Chapter 25

Fatigue nippedat Teresa’s heels, but she pushed it away. She’d spent most of the day staring at the computer screen, scrolling through more and more of Arturo’s dealings with Ramirez.

There was no way the firm was going to come out of this entanglement without the business closing. She should’ve felt sorry for everyone working there—and she did because half of them were probably unaware of what was really going on—but for the ones with their hand in the pie, happy to help a known drug kingpin, Teresa was glad they’d get their comeuppance.

Cass had already been there when they’d arrived, much to her surprise, as Angelo had mentioned the computer genius wasn’t supposed to be there until after lunch.

As Teresa didn’t know the woman well, she hadn’t questioned her being there, but Irish had been standing in the corner of her office, arms crossed with a brooding, annoyed look on his face.

He only left when Cass had told him to get his ass out of her space. Teresa had bitten back a grin at her, attitude and the way Irish had grumbled for a second before disappearing.

She also hadn’t missed the way Cass had followed his retreat.

“I think I need to go stretch my legs,” Teresa said, after another five minutes, and the screen was getting blurrier with every passing second.

“Don’t go far,” Cass murmured, her eyes flicking between the bank of screens in front of her.

Teresa marveled at the way Cass could follow everything and keep track of it all. It took a certain skillset to do it, and Teresa didn’t have it.

“I won’t.”

“Don’t forget to tell Angelo where you’re going.”

“I’ll tell him.” Normally, being reminded what to do as if she were a ten-year-old girl would’ve annoyed her, but not now, considering everything going on.

Teresa stepped out of the room and paused, taking a moment to inhale deeply and exhale even deeper. She headed to Angelo’s workspace, but his desk was empty, along with the ones around his.

Were they all in a meeting?

Was that meeting to do with Steff and Cynthia?

As far as Teresa was aware, Cass was still determining where they could be. Then again, maybe they were meeting about something else. Another case.

Bottom line, Angelo wasn’t there, and she wasn’t going to search for him. She’d leave him a note to let him know she’d gone outside for a quick walk.

Cass knew of her plans, and in all likelihood Teresa would be back before Angelo even knew she’d been out.

She found a pad of post-in notes, ripped one off and scribbled a note before sticking it on the center of his desk so that he would see it the minute he sat down.

Yolanda was on the phone when she breezed past, so she made gestures about stepping out and headed out the door to the elevators.

Teresa was aware of the dangers, so she wasn’t going to go for a thirty-minute power walk. She was going to go out of the building, take a left, walk to the corner, and come back. She might stand out at the front of the building to enjoy the sunshine before she went back in. Fifteen minutes max would be all that she’d be gone for.

The trip down didn’t take long, and the sun hit her air-conditioned-cooled skin. She closed her eyes and soaked up the warm rays and the hit of vitamin D.

“Teresa! I thought it was you. I haven’t seen you in a while. Did you move out?”

Her eyes snapped open, and she found herself looking into Phillip’s brown ones.

How had he found her?

How had he known where she was?

Had her neighbor been tracking her?

Teresa’s fingers drifted to her left ear and touched the earring—they were still there. Her trackers hadn’t somehow fallen out, and she hadn’t known it had happened.

Phillip was staring, watching as she touched her earring.

She dropped her hand immediately. “This is a surprise, Phillip. And yeah, I had some, umm issues, with my apartment so I’ve been staying with a friend.”

Angelo was more than a friend; he was her lover. Her best friend. The man she loved.

Loved.

No way could she stop the smile from curving her lips as she thought about Angelo and how much she loved him.

The restlessness that’d pushed her to take dangerous assignment after dangerous assignment had disappeared. It’d gone away the second she’d found herself in Angelo’s arms.

“You look happy. Do I take that to mean you’re glad to see me?” Phillip took a step closer, his fingertips brushed against her hand.

Teresa moved it away and took a small step back. “It is good to see you, but I need to get back inside. I only came out to stretch my legs, and they’re all stretched out nicely.”

Oh, God, what am I saying?

Phillip laughed. “They are nice legs. But come on, we haven’t had a chance to talk. Let’s go get a coffee.” Instead of brushing her fingers this time, he clamped his fingers around her wrist, digging in a little. “I won’t take no for an answer.”

A second later, Teresa was being hauled down the sidewalk like a naughty toddler. “Phillip! Stop.” She yanked her arm, but all it did was cause him to tighten his hold.

“Shut up, Teresa. You’ve caused me enough grief. Just fucking keep up.”

Fear finally slammed into her, and she tugged again, not caring if she was making a scene, yet no one seemed to be stopping Phillip.

No one paid them attention, or if they did see her attempting to get out of his hold, they were ignoring it—not wanting to get involved.

Would she if she came across a situation like this? She liked to think she would, but maybe she wouldn’t.

“Right.” Phillip stopped at car, the door already sitting open. “Get the fuck in and keep your mouth shut.” He shoved her into the back of the white sedan and slipped in behind her. Then he issued instructions in rapid Spanish, and the car sped away.

Phillip spoke Spanish?

A sick feeling formed in the pit of her stomach—Spanish.

The Ramirez Cartel was Mexican, and Spanish was their main language, of course. Hell, she’d even taken high school Spanish.

No, it wasn’t possible, was it?

Phillip wasn’t—no, he couldn’t be.

Yet the man in the front of the car was snapping back at Phillip in the same language. His hands were covered in tattoos as his fingers flexed around the steering wheel.

Were any of them marks of the cartel? Gangs had insignias that their members inked on their bodies to show their alliance and membership in the gang. Did cartels do that?

As far as she knew, Phillip didn’t have any tattoos.

She studied the man beside her. His hands were clear of tattoos. If he’d had them there, she would’ve noticed them before. His arms were bare as he’d sometimes worn short sleeves when he was around her.

He leaned forward at that moment, in an attempt to get in the driver’s face, and that was when Teresa saw it. At the base of his neck was some ink, two intersecting diamonds surrounded by a circle.

As far as tattoos went, it was a nice one, but what did it mean?

Phillip sat back, restoring her view of the driver, and Teresa studied his hands a little more closely.

He had a multitude of ink over his hands, so it was difficult to see if he sported the same one as Phillip.

She’d given up hope on finding the same mark, when he lifted his hand and pushed back his hair, the sleeve of his shirt slipping, and there it was, just below the base of his hand, the same tattoo as Phillip.

Panic swarmed over her. The cartel had her. It was the only thing that made sense.

Being kidnapped.

Phillip and the driver speaking Spanish.

The matching tattoos.

Her breath came out in short, sharp bursts. Sweat trickled down Teresa’s spine, and she wished with everything she had in her that she hadn’t decided to go for a walk.

How long had Phillip been waiting for her?

How long had he known she was in the building that housed Alliez’s office?

Had he always known she was living with Angelo now?

The questions zoomed around her mind quicker than LA traffic on a good day—like today. Why couldn’t it be a usual LA traffic day and everything be at a standstill? Then she’d be able to try to get out of the car.

No way could Teresa open the door and get out when the car was traveling as fast as it was, and on a freeway. She’d likely be run over by another car the second she crashed to the pavement.

Although if she had to die, that might be better and quicker than whatever the cartel had planned for her because she suspected it would be a long, torturous death.

Stop it. You’re not going to die. You have your earrings. Angelo will find you.

The quiet lecture from somewhere deep in her soul calmed her a little. Okay, all she had to do was make sure she didn’t upset Phillip and the driver and wait.

No doubt the fact Teresa hadn’t returned would’ve been noticed by now, and they would’ve started tracking her whereabouts.

Wait! I should leave traces of my DNA in the car.

Memories of a show she’d seen or maybe it was something she’d read on social media about if someone was taken what they could do to help them to be found or identified. Something about running fingers through her hair to dislodge some strands. Breaking a fingernail and letting it fall to the floor of the car. Faking a sneeze and spitting out small amounts of saliva so they land on the seat.

Determined to help Angelo and the rest of them find her she did all of the above, except the sneeze, instead she covered her mouth like she was yawning and spat in the palm of her hand and then smeared it across the seat next to her.

“Are we boring you? Although I have to say it’s nice to see you being so quiet and compliant. I expected more from you. I have to say I’m a little disappointed. Where’s the fiery investigative journalist who’s traveled the world and brought down the scum of the earth? I thought for sure she’d be fighting me and demanding I release you. Not that I will, but it would’ve been fun to see you try.” Phillip’s tone was so patronizing it was taking everything within her to not slap him across the face.

Not to be the person he thought she was, because she was that person, and in a different situation, Teresa might be demanding her release—if she didn’t know she had a whole team of people at her back.

“I wouldn’t be so smug if I were you. You’ll find out that taking me was a big mistake.”

“No, it’s my biggest payday. Not only will I have brought the woman who’s trying to bring down the Ramirez Cartel to the big man himself, but I’ll have cemented my place in the organization. You were my first assignment. I didn’t think I was going to complete it when the bugs I put in your home were found, but I also knew if I waited, you would turn up alone without the bodyguard you went and hired. And you did.” He rubbed his hands together gleefully like a cartoon villain.

Not only had he admitted to placing the listening devices in her apartment, he’d also admitted to being part of the cartel. Her instincts had been right.

Damn, Teresa wished the earrings had a hidden microphone so everyone at Alliez could hear what he was saying. If anything did happen to her, at least what he’d done would be on record, and he could be held accountable for it.

“Your over confidence will be your downfall, Phillip.” Again, her hand drifted to her earrings.

Would touching them make Angelo and the team find her quicker if she did?

Mentally, she scoffed at the fanciful idea. She had to be patient, and everything would work out.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. It’s your overconfidence that has been your downfall. Look where you are and who’s in control. You’re in a car with me. I’m in control, not you. You have no idea the bear you poked. How the repercussions of what you’ve done are going to be felt for years and years after. Do you think the cartel is going to stop even if you’re out of the picture? No, they’re only going to get stronger, and now that Mr. Rook has sent a message to your boss, no way is he going to risk running a story about the cartel. And I’m betting he’s going to tell all the other media to stay away from Ramirez. We are invincible.” Phillip punched the driver on the shoulder, who in turn hurled a string of words Teresa didn’t understand at him.

Whatever he said didn’t please Phillip. “Asshole, if I had my choice, I would’ve chosen anyone other than you,” he muttered.

The driver said something else, probably just as derogatory as what he’d said a second ago, and Teresa slid closer to the door, not trusting that a fight wasn’t going to break out between Phillip and the driver soon.

“Those earrings mean something to you?” he asked, his voice even and conversational, like he just hadn’t been yelling.

Damn.

Teresa dropped her hand to her lap. “Nope, they’re new. This one was pinching a bit.”

As far as excuses went, even to her own ears, this one sounded more than reasonable. “Really. Let me look at them.” Phillip held out his hand.

Perspiration pooled at the base of her spine, and she mentally willed herself to stay still and not give away how uncomfortable his request made her.

Maybe she could call his bluff. Leaning toward him she placed a finger behind her lobe, pushing it forward. “Here you go, a nice close up.”

Her neighbor laughed and grabbed her hand, tugging so she practically fell on his lap, and the seatbelt pulled tight between her breasts. “I’m not sure what you’re playing at, but I’m not joining in your game. If you don’t give them to me, I’m going to rip them out of your ears.” He shoved Teresa back, and she had to brace herself so she didn’t slam into the window.

Her earlier thoughts of someone damaging her earlobes came rushing back. The last thing she wanted to do was give them up. Would he be happy with one, or would he expect both?

After the way he’d acted with her just leaning forward, she suspected he wouldn’t be happy with her if she did that. Even if she handed them over, the fact Phillip had them would mean she could be tracked and found.

He watched her as she removed the earrings, and she maintained eye contact with him.

No way was Teresa going to let him know how important these earrings were to her. If she remained relaxed and uncaring, he’d look at them and then hand them back.

She could only hope.

“Here,” she held them out to him.

Phillip took his time taking them out of her hand.

She was unable to control the tremor from coursing through her as he slid his index finger down the middle of her palm.

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” he drawled.

The man sitting beside her was nothing like the man who’d been her neighbor. Everything about him had been all a big fake act. Phillip probably hadn’t even been attracted to her, and then he’d tried to play the big hero when someone was attempting to break into her place.

Wait, he got hit over the head that night. Did he do that himself? Was that even possible?

“The night of the attempted break-in, when you got hurt. Who did that to you?”

Phillip laughed and rubbed the back of his head. “That hurt like a bitch, but it was worth it. I made you think I cared, and that was all that mattered. All part of the plan.”

Anger burnt low in her belly. “You’re an asshole, and if you think I ever liked you, you’re so wrong. Why do you think I never accepted a date from you? You gave me the creeps.” The words spewed out of her, and Teresa had no regrets.

No way did she want him to think that she’d liked him. It didn’t matter that when he first moved in, she thought she might like to date him, but there’d been something that had held her back. Now she was glad she’d never accepted the dates.

Her words hit a mark because Phillip”s cheeks bloomed with red. “You bitch, you’re going to regret saying those things to me.” He punched her in the face.

Pain exploded across her cheek, and her vision blurred. Blackness crept up until it consumed her, her last thought being.

Come on, Cass. Work your magic. Find me.