Page 20 of Maddox

I tossed back a gulp of my drink, exaggerating the swallow. Gray had gone out of his way to find me. That meant this was important to him. Did it really matter he hadn’t told me everything? Maybe we weren’t in the Navy any longer, but I felt I still owed him a modicum of respect.

In truth, I owed him my life.

The screen was frozen with a damn bright smile on her face. It was as if she had the whole world by the balls.

Women like her became toys for men like Alfaro. If he had any idea she was in town and had been contacted by someone who’d betrayed him, her life was in significant danger.

Hell.

Don’t do it. You’ll regret every second.

No matter what happened, the woman would become a distraction.

An enticement.

A method of engaging in sin.

Nope. That wasn’t going to happen. I shook my head and hated that I’d always been a man who did the right thing.

At least my momma would be proud.

I yanked my phone into my hand and hit redial.

“Yeah?” Gray answered.

“I accept. On two conditions. One, the mission goes my way. And two, I want one point five million.”

Call me greedy. So the hell what? I had a feeling Ms. Douglas was going to be a royal pain in the ass.

CHAPTER 7

Charmaine

“Have you seen any of these women?” I asked as I showed the pictures I’d been given inside the bar.

“I cannot believe you convinced me to come along with you,” Maria said through clenched teeth as she stood by my side. She’d been my producer through thick and thin over the years, her background and the fact she was bilingual an asset on this trip.

While we’d only had to go a few kilometers outside the secure village where we were staying, being out at night was risky. So far during the trip, no one had seen any of the women who’d supposedly been kidnapped.

I was here for the children. Mostly. Beautiful babies who didn’t deserve to grow up in a life of poverty only to be sold off to the highest bidder. It wasn’t the orphanages’ fault what was happening, and I did hope by highlighting the need for sponsorships and adoptions, I could help break the horrible cycle.

But I also cared about the women who’d be taken from their homes and businesses, never to be seen again. The information the unknown source had provided was chilling. Fernando Alfaro was even worse than the article I’d written about him.

When the various men inside the bar looked at us as if we had two heads, Maria huffed and repeated my question in Spanish.

I was a damn good observer and could easily tell when someone was holding back information. That’s what good reporting was all about. Several people squirmed in their seats.

“We need to get out of here,” Maria hissed under her breath. “This is not why we’re here.”

While I’d been obliged to tell Jerry about the clandestine meeting and then show him the information provided so he’d approve of the investigation, I hadn’t breathed a word of the drop about Mercury Fulminate. I’d read up on the compound, but in truth wasn’t certain what the mystery man had been getting at.

Whatever it was, my guess was the source had exhausted more traditional methods of obtaining any confirmed evidence. So far, there’d been no attempt to contact us and tomorrow would be our last full day in the country. I wasn’t certain whether to be disappointed or relieved.

“Just one more minute,” I told her.

“No. Trust me. We need to go.”

Sighing, I glanced in her direction. Her face was full of fear.

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