Hidden Away (KGI #3)(66)

“Hey I was a poor ex-military guy recovering from a wound,” he protested. “I didn’t lie about taking a bullet for my sister-in-law. It was a bonding experience for both of us.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Are you sure it wasn’t your sister-in-law who shot you? I have a feeling you’re an infuriating person to be around on a constant basis.”

He flashed her a grin that did suspicious things to her insides. “Well, now, I guess you’re going to find out, aren’t you?”

God help her but she was, and the fact that her insides lit up just a little at the thought made her smile. Then she frowned. “Oh my God. Patches! I didn’t even ask you about the cat. Is she okay? Did you take care of her?”

He looked startled by the abrupt change in topic. “Yeah, I gave her to the lady who owns the bookstore. I’m sure Patches is very happy.”

She sighed in relief. As ridiculous as it seemed to worry over a cat when she had so many other problems, the idea of the cat being alone and hungry bugged her endlessly.

“Thanks. That was a nice thing for you to do.”

He scowled as if the last thing he wanted to be considered was nice.

“Do you know where you’re going?” she asked as she stared dubiously into the night. There wasn’t much recognizable, just landscape blanketed in black. There weren’t even any stars out.

Fog hovered low to the ground and swirled around their headlights, making long-distance visibility impossible. It was spooky and only fired her already overactive imagination.

“I don’t, but the trusty GPS does.”

He tapped on the GPS mounted in the dashboard as he spoke and once again she felt like an idiot.

“I’ll just shut up now,” she sighed.

“Try to relax. I’d like to get out of Mexico as soon as possible. I hope you peed before you left.”

She chuckled and leaned back in the leather seat.

They drove for an hour, but they couldn’t have traveled very far because the road was impossible and visibility was so poor that he couldn’t drive much more than twenty-five miles per hour for the majority of the time.

She’d just closed her eyes when she heard him swear under his breath. The truck ground to a halt and she popped open her eyes to see the road blocked by what looked to be the local police, or whatever it was they called Mexican law enforcement.

Garrett reached hastily into his pocket, pulled out a small electronic device and then reached under his seat. His hand came back up empty. He glanced once her way but then focused his attention to the roadblock before them.

“Listen to me, Sarah. I want you to sit tight, and don’t say a word,” Garrett said in a low voice. “I’m outnumbered and I don’t want to do anything that puts you at risk. Which means I’m going to have to cooperate with these ass**les.”

Dread filled her stomach and rose into her throat, tightening until it was hard to breathe. Cooperate? Outnumbered? This sounded bad. Really, really bad. Three police cars were parked at angles and at least seven men were standing in the road. They began approaching the SUV with automatic rifles held high. One man shouted in Spanish.

Garrett kept his hands on the steering wheel and Sarah flinched when one of the men jerked open her door. At the same time, Garrett’s door flew open and the officers motioned for them both to get out.

Sarah looked at Garrett, her heart damn near pounding out of her chest. He gave a short nod and then ducked out of the truck, careful to keep his hands up.

“No habla Español,” Garrett said when one of the men barked at him in rapid-succession Spanish.

To Sarah’s horror, the man drew his baton and rammed it into Garrett’s stomach. Another officer cracked his baton over Garrett’s head, dropping him to the ground. She screamed and tried to run for Garrett, to cover him, to somehow protect him from the unexpected attack.

She was quickly intercepted, a strong arm wrapping around her waist. The policeman who grabbed her uttered a guttural command she didn’t understand when she kicked and fought like a woman possessed. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out he was telling her to cease and desist, but she wasn’t about to let them beat Garrett to death.

She twisted in his arms and jabbed her fingers in his eyes. He howled in pain and dropped her like a stone. She flew to Garrett and threw herself over his body just as one of the policemen was about to deliver another blow. She tensed, expecting the pain, but it never came.

“Goddamn it, Sarah, what the hell are you doing?” Garrett hissed.

“Saving your ass.”

“Get up,” one of the men said in strongly accented English. “Do it slowly, señor. You wouldn’t want the lady to get hurt.”

“Do as he says,” Garrett ordered. “And for God’s sake, don’t do anything to piss them off.”

Strong fingers curled around Sarah’s arm and hauled her off Garrett. She stumbled and nearly fell as she was shoved against the hood of the SUV. Garrett picked himself up off the ground and no less than three guns were pointed at him as he stood to his full height.

Two of the policemen went to the SUV and pulled out the bags from the back seat. They emptied the contents onto the ground, the first being Sarah’s clothing. Humiliation burned in her throat as the men laughed when her underwear fluttered to the ground.