Her big eyes widened. “I will not run.”
“Yes, you will. You overheard me on the phone with my boss. You think I’m EM Security’s mole.”
“I-I do not know what you mean.”
He eyeballed her. “You’re a horrible liar. And if you’d think about this for more than two minutes, you’d realize I’ve done nothing but try to keep you safe since the moment I met you. But we need your help. We need information to try to rescue Kimber.”
“What makes you think I can help?”
“Their ransom demand is Valeria’s whereabouts.”
Laila paled, then lurched for her phone.
Trees hauled across the room and grabbed her wrist before she could dial. “Your sister is perfectly safe. The Edgington brothers have no intention of trading your sister for theirs.”
“You think I should simply believe you? Risk Valeria because you gave me hollow assurances?”
“I’m giving you logic. If they surrendered their client to get Kimber back, their reputations would be toast and their business would fold. Their livelihoods gone—forever. Besides, they’re too smart to play this game the kidnappers’ way. But they need help, information you have that no one else does. If we can uncover the identity of Kimber’s kidnapper, we can take the fight to them. And we’ll be better equipped to keep you and your family safe.”
He watched Laila consider his words, just like he saw the moment she decided cooperating made sense. “What do you wish to know?”
Where the hell should he start? “Of the two factions fighting for control of Emilo’s territory, you have any thoughts about which side is more likely to have taken Kimber?”
Laila paused, clearly considering. “When and how did the kidnapping occur?”
Trees relayed everything Caleb and Deke had told the office the day Kimber had disappeared, including the forewarning her father had received. “That’s all I know.”
“That tells me nothing. I am sure both sides are well aware of Colonel Edgington. Probably his daughter, too. I do not understand why they would threaten the man after he retired. Why not give the lipstick—and the warning—to one of your bosses? Or to her husband?”
A question Trees had wondered himself. “You can’t think of a reason?”
Slowly, Laila shook her head. “The picture delivered with the lipstick is obviously of consequence. Retribution for stealing Valeria from them most likely. The cartel very much believes in revenge.”
Trees didn’t doubt that. “The men who participated on that mission were targeted. My bosses and the colonel. The other guy in the photo is an operative named Blaze Beckham. I’ve never met him. That name mean anything to you?”
“No.”
Now that Trees thought about it… “The person with the closest connection to nearly everyone involved in Valeria’s rescue is Kimber. She’s the colonel’s daughter, my bosses’ sister…”
“Both Geraldo and Emilo’s underlings are crafty enough to find the loved one important to all. That does not give me enough information to pinpoint who might be behind Kimber’s abduction. It is perhaps more likely to be those loyal to Emilo since Hector is in the United States. Once here, he could move about freely and get close enough to take her. He is the kind of creeper who enjoys stalking a woman and pouncing when she least suspects it.”
Then raping them in the most cruel, humiliating ways. Trees kept that thought to himself. “Do Geraldo and his thugs have trouble getting in and out of the country?”
“I do not know.”
“I doubt it.” The kind of money Geraldo had influenced people and opened doors. “So it’s still possible either faction is responsible.” Since that train of thought seemingly led to a dead end, Trees tried another. “Tell me what happened in the compound after Valeria was gone. You were left behind. Was Emilo upset or furious that she had escaped? Did he want her back? Or did he think it was good riddance?”
“He was furious. I have never seen him so angry. Honestly, that puzzled me because he barely noticed her. She was a possession to him, a thing mostly beneath his notice. He was neither kind nor faithful. He did not care about my sister. I assumed he would be happy to be rid of her. I hoped he would release me, too. After all, I would be one less bother. Instead, he gave Hector and Victor more tools to make certain I did not slip through their fingers. Then he took his anger out on me.”
“He raped you more.”
Laila hesitated, then nodded, her gaze skittering away.
He tipped her chin up until she met his stare again. “Listen to me. That isn’t your fault. And that isn’t your shame.”
“I know you are right, but logic does not stop the feelings.”
Her answer broke his heart, but when Trees made to gather her in his arms, she backed away. Because she was focused on helping Kimber? Or because she still thought he was the mole?
“Later, I realized that Valeria had been pregnant with Jorge when she escaped. Emilo probably realized it, too.”
That made sense. The drug lord might not have wanted his wife, but he would want his son. “Did your sister know she was pregnant when she left?”
“That was the reason she fled. She knew her son would have no future except that of a criminal if she gave birth in that compound. So while EM Security was rescuing another captive, an influential doctor’s daughter who had been abducted while providing medical assistance to poor villages, Valeria begged the team to take her with them.”
“Why didn’t they take you, too?”
“Nothing was planned, and everything happened too fast. That night I was pinned between Hector and Victor…”
When she trailed off, Trees fought down fury. Laila had suffered so much after Valeria’s getaway. How could she have simply left her sister behind?
Isn’t that what you did to your siblings? Didn’t you see the opportunity to escape poverty and grab it with both hands?
Yep. And with a baby on the way, Valeria would have been even more motivated to escape.
Trees sighed. “So we’re back to wondering why grown-ass drug dealers care that there’s a toddler out there with Emilo’s blood.”
“It seems. If Emilo wanted his son back, I can think of no reason Hector and Victor are determined to grab Jorge except to fulfill the man’s last wish.”
“Then what would they do with the boy?” Trees scratched his head. “Jorge only has value for the Ramos brothers if he has value for Geraldo, too. A bargaining chip, if you will. After all, he is Geraldo’s grandson.”
“True. But he is even more valuable now that Emilo is dead. He was Geraldo’s only son.”
“Emilo’s sister is gone, too. Clara tried to kill Walker’s fiancée a couple of weeks ago to avenge her brother after One-Mile gunned him down. Walker and his buddies ended her.”
“An eye for an eye,” Laila murmured, then she frowned. “Was Clara the only one who pursued Walker for killing Emilo? No reprisal from Geraldo?”
“As far as I know, he didn’t lift a finger.” Trees followed her logic. “But why would Geraldo go to such lengths to get his hands on Jorge yet not avenge his son?”