“I’m impulsive,” she said. “I take risks. I do stupid things sometimes without considering other people’s feelings. I get angry and say things I don’t mean.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “I could be way off base, but it sounds like you might be human.”
“I don’t want to screw this up.” She hadn’t meant to say it, but the words came out before she had time to think of the repercussions.
“Let met get this straight,” he said. “You’re not afraid to face down a bunch of cutthroat smugglers, but when it comes to me you want to turn tail and run?”
“That pretty much covers it.” She gave him a self-deprecating smile. “You scare me, Madrid.”
“I’m a *cat.”
She laughed. A second later he joined her, and their laughter rang out, the sound of simple human joy.
Madrid sobered. “All I ask is that you stay out of this smuggling thing. Let me handle it.”
Because it was one promise she could not make, Jess lifted her mouth to his. When he resisted, she deepened the kiss.
“You don’t fight fair,” he muttered.
“No,” she agreed. “I don’t.”
Abruptly Madrid puller her against him and kissed her like a man possessed.
He took her to another precipice, higher and more powerful than the first. As Jess tumbled into another wild free fall, she tried hard not to think about what she would have to do come daylight.
MADRID WOKE to the soft chirp of his cell phone. Groggy with sleep, he squinted at the lighted display and put it to his ear. “Madrid.”
“Mike…”
The sound of his brother’s voice made the hairs at his nape stand on end. “Matt? What’s wrong?”
A groan sounded, then his brother’s guttural voice said, “They have the boy. I tried to stop them, but…they shot me.”
The words sent an electric shock of fear through Madrid. He jumped to his feet, grabbed his jeans off the floor and stepped into them. “How bad are you hurt?”
“I took a bullet in the gut.” He groaned. “I’m bleeding like a pig.”
“Is there someone there who can help you?”
“Father Tom. He called an ambulance.”
Madrid closed his eyes. “When did this happen?”
“A few minutes ago.” Another groan. “Mike, these guys are bad news.”
Knowing all too well what the smugglers were capable of, Madrid squeezed his eyes closed. “Did they say anything?”
“They wanted Jess, too. Evidently they thought she was here.”
“Till the ambulance arrives I want you to get a towel, then lie down and put the towel over the wound.”
“Gotcha.”
“Hang tight, buddy.”
Madrid disconnected and stood there for a moment trying to pull himself together. He couldn’t believe the smugglers had found the church. He’d been so careful.
“What happened?”
He spun at Jess’s voice, turned to face her. He hated to tell her, but she needed to know. “They have Nicolas.”
Her hand went to her mouth. “Oh, God, no.”
As he quickly dressed, Madrid related everything his brother had told him. “I have to go.”
“I’m going with you.”
For the first time since his phone had rung, he gave her his full attention. “No.”
“It’s me they want.”
“And Nicolas.”
Sickened by the thought, Jess wrapped herself in a blanket and rose. “I can’t sit back and let them hurt that child. I made a promise to Angela.”
Madrid spun on her. His hands snaked out, grasped her arms and shook. “I can’t let them hurt you!” he roared. “For God’s sake, Jess, let me handle this!”
The fury behind his words stopped her; his fingers bit into her skin.
As if realizing he was holding her too tightly, he released her and took a step back. For several interminable seconds they stared at each other. Then Madrid shook himself as if waking from a terrible dream. He pulled a small device from the clip on his belt. “I’ve only got one weapon and I need to take it with me.” He shoved the device and his cell phone into her hands. “Take these.”
“What is this?” she asked, referring to the device.
“GPS. If anything happens, if you feel you’re in danger, hit the red button here.” He motioned to a small red button on the end of the device. “It’s programmed to put out what’s called a Code 99. All MIDNIGHT agents will be scrambled. A GPS signal will be activated simultaneously. You got that?”
“I got it.”
“Jess, don’t open the door for anyone but me. Is that clear?”
“Madrid—”
He cut her off. “If someone comes in through the front, you go out that back window and run for your life. You got that?”
Fear hit home with the words. Until this moment she’d felt safe. Maybe because she was with Madrid.
“I got it,” she said.
“Good girl.” He lifted his hand as if to touch her cheek, but changed his mind and dropped it. “I have to go.”
“Where?”
“The only place I can think of.” Giving her a final, hard look, he snagged his pistol off the counter, flung open the door and was quickly swallowed by darkness.
Chapter Sixteen