Page 30 of Her Reluctant Hero
Chapter Six
He was gone. She had expected nothing less. Last night had been something—punishment, retribution, something. But not love.
She knew better than to believe in love. A man never did more with a woman than use her for his own good. Alex hadn’t told her why he’d come, had never told her what happened with Rebecca. He’d just fucked her.
God, she hated that word.
Now she sat in the chair, dressed in the only other outfit she’d packed besides her purloined hiking clothes and the silk dress he’d shredded in the jungle. The black suit was the most respectable piece of clothing she had, despite its microscopic skirt and deep neckline. Maybe the authorities would look at her differently today and send her on her way. She couldn’t tell them any more. Not only was reliving Eric’s death too painful, but they might hold her accountable. If they found her to blame, she’d never be able to get to her son before Santiago.
But if she convinced the DEA to let her go, she could get back to the States, find Hector and disappear. When that happened, this life would be behind her forever. Hopefully her son’s memories of this time would fade, that he would only remember the nice, normal life she planned to give him back in Las Cruces. She ached to hold him again, couldn’t wait to introduce him to her parents, couldn’t wait to be loved again.
The knock came just as her stomach rumbled and she realized she hadn’t had anything to eat since yesterday. This being on the run was going to do wonders for her diet. She walked to the door and peeked out, hoping against hope it was Alex. But no, it was a young marine from the embassy, white hat tucked under his arm. She opened the door.
“Are you packed and ready to go, ma’am?” he asked respectfully, though he was probably older than she was.
“Go where?” she asked.
“Home, ma’am. They’re sending you back to the States today.”
Alex sat ramrod straight in the hard metal chair as the head DEA agent, Agent Michaels, and his own superior officer, Captain Winters, circled him like vultures. He’d told them what had happened at Saldana’s, on that mountain, but they wanted to hear it again. And again.
“What was the girl doing out of the compound?”
He resisted the urge to wipe his hand over his face in frustration. Instead he folded them in front of him on the scarred table. “I told you, sir. She said Eric Cortez had told her we were coming. She saw us as her only hope.”
The other men exchanged a glance. Captain Winters spoke. “How did Saldana know we were coming? Why did Cortez trust the girl?”
“I have no idea, sir.”
“Do you not?” the agent snapped.
Alex met the other man’s gaze steadily and watched his temper heat. “No, sir.”
Michaels turned away and signaled the two-way mirror. He waited silently, allowing the tension in the room to rise. In a matter of moments, a marine rolled in a television set, plugged it in, and left. The captain pressed a button and Alex was watching himself having sex with Isabella.
Nerves roiled in his stomach. Christ. They’d bugged her room? From the angle, it looked like the camera was above the light fixture in the corner. His face heated with embarrassment, both at being caught and at being so damn rough with her. He had used her. Because he felt used. Goddamn, he needed to get out of here, needed to find her and apologize. That would be new. He didn’t even know what to say, what he could say, to make up for his treatment.
Then, realizing the captain and Michaels were watching the video, watching Bella, he reached over and slapped the TV off.
Both men turned to face him as if they’d expected nothing less.
“You seem fairly familiar with the girl,” Captain Winters observed dryly.
“Running for our lives through the jungle will do that. That—” He motioned to the screen. “What you saw, was the first time we had sex.”
Michaels braced his hands on the table across from Alex. What a dick. “Doesn’t matter to us if it was the first or hundred and first. She clearly trusts you.”
Ohh. This was not going to be good.
“She’s leaving today for Miami.” Michaels straightened. “You need to follow her.”
“What for?”
Captain Winters braced a hip on the edge of the table, good cop to the agent’s bad cop. “Saldana is still going to be looking for her, whatever else he’s up to. That will be the fastest way to get the information that is on the hard drive she brought us.”
Ah, so they couldn’t crack the encryption on the device she’d risked her life to bring them. Scary, if you thought about the crack techs they had in the DEA.
“Look at it this way.” The captain folded his arms. “You’ll be protecting her as well.”
