Fat Louise (2 page)

“Which one?” he asked in confusion.
 

“If I can only get one out alive, which one do you want it to be?” Cade gave a hard sigh yet stared at him pitilessly. “In other words, if I’m in hot water and both are drowning, and I can save only one, which one do you want me to save?”
 

Benedict felt his heart rip in two at the choice he was being asked to make. No parent ever wanted to make the decision the cold-hearted bastard was asking of him. Staring back at Reed’s unforgiving face, he felt his shoulders drop in defeat as he came to a decision he didn’t really want to make.
 

“Bailey. She couldn’t make it on her own. Jane’s a strong swimmer; she would stand a better chance of surviving.” Benedict left the bar with tears clogging his throat, restraining himself from going back inside and changing his answer. Jane was strong—she wouldn’t drown—and he was putting his faith in Cade Reed. George had said he was the best mercenary in the business.
 

He paused, sucking in a deep breath to calm himself.
 

Jane’s image came to mind—her sweet smile and how she was constantly trying to make everyone happy. It wouldn’t be as easy as Cade thought to leave his eldest daughter behind.
 

When he had divorced his first wife, he had thought it would be easy to leave; however, his love for Jane hadn’t disappeared or lessened with her absence. Instead, it had grown stronger. He had eventually caved in to his ex-wife’s vindictive demands just to spend an occasional weekend
with Jane.
 

Benedict had to tell himself both of his daughters would survive; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to board the plane home to a woman he had long ago stopped caring about.
 

He’d had Jane when he was eighteen and Bailey when he was twenty-one. He had stuck this marriage out because he wasn’t about to lose another daughter to divorce. With Bailey gone, his marriage was fast approaching the end.
 

The only way he was able to leave was knowing Cade wouldn’t have an easy time abandoning Jane.
 

His mouth quirked in the beginning of a smile. Cade was about to meet a woman hard to resist. In fact, Benedict found a new worry—that he might not be able to get her back from Cade once he realized how special she was.
 

Chapter 1
 

Jane hid behind one of the large SUVs that had been stolen at a roadblock and was now being used to either transport drugs or young women.
 

Her mouth tightened into a grim line. The men were nothing but rapists, using the women as sex slaves. They sickened Jane. The thought of her sister being married to one made her want to shake Bailey the minute she managed to find her. As she waited for the bus, her thoughts went back to how she had managed to get herself into a predicament that rivaled the night Sex Piston’s beauty shop had been robbed. At least that fiasco had been over in a matter of hours; this hare-brained scheme of hers seemed to be lasting forever.
 

When Bailey had told them she was going to Peñuela, she had tossed her parents’ and Jane’s warnings away, as if they hadn’t known what they were talking about. Now she was trapped, and Jane had foolishly sneaked in to attempt a rescue.
 

It hadn’t taken her long to regret her impetuous decision to try to save her sister. If she hadn’t managed to catch a few lucky breaks, she would have already returned to her small apartment in the safety of the town her father lived in.
 

About a week before, she entered Mexico and managed to latch on to John and Sandra Terrell, who were trying to get their son back—the son had come down on vacation and never returned. Instead, the parents had received a call demanding a ransom.
 

John was ex-military and was attempting to go into Mexico to save their son. Jane met them at the hotel where she was staying and joined them during dinner. When they found out why she was going to Mexico, they quickly tried to dissuade her. Seeing that she wasn’t going to give up, they attempted to help her by John including her in his plans. It was dangerous, but it just might
work. At least it was better than what she had planned—heading straight to Peñuela and demanding to see Bailey.
 

Sandra remained behind, giving Jane the chance to enter Mexico unnoticed. John and Jane crossed the border with her pretending to be his wife. The guards didn’t even blink at the identification she had presented to them after she slipped them a handful of cash to ignore the lack of similarities between her and the picture.
 

Once across the border, they were staying in the same hotel John’s son had used when they were dragged out of their room in the middle of the night. John was taken away in a heavily armed Jeep, while Jane was escorted to a small house that contained several other women.
 

The three days she was forced to spend there were horrifying. She repeatedly witnessed women being dragged out after men came in and surveyed them.
 

She was about to lose hope when the door was thrust open, and John appeared in the doorway. She quickly stood, moving toward him and remaining silent as fear screamed through her veins. After she followed John to the same Jeep they had left in three days ago, they climbed in and took off.
 

Inside the Jeep, a man dressed in military fatigues was driving while another stood in the rear with a rifle. John sat in the front seat next to the driver, and a tanned man she knew to be John’s son from the many pictures Sandra had shown her sat next to her.
 

They were heading back to the border, and while her nerves were relieved to be going home, her anxiety rose as she realized she was leaving her sister behind.
 

After they left the city, John reached for a canteen of water, handing it to her in the backseat. She took a long drink of the warm water then offered it to John’s son, only to receive a shake of his head.
 

When she reached forward to hand it back to John, he took it and smashed it down on the head of the driver. The Jeep lost control as the driver spun out, trying to hang on to the steering wheel John was attempting to wrench from his control.
 

Jane clung to the seat in front of her for dear life, terrified she would be thrown out.
 

As the fighter behind her loosened his hold on the Jeep, bringing his weapon up to fire, Jane saw John’s son reach back and push the guard out of the back of the careening vehicle. Just as the yell sounded from the falling man, the driver managed to bring the Jeep to a stop and then fought with John in the front seat. Jane watched as John’s son leaned forward, putting the fighter in a chokehold from behind until he stopped moving.
 

“John!” Jane screamed, seeing the man who had fallen out of the back running toward them.
 

John reached over to the opposite side of the driver, pulling his weapon free. With one smooth move, he twisted in his seat bringing the pistol up.  John aimed to miss his son and fired, several pops came from the pistol, and the fighter fell to the ground.
 

Everyone sat frozen for several seconds before John and his son jumped from their seats.
 

“Hurry, Jane. We don’t have long.” The men pulled the dead driver from his seat, taking off his clothes. Jane couldn’t understand what they were doing. “Get your clothes off. I’ll stash them in my backpack,” John ordered.
 

The urgency John showed didn’t give her time to feel shy about disrobing in front of the men. Taking off her clothes, she threw them aside before pulling the khaki trousers up her hips. They were long on her yet not too bad. Her fingers trembled so badly she barely managed to lace up the boots they threw toward the pile of clothes laying on the ground. Grabbing the large shirt, she quickly buttoned it closed. The last part was the cap, which she clumsily put on.
 

“Try to hide your face as much as possible,” John said, studying her critically.
 

John’s son went to the dead guard lying on the ground next to the one John had shot. He picked up the gun and handed it to Jane along with the canteen.
 

“Do you know how to shoot?”
 

“No,” she said, holding it cautiously. John took it from her, giving her a series of instructions she knew she wouldn’t be able to remember.
 

“I tried to find out what I could about your sister. As far as I could piece together, you might still be able to find her in Peñuela. This is as far as Matthew and I can go, though. We’re getting our asses out of here. Do you want to come with us?” He handed her the backpack he had stuffed her clothes into.
 

“I have to try,” Jane said softly. She was unbelievably scared. She wanted to cling to the safety of the two men, but she couldn’t leave without Bailey. If John had been successful, maybe she stood a chance, as well.
 

“I can’t leave the Jeep. Besides, you’ll have an easier time passing unnoticed if you try to fit in. Not too many will try to confront you in the clothes you’re wearing,” John said apologetically.
 

“I understand.”
 

Matthew climbed into the Jeep. “Dad, we have to go before someone comes along and finds us.”
 

“Good luck.” With that, John climbed into the vehicle without a backward glance.
 

“You, too.” The two men didn’t hear her response as they took off, leaving her alone in a cloud of dust.
 

She took buses during the day, ignoring the wary looks others gave her. Finding somewhere to hide that night, her luck held out, and no one recognized her as a woman. The next morning,
she put dirt on her face and hands to disguise her features, and thanks to the many hours she had spent in Spanish class, she was able to pass through several cities without trouble. She also found a spot to bury the clothes that would identify her as a woman. If anyone decided to search the backpack she carried, the only thing they would find was an innocuous tube of medicine and some meal replacement bars.
 

Thankfully, the research to get prepared for finding her sister had clued her in on where to stay away from in her journey to Peñuela. Jane had heard that several areas in Mexico were dangerous, but she had no clue as to just how much until she was sitting at a small restaurant when a gun battle broke out on the sidewalk outside. She dove under her table with her hands over her ears until she heard the gunfire stop. Afterward, she almost lost the lunch she had just eaten when she saw the bodies lying in the street.
 

Over the next few days, she was on buses that were routinely checked by someone dressed in military garb who would often demand toll fees from everyone onboard before the vehicle was allowed to proceed.
 

Shaking herself out of her reverie, she saw the bus she had been waiting on slide to a stop. Casually, she walked out from her hiding place and stepped onto the bus, handing the driver the money to cover her fare before taking a seat toward the back.
 

Jane hunkered down in her seat, trying to go unnoticed on the crowded bus. If she stayed on this particular bus, it would take her to Córdoba. She would stay there until she could find a way to Peñuela.
 

A young woman on the seat next to her kept giving her curious looks. Usually, others would glance away when she caught them looking at her, but this woman didn’t. Jane was startled when she suddenly stood up, sliding into the seat next to her. Jane cast her a startled look, praying she
wouldn’t start flirting with her. It wouldn’t be the first time a young woman had, and Jane had felt uncomfortable rebuffing the women when it happened.
 

“You have family in Córdoba?”
 

“No.” Jane lowered her voice, trying to sound masculine.
 

The woman was dark-haired and beautiful. Jane would never be able to compete with her in the beauty department, even when she was dressed as a woman in her tightest leather outfit.
 

“My name is Carina.”
 

Jane remained quiet, hoping her silence would drive her away. Instead, she began talking about her family in Ciudad Valles before speaking of her own life. “I work in a bar in Córdoba.”
 

Jane wondered frantically why Carina kept divulging so much information about herself. The woman had to be aware of the danger she was putting herself in.
 

“I deal with men every day. They have certain habits that are hard to hide.” Jane stiffened, looking at the woman out of the corner of her eye. “Men do not cross their legs.”
 

Jane hastily uncrossed hers.
 

“Why are you pretending to be a man?” Jane saw no malice in her face, only curiosity.
 

“I thought it would be safer,” Jane answered quietly, trying to keep her voice lowered so no one else could hear.
 

“Possibly. On the other hand, it could be even more dangerous if another man wants to challenge you.”
 

“I’d rather take my chances with a gun battle than be kidnapped and raped.”
 

Carina’s eyes darkened. “I see you have been listening to all the gossip about Mexico in United Sates.”
 

Jane felt ashamed of herself. She didn’t want to assume the worst, but witnessing the captive
women and her knowledge of Bailey’s confinement had her on her guard.
 

“I’m sorry.”
 

“Don’t be. It is dangerous; however, as long as you’re cautious, you will be safe. If you’re so concerned for your safety, why are you traveling alone and going to Córdoba?”