Page 40 of Hidden Falls

“I found Cruz. He’d done his homework.”

“And now that you got me here, where’s Cruz? He should be here.” Lei glanced around, expecting the operative to appear, her heart thumping unevenly.

A pair of men were approaching them across the grass, walking with a purposeful, steady gait. Harry tightened up beside Lei, rising to her feet. “Let’s move. We’ll talk at my hotel.”

Lei put on her backpack and picked up her satchel. She followed Harry as her friend drifted into the crowd, blending with a gathering near a booth, removing her hat and stuffing it into Lei’s duffel. They didn’t see the men after that, but Harry continued on in surveillance mode, and at the sidewalk, she waved down a cab.

This one was a rounded beetlelike shape and bright yellow; it whisked them immediately into traffic spilling past. “Holiday Inn, please,” Harry told the driver.

“They have a Holiday Inn here?”

“Sure.” Harry glanced at Lei. “Better not to pretend to be something we aren’t. There are tons of Anglo tourists around.”

Lei focused on belting herself in as the little cab jetted through an opening made by a couple of slow-moving cars.

The Holiday Inn might have been a United States chain, but this one was painted turquoise and yellow with red accents, matching the bright tone of buildings in the surrounding area. They pushed through a turnstile of rotating glass doors into an air-conditioned lobby.

Lei dropped her heavy bag and lifted a hank of tangled curls off her neck, twisting it into a knot. “Whew. Warm out there.”

“Another reason to stay at the Holiday Inn—we Americans love air conditioning,” Harry smiled for the first time. “Come on up to my room. I got a double.”

On the elevator, Lei turned to her friend. “Come on. Spill.”

Harry shook her head and pointed to the dome light overhead.

Lei squelched annoyance.Harry had to be overreacting. She’d checked on the men they’d fled from at the park, and they hadn’t followed them.

But she had waited all this time; she could wait a little longer to find out what the hell was going on.

Lei stood just behind her taller friend as Harry placed her key card into the slot in the door and pressed down on the handle. She stepped in past her friend but stopped short as a man’s voice greeted her.

“Hello, Lei.” Deep and rich as molasses, Cruz had a voice she’d never forget.

“Cruz.”

The man she’d last seen close to twenty years ago stood up from a padded armchair in the corner of the room with the physical grace she remembered. He came forward to hold her by the shoulders, kissing her lightly on either cheek. He was deeply tanned, a swatch of silver marked his temples, and a fan of creases framed his eyes. Otherwise, Leonardo Cruz was unchanged. “It’s good to see you again. I hope this isn’t an unwelcome surprise.”

“It’s not a surprise to see you here.” Lei stuttered a little. “I mean, we need your help. Harry told me she couldn’t find you. In the message that got me to fly out here.” Lei unslung her bags and dropped them beside one of the two neatly made beds.

“Well, I’m surprised, because this is the first time I’ve seen you.” Harry was frowning as she took her hat out of Lei’s duffel and set it on the bureau, smoothing out creases. “I mean, thanks for the phone call earlier, Cruz, but where’ve you been? And how did you get into my room?”

“Sorry.” Cruz didn’t sound sorry. “I was unavoidably delayed earlier. I swept the room for bugs, so we can speak freely.” He gestured to an opaque window blind that allowed light to filter through. “That will keep outside surveillance down well enough, too.”

“I told Harry I was sick of the cloak-and-dagger without any info when she got spooked by some men in the park. I’m still not up to speed on what’s happening. I’d like one of you to start talking.” Lei flopped down on one of the beds and wadded up a couple of pillows behind her head. “And I’m too tired to do anything but lie down right now. What’s going on with the case?”

The two exchanged a glance, then Cruz said, “Malia has been kidnapped by a major player in the drug trade. His name is Hector Ramirez. I believe he’s taken her to his compound outside of the city.”

“But why?”

“That’s for Harry to tell.”

Lei looked at Harry.

Her friend hung up her purse in the closet; she then opened the mini fridge and took out a bottle of water. She tossed one to Lei, then turned back and took another. She spoke without looking at Lei. “We don’t know for sure, but he seems to think that Malia is his daughter.”

Lei let a beat go by as Harry uncapped the water and took a swig.

“I could use one of those,” Cruz said. Harry reached into the fridge and handed him a cold bottle without a word.

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