She Can Kill (She Can Series) (26 page)

“He wouldn’t.” She shook her head. No one was more loyal than Christopher, except he was unhappy lately.

Nicolas stabbed a button on the instrument panel. “He was here while they gunned down your family. I saw his car, and he stole all the money from your father’s study.”

“No!” Eva’s head spun.

“Why else would he take the money and run? He’s been acting strangely lately. Did you know he purchased false passports? How the fool thought he could do that without someone finding out is beyond me.”

He hadn’t told her about any passports. She thought back to their argument.

She hadn’t acted fast enough. He’d decided to go without her. He might love Eva, but his child was his life. For Luciana, Christopher would do anything.

The helicopter lifted, spun, and shot out over the pampas. Sunlight blurred her vision.

She vowed to find him. She would take her daughter back from the man who had stolen her child and left her to die. Christopher would pay for her family’s massacre.

Cristan reeled.

“I’m sorry I believed Nicolas instead of believing in you,” Eva continued. “Nicolas took me to a medical facility. You stole the cash, but thankfully, my father had money in his bank accounts as well. Maria funneled money to us. I don’t remember much of the first six months.” Her hand went to the scarf around her throat, tugging it down to reveal a ropey scar across her neck. “What the bullet wounds didn’t damage, grief for my family and anger toward you destroyed.”

“I don’t understand. There was a woman who looked like you in the compound? What was your plan?”

She walked to the other end of the patio and back, her expression unreadable in the dark. “I was leaving the family for you. I’d been planning for months. The only person I told was Nicolas. We both knew that death was the only way to exit the Vargas family. So I had to die.”

“But how . . .” Cristan was beginning to connect the terrible dots.

“Nicolas found a woman who looked very much like me. She was from Cordoba. A poor woman who would not be missed. He had a tattoo put on her back to match mine. I bought duplicate outfits. The day of the massacre, he’d been holding her in his trunk. Our plan was to put a bullet in her head, put the body in my car, and send it off the bridge into the river. We already had everything in place to fake my kidnapping and set up Aline Barba as the culprit. My father would have believed it without a doubt. Aline had made threats in the past.

“You killed a woman to fake your death?”

“Nicolas killed her.” Eva waved a hand.

“But you knew about it.” Horror swept through him.

Eva stopped and stared at him. His wife had arranged the murder of an innocent simply because the poor woman looked like her. Cristan might have done some bad things in his life, but Eva had crossed a line. Not just crossed it, she’d leaped over it at full speed like an Olympic hurdler. Yes, Cristan had killed men for Franco, but those men were his own equivalents in other gangs. They knew the risks associated with their activities, and if given equal chance, they would have killed Cristan without blinking.

But Cristan had never murdered an innocent. Judging by Eva’s confused stare, she didn’t comprehend his revulsion.

Anger flushed her skin and whitened her scar. “I had planned to take our daughter and kill you. Nicolas convinced me you had set up the massacre. You took the money in my father’s study. You were out of the country in days. You had purchased fake birth certificates and passports. You were ready to run after the explosion. It seemed as if you planned the whole thing.”

“I bought travel documents for all three of us, Eva. I wasn’t planning to leave without you. When I confirmed you were dead, I did what I thought you would have wanted. I took our daughter to safety.” If faced with the exact same situation, Cristan would make the same choice.

“If it wasn’t you, then who told Aline about the meeting?” Eva asked. “The dates were never announced outside the immediate family more than a few days in advance. Yet Aline knew in time to plan a well-timed attack.”

Cristan said, “Immediate family and Nicolas.” Suddenly, part of Eva’s story replayed in his mind. Who was the one person on the ranch that hadn’t been hurt in the attack? Nicolas. “Convenient that he was in the cellar when the attack occurred.”

For once, Eva looked stunned. “But he was with my family for decades. He helped raise me.”

“I have no other explanation. Maybe Nicolas was tired of the life. Everyone else had their own agenda.”

“True.” Nodding, she digested this with a furrow of her brow. “Perhaps this is the reason Nicolas didn’t desire revenge the way I did. He wanted to put a quick bullet in your head, steal Luciana, and find somewhere quiet for the three of us to retire.” Her lip curled, as if the idea of retirement was distasteful.

If Nicolas had his way, Cristan would be dead. He wouldn’t have seen the bullet coming.

Eva sighed. “I am leaving. I wish I could say good-bye and apologize to Luciana. But that isn’t possible.”

“You frightened her.”

“I know.” Eva sighed. “I was never meant to be a parent. Your woman, Sarah, her first instinct was to protect Luciana. It should have been mine. But it wasn’t. Perhaps I am merely wired wrong. You deserve each other.” She pointed toward her jacket. “I’m going to get something out of my jacket.”

Cristan nodded, but he kept the gun on her. She would never intentionally hurt Lucia. She loved her daughter in her own way. But Eva was and always would be a killer.

She pulled an envelope and a small box from her pocket. “This is a letter for Luciana. An apology and an e-mail address so you or she can contact me through Maria in case of an emergency.”

“Do you see Maria?”

“Occasionally. She is content on her vineyard. She never wanted more.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

She shook the box. “This is for Sarah. A thank-you gift to her for saving my child. Do not let her open this until tomorrow.”

“Where will you go?” He took the envelope and box.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. Everything is different than I thought.”

“I shouldn’t let you go.” He should call the police, but deep in the recesses of his heart, feelings for Eva still lingered. He was no longer in love with her, but they’d shared defining experiences that had shaped the people they’d become. They also had a child together. That was a bond that could never be broken. “Why should I trust you? You tried to kill me.”

Eva shrugged, a careless gesture that summed up her impulsive nature. “That was when I thought you were the enemy. I should have known you would never have turned on me.”

“So we won’t see you again.”

She backed away from him and turned toward the woods. Glancing over her shoulder, she called, “You have nothing to fear from me, Christopher.” And disappeared into the woods.

Not exactly an answer.

CHAPTER FORTY

“
I can’t stay here forever.” Sarah perched on a kitchen island stool and pushed back the plate of eggs. She wasn’t hungry. “I miss my girls. Who knows how long it will take to find Troy? He knows the woods around here. He can hide for a long time.”

“We’ll see.” Cristan collected her dirty dish and carried it to the sink. The circles under his eyes attested to yet another night without sleep, but something about his attitude was decidedly less tense this morning. “There’s no rush. You can’t even use a knife or dress yourself. The girls can come here. I’m sure they’d love to have a sleepover with Lucia.”

Sarah flexed the fingers of her left hand. She had to keep her arm immobilized in a sling until the stitches came out in seven days. “I’m sure they would, but what about Eva?”

The threat that his murderous wife was lurking was one of the reasons Alex and Em were still staying with Sean. Sarah wouldn’t put her girls in any additional danger.

He tossed a dishcloth over his shoulder. His snug T-shirt outlined his well-defined biceps and chest. Maybe it was the drugs making her woozy, but he looked hot, which was ridiculous because she had problems in her life—problems so huge she shouldn’t be thinking about her boyfriend’s muscles. Both of their exes were trying to kill them.

Boyfriend
. She smiled. It seemed like a silly title for someone as masculine as Cristan, but what should she call him? Lover? A blush heated her cheeks. He was definitely that.

“I’m not so worried about that this morning,” he said.

Suspicion poked through her painkillers. “Why?”

“Sarah? Dad?” Lucia walked into the kitchen. Her tousled hair and wrinkled pajamas made her look unbearably young and vulnerable.

“Pancakes?” Cristan suggested.

“I’m not hungry.” Lucia slipped onto the stool on Sarah’s right.

Cristan frowned. “How about some hot chocolate?”

“OK.” Lucia shrugged.

Sarah’s heart squeezed. She wrapped her arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah.” Lucia rested her head on her shoulder. “I wish you were my mom.”

“Me too,” Sarah said.

The doorbell broke the moment. Cristan went to the door. A few seconds later, Mike’s voice carried from the hall. He walked into the kitchen, his baby-blue eyes scrutinizing Sarah and Lucia. “How are you two feeling this morning?”

“Better,” Sarah said.

Mike jingled his keys in his hand. “Can I talk to Sarah alone for a few minutes?”

“Of course.” Cristan herded Lucia out of the room.

Mike took the stool next to Sarah. He took her hand in his. “Troy’s dead.”

“What?” Shock numbed her. Had she heard Mike correctly?

“We found him in the woods behind his house. He died from a single gunshot wound to the head. The cause of death isn’t official, but it’s likely he killed himself.”

Shock closed Sarah’s throat. Her next breath was a loud wheeze. Troy had seemed so intent on hurting her; it seemed impossible that he’d taken his own life.

Mike opened kitchen cabinets until he found glasses and filled one with water. He handed it to her. “Take a drink.”

She sipped.

“He destroyed the house and took guns and ammo from the store. His computer search history was full of articles on husband/wife murder suicides.” Mike rubbed her arm.

She’d never expected Troy to give up. Ever.

“I don’t know why I’m surprised.” Sarah’s voice broke as sadness nearly overwhelmed her. “He tried to kill us both.”

“Are you all right here? Do you want to come home with me?”

“I won’t put Rachel in danger.” Sarah shook her head. “Cristan is taking good care of me.”

“Good. You deserve it.” With a final pat to her hand, Mike stood. “We’ve seen no sign of Eva Vargas, so don’t let your guard down.”

Sarah rose onto her toes and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Mike.”

He left the room and she heard voices. Sarah settled in the chair. Troy’s death would take a while to sink in. The combination of relief and sadness swirled in her belly.

Could it really be over? Troy had turned into a monster, but he hadn’t always been that way. And she had never wished him dead. How would she tell the girls?

Cristan returned. He and Mike exchanged a few words, and then Cristan came to her. Sarah stood and turned her face to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her body. She cried in long, ragged sobs until her tears soaked his shirt. Cristan’s hand rubbed a circle in the center of her back.

When she could breathe, Sarah pushed away, reaching for a nap
kin and drying her face. “I’m sorry.” She sniffed. “Where’s Lucia?”

“She’s upstairs.”

“Alone?”

“Yes. She’s reading something.” He brushed a thumb under her eye. “It’s going to be all right, Sarah.”

“How can you say that? Troy can’t hurt us anymore, but Eva is still out there. And how will I tell the girls their father tried to kill me and committed suicide?”

“You’ll find a way. Don’t keep the truth from them. It will only hurt them more if they hear it from someone else. They’re stronger than you think.”

Light-headed, Sarah fought for control of her breathing. “Even if they catch Eva, what will happen to you and Lucia?”

“I would hope that if anything happened to me, you would care for Lucia.”

“Of course.”

“Sean has arranged a meeting for me with friends of his at the ATF and FBI. They want to offer me a deal. Immunity for information. Apparently, Aline isn’t talking, and her operation has been on their radar for a long time, and they want all the background they can get. I don’t know how useful twelve-year-old information will be, but I’ll tell them everything I know. The potential charges against me for falsifying documents are trivial compared to Aline’s organization. I also suspect Mike and Sean lobbied hard for me. They both seem very well respected in the law enforcement community. I can
be
Cristan Rojas. They can arrange for Lucia and me to have official documentation.”

“Like witness protection?”

“Just like that.” He kissed her. “Lucia gets to stay in the place she loves. I can stay here with you, and that makes me very happy.”

Sarah almost smiled, then she remembered his murderous wife. “But we don’t know where Eva is.”

He glanced away. “That isn’t entirely true.”

“What?”

“Eva stopped here last night. She won’t be bothering us again.” He went to the cabinet and took out a small box. “She gave me a letter for Lucia. An apology. Eva recognized that she isn’t mother material.” He handed her the box.

“I don’t understand.” Sarah couldn’t believe that Eva was no longer a threat. Wrapped in plain, brown paper, the box fit in her palm. “Do you know what it is?”

“No. She said it was her way of thanking you for saving Lucia. She also said you were the kind of woman Lucia deserved. She seemed sincere.”

“Do you trust her?”

“No,” he said. “But I believe she was telling the truth.”

Sarah unwrapped the box and opened it. Her hand went to the scar on her temple, and her breath caught.

Inside, nestled on plain white cotton, sat Troy’s high school ring.

An hour later, Cristan showed Mike and Sean into his office.

Mike took one of the chairs that faced Cristan’s desk. “I hope you don’t mind. Sean was with me when you called.”

“Not at all.” Sitting behind his desk, Cristan reached into the top drawer and pulled out the box with Troy’s ring in it. He handed it across the desk.

“What is this?” Mike asked.

“Sarah says it’s Troy’s high school ring.”

Mike shifted. “And how did you get it?”

“Eva gave it to me.” Cristan summed up her visit to the house.

Sean whistled. “I know she tried to kill you, but you have to admire her style. If she were a dude, she’d have brass balls the size of Texas.”

Mike set the box on the desk. “And you didn’t think to call me when she was here?”

“Eva is no longer a threat to us,” Cristan said. “I know her. She might be a killer, but lying was never one of her faults.”

Mike rubbed his forehead as if it hurt. “I’ll need to take the ring as evidence, but frankly, I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do with it.”

“Troy’s dead, and Aline is sitting in a prison cell. So Eva got away. The only person she wanted to kill is Cristan, and he seems fine with it. Two out of three isn’t bad.” Sean lifted both shoulders. “You can’t have everything.”