Warrior Without Rules

She tried to draw a breath. The sound strangled in her chest. Over the engulfing roar in her ears she heard Zach Russell’s harsh command.

“Get the bloody hell out of my way.”

She tried to swallow and felt herself choke as if something was wedged in her airway. The package fell from her hands, the note fluttering from numbed fingers. An odor of dank earth and the sensation of cold preceded a swelling blackness so complete, she never felt Zach catch her on her way to the floor.

Chapter 3

Antonia Castillo sat on the windswept terrace oblivious to the outward temperature as she watched the white-capped waves below. The elements paralleled her mood, cold, agitated and forbidding. She didn’t turn at the sound of familiar footsteps approaching from behind. For a long moment, Veta stood at her side without speaking. Finally, she asked the expected.

“Are you all right?”

“Sure, fine, peachy. I need a cigarette.”

Veta passed over the contraband with a pack of matches and waited for Toni to struggle with the cutting wind to light it. After a deep draw, Toni stared in disgust at the shaky state of her hand. She wasn’t fine. Nowhere close.

“Do you want one of your pills?”

That was Veta. No time wasted on sympathy or sentiment. Right to the practical solution.

“No, I do not want a pill,” she snapped, denying the lure of that blanking peace of mind and spirit. “I need to be able to think. Where’s Russell?”

“Reading the staff the riot act, I believe. A little late for that now, don’t you think? Toni, we don’t need him here. We can handle this in house.”

That was her father talking. Don’t involve outsiders. Take out your own trash. Family business is family business. She took another drag on the cigarette, letting its harshness distract from the bitter taste of those edicts.

Her voice was low and strung with steel. “I need him here, Veta. I don’t expect you to understand or agree but I need to know that you’re with me, too.”

Veta was her strength. The role model she’d looked up to since she was a child, the savior who’d ended part of her nightmare with a single shot, the cooler head and constant support she’d needed to assume her mother’s place. She was more than an assistant, more than her security, more than a friend, more than her advisor. If Toni had pressed her to put a name to their relationship, she would say with typical brevity, family.

Veta bent to loop her arms about Toni’s shoulders in an uncharacteristic outward show of solidarity. The gesture wound about Toni’s heart with equal warmth. “You know I am. Just the way it’s always been. Whatever you want, Toni. I’ll play nice. It’s a big sandbox.”

That coaxed a smile. And released a huge pent-up load of anxiety. She was not alone. Toni patted her friend’s arm. “Thanks.”

“Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on Russell to make sure he’s doing his job. I can’t say that I’m impressed so far.”

Toni chuckled reluctantly. “Leave Russell to me. You watch my back.”

She straightened and stepped to an impersonal distance. “He’s all yours.”

From the sudden chill in Veta’s tone, Antonia guessed her companion’s nemesis had finished dressing down her entourage and was coming to lecture her on the facts of life as dictated by Zachary Russell. She took another puff from Veta’s imported cigarette and shot a fierce jet of smoke full steam ahead.

“So, what did you find out?” she demanded as Russell replaced Veta on her left.

He delivered the news in a flat monotone. “Prestamped and addressed from drop-off box downtown. No way to trace it. I’ll have it checked for fingerprints just in case our friend was careless.”

“He won’t be.”

Zach’s silence said he didn’t think so either. He didn’t ask how she was doing, coming even more quickly to the point than Veta. It would have been nice to know he cared.

“In the future, you accept nothing yourself. Not packages, not phone calls, not visitors. Everything goes through me.”

“Rule One.”

“Exactly. Your employees have been advised of that, as well.” A pause then right to the heart of it. “Tell me about the blouse.”

Toni sucked a deep gulp of frigid air to help maintain her calm front. “I was wearing it when I was kidnapped.”

His voice softened imperceptibly. “And the bloodstains on it?”

“Mine, I think.” She closed her eyes, mentally flinching as she recalled the harsh slap in the van and the coppery taste that filled her mouth.

“I’ll have it tested.” He put up his hand to ward off her protest. “No worries. Strictly off the records and low key. A favor from a friend.” Then his look grew more serious. “Who took it off you?”

“That’s a dead end. Literally.” She took another pull off the cigarette. The palsied tremor in her hand belied her cool summation.

“So, who would have kept it for ten years? And why? Where would it have been?”

“A souvenir? A trophy? I don’t know.” Frustration built in her tone as she considered the possibilities. “The other man was never caught. Maybe he was just biding his time until I came into money since he couldn’t get any from my father the first time around.” A patient premeditation. Where’s the money? Her worst nightmare come true. “If only I knew what he wanted.”

“You need to cancel tomorrow night’s party.”

Her reply was automatic. “No.”

“So many people coming and going and in the house makes you more vulnerable.”

She twisted in the chair to look up at him. He was staring out over the lake, his expression as inviting as those cold waters. “No. Hire more guards. Increase security. That’s your job. My job is business as usual. I will not hide from this man. I will not give him the satisfaction of seeing me afraid.”

But she was. And no matter how much bravado she flung up between them, he had to know it.

“We’ll compromise. Throw your shindig tomorrow but no press conferences, no public appearances thereafter. Low profile, just like you said. I can’t cover all bases if you’re the center of attention in a crowd.”

Her acceptance was purely practical. “All right.”

Zach squinted at her, doubting her sincerity. “No public PR things in Mexico, no opportunities for the bad guys to get close to you.”

She shivered slightly. “Deal.”

“In. Out. Back to business.”

When she lifted the cigarette for another pull, Zach intercepted the movement, plucking the half smoked filter tip from her hand. He took one last long draw from it himself before flicking it away.

“Those are bad for you.”

His bland pronouncement was the last straw for this already broken camel. “Bad for me? Having someone stalk and terrorize me is bad for me.”

“But you can’t control that. You can control what you choose to do to yourself. Like taking unnecessary risks with people who don’t really matter.”

“Thank you Dr. Freud. And I’ll thank you to remember your own Rule Three. My personal habits are none of your concern, Russell, so back the hell off.”