that the only way to keep Cara safe was to continue the pretense and allow these men to believe that she was Cara Bedell. It was her job as Cara’s bodyguard to be prepared to lay down her life, if necessary.
They hurried her out of the bathroom, down a poorly lit back hallway and out the door leading into the alley. A few feet away, shoved up against a row of stinking garbage cans, lay a man’s crumpled, lifeless body. Now she knew why Jason hadn’t come to their rescue. As they hurried her past the bloody corpse, she glanced back, praying that Cara could handle herself on her own and make the right decisions about what to do next. If Cara made even one mistake, Lucie was as good as dead.
CARA COUNTED to a hundred. Her hands shook. Her stomach churned, creating a bout of nausea. She had obeyed Lucie’s orders, knowing her bodyguard’s training served them both well. She had listened to the two men speaking in Spanish and realized that they believed Lucie was Cara and they intended to kidnap the American heiress and kill her bodyguard as they had killed the other one. That meant Jason was dead. And if she hadn’t done exactly as Lucie had instructed, she, too, might be dead. Or she would be the one they had kidnapped and Lucie would be dead.
Cara eased open the stall door and peered out into the bathroom. Empty. She walked out into the room and took a deep, calming breath.
Stay here, think, reason this out and make a logical decision.
Jason was dead. Those men had killed him. She couldn’t look to him for help. Oh, God, poor Jason. He had a wife and teenage son.
She was on her own. She could call the local police. Absolutely not. The San Luis police were part of the Amecan government, which was run by Ortega and his kind. She could call Felipe and Suelita. Maybe. She trusted them.
No, I can’t call them. I can’t risk having the truth about the abduction leak out here in San Luis. I have to buy time. I have to keep up the pretense as long as possible. Apparenty the kidnappers think Lucie and I look enough alike that, at least for now, they don’t know the difference. If they discover that they’ve abducted the wrong woman, that they took Lucie Evans instead of me, they’ll kill her. I have to contact Deke. He’ll know what I should do to help Lucie and keep myself safe.
She looked down at the floor beside the sink and saw her shopping bags and Lucie’s, too, side by side. They had enjoyed their afternoon jaunt through the market. Cara couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun. She liked Lucie so much. She had to find a way to save her.
She scanned the restroom and saw her purse lying on the floor, as if it had been tossed aside. Cara bent over, grabbed the purse and unzipped it. She rummaged around inside until she found her cell phone. She checked the information bars. Batteries fully charged. But she couldn’t stay here. Someone could come in at any moment. Leaving the shopping bags where they were, she opened the bathroom door. When she peeked out into the hall, she heard the hum of voices and music coming from the restaurant, but she didn’t see anyone. She slipped out into the hall.
Now what?
Find a back entrance and leave quietly. Once you’re outside and in a safe spot, call Deke.
She made her way quietly down a back hallway and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a door that she thought probably led to the alley. After glancing over her shoulder and seeing no one, she shoved open the door and entered the putrid-smelling alleyway. Early evening shadows fell across the dirt-and-gravel path. The sun would set soon and it would be dark. She had no time to waste.
Covering her nose with her hand as she approached the trash cans, she gasped when she saw the man lying on the ground. Jason! She stifled the scream that vibrated in her throat. Oh, God. Oh, God!
There’s nothing you can do for him now. Keep moving. Get away from this place. But where can I go?
The church.
On their way here, she’d seen a church half a block from the Plaza Bazaar. She could find sanctuary there.
Cara removed her hat, threw it in one of the open trash cans and then ran her hand through her shoulder-length hair. Perspiration bubbled on her forehead and upper lip and rivulets of sweat glided from between her breasts to her belly button. All but running down the alley, away from Jason’s body and the sickening garbage odor, she stayed in the back alleys as much as possible, but had no choice but to slip in and out of the marketplace, which amazingly was still crowded with people, mostly tourists. She could see the entrance to the plaza. Safety was nearby. The church was close.
After slipping into the alley behind a pottery shop, she sucked in deep breaths of semifresh air. With twilight fast approaching, she hit the number that put her directly through to Deke Bronson’s cell phone.
He answered on the third ring. “Good evening, Ms. Bedell.”
“Deke, we…I have a situation here. I need help and I need it immediately.”
“Where are Jason and Lucie?”
“Gone. Jason’s dead and Lucie has been kidnapped.”
“Are you all right?”
“For the time being, but I won’t be for long and neither will Lucie.” She hurriedly explained what had happened, not pausing until she had given Deke all the details.
“You have no idea who these men were or why they kidnapped Lucie…that is, why they kidnapped Lucie thinking she was you?”
“No idea whatsoever.”
“For your safety and Lucie’s, we have to keep the fact that they kidnapped the wrong woman a secret,” Deke told her.
“Yes, I’ve already figured that out. So how do we do that?”
“Do you have somewhere you can go for a few hours, somewhere no one will notice you or bother you? A movie theater or—”
“A church,” Cara said.
“A church would be perfect.”
“There’s one nearby. I can go there. But what then?”
“I’ll get in touch with Sawyer McNamara. Dundee’s has contacts all over the world. My guess is that they have someone there in San Luis. I’ll try to call you back and give you the name and a description of your contact person, but I’m going to give you an ID phrase you can use and the response to expect from your contact.” He recited the comment and the response. “This person will take you somewhere you’ll be safe until we can get to Ameca, hopefully by early morning.”
“Whoever kidnapped Lucie kidnapped her thinking they have a billionaire to bargain with,” Cara said. “I’m authorizing you to do whatever is necessary to meet their demands. Gray will be in charge of Bedell, Inc. temporarily and he and the board can authorize the release of whatever ransom is requested.”
“Let’s not put the cart before the horse,” Deke told her. “We don’t know for sure money is the reason she was abducted. Don’t forget that Cara Bedell is supposed to make a multimillion-dollar deal with one of two oil companies vying for her favor.”
“Oh, God, I as good as told Tomas Castillo today at lunch that I would probably sign with Delgado Oil. You don’t think Castillo ordered my kidnapping, do you?”
“There’s no way to know for sure. Not yet. That’s why you cannot trust anyone down there and it’s the reason no one, and I mean no one, even Grayson Perkins, can know that you weren’t the one kidnapped.”
Cara started to protest, and then in a clearly lucid moment, she realized that Deke was right. Gray might let the truth slip and if he did…
“I understand,” Cara said. “I’ll go to the church and wait for your call or for a person who can reply correctly to my comment.”
“Repeat it for me.”
“I’m not Catholic. I hope it’s all right that I’ve come here to pray. That’s