Page 74 of Vanishing Legacy

Bailey snorted. “No clue. Our surveillance team never caught a glimpse of her.” Her head dropped down. “You know, the moment I saw her, all the pieces fell together. She was the one who talked Sonia into laundering money for the leader of the Madrina cartel. A few years ago, the man we knew as the leader of the cartel was found dead. Throat slit. We had no idea who’d taken over, but things were running as hard and fast as ever. It’s why I went undercover. The FBI needed a woman to try and infiltrate using…” Bailey’s eyes met hers and she shrugged. “Using my skills in persuasion.”

Alana pictured Bailey at the gym, her curves poured into the body-hugging outfit. “Where’s your backup?”

“I came in silent. No weapon. No communications. They did a full sweep at the dock. It doesn’t matter. Ziva had surveillance photos of me talking to Trejo weeks ago. He let me set up the meeting. The whole thing was a trap. I wanted to meet the cartel leader.” Bailey shook her head. “Never once thought it was her. Our intel said she was in Colombia with her parents.”

“You think Ziva and her parents decided to go around the courts to get custody of Penny?”

“Maybe. But that doesn’t explain why they took Cash.”

“Not to sound macabre, but why are you still alive?”

They exchanged a look that turned Alana’s blood cold. They both knew the Madrina cartel was ruthless and, so far, hadn’t left any witnesses alive. “Bargaining chip. If things go south, having a federal agent in custody could go a long way. As for Cash, it makes no sense.”

“It doesn’t matter why they took them. Right now, we have to find them and get off this boat before she kills Cash and disappears with Penny forever.”

* * *

Waking up in a drug-induced haze was getting old fast. Cash forced himself to bring his head up. The world swam before him, and he fought to focus. Blinking a few times, he tried to remember what had happened. He didn’t know how much time had passed. The last thing he could recall was Ziva’s knife at his throat. A pinch on the back of his neck and the world had gone dark again. Looking around, he saw that he was still in the living room on the leather couch.

His head throbbed, and he tried to sit up. Slow. The room was silent. Through the wall-to-wall windows, he could see the sun sinking into the Atlantic. Where had Ziva disappeared to? He struggled to understand why she’d gone to such lengths to kidnap Penny when she could have asked for a donation. There had to be something more going on behind her crazy scheme. Penny could’ve been hurt or killed during the kidnapping attempts.

Cash couldn’t see anyone else in the room but sensed a presence. Like someone watched him.

“Who’s there?” he called out.

Soft footsteps thudded toward him from behind. He turned his head to see Penny in her sunshine-yellow shirt, running toward him. “Daddy!”

A tremor quaked through his body, and a silent gasp escaped his lips. “Penny…” He struggled to stand, but his legs were water. Penny jumped into his arms, and he leaned back on the couch, burying his head in her neck. “Oh no. Oh baby, why are you here? You shouldn’t be here. You should be with…Alana.”

“We’re on a boat,” Penny said into his neck. “Big boat, Daddy.”

“I know honey.” He pulled back to take her in. A black smudge streaked across her cheek, and he rubbed it with his thumb. She had one braided pigtail, but the other must’ve fallen out and had left her hair on one side a tangled mess.

Penny had every right to be frightened out of her skull, but her inability to process the gravity of the situation protected her tender little heart. Her ASD was her superpower. Maybe it was God’s special gift to Penny to protect her from all life’s painful moments. His special daughter lived on the mountaintops more than most.

Still, red-hot lava coursed through his veins as he considered what she’d been put through to bring her here. Alana would’ve never let her go. Never let them take Penny without a fight. Which meant…

No. He refused to believe they’d killed her.

He looked past Penny to see Ramón standing beside Ziva. His hands were crossed in front of him, concealing his gun. Ziva had changed into a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, tucked into flowing cream-colored linen pants.

He tightened his grip on his daughter and glared at the woman who had taken everything from him. First Sonia and now Alana. He wanted to do something to wipe that smug look off Ziva’s face. Instead, he clung to Penny.

He’d always carried the guilt over not being there when people really needed him because he was doing something to better himself. Not this time. It wasn’t his fault Sonia had died while he was deployed, just like it wasn’t his fault he’d been offered a scholarship on the day his father died. And it was not his fault a sociopath had kidnapped him and his daughter while he was saving lives at the hospital.

“You should know by now that I always get what I want.” Ziva stepped closer, and Cash tensed. “And now that Penny is here, we’ll get this done quickly.”

“You’re insane. I’m not doing this.”

Ziva’s smug smile faded and her eyes turned cold. She sat on the coffee table in front of him and leaned in. “Oh, I don’t think you have much of a choice. You see, I have something you want.” She stroked Penny’s hair. “Or should I say, someone?”

“We can go to the hospital. No one has to know who you are?—”

“One way or another, I’ll get what I want. Even if I have to take it myself.” Ziva looked over her shoulder.

Cash followed her gaze to see Ramón. He raised his gun and waved it at Cash before lowering it again.

Cash’s gut twisted. He’d have to play along for now. Bide his time until he could find a way to get Penny and himself out of this mess. He forced a calm tone. “What do you want me to do?”

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