Belong to You (17 page)

Still frowning, Mike climbed out of the SUV and shut the vehicle door before heading toward the town hall building. It was dark but still early enough that the parking lot was almost empty. Wouldn’t be long before parking spaces would be difficult to find.

Unease had stayed with him all day and he couldn’t shake it off. That wasn’t like him and he wondered what was behind it. It couldn’t be the debate—he’d never had a problem with nerves and he found it easy to talk about things he was passionate about.

When he got inside the building, he went backstage and ran into Angel.

“Are you ready?” Angel adjusted his tie and stepped back to look at him. “I was proud of the boy you were and I’m so very proud of the man you turned out to be.”

Mike brought her into his arms and hugged her. “I think you’re pretty special too, Mom.”

Tingles slid down Mike’s spine and he knew someone was behind him. Not unpleasant tingles at all. He kissed Angel on top of her head then stepped back with a smile before looking over his shoulder to see Anna.

Damn, just seeing her made his heart jerk hard. She was beautiful as always, but today she looked drawn and like something heavy was on her mind.

Angel squeezed his hands, drawing his attention back to her. “I’ve got some things to take care of. Knock ’em dead.”

He gave her a grin. “Just for you.”

She smiled and walked into the growing mass of people backstage.

Mike looked at Anna again and moved toward her. She looked nervous. When he reached her, he ran his knuckles along her chin and she visibly shivered.

“Everything all right, honey?” He settled his palms on her upper arms. “Are you over your cold?”

“I’m still a little sick.” She put up her hands as if trying to keep some distance between them. “I don’t want you to come down with this, too.”

“Don’t worry about me.” He felt the heat of her body through her dress and wanted to press himself to her, wanted to feel her body against his.

She put her hands on his chest and pushed. “Please.”

A quality was in her tone that made him frown. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She shook her head then pursed her lips. After a brief hesitation, she added, “I really need to talk with you after the debate.”

He continued rubbing her arms through her dress sleeves. “I’ll take you out to dinner.”

She hesitated and he thought he saw longing in her eyes. “No. We need to talk someplace private.”

“All right.” He gave a slow nod, feeling a little puzzled. “We’ll make it happen.”

“Thanks.” She reached into a black leather case attached to a strap that hung from her shoulder. She pulled out some papers and handed them to him. “Some things for you to go over.”

He flipped through the pages then looked at Anna. Her gaze darted around the backstage that was growing denser and denser with the number of people. She went still and her features seemed pale.

When she looked back at Mike, she said, “I’ve got to go take care of a few things. I’ll see you after the debate.”

Before he could say anything, she was gone.

He’d never been one to feel so much uncertainty about something he cared deeply about, and he cared more for her than he was ready to admit.

Maybe he should admit it. Maybe he should tell her exactly what he thought and how he felt.

He was in love with her. Head over boot heels in love.

The thought caused his belly to pitch then settle. He felt a confidence about Anna that he’d never felt with anyone before. He couldn’t imagine anything she had to tell him that could possibly change anything between them. Nothing short of murder.

By the time the debate was ready to start, the town hall was crowded and it was standing room only. Mike nodded to people he knew as he walked onto the stage. He walked across the stage and stood behind one podium while Chad stood behind the other. Mike normally felt comfortable with public speaking. Today felt off somehow, but he was still confident that he would be able to handle anything that came his way.

Mike looked into the audience and saw friends and other people he’d had interactions with over the years. Anna was sitting to his far left, in a seat next to the outside aisle. Her gaze met his and he started to smile at her but she quickly looked away.

He managed to hold back a frown. She hadn’t returned his call today and they had only spoken briefly before he had to take the stage. Something was wrong beyond her having been sick for a few days. He had a hunch she was regretting their night and morning together.

Tonight, after the debate, he’d let her know how he felt about her. He wasn’t going to let her pull away from him, not when he was certain she was as crazy about him as he was about her. He had seen it in her eyes, felt it in her touches. It had not been just about sex between the two of them. It had been far more.

The moderator, Sybil Renfrew, a Prescott councilwoman, lobbed the first question at Chad when the debate officially started. Sybil was tough but professional and Mike respected her.

As the debate progressed, Chad’s expression grew more and more smug, making Mike wonder what the hell the man was up to. Chad claimed that the sheriff’s department budget was not being handled correctly, that the jail system was in trouble, and that crime was on the rise.

Mike easily refuted all of Chad’s accusations and in turn pointed out his opponent’s lack of experience in law enforcement and in handling budgets on the scale of the sheriff’s department.

When Sybil brought up the issue of illegal immigration, Chad’s expression went serious, as if he was loath to give the information he was about to deliver.

“I don’t want to mud sling, but it just isn’t right and the constituents of Yavapai County should know the truth about a serious matter.” He paused and hair prickled at Mike’s nape. Chad continued, “Sheriff McBride is dating a woman, Anna Batista, who lives with and supports two illegal immigrants from Mexico, her aunt and uncle.”

The room went totally silent and Mike’s mind reeled. What in the hell was Chad up to? Anna couldn’t—

Mike’s gaze locked on Anna and he saw everything written on her features. Horror and fear had immobilized her and her face had a shocked expression.

Chad went on with a serious look. “It was my duty as a law-abiding citizen to make authorities aware of their illegal status. U.S. Border Patrol agents should be at her home now and will be arresting her aunt and uncle then deporting them back to Mexico.”

Mike couldn’t take his eyes off of Anna as terror filled her expression. She hesitated only a moment before she got up from her seat and fled out of the town hall.

The hall was suddenly in an uproar, people standing and shouting, but their words were incoherent beneath the buzzing in Mike’s ears.

Chad continued, “Being the Yavapai County Sheriff requires someone with a strong awareness and the tenacity to take charge and make tough decisions when needed. That’s what I had to do today.”

“Sheriff,” Sybil’s voice broke through Mike’s shock and he turned his attention to her. The exclamations in the room died down. “What is your response to your opponent’s accusations?”

“I have no knowledge of the validity of Mr. Johnson’s claim.” But Mike had seen it on Anna’s face as clearly as if she’d said the words aloud. His mind was nearly numb as he continued, “My office will be conducting an investigation.”

Mike’s focus was shaken and he had to fight to gain control of his emotions, to push aside the pain of Anna’s deception and the shock of what was clearly the truth. It took everything he had to concentrate on the debate.

Afterward, he was besieged by reporters and constituents and he repeated over and over again that an investigation would take place immediately.

At the same time, he thought of the terror on Anna’s face and it was like an icepick to his heart. Whatever he would go through now, what she would be facing was far worse.

* * * * *

Nothing seemed real as Anna drove faster than she ever had in her life as she sped to her neighborhood. Fury over what Chad had done churned with the fear of what was happening at this very moment. How could he have done this? All in the name of making his opponent look bad, he didn’t care what lives he destroyed.

Damn that bastard! Damn him.

The moment she turned onto her street, she saw the flashing lights of Border Patrol and Prescott Police Department vehicles that were parked in front of her home.

Tires screeched as she brought the car to a hard stop in front of the house and hurried out of the vehicle. Not bothering to lock her door, she ran toward the front porch where her two young cousins were sitting on a step.

A police officer with a hard serious expression, who Anna recognized as Mike’s brother, John, stopped her in her tracks. “Do you live here, Ms. Batista?” he asked.

“Yes.” Tears burned at the backs of her eyes. “It’s my home.”

He gestured toward the children. “Are they yours?”

She looked at the kids who wore terrified expressions. “They are my cousins.”

“I’m Agent Davies,” a Border Patrol agent said as he cut in. “Are the children U.S. citizens?”

“Yes.” Anna nodded. “They were born and raised in Arizona.” She looked from the agent to John and back. “Please let me go to them.”

John gave a nod. “You can see the kids, but you’ll be taken in for questioning.”

Anna bit her lower lip and hurried past John McBride and Agent Davies, straight for Josie and Pablo. The kids got up and hurried down the stairs to meet her on the sidewalk, and both threw their arms around her as she swept them into her embrace.

Josie pointed toward the Border Patrol SUVs. Her voice cracked as she spoke. “Where are they taking Mamá and Papá?”

Anna whirled to look at the vehicles and saw Aunt Maria and Uncle Tito in the back of one of the SUVs. Maria had tears on her cheeks but Tito looked stony-faced.

If it wasn’t for the kids, Anna would have broken down. She wanted to sink to her knees on the sidewalk and cry. But her young cousins needed her now, needed her more than ever.

“We’ll figure this out.” Anna squeezed the kids with her arms around their shoulders as she looked from five-year-old Josie to eight-year-old Pablo, knowing the kids would be growing up far faster than they should have to.
“Ser fuerte para tus padres.”
She paused. “Promise?”

“Yes, I promise we will be strong for Mamá and Papá,” Pablo said, but his voice trembled.

Anna had to fight to keep her own voice steady. “I know you will.” She turned her attention to the SUV that her aunt and uncle were sitting in. Through the window, Aunt Maria’s gaze met Anna’s. A look of relief crossed Maria’s face. She was clearly relieved to see the kids with Anna.

With a knot in her throat, Anna sank to the bottom porch step, the kids to either side of her. She kept them close as her mind whirled. Within moments the SUV with her aunt and uncle was leaving. She blinked back tears as she watched the vehicle disappear around the corner.

She felt Josie shaking and she looked down to see the little girl’s body trembling as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I want Mamá.”

“I know.” Anna lifted Josie into her lap and rocked the little girl. “I will do everything I can, sweetheart.”

Deep inside, Anna knew there was nothing she could do to reunite the children with their parents while they were under eighteen years of age. That didn’t mean she would give up, but she would be fighting a losing battle unless laws changed. Her aunt and uncle would be deported and Pablo and Josie would never be allowed to go with their parents because the children had been born in the U.S.

The courts had determined that men and women crossing the borders illegally knew that they were taking a chance by allowing their children to be born in the U.S. The courts believed that the illegal aliens had made their choice so they must face the consequences.

What family would choose to be torn apart like this?

Anger rose up in Anna’s chest at Tito and Maria. When her aunt and uncle had entered the U.S., they had gambled the fate of their unborn children. A tear rolled down Anna’s cheek. Her aunt and uncle had taken a chance and it had just torn their family in two.

Anna held Pablo and Josie close to her, never wanting to let them go. Their family as they’d known it would be no more. Now Anna would have to fight to keep her cousins out of the foster system. She would do whatever was necessary to fight for custody so that she could raise the children herself.

Depending on what happened next, this could be her last chance to let the kids know how much she loved them.

Fighting to hold back tears, she swallowed as she kissed Josie’s head and then Pablo’s. “I love you,” she said to each of them. “Your mother and father love you, too. Never, ever forget that.”

Pablo continued to stare in the direction the SUV had gone with their parents. Josie buried her face against Anna’s blazer and sobbed.

An image of Mike came to Anna’s mind and the stunned expression he’d worn when his gaze had met hers in the town hall. She had never dreamed it would turn out the way it had, that Chad would set her up to use her against Mike in this way. If it had occurred to her in the slightest, she would have told Mike from the start.

The moment Chad had approached and threatened her, she should have moved her family. They could have been gone overnight, just taking what they needed. Mike wouldn’t have been hurt emotionally or professionally by her situation. She wouldn’t have betrayed him in the way she had.

Now there was nothing to be done for it but pick up the pieces and hope that Mike would one day find it in his heart to forgive her.

Chapter 20

Mike dragged his hand down his face as he leaned back in his office chair. The shitstorm that had come about after Chad’s big reveal during the debate hadn’t ended. It was a week after the debate and reporters and constituents still wanted to know how Mike hadn’t been aware of the situation.

He ground his teeth. It would be unfair to even toy with the notion of checking the background of anyone who looked to be of Hispanic descent. It was racial profiling and it would be wrong.