I'll Remember You (Hell Yeah!) (3 page)

Martina tore her eyes from Aron. “Is Alessandra back?” Her sister and her bodyguard had taken the banana boat to the island so Alessandra could do some shopping. The younger Delgado sister lived a different life from the elder—less worry. And that was the way it should be.

“No, Diosa, shall I phone Ruiz?” the captain asked, taking his cell from his pocket.

“Yes, she needs to return quickly.” Martina walked to the porthole. Already she could see trucks and cars on the beach. A search was being launched, of that she was certain. “Leave me. I must think.” Her words weren’t harsh, but she was instantly obeyed. Displeasing Rodrigo Espinoza’s granddaughter could be hazardous to your health. For decades the cartel had ruled the Sonora region with an iron fist, transporting cocaine and heroin from Columbia across the border to America.

Going to her dressing room, she wet a washcloth with warm water. Pulling up a chair beside the sofa, she began to clean his face. “You are safe,” she whispered. “I will help you.” As she stroked his brow, Martina remembered the first time he’d visited Los Banos. She had been home from university on spring break, arguing with Tomas over the fact her new Maserati had a bent front bumper. As far as she was concerned, a new one was in order. Her father disagreed. Refusing to take ‘no’ for an answer, she followed him to the barn where he was meeting two American cowboys. From the moment her gaze fell on Aron McCoy her panties had been wet. The whole weekend he’d visited, Martina had shadowed him, coming on to him in every way she knew how. She’d touched him, brushed against him, even tried to play footsie under the dining table, but he seemed to be totally immune to her seductive moves. His second visit had been different. He’d handled all of the paperwork from the barn, staying only a couple of hours. Although the handsome Texan had never given her an ounce of encouragement, she had still fallen for him completely—lock, stock and barrel.

If only…Martina smiled. Now, he lay on her yacht at her mercy. She knew an opportunity when it reared up and bit her in the ass. She pondered her options; she could send someone ashore with him or she could keep him for herself.

Beneath her touch, Aron shrugged his massive shoulders and groaned. “Where am…what happened?”

“Be still. You must take it easy. How do you feel?”

“Like shit.” He threw the sheet from his body—his magnificent body. His right hand was tightly clutched around something. She wondered what…until she glimpsed the left hand and then the previous thought vanished from her mind like a poof of smoke. There was a wedding band on his ring finger. ¡Dios!

“You need to rest.” She touched his knee, attempting to comfort him.

“What’s going on?” He had a stunned, confused look on his face. “Who are you?”

“You were injured.” She grabbed her phone and pressed the number to call Juan Carlos back. “Do you remember how?”

“No.” Shaking his head, Aron closed his eyes as if in great pain. “No, I don’t remember.” Another groan slipped through his lips. “Head hurts.”

“Can you tell me your name? Is there someone I can call?”

Silence. Another groan. “No. I don’t know my name, I can’t remember…” His voice trailed off and he went limp. Aron had lost consciousness once more, and his breathing was shallow and erratic. 

When the doctor returned, Martina hurriedly told him what she’d observed. He checked Aron’s vitals. “I’m going to give him morphine, 5 milligrams. While he’s resting, I’ll prepare to run the necessary tests to ascertain the extent of his injuries.”

Martina watched him give Aron a shot, standing by until his breathing evened out and he went back to sleep. “I’ll sit with him until you’re ready.” 

“That isn’t necessary, Señorita.”

“It’s what I want. Call Paco and check to see if my sister is back on board and report to me.” She didn’t even look at him. Martina knew she would not be challenged.

Chapter Two

BACK AT TEBOW

“What do you want for your birthday, Badass?” Joseph asked with a twinkle in his eye. “It’s less than two weeks away.”

“I want a black cayenne Harley Street Glide with a batwing fairing and a split-stream vent.” A look of pure lust glazed Isaac’s eyes. He was sitting in a big leather chair in front of the fireplace.

“Are you gonna get a side car for Avery?” Cady asked with a grin.

“Foot,” Avery said her favorite fake-cuss word as she came up behind Isaac and kissed him on top of the head. “I want a matching bike. With speaker helmets equipped with Bluetooth, so I can whisper sweet nothings in his ear.” He wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her headfirst over the back of the chair into his lap. She was giggling all the way.

The telephone on the desk began to ring. For a moment everybody ignored it, until Joseph got up to get it. When he picked it up, it was obvious Jacob had picked up the line in the kitchen because his voice could be heard trying to calm Libby down. Joseph put the phone on speaker, motioning the others over.

“Calm down, Libby. I can’t understand you, Sweetheart.” Jacob urged.

“I can’t find him, Jacob.”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Aron. I can’t find him.” She was crying so hard, her voice was shrill.

“What do you mean?” Joseph asked. “Where are you?”

“We went snorkeling off Seven Mile Beach, not far out and he didn’t want to do it…” Her voice faded.

“Is he okay?” Isaac demanded.

“I can’t find him,” she repeated, screaming. “He didn’t come up.”

Joseph, Isaac, Cady and Avery looked at one another in shock. Joseph disconnected and they all went into the kitchen where Jacob, Jessie and Noah were standing around the table.

Jacob was still on the phone. “God, Libby. Try not to worry. We’ll be there as soon as we can get a flight. You just sit tight.” He hung up and looked at his family. “We’ve got to get down there.” He looked to Joseph. “You go see Lance and get everything squared away here. Isaac, you call Roscoe and let him know and I’ll call Bowie Travis.” He pointed at Noah. “You get ahold of Kane and Zane. We’ve got to get to the bottom of this. I just pray by the time we get there, Aron will have shown up.”

Nobody moved right away. It was as if time stood still. “I can’t believe this.” Jessie wiped tears from her eyes. “They’re on their honeymoon, for God’s sake. What about Nathan?”

Jacob braced himself on the table, his hands visibly shaking. “I don’t want to take him with us, he has school. Besides, we don’t know anything yet one way or the other. There’s no use upsetting him.”

“I’ll stay with him.” Cady offered. Looking at Joseph, she spoke, “Call Beau and Harley, they would want to know.”

“You’re right.” He grabbed his cell phone to place the call.

The family began to prepare to fly to the Caymans, a trip they never thought they’d make. One of their own was in serious trouble, so they all rallied to stand by Libby, to give her strength. All the time, Jacob and Noah were on the phone, calling authorities and authorizing searches. Rescue teams were notified and Joseph alerted as much media coverage on the islands as he could, knowing it would go a long way in insuring that everything that could be done would be done on the rescue mission. Not being able to reach Zane on the phone, Noah drove out to his ranch, knowing they would need him on the trip. The shock sent everyone reeling.

When they were on their way, the trip to the airport was quiet. Jacob was driving, staring at the gleam of the headlights on the highway. “All I can think about was how much he disliked the water. What was he doing snorkeling?” Just the idea that something could’ve happened to Aron scared him to death. “What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to find him, Jacob.” Isaac was adamant. “Nothing else is acceptable.”

***

BANDERA, TX – LONGHORN BAR with BOWIE TRAVIS MALONE

The drive into Bandera from Vega Verde was only about forty minutes, but Bowie had been on the road so much in the past few weeks, he resented the time it took. If it hadn’t been for Tanner, he wouldn’t have bothered. But his friend was determined Bowie come meet Micah Wolfe and Tyson Pate who’d recently formed a company with other members of their former SEAL team. Tanner thought they would have a lot in common with Bowie, so he’d made arrangements for them all to have a drink together at Arkey Blue’s.

Bowie ran his hand through his heavy mane of hair. “Damn, I need a haircut.” His lifestyle was so haphazard, he neglected little things like visiting the barber shop. Finding a parking spot on Main Street wasn’t easy this time of night. Arkey Blue’s Silver Dollar Saloon pulled in the crowd, much more than the neighboring shops did during the day. He noticed there was at least thirty Harley’s parked close, also. Biker clubs loved to ride the scenic hill country roads and camp alongside the Guadalupe. With a grin, he wondered if Isaac McCoy were here. It had been a while since he’d seen him. Giving the biker/cowboy a hard time was one of his favorite sports.   

Snatches of Luke Bryan’s
My Kind of Night
came floating out of the door every time it opened and closed. Laughter and the sound of pool balls striking together made him smile. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. Walking in, he scanned the crowd for Tanner. He was early, so he would just get a drink and wait. Stepping up the bar, he asked Red for a Shiner beer. The old bartender had been passing out drinks at Arkey Blues for well over a decade. “Where you been, Malone?”

Accepting the longneck after Red had popped the top, he smiled sadly. “I spent the last ten days hunting an inmate who escaped from High Desert Prison and fled into the Mojave Desert.”

“Find him?”

“Yea, he had sought shelter in a cave where a den of green rattlesnakes were holed up. When we found him, he’d been bitten a hundred and forty-five times.”

“Yuck.”

Taking his mind off the unfortunate outcome, Bowie turned to watch a lucky cowboy on the dance floor with a redhead whose bottom end seemed to be attached by a swivel screw. Lord, the girl could shimmy. She could move her hips up to her fingertips as the old Elvis song went, she had all the hula dancer’s moves with no grass skirt or lei in sight.

Two college age girls who were holding court with about a dozen cowpokes surrounding them, left their charmed circle to come ask him to dance, but Bowie was content to sit and watch. But as he did, he let his eyes wander around the room and that was when he saw her.

She sat at the back, at one of those extra-long tables, all alone. There were empty glasses around her, so it was obvious she’d had company, but they had abandoned her. He took a couple of swigs and watched. After a bit, a girl joined her, drained her glass, laughed and said a word or two, then let herself be pulled back onto the dance floor by an overzealous cowboy.

The doll who’d caught his eye just smiled serenely and continued to watch everyone else.

Bowie hadn’t meant to stare, but he couldn’t help it. She was beautiful. Strawberry blonde hair, a light tan, freckles if he wasn’t badly mistaken, and the biggest pair of green eyes he’d ever seen. He couldn’t see much of her body beyond a graceful neck, smooth shoulders and full breasts which looked to just fit his big, hungry hands. But that was enough. A groan of need escaped his lips as he watched and waited. She didn’t look unhappy, singing along with the music, even moving her shoulders and wiggling a little in her seat. He never saw anyone who wanted to dance more than she did. Yet, she sat all alone. 

Why wasn’t anyone asking her to dance?

Well, he was damn sure the man for the job. Bowie only hesitated a minute or two, making sure she wasn’t waiting on a boyfriend who’d stepped out for some reason. And if he had, the man ought to be hog-tied and whipped for leaving her alone for so long. As the last song ended, people made their way from the dance floor. Several girls joined her, leading men by the hand. They took sips of drinks, regrouped, spoke to Angel Face, and then all went back out as soon as the band began the next number.

Except her.

He watched her look at them longingly, sigh and smile as if she’d decided to be happy anyway. Bowie stood, adjusted his slightly swollen package and decided to make his move. When he walked into her line of vision, he caught her eye. She gave him a sweet smile, but didn’t try to hold his gaze, looking away almost immediately. Her shyness didn’t deter him; he was a man on a mission.

Cassie patted her knee in time to the music, all the while wishing she’d stayed home and finished that second batch of candles. Nothing would do Felicity but she join them in celebrating Cordelia’s birthday, but the truth was they didn’t even realize she was here, and just sitting and watching everyone else dance made Cassie uncomfortable. The place had been jam packed when they’d entered, so most everyone had seen her arrive. Their taking note of her entrance assured her she wouldn’t be inundated with male admirers. It was okay, she was used to it.

Setting her drink aside, she decided to slow down her consumption of liquid. Already she needed to go to the restroom and making that journey was about as pleasant as walking over a bed of hot coals. When she looked up, she saw him. Gracious, all he needed was a horse and a bow and arrow. She had seen men who looked like him on the fronts of those romance novels written about old west maidens who fall for the sons of chiefs. For about five seconds, she drank him in, then forced herself to look away. No use trying to lure him over, she had no bait to fish with.

But oh, how her eyes wanted to stray back and stare. His image was indelibly branded on her mind—long black hair, wide shoulders and eyes which were warm, dark and seemed to see right through her.

Was he walking toward her? Why? A shiver of awareness and nerves made her quiver; she wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she could throw an afghan over her head and hide.

Bowie had to sidestep several dancing couples who were moving to Eric Paslay’s
Friday Night
. Once more, she locked eyes with him, a hopeful, inquisitive expression on her face. God, she was adorable. “Could I join you?”