There was no answer, no sound. I looked down and knowing I had left the curtains open, there was no shadow passing on the light coming through under the door. I hadn’t expected there to be.
I quickly slipped the room keycard out of my pocket and jabbed it into the slot. When the lock turned green and the mechanical locks whirred open, I opened the door, crouching down as I followed through, my gun drawn and ready to shoot.
The room was empty.
I stood up and then motioned for Alana to come in. She did so like she was walking on eggshells, her arms held stiffly against her. She seemed to be going into shock.
I told her to stay put and then did a quick search of the room. My guns were there, my other stuff was there and nothing had been searched or tampered with. They hadn’t found us. We still had time.
Just not much of it.
“Alana,” I said to her but she didn’t look at me. I went over and placed my palms over her upper arms, holding her as I peered at her frozen face. “Alana Bernal.” She finally looked up. “Listen to me, Alana,” I said, knowing it was best to keep calling her name. “We’re safe for the time being but we have to leave. I’m giving us a ten minute window and then we’re out of here. I’m pretty much already packed – you know I travel light. I’m going to pack up your stuff while you take a shower. Hold on.”
I went into the bathroom and brought the gym bag out from underneath the sink. Her blank eyes followed it as I placed it on the couch. Then I took hold of her arm and lead her into the bathroom. I ran a hot shower, stripped her dress up over her head until she was just in her bra and underwear and then took those off too. She may have turned me on in the elevator but now it was apparent she was frightened to death, a scared, lost little girl, and that made my protective instincts go into overdrive.
I was going to get her far away from here. Then we were going to solve this.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Alana
I think it must have been late when I finally stepped out of the fog. That’s what I called it, the fog. I guess some might call it shock but when I looked back at that day, the events between being shot at from the Puerto Vallarta bell tower and being in Derrin’s newly rented Camry while he handed me a Coke from the gas station, it was all just a fog, like grey, hazy mist that never really cleared.
Sometimes I wondered if it really all happened. If it had been a dream. But my body ached and my limbs were covered with scratches from trees whipping us and my eyes still burned from the salt.
It had happened. Someone tried to kill me. Actually, a bunch of people tried to kill me but I had no doubt they were all hired by the same person.
Now, Derrin knew the truth and because he was with me, taking care of me and making sure we were making all the right steps, I didn’t mind that he knew. He was one of the few people on earth now that did. He knew the truth about my sisters, about Javier. And he was still with me. In fact, I think he was the only thing keeping me alive.
“How are you feeling?” he asked gently as he got in the car. “You’re looking better.”
I took a timid sip of the Coke. It wasn’t very cold but it was fizzy enough. “I think I’m finally, um, here.”
“Good. I missed you.”
I eyed him, caught off guard by the sincerity in his voice. I swallowed the drink down, my throat buzzing. “Where are we?”
Now I was really looking at my surroundings. We were in the parking lot of a gas station beside a highway. It didn’t look to be an overly busy one, so I didn’t think it was the one that connected Puerto Vallarta to the coastal cities. Though it was dark out, there was a line of orange and purple to the left of us, burning the tops of some mountains. We weren’t near the ocean either.
He tapped the GPS. “This thing is telling me we’re outside Tulepe, two hours east of Mazatlan.”
“I miss the Mustang.”
“And I missed that attitude,” he said. “But you know we had to take it back. These people have connections. Everywhere. If there was any chance they would have stumbled across the hotel, our identities would be really easy to find, valet would fess up and they’d be looking for the black mustang everywhere. No one looks twice at a Camry.”
“And how are we supposed to get away in a hurry?”
“We won’t be doing that in a hurry,” he said. “We’re being extra cautious, extra safe and staying one-step ahead. At this point, they’ve lost us. If they’ve found us, then we’d be dead. Now we figure out what our next moves are.”
“You’re awfully good at this.”
“I watch a lot of spy movies.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I was in the army.”
“That I know,” I said, and went back to sucking on the straw, feeling like a confused little child. Derrin did know a lot, about everything, it seemed. But it was still making sense for the time being. And the fact was, he was saving my life and I trusted him more than anything.
“Can I call Luz and Dominga?” I asked hopefully.
He shook his head. “No,” he said. “Not yet.”
“Not ever?”
He sighed and rubbed his hand over his eyes. “I’m tired. Let’s get a hotel room.”
“Do you think that’s safe?”
“For now it is. They don’t know who I am.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do.” He shrugged and thumped his fist against the steering wheel. “You’re the bigger problem. But don’t worry about that. I know a lot of people here who can get us fake IDs. They don’t ask questions and they don’t talk.”
“Do any of these people work for the cartels?” I asked suspiciously.
He gave me a look. “Everyone in Mexico works for the cartels, in one way or another.” He paused. “Isn’t that right?”
“No,” I told him, just to be difficult. “In the morning, I want you to take me to see my brother.”
He wiggled his jaw uneasily. “That wouldn’t be wise.”
“Are you scared?” I had a hard time imagining he was scared of anything.
“I’m not scared but it wouldn’t be good. People just can’t meet drug lords. It doesn’t work that way.”
“I’m his sister.”
His face turned grave. “You are. And he had more sisters. I’m sorry, but I have no reason to believe that Javier is going to protect you.”