Page 79 of Bad Rio

Quickly, she gave them the attorney’s contact information.

“But where are you?” John asked. “We’ve been worried sick. Are you okay?”

“I’m in a safe place and I’ll be home in a day or so. Don’t worry. You won’t be able to go into the office for a few weeks, but the authorities are working things out. We three will have a sit-down and decide what to do with the company. Personally, I think we can run things ourselves.”

“We’ve been doing it right along anyway,” James offered. “I think we should keep it running. You know ... for Dad.”

She agreed, and promised to be home soon and tell them more.

Becca leaned on a fence post and watched the placid cluster of Hereford cows chewing cud just on the other side. This whole nasty predicament was almost over. It felt anticlimactic, as though something else should happen first but she couldn’t imagine what.

However, she was glad to see the end of the violence. If Tim and her father were convicted, and it was clear now that they should be, she must accept that. They had chosen to break both the laws of the land and the laws of morality. Sex trafficking! Becca shuddered. How could they? For political gain? For power? It was inconceivable, and something she realized she would have to deal with for a long time.

One last concern nagged at her: Rio had still made no mention of a future between them. He hadn’t asked her about her plans or said a single thing about what might happen between them once they arrived back in San Antonio.

He’d given her no reason to believe he’d thought about it at all. Beyond his caring for her safety, which was his job, and even including their incredible sex, what ties might he feel to her? Very few, she concluded miserably. She clutched the fence so tightly her fingers ached.

If she were honest, she couldn’t allow herself to be surprised. He’d told her that first time in the cabin that “no woman would have him.” He was wrong about that, but he’d also said he was an adrenaline junkie, used to being in the scrum, on the move, part of the action. He implied it would last forever.

She wouldn’t beg. She wouldn’t abandon her dignity, and even if she wanted to, it wouldn’t work. Rio would move on to his next job, his next hostage rescue, his next mission, and she’d become a memory. She wondered if, in time, he’d forget her.

The possibility knifed through her.

She was now about to lose the man she’d loved as an uncle, and about to see her father face ruin and shame. Most likely, he’d be incarcerated. Her life was imploding.

Would her heart be broken, too?

****

LATE THAT NIGHT WHENBecca was asleep, Rio eased out of bed, picked up Becca’s phone, and padded barefoot downstairs. Letting himself out into the night air, he took a seat on the front steps. In the pasture, moonlight shone on the cattle’s white faces. A light breeze ruffled the trees. An owl began a solitary hooting. He punched in a number.

The man answered as though it were a reasonable hour and not two AM. “Ben Paxton,” he said.

“Hey, Ben. It’s Rio.”

“Hey, fucker,” Paxton replied easily. “How’s it hanging?” He and Rio had served in the Teams together. These days, they didn’t talk much, but the hairy missions in Afghanistan they’d barely survived had forged their friendship into a rock solid, unbreakable bond.

“Can’t complain,” Rio said. “Could use a little assistance.”

“I’m here for you, brother. What do you need?”

They spent an hour talking and at the end of that time, Rio was satisfied.

“We’ve got work for you here,” Paxton offered. “If you want it.” Like Rio, he was now in the private sector. He and a few of their old teammates had formed a successful security business.

“Thanks. I’ll consider it,” Rio answered. They hung up.

Still on the steps, he examined every angle of the matter and decided he had it pretty well figured out.

At last, he made his final call. First, he made certain Becca’s cell number was blocked from view.

“Where the fuck are you?” Harrison practically shouted into the receiver. “I told you that you have to come in.”

“Sorry. I’m ready now. I’ll be in San Antonio soon. You said you’ve got a new job for me and I’m a little low on funds. I need the work. Where do you want to meet?”

“That’s more like it. By the way, have you had any contact with Rebecca De Monte? The family still doesn’t know where she is. She doesn’t answer emails or her phone. It’s been turned off.”

“Yeah, I do,” Rio admitted. “She’s been in hiding and scared to death until she can talk to the Feds. She’s going in day after tomorrow. They want to ask what she knows about some illegal crap going on at her father’s hubcap business.”

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