The Protected

FIFTEEN

“DID you have to choke him?”

Over the bed, Vaughnne glared at Taige.

Taige shrugged easily. “Hey, I was just trying to avoid (a) getting hit, and (b) having him take that kid out of here. You and I both know that’s not going to end well if he does that. Besides . . . it got him to rest, right?”

Dropping down on the chair, Vaughnne stared at Gus’s battered face. Now he had a ring of bruises around his neck. Lovely. “Yeah, you got him to rest, all right. But how long has he been out?”

“Happened right after you went down.” Taige shrugged. “It’s been about two hours. And it’s not because of what I did. His body needs rest and once he went down? Mother Nature took over and forced him to take what he needs. Relax . . . he’s fine. I hear his thoughts if I try and they are just . . . well, not fine, but I didn’t do him any damage. The guy is almost as scared as the kid is, but he’s fine. He’s determined. He’s a wily bastard, that one. But he’s exhausted.” She covered her mouth as she yawned. “So am I.”

Vaughnne curled her lip. “Yeah, that trip up from Gulf Shores was just exhausting, wasn’t it?”

“Actually, it was the sex last night, but hey.” Taige just shrugged and smiled.

Vaughnne cringed. “There’s a kid sleeping behind you. Is that necessary?”

With a grin, Taige retreated to her chair just outside the door. “I’m going to crash for a few, since you’re up and moving. Don’t know how long Jones plans on needing me, but I need a few minutes’ downtime.”

Sighing, Vaughnne stretched out her legs and focused on the two males in the room. Both of them slept, but neither did so easily. Alex’s rest was fitful and he tossed and turned, occasionally muttering in his sleep or crying out. Although Gus was still and silent, even in sleep, he looked ready to battle. His hands were clenched, the muscles in his arms bunched, like he was ready to lunge into action at any moment. Ready to fight. Ready to protect.

Without thinking, she reached up and stroked a hand down his arm, thinking only to soothe him.

And what a mistake that was—

A split second later, her wrist was trapped and she had to bite back a gasp as he twisted it and jerked her forward. Caught off guard again, she landed against his chest and glared down at him.

His eyes were foggy but clearing every second as he glared up at her.

Taut silence hung between them.

She licked her lips.

His gaze dropped to her mouth and a hunger like nothing she’d ever felt exploded through her. If it hadn’t been for the boy in the bed just a few feet away, Vaughnne suspected she would have stripped off every damn piece of clothing she wore and rubbed herself against him like a cat. She might have begged him, might have pleaded . . . just one night. That was all she wanted.

Well, no. She wanted everything, but one night would suffice.

She sucked in a breath, and just like that, the moment shattered.

He let go and she shoved away from him, pushing her hair back from her face and clambering out of the chair as he sat up, looking around. His gaze lit on the boy in the bed, and she said softly, “He’s fine. He’s sleeping.”

“We need to go.” The underlying urgency in his voice cut into her heart and she reached out, despite how stupid that had been a minute ago.

But this time, as her hand caught his arm, all he did was freeze.

“Go where?” she asked quietly. “You know what’s after him now, right? I know Jones showed you.”

“That’s why we have to go.”

“And how are you going to hide him from all that can come from that? Can you protect him from an army?”

Gus’s hand shot out, fisting in the front of her shirt. He tugged her closer and lowered his head, pressing his brow to hers. Hell warred in his eyes as he stared at her. “Can you?”

“By myself?” She laid a hand on his cheek. “Hell, no. But I’m not alone. You are.”

ALONE . . .

Yes.

That was something that Gus was painfully aware of.

He’d spent so many months alone. So many years.

Most of his life, really. Ever since he’d left the family, staying far away from them once he’d somehow landed in a life that he’d never planned. Never wanted for himself, but it had found him anyway. He’d joined the military—there had been no choice. He was on a road to trouble, going nowhere fast, and it was either join the armed forces or find his ass in jail. He’d chosen the military. It might have been better if he’d gone the other way, though, because somehow, he caught the eyes of the man who’d put him on this road.

Almost from the beginning, they’d been watching him and the persona he’d worn—the playboy, the brawler, the man who’d played at modeling, fucking, and fighting. It had been planned almost from the time he’d agreed to talk to the men who’d shown up on the base.

Within a few months, he’d known it was probably a bad choice, but there was no turning back then. Not if he wanted to protect his family.

He’d sent back money, had thought it would be enough to take care of them. To make sure his mother and Consuelo were cared for.

This life, it was like he’d been made for it.

Quick to learn, fast on his feet, good with his fists, good at . . . other things.

He’d settled into that life, but it was a dangerous one, and the only way to protect his family was to make like he had none.

Then he’d gotten that simple call.

I need you . . .

Consuelo’s voice, a voice he hadn’t heard in years. He hadn’t even recognized her at first. He hadn’t gone home, not when their mother had died, although he would have, if possible. For that, he would have returned home. But he’d been busy recovering from an altercation that had damn near killed him. By the time he’d emerged from surgery, their mother had already been dead, and by the time they had told him about her passing, she had already been buried.

He’d almost walked away from the life then. Almost.

But he’d been told, more than once, It will follow you. It will take everything and everyone you love. Why risk them?

Them? There is no them . . . there is just my sister.

Except his sister had been pregnant.

A new life, a new innocent he had to worry about protecting. That had been more than a decade ago. So he’d stayed away . . . again.

But then she’d called him.

How could he stay away when his baby sister had called him? Had needed him?

Please come home, Gustavo. . . I need you. Please. There . . . I can’t tell anybody else. Nobody else will protect him.

That was all she had said.

Then she’d hung up and she wouldn’t answer his calls, wouldn’t answer his e-mails.

Her husband, a bastard if ever there was one, was a man that Gus should have killed the second he had figured out just who his sister had married. He was a drug dealer, but there were worse crimes in Gus’s mind. Still were. But Gus hadn’t thought the bastard was going to go that low.

He had been wrong.

And now, every day, he had to live with that knowledge. Every day, he had to live with what his hesitation had cost him. He hadn’t wanted his sister to look at him, or think of him, and wonder.

Now she wouldn’t because she was gone.

And her evil, twisted husband lived.

While Gus and Alex fled for their lives.

If it had just been Gus involved, he would have gone for the bastard and not blinked twice. It would have been a risk, and the risk was one he would have taken happily. All men died, after all. He doubted he’d live a long life. But it wasn’t a risk he’d take without knowing Alex would be safe.

Alone . . .

Hell, yes. He was alone.

Glaring down at Vaughnne, he opened his mouth to tell her . . . something. Anything. He needed her out of his way. Preferably someplace far away from him, because if she was far away from him, then he wouldn’t be tempted to do just what she seemed to think he should do. Trust her.

She reached up and closed her hand around his wrist. “If you don’t stop running now . . . you never will,” she said quietly. “Surely, somewhere in that beautiful, thick-as-stone head of yours, you have to realize that, right? Either you take a stand or spend the rest of your life running. The rest of his life running. And it’s likely to be a short one, because those people will not quit hunting you. And we can’t keep chasing after you to protect that kid when you make it clear you don’t want our help.”

“Why?”

She blinked, her lashes sweeping down to hide her dark eyes. The scattering of freckles across her cheeks caught his gaze, and before he could stop himself, he lifted a hand, cupped her chin. Stroking one thumb across the silk of her skin, he waited.

“Why what?” she asked, tugging away and backing out of his reach.

“Why do you want to help at all?” He shook his head and gestured to Alex. “You don’t know us. We’re not even here legally.”

She smirked and rolled her eyes. Then she turned her back and crossed over to the chair opposite the bed. “I’m so shocked by that, I think I just might faint, Gus. I really might.” She dropped down in the chair, wincing a little as she stretched out. “I mean, never mind the fact that you’ve pulled a gun—probably an illegal one—on me more than once. Never mind that you’ve drugged me. Threatened me. But you’re here illegally. That’s just over the line there.”

He glared at her and tried to ignore the nasty crawl of shame rising up the back of his throat. How many times had he threatened her? More than once. More than a half dozen, easily. And yet she sat there, watching him with a level, steady gaze, and no anger in her lovely, dark eyes.

“You want to know why?” she asked softly.

“If I didn’t, I would not have asked,” he pointed out.

“Okay.” She nodded slowly and then shifted around and reached into her pocket. He watched, more than a little curious, as she opened what looked like a wallet. No purse for Vaughnne, it seemed. She tugged something out, and although he couldn’t see it well, it looked to be a picture.

“WHEN I was fifteen, my father threw me out on the streets and my mom just stood by and watched,” Vaughnne said softly, stroking a finger down the ragged edge of the picture. It was one Jones had managed to get for her. She had a bunch of them, thanks to her boss, but this was her favorite. She needed to make some copies of it, but she just hadn’t gotten around to it. The picture had been taken at Christmas, right before all the . . . voices . . . had started. It was her with Daylin. Her little sister. The girl she’d tried so hard to save months ago. And when she couldn’t save her, she’d settled for avenging her.

Feeling the weight of Gus’s gaze, she looked up. “My dad didn’t believe in psychic ability, you know.” She shrugged and said, “Kind of crazy, because I got it from him. I always felt that . . . buzz around him. Nobody else in the house. And I’d talk to him more. Bad call there, because it made him think he was going crazy. Once he figured out it was me, he threw me out. I never saw him again, never saw my mom . . . or my little sister.”

She looked back down at Daylin’s picture. “I used to check up on my sister, though. She joined Facebook, and although I didn’t friend her or anything, I’d . . . well. Watch her. Peek in on my dad’s profile even, because he’d post things about her grades and some pictures and stuff. I could see her face every now and then, and it was better than nothing. She didn’t lock her profile, either. I hated that, because that’s so stupid, so unsafe, but at the same time . . .?” She sighed. “It was the one connection I had with her. I could see what was going on in her life. I used to think about how I’d wait until she was eighteen then I wouldn’t have to worry about my dad. I could look her up and see if she wanted to have anything to do with me.”

The grief rose up, threatened to slam her to the floor, but she fought it back. Now was so not the time. Sucking in a breath, she waited until the pain ebbed before she went on. “Then, last year . . . she disappeared. My father tells the cops she was kidnapped, but I think she was out flirting with the wrong guy, maybe went to meet him—it fits with some of the stuff I saw on her page when I was digging around. She’d been talking about this one guy. Had plans to meet somebody she’d met on-line . . . so, so stupid. I think she met him and he grabbed her. It wasn’t reported for a few days . . .” She rubbed a finger down the edge of the picture again, barely even aware she was doing it. “I didn’t know anything about it—was on a case—and then I got home and see he’d logged into her Facebook and put up an alert. That’s how I find out my baby sister is missing. An alert on Facebook. He doesn’t call me, even though I found out he knew damn well how to find me, knew what I did. I’d been hurt once, and Jones . . . well, he called them, thought they might want to know. My dad denied even knowing me. But he knew where to find me. Jones had left the contact info and everything. He didn’t even bother trying to get in touch with me. I’m a federal agent and he doesn’t bother to reach out to me when my kid sister is taken.”

Hearing the soft tread of Gus’s footsteps, she looked up just as he knelt down in front of her.

He took the picture from her unresisting hands, and she stared at his face as he studied the image.

“She was seventeen,” she said quietly. “Seventeen years old. Smart as a whip. Wanted to be a doctor. And some scumbag son of a bitch kidnapped her. They wanted to sell her.”

“Sell . . .”

“Yeah. They talk about slavery like it’s a thing of the past, but it’s not. A few months ago, we busted open a small ring. It was the monster who organized my sister’s grab. But it wasn’t in time to save her. They killed her because they couldn’t break her. And the only thing I could do was help stop the people who hurt her.”

Gus looked up at her.

“You want to know why I’m willing to help that kid?” she asked, glancing over at Alex asleep in the bed. He was so still, so quiet. So vulnerable. “It’s because for every monster I help take out of this world, it’s one sister, one brother, one more set of parents we don’t have to worry about going through what I’m dealing with. And trust me . . . nobody should have to live with this, Gus. Nobody.”

He sighed, and reached over, laid the picture facedown on the table beside the chair. “I don’t doubt your determination, Vaughnne. Or your willingness. But you don’t even know what we’re running from.”

“Other than a whole mess of psychics?” she said, taking her picture and tucking it away. “Well, you’re out of Mexico, and I can only imagine the fun there. Drugs and slavery are just the top of the barrel, am I right?” Leaning forward, she caught his gaze. “And I’m going to make a few guesses with you . . . either you’re military or mercenary. You don’t learn to move like you do just from a few years of running. You don’t get the drop on an FBI agent just because you’ve had a couple of bad run-ins with the law. If you weren’t able to handle the problem on your own with whatever your background is? Then it’s bad, I get that.”

Something moved in the back of his eyes, and if she had any sense at all, she should have backed off.

But sense had never been her strong suit.

“It doesn’t matter which one it is,” she said, shrugging. “You made it clear more than once that you can and will kill to protect him. I should make it clear—I’m willing to do the same.”

“You’re bound by the laws of your government,” he said gently. “By your job.”

A faint smile curled her lips. “If people are hunting an innocent boy, I’m doing my job . . . protecting him. And I could do it better if you would just tell me who is after him. If we can stop him, we can make this a whole lot easier on all of us.”

A muscle pulsed in his jaw.

“You already pointed out he now has a whole mess of psychics after him. What makes you think that’s going to end anytime soon?”

“Well . . . we’re working on that,” she said quietly. “All we have to do is deal with that website . . . or at least that listing. It goes away if people realize they won’t get paid. At least, he’ll be safer from that threat. But he isn’t safe until we deal with the original threat.”

Silence fell, interrupted only by the soft sound of Alex’s breathing, and the occasional murmur from out in the hall. Gus stared at her, his gaze watchful and sober. As the seconds ticked by, tension wrapped around them, and when he finally spoke, his words shattered the tension like a hammer against glass. “How can you stop somebody who is feared . . . worshipped . . . by millions?”

Vaughnne’s heart slammed into her chest. “Millions?”

Gus reached up and caught one of her curls, wrapping it around one finger. In a soft, casual tone, he said, “When my sister was twenty, she met a very rich man. He swept her off her feet. Wined her, dined her. Made her feel like a princess, and within a few months, they were married. She was . . . naïve. She was from a small village and she was one of those people who saw the best in others. Maybe that was why she didn’t see the evil in him until it was too late. It wasn’t until a few years later that she realized she’d married a man that much of Mexico feared. Those who didn’t fear him worshipped him. His name was Ignacio Reyes—”

Vaughnne hissed out a breath.

Gus’s smile did not reach his eyes. “I take it you’ve heard of him.”

“Ah, yeah. Yeah, I’ve heard of him.” Rich bastard. Drug dealer. Plenty of her counterparts on the more normal side of the FBI had an interest in him. And if he was tied into anything having to do with this kid, Jones was going to take a very avid interest in him. Reyes wouldn’t like Jones taking an interest in him.

Come to think of it, she didn’t really like the idea of Jones taking an interest in that guy. People who got interested in Reyes disappeared.

But her job didn’t change, no matter who the target was.

“That’s Alex’s father,” she said softly.

“Yes. That’s his father.” Gus continued to stroke her hair, but his hand had moved lower now and the back of his knuckles brushed up against the upper slope of her breast. It could have been an innocent touch. Could have been . . . but it wasn’t. Somehow she suspected nothing this man did was innocent. “When Alex was five years old, he guessed the winner of the Kentucky Derby, then the Belmont, the Preakness. A few months later, he guessed the winner of the Indy 500 and then he told his father that there was going to be a bad wildfire and he thought one of his father’s men was going to die. It all came to pass. After that, his father started having him sit in on business meetings . . . at first, it seemed Reyes just thought he was a lucky boy and Alex loved the attention. Loved the toys and presents he would get when he made a good guess. But then they had a man come to one of their parties who had heard about Alex’s luck.” Gus curled his lip. “Alex tells me the man had planned to kidnap him if he guessed right—so he guessed wrong. And the man . . . Alex still has nightmares about the images he saw in the man’s head. When Alex told his father the wrong information, on purpose, his father beat him. He couldn’t walk for a week.”

Vaughnne closed her eyes.

“After that, Alex was unable to see anything for almost six months, and each time he failed, he was beaten . . . again. And when his mother tried to stop it, she was beaten. It all changed when she threatened to kill both herself and the boy. Reyes laughed,” Gus said, his voice still so soft and gentle. “He just laughed at her, and backhanded her. I learned of this years after, when I could do nothing to make it better, that she lay there, bleeding, and he pulled out a gun. And that was when Alex had another vision. He told his father that men were going to come, in three days, a raid. Alex gave him names that he couldn’t possibly know, told him information that no boy of eight could understand. His father stared at him, and that was when he started to realize it was more than just luck. Reyes had always had an interest in the . . . unusual, it seems. All this time, his boy had been seeing things. It wasn’t just luck, wasn’t just perception. He had a walking gold mine . . . and the boy had just saved his ass.”

Gus let go of her hair and lowered his hand to curve it over her rib cage. “Three months passed. They’d evaded the raid—moving all of the drugs—and my sister thinks Reyes used the names Alex gave him to kill those who turned on him. He used their son . . . to kill. And she knew he’d do it again. That was when she knew it had to stop. She tried to take Alex and run. He beat her.”

“Why didn’t she just call you?” Vaughnne demanded.

“That was why she ran,” Gus said. “She ran only to the next town. She knew she’d never get far enough away. So she ran to someplace where she could make one phone call that wouldn’t be traced.”

“She had to know how he’d react.” Vaughnne stared at him.

“Of course she knew,” Gus said, his voice gentle, but his eyes were pure hell. “Killing her would never be a problem for Reyes. He cared nothing for her. She was a pretty toy for him. But Alex . . . he’s everything.” He eased in closer, dipped his head, and pressed his lips to her ear. “He cares nothing for how many die. He cares nothing for who he hurts. He will stop at nothing. Half the government fears him. The others? They either want to fuck him or befriend him. Very few will stand against him. How do you think your FBI will stop him?”

Then he pressed his lips to her neck. “As much as I’d like to think you can help me protect the boy from his father, it cannot be done. We have to run.”

He pulled back, and the second he wasn’t pressed to her, she felt cold. It wasn’t just from the temperature in the room, though. It went so much deeper than that.

He paused by the bed, staring down at the sleeping boy.

“There’s another option,” she said, barely aware of what she was going to say.

Gus looked up at her. “As long as Reyes lives, there is no other option for us. We run.”

What are you doing? She stared at him, hardly able to believe she was saying this. If she took this step, she might as well be swimming into shark-infested waters while bleeding. It was so damned dangerous, it wasn’t even funny. She might not make it out, and if she did, she could end up living out the rest of her life in jail.

“There is always another option,” she said, forcing the words out through a throat gone tight with nerves.

“I’m done discussing this.” He turned away. “We run.”

“Which were you, military or mercenary?” she asked. If she was serious about this, she needed to know what she was dealing with—whom she was dealing with, although whether or not he’d answer, she didn’t know. Still, it mattered. Military, mercenary, each one came with certain benefits, but one would have better contacts than the other.

He glanced back at her, one brow lifted. Then he surprised her with something she’d never expected. An actual answer. He shrugged. “If you really want to know . . . my government trained me to be an assassin. But they’d never recognize me if I was caught or captured. I’d be on my own.”

Okay. Not what she’d imagined. But . . . that was even better.

“Being an assassin, you’d think you’d have already figured out that third option. You take Reyes out. Once he’s gone, your nephew should be safe.”

A soft sigh escaped him and he turned back to face her. “Do you think I haven’t thought of that? A hundred times? A thousand? But I haven’t the resources to pay somebody to do it—I have to use everything I have to make sure he is taken care of. Taking Reyes out is a job that would require a substantial amount of money. I can’t call in a favor for this—nobody is going to take that man out over a favor, and even if somebody owed me such a debt, I used up any favors I had coming my way just to get out of Mexico. I can’t do it because I have to stay with Alex and keep him safe. I’m all he has, and if I go after his father alone, it’s entirely likely I’ll end up dead. Somebody has to care for him.”

“I’ll go with you.”

He gave her a scathing once-over. “An FBI agent isn’t precisely the sort of person I’d need at my back.”

“Could you do it alone?”

“If I had to, and if I wasn’t worried about coming back? Yes.” He bit the word off as if it had a bitter, ugly taste. “And if it wasn’t for the boy, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But I have to take care of him.”

“Let Jones take him.”

Gus stilled.

Then he shook his head. “No.”

“Hear me out.” She held up a hand. “If Jones takes him, he’s protected. Better than you can imagine. Take me with you. Maybe I’m just an FBI agent and that’s not much in your eyes, but I’m a little more equipped than the typical agent and I’ve got . . . well, abilities that others wouldn’t have. Trust me, I’m useful. One person at your back is better than nobody.”

He shook his head.

“Why not? You won’t be alone, and you’d have somebody protecting that boy. Reyes wouldn’t stand a chance at getting to him once he’s under Jones’s care.”

His eyes narrowed and he took one step toward her. “We’re done discussing this, Vaughnne,” he said softly.

She folded her arms over her chest, resisting the urge to flinch away from the look that had crossed his face. For a split second, she’d been scared. Absolutely terrified of the man in front of her.

“Nobody, and I mean, nobody in the damn country can keep him as safe as Jones can, next to you,” she said, closing the distance between them. “He can put the kid up at HQ, surrounded by a shitload of psychics who would feel any threat coming before it even breached the horizon. You want him safe? Surround him with the kind of people who are hunting him—there are psychics who can passively shield him and keep anybody from even sensing him. He’d be safe there and he could get trained. So he’s not making himself a walking target. Until you do that? Even if you take Reyes out, he’s still not safe. Somebody else will figure out what he is and try to grab him, or he’ll hurt somebody. He’s a danger until he gets that gift under control.”

“No,” Gus said again, shaking his head.

He turned back to the bed.

And then, Alex startled them both by turning his head and looking up at them.

He’d been awake, Vaughnne realized. The entire time.

Guilt grabbed her by the throat, but as she watched the boy, she realized she hadn’t said anything Alex didn’t already know.

He was staring at his uncle with dark, unhappy eyes.

“Do it, Tío,” he said softly as he sat up and faced his uncle.

“We’re not discussing this, m’hijo,” Gus said, his voice flat and cold.

“I’m tired of being afraid.” Alex drew his knees to his chest and gazed at Gus, his face miserable.

“Let’s go.”

Alex hugged his knees to his chest, staring up at his uncle with defiance written all over his face. “I’m tired of running.”

Gus went to pull the sheets back.

And Vaughnne felt it coming—it was too late to react, though. Far too late.

Alex had already reached, slamming into Gus with that massive, untrained power of his. Gus made a sharp, startled sound, and before she could reach him, he hit the ground.