The Stronghold. Lisa Carter

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ passenger door of the SUV for her.

      She edged past him. “The quicker the better.”

      A muscle leaped in his jaw. “If that’s what you want.”

      That was what she wanted? Wasn’t it? But the scent of him filled her nostrils as he leaned over to shuffle papers out of her way. Her fingers fumbled with the seat belt. He helped her click the belt in place.

      His cologne sent her pulse into overdrive. Sandalwood and Alex—a combination she’d never been able to banish from her heart. Her mouth went dry.

      She trembled from the effort not to touch his hand. Because what she’d wanted was a life with him. To keep him close. Always.

      He stepped back a pace. “I’m so sorry for everything, Pilar.”

      Everything?

      Proving he’d never wanted her the way she’d wanted him. The skin on her arms underneath her sleeves itched, aching with an insatiable need to release the pain. She bit her lip.

      “If I could change what—”

      “Are we going to check on Reyna or not?” She yanked the car door shut.

      Rounding the hood, he slid into the driver’s seat. “Still collecting strays, Pilar?”

      “What are you talking about?”

      “Like Calico. And me.”

      She curled her lip. “You’ve never been anyone’s stray.”

      “We need to talk about why I—”

      “Doesn’t matter what happened.” She couldn’t bear for him to know how he’d hurt her then or now. “Ancient history. Some things can’t be fixed.”

      She pointed her lips at the keychain dangling in his hand. “Wouldn’t want to keep God’s Gift to Women from a date with the blonde. Or,” she threw him a nasty look. “Are you into both of the blondes these days?”

      He cranked the engine and revved the motor. “Pushing buttons must run in the family, eh, Pia? I could help you with Manny. Offer my take on the folly of getting involved with gangs. I’m here for you and him.”

      “Like you were here for me then?” She laughed. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

      Jerking, he faced forward and navigated the rough stretch of road per her directions.

      She allowed herself a longer look at the boy—become man—she’d once loved so impossibly. The white Oxford shirt he wore contrasted nicely with his Latino skin tone. The shirt cuffs rolled to his elbows, his forearms were rock-hard muscle. But Alex had always looked good in clothes.

      And without them, too.

      She blushed at the memory.

      The SUV jolted over a pothole, and she lurched into Alex. He caught her. His hand electrified the skin on her arm.

      She inched away and steadied herself against the armrest. “Sorry.”

      “Don’t be.”

      He removed his hand, and as if unsure what to do with it, he raked his hand over his short-cropped hair.

      She tracked the movement of his hand as he gripped the steering wheel. His hands large enough to palm a basketball, the fingers were lean and well-formed. His face was more serious than she recalled. Not the same happy-go-lucky boy she’d so lov—

      “I’ve called a team meeting for tomorrow morning to pool our notes on the case.”

      She shrugged. “I’ll be on patrol. Haven’t made detective yet. Not my case.”

      “I’ve requested you be temporarily reassigned. There’s enough work for my team, the tribal detective, and you.”

      She frowned. “I don’t think you and me on the same team is a good idea.” She sniffed. “’Cause that worked out so well with us before.”

      A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Based on what we already know about this perp, he targets Apache girls and he’s not done killing by a long shot.” He didn’t bother looking at her. “You saying you won’t be a team player for the good of the tribe?”

      “You’d be the expert on being a player, wouldn’t you, Alex?”

      Tight-lipped, he pulled to a stop on the road beside Reyna’s home. Pilar watched a silhouette of Reyna move from room to room switching on table lamps.

      “You want to go inside?”

      Pilar shook her head. “She’ll want to lick her wounds in private. I’ll touch base with her tomorrow.”

      “Kind of what you do when someone hurts you, Pilar.”

      She stared at his hands, where he white-knuckled the wheel. “Is that a question?”

      “More like a memory.”

      His voice was deeper than she remembered. And he topped six feet now. His shoulders were broad.

      “We found two more bodies.”

      This time, her gaze found his. He’d been a boy the last time he looked into her eyes. No—he’d been unable to look her in the eyes that last, terrible day—

      He switched off the engine. “Thought you’d be up for the challenge, Cater-Pilar.”

      She bristled. “Don’t call me that. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m no longer thirteen.”

      He cut his eyes at her. “I noticed. A long time ago. I married you, didn’t I?”

      Pilar’s chest constricted. She fought for a nonchalance she didn’t feel. “And divorced me, too.”

      He shuffled his feet on the floorboards. “About that, Pia—”

      She growled. “If we’re going to catch this killer before he strikes again, then I suggest you stick to the case. What do you already know about the killer?”

      “We know he operates on both sides of the border. At first, we suspected a sex trafficking ring. But when bodies emerged in New Mexico’s bootheel, close to the border, we realized we were dealing with a serial killer. Maybe affiliated with Franco Salazar’s cartel because once on the other side, he seems to disappear out of law enforcement’s reach.”

      “Franco Salazar, the drug lord?”

      Alex’s lips thinned. “It’s been a war zone since the Flores patriarch was captured by Mexican Special Forces. Rival gangs and cartels are locked in a bloodbath to see who will emerge as the new king of the hill. Intel says Salazar appears to be the winner.”

      He made a face. “At least until someone stronger knocks him off the heap.”

      “And this serial killer is Mexican?”

      “We СКАЧАТЬ