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“Yes, and they’re very influential. They probably have every Texas Ranger, cop and trooper in the state looking for you right now.”
“I wouldn’t count on that. And lying to me isn’t helping your cause.”
“What makes you think I’m lying?”
“Not think. Know. Chalk it up to my experience with conniving enemies.”
Jaime sucked in a deep breath, determined not to play into this man’s hands. “If you know so little about me, why did you kidnap me? Did you follow Buerto and me from the restaurant?”
“Is Buerto your husband?”
“Yes.”
“And I guess you always kiss your husband good night at the door after you’ve gone out for the evening?”
She sucked in a ragged breath. This was getting her nowhere.
Rio walked across the room and approached the bed. Her heart plummeted and dread sucked the breath from her lungs. She backed away until her body was against the wall.
Rio jerked back the faded quilt, tossing it to the foot of the metal bed. “Mattress is garbage but the sheets look clean enough,” he noted.
They looked dingy and disgusting to her. But they’d do, as long as she was the only one crawling between them.
He stepped past her and peered into the bathroom. “I’ll see if I can find you a bar of soap and a towel and washcloth. If you need anything else or change your mind about cooperating with me, knock on the door. I’ll hear you. That offer is just between the two of us. Tell Luke anything I tell you in confidence and I swear I’ll stand back and let him have his way with you.”
So the actions in front of Luke had been for her protection. Either he found her undesirable himself or else he wasn’t entirely evil. If it was the latter, maybe she could make that work for her.
If it was the former…
Well, who cared that a brute found her resistible?
He turned and walked from the room without looking back, but she heard the key turn in the lock before his footfalls faded in the distance.
Anxiety-fed adrenaline still quickened her pulse and churned in her stomach as a legion of more pressing questions took over her mind.
Was Buerto okay and had he told her family? How had her brothers reacted to the news? Were they planning to cooperate with the kidnappers or had they gone straight to the police or maybe the FBI? Was there a mass manhunt already underway?
How was her mother taking the news?
Jaime’s heart constricted at the thought of her mother having to face this kind of worry and fear. She had to find a way to get word to her that she was okay. No, she had to find a way to escape.
She’d never overpower her kidnappers. They were simply too muscular and strong. She’d have to outsmart them. That would be difficult with Rio. He was cagey himself and had already shown that he didn’t fall for her lies. If she were to outfox anyone, it would have to be Luke.
She kicked free of her favorite stiletto sandals, for once wishing she’d worn a pair of boring, sensible shoes. Instead she was stuck in the wilderness dressed for a night on the town. That pretty much eliminated making a run for it through the woods.
Something skittered across her bare toes. She looked down as a giant cockroach paraded along her instep. A scream escaped before she could swallow it back.
Before she regained her equilibrium, her door flew open. Rio stormed in as the frightened roach scurried over the bare wooden slats.
He dropped the soap and towels on the bed and stamped on the insect with his booted foot, leaving it a mass of squishy pulp on her floor. This time his lips drew into a half smile.
“Nice to know you’re afraid of something, Jaime Collingsworth.”
RIO PACED THE BARE FLOORS, almost subconsciously familiarizing himself with the accompanying groans and squeaks. He’d been totally unprepared for the abduction and that concerned him. His BUDs training had prepared him to deal with anything thrown at him, but his years of experience as a frogman had fine-tuned his senses and ability to read even ambiguous clues with precision.
Yet he hadn’t suspected the kidnapping.
Still he was convinced that tonight’s act was only a prelude to something a lot bigger.
But what?
He needed information on Jaime and the rest of the Collingsworths if he were to figure that out. Jaime clearly wasn’t going to just buy his good-guy act and spill any helpful details. He’d have to find enough privacy to make a phone call.
Rio stepped into the dark, narrow hallway, pausing at Jaime’s door. The sounds of her rhythmic breathing indicated she’d finally fallen asleep. The unwanted image of her tanned, shapely body stretched out on top of the worn sheets burrowed into his mind. His body reacted as if he’d swallowed a handful of jalapeños.
He shook his head, but the erotic visions didn’t budge. Instead they became more distinct. He imagined his fingers tangling in her silky hair, disheveling the blond strands as his lips explored the smooth column of her neck.
Tiptoeing away from her door, he checked on Luke. He was still snoring away, his bare feet sticking out of the tangled sheets of one of the twin beds.
The guy was impulsive, with a quick temper that exploded with little warning. Worse, he was never far from the trigger of his Glock. Nothing like an untimed explosion to foul up a mission.
Rio retraced his path to the kitchen and then stepped onto the back porch, careful to step over gaps left by rotted boards. The lake was only a few yards behind the house, but the towering pines hid it from view. That was no doubt part of the reason the cabin had been chosen as a hideaway. It was virtually invisible from the front or the back until you were right on it.
He walked a few yards of the overgrown path toward the water, then stepped behind the trunk of an aged oak tree. Out of sight and too far away to be overheard if Luke did wake and venture out to look for him, yet close enough he could hear Jaime if she screamed—over a roach or worse.
Bending, he removed the small phone from inside his left boot, his fingers brushing the handle of the hunting knife that rested there in its twin leather sheath. Neither Poncho nor Luke suspected he had this completely private and untraceable mobile device on him.
He placed the call, knowing there would be an almost instant response even at this time of the night. He wasn’t disappointed.
“What’s up?”
“Trouble.”
“Specifics?”
“I’ve just helped kidnap a woman named Jaime Collingsworth. I’m guessing she’s connected to Collingsworth Oil.”
“You kidnapped Jaime Collingsworth?” A few curses punctuated the incredulity in his tone.
“I take it that means you know who she is.”
“I was good friends with her brother Langston back when we were riding the high school rodeo circuit. Jaime was just a kid then, but I met her on several occasions. And not only do the Collingsworths own Collingsworth Oil, they also have the second biggest ranch in Texas.”
So the cartel had taken a major risk in kidnapping Jaime—meaning they expected a bonanza from this. And Rio had ended up right in the middle of it, exactly where he’d hoped to be. Only he hadn’t been counting on Jaime to complicate matters.
Rio gathered all the facts he could from the phone call. By the time he’d broken the connection and walked back to the cabin, his head was reeling with the new information, but none of the confusion had been cleared.
He still needed answers and the rest would have to come from the sexy blond spitfire who seemed less afraid of him than she was a cockroach. Every path in sight was mined.
But he’d signed on to do a job. And with a frogman, even a former one, failure was never an option.
IT RAINED SOMETIME during the night, a steady downpour that cleared the pollen from the air and then gave way to the brilliant glow of the morning sun. Even filtered through the layers of grime that smudged the cabin’s windows, the rays painted the dingy kitchen in golden streams of light.
Rio checked out the refrigerator for food while Luke sat at the marred kitchen table scratching the toes of his right foot. Jaime was still in her room, though Rio had unlocked it a good half hour ago and told her she was welcome to come out for coffee.
The options for food were limited, but better than Rio had expected. “How about toast, bacon and eggs?” he asked.
“I could go for that,” Luke agreed, finally reaching for his sock, “but I say make the broad cook it. Cooking’s woman’s work.”
“Easy to see why you’re not married.”
“I’m serious. I don’t see why she should just get to lie around all day while we wait on her.”
“She didn’t exactly plan the party.” Rio took a skillet from the dishes he’d washed earlier that morning. With roaches and who knows what other insects and rodents scampering about, detergent and hot water seemed a good idea. He placed the bacon in it and put it over a low fire, then started spreading butter on bread for toast.
Soft footfalls sounded in the hall. He turned around just as Jaime stepped inside the kitchen door.
“There’s coffee,” Rio said, his eyes riveted to the petite, but shapely woman who showed little signs of the stress she had to be feeling.
Her wraparound dress was wrinkled, but hugged her perky breasts and firm, round buttocks provocatively. She’d shed the jewelry and the sexy heels. Her bare feet and freshly scrubbed face made her look almost waiflike. Her hair, which had been up last night, was down, the strawberry-blond locks tumbling around her shoulders. Disheveled. Tempting.
“I’d like to take a shower,” she said. “Or isn’t there one in this disgusting place?”
“There’s one,” Rio said, “but it’s not working. The water’s a bit cold in the lake, but I’ll walk you down there after breakfast if you’d like to bathe.”
Luke leered at her. “I’ll take care of that chore.”
She shot him a castrating look. “I’d sooner wallow in mud.”
“Yeah, that sounds fun, too.”
Rio filled a clean mug with coffee and handed it to her. “There’s sugar on the counter and milk in the fridge if you want it.”
“No, this is fine,” she murmured. “Thanks.”
There was a pause before the last word, as if it was added as an afterthought. He hoped that meant she was coming around to the point where she might cooperate with him, but he wouldn’t hold his breath waiting for that.
“How do you like your eggs?” he asked.
“Why ask her?” Luke quipped. “She ought to be cooking for us, if the princess knows how to scramble an egg.”
Jaime marched across the kitchen, planted herself in front of the grease-stained range and grabbed the carton of eggs. She broke two into the small skillet and then glared at Luke. “How much arsenic do you want in yours?”
“You got a smart mouth on you, you know that? I want them over easy, and don’t break the yolks.”
Rio removed a pan of toast from beneath the broiler and watched as she deliberately pricked the first yolk and let the yellow run to the edges of the skillet. If they made it through breakfast without a major flare-up between her and Luke he’d be surprised—and relieved.
He didn’t put anything beyond Luke, especially if Jaime pushed him. He’d as soon rape her as not. The way he was looking at her right now evidenced the thought was already festering in his mind.
When the eggs were ready, Jaime slid them onto a plate, sprinkled them generously with salt and pepper and then tossed a couple of slices of toast next to them. “Jelly?” she asked, eyeing a large jar of strawberry preserves.
“Sure, sweetheart. Why not?” Luke said, smiling. “And I want you to sit with me while I eat. Right here,” he said, patting his right knee. “We need to get to know each other better.”
Her expression was one of fury, but her hands were steady as she opened the jar and spooned a large helping of the sticky condiment onto the plate next to the eggs. Padding across the floor determinedly, she stopped inches from Luke.
Luke patted his knee again. Jaime smiled. Rio’s muscles hardened into bulging knots as he braced himself for trouble. Jaime took the last step and then tripped, falling against the table as the plate dropped from her hands and landed upside down in Luke’s lap.
Curses flew from Luke’s mouth as he leapt from the chair and grabbed her arm. “You bitch. You did that on purpose.”
She tilted her head back and stared at him defiantly.
Luke fit one hand around her smooth neck, letting his fingers dig into the flesh. “Lick it off,” he demanded. “Every drop. Lick it off.” He pushed her face into the sugary mound of red preserves that clung to his jeans.
Jaime’s knee jerked upward, connecting with Luke’s groin, and this time the man went totally berserk. Rio flew across the room, reaching them just in time to stop Luke’s fist before it slammed into Jaime’s jaw.
He shoved Luke against the wall. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Giving that tramp what she deserves. You saw what she did.”
“That tramp is the reason we’re here. Mess her up and you’ll answer to Poncho. We both will. Is that what you want?”
“Poncho or not, I’m not taking that off no woman.”
“She dropped a plate. That’s all.”
Luke muttered a new string of curses. “She didn’t drop it. She dumped it on me.”
“So get over it. We got a job to do and it doesn’t include roughing up the victim. You could get carried away and blow the whole ransom deal. You know what that will get you.”
The fight slowly went out of Luke. His muscles quit straining and his fists relaxed. By the time Rio let go of him, smoke was filling the room. Rio hurried to turn off the fire under the skillet.
And then he noticed that Jaime was nowhere in sight. Damn. In that split second when he was dealing with Luke, she must have made a getaway. But she was barefoot. She couldn’t have gotten far.
He rushed toward the back door and caught sight of a wave of blue fabric weaving through the trees. He took off running, the pine straw skidding from beneath his feet, low limbs from scraggly trees tearing at his shirt.
If she escaped, he could kiss goodbye any chance of continuing to be a player. He made a dive for her as she skirted the muddy banks of the lake. They both went down in a tangle of arms, legs and wild locks of blond hair.
Jaime lay beneath him, facedown and spewing clumps of damp earth from her mouth. He rolled her to her back, straddled her and pinned her hands above her head to keep her from fighting him.
Her dress hung off one shoulder, revealing a mound of perfect flesh and a deep reddish-pink nipple that stared him in the face.
His body hardened and desire engulfed him in blistering waves. He rolled off her, leaving her short dress to bunch at her waist. A few wayward blond hairs peeked from beneath the wisp of black lace pantie.
He groaned, but kept her pinned to the earth. A man could only take so much.
Chapter Four
Jaime’s heart pounded and her breath came in painful gasps.
