Linda Warren - A Texas Child

“You bet.”

“But, as I was telling Myra, I have some limitations. I will not get involved with the Mexican drug cartel.”

“You locate my grandson and I’ll take it from there.”

“Deal.” They shook hands again. “I’ll need a photo of the baby.”

“Sure. Myra will get you one.” Stu’s voice was hoarse and now it was more of a wheeze, and Levi could see his old friend was exhausted.

“My daughter doesn’t know that monster took him. At least, I don’t think she does. Myra and I haven’t mentioned it in case she doesn’t. No one knows what happened in that apartment.”

“When did the father take the child?”

Stu had to stop and take a breath, so Myra answered. “It happened on Monday. Natalie has an hour for lunch, and when she wasn’t back in two hours, I got worried. At three, I drove to the apartment and found her in a pool of blood. I immediately called 9-1-1, and an ambulance had her at the hospital in minutes. The E.R. team worked with her and then they took her into surgery. I realized it was time to pick up Daniel from day care, so I called another girl in the office to see if she could get the baby and keep him for a while. In fifteen minutes, she called me back to say Natalie had gotten him at noon.”

“My grandson probably saw his mother being beaten,” Stu choked out.

Myra patted Stu’s shoulder to comfort him and Levi stared for a moment. This was a different side of Myra, one he’d never seen. And it was a little jolting.

He swallowed. “The police have confirmed that Marco Mortez is the assailant?”

“Yes,” Myra replied. “Nat told me Marco was in town and she was meeting him for lunch.”

“But she didn’t mention picking up the baby?”

“No. Marco must have told her to bring him.”

He caught her eye. “When did you start accepting assumptions for facts?”

She gave him a heated glance that could melt chocolate in a refrigerator. “There was a call on her cell from him at 12:05 p.m. The last call she took. That’s fact. Jerry Black, who lives in the apartment complex, said he saw her go into her apartment with him and the baby. That’s fact.”

“Just checking.” He stopped her before she got all fired up.

“I do my job, Levi. Thoroughly.”

He let that pass. “You said Marco was in town. Did Natalie live with him?”

“No. He stays with her when he’s in town. He’s away a lot on family business.”

“Which is?”

“As far as I can tell, they restore vintage cars and ship them all over the world. Marco drives a Jaguar. Natalie said some of the cars are worth millions.”

“What’s his father’s name?”

“César.”

“He lives in Brownsville?”

“Yes.”

“Anything else you can tell me?”

“Marco was very secretive and he never let anything slip.”

“Levi, find my grandson. He has to be here when my daughter wakes up.”

“I’ll do my best, Stu, but as I told you, if—”

“Let’s stay positive,” Myra said.

“It’s difficult, Myra.” Stu coughed into a handkerchief.

Myra squatted by the chair. “You’re getting tired. Levi and I will take it from here.”

An orderly walked up. “Ready to go, Stu?”

Stu looked at Levi. “You’re the only investigator who can bring my grandson home. I trust you, Levi.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“If you’ll come back to the home, I’ll write you a check.”

“Don’t worry about it, Stu. Just take care of yourself and I’ll catch you later.”

“Thanks, Levi. I’m indebted to you.”

The orderly pushed Stu down the hall, and Levi and Myra stared until they were out of sight.

“Why did you interrupt me?” he demanded, not letting her off so easily.

She faced him. “Haven’t you heard of finesse, Levi? You’ve already told him you weren’t getting involved with the drug cartel. You didn’t need to jam it down his throat again.”

“He’s a cop. He knows the truth just like you and I do.”

“Leave him with some hope.”

“When did you get to be so damned considerate?”

“When did you get so hardhearted?”

“Myra—” He slammed his hat onto his head. “This isn’t going to work. Maybe it would be best if you hired the other guy.”

“You gave your word to Stu.”

“Then stay out of it. You don’t need to control everything.”

“I’m only trying to help a man I admire who’s been blindsided by grief and tragedy.”

“I know that, but Stu needs to be aware there is a very good chance that baby is in Mexico and there is no way to get him back.”

She lifted a dark eyebrow. “Is that a fact you can back up? You’re big on facts.”

“Damn it, Myra.”

“You can’t,” she said with a touch of glee in her voice. “Until you can tell him with certainty, you’re not mentioning it again.”

He stepped closer to her, so close he got a faint whiff of her fragrance. The gardenia-scented lotion she wore. It used to weaken his concentration. Now it only infuriated him. “Let’s get one thing straight. You will not tell me what to do. I get it, you’re concerned about Stu and Natalie. I am, too, but my patience is not as good as it used to be. So back off.”

“Fine. Do you need the detective of record on the case?”

He sighed and walked past her. He knew his job and he didn’t need her to explain it to him.

“Levi.”

He told himself to keep walking, but against every sane thought in his head he turned back.

“Thank you.”

He nodded, trying not to look into her dark eyes, trying not to get caught in the allure that was Myra Delgado.

CHAPTER FOUR

MYRA WASN’T UPSET at Levi’s high-handedness. He was on the case and that’s what she’d wanted. But she did wonder what had changed his mind. He probably couldn’t ignore his code of ethics and honor, and he had a soft spot for kids. Of course, Stu was a big pull, too. She was glad her old friend hadn’t been proven wrong. Now Levi just had to find Daniel.

Levi had a rocky relationship with his mother. She’d remarried within six months of his dad’s death, which was something Levi just couldn’t understand. At nine years of age, he’d refused to move with her and her new husband to Virginia. It was one of the few personal things Levi had shared with her. In his childish mind, he’d been hoping his mother wouldn’t go, but she did, leaving Levi with his grandfather. He’d felt deserted by a mother he loved and he’d never quite got over that. It made him tough, independent and, without a doubt, bullheaded. When Levi made up his mind, very little could change it. That’s why she was so surprised to see him today. But the thought of a child being separated from his mother had hit Levi in the heart.

The buzz of her phone interrupted Myra’s thoughts. Looking at the caller ID, she saw it was Tom. She quickly clicked on.

“Hey, sweet cheeks, we finally got a break. You might want to come down to the station.”

She gritted her teeth at the words sweet cheeks but didn’t respond. Tom wasn’t getting to her. He just annoyed her. “What have you got?”

“Brownsville police spotted the Jag on International Boulevard going into Brownsville.” She whipped into another lane, her heart pounding. This was the break they needed. “Have they stopped the car?”

“No. We’re keeping a tail on it to see where he goes and we want to be careful in case the baby’s in the car.”

“I’ll be at the station in a few minutes.”

Clicking off, she took the next exit and pulled into a restaurant’s parking lot. She poked in the FBI agent’s number.

“Steve, could you meet me at the central police station? They’ve spotted Mortez’s Jaguar near Brownsville.”