Page 47 of Hidden Falls

“Take her to her room,” he said. “She can go to bed without dinner.”

“Si, señor.”

The men wrestled me into the elevator, and once on board with the door closed, one of the guys took out his pistol. Holding it by the barrel, he raised the weapon; I saw it coming, and then, nothing.

22

DAY THREE, NIGHT

Lei settled herself uncomfortably close to Cruz, but there was no choice on the narrow metal grille platform near the top of the cell phone tower, likely built for repairmen. Side by side on their bellies, they used high-powered rifle scopes to look over the brightly lit grounds of the mansion outside Mexico City.

“How many guards do you see?” Cruz asked.

“Too many.” Lei felt a sinking sensation that had persisted ever since they climbed to their crow’s nest. “We’d need a small army to get Malia out of there, if she’s even inside.”

“That’s all we’re here to determine. Whether she’s inside. And what it would take to get her out.”

Cruz’s calm grounded Lei and firmed her resolve. “I see something.” A twitch at the curtain of a third-floor window—then the curtain moved to open. The light was off inside the room, but the figure inside was unmistakably Malia’s petite, curvy shape. The teen unlatched the window, removing the screen, and pushed it open to peer outside. “She’s assessing whether she can climb out.”

“Where?”

“Third floor, second window from the end.”

Cruz’s scope knocked into Lei’s as he trained it on the area and his shoulder pressed into her; Lei lowered her unit to give him room, straining to see Malia with her naked eye—but that was impossible.

“She’s looking for a way down. It’s a sheer drop. Sure hope she doesn’t try it,” Cruz said.

Lei sat upright, putting a hand over her heart to calm its galloping. “That girl. Thank God Harry isn’t here; there’s no way we could keep her from storming the gates, guns blazing.”

“I know.” Cruz lowered his scope. “Malia closed the window and replaced the screen. Closed the curtains, too.”

“Whew. I couldn’t have taken watching her try to climb out of that window. Three stories are a long way down.”

“At least we know where she is now. I have a guy back in the city who might be able to get me the layout of the house.”

Lei resumed her position and put her scope to her eye.

After a while, the front door of the mansion flew open. A small female figure stood framed in one half of the giant paneled door, backlit. Overhead security lights threw enough illumination from the front turnaround area to light her face.

“That’s Malia!” Lei exclaimed.

Cruz went rigid beside her. “I see.”

Malia stood there for a few seconds, taking in the pair of guards and the two exotic cars parked in front of the garage, then she ran down the steps, her feet flying.

The men reacted, waving their arms and yelling, pursuing her.

Malia reached the cars and yanked on the door handles, but they were clearly locked.

The guards caught up with her. Malia struggled, but it didn’t go well. The last glimpse Lei had of the teen was of two hulking, gun-draped men carrying her between them back into the house.

Lei released a held breath. “Dammit.”

“Yeah.” Cruz’s voice was terse. “Girl’s a fighter.”

Lei pushed up from her position. “We have confirmation she’s there. Now what?”

“We count the guards. Observe the rotation. Take note of the security measures around the estate.” Cruz rolled to the side and glanced up at her from his lying down position. “We’re not going anywhere for a while.”

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