Texas Ransom

But behind Leo’s back, Hector and L.J. had become fast friends, and sometime later Leo discovered that the boy had moved into the house. He’d take a room down the hall from L.J.’s and had never left, even when Leo’s son went off to university.

After L.J.’s death, Hector had become Leo’s right-hand man, and eventually Maria had moved into the house, too. Leo thought the world of both Hector and Maria, but still he didn’t hesitate to send him on this dangerous mission. Because when all was said and done, blood was still thicker than water.

A movement in the dark caught Leo’s attention, and his eyes narrowed as he focused on the water. A few yards downstream, a teenage boy crossed the shallow river with a donkey. Leo watched until the boy was out of sight, and then he turned slowly as approaching headlights illuminated the interior of his vehicle.

“That’ll be him.” Hector glanced nervously over the seat. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked in Spanish. “Gabriel Esteban is a very dangerous man. Once you agree to his terms, there’ll be no turning back.”

The driver, who had spoken very little during the drive, cast a wary glance at first Hector and then Leo.

Leo knew what he was thinking. There would be hell to pay for anyone else who dared challenge Leo’s judgment.

Everyone who worked for Leo knew of his temper. His control had a way of snapping when it was least expected over the seemingly most inconsequential incident. Part of that was by nature and part of it by design. Leo enjoyed seeing the men’s fear. It kept them on their toes.

He’d been a little too lax with Hector. That was another reason he was sending him across the border with Esteban. Hector had become too complacent. And that could spell trouble very quickly in their business.

“I know what I’m doing,” Leo snapped. “Now, leave me, both of you. I want to speak to Esteban alone.”

Hector and the driver climbed out of the vehicle, but they didn’t go far. Leo could hear them muttering in Spanish through his open window.

The headlights on the other vehicle went dead, and all at once the darkness of the countryside seemed to envelope Leo. He felt an unfamiliar tightness in his lungs, as if something heavy was pressing against his chest.

Suddenly he couldn’t wait to be home, safely ensconced behind the high stucco walls that protected his home from the prying eyes of the federales. In the past five years, since L.J.’s death, he’d rarely ventured outside those walls. Now he remembered why. After nearly three decades, the Mexican landscape still seemed foreign to him.

A few minutes passed before Leo saw a tall, dark shadow emerge from the other vehicle and walk slowly across the dusty road toward the SUV. The approaching stranger said something to Hector and the driver, and then Leo heard a soft laugh before Gabriel Esteban opened the door and slid onto the backseat beside him.

The interior light had been disengaged, but moonlight flooded through the windows and Leo could see the barest hint of a smile still lingering at the corners of Esteban’s mouth. His was not a nice smile, more like a vicious smirk. His face was pitted with acne scars and his thick eyebrows rose in points above his dark eyes, giving him a demonic appearance befitting his reputation.

In spite of the physical imperfections, Leo had a feeling that Gabriel Esteban never wanted for female companionship. There was something about him, a perverse charisma that would draw a certain kind of woman like a moth to flame.

Gabriel eyes met Leo’s in the moonlight and the unpleasant smile deepened. “Señor Kittering.”

The sound of his voice drove an icy chill straight through Leo’s heart. He was not a man easily intimidated. He’d operated for too many years on the seamy side of society and had turned a blind eye to the havoc his profession wreaked on innocent lives. He’d arranged the “accident” that had removed his wife from his son’s life, and he’d never so much as fingered a rosary in regret.

But now the thought of what Gabriel Esteban would do with Leo’s money filled his heart with a black, freezing dread. Leo was surely on the road to hell now. He had been for a long time, but now there was no turning back. For what he and Gabriel Esteban had planned, there would be no forgiveness.

“Señor Esteban.” He said the name with the respectful wariness befitting two powerful rivals who suddenly found themselves co-conspirators in a diabolical scheme.

“You have the money?”

Leo reached for the laptop on the seat between them. “Half will be transferred into your account now, the other half when the job is finished. Just as we agreed.”

Gabriel Esteban nodded. “Then let’s get on with it, shall we?”

It took Leo only a few seconds to transfer the funds to the numbered bank account in the Caymans that had been set up for the operation. Once Esteban was satisfied the transaction had gone through, he glanced up. “Relax, mi amigo. In a matter of days, we will both have what we want.”

“I’ll relax when the woman is safely across the border.”

“And the man?”

“Do whatever is necessary to gain his cooperation. Then kill him.”

Esteban grinned as he opened the door and climbed out, then briefly turned to say over his shoulder, “I’ll be in touch. Have your man ready to leave at a moment’s notice.”

Leo watched him walk back to the other car. The headlights came on, and the vehicle turned, heading down the road in the direction from which it had come.

The front doors of the SUV opened and Hector and the driver got in. Hector glanced at the laptop on the seat beside Leo.

“It’s done then?”

“It’s done.” Leo drew a long breath, settling into the corner of his seat as his gaze went back to the river.

God help him, it was done.

Chapter One

“It feels a little like heaven up here, doesn’t it?”

“Only a little?” Graham Hollister teased as he surveyed the city lights from the rooftop of the PemCo Tower, an eighty-five-story glass-and-granite monolith that was now the tallest skyscraper in the Houston skyline.

The building would soon become the oil company’s world headquarters, but for now, tonight, it was the culmination of all Graham’s dreams.

When he closed his eyes, he could feel the building sway beneath them, and a wave of dizziness washed over him. He fought it off. He didn’t want anything to spoil this night.

He tightened his arms around his wife’s slim waist. “Only a little like heaven,” he mused. “Damn. I must be doing something wrong.”

She pulled away and shot him a look over her shoulder. “Will you stop fishing? I told you earlier the earth moved. What more do you want?”

“Tell me again. I’m feeling insecure.” His hand trailed down her bare arm. “Or better yet, show me.”

She slapped at his hand. “Up here? No way! I’m not an exhibitionist.”

“Tell that to Myron.” Myron was the stray tabby they’d adopted a few months ago when he’d crawled over the fence one day and caught them skinny-dipping in the pool. He’d gotten quite an eyeful before either of them had noticed him stretched out on one of the loungers.

“Different situation entirely,” Kendall said. “And besides, Myron doesn’t have a judgmental bone in his body.”

“And I do?”

“You’re not the one I’m worried about. Getting caught in flagrante delicto by the Mexican ambassador is not my idea of a fun evening.”

“No, but I bet it would be his,” Graham said as he drew her back against him.

Her shampoo smelled like flowers, but her perfume was something darker, headier. That was Kendall. Always a dichotomy. Insecure, dauntless and perfectly flawed. A woman he found endlessly fascinating, even after seven years of marriage. More like five, though, if you counted the long separation.

But Graham didn’t want to think about that tonight. He and Kendall had never been happier, so what did it matter that she’d once left him? He hadn’t tried to stop her. The truth of the matter was he’d been relieved when she walked out on their marriage.

That had been a long time ago. Things were different now. They were different.

And yet there were times, such as earlier tonight before they’d left the hotel, when Graham sensed that maybe everything between them wasn’t as perfect as he wanted to believe. Sometimes, when Kendall didn’t know he was around, he’d see a look come over her face. Sad, pensive…lost. Graham tried to chalk it up to her past. She didn’t talk much about her family, but he knew she’d had a difficult childhood and a troubled adolescence. He’d never pressed for details. He wasn’t keen on airing his dirty laundry, either, but at times, he still felt as if he’d barely scratched the surface of who she really was.