A bead of sweat journeyed its way down the side of Gil’s neck. The coast should be a bit cooler, what with the sea breeze and the air-conditioning in the villa.

  His boss’s expense account was paying for their digs as long as they didn’t overstay their usefulness in Colombia. Jared was good that way, but only if it produced results.

  It was a pretty place, Gil thought as the car pulled into the parking lot of the main villa. Marco had already checked in, but was only able to acquire one key. They’d need at least two.

  “How are we traveling this time?” he asked Cooper.

  “Married couples,” she said, cutting the engine and pocketing the keys. “Marco and I checked out of the singles at the other hotel before sunrise this morning and camped out at the office until it opened. We got a two-bedroom suite. He’s been setting up his equipment all day, trying to get connected, but Internet access is spotty down here.”

  Gil blew out a breath. He figured as much. “Okay, we’ll take what we can get then, I guess.”

  Married couples. Gil almost laughed. He couldn’t think of himself that way. He’d been part of a couple only a few times in his thirty-three years. Once, he’d almost landed at the altar, but luckily they’d both done a little soul-searching and decided it wasn’t what either of them really wanted.

  Cooper jumped out of the car and made her way to the front office. In the three years he’d known her, he’d never seen her wear a dress or even shorts. He couldn’t even say if she really had legs underneath the baggy pants she always wore.

  Marco had teased her once about her clothes only to be on the receiving end of a few pointed words. Rumor had it she’d been roughed up by a gang of hoods in college on her way back to the dormitory one night. Since then, she just found it easier to downplay whatever feminine assets she had.

  As she climbed the stairs two at a time in her clunky boots, Gil figured she was playing it as close to the ground as she could get. It was one way to survive. Couldn’t fault her for that.

  “You have no idea what you’ve done by taking me here,” Sonny said from the backseat, sounding tired. “My brother Dylan is a Chicago police officer.” She paused. “But then you must know all about Dylan, too, I suppose.”

  “That’s right,” he said, finally looking at her. “Why don’t you just keep yourself comfortable until we get into the villa? Then you can tell me all about what I don’t know.”

  The minutes stretched on unbearably and Gil was thankful when Cooper appeared, running back to the car. It gave him an excuse to stop looking at Sonny in the rearview mirror and taking note of her sad, ocean-blue eyes.

  Coward, he chided himself. The way she sat there, holding the baby as if he’d snatch her away at any moment, showed how terrified she was. He didn’t like scaring her like that but it was necessary if he was going to get any information about Cash.

  “All set?”

  Cooper nodded and gunned the engine.

  In under a minute, they pulled up next to Marco’s car in front of a small villa. Gil got out of the front seat quickly, glad not to be cooped up in such cramped quarters after the long ride.

  So close to the equator, the temperatures held steady all year round at about eighty degrees. The back of Gil’s shirt was sticky with sweat and he was looking forward to a little AC to help cool off.

  As he opened the passenger door and stepped out, he could smell the warm Caribbean Sea only a few blocks away.

  “Nice place Jared set us up with,” he called out to Cooper. Then he turned his attention to Sonny in the backseat. He opened the back door, but she just sat there holding the baby.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Sonny glared up at him. “You really have to ask?”

  “I’m not taking you to your death.”

  “How do I know that?”

  Gil was taken aback. Did she really think he was going to hurt her?

  “I told you who we are. I haven’t kidnapped you, Sonny.”

  It was important to make that clear to her. Although he’d basically given her no choice back at the airport, she was free to leave at any time. Of course, they could tail her and make her life miserable until they got what they wanted. But that wasn’t illegal—especially in Colombia.

  “Then why didn’t you let me get on that plane? I could have been in Miami by now.”

  “I told you. I need your help to find your brother. As soon as we find him, you can get on a flight to Miami.”

  “You can’t find him, so you figure I’ll just bring you to him, right? Well, I hate to disappoint you, Mr. Waite, but I haven’t seen or heard from my brother in more than four months. If you want to find him, you’ll have to ask the people who framed him on those bogus drug trafficking charges. Because I have no idea where he is. But rest assured that even if I did, I wouldn’t help you chase him down. Cash is an innocent man.”

  The baby was crying again. Sonny fought hard not to break down herself. She longed for the comfort of a familiar voice, to lay her head down on her pillow and sleep without worry. No dreams. No nightmares. No waking with awful visions of things that could—and did—go wrong. Just pure blissful sleep.

  Since Cash had gone missing, her imagination had gone wild. Fear stabbed her heart as she pictured what her father was probably going through now that the plane had landed in Miami without her and the baby.

  She had to figure out how to get word to him. Somehow.

  The day had gone wretchedly wrong and now she had a bounty hunter staring her down, wanting her to get out of the car. But as she looked up at him, his expression had changed from impatience to interest.

  “He was framed on bogus drug trafficking charges, huh? Why don’t you come inside and tell me all about it. It’s a lot better than sitting out here in the heat. And you can tend to the baby much easier in the villa.”

  “You mean out of earshot? Where no one will realize that I’m being held against my will?”

  “I told you—”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. I can leave if I want. But what choice do I really have? You’d just follow me again. Keep me from getting on another plane.”

  “Come inside and we’ll talk about your choices.” His voice was low and held a trace of sympathy. She wasn’t sure if she should use that to her advantage now, or wait until a better opportunity presented itself.

  “I need more diapers. I only had enough to get me back to the States.”

  Gil nodded. “I’ll send Cooper out to get whatever you need.”

  It would have to do. It’d been risky enough for her to be in Monteria without the baby, but being in Cartagena with the baby was even more dangerous now that news reports were probably flooding the local TV station about Eduardo Sanchez’s missing baby. She needed to stay out of sight.

  She resigned herself to going inside with Gil. He helped her out of the car, and they stepped through the door into the foyer of the beautiful villa. She would have enjoyed staying here under different circumstances, but as the door closed behind her, she could practically hear iron bars locking into place.

  “Shh,” she cooed to the fussing baby, hoping to soothe her. She doubted she could. In her niece’s short life, she had been kept a secret, kidnapped and transported to a South American country and rescued by a woman she didn’t know at all. The fact that they were related meant nothing to the baby, and Sonny’s attempts to comfort were feeble at best. But she vowed to build a strong relationship with her niece. Hopefully in the United States, surrounded by their family.

  The cool air inside bathed her face—it was a welcome relief from the hot car. One look at Gil and she knew he was probably thinking the same thing. He grabbed a can of soda from the refrigerator and rolled it across his forehead before cracking it open and taking a long gulp.

  “Help yourself,” he said, taking another sip. “There’s plenty. I don’t think there’s any milk for the baby, though.”

  “She doesn’t drink milk yet. Just formula.” Suddenly an awful thought struck her. “Cooper and Marco didn’t use my name, did they? When they checked us in?” she added quickly. Her heart pounded like a timpani in her chest. If anyone knew she was here…

  With the can still poised in the air, Gil stared at her quizzically. “Why?”

  “Did they?” she pressed.

  A man she hadn’t met yet, presumably Marco, came into the room. “We used ‘Mr. and Mrs.,’” he said. “My name and Gil’s. Makes it simple.”

  Her relief was obvious.

  Gil was standing in front of her now. “Why?”

  She looked up at his dark eyes. Yes, they were as dark as they’d appeared in the car. It hadn’t been the light. She drew in a deep breath. “I need to get the baby settled.”

  “I told you. Cooper can take care—”

  “Cooper isn’t Ellie’s aunt.” She hadn’t intended her voice to be so harsh. Gil looked as surprised as she felt at her outburst, but she didn’t care. She was entitled to be sharp with him—what she’d gone through today was nothing short of a nightmare. Lucia, an innocent woman who’d vowed to help, was dead. And it was Sonny’s fault. The reason Lucia had put her life in danger was because Sonny had asked her to.

  “You mentioned the baby was your niece.”

  She closed her eyes. “Yes.”

  Gil looked down at the baby. “Cash’s?”

  The way he was probing, they’d find out soon enough. She nodded.

  Gil glanced at Marco. “Did you know about this?”

  Marco shook his head. “Nothing about a baby came up in my research.” He was rummaging through paperwork on his makeshift desk at the table. “No wife. Not even a girlfriend as far as I could tell.”

  They were all looking at her now, questions silently blasting at her from their accusing stares.

  “Why isn’t there a record of this baby?”

  Sonny couldn’t help the smug grin that sprang to her face. “I thought you knew everything.”

  “I know Cash Montgomery is a drug dealer and he jumped bail. That’s all I need to know.”

  Irritation coiled inside her. “If that’s the case, then you don’t need me at all. If you’ll show me my room, I’d like to make a list for Cooper and then give the baby a bath.”

  She turned to leave, but Cooper caught her arm. “How is it that you came down to Colombia alone and now you have your brother’s baby in tow?” At a glance from Gil, Cooper released her. “If something is going on, if you’re afraid, we can help,” she said, more gently.

  “Help who? Is that what you think you’re doing? You people truly have no idea what you’ve done today,” she said, repeating what she’d already said to Gil for Marco’s and Cooper’s benefit. “None at all.”

  “How’d you get the baby, Sonny? You need to come clean and tell us,” Cooper said.

  “Not now. Ellie needs me.”

  There were two beds in the room they’d given Sonny. Both were big and covered with soft pillows and bedding. After her outburst in the living room, she was totally drained. But she couldn’t sleep until she tended to the baby. And she wasn’t ready to let her guard down, anyway. She still had no idea if she could trust these people.

  Ellie’s last bottle was long gone, drained in the car on the drive to the villa. She didn’t need to feel the heaviness of the baby’s diaper to know she needed a change. The scent was enough to let her know.

  Pushing the pillows aside and placing a towel on the bed, she lay the sleeping baby down and began to undress her, hoping she could change the diaper without waking her. As she searched her bag for a clean diaper, tears welled up in her eyes and began to fall.

  She was still in Colombia. She’d failed, and Lucia was dead. How was she going to explain this to her father? That is, if she even had the chance to talk to him. Somehow she had to get word to him.

  Right about now, Dylan was risking his life to get to Cash. Somehow. She didn’t know the details. They’d all agreed Sonny was better off not knowing so they could each focus on their specific mission. But the truth was that they didn’t want her to know any details in case she got caught.

  Well, she’d been caught, in a manner of speaking. By the grace of God, Cash would make it safely home, but what about her and Ellie?

  Dear Lord, help me get my niece back to safety. I know I’ve been asking for a lot these days but…

  She wiped a tear off her cheek with the back of her hand. She knew without a doubt that if it was God’s will, she’d make it home. Dylan had always said that some burdens were heavier to bear than others. The Lord wouldn’t give her anything more than she could handle. He also told her that whenever she felt she couldn’t go on, she should do what she could and offer the rest up to God.

  Well, there was a whole lot she couldn’t handle these days but it didn’t seem right not to do her part when so many others were putting their lives on the line, too. She took a moment and said a prayer to the Lord to give her strength, to help her be strong enough to see this through. And she offered up to Him what she couldn’t control.

  She turned at a knock on the door. Cooper walked in. “Nice digs, huh?” she said with a smile. It was the first time Cooper had smiled since they’d met.

  “Do you have that list that Gil asked you to write up?”

  Sonny closed the last tab on the diaper and carefully placed Ellie in the middle of the bed. “Just give me a second.”

  She washed her hands and then grabbed the pad of paper that was sitting between the beds. Ellie was awake now and looking around at the strange surroundings, stretching and turning to see who was in the room with her. Within seconds she rolled over onto her stomach.

  Sonny sat on the bed beside her, a pang of fear hitting her square in the chest. She’d left the baby alone in the middle of the bed when she could have easily rolled off. She didn’t know all that much about babies, being the youngest in her family, but clearly Ellie was old enough to turn over on her own now. She’d have to remember that.

  She quickly scratched down the essentials and decided that would probably be enough for now. If need be, she could send someone out again. Maybe by then she’d have a plan to get out of this mess.

  Folding the slip of paper, she handed it to Cooper. “I don’t know your first name.”

  The other woman finally met her eyes. “Brooke.”

  Sonny nodded. “That’s a pretty name.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Why don’t they ever call you that?”

  As she got a good look at Cooper, she felt bad that she’d thought of her as masculine. There was nothing masculine about her except for her short hair. She had pretty eyes and a small, upturned nose.

  “I like to keep gender out of things. It’s easier that way.” She headed for the door and then turned. “I’ll be right back. You look a little tired. You might want to get some rest. You’re in for a long day.”

  The door closed and for a moment, Sonny felt like a prisoner. There were no bars on the windows or chains on her hands and feet. But the feeling that she was all alone, confined to a cell, consumed her.

  As tired as she was, she wasn’t about to stay cooped up. She scooped Ellie in her arms, cooing until the baby’s face lit with a smile. That smile alone was worth all the fear and frustration and exhaustion she’d been feeling.

  As she walked into the common area, she saw Gil slumped on a cushy floral sofa, his feet propped up on the coffee table. He straightened up as she approached.

  “I thought you’d be taking a nap,” he said.

  “Can’t sleep. The baby slept most of the way and now she’s awake. I don’t have a crib to put her in and I don’t want her to roll off the bed and get hurt.”

  He nodded. “I’ll call the main desk to see if they have a portable crib. This hotel caters to tourists so we might be in luck. Are you hungry? The villa has a small kitchen and Marco stocked up on food earlier.”

  She was about to say no when Marco came barreling in from the kitchen holding a piece of paper. “Aztec Corporation deals with shipping art and artifacts. Big deal. Everyone ships something or other down here.” He stopped short when he saw Sonny standing there.

  Sonny felt the blood drain from her face. “And how did you find out about Aztec Corporation?”

  “Marco’s a research genius,” Gil said, looking at her closely. “He did some digging around in your brother’s records and it seems he had some connection to the Aztec Corporation. Mind filling us in?”

  “I can’t, sorry,” she said, trying to stay calm.

  Marco shrugged. “I’ll keep looking,” he said to Gil. “Unfortunately, the kitchen’s the only place we can get an Internet connection. Sometimes. It keeps cutting out on me.”

  Her pulse quickened. They had a computer. She remembered Cooper and Gil talking about Marco hacking into a file. They must have been trying to hack into the Aztec Corporation Web site she’d found before coming to Colombia. That was how she’d found Ellie. Like Marco, Sonny was good with computers. More than good.

  She’d have to be careful. She was sure Gil and his team knew full well what she did for a living.

  Sonny feigned disinterest. “Gil said you went on a food run earlier? I’m starving,” she said, creating a good reason to check out their setup in the kitchen.

  “There’s not much.” He looked almost apologetic as he gestured at Ellie. “I didn’t know there’d be a baby here.”

  “Do you have any fruit? I could probably cut up something for her.”

  “There are some bananas.”

  Sonny nodded. “Great. She might like that.”

  “Wait, don’t you have to be careful what you give babies at this age?” Marco said, worry lines creasing his brow.

  Gil laughed. “How would you know?”

  Marco lifted his hands in protest. “I don’t. But my sister always said that about my nephew. He had food allergies.”

  Sonny hadn’t thought of that. She felt way out of her depth. But how much harm could bananas do?