Rogue Diamond (15 page)

"This is the man we are to meet," Nick said, helping her out of the helicopter. He showed h
er a slip of paper. "Name's
Raul
. He'll meet us at a local cantina, El Corral."

Alex looked curiously at the name as they walked to the airport office. "Is that all you have? How will we know him?"

Nick grinned, his dark mustache contrasting with his white teeth. "Not to worry. The plan is that he'll find u
s, my sweet." He opened the air
port door. "You did bring your passport, didn't you? The immigration officer here takes his job pretty seriousl
y. Plus, I need to make arrange
ments for the helicopter. It'll only take a few minutes."

"What plan?" She preceded him in
si
de the small red-tile-roofed building. "And what did you call me?" Alex arched an eyebrow at him. "My sweet" just wasn't like Nick Diamond. What was he up to, anyway?

"I'll explain later," he
promised
. "But first let's take care of this bu
si
ness."

She had to wait for the explanation until they were tucked into a local cab, careening through the streets of
Guaymas. Alex could feel the ex
citement swelling in her breast. They w
ere get
ting close
r! "Okay, enlighten me
.
" she de
manded. "What plan?"

Nick leaned closer to her ear and the faint masculine scent
of him accosted her senses, mak
ing concentration difficult. "
Raul
is looking for a blond American woman. Very pretty. And her . . .
ah,
American husband. He's tall, dark, and a little rough around the edges. Has an old scar right here." He ran a finger down his own cheek, then switched to touch her soft skin.

"What? Did I hear
the word
husband
dropped lightly into this
?"

"Remember now," he whispered, tucking a finger against her lips. "Not a word of Spanish. You're a tourista through and through. And here." Nick dug into his pants pocket. "You'd better wear this. Looks more authentic."

Before Alex knew what he was doing, Nick had slipped a gold band onto her ring finger. "Nick? He actually thinks—"

"Yes, my
darling
. He thinks we're an American couple looking for a child to adopt. Or buy."

Alex stiffened against the cab seat. "A child to buy?" she rasped.

"Shhh." Nick motioned to the cab driver. "Yes, my sweet darling."

"Oh, God, Nick!
I can't believe it!" Alex strug
gled to keep her voice low. "I can't go through with this charade
.
"

"Of course you can. You'll do anything for a baby. Well, almo
st anything." He smiled reassur
ingly at her as the driver pulled to a screeching halt in front of El Corral. Nick paid the cabbie and ushered Alex out of the cab, keeping an arm protectively around her.

"Nick, I'm so nervous. I don't think I'll be any good at this." Her feet felt as though they were planted in the concrete
si
dewalk; her knees felt like lead.

He took her hand and lifted her fingers to his lips for a tender kiss. "You can pretend anything for an hour, Alex. Come on, my
darling
,
give a little
smile. We're a very loving couple. Our story is quite tragic. We lost a child in infancy and were unable to have another. Money is no object when it comes to mending our broken hearts. What we want most in the entire world is a little girl to replace our precious
child
." His arm braced her back and propelled her toward the cantina.

Alex took a shak
y breath. "I ... I can't be
lieve I'm doing this."

Nick hovered close, granting her a wink and a reassuring squeeze. "Just remember, you're playing a role. You'll do fine, Alex. Whatever you do, don't mention Father
Ramon
. An anonymous
contact directed us here. That's very close to the truth anyway. Said we could find a kid. For the right amount. And we're a wealthy couple, so don't be concerned about the money. I'll handle that part. You just keep quiet about it. Come on, now,
darling
. If someone is watching, you don't want them to see us arguing."

"Give me a minute to compose myself, Nick. I'm just so dam
n nervous." She gave him a skit
tish smile. "Don't loving couples argue?"

"Yes, but not
about getting babies. These peo
ple want this kid." His arm embraced her tense back, drawing her close to his firm chest. "We make a perfect couple, Alex. A man and woman always make a good foil. That's why I wanted you along instead of
Jose
." Before she could re
s
i
st further, they were in
si
de the darkened bar. Nick sat so he could have a view of the door.

The place was small and the bartender was also the waiter. He ambled over to their corner table. "Bebida, se
n
ior?"

"My wife and I would like a good margarita," Nick announced boldly. "One of those slushy kind."

The waiter's brown eyes assessed Nick quietly before he shuffled away. Alex observed the man be
s
i
de her in amazement. He was playing his role
as a brash, wealthy American
to perfection
.
Thank goodness she only had to remain quiet through this whole ordeal. She coul
d at least do that. You can pre
tend anything for an hour, Nick had said. If it involved getting Jenni back, yes, she could!

Alex tried to
hide her shaking hands and con
centrated on breathing smoothly. She barely had time to take a
si
p of her slushy margarita and to adjust to her n
ewly acquired marital status be
fore a swarthy m
an, slight of build, stopped be
s
i
de their table.

"Mr. and Mrs. Smith? From Detroit?" he asked in a heavy accent.

"Yep, that's us," Nick responded quickly, glancing from
si
de to
si
de before extendin
g his hand to the man. "
Are y
ou
Raul
?"

"
Si
." He pulled out a chair and joined them.

"Bring this man a drink," Nick called to the bartender.

Alex marveled at the change in Nick. She had never seen him like this and had to admit he portrayed a slightly nervous, arrogant gringo to the hilt. She tried to take another
s
i
p, but found that her throat was constricted and refused to allow anything to go down. She pretended to drink and quietly watched the action.

Nick leaned across the table and muttered in a low voice, "I want you to know, senor, that money is no object in this transaction."

Raul
's heavy-l
idded eyes narrowed as he calcu
lated this Amer
ican couple before him. "
Si
, se
nor. I understand. We have everything you need. Papers for emigration. And the baby is in good health. Happy too."

"Good, good. That's important." Nick nodded and took another
substantial drink of the margarita. "The, ah, the kid,
Raul
. It is a girl, isn't it? We're looking for a girl. Our little
Sofia
." His
voice softened
at the end, and Alex had to ad
mire his apparent tenderness, contrasting with his obnoxious arrogance.

Raul
smiled readily, an evil gaping-toothed grin. "
Si
, senor. La nina is very beautiful!" His dark gaze settled on Alex and sh
e quelled a shud
der.

"Good," she managed hoarsely with a weak smile.

"My wife is a little nervous about this," Nick said in an apologetic tone, patting Alex's arm, then letting his large hand slide down to cover hers. With an affectionate squeeze, he tucked her hand to his lap, and Alex's heart skipped a beat. It was damned hard to concentrate and play an unfamil
iar role when her hand was rest
ing on Nick's thigh. You can pretend anything for an hour she kept reminding herself.

Raul
dabbed some salt on the web of his thumb, licked it off, then turned his glass of tequila straight up and emptied it in one gulp. "You like to see her? Let's go, Mrs. Smith
.
"

The three troo
ped out of the cantina, and Jose
drove them to their destination in a vehicle that made Nick's rattletrap van look like a Rolls. They halted before a hovel of a house with ancient, brown, crumbling adobe brick walls and a thatched roof
. Dark-eyed, skinny-legged chil
dren gathered at the corner of the neighboring houses and stared at the gringos.

Alex's heart was working overtime. She had never been so nervous, scared, and excited—all at once—in her entire life. She clung to Nick as if
he were truly her husband. She glanced up at his face for
s
i
gns of stress but found none. Just tight-jawed determination. He could pull this off, if anyone could. El
Capitan
could handle it. She hooked her hands more securely around his arm.

They steppe
d in
s
i
de the house and stood un
comfortably on the hard-packed earth floor. Alex felt Nick's arm slip securely around her back, giving support. Children scattered to the rear of the house and a burly dark-haired man rose to greet them.

The formalities
were
s
i
mple and handled by
Raul
. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith. This is Ricardo."

"Please to meet you, Ricardo." Nick shook hands with the man who could speak no English.

In an unsteady voice, Ricardo began to explain the child'
s circumstances in Spanish. Jose inter
preted the stor
y and Nick and Alex listened po
litely, as if they couldn't understand what the man was saying.

"Ricardo say," Jose began in halting English, "this is not his baby. The
s
i
ster of his wife is only
s
i
xteen. She has no husband and left the baby here. But Ricardo, he has too many children of his own to feed. He want you to know he would never do this if it was his own child. And he know you take good care of this baby."

"Certainly. Oh, yes. Of course, we'll take good care of her. Like our own." Nick nodded curtly, in complete agreement with everything that was being said.

Alex felt as though a movie was playing before her and she was somehow standing apart from it.

Even Nick wasn't himself. She didn't know whether to believe Ricardo's story or not. If it were true, then this child definitely was not
the missing
Jenni. Ricardo left the room. From the rear of the house muffled sobs could be heard—a woman's cry.

Oh God! It's her baby!
He’s taking her baby.
Alex felt dizzy and clung desperately to Nick.

Ricardo reappeared with a small child clinging to his neck. She turned her tawny pixie face away from the strangers
and buried it against his shoul
der. Alex could see the man go rigid as the child frantically clutched the one person she trusted. Yet he was about to betray her! Instinctively, Alex reached out to pet the child's sturdy back. Yes, she was tiny, but well-fed. And barely over a year old. She definitely was not Jenni.

Nick watched
Alex's reaction until she whis
pered, "It isn't her." Large tears rose unbidden in her eyes and she bit her lip, trying to control the raging sobs that threatened.

"
Raul
," Nick began haltingly. "This child, she just isn't right for us. You see, we were looking for one who was a little older."

"What's wrong, senor? This is fine baby!"
Raul
's voice was angry. "Why are you backing out of the deal?"

"Nothing is wrong with her. She's a fine baby. Like you said,
very beautiful. I'm sorry,
Raul
. But, my wife . . ."
He stepped back and motioned to Alex. Obviously, her role was that of the strange wife who couldn't be pleased. She was the reason they were refu
s
i
ng to buy the child.

Alex lifted her face in agony to the circle of men and shook her head, unable to speak. Tears streamed
s
i
lentl
y down her cheeks. She was play
ing the role to perfection. Only deep in
s
i
de, Alex knew the tears were for real.