Ready to Run Ch. 03

His world had just gone to hell in a handbasket. Or it had until the moment he laid eyes on her. When he followed Kerr to that library, he had thought his life was over. But with this woman sitting in his arms in the middle of a cornfield in Bumfuck, Texas, he knew he would move heaven, earth, and hell itself to have a long, loving life with Mercedes Reynolds.

He just had to convince her of that. Then keep them all safe. Get to the bottom of the whole fucking McBride shit. Oh, and clear his name enough that he did not spend his life in prison or on the run as his father had. Simples, right?

She pushed a button and dropped her head. Another of those tears cascaded down her cheeks. He was not going to tell her how dirty and grimy it was. But that did not matter; she was still the most beautiful woman in the world to him.

"Torreon, why there?" Will was more than familiar with the place. Any federal agent or narcotics officer was. Most of the drugs that came into the states went through the city at one point or the other. It was the corporate headquarters, you could say, of a couple cartels.

She looked at him, and something in those eyes wrapped about his heart, "Something that Kerr said when he..." She shivered again, and he drew her back against him, wrapping his arms tighter again.

"He threatened me. He said that he could make me disappear. 'So far down the hole, no one would ever find me.' He said that I would pray to die." She shook her head, and her voice began distant quiet, "He said they would auction me off. That if I were lucky, I would end up in a harem somewhere."

Her words ripped his heart to pieces. Of course, he was not naïve. He knew that human trafficking, even in the twenty-first century, was still very real. Slavery and sexual exploitation had not died with Thomas Jefferson or Sally Hemings. Despite international treaties on slavery, the estimate was that over forty million people were enslaved worldwide. Of that, it was believed four million, mostly women and girls were forced into the sex trade. One in seven runaway girls were thought to end up victims of it.

Will was never sure which frightened him more, the thought of Bebe lying dead and buried somewhere, the victim of a serial killer, or that she might still be alive and forced to...

She turned in his arms, her soft hands captured his face, and she looked deep into his eyes. "I am not saying there is a connection. But there are just too many coincidences here. Not only did Kerr specifically say Torreon, but..."

She sighed and shook her head, "My sperm donor, I won't use the word father, because that man was never that to any of us. Hell, they deported the man before I was even born. But Ignacio Garcia was from Torreon. And I know that my sister Elean and her husband visited his family there once."

Will heard the hesitation. What was Mercedes not telling him? But before he could ask, her answer floored him. "They never went back. His oldest son, our half-brother, is some big wig in one of the cartels there."

"Diego Garcia?"

She nodded her head slowly, "Yes, I'm pretty sure that was the name Elena said.

"Fuck," Will wanted to grab his woman, hop on the Duchess, and head the exact opposite direction. Canada, maybe? Alaska? Somewhere that no one would ever find them. But he knew there wasn't such a place. Not when it came to Diego Garcia and the Torreon cartel.

And if there was a connection to Kerr, and that tip was right? And McBride? The Torreon cartel was one of the possibilities that were behind that as well. "Fuck!" The idea that his baby cousin... That he would take his woman into that quagmire. "Fuck, no! I'm taking you to your sister or your Mama."

She shook her head, and Will knew he was going to lose this one the moment he saw her face. "And what? You'll go to Torreon alone? I don't think so. I'm your ticket. The key to open that door."

"If what Elena said was true, then someone like Diego Garcia won't think anything of a little sister he never knew showing up on his doorsteps if she got into trouble."

"And Kerr? What if the man is working with Kerr? How well do you think Garcia will take to having you shoot one of his men?" Will demanded.

That smile was lethal, and he hoped like hell his grandparents were whispering in god's ear because it just might work. Hardass and innocent were a deadly combination. "I don't know. Maybe big brother will consider it funny. After all, blood is thicker than water."

He had lost, and he knew it. "Okay, I'm not going to waste time arguing with you now. It's best if we travel at night. I'm guessing your face may be all over the news by now. I am sure Kerr never got a good look at me, and it'll take a bit longer to analyze the video from his dashcam and run the plates if it even captured anything."

"We need gas and food before we get back on the road. But since they might already be looking for you, or two people on a motorcycle, it'll be best if I go alone. You stay here. Sleep if you can. I'm not sure what I will find or how far, but I'll come back as quickly as I can."

She nodded and gripped the backpack tighter. Reaching into it, she pulled out a stack of twenties and handed Will a couple, "How much do you have in there, sweetheart? Wait, I don't want to know. Just promise me, no more phone calls until I get back. You have my word. We will call your Mama back before we pull over to sleep tomorrow morning."

"How long will it take?"

"To get to Torreon?" She nodded, "Since it's only safe to travel at night, a couple of days."

"But if they're looking for me, for us, how will we cross the border?"

Will chuckled, "The same way that Diego's people do coming this way. I began my career with HPD in narcotics, sweetheart. I know all the best border crossings. Now, try to rest. Is there anything you need? Anything I can get you?"

Her eyes twinkled as that sweet laughter caressed his mind, "A raunchy historical romance, or some shapeshifter, vampire action? I can't use my Kindle now."

He bent and tasted those sweet lips for the first time. He kept it light, like a kiss on the front porch when you knew her daddy was watching through the window. "I'll see what I can find, sweetheart. But in terms of food, you aren't vegan or allergic to dairy or wheat or some such shit?"

"Hell, no, I'm all red neck woman. Beer, burgers, and chocolate are major food groups for me."

He shifted her weight so that she was sitting on the hard ground. It felt all wrong, but he knew he had to get going and get back. They would have maybe eight hours of riding before the sun came up, and they needed to get as far away from this place as they could.

He hopped on the Duchess and winked, "I think I can handle those, sweetheart." He put on his helmet, started the engine, and though it killed something inside of him, he drove off without her.