“Call Tex,” Tiny ordered. “See what he can find out about where we’re going. The more info we have, the better off we’ll be.”
Reese stayed quiet as they headed east out of the city. She had no idea what they were driving into, but she prayed it would lead to Woody.
CHAPTER FIVE
Spike didn’t like this. Not at all.
Having Reese with him changed everything. He hadn’t thought much about putting himself in danger when he was on the teams. He did what he had to do and that was that. But seeing the fear, and determination, in Reese’s eyes as he basically threw her out the window wasn’t something he wanted to repeat.
She’d been so damn brave, and he was as proud of her as he could be. But that didn’t mean he wanted her to continue on the search for her brother with him and Tiny. He would much prefer to stash her somewhere safe. But that was the problem. He had no idea where “safe” was at the moment.
Even as he worried about what they’d find when they got to the address they’d lucked out with in Angelo’s room, Spike realized that his hands weren’t shaking. He wasn’t nauseous.
He wasn’t sure why. He was in as much danger, or more, as he’d been any other time he’d had a physical reaction. The only difference was that it wasn’t just his life at risk, or Tiny’s, but Reese’s as well. If anything, his body should be reacting more now. Instead, it was as if his mind realized the importance of keeping his shit together to make sure Reese was safe.
Whatever the reason, he was relieved that outwardly, at least, he appeared calm, even if he was still worried about the entire situation.
Spike glanced at Reese and immediately wanted to take her into his arms. She was sitting ramrod straight between him and Tiny in the old truck. Her eyes were wide and she was clenching her hands together in her lap. She looked distressed, and Spike hated that.
He’d spoken with Tex and he’d given them as much of a head’s up about where they were headed as he could by looking at satellite pictures. There was a house in the middle of the jungle. It wasn’t a mansion, but it also wasn’t a rundown shack, like most of the houses in a nearby village. And considering that they’d found what looked like several thousand dollars’ worth of drugs in Angelo Hernandez’s room, it was highly likely they were headed to a stash house of some sort.
At this point, Spike could only speculate, but he and Tiny had a short conversation and agreed that it was likely Angelo had gotten in over his head in regard to the drugs, probably owed the cartel money—and they’d come to collect. Perhaps they’d already known about Isabella’s bilingual ability and decided she’d be an asset to their organization. Or maybe they took the sister to make sure Angelo did what they wanted.
Or maybe they took her for more despicable reasons.
But taking Woody wasn’t a good sign. He would’ve fought back, definitely. Kidnapping an American citizen could be a gold mine…if a ransom was paid. But Reese hadn’t received any kind of demand.
Spike’s head hurt, thinking about what may have happened to his friend. And there was a chance the three weren’t at the address at all. For all they knew, Woody and Isabella could be holed up in some romantic love nest, while Angelo was hanging with friends.
But Spike didn’t believe that. Neither did Tiny nor Reese, for that matter.
Glancing once more at the woman beside him, he thought of the way she’d so easily hotwired the truck they were currently riding in. The way she’d insisted on him leaving some money for the owner. She was constantly surprising him.
Most surprising of all…Spike found that he felt more alive right now than he had in years. And it wasn’t because of adrenaline or because his life was in danger.
His hand moved without thought, reaching over and covering Reese’s fidgeting hands in her lap. Touching her was becoming a necessity, not simply a way to try to keep her calm.
“So…cars, huh?” he asked, wanting to take her mind off of what they might find at the end of their journey.
She shrugged. “Woody was always tinkering on some sort of engine when we were growing up, and since I adored him and wanted to do everything he did, I learned as much as I could about cars.”
“I can just picture you toddling around behind him,” Spike said with a small smile.
“Annoying him, you mean,” Reese said. “Did he tell you about the time I followed him and his date to the drive-in?”
Tiny chuckled from behind the wheel, but Spike didn’t take his gaze from Reese. “No.”
“Well, he was in the tenth grade and had just gotten his driver’s license. I hated the girl he was dating. She was a total bitch, and even though I was only two years younger than she was, she treated me as if I was five. She also acted one way in front of Woody and another behind his back. She pretended to be the nicest person in the world when he was around, and when he wasn’t, she was picking fights with other girls and bullying them until they cried. I tried to warn my brother, but he wouldn’t listen. I was just his annoying little sister, after all.”
“What’d you do?” Spike asked.
Reese grinned, and Spike couldn’t help but think she was absolutely adorable.
“First, I told my parents that I was going upstairs to study for a test I had the next week. Then I snuck out and went to the drive-in on my dirt bike. I shimmied under the fence and found Woody’s truck. They were sitting in the back, making out, of course. I knew how much his date hated bugs and creepy-crawly things, so…I’d brought along a few spiders I’d caught around the house and let them loose in the truck through a cracked front window, while they were too busy kissing to notice me. And by a few, I mean around fifty of the suckers.”
Tiny burst out laughing at her audacity.
Reese grinned wider. “She completely flipped out. And when Woody ran to grab paper towels at the concession stand to wipe up the mess her drink made when it spilled, she was standing next to the truck, and I was hiding under it. I grabbed her ankle—and then she really lost her mind. By the time Woody got back, she was babbling about a killer lurking at the drive-in. When Woody didn’t find anyone near the truck, she decided the place was haunted and she’d been grabbed by a ghost!
“It was hilarious. Juvenile, yes…but I was, in fact, a juvenile at the time. And trust me, the girl deserved it. When Woody came home, I was back in my room, studying innocently. He broke up with her about a week later because he couldn’t stand her constantly bringing up what happened and insisting a ghost had tried to snatch her. It wasn’t until we were both in college that I confessed what I’d done.”
“Was he mad?” Tiny asked, a huge smile on his face.
“Nope. He said he knew she was a bitch all along but since he was a teenage boy, and she was known for putting out, he didn’t care at the time,” Reese said with a chuckle.
Spike could easily picture a mischievous young Reese, torturing her brother’s girlfriend.
The grin on her face faded and she looked over at him. “Do you think he’s okay?”
And just like that, the mood in the truck shifted from amusing thanks to her funny story, to something more ominous.