“A notorious drug lord,” John said, surprising them. “Speaking of which, guess who bought our purebred bulls at the private sale?”
Cole stared at him. “The drug lord?”
“The same. Dunn Marlowe said the man had never committed a crime in the States, not even a parking ticket, so he can’t arrest him. He sure wanted to, if I’m any judge of men. I expect he and Velasquez have a history.”
“Probably a good guess,” Cole said. “But the man was outraged about the bulls being used to transport drugs. He wasn’t putting on an act, either. He was furious. That doesn’t sound like a drug lord to me.”
“Well, Tony Garza doesn’t sound like a notorious mob boss, either, now does he?” Heather said with a smile. “People can change. Maybe Josie affected the drug lord.”
“She sure affected me,” John said absently. “Listen, Precious hasn’t been himself lately. I hate to ask, but could you guys keep an eye on him. Just in case?”
“I’ll get Bill Harvey up here,” Cole promised. “He loves snakes. He’ll check on Precious daily. Okay? How long you expect to be gone?”
“Until I’m kicked out or Josie will come back with me,” John replied doggedly.
“In that case,” Heather said, “I’ll get one of the guest rooms ready. Just in case. I knew she wasn’t a bad girl,” she added softly. “She had too much heart.”
“She sure was good to me,” JJ added.
“To all of us, sweetheart,” Heather said, hugging him.
“I’ll be back when I can,” John said. “Don’t rattle any of your Christmas presents while I’m gone,” he added, staring at all of them. “Some might be breakable.” He was looking straight at his dad.
“I never shake presents,” Cole said belligerently.
“You do so,” Heather said calmly. “Our first Christmas together, I’d given you a crystal mouse and you dropped it while you were shaking it. Its poor little tail fell off.”
“And I glued it back on,” he replied with a warm, soft smile.
“Yes, you did,” she said, and replied with a warm smile of her own.
John was always amazed at the way they were together, even after years of marriage. He hoped for that same feeling in his own marriage. In fact, he had marriage in mind. His infatuation with his sister-in-law Stasia, which had persisted for years, had finally faded into the past with Josie’s explosion into his life. She was all he thought about now. She consumed him. Maybe love took time. Maybe it took a broken heart to make way for it. Whatever the reason, he was going to Mexico to get his girl and bring her home. He could hardly wait.
There was a commotion outside Josie’s room. Heavy footsteps, voices, one deep and slow, one welcoming. At least it didn’tsound like bloodshed. Josie couldn’t decide why she thought of that until the door opened and John Everett strode in.
She knew her mouth was open as the door closed discreetly behind him. “John...?” she exclaimed. “But how did you find me?”
He moved to the side of the bed and just stared down at her. No makeup, her hair tousled and wild like a red-gold mane, her pale eyes wide and hungry on his face.
“You look terrible,” he said, his voice taut with feeling as he recalled what he’d been told about her wound and how deadly it had been. “But at least you’re still alive.”
“Listen, I lied to you,” she managed weakly.
He held up a hand. “None of that matters.” He pulled her ID and her cell phone out of his jacket and handed them to her. “Marlowe sends his regards.”
Her lips parted. “Oh.” She put the things on her bedside table. “I guess he told you everything, huh?”
“Less a few minor details,” he replied, sitting down in the chair by her bed. “Like the fact that your so-called boss bought our purebred bulls. Oh, and that one of the senior DEA agents is related to Velasquez, as well as a few high government officials down here.”
She laughed softly. “You might not believe it, but some of those things came as a surprise to me, too. I thought Señor Velasquez was just a mid-level manager. I had no idea who he really was.”
“None of us did, except Marlowe. Some really bad blood there.”
She nodded, her eyes hungry on his face. “Why did you come?”
“To take you home, as soon as you’re fit to travel. I brought the plane.”
She blinked. “Home?”
