Page 52 of Her Noble Protector

Lisa turned her body on the couch like she wanted to look at the fool who would put his wife and kids in danger like this. What kind of idiot does this?

“I got in too deep, Alberto tapped me because I knew the neighborhood that she lived in. You know, Los Cabos Heights. I do landscaping out there. I didn’t know what was coming down. It was going to pay our expenses for a year, Nellie.”

“Didn’t you think that something with that kind of payoff would land you in prison? Jesus, you never think, Mel. You never think.”

“You gotta help me. I promised to take care of her. I figured between you and me we could keep her alive, then we wouldn’t get in trouble. Right?”

“Just call the cops.”

“No, I gotta deliver her to the guy day after tomorrow,” he whispered. “He said she had to be in pristine condition.”

“Mel!” she screamed. “Think! You’re handing her off to be killed.”

“We don’t know that,” he whispered.

“What in the hell else could it be? You already said he’s a stone-cold killer. He killed Alberto, he wants you to hand her over in two days. Of course, she’s going to die.”

“Why would he want her in pristine condition?” Mel argued.

Lisa heard Nellie walk over to the couch. She was close. “Mel, think, baby. It’s not good. We’ve got to call the cops.”

“I’m already an accessory to kidnapping. He’ll come and kill you and our kids.”

“Are you sure he knows where we live?”

“Alberto said he made it his business to know everything about the four of us. This guy is part of a cartel out of Mexico, that’s how they operate.”

“The cops will protect us.”

“The cops won’t do shit. It’s the Mexican cartel baby!”

There was the longest silence imaginable.

“What do you need me to do Mel?” she asked.

* * *

It was after visiting hours, but Carys got him in. Cami wasn’t sleeping anyway. She was too agitated. Raiden stopped short when he saw A.J. McNamara, Kane’s wife, on the other side of Cami’s bed.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I’m here to help.”

He wasn’t sure how she could, but he’d take any help he could get.

“What have you found out?” Cami asked as she sat up in the hospital bed.

“We’ve got some leads. I need to know more about Maria. Anything you can tell me about her will help.”

“Maria?” Cami looked confused. “You think this is about Mexico?”

Raiden nodded.

“Nic told me that everyone was killed, including her.”

“We’re not so sure.”

“Raiden, she’s evil. I mean she is truly evil. I don’t mean the kind of person who was sick in the head. She was someone who liked doing evil things. She wanted people to be hurt. She got off on causing pain.”