Loving a Bad Boy (42 page)

Julio had no qualms about removing Boots.
“Send the picture to my phone.” His mind ran wild with retaliation
scenarios for what he considered a breach of the highest order.
Boots would never leave this island again.

“
I just sent it. He
already knows about Boots, now he has a face to go with the info.”
Julio stood. “Let’s go to her house. There’s security there,
right?”

Tex stood and picked up his keys and laptop.
“Yeah, they rotate in and out, but have been watching her crib
since day one.”

Julio nodded, anxious to be on his way. The
two men drove in silence as they headed toward Bailey Town. The
roar of the ocean marked their passing. A constant breeze buffeted
his heated flesh. As they neared a driveway, Julio realized he had
indeed allowed the magic of the island to soothe him. Two men he
recognized from his previous trip, met the car and waved them in
through a gate. After parking, he and Tex went inside to search for
clues of Pam’s whereabouts. An hour later, they both accepted
defeat and left.

“
I wanna try one other
thing,” Tex said, pulling out of the driveway. “Tara told me about
this place. Said it was the highest point on all the islands.
Claims we could go to this old monastery, Hermi…Hermitage or
something like that, and look out over the entire island. We might
see something.”

“
By looking over the
island?” Julio was skeptical. “Over all these trees? You
serious?”

“
Yeah. Won’t hurt. What
else can we do? It’s too early to hit the restaurants or clubs. We
can start there, and then stop and ask everyone we see, as we
circle the island. But a panoramic view will give us a better
direction to go in.”

Julio slid in the front seat and waved for
Tex to drive. “Good to see you doing better.”

“
Yeah. Feels good to be
out doing something.”

Julio nodded and watched the terrain. Pam
was somewhere on this island and he planned to find her. Then
they’d have a long talk about leaving without telling him where she
was. Another conversation about back-up phone chargers. And then
he’d make love to her so hard, she wouldn’t be able to walk for a
day or so. He was pretty sure loving her would skip to the head of
the list.

The climb to the top of Mount Alvernia, or
Como Hill, depending on who you talked to, wasn’t a bad one. And
Tex had been right, you could see everywhere on the island and
beyond from that vantage point. Problem was, there was too much to
see. He was still clueless as to which direction to pursue.

“
Any ideas?” He asked Tex
in a clipped tone. They were wasting time up here when they could
be searching everywhere for Pam.

Tex pointed toward what appeared to be a
larger group of homes up the coast. “I think we should go in that
direction, spread out, and ask questions.”

“
And what questions would
you ask?”

Julio spun around, gun pointed at the
newcomer. “Who are you?”

Tex lowered his weapon. “Chill man, that’s
Pam’s old man. I told you he was quiet.”

“
Where’s Pam?” Julio’s gun
remained in his hand. His heart thumped against his rib cage in a
mad beat. Just knowing someone could sneak up on him like that, in
a rocky place, scared him shitless. Which pissed him
off.

The older man moved into the deserted
building and leaned against a wall. He wore a dark hoodie that hid
most of his head. The silence lengthened as each man weighed the
other.

“
Where’s Pam?” Julio
enunciated with a decided bite in his tone. Each second they stood
here playing games, was a second he wasn’t seeing or talking to
her. That was unacceptable on so many levels. He raised the gun
toward his future father-in-law’s head.

“
Is he always like this?”
The older man glanced at Tex.

Tex nodded, his gun loose in his hand. “Only
when it comes to Pam. He doesn’t listen to anybody when it comes to
her. Go ahead and tell him she’s okay.”

“
She’s okay,” Pam’s father
said, returning Julio’s stare.

“
Where? I need to see her
myself.”

“
And you would shoot me,
her father?”

“
You’d be surprised at all
I’d do for her. Now, quit bullshitting and tell me where she
is.”

“
She’s at my home.” He
turned to leave.

“
Wait!” Julio yelled,
running behind him.

He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

Julio’s chest heaved as he took a deep
breath. “Please, tell me how to find her. I just want to talk with
her.”

“
Someone else is looking
for her.”

Julio froze as a dark rage erupted from the
pit of his stomach so hot and heavy, his head thrummed from the
brunt of it. Despite the whipping winds on the peak, his body
heated beneath the force of his anger. Jaw clenched, he pointed a
finger at Pam’s father. “I swear I'ma kill that son-of-a-bitch if
he goes anywhere near her.”

Tex moved level with Julio, his gun still in
hand. “That dude from the patio still after her?”

Pam’s father nodded.

“
I should’a killed him
then.” Tex kicked a small rock.

“
I got this,” Julio said,
glancing at Tex.

“
Foreign country,” Tex
muttered low, but Julio heard.

“
I said…I got this,” he
reiterated, sending his second a hard look.

Tex threw up his hands and holstered his
weapon.

Pam’s father chuckled and looked at Tex. “I
see what you mean. He’s really like this.” He paused and looked
Julio in the eyes. “He’s right, if you a’proach Boots on his own
turf and kill him, you’ll go to jail.”

Julio shrugged. If he ever saw the inside of
a jail, Francisco would get him out. That much he knew.

“
Don’t be a fool!” the
older man snapped. “If you think he’ll fight you fair, he won’t. He
doesn’t know what that means. He knows we’re talkin’. I told him my
daughter was off limits and he’s mad. He won’t come after me, but
you? You, he’ll kill you in your sleep, make it look like an
accident or that you’re some green tourist.”

With each word, adrenaline pumped through
Julio. Never in his life had he wanted to hurt someone as bad as he
did right now. Jaw clenched tight as he listened, ready and itching
for a fight, any kind of fight, to take the edge of his fury.

“
How can we catch this guy
off guard?” Tex asked.

Julio tensed. He wanted to take this fight
to Boots right now, in the open, behind a bar, on the beach,
location didn’t matter. The only thing rolling through his mind was
that Boots was still after Pam, and had caused her father to hide
her away. Mind blistering rage roared through him as he remembered
the smugness on Boot’s face the last time they'd met.

“
I need to take him out
before I see Pam.” His statement interrupted Tex
mid-sentence.

“
Huh?”

Julio twisted sideways, and took a deep
breath to cool down. “I don’t want this asshole to get near her.
Plus, I don’t want her to know about all this.”

Tex’s lips quirked. “You don’t want her to
know you’re going to kill some guy who wants her?”

“
Not funny,” he snapped,
as the reality of the situation slammed into him. Was he that far
gone in love, that he would kill someone for bothering his woman? A
part of him screamed, hell yeah. Another part of him said slow
down, think this through.

“
You right, I totally
agree with you on this, that dude is crazy.”

Julio wondered what had he missed. “Crazy?”
He glanced between Pam’s dad and Tex. “What’d he do?”

Tex pointed at the older man. “He was just
telling me that Pam isn’t the first woman Boots stalked like this.
Seems he has a gang of men who mess around in a lot of illegal
stuff. I’ll tell you ‘bout the rest later. Now…” Tex snorted as he
looked around. “This island is too small for a gun-fight. What’d
you plan to do?”

“
To kill him, it must be
in self-defense,” Burrows said before Julio responded. “Provoke
him, and then kill him.”

“
What if Julio provokes
him and Boots just pulls out a gun and shoots?” Tex
asked.

“
I just have to make sure
I get my shot off first.” Julio stared down Burrows. “Is this about
Pam? Is that why you’re here? You sharing information with us is
much appreciated and all, but I don’t get it. What’s your bottom
line?”

Julio met the older man’s stare without
backing down. His bullshit meter was on full tilt, something was
off.

Burrows nodded, turned and started walking.
“Meet me at the bottom and then we’ll talk.”

Tex clapped Julio on his shoulder holding
him back. “I didn’t wanna say nothing, but it does seem like he
wants this guy taken out. Gotta wonder why?”

Julio nodded. He needed to calm down and
think. Losing control was never a good thing when dealing with
vengeance. “Yeah, I’m wondering why, and a whole lot more. Let’s
hear what he has to say.” He moved down the path toward the bottom,
while searching for signs of an ambush. Neither he nor Tex spoke
until they reached the street, and saw their security team
surrounding Burrows. Relief rushed through him at the sight. The
older man leaned negligently against their vehicle with his ankles
crossed and hands pressed against the side of the car. Before
stepping out in the open, Tex slid past Julio and looked up and
around. The other guards immediately went on alert and began
searching the coast and mountain.

Julio hated waiting, but understood this was
standard procedure. He needed to tow the line no matter how badly
he wanted answers. When he felt enough time had elapsed, he walked
to the car. Tex opened the door and he slid into the back seat. A
moment later, Burrows opened the door and sat in the front
passenger’s seat. Tex then slid in the driver’s seat.

“
Drive,” Burrows
said.

Tex waved to the car behind them and pulled
out first, with the other car pulling up the rear.

After a few minutes, Burrows spoke. “I love
my daughter but I can’t allow her to get so involved with taking
care of…the sick, that she don’t have a life. That’s not what I
want for her.” He glanced back at Julio and shrugged. “She cares
about you. Claims she don’t want nobody else.”

His shrug pissed Julio off. Who the hell had
the old man been trying to get Pam to talk to? Tight lipped he
remained silent.

“
But I don’t want her to
stay here. Maybe if she sees you, she will leave and go back to
Miami where she has a life. There’s nothing for her
here.”

Conflicting emotions battled Julio. The Pam
he knew loved her job, and if she'd had found a cause here on the
island that she thought was important enough to stay, she would.
And nothing he could say would sway that. Case in point, she hadn’t
called him in five days. That fact and the new knowledge that she
was working, sent a shaft of despair through him. Never before had
he competed against her job. There was nothing he wanted more than
Pam with him, but he needed her to come with him because that’s
what she wanted. Still, something about her father’s words didn’t
ring quite true.

“
What if she refuses to
leave, should I allow Boots to live? Draw me a line between the two
situations,” Julio said.

“
Boots is a problem in
need of correction whether my daughter stays or goes. He wants
her…bad. I don’t trust him not to just take her. Right now I’ve got
her covered. But you know her, eventually she’ll want to leave the
area where I have her stashed. She’ll feel confined, want to go
exploring. What if he takes her when she goes to the market or the
mall, and disappears? Killing him then won’t get her back.” Or stop
him from violating her was left unsaid.

Julio’s stomach churned with each word
Burrows spoke. His imagination went into overdrive as various
deviant scenarios sped across his mind before blending into a
horrific conclusion.

“
No. Can’t let that
happen,” he growled. “Where do I find him?” As far as he was
concerned, the whys no longer mattered. In the back of his mind an
alarm rang, he was being played, manipulated for some reason. He
shut out the noise, accepting his fate. Pam had to be kept safe,
period.

“
He’ll find you. Chances
are he’s been to your place already.”

Tex nodded. “I’ll sweep it when we get back.
What about the cops? They gonna lock us up for this?”

“
Lock me up,” Julio
corrected meeting Tex’s eyes in the rear view mirror. “This is the
last time I’m saying I’ve got this. Understand?” Their eyes held
for a moment longer.

“
Fuck!” Tex said beneath
his breath.

“
Understand?” Julio asked
again in a harder tone.

Tex released a breath while running his hand
over his head. “Yeah, got it.”

Burrows shook his head and looked out the
window. “Let me out at that rock up the road.” He pointed to a
medium sized boulder that Julio wouldn’t have noticed. Once they
reached the spot, Tex pulled over and Burrows left the car without
another word.

Tex looked in the side mirror before pulling
out. The rear car came out behind them. “What do you think?”

“
About?” He knew what Tex
wanted to discuss but was still feeling a bit raw over Tex
challenging him to kill Boots.

“
Pam’s dad. Notice how
quiet he moves. I didn’t know he was on the mountain until he said
something. Quiet as he is, wonder why he don’t just take old Boots
out.”