Loving a Bad Boy (43 page)

“
You thought about that
too, huh?”

Tex shook his head. “It was obvious. I mean,
I get him not wanting Pam to be bothered, but this is Pam. The
woman took a look at me with blood pouring out my side and didn’t
blink. Either he doesn’t know his kid or he thinks we don’t.”

“
Or he just wants this guy
dead for other reasons.” Tex nodded. “Can’t get into all that right
now. It don’t matter why, if he’s a threat to her, I'ma take care
of it.”

“
Cops?”

“
Francisco. Need I say
more?”

“
No, I meant the car
following behind our car. You think they’re cops?”

Twisting slightly, Julio peered over his
shoulder while unholstering his gun. His lips curled. “Seems like
Pam’s dad getting out the car was some sort of signal. We’ve got
company. Be prepared for them to tag the car.” Julio slumped down
in the back seat while moving closer to the window to roll it down
so he could get off a shot or two.

“
I’m on it.”

A loud boom rent the air. The car with their
security detail swerved and ran into the woods on the side of the
road.

“
Damn!” Tex swore as he
spun the car around and drove in the direction of the oncoming car.
Julio gritted his teeth at the jarring movement. His hand lashed
out to stop from hitting the back of the front seat.

“
Not what I meant, but
effective,” Julio murmured as he righted himself, and then looked
outside the window. Cautiously, he stuck his arm out and shot out
the tire of the car headed toward them. The car swerved, causing
the bullet to miss its original target. Miffed but undeterred, he
focused on the face behind the windshield and fired.

The second bullet hit the driver. The car
spun off the side of the road and crashed into a tree. Tex pulled
up behind the disabled car of their two security men. The men stood
near the car, one held his arm and the other stood next to him. Tex
waved at them to hurry and get in. Julio jumped out, leaving the
back door open as he slid into the front seat.

Limping, each man moved as quickly as their
injuries allowed and tumbled into the back, barely closing the door
before Tex floored it in the direction they’d just left.

“
You guys okay?” Julio
asked, glancing at them before searching the road behind
them.

“
My arm hurts, otherwise
I’m good.”

That’s good. Sorry, what’s your name again?”
Julio asked, unable to place the face.

“
Stephen, Sir.”

“
Good…good, what about
you?” He nodded to the other man who sat unmoving. “What’s your
name?”

“
Brinks, Sir.”

“
You okay, Brinks?” Julio
asked while looking out the windows. Boots was out there waiting
and he didn’t want to be caught by surprise.

“
Just bumped and bruised a
bit. They blew out a tire, but we weren’t driving fast. I’ll be
fine.” He pulled out his weapon and gazed out the
window.

“
Okay,” Julio said, still
vigilant in his determination not to be taken unaware. He rolled
the window down a bit. It seemed the wind had whipped up as they
sped along the road. On the other side of the trees, the ocean
bashed the shore, the wind whipped the waves into ferocious
whitecaps. Inexplicably, Julio’s mood lightened. Soon he would face
the son-of-a-bitch who claimed Pam as his. The very thought that
anyone, let alone that smug bastard, would make such a claim,
unleashed a part of him that he found difficult to
explain.

The darkness from his dreams sidled closer,
nudging him. Once again he embraced that dark part of him, and
harnessed the energy to give him an edge in the upcoming
confrontation. The need to destroy someone overwhelmed him. It
boggled his mind and shook his reason.

Some would say his relationship with Pam
happened too quickly. But they hadn’t included the dance. From the
first time he’d seen her in the parking lot, he’d been interested.
As he'd discovered more and more of her routine, he’d wait until
she arrived home from work, tired but with a look of contentment on
her face.

Her job description alone meant she’d made a
difference in someone’s life and somehow that made her happy with
hers. A glimmer of her smile became his, offering a beacon of light
in what would have been an unremarkably dim day.

She possessed a natural beauty that held him
hostage whenever he stole glimpses of her. He did that as often as
he could without becoming a stalker. But the night when she took in
Tex, her wild hair, rumpled tee-shirt, and pissed-off attitude
sealed the deal. Although his concern over his fallen man was
genuine, in his more honest moments, he admitted he went back for
Pam. In his mind, when they'd made love that first time, it was
merely the end of a long dance and the acknowledgment that she
belonged to him.

“
Almost to the house,” Tex
said, interrupting Julio’s musings.

“
Good.” He checked his
weapon and continued to search the horizon for anything out of
place. Now that his bad temper had an outlet, Julio was ready to
fight.

“
There might be gunfire
when we arrive, there’s not much cover,” Brinks said, stating the
obvious.

Tex glanced at Julio before answering.
“Possibly. We’re expecting hell to break out when we get back. You
got a plan?”

Brinks shrugged. “Just wondered if we needed
to get out and walk up the driveway before they arrive.”

“
They know this area
backward and forward. I doubt we could surprise them. They know
we’re coming. I don’t know how many of them there are, I would hate
for them to jump somebody who’s alone,” Julio said, vetoing the
idea.

“
Just be ready for
anything.” Tex turned into the driveway and stopped short. Another
car was parked in the driveway.

“
They just drove up and
parked?” Stephen asked what Julio had been thinking. That
was
pretty
bold.

As the car screeched to a halt, the front
door opened. Julio pointed his gun to the door, just as he was
about to pull the trigger Hog yelled out.

“
It’s me and Pete and
Miguel.” He had ducked down so fast, Julio no longer saw
him.

“
What’re they doing here?”
Tex asked.

Stephen and Brinks opened their doors and
exited the car slowly. Julio went next, with Tex bringing up the
rear. Pete and Miguel stepped fully onto the porch as Hog
stood.

Julio frowned as he looked over his men.
“When’d you get here?” He and Francisco agreed that he should come
alone as a Cartel representative. But it was good to the see the
guys, they’d need all the help they could get.

“
One and a half hours ago
I got a call from the big man to be at the airport in forty-five
minutes. I figured he'd changed his mind about you coming alone.
Pete and Hog were there when I got there. Pretty much the same
thing happened with them,” Miguel said as they walked
inside.

Tex held up a finger and walked to the back.
He returned with two electronic detectors. After handing one to
Pete, he gave the other to Miguel, then sat at his laptop. Julio
sat next to him as the hidden cameras came online.

Julio wiped his hands against his pants.
According to the time stamp, thirty minutes ago, while they were
talking with Pam’s dad, three men entered Tex’s cottage. Boots was
one of them. The men spread out searching the room, careful not to
leave footprints. Julio was impressed by how well they searched
quickly without leaving a lot of clues that they had been
there.

“
Hmmm,” Tex said, as each
man placed cameras in different rooms. Tex wrote the location of
each camera on four separate pieces of paper which he handed to
Hog, Pete, Miguel and Brinks. The men left and returned a few
minutes later with the cameras in hand. Hog smashed each one with
his feet.

Julio waved at the detectors. “Hog, you and
Pete do a complete sweep in every room, the patio and the porch.
Miguel, Stephen got hurt when their car swerved off the road, check
him out. Let me know if we need to get him to a doctor.”

Hog picked up the devices, handed one to
Pete, and the two men left the room.

“
Sure thing.” Miguel stood
and walked Stephen to the back.

Tex slid a piece of paper
to Julio with writing on it.
What is
Francisco up to now?

Since Julio had been wondering that himself
and had no clear answer, he shrugged and slid the paper away.

Perhaps this meeting with the infamous Ghost
wouldn’t be as low-lying as everyone originally thought. As soon as
the all clear came, he’d call his mentor to find out what the hell
was going on. Francisco seemed convinced, way too convinced for his
peace of mind, that Pam hadn’t fallen victim because of her
involvement with him. But he had to be certain.

Twenty minutes later, Hog and Pete came in
with the all clear. A small transmitter had been found on both the
porch and patio. The veranda outside the master bedroom had been
clear as well as all the interior rooms.

Julio stood to go into the room he’d used on
his last visit to make the call to Francisco, when there was a
knock from outside. The men scattered into their positions. Julio
remained where he was. Tex looked around and strode to the front
door opening it wide.

A police officer flipped up his sunglasses
and read from a small notepad in his hand. “There is a car on the
side of the road up a bit that slammed into a tree. One tire was
shot out, but the vehicle was empty. A little blood in the front
seat but nothing else.” He peered up at Tex. “You know anything
about this?”

Tex frowned. “Should I?”

Julio listened as the police officer made
his explanations. The officer's eyes were busy sweeping the living
room area, and lingered a fraction on Julio. He wondered if the cop
was replacing the bug on the porch with a higher powered one.

“
Would you mind if I came
in and searched the premises?”

“
Why? I just told you I
don’t know about the car?” Tex asked, his voice still neutral, but
Julio knew that wouldn’t last much longer if the cop kept
pushing.

“
Take his name and we’ll
call it in for verification. Maybe someone at the police department
can explain why tourists are being treated this way.” Julio’s eyes
met and challenged the man, who he suspected was not who he claimed
to be.

“
You didn’t identify
yourself as a police officer, did you?” Tex growled as he whipped
out his gun.

The man swallowed hard while his eyes
remained glued to the gun. “Yes…yes I did. Maybe I didn’t. I can’t
remember. B…but I am a police officer. Glenn Barnes. Call it in.
Please call it in.”

Julio called the number of a contact
Francisco had given him.

“
Talk.”

“
I have a police officer
here by the name of Glenn Barnes. He wants to conduct a search of
our vacation cottage. Is that standard procedure?”

“
No. He’s probably
following orders, but not those from the police. Just tell him no,
he’ll go away. But his being there means others know you’re there
as well. I’d say you’ll have a serious visitor within twenty-four
hours.”

“
Good. I want this done.”
He clicked off as he walked to the door and looked at the sweat
pouring from Barnes face. There were fine tremors wracking his
medium built frame.

“
No you cannot come
inside. Tell Boots to be a man and come get me himself instead of
sending others to fight his battles.” Julio closed the door,
enjoying the look of surprise and then fear that crossed the
officer’s face when he mentioned Boots. “Asshole.”

Tex replaced his gun and returned to the
laptop. Julio stood over his shoulder as the perimeter was checked
for a breach. “It’ll be soon since you slapped him in the face with
that challenge,” Tex said grinning.

“
I know. I’m tired of the
games, it’s time to end this shit so I can check on Pam. I thought
her dad would’a had her call me by now.”

“
Give it time. He may not
have gone straight home.” Tex paused and spoke softly. “Movement
near the back patio.”

“
Hog has the patio,
right?”

“
Yeah and he’s looking in
that direction. It pissed him off that they got the jump on him the
last time.”

Julio snorted.

“
Someone’s on the veranda.
Pete’s moving for the intercept.”

Julio pulled out his gun and stood to the
side of the front door. That’s where he expected Boots to enter.
Bold, brazen and expected.

Tex chuckled softly. “Another fool just
entered the patio. Hog took him out like the first one. Hell, I
think Hog got the best spot.”

Julio remained silent and focused.

“
Oops, looks like that
police officer decided to return after all. Pity he took off his
uniform shirt, cause Hog has no idea he just snapped the neck of a
cop.” Tex sounded more amused than worried.

“
You called it, front
door.” Tex said in a low voice, and moved backward.

Julio moved to the side of the door and
flattened himself against the wall. Gun in hand he waited, barely
breathing, for Boots to make his appearance.

A gunshot went off.

Tex moved down the hall.

Julio’s grip tightened on his gun.

The door burst open, but no one walked in.
“I warned you about returning to the island.” No one spoke. “I told
you I’d gut you for messing with my woman, but you didn’t listen.
So I’m gonna kill you and this whore for dealing with your
boy-toy.”