Page 72 of Healing Love

Cam threw his arm over her shoulders and pulled her in closely, whispering, “You’re doing fine,cariña.”

She smiled, feeling for the first time since she was rescued that she was truly going to be fine. “I just wonder where Sister Genovia is,” she murmured, her gaze darting around the large, filled room.

Cam found himself searching the room as well, hoping the nun would be here after Miriam had expressly come to see her. A movement out of the corner of his eye had him quickly turning his head to the left, seeing Manuel Reyes standing near the entrance. He noticed when Manuel’s eyes met his and gave a head jerk, silently asking Cam to come to him.

“Babe, I see someone I need to speak with. Stay here and I’ll be right back,” Cam gently ordered.

What the fuck is he doing here?Knowing that it must be serious for one of the DEA operatives to be seeking him out, he hustled toward Manuel.Jesus, it must be bad news if he’s come to tell me about it.

Glancing around as Cam stalked toward Manuel, she continued to search for Sister Genovia. Her gaze landed on a woman, dressed in a nun’s robes, standing on the far side of the room. The nun turned and Miriam smiled as the woman waved toward her.

“It’s her. I see her,” she said, pushing her chair back then, remembering that Cam was not there, felt foolish talking to herself. Offering excuses to the dinner tablemates, she wound through the multitude of tables toward her friend.

On the other side of the room, Cam met Manuel and the two men stepped just outside the noisy ballroom to talk.

“What’s up? What are you here for?” Cam bit out, worry lacing his voice.

Before Manuel could begin to speak, a few diners passed them and suddenly Cam felt a prick in his neck.

Whirling, he saw a man with a needle standing next to him before he pitched forward and hit the floor, out cold.

On the other side of the ballroom, Sister Genovia was standing near an entrance and as Miriam approached, the nun gasped as she turned and walked down the hall, holding on to the wall for support. Her nursing instincts kicking in, Miriam hurried after the woman.

“Sister Genovia! Are you all right?” she called after her.

The nun turned at her voice and Miriam stopped suddenly within a few feet of her.What the hell?Before she could speak, the woman in the nun’s robes grabbedher arm as Miriam heard the sound of running footsteps. As she turned to see who was coming, she felt a prick in her arm. Whirling back, she saw the woman now holding a needle in her hand before her vision faded to black. Then she crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

26

Jack, enjoying a Saturday evening with Bethany as they piled on the sofa watching football, jerked instantly at the sound of his phone. “Yeah,” he growled.

“Jack, it’s Marc. Got news and it’s not good. Alberto called to say that his partner, Manuel, went off the grid. He’s not sure but he’s got a bad feeling that he’s headed into the states and may be after Miriam. Alberto’s fuckin’ beside himself, now seeing that Manuel was a mole for the cartel.”

“Damn! She’s with Cam at the Red Cross event right now.”

“I tried to get ahold of Cam but he’s not picking up.”

Jack jumped up and with a grimace toward Bethany, headed down to the Saint’s work area. With Marc still on the phone, Jack fired off the alert to the other men, who quickly called back using their conference connections.

“Bart and Chad, you two are closest to the event hallin Richmond and I want you on Miriam. Get there now. Luke, head here and see what you can dig up. Monty, use your connections to see what we can dig up on Manuel Reyes. Blaise, you head to the event hall also and we’ll send what information we have on Sister Genovia. She may be in danger as well. Marc, stay in contact with Alberto to see what else he may come up with concerning Manuel.”

Each man, with their duties, disconnected and headed out into the night. Bart and Chad quickly suited up with the equipment that they kept at their homes. Bart drove while Chad linked up to Luke’s intel. “So far, no one has reported an incident at the event. Let’s hope it stays that way.”

After a few minutes of being in the compound, Luke looked over at Jack and Monty. “Got confirmation from Alberto that Manuel is somewhere in the states. He’s got no location on him, but I’ll bet Monty’s FBI can place him in VA.”

Monty caught their gaze and said, “Working on it.” He continued with his contact as they tried to get a specific location on Manuel.

“Oh, damn,” Luke shouted out, once more turning his body to face Jack. “You’re not going to fuckin’ believe this.”

“What?” Jack asked, running his hands through his hair.

“Alberto’s been in contact with the man on the inside of the working camp of the cartel where Cam and Miriam were. The report that Lorainne died is true. Butwhat was left out was that Sister Genovia became ill. She’s in a hospital.”

“Then who the hell is meeting with Miriam?”

The three men instantly knew that whoever had pretended to be Sister Genovia must have been convincing if the Red Cross in Los Mochis did not know it was not her. And whoever it was, was now with Miriam.

“Can you reach Cam?” Jack bit out as Monty sent the new info to his FBI contact and Luke relayed the information to Blaise, Bart, and Chad.

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