Seducing Texas (So not Prince Charming #2)(39)

Kneeling on the floor, I grab his collar, panic bunching hard knots into my shoulders. “Who took her?” God, don’t let it be Manny.

“Five Mexican guys.”

Shit. “What color were their bandanas?”

Aedan’s head wobbles. “Blue, I think.”

I stand up and lean on Shane. “It was Manny, and he has Willa.” What if Juarez set me up to let Manny get to Willa?

I stare into Shane’s green eyes. His lips are sealed tight. He has no words of comfort because he knows what this means. I have to go after her, even though I want to curl up into a ball and sob.

“We should call the cops,” Aedan says.

“We can’t,” I whisper. “Manny will kill her. We need to find Espinoza, so we can reach Juarez. Do you have the original flash drive on you?” I ask Shane. Whether Juarez is involved or not he’s my only chance to save Willa.

Shane looks at me curiously. “Yes.”

Manny wants the drive, but maybe it’ll buy us some time if I give it to him.

Shane follows me out to his truck, and Aedan slips into the back of the crew cab.

“You can’t go with us,” I say. “Juarez won’t allow it.”

“Like hell I won’t. They have Willa, and I can’t sit around on me arse and do nothing. You can’t tell your eighteen-year-old sister what to do anymore than you can me.”

Anger bursts from within me. “She lives in my house. I will damn well tell her what to do. It’s my job to take care of her.” Dad left me in charge.

He doesn’t get out of Shane’s truck. “It’s not going to stop me from liking or pursuing her.”

I stab my finger at him. “You could lose your job.”

Aedan grins. “I already did. I stopped some tool from feeling her up.”

Thank heaven he was there, but I don’t want to see her make the same mistakes I did. “You’re too old for her.”

Shane chuckles because he and I are five years apart, like Willa and Aedan. “Where are we going?” Shane asks.

“To the south side where Espinoza lives.”

“Okay,” Shane says.

“Isn’t that the rough part of town?” Aedan asks.

“Yes,” Shane says.

We reach Espinoza’s neighborhood, a half hour later.

Though it’s way past most kids’ bedtimes, children hang out on their bikes, eyeing us curiously. A few of the older kids shoot hoops while others listen to loud music that jolts us out of our seats.

I’d been down here with Dad to see relatives, like Espinoza, who most likely sold drugs. I point at a house that has the same car I’d seen Espinoza in.

Shane pulls up to the curb. “Should I go in with you?”

Hot blood runs in my family too. “No.”

Espinoza walks outside before I get to the front porch. “I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon,” he says in Spanish, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

I let out a shaky breath. What if Willa’s already dead? “Manny took my sister.”

He flicks the cigarette to the ground and stamps it out. He makes a call and rapidly speaks to someone on the phone. He hands it to me.

“This doesn’t give us much time to plan,” Juarez says. “He’ll kill her soon. Do you have a copy of the drive? Your sister was probably taken to his compound.”

“Yes. It’s the original. How do you know where she is?” Manny had kidnapped Mom and me in the New Mexico desert. Why would he take Willa to his home?

“We’ve been tracking his gang. I’m not a hundred percent, but pretty sure since we tracked them to your house and then south.”

“Why didn’t you stop them?” Can I trust Juarez? What if this is a trap?

“He was way ahead of us.”

I don’t have a choice but to trust Juarez. I’ll be striking on Manny’s home turf, and that’ll make it far more dangerous.

“My plan before was to leave a gun in the main floor bathroom taped to the inside of the toilet cover,” Juarez says. “I have a man on the inside. It’ll be hard to get to him on such short notice. As soon as you kill Manny, my men will come in and clean up. Once he’s dead, his men will scatter. I would suggest you tell his wife to take his children and leave, except his teenaged boy. We can’t let him go.”

I’d heard little Manny is a merciless killer, but it feels wrong. “Why?”

“He’s like his father.”

I’d hate to kill anyone, especially a child, but I don’t have a say, and I only care about my sister.

“Espinoza will take you to the tunnel where we’ll meet up” he says. “It’s a good three hours away. He says you have an extra body. He’ll need to stay in Austin.”

“I understand.” I find it interesting that Juarez trusts Shane or maybe he plans on taking us both out.

I open the rear cab. “You can’t go with us, Aedan.”

“What do you mean? I care about your sister,” he says.

“I don’t have time to argue with you. Every minute counts.” I feel tears well up in my eyes. I love Willa, and she’s my responsibility. I can’t lose her like I lost Mom.

“We’re taking my car,” Espinoza says. “Let him take the truck.”