A Desperado For Christmas

Excerpt:
TEASER EXCERPT
“As much as I’m enjoying this, Agent Kaitlin Harrington, it’s not a very good idea.” Miguel had spoken perfect English, without a trace of a Hispanic accent.
“You speak English?” Kaitlin hated herself for not suspecting it. “You, son-of-a-bitch!”
“Sorry about meeting like this.” He pushed himself up, stood, and brushed the dust off the denim jacket. “I’m not the man you think I am.” He offered her a hand to get up.
“You are not Miguel?” Kaitlin refused his help and stood on her own.
What the hell was he talking about? Confused, Kaitlin didn’t understand.
“My name is Miguel Carrera, undercover FBI agent, born and raised in Los Angeles.” He searched her eyes for a sign of understanding. “I’ve infiltrated a coyote ring in a sting operation, and there is much more at stake here than just illegal immigration.”
“You said FBI? Sting operation?” How stupid of her for not figuring it out. Kaitlin should have known there was something odd about this coyote. “Why didn’t you let me know before?”
Miguel snorted. “You didn’t exactly give me a chance. And I could hardly tell you in front of the others.”
“If you are FBI, why didn’t you just arrest those guys?” It was a dumb question. She berated herself for losing her wits around Miguel.
He chuckled. “First, the illegals would probably lynch me if I arrested their guides, and second, the FBI wants these criminals alive if at all possible.”
“Why? So they can cut a deal and get away with a slap on the wrist?” Kaitlin knew better, but couldn’t help her sharp tongue.
“We are out to catch the largest smuggling operation along the border. I’m talking drugs, terrorists, illegal weapons. The FBI needs all the information they can get.” The intensity in his gaze told of his passion for his job.
It made sense, but Kaitlin didn’t like the idea of waiting. She wanted these bastards arrested now. She slapped gravel and dust from her pants. “What were you looking for in my Hummer?”
“I didn’t rush back here to make pleasant conversation.” He winked. “Although I did enjoy it…immensely.”

CHAPTER ONE
“I hate Christmas, okay?” Kaitlin Harrington tucked a rebellious strand of auburn hair under her cap and turned away from her partner, Josh.
Night had fallen, and she crawled up to the edge of the ridge to gaze through her night binoculars. Nothing moved in the desert landscape of rocks, Palo Verde, sage, and Saguaro. No bird cried. No predator prowled. Great! A slow, boring night on border watch, but she couldn’t stand spending it at home with her cat. Too many bad memories of her last Christmas Eve… That’s why she’d volunteered.
“What gives?” Josh never knew when to shut up.
With a sigh, Kaitlin turned to Josh and reclined against the slope of the ravine. By moonlight, she looked over their small camp under a clump of Palo Verde.
She forced a smile. It wasn’t Josh’s fault. “You don’t want to know. It’s a long story…”
Josh leaned his short two hundred-pound frame against the Border Patrol Hummer. The button of his olive shirt strained against a round belly, showing the black material of his Kevlar vest. “Did your boyfriend jilt you on Christmas Eve, or something? Now you hate all men? Is that your sad story?”
“Something like that.” Damn Josh for guessing.
Kaitlin struggled to remain calm. But she didn’t tell him that the plastered bastard had kicked her belly, and she’d lost her unborn child on that fateful night a year ago. Raised Catholic, Kaitlin never lost her faith, but she found Christmas too painful to celebrate. Since her ordeal, Kaitlin had learned to fight back. Never again would she be a victim.
“That’s no reason to spoil Christmas for everyone else.” The moonlight glinted on Josh’s badge and he grinned suggestively. “When I agreed to work on a holiday, I was hoping we’d at least have some fun. Why haven’t you kissed me yet?”
“You wish.” She tried to make light of his advances. After all, he was her partner.
Josh took one step toward her. “I’d like a chance to play connect the freckles on that smooth skin of yours. Is your whole body covered with them?”
“Give it up, already.” Kaitlin rose and frowned in disbelief. “What the hell is wrong with you? After three weeks of trying to get in my pants, you still don’t get the message?”
“Oh, you don’t scare me with those angry green eyes.” The insensitive slob lifted his cap and smoothed his short sandy hair. “Believe it or not, most women find me charming.”
“In a titty bar, no doubt.” Kaitlin knew about Josh’s reputation. She’d seen the desperate girls who’d laugh at any stupid joke for the lure of a few dollar bills in their G-string.
“What’s wrong with titty bars?” His eyes rounded in feigned shock.
“Nothing.” Kaitlin shrugged. She didn’t want to get into another argument about the exploitation of women.
In the moonlit landscape, the lights of an approaching vehicle wobbled across the hilly terrain, bearing straight for their camp. The purr of the engine carried over the muted sounds of the desert. Kaitlin slid down the slope as the light beams swept the camp. The green patrol Jeep turned and stopped with the engine still running.
Kaitlin caught up with Josh as he walked up to the vehicle.
“We’re calling it quits for the night,” Bob, the driver, yelled out the window. He pointed to his partner.
“Will, here, says we’re wasting our time. The desert is empty tonight. The illegals won’t cross the border on Christmas Eve.”
Will, barely visible in the passenger seat, nodded. “Those freaking Mexicans love their Feliz Navidad.”
“They are not all Mexicans, you know?” Kaitlin curbed a sharper comment. With these guys, she’d be wasting her time trying to explain discrimination.
“We are going for a few cervesas in Nogales.” Bob revved the engine. “Want to join us?”
Kaitlin shook her head. “You know damn well I don’t drink.”
She had witnessed up close what liquor could do. It had prompted her ex-boyfriend’s violent behavior, and she wanted no part of it. Besides, she wouldn’t abandon her post. Her team acted so unprofessional, even for a holiday, she would have no part of it. As an army brat, Kaitlin had learned discipline and duty early on.
Josh raised his eyebrows up and down. “You mind if I do?”
“Knock your socks off, big guy. I’ve got everything under control here.” Kaitlin waved him away. “Go. Enjoy your beer.”
Josh hurried to Kaitlin’s Hummer and foraged around the passenger seat.
She’d be better off without him. His incessant chatting no doubt carried over miles of desert in the eerie silence, signaling their presence to any living thing--snake, scorpion, javelina, bob cat, and coyote, the four-legged as well as the two-legged kind.
Josh returned, carrying his bag of personal effects. “Appreciate it, partner.” He opened the back door of the Jeep then turned to her, one foot inside the vehicle. “You sure you’ll be all right?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” She waved him off. Good riddance.
Josh stuffed himself into the back seat of the Jeep and tapped the shoulder of Bob at the wheel. “Can we make that a titty bar run?” he heralded in a loud voice.
She heard the three patrolmen laugh as Josh slammed the door. The jeep bounded east, its taillights bobbing until they disappeared behind the first rocky outcrop.
Kaitlin shook her head in disbelief. Men! The night fell silent once again. She sighed with relief and gazed at the stars in the cloudless sky. Except for Orion, she couldn’t name any of the constellations. The chill pierced through the sleeves of her uniform, although the stiff Kevlar vest served as insulation. She grabbed her warm jacket from inside the Hummer, slipped it on, but left it open.
The weather report predicted forty-five degrees by early morning, another wintry night for southern Arizona. She climbed the ridge then resumed her watch through the night binoculars.
~~~
As the Jeep bounced over the uneven desert, bright beams from the headlights swept the vegetation. Josh didn’t like leaving Kaitlin alone. What if something happened to her? Too late for that now. He laughed to appear uncaring in front of his friends. “Can you believe that little rookie bitch and her patronizing tone?” He pursed his lips and mimicked Kaitlin’s voice. “She’s going to hold the fort all by herself.”
Will guffawed and the back of his head bobbed. “You’ve got to admit she may not be experienced, but the little spitfire has balls.”
“They may be too big for her own good.” Josh chuckled. “But I didn’t think she’d hand me the titty bar excuse on a plate. She didn’t even bat an eye.”
“Anybody who knows you would have thought of it.” Bob drove through the brush, the side of his face bathed by the glow of the onboard GPS navigation screen.
“What can I say?” Josh played modest, but he enjoyed his reputation. “I’m a ladies’ man.” His mind kept going back to Kaitlin alone in the desert. “Well, at least she won’t call headquarters.”
Will, in the passenger seat, turned back to face Josh. “You sure about that?”
“Yep. She has no cell reception.” Josh patted the radio on his hip. “I stole the radio, and I disconnected the com system in the Hummer.” He chuckled. “She’s computer challenged. She can’t do shit over there. All she can do is drive, and she is hours away from civilization.”
“Guess we are far enough now.” Bob stopped the jeep, punched a set of coordinates into the GPS and took off in a different direction.
Will wiggled in his seat like a little boy. “This is going to be the best Christmas ever.”
Images of an easy life on a Caribbean beach with an umbrella drink flashed in Josh’s mind. Soon, the radar towers still under construction would replace the patrolmen, and this kind of lucrative deal would not be possible anymore. This was his last chance at a big payoff. “We better be careful, though. These guys are tough and it’s a lot of money to cough up, even for them.”
Bob glanced at Josh in the rear view mirror and nodded. “Sure, but we know how to handle ourselves. And if anything goes wrong, we shoot first to cover our asses. No witnesses to rat on our sweet little arrangement.”
“Damn right.” Josh had worked hard enough all these years. He deserved his dream retirement.
Will turned and frowned. “What if the deal goes bad?”
“It won’t.” Josh could not think about bad luck. Not now. “We can take care of ourselves.”
“Right.” Bob picked up speed. “We kill them all, take the money, hide it, then we get it later after things cool off.”
“What do we tell Headquarters?” Will sounded dubious.
“Easy.” Bob seemed to have it all figured out, he always did. “We tell the higher ups we spotted the coyotes, we followed them, caught them, they shot first, so we killed them.”
“Sounds good to me.” Josh nodded to Bob so he could see him in the rear view mirror. “We have control of the scene, we make it look good, make sure they find the right kind of evidence.”
Josh hoped it wouldn’t come to that. This kind of deal had always gone smoothly in the past, but this coyote group seemed more aggressive, and the amount of money involved this time made Josh nervous.
~~~
Did she just see something move? Maybe not.
Raising her infrared binoculars, Kaitlin focused on that particular area. There it was again. A flicker of movement. Then she saw people furtively running from rock to rock. She couldn’t tell how many. Fifteen? Twenty? Did they know she was watching? Had they seen the lights of the visiting Jeep? Heard the engine? The conversation?
Sliding down the slope, she searched the Hummer but couldn’t find the blasted radio. Then she remembered it hanging from Josh’s belt. Now it rode with the nitwit toward a damned titty bar.
She flipped the switch of the car’s com system. Only static. Strange, Josh had used it earlier and it worked then. She shrugged. Electronics could be so unreliable and she wasn’t computer savvy. As a last resort, she pulled out the cell phone at her belt and checked the reception. Out of range.
Damn and triple damn!
Light gravel dribbled down the incline. She dropped the cell phone and reached toward her holster. Drawing the Beretta, she turned around, her back safely to the Hummer. Her heart faltered as she held the firearm toward the sound.
“Sweet Mother of God!” She gasped as her target came into view.
Apollo himself couldn’t have looked more handsome under the full moon. Muscles rippled on the smooth torso, shirtless beneath the open denim jacket.
“Stop right there. Hands on your head,” she croaked rather than shouted.
He held up his hands, jostling the backpack on his shoulder.
Glossy black hair fell over his forehead, and the dark gaze of the Latino man burned with intense fire. He pinned her with his stare as if trying to say something important, but no words came out. He appeared to be unarmed, strong, yet she sensed no threat emanating from him.
“On the ground. Face down. Spread ’em.” He didn’t move, maybe he didn’t understand? She motioned with the Beretta. Would he resist arrest? Somehow the thought conjured appealing images.
He dropped the backpack and laid face down.
She took the four steps separating them, kicked away the back pack then reached for the handcuffs at her back. She spread his legs apart. Long, muscular thighs and calves bulged under his jeans. He turned his head to watch her, a half smile on his lips. His temple glistened with sweat. He must have been running, but seemed hardly winded. Unlike her breath which came in quick gasps.
Fascinated by his physique, she couldn’t think. But who other than an illegal would roam the desert on Christmas Eve? He didn’t look afraid. Why? The memory of the group she spotted came to mind, but she heard nothing move in her immediate vicinity.
She straddled the man. He didn’t resist when she cuffed his hands behind his back, then patted him down, looking for a knife or a handgun. She only found the planes of his hard muscles. It had been a while since she’d felt a male body this close. He exuded the musky scent of sage. She grabbed his arm and pulled him over onto his back, surprised when he rolled over easily and allowed her to finish searching him. Astounded by her sensual musings, she rose and stared back at him. She hoped she looked fierce, like a predator hypnotizing her prey.
She slowly moved away and motioned with the Beretta for him to stand and get into the Hummer.
The man smiled as he stood up slowly and stared past her. “Hola!” he said in a deep baritone.
“Hola!” another man answered, disturbingly close behind her.
Kaitlin froze and a shiver ran up her spine. She’d made a mistake by leaving the protection of the Hummer. Why hadn’t she heard the others coming? These would probably be the smugglers guiding the group she’d just identified.
She spun around, weapon at the ready. One man came around the front and the other came around the back of the vehicle. Both had Uzis aimed right at her. She could only shoot one man, and the other would get her. How stupid of her to get caught like this. How humiliating! The gorgeous, unarmed man had served as a distraction to throw her off her game.
And here she thought only dumb men fell under the spell of beautiful girls. What a hoot. Not the time to be reckless. The vest would protect her chest, but her head wasn’t bullet-proof, and she could bleed to death waiting for help that wouldn’t come until morning.
Slowly, she dropped the Beretta and raised her hands, then stuck them behind her head. The patrolmen on her team would have a good laugh. Kaitlin Harrington, the man hater, undone by a Latino hunk! But if she managed to extricate herself from this snake pit, she’d never share that part of the story.
As one of the armed men picked up her gun and fished in her breast pocket for the key to the handcuffs, other men and women, some holding guns and others unarmed, scrambled down into the ravine and formed a circle around her and the patrol car. What now?
More importantly, what would they do to her? Kill her? Rape her? Or worse… Feed her to the coyotes and the desert lions? But Kaitlin couldn’t let fear get the best of her. She had to think, and fast.
When the gorgeous desperado came back into view he was uncuffed. He approached Kaitlin. The Beretta pointed at her, he pushed her gently back against the vehicle. She held her breath at his confining proximity and the overwhelming scent of sage. He caressed her cheek with his free hand then tucked the Beretta inside the front of his jeans. Pinning her with his dark gaze, he touched her hip a little too intimately while checking for other weapons.
But he didn’t stop there. He slid his hand along the inseam of her pants, all the way down. Kaitlin remembered the knife she kept inside her right boot. Gorgeous patted the outside and top of her boot and missed the blade. Handsome for sure, but not very smart. Relieved, she released the breath she’d been holding as he picked up and pocketed the cell phone she’d dropped earlier.
Then he rose, so close, looking down at her. He opened her jacket and his gaze went to the name tag on her shirt. He pulled off the brass tag and held it up to the moonlight. Why was he checking her name? Kaitlin’s vest constricted her breathing under the shirt. He slipped it into his jeans pocket with a satisfied smile.
She could tell he enjoyed playing with her, aware of the effect he had on her. While she had been rough on him, he seemed to treat her with respect, yet Kaitlin caught herself wishing he didn’t.
The two smugglers holding the Uzis came forward into full view. The tallest, sporting colorful tattoos down both arms and a black bandana, made a cat call in Spanish. “Miguel, perra…”
So, the gorgeous man had a name, Miguel.
Kaitlin didn’t pay further attention to the three smugglers arguing in Spanish--Coyotes, as the locals called them.
Taking advantage of the diversion, she glanced around, looking for a way to escape. A few words made their way through her thoughts. They wanted to get rid of her. Sweet Mother of God!
Kill her? The tattooed coyote, whose name she heard as Ramon, waved his Uzi at her head, his features contorted with rage. Cold fear snaked its way down Kaitlin’s spine. Desperate human smugglers often performed execution-style killings in the desert. Especially with US government agents.
Paying full attention to the debate about her death, she listened closer.
“She would be more useful as a hostage,” Miguel argued in Spanish.
Her gaze darted back and forth, looking for a way to make a run for it. Only the coyotes had weapons, and she’d make a poor target at night. The four women, two children and one old man looked inoffensive enough, but there were others farther in the shadows.
She shoved Miguel aside with the brunt of her shoulder and darted for the bushes behind him. Muffled cries and Spanish curses exploded behind her. The sound of a stampede chased her as she ran up the rim, over it and down the other side. Had she out-distanced her pursuers? She tripped and tumbled forward. She fell roughly, flat on her chest and stomach. The palms of her hands scraped on the gravel.
She hadn’t just tripped. Someone had tackled her…Miguel! He pulled her to her feet, the unmovable clamp of his hand clutching her upper arm. The despicable outlaw smiled. He seemed to enjoy this game of cat and mouse.
Smugglers and immigrants caught up to where the two of them stood, and the armed coyotes vituperated and waved their Uzis at her.
“Keep your voices down,” Miguel reminded them in Spanish.
Kaitlin wouldn’t get a chance to run again. Miguel held her firmly.
“Don’t be stupid.” With calm authority, Miguel’s voice soothed the man called Ramon. “Killing a migra could trigger the wrath of all patrolmen for months or years to come.”
She hoped Miguel’s reasoning made sense or else she had no hope. His reassuring tone and mild mannerisms had an appeasing quality Kaitlin wanted to trust. His voice didn’t rise, and he kept cool under the stress.
“We can release her once we reach safe ground,” he told his partners.
Both men nodded in agreement, then Ramon went on about wanting to steal the Hummer.
“Patrol cars have tracking devices,” Miguel explained patiently. “And as soon as a migra fails to report, they’ll come looking for the vehicle.”
The coyotes reluctantly agreed to leave the car and take Kaitlin with them.
“But she’d better stay out of trouble,” Ramon insisted. “Because at the first sign of rebellion…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but aimed his Uzi at her head and pretended to pull the trigger.
Kaitlin shuddered. To remain safe, all she had to do was behave, not an easy feat for someone who hated to be controlled. Miguel squeezed her arm, and his gaze pleaded for entreaty. Why did he care? Kaitlin wouldn’t take her clues from a despicable dealer in human misery, gorgeous or not.
Miguel pushed her around to face a nearby boulder, held her hands behind her back, and snapped on the cuffs. Taking his sweet time, he made sure she couldn’t wiggle out.
He grinned as he turned Kaitlin around. From his denim jacket, he produced a few yards of twine. He fastened the rope to the front of her belt then looped the other end into the back of his own belt.
Damn and triple damn!
How could she escape now?
He pressed her shoulder and gently prompted her forward.
“Vamanos.” Miguel’s encouraging voice made the order sound like an invitation.
Yes, Kaitlin wanted to follow him, yet she hated herself for being so weak. Such unseemly attraction could cost her life. But try as she may, she couldn’t help obsessing about the exotic Latino named Miguel.
Around her, determined people marched along the rocky desert floor, toward a hopeful future, an opportunity for a better life. Framed by half a dozen armed smugglers, the group seemed larger than Kaitlin had first thought. She counted fifteen Mexicans, and a dozen “other than Mexicans,” OTMs in patrol jargon. The OTMs to her right spoke some kind of Russian or eastern European dialect, and it seemed their leader was a woman.
Kaitlin also noticed two dark, olive-skinned men walking to the left in front of her, who didn’t look Mexican either. These two didn’t speak at all but remained together and kept their eyes to the ground. For some reason, Miguel stole furtive glances at them. He didn’t seem to trust them. Why?
Among the illegals, a very pregnant teenager dragged her feet, supported by an older woman. The tall coyote at the front of the group, Ramon, prodded her with his Uzi. “Hurry, or we’ll leave you to die of thirst in the desert.”
The length of her rope allowed Kaitlin to walk at Miguel’s side. He glanced sidelong at her. She responded with furious glares in a futile attempt to discourage him, but he didn’t yield his gaze. Not even a smidgen.
Damn and triple damn!
If only he would ignore her…his constant attention made it difficult for Kaitlin to dismiss her stupid fascination with the man.
It would be a long night moving through the desert. But what galled Kaitlin the most was her unseemly obsession with…what? A vile smuggler of human lives? This man represented everything she stood against. This exploiter of misery had undoubtedly caused the death of many illegals who’d died of thirst, heat, or exhaustion on the grueling trip, their carcasses scavenged by wild animals. A few of his past charges probably served as target practice for local ranchers, zealous vigilantes or unscrupulous Minute Men. Some may even have died at the hands of their own people.
Lately, Mexican mafia gangs, called border pirates, attacked the crossers and stole their money and meager possessions. They often raped, humiliated and even killed the exhausted immigrants, just for the fun of it. Mankind had not really evolved since the brutish dark ages. Even among patrolmen, she’d heard of brutality perpetrated on those the law didn’t protect.
But Kaitlin couldn’t picture Miguel as a hard core criminal. As much as she tried, she couldn’t see him in a negative light at all. She despised her inability to hate him. She fell back a few feet behind him, but her gaze kept returning to the slight swagger of his hips and the backside of his jeans as he walked in front of her in the moonlight. How did he get so ripped? Where did he exercise? Even in the best military gyms, Kaitlin hadn’t seen such a perfect body.
Miguel stepped lightly, in worn out cowboy boots. His thigh muscles bulged under the jeans, and his loose jacket smelled like sage, reminding her of the sweet scent carried by the desert wind. She wanted to reach out and touch him, tangle with him on the rough ground. She what?
Sweet Mary, keep me sane!
“Alto,” Miguel’s voice rumbled across her skin as he called for a halt at the bottom of a dry arroyo, under a clump of Palo Verde.
Ramon and his goons agreed grudgingly.
Miguel tied Kaitlin’s rope to the low branch of the nearest Palo Verde, her back against the tree. Her desperado motioned with his hand to three men wielding automatic weapons to surround her. Then he stepped away to talk privately with the two leaders.
Although Kaitlin kept her body in great shape and wore regulation boots, after a two-hour march, she welcomed the rest stop. She stomped the ground and scraped the sand with the edge of her sole to scare away scorpions and rattlesnakes. When nothing slithered from under the rocks, she dropped gratefully to the ground, careful not to betray the presence of the knife inside her boot.
She should have asked to bring some water from the Hummer, but her bungled escape had deprived her of that chance. Even at night, the desert sucked the moisture out of every living thing.
“Agua?” The pregnant teenager brought a plastic gallon of water and raised it to Kaitlin’s lips.
Surprised by her kindness, Kaitlin gave her a reassuring smile and took a few sips.
“Thank you.” Kaitlin didn’t want to speak Spanish. Let them believe she didn’t understand them.
The moonlight illuminated the faces of the illegals sitting on both slopes of the arroyo. The Russian group sat apart, and the two strangers even further out. Safe as they could be from detection by border patrol agents with night binoculars, the men and women seemed to relax. A few lay down for a nap. Young and old had a strange aura of hope about them. This Christmas Eve was the most important night of their entire lives. Yet it could end in tragedy.
Speaking of tragedy, Kaitlin’s situation was far from safe. What if the coyotes decided to kill her after all? She refused to be a victim. But what could she do alone against so many? Even the tame immigrants would turn against her if she tried to escape. After all, she stood between them and their dreams.
When the jug of water came to her again, half empty, Kaitlin refused. The pregnant girl, seven or eight months along, would need to keep that baby hydrated. Why in heaven would a mother risk her unborn child on such a dangerous crossing? But of course, a baby born in the States would automatically be a US citizen. Amazing what people would do to give their children a shot at the American dream.
A woman at the far end of the encampment sang softly, and others joined her. Adeste fideles…
Despite the dangers of their situation, these struggling people remembered Christmas. The familiar Latin hymn reminded Kaitlin of midnight mass in the Irish neighborhood of south Boston, where she’d often spent the holidays with her grandparents.
The melody evoked images of snow and live nativity scenes. She used to love the sound of the organ accompanying the canticles she sang with the choir. Kaitlin closed her mind to the memories.
God had taken her unborn child on Christmas Eve. She hated Christmas and she’d vowed to never celebrate it again.
Miguel and the other coyotes, including her guards, rushed to the singing circle and shushed the improvised choir, waving their weapons and whispering strings of Spanish curses.
The immigrants gasped and grabbed each other in fear, but Kaitlin knew how sounds carried in the desert. For their crossing to succeed, they needed to remain quiet. Once the immigrants understood, they sat sullenly, heads down and silent. Their future, their lives depended upon the success of their crossing tonight.
The three guards returned after stopping the singing. They stood around and didn’t seem too concerned about Kaitlin anymore. When their attention shifted to the main group, Kaitlin saw a chance to escape. If only she could free her hands! She couldn’t run very well on uneven ground, hands cuffed behind her back. She needed balance as much as speed. Hard as she tried without making any obvious movements, Kaitlin couldn’t reach the spare key in her breast pocket. And the knife in her boot would be useless without her hands free.
In an attempt to look inconspicuous, she leaned against the tree and stared at the stars. So many small lights studded the sky, away from the glow of any city. Orion had shifted to the west.
Even if she escaped, could she find her way back to the ridge where she’d parked the Hummer? Or would she die of dehydration walking circles in the desert? There was no town anywhere near. Could she make the trek back to her camp?
Startled by a touch on her right shoulder, she glanced up to see Miguel’s face. What direction had he come from?
He had such a warm, dimpled smile, and kind eyes. How she wanted to trust him. But she couldn’t. He pulled her up by the arm, checked her cuffs and tightened the twine at her belt. Did he empathize with her? No. If he did, he’d just let her go.
Kaitlin thought of changing her tack. What if she seduced him into releasing her? Why not? He seemed to enjoy flirting with her. But Ramon and his goons would never agree to let her go. Maybe she could convince her desperado to make it look like she escaped on her own. She met his gaze and tried pleading with her eyes, but Miguel only grinned and patted her cheek.
Furious and humiliated by his blatant rejection, Kaitlin spat her rage at his feet. He chuckled at her outburst then walked away.
Damn and triple damn!
After he’d disappeared toward the other end of the group, she glanced at the branch where he’d tied the rope. About five feet high. She could reach the knot with her teeth, but how could she work on it without attracting attention?
A wrenching scream in the distance made her jump. Everyone became alert, and those lying down sat up and listened. The immigrants glanced at each other then trained their eyes in the direction of the screech, far on the other side of the arroyo. It sounded like a woman, but Kaitlin had heard this before. A female mountain lion in heat. A guttural roar followed, sounding closer, although it could have come from miles away.
Everyone had turned their attention toward the sound. Glad for the distraction, Kaitlin loosened the knot on the branch with her teeth.
Keep growling, nice kitty cat! Sweet Mary, help me out here.
The Madonna answered Kaitlin’s prayers and the big cat screamed and roared as it neared. Everyone rose all at once. The coyotes and a few immigrants climbed the opposite rim of the arroyo, straining to get a glimpse of the predator.
Not Kaitlin. She worked faster and was rewarded when the end of the twine finally came loose from the branch and slithered to the ground. Knowing she couldn’t run very far without getting caught or shot, she realized she had to hide. Where?
Moving as quietly as possible she made her way over the edge of the arroyo, hands behind her back, the twine trailing behind her, she hurried toward a large clump of tumbleweeds. With the same technique the coyotes had used to avoid her detection, she ran from meager bush to protruding rock, hopefully heading south.
When she heard loud Spanish curses back toward the coyote camp, she dove into a sage bush and held her breath. The smugglers had discovered her disappearance. Watching between the meager leaves, she saw four of them running over the same edge of the arroyo. They scanned the desert landscape where she hid. Fear gripped her heart, but they had no way of knowing which direction she had taken.
Standing on the brim, Ramon made threatening gestures with his Uzi toward Miguel, who shook his head. Both seemed to be agitated. But hey, she’d escaped fair and square. Kaitlin couldn’t catch their words but the argument soon cooled off. To her relief, the men returned back toward the camp. Were they on a tight schedule, with no time to search for her? Or maybe they were glad to be rid of her, as she would likely get lost and die in the desert.
But Kaitlin didn’t intend to die.