Page 53 of Her Reluctant Hero
“Nothing. I mean, whatever Eric—Agent Cortez was investigating, do you think it was limited to here? It seems to me it would be easier to get into Texas, across the border, than to come off a ship, unless they were being smuggled. But I’d think ships were more closely watched. The Texas border is long and for the most part unmanned. That’s how I would do it,” she continued when he just stared. “But I’m just a dumb stripper.”
Isabella reached over without looking and took a donut. She started humming something that sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it.
“What’s that song? Something you heard last night?”
She smiled, that damn mysterious smile. “A song I used to sing with Hector.”
She sang some more, something about colors, in English and Spanish, but the tune still niggled. God knew his mother hadn’t sung to him.
“Pretty catchy for a kid’s song.”
She laughed. “I didn’t know a lot of kid songs, you know, I never thought I’d have a baby this young. I couldn’t exactly order Disney DVDs. So I made up songs from ones I knew. That one’s from the Black Eyed Peas.”
Damn, he wanted to see her with that kid, wanted to see what kind of mother she was. Before he could give it more thought, a car pulled up alongside of the building, long and shiny. Three men got out. Two scanned the area as the third straightened his suit jacket and shades.
“That’s got to be him,” Alex said. “Now what?”
She cinched her top and brushed donut glaze from her lap. “I have an idea.”
“No.” His tone was sharp, and for the first time, he took his eyes off the sedan. “You’re not going in there on off hours. I can’t keep an eye on you.”
“I’m just going to apply for a job.”
He shook his head, jaw set. “I say we wait.”
“Trust me, Alex.” She shoved open the door. Straightening, she hitched her jeans down just a little and rolled her hips as she approached the men standing at the door.
Her heart thudded against her ribs as she went over what she would say in her mind. She considered and discarded half a dozen scenarios in the time it took to walk from the car to where the men now stood waiting for her.
“Jorge Medellin?” she asked the man in the middle, the smallest, flanked by two muscular men. Santiago had always kept the company of big men so he could step between them if the going got rough.
“Who’s asking?” one of the bodyguards demanded.
“I’m Isabella.” She didn’t take her eyes from Jorge, but he betrayed no reaction. “I’m looking for Santiago.”
Jorge stepped back and gestured toward the door, for her to precede him. She resisted the urge to look back over her shoulder, to get Alex’s approval, before she nodded, ducked her head and walked into the darkness.
The scent of stale alcohol, sex and sickness assaulted her the minute she walked in the door. Though the bar and the three stages, all with poles, were familiar. There was something about this place that made her feel filthy, beyond the three silent men watching her.
She put her hands on her hips, though she wanted to wrap them around herself to hide herself from these men. She tossed her hair and looked up at Jorge.
“Where is he?”
“What makes you think I know?”
“He told me to come here, told me you’d help me hook up with him,” she said, thinking on the fly. “I need to find him. I’m running out of money.”
“What did you say your name was again?” Jorge leaned against a barstool and looked her over.
She swallowed. She’d told them her real name. What if Santiago had spoken to Jorge about her, for real? What if he dragged her back to Honduras without her son?
“Isabella,” she said, not as confidently this time. She hoped using her own name wasn’t a mistake. But she was getting desperate now, and perhaps if Santiago knew she was looking for him, he’d show himself.
He reached out to curl her hair around his finger. “What would you want with an old man like Santiago?”
She stumbled mentally. She didn’t think of Santiago as old—late forties, maybe. Jorge was definitely not younger, or as well groomed. “I told you, I’m running out of money.”
Jorge inclined his head toward the pole on the center stage. “I think I know how a girl like you can earn some cash. You can show us what you have. It’s a much easier way to make a living than by answering Santiago’s beck and call. I pay very well.”
