Page 23 of Scarred Souls

Brandon frowned, looking as confused by Elena as I was. “Maybe the engagement wasn’t her choice. Arranged marriages aren’t unheard-of when empires are at stake.”

Fuck, I really wanted him to be right. Yet the photos of Elena and Ortega on what appeared to be romantic dates did nothing to ease my suspicions. I’d need convincing evidence before I accepted Brandon’s theory.

“What happened after Alvarez got hold of Elena?” I asked.

“Once Espinoza found out what his daughter had done, he attacked the Alvarez compound to get her back. Except Elena wasn’t there. Alvarez had sent both Elena and Natalie offshore on his megayacht for safekeeping. When he found out Espinoza had shot up his home, Alvarez got pissed off and killed both girls.”

“Let me guess. Elena’s body was never found?”

“Alvarez very publicly taunted Espinoza with how his daughter had been shot and tossed overboard miles from the coast. I guess Espinoza never expected to recover Elena’s remains. I can’t be certain where her alleged murder happened, but Alvarez’s yacht sailed up the Pacific coast during that war. Right past your current location.”

“I have even more questions now than when I first called.” I released a heavy breath, struggling to grapple with Brandon’s information overload.

Brandon removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “I know. I feel like there’s something big we’re missing here.”

“Do you really think Espinoza believes she’s dead? Maybe this is how he’s hiding Elena now. Let the world think she’s been murdered, and no one will come looking.”

“It’s possible, but I don’t buy that. He went to war to find her. Her death motivated him to wipe out the Alvarez Cartel. And if he wanted her safe, he’d have her locked down in his compound or sent to another country again. He wouldn’t leave her unprotected. As sleepy as Playa de la Palmera is, it’s still Mexico. Anything can happen. Plus, I suspect she’s not as sympathetic to the PCC as you might think.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Think about it. Handing herself over to the Alvarez Cartel to save her friend was brave, but it was also a giant Fuck you to her dad. Can you think of a more brazen way to defy the man who’d kept her hidden all those years?”

He had a point, but I wasn’t as willing as Brandon to believe Elena was even remotely innocent. For all we knew, she had plans to start up her own cartel and go into business in competition with her dad. Even more likely was that she and that piece of shit, Ortega, were planning to overthrow Carlos in a mutiny. Who knew what Elena was capable of, and deception was obviously a skill she’d mastered. She’d fooled me.

Brandon continued. “From what you’ve told me and the intel I’ve gathered, my guess is Elena Espinoza is hiding from everyone in her past life, including her father. That explains why she reacted so negatively toward the cartel members in the restaurant. Maybe she doesn’t see eye to eye with Carlos. Maybe she doesn’t want the wealth and power that comes with running the biggest cartel in Mexico.”

Maybe she doesn’t want to be married to Jorge Ortega.

That she’d been with him at all was bad enough. It didn’t matter if she’d changed her mind.

I scoffed. “That sounds like a lot of maybes.”

He smiled smugly. “I’m rarely wrong.”

“Cocky son of a bitch.”

“You would know. Listen, whatever her reasons are for hiding, we need to get to the bottom of it, because if we’re playing a game of chess with Carlos Espinoza, Elena could be our queen.”

Her knowledge of the Pacific Coast Cartel would be invaluable. I still had my reservations about Elena’s allegiances, but Brandon was right about one thing. We needed her. What secrets did she hold in that pretty head of hers?

“I’ll go get her right now,” I said. “Throw her in the King Air and bring her back to the ranch.”

“That’s too aggressive.”

Was there any other way? “We’re wasting time.” I kicked the truck’s front tire. “If I can’t kidnap her, how do you want me to play this?”

“With caution. It sounds like she’s cemented her alter ego in the community. If we take Elena against her will, there’ll be a public appeal to find her. If her face gets splashed all over the news, we risk Espinoza finding out she’s still alive, and it’s vital that we keep that quiet. First, we try using diplomacy and discretion.”

“Then you’d better send someone else down here, because I have neither of those skills in my bag of tricks.”

“I was hoping you’d dig deep and find them.”

“Dig deep?” I snorted. “I’ll have to drill to the earth’s molten core.”

“Then do that. Besides, it has to be you to get through to Elena. She already trusts you.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

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