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I pull in a breath; the adrenaline pumping through me. Now we wait. Rex sits forward from the backseat. “We need to get the fuck out of here. Why are we sitting here?”
Kase looks at him and back to me. “I thought you said he was good at his job?”
I stare at him through the rearview mirror, shaking my head. If he wasn’t so emotional at the moment, he’d know what we are doing. “If your captor…” I use the term loosely since I’m sure he was there for disingenuous reasons in the first place “… passes us on the way down, they’ll have the small town searching for a silver Ford Taurus in a matter of minutes. If we at least wait until they pass, we can be down the mountain by the time they figure out you’re gone. As soon as word gets out, we’ll already be on our way out of town.” To be on the safe side, I have a contact meeting me at a local garage to switch cars then we have an hour drive to the border.
He throws his body back against the seat, raking his hands through his hair. I kind of feel bad for the guy. “How mad is Mom?”
“I haven’t told her you are alive yet.” His eyes widen in surprise. “We just found out last night where you were. We were too busy figuring out how to get your ass out of there without fatalities.”
“I would have been okay if you came in shooting up the place,” he mutters to himself.
“We had that plan, too,” Kase pipes up.
I shake my head as he smiles and shrugs, the possibility not even phasing him. Turning in my seat so I can see Rex’s eyes, I ask, “What does she have?”
His jaw tightens, he knows what I’m asking. I’m waiting for him to admit he fucked up and I’m not getting blood on my hands for his mess. His focus darts out the window, to the empty road. “There’s a diamond I’ve been searching for. It’s the Moussaieff Red Diamond. It’s only five carats, but because of its color, it’s worth seven million. It was stolen in 2002.”
“Shit,” Kase whispers.
“We did a job in Mexico a couple months ago. During our planning stage, I heard a rumor that Dante Abalos gave it to his daughter as a birthday present last year.”
“It was a fucking rumor. The first time you heard the name Dante Abalos, that should have been enough to make you forget you ever heard anything.” Dante is the leader of a cartel in Mexico. When I found out his daughter owned the house on the hill, I figured it was no longer a rescue mission. It was a recovery.
“I had to know. It should’ve been an easy job. Someone set me up. Sofia knew I was coming.”
“Why didn’t you tell your team? Or fucking anyone?”
He drops his head and sighs. “I’m a selfish bastard, I guess. None of them know about my obsession with the diamond.”
“You’re also an idiot. And a lucky bastard. You better be glad Sofia liked you enough to keep you around for this long.” He scoffs as I turn back when Kase informs us that their car just passed. It takes a car fifteen seconds before it hits the first turn once it passes us. We pull out at twenty seconds.
We’re able to pull into the garage with no interference after driving through back roads for a couple miles. Jorge is already waiting, closing the door behind us. I hop out of the car and remove a large manilla envelope from my bag. When Jorge approaches, we shake hands and I hold out the envelope. “Thank you, Jorge. I owe you one.”
He glances in the bag and smiles. “I’d say we’re even.”
We’re not even close. He’s taking a huge risk helping us and that money means nothing if he’s caught. He hands me keys to another car and our stop is quick. Rex stays quiet the entire time until we’re back on the road headed toward the border.
“Thank you,” he says from the backseat.
I glance in the mirror and nod. “You should call Mom.” Kase hands him his phone. I’m not ready to celebrate yet. I’m still angry that I had to leave Sydney to go save his ass. My mind wanders to what she’s doing, or what we could be doing. My fingers itch to touch her. Just a few more hours and she’ll be screaming out my name. Imagining those ice-blue eyes, staring up at me while she sits on the bed naked and wet…
“Mom wants to talk to you,” Rex says, interrupting my vision. I grunt and grab the phone from his outstretched hand.
“Hey, Ma.”
“Well, I’m glad to talk to you too, son,” she says, offended at the tone of my voice.
Despite my frustration with Rex, I crack a smile. “Sorry, I’ve got a lot of things on my mind.”
“I’m sure you do, hon. I don’t want to keep you since Rex said you guys are getting on a plane soon, but thank you, Max. I know you and your brother don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, but you don’t know how much it means to me that you care enough to help him.”
“I only do it for you,” I grumble.
She laughs into the phone. “I’m okay with that. Now, both of you get back home as soon as possible.” Despite wanting to tell her I’ll bring Sydney with me next time, I keep my mouth shut. She’ll make a huge deal out of it, plan a party with the whole town. Instead, I tell her I will and hang up.
The closer we get to the US, the easier I feel. Except the line at the border is ridiculous. I slow the car to a stop. “Shit.” There are at least a hundred vehicles in front of us. “Have I told you lately how much I hate you,” I groan to Rex’s reflection.
He shrugs with a smirk. “Mom says you love me.”
