl was becoming an essential member of the Maximum Security crew.
Sitting on the coffee table, the phone began to play the Brad Paisley country song Mindy had set up as his ringtone, “Mud on the Tires.”
Hissing at a slice of pain, he reached for it and saw Bran’s name on the screen. “Everything okay?” he asked.
“Hey, bro, what the hell? You’re supposed to be in the hospital. Are you okay?”
Wishing he could take another pain pill but unwilling to numb his brain along with his body, Chase just grunted. “Okay enough.”
“When I couldn’t reach you, I called Maddox. He’s with you and Harper, right? At your condo?”
“He’s here. We’re all safe.”For the time being.“What about Michael?”
“He’s fine. Pia’s here. She came back with him from Miami. Long story.”
