“The minute I saw the information on that flash drive, I knew I had to have it. It’s my big break, just like Jimmy knew it was his big break.” He hunched his shoulders. “One of us had to go.”
Adam directed her off the highway, down a utility road, and April’s gut twisted. He was going to force her across the border—probably through one of the tunnels Las Moscas detailed on the map.
Would Clay be able to find them? She knew as soon as Clay told Adam that she’d texted him with their location that he must’ve put some sort of tracking device on her car or in her purse. That’s how he’d found them in Phoenix. That’s why he’d risked letting her get in the car with Adam—not that he could’ve done much in that situation. The minute he pulled his gun, Adam would’ve shot her. She had no doubt in her mind that her brother was a stone-cold sociopath. He had no feelings for her other than a need to use her.
If Clay had planted the GPS device on the car, once they left the car he’d no longer be able to find them. As her gaze tracked over the desert landscape, she knew they were going to leave the car.
“If Dad knows what you are, why do you think he’ll help you now?”
“As El Gringo Viejo, Dad has moved up in the world. I didn’t know he had it in him. He’ll understand now how much I can bring to his organization.” Adam patted her hand on the steering wheel. “You’ll help me find him, April. You’ll help me, just like you always have.”
His touch made her flesh crawl, but she tried not to jerk away from him. “I will help you, Adam. We’ll look for Dad together, and then you have to let me go. You can stay down here and work with El Gringo Viejo. I’ll go back to LA and forget all about this.”
Adam twisted a strand of hair around his finger. “No, you won’t. You’ll go back to Archer, just like you always do.”
“I won’t. I swear I won’t. It’s over between us. H-he’d never take me back, anyway.” She curled her hands around the steering wheel so tightly the car wobbled.
“Right. That guy would take you back even if you were the one who committed murder.” He drove a finger into his chest. “Even someone like me who doesn’t understand love can see that Archer will never let you go—but he has to. Do you understand me, April?”
“I do. I do. I’ll go to LA.” She swallowed a lump in her throat. “I did it before. If Clay’s life is in danger, I’ll never see him again.”
Adam swept his finger from pointing at himself to pointing at her. “Don’t forget that. If you don’t forget that, everything will be fine. You might even want to stay with me and Dad. You could do his books with some creative accounting. It could be a family business.”
April managed a weak smile as she nodded. “Maybe.”
But she knew in her heart that Adam would kill her. Once she’d served her last purpose for him—finding their father—he’d get rid of her.
Adam pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and consulted it. “We’re almost there.”
Five minutes later of hard driving over a sand-swept utility road, Adam knocked his knuckles on the window. “Here. Pull the car over by that rock.”
April parked where Adam directed her. “Is someone going to pick us up here?”
“Why would I need that?” He shook out the paper in his hand. “I have a map to a tunnel that’ll get us right across the border. We’ll have to walk some on the other side, but I’ve made arrangements. It’s amazing what doors are opened for the daughter of El Gringo Viejo.”
“It’s hot. Do you have water?”
“I’ve taken care of everything. I only pretended to be an idiot to get your help.” He winked. “I’m not really an idiot, April.”
You’re something worse.
“Open your door and get my backpack and sweatshirt from the back seat. Then start walking toward that cactus on the right. I’ll be right behind you.”
With her fingers resting on the keys in the ignition, she said, “You don’t have to wave that gun at me anymore, Adam. Where would I go?”
“You’re not going anywhere without me.” He slapped her hand away from the ignition and yanked the keys out. “But if I don’t have the gun, you could get your hands on the gun.”
“I—I’d never hurt you, Adam.”
He cocked his head and a lock of hair fell over one eye, like it used to when he was a kid. “Out of the car. No sudden moves.”
She followed his instructions and studied the sand beneath her feet. Could she leave footprints for Clay to track her to the tunnel? The sand in the desert never stayed smooth. Animals, reptiles, birds, the wind, the rain...all had an impact on the environment, leaving indentations and imprints on the desert floor. One step in the sand might look like a footprint, but the dry, shifting winds could just as easily cover it up.
Clay would know the direction of the border, but how long would it take him to find the entrance to the tunnel? It’s not like they had neon welcome signs at the entrance. But Clay was Border Patrol. He’d found his way into many tunnels along the border.
Adam scrambled out of the car, still keeping her at gunpoint. “Let’s get moving. The tunnel is just about a five-minute walk.”
In desperation and with her back to Adam, April yanked the double strand of beads from her neck and curled both fists around the smooth, wooden pellets.
If Clay couldn’t follow their footprints, she’d leave another kind of bread-crumb trail. She’d been protecting him all this time from her brother. Now she needed Clay’s protection.
CLAY ZEROED IN on the stationary red dot on his phone’s display. Thank
