Page 54 of Adam's Rising

She smacked his chest playfully. “So, Stableboy… No tall and curvy Lala for you?”

“God no!” He nearly choked on his reply. “I mean, she’s pretty and all, but… Claire, you’ve got to know. It’s always been you. Plus, she slept with my brother. To mimic your hotdog remark,eww…” He threw in a shudder to drive the comparison home.

Claire burst out laughing. “Oh my gosh, you did not just compare your brother to a hotdog.”

Adam shrugged. “Anyway, definitely no Lala for me. But since you brought her back up, Clara Mae’s concerned about what Lala might do… To me, maybe, but mostly to you, I think. I didn’t even know Lala was your cousin.”

“Step-cousin,” Claire clarified. “My grandmother married her grandfather shortly after I was born. Lala’s from California, so I only saw her a handful of times over the years — until her step-father shipped her up here. We get along… mostly. Why would Clara Mae have concerns about Lala and me?”

“Clara Mae knows I took you out, and she mentioned Lala’s real father…”

“Oh?” Claire twisted her mouth. “Him? Yeah,he’s… kind of a… smooth talker. I’ve only seen him a couple of times, years ago. My parents didn’t like him, usually found a reason not to visit during holidays when he was there. But then Lala’s mother divorced him… and married this new guy, and I haven’t —”

“Claire,” Adam stopped her. “We have to go, but I have to know… Why would Clara Mae be worried about you, concerning Lala’s father?”

Claire bit down on her lip, then peeked around Adam, looking back at the trail. “Because Lala’s father — Lalo, oddly enough, which I think is short for Eladio —”

Adam sighed.

“Sorry, I’m just trying to paint the picture without coming right out and saying what’s speculation on everyone’s part.”

“What’s everyone’s speculation about him?”

Claire squeezed her eyes, then opened them. “That he’s… cartel.”

“What?” Adam spun away, leaning over the railing. He didn’t even know where to start with that answer. He was thinking some high-falutin California businessman, not a cartel leader. “Lala knows this?”

“Well, she doesn’t go around flapping her jaws, but she gets whatever she wants. And she knows it.”

“And she wants Thomas, even though she hasn’t seen him in nearly two years?”

Claire nodded.

“Faaaa… Holy crap!” For the first time in his short life, Adam nearly cussed, really cussed — the big one. “Why?”

“Because Thomas was her first.”

Adam laughed without humor. “I meant, why is this happening to me?”

Claire moved toward him, shaking her head. “Lala will get over it. She knows she can’t always get her way. Grams sure doesn’t put up with her tantrums.”

“Are you sure? If you saw her face the other day — I wasn’t sure if she was confused or mad. But now, some of what she said makes sense.”

Claire stepped back and crossed her arms. “What did she say?”

“Nothing important, believe me.” He waved his hands. They were running out of time, and he needed to know what this man might be capable of. “When you say cartel… Do you mean like…thecartel? The kind of men who chop off fingers if you screw up — remove appendages if you mess with their daughters?”

She winced. “God, no! I mean, Lala’s a brat, but we’ve been family for fourteen years. She even stood up for me when Boyd…” She literally shook off the thought. “I’ve seen her throw tantrums over not watching her favorite show, but ordering her father to cut offappendages… Maybe we should just tell her the truth.”

Adam ran his hands down his face, scratching at the hair growth. He hated it, but he didn’t have clean clothes, let alone a razor.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Claire said, stepping toward him again. “I’ll tell her the truth.”

“You can’t, Claire. I’m sorry, but that’s not the answer. Someone’s still after Thomas.” He couldn’t tell her that the eight men sent to kill him were dead. “Alaska’s big and all, but there aren’t that many people between Anchorage and Falcon Run. When the bad guy finds out —”

“But… you said… those guys killed Thomas. Wouldn’t they have reported his death back to whoever ordered it?”

Once again, Adam realized how bad he was at all this deception. If he’d been hooked up to that lie detector, it’d explode right now.Nope! He shook his head as he remembered the events of that night.There was no one to report that Thomas was dead—or the eight bad guys,for that matter. They just wouldn’t show up, which meant the real bad guy would send more.

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