Marie, Laura - Miss: Senorita and the Soldado [The Miss Series 2] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (14 page)

“He’s in Mexico and we’re all here to protect you!” Mathew interrupted as he entered the living room.

Elloisa locked gazes with her brother. Mathew had always been the do-gooder of the family.

“You don’t think he could find me, Mathew? You don’t think he has people in this country looking for me as we speak? You of all people should have an idea about the power he has.”

“Yes we do, Elloisa, and he won’t get you ever again,” Mathew stated confidently as he moved closer to her.

She closed her eyes and Mathew embraced his sister.

“I love you, Elloisa, and I promise we will protect you.”

“And I will protect you. If need be, I won’t talk to those agents unless I am confident that they are truly on our side.”

“Do as Dad said and follow your gut. Let us worry about protecting this family.”

“I love you, Mathew. So please, do not underestimate the powers of Armando Sintorez.”

Chapter 9

By ten a.m. Elloisa, Jack, Salvatore, and Mathew had entered the third floor of the DEA main headquarters. Their entourage of security did not go unnoticed.

“Couldn’t you have toned it down a bit?” Elloisa asked Jack as he held the elevator door open for her.

“Not an option.” Jack replied.

“Not taking any chances,” Salvatore added from behind her.

* * * *

Upon entering the office, all eyes were on Elloisa, and Gustavo noted how she held her head high, walked with confidence and grace. She was a soldier herself but just hadn’t seen it that way.

Gustavo couldn’t help but stare or take in the full sight and scent of her. With his fantasy dream still fresh in his mind, he forced his eyes to remain on her face and not her body. She was gorgeous, a head-turner, but she was a survivor as well. She had stayed alive, a prisoner of the most notorious and frightening drug lord that had ever existed. How the hell did she do it? How did she escape? What answers did she hold?

Suddenly, she paused in front of him.

Elloisa looked up into Gustavo’s eyes. He knew she didn’t trust him or any of the others. He wasn’t a fool.

“Gustavo…Agent Montoya, I never really said thank you for saving me from that attacker back at the convent. I could have used someone with your expertise before…many times,” she whispered, slightly bowing her head. He got the message loud and clear. A chill ran up his spine as well as a desire to protect her. The thought startled him, but he quickly recovered.

“Not a problem, Elloisa, and please, call me Gus. I want you to feel comfortable with me,” he replied, and he was sure she was playing the same game as he was.

She winked in response, and her demeanor immediately changed to coy and distant.

“Miss Givani, follow me, please. Can I offer you some coffee, tea, or water?” Agent Williams asked as they followed Elloisa into the conference room.

“Water would be fine. Thank you,” she told them, and Agent Thomas and Agent Rimarez stopped her three brothers from following.

“Wait one minute. We’re going in with her,” Mathew stated as he held his ground in the doorway.

“I think it might be easier for your sister to talk about what took place if her brothers weren’t present,” Agent Williams suggested.

“It’s okay, Mathew. I can handle this. Agent Williams is right. We should follow this by the book. I don’t want Sintorez getting off on some kind of technicality. I’ll be fine,” Elloisa insisted, and she could tell by their facial expressions that her brothers weren’t happy about it.

Elloisa took a seat at the head of the conference table, which appeared to have flustered Agent Mathews. Gustavo chuckled to himself and had a feeling that Elloisa wanted to keep her eye on everyone. There was a stenographer to record everything as well as a tape recorder. She had a look of sophistication and maturity for someone rather young. He was impressed.

They handed her some official paperwork that she had to sign then proceeded to get ready.

“Maybe you’d like to hook a lie detector up to me as well,” Elloisa stated sarcastically as Ramirez and Thomas set everything up. Gustavo stayed toward the other end of the table.

Williams smiled. “I don’t think that is necessary at the moment.”

He cleared his throat, and she challenged him with a raise of her light brown eyebrows.

“Where is Armando Sintorez’s estate located?”

“Durango, south of Cerro del Mercado.”

“Security?” Williams inquired.

“Lots.”

“Then how could you have escaped?” Agent Thomas asked as he looked her over.

“I was able to find a hole in the fencing behind a bush around the perimeter.”

“No cameras?”

“Lucky for me, not on that side. You see…” Elloisa began to say before she paused to take a sip of her water, looking directly at Agent Williams. “An hour or so before I escaped, the camera somehow malfunctioned.”

“How did you do that?” he inquired and actually looked smug about it.

“Who said I did?”

“You implied that you did it.”

She smirked. “Desire for freedom can sometimes give people capabilities they don’t even know they have in them.”

“Guards?”

“Lots.”

“Miss Givani, it’s important that you expand on your responses so that we can gather the information necessary to advance on this investigation.”

“Agent Williams, it would be in your best interest to be more specific about what you’re looking for and whether or not you want me to expand on the obsolete stuff or the good stuff.”

A few chuckles went through the room and Williams appeared agitated. He glanced at his file and a stack of papers.

Then they asked about how she escaped, and she explained about the proper training and intense workouts she did.

“Why is it that you waited until now, a year and a half later, to try and escape?” Williams asked.

“Fourteen months and three days, Agent Williams. Let me explain a few things to you gentlemen. I want you to have a clear and accurate understanding of Armando Sintorez.

“You think you know evil? You believe as you sit here in your high-rise building behind your office doors and comprise your lists of your seemingly successful little drug raids in the city that you’re getting closer to it? The reality is that you’re not. Armando is many steps ahead of you. He knows your moves before you even know your moves.”

Elloisa told them all about the murders she witnessed, giving names, dates, and then information about Rosalie and Nina. It was obvious by their facial expressions that they were outraged. At least, most of people in the room were. The female stenographer looked white as a ghost and about ready to run from the room.

She leaned forward in her chair as she saw the agents’ eyes widen in astonishment and disgust at Armando’s brutality.

She whispered to them. “You don’t scare me, Williams. None of you do. I’ve been to hell and back, nothing you could say or do to me would even come remotely close to what Armando has done. I’ve been to hell. There’s really no need for me to explain and reveal every detail of my time with Armando. It’s the important information you want. I will share a little of what I know.”

“What do you mean, ‘a little’?” Williams asked, abruptly interrupting Elloisa.

“A little of what I know until I can be sure that you each can be trusted.”

“That we can be trusted? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Agent Thomas demanded.

“There’s no hidden meaning. Take it exactly how it sounded. I don’t know any of you. I don’t trust any of you. I sure as hell wouldn’t trust my life or my family’s lives with you. The DEA left me there to rot, to be victimized, used, and basically to die. I owe you nothing. I’m here for the simple fact that I want justice. I want Armando as well as his bodyguard Ramos to be caught and punished for all of their crimes. I want my family protected, and the only way to ensure this is to capture Armando and Ramos and destroy his cartel. You guys are already working a case to attain that goal, and I will help you as best I can. Here is some of what I know. You’ll get more when I’m ready.” Elloisa stated, and she told them what she wanted to about the trafficking operation, production, and routes of border entry. Over an hour and a half later, the agents had plenty to work on and confirm.

* * * *

Gustavo realized that Elloisa was the most valuable witness and informant they could have ever wished for. The DEA wasn’t used to getting such insightful and accurate information handed over to them by an informant. Where most informants were labeled occasional, regular, or arrested individuals with an agenda or a “what’s in it for me” attitude, Elloisa wasn’t. She wasn’t being persuaded to be an informant. She wanted revenge but also justice and security for herself and her family. She wasn’t a criminal as far as his investigation had proven thus far. She knew information no agent had been capable of getting by any other means. She was a precious commodity to the agency.

Gustavo watched her as she spoke. He could see her muscular shoulders through her blouse. She was strong and determined not to show her fear. He had to admit that Elloisa Givani held herself well under pressure. Williams was pounding her with questions, hidden accusations that Elloisa was seeing straight through.

Gustavo watched her eyes and how she wouldn’t turn away from the interrogator. She looked at Williams and the others directly. She wouldn’t glance away or turn from embarrassment, fear, or guilt, which said a lot.

She moved her legs when she changed position, and at one point her blouse pulled a little farther to the right, revealing a bit more of her bronze flesh, voluptuous breasts, round and trimmed with lace from the camisole that barely covered them.

Gustavo wasn’t the only man in the room affected by Elloisa and her beauty. A slow glance around the room and he could see the other agent’s were absorbing Elloisa’s beauty as well.

There was no denying the instant attraction Gustavo felt toward Elloisa. The more she spoke, the more she revealed about herself and her personality.

He recalled the anticipation he felt about seeing her again today. She remained in his thoughts since leaving her in the safety of her family last night. His dreams were filled with erotic thoughts of her and it disturbed him. He had been a loner most of his life with no family and no ties to a name. It was what made him a perfect candidate for secret undercover missions that took him away from the United States for months or years at a time. He couldn’t honestly say he enjoyed the profession, but it kept him busy and he loved the adrenaline rush.

He stood up just as all the other men in the room did the moment Elloisa stood from her seat. It was she who ended the meeting. It was Elloisa who remained in control, not Mathew or any of them. Gustavo was impressed and Elloisa exited the conference room with dignity and class.

Chapter 10

“I want her back!”

“Armando, you are crazy. She’s gone. She’s out of Mexico, and there is nothing you can do about it,” Ramos stated as he watched his boss stare at Elloisa’s picture.

“You can replace her with five…”

“No! She cannot be replaced. There will always be just one Elloisa. You don’t understand,” Armando said.

He couldn’t stand the idea that she left him. She had escaped, ran, and he should have seen it coming. The last month, she had been different. She was different since the night Rosalie was killed.

He should have seen by the way she acted, the way she gave herself to him willingly, that she was up to something.

He loved her. He lusted for her and that amazing body.

Who would she go with? Who would be the man to have her as he had? The thoughts enraged him.

He would kill that man with his bare hands.

“Find out where she is! I want to know by this afternoon, Ramos.”

“And when I find out where she is, what are you planning to do?”

“I will choose a group of men to retrieve her for me. I will have my Elloisa back.”

* * * *

“She must be amazing in bed,” Ramos grunted as he turned toward the door.

An instant later, the sharp switchblade was pressing against his jugular. Ramos could feel the tiny drips of blood roll down to his shirt.

“Don’t you ever say anything like that again and never touch her. She’s mine.”

Armando released him then shoved Ramos towards the door.

* * * *

“Did any of the information you obtained from Miss Givani open any new doors in the investigation?” John Falco asked.

“Our men are screening through the information now. It appears that one smuggling entrance location across the border had been missed by our agents. We have men covering that now. In the process, it led to uncovering a storefront thirty minutes from the border that appears to be a large storage facility. There were underground tunnels leading into the basement of the factory,” Williams answered.

“Yeah, someone with a lot of money had to have backed the operation. There was plywood brought in with small beams about fourteen inches high and sixteen inches wide placed throughout the tunnel, probably to minimize the chance of a collapse. They even had ventilation because they ran an air pump hose through the tunnel for the person digging. It led directly into the basement,” Thomas added.