Santerra's Sin: A Loveswept Classic Romance Page 15

  He swore under his breath. “I’ll fry for this.”

  “Tell me, John.”

  He looked her hard in the eyes. “Your father. He’s testifying tomorrow afternoon against Hermes Jacounda.”

  Blue paced the small, well-appointed sitting room, stopping for the umpteenth time in front of the picture window. The hotel was beachside. She looked from the water to the body-packed sand. Miami was a hot sweltering place teeming with way too many people. Only one held her interest. And he was late.

  About thirteen years late.

  She’d begged information from John and everyone else that she’d come into contact with to no avail. She’d been in this room for almost twenty-four hours. It felt like an eternity. She listened to reports on the television about the trial. It had not been televised, but coverage outside the courtroom was virtually nonstop. Reports that Steve Delaney had testified earlier that day, giving documented proof of Jacounda’s involvement in organized crime, had local journalists in a frenzy. No mention of Seve Delgado, the secret government team he’d been in charge of for over ten years, or Blue’s existence was ever made.

  It was as if it all had never happened. Was she supposed to pretend that too? Would her father duck out on her? “Protect” her yet again by disappearing. And who was he? Seve Delgado, leader of the renegade Delgado’s Dirty Dozen? Or Steve Delaney, Miami detective, who’d worked undercover in Jacounda’s organization for the last two years?

  Blue fingered the blinds on the window, turning them one way then the other, before retreating to the couch. She sat with a sigh, but was almost immediately up on her feet pacing again. She wondered how many names her father had used other than his own in thirteen years. It was a meaningless concern, but her brain was on overload and focusing on the inane was the only thing keeping her from losing it altogether.

  Her thoughts turned to Diego, as they had over and over during the last twenty-four hours. It had been natural, as if she sought peace in just the thought of him. Instead she’d only found more turmoil. How was he? What was he doing? Was he already on another mission? He must know she was going to be told everything. Did that mean he wouldn’t contact her again? After all, his job involving her was over.

  She’d demanded to know the outcome of the episode on the mountain and had been assured that Agent Santerra was fine. She’d asked to speak to him but had been told he was not available. Swearing and threatening got her nowhere either.

  She hated not being in control. The only demand she’d been granted was her insistence on talking directly to Tejo. He had been understandably concerned and very relieved to hear firsthand that she was okay. When she asked him if he’d been told everything, including why she was in Miami, he’d remained silent too long.

  “You knew, didn’t you?” she’d asked him quietly. “How could you not tell me, Tejo?”

  “I didn’t know,” he said, and she believed him.

  “But you’re not surprised, not really.”

  Another pause. “No,” he’d responded, the word a rough emotional whisper. “I always had this sense, this feeling.…”

  His words had drifted off, her uncle obviously too overcome to continue.

  “I understand, Tejo,” she’d said, her own throat thick with tears. “You couldn’t give me false hope.”

  “Or myself,” he’d said.

  “Are you coming to Florida?”

  “I don’t know. I will make that decision later, after you’ve talked to him.” When she protested, he said, “Do what you need to do, Blue. I’ll take care of myself.”

  Blue heard Diego’s last request in her uncle’s words. Do what is in your heart. She paced back to the window, thinking over everything that had happened. In the past several days. In the past several years.

  What was she going to do now?

  Just then the door to the hallway opened and one of the guards that had been posted there since her arrival poked his head in. “Miss Delgado?”

  She turned, her heart pounding. “Yes?”

  “Your father is here.”

  Diego swiveled his chair away from the window. Watching the snow cover the distant slopes of the Rockies from his perch on the twentieth floor of the Denver office building only brought his thoughts back to the one person he’d spent the last three months trying to forget.

  He looked at the man sitting opposite the large walnut desk. This would be the last time he saw his boss. At least the last time he would look at him and know he was looking at Seve Delgado. Del’s transformation into his new life would include plastic surgery and a number of other alterations. Understandably, no one was to know where this was taking place, or where he would go or who he planned to become once he was healed. Not even his daughter.

  “You’re still not prepared to give me an answer?” the older man asked.

  “When do you leave?”

  One thing about Del hadn’t changed. If he was frustrated with Diego’s continued stubbornness, which Diego knew he was, he wasn’t letting it show.

  “Seven o’clock this evening,” Del said evenly.

  Diego had promised himself he would not bring up the subject of Blue unless Del brought it up first. They had met many times since the trial in Miami. He had never once mentioned her name.

  Yet Diego knew his meeting with his daughter had had a profound effect on him. He was still going through with his decision to enter a private, little-known program the government had long ago created to help agents such as Seve Delgado start over in a new life when necessary. It was much like the Witness Protection Program, the major difference being the degree to which the person entering the program changed himself prior to entering it. And that once in place, there was no continued support from the program in the new life. Once out, you were on your own.

  Diego knew that those were the only terms under which Del would have done anything like this.

  “I realize you do not have to report to me any longer. And that technically your answer to my request goes through channels that no longer involve me.” Del sat up straight and leaned over the desk. The energy in the room rose along with the tension.

  Diego held his gaze, so much like another’s. One he missed almost to the point of desperation. An emotion he’d spent three months unsuccessfully trying to bury.

  “But in less than four hours I will begin a life that can no longer have anything to do with yours. I have never asked anything of you that wasn’t strictly job related. For me to do so now is most difficult. You owe me nothing. You worked for me. We both did our jobs. However, if you have any respect for me, I’d appreciate your letting me leave knowing I am leaving the team in good hands.”

  Diego felt the crushing weight of Del’s request. As hard for Del to make as it was for Diego to bear. The only thing harder was answering him.

  “I have great respect for you,” he said. “And I do owe you.” He lifted his hand to forestall Del’s response. “I know I have only spoken of my life once. But over the last three months I have given my past a great deal of examination. Much of it I can no longer make judgments on. I did what I had to do at the time.” He looked into Del’s eyes. Blue’s eyes. “I do know one thing, though. And that is that you saved my life. You gave me a purpose. A focus. And though it took me years to understand, you also gave me something to be proud of, and therefore find pride in.”

  “Diego, I—”

  Diego stopped him again but needed a deep breath before continuing. “That is why this is so hard for me.” He forced himself to maintain eye contact. Understanding was instant, as he knew it would be.

  “Then you are turning me down. Turning down the team.” He raked a hand through his now brown hair.

  It was the first time Diego could recall seeing Del display frustration. Or any emotion for that matter. “I have no choice.”

  Del pounded the desk with a tight fist. The move was so unexpected, Diego flinched.

  “You are the best person to take over this team and you know it.�
�� He gestured to Diego’s shoulder. “You realize you can’t go back into the field.”

  Diego nodded. His shoulder had healed, but not well enough for him to throw with precision. But that was only part of it. His foot had been more decimated in the Jeep crash than he had let on, or even known. He could walk without a limp now, but his agility was too limited for the jobs he undertook.

  “You are the only one who knows this team and how it functions from the inside out. You know the team players, their strengths, how to use them best.”

  “So does McShane. Promote him.”

  “That’s a nonanswer and you know it. McShane belongs in the field. It’s where he wants to be. And frankly he’s too independent to ever be a leader. You’d likely all be dead inside a year under his command.”

  Diego knew Del hadn’t meant his indictment harshly. He simply spoke the truth. They both knew it.

  “I can’t do the job,” he said quietly. “Even if I wanted to.”

  “Do you? I thought this would be exactly what you would want. If I suspected you’d give anything less than the hundred percent you’ve always given me, I’d never have recommended you.”

  He knew Del wouldn’t leave it alone until Diego gave him a reason to. “Whether I want to or not is immaterial. I can be compromised now. I can’t lead the team knowing I can be made vulnerable.”

  Del’s face took on a harsh edge. “You got yourself into a situation like Rico?” He shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, that I just won’t buy. Not you.”

  Like a noose tightening around his neck, there was simply no escaping it. “I would never continue my association with the team if I felt I could be made vulnerable to them. That is why I am respectfully declining your recommendation. I can’t take this job, Del.”

  Del swore long and colorfully and Diego let the man vent, all the while knowing he wasn’t off the hook just yet.

  “You say you owe me,” Del finally said. “If you truly believe that, then tell me the whole thing. It is the only thing I will ever ask of you. No matter your answer, we’re square from that point on.”

  Diego held the older man’s dark gaze, seeing his boss, mentor, and father figure in the face before him. He’d give the man what he deserved, what he’d earned. The truth.

  “I’m in love with a woman.” Even as he spoke the words Diego knew he’d turned a corner in his life. He was proud of his career and what he’d done for himself and for his country. But it was time to satisfy his own needs. He would no longer be able to conduct his life in shadows and half-truths. He needed to share his secrets, his feelings, his wants, desires, and most important his truths, at his own will, his own discretion. “Your daughter, Blue.”

  He had no idea what reaction he’d expected, but it was not the obvious relief on Del’s face.

  “Three months and you never said a word.”

  Diego didn’t have to tell Del that he’d spent most of that time in physical therapy. Then there’d been the fallout of Rico’s dismissal from the team and the subsequent altering of the various missions currently under way.

  “You haven’t mentioned her either,” Diego countered.

  “I didn’t want to influence you. Either of you.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means I have spoken to my daughter a number of times since the trial, and while I don’t claim to know everything about the woman she’s become, I can tell she is troubled by something.”

  Diego waited for Del to continue. He had too many questions, several of which he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answers to anyway.

  “I presume you know she sold the cantina to my brother and is going through the academy for the Taos County PD.

  Diego nodded. Del apparently understood him as well.

  “I know that is what she has wanted. She fits there. In fact, she is second in her class.”

  If Diego hadn’t felt like his whole world was unraveling like a ball of string he’d somehow managed to drop, he’d have smiled at the obvious pride in Del’s voice. He did feel vindicated, thought, in his belief that the Delgado family should be reunited.

  “She should have done it a long time ago, though I understand why she didn’t.” Del stood and came around his desk, perching on the edge.

  “I am the last person to preach to anyone about the choices one makes in life. I did what I thought was best for Blue and her mother. I have had many regrets for that choice, but I have made peace with my decisions, both good and bad. I have done my best to reconcile that with Blue.” He looked away for a moment, then back at Diego. “She is an incredible woman. I wish I could take more credit for that. Her understanding in all of this has been unbelievable, and certainly more than I deserve.” He paused to clear his throat.

  Diego was riveted to his seat, his own throat growing tight. “Sir, I—”

  “No, let me finish. I’m not sure I can do this again.”

  Diego nodded.

  “You completed your job without compromising the mission or your integrity. I know from Blue how badly you wanted to tell her the story. I have never properly thanked you for setting aside your own principles in order to carry out mine.” A ghost of a smile curved his lips. “She took great pride in defending your integrity.”

  Honestly surprised, Diego knew his reaction was obvious.

  Del’s chuckle defused some of the emotional tension filling the room. “She told me in no uncertain terms that I had demanded more from my team than I had a right to, that I had been a selfish SOB who didn’t have enough faith in his own men to allow them to conduct their business as they saw fit.”

  Diego had no trouble whatsoever picturing her standing up to her father. Something few if any men had ever done. Hell, he’d stalled for months to avoid that very thing himself.

  Del grew more serious. “I have known for some time that my daughter has very strong feelings for you. I also knew that you returned those feelings. I recommended you as my replacement knowing this.”

  “Why?” The question was out before he could stop it.

  “Because you needed to make a decision. And to make that decision, you had to have a choice. I still believe you are the right man for the job. I also knew that if you chose to take it, my questions about your feelings for Blue would be answered.”

  “And now that I’ve declined?”

  “It answers those same questions.” He stood and held out his hand. They shook once, then dropped hands.

  “It takes a very strong man to understand and respect himself well enough to make the decision you’ve made.” A smile crossed his face. “And if you think you are going to have it easier this way, you are mistaken.”

  “Sir, you’re jumping to conclusions. I’m sorry to have misled you, but I have no intentions of pursuing a relationship with Blue.”

  Del showed no surprise. “As I said, you’re a strong man with strong convictions. Blue thinks she is being fair to you by letting you decide what you want without interference. I say you can’t make a fair choice unless you know what all your options are. You have always made the right choices for yourself. I doubt you’ll be foolish enough to stop now.”

  “But, sir—”

  “I am flying to Taos to see Blue before I head on to my next destination.”

  Diego didn’t ask for any details about Del’s future, knowing there would be no answers.

  “There is room on the plane for you.” He didn’t wait for a reply, just strode to the door. He turned back before leaving. “Gate C-two.” Then he was gone.

  TWELVE

  Blue sited down the target, then squeezed the trigger. The small pile of rocks flew into the air. When the echo died, the air was perfectly still, yet something shifted. Awareness made the hair on her neck prickle as she turned.

  Diego Santerra stood ten yards away. The sun silhouetted his rugged frame against the backdrop of Red Rock Mesa.

  “I didn’t hear you approach.”

  “You were concentrating pretty
fiercely on your targets.”

  So he’d been standing there for more than a few seconds. She looked past him but saw no bike or other transportation. “How did you get up here?”

  “My Jeep is at the bottom. I hiked up.”

  He was wearing jeans, hiking boots, and a short-sleeve T-shirt. There was no knife strapped to his wrist, but he wore a clip on his waistband. The same man, and yet not the same at all. She saw no evidence of his injuries. But she’d badgered her father into telling her just how severe they had been, and she knew the hike up the rocky terrain had been far from easy. She also knew about her father’s recommendation and why he’d made it.

  She was to meet her father in several hours. She had no idea what to make of Diego’s return. She didn’t dare let herself hope.

  “Why are you here?”

  With the sun in her eyes, she wasn’t sure, but she could have sworn he almost smiled. “Do they let you bully people at the academy?”

  “No,” she responded, as helpless against his quiet charm now as she had been three months ago. “That’s why I have to take it out on everyone else.” She slipped the rifle sling over her head and laid the gun down on the case by her feet. “Why did you come back, Diego?”

  If he noticed the slight tremor in her voice, or the way she’d locked her knees to keep them from shaking, he wasn’t obvious about it.

  “About five years ago I rescued a South American priest from some Bolivian terrorists. I had to kill several of them to get him out. Even though they’d beaten him severely and starved him half to death, he was very torn over the fact that I’d taken lives in order to save his.”

  Blue remained silent, her anxiety forgotten.

  “He didn’t thank me. Instead he asked me if I was remorseful, if I felt I’d sinned. I told him I was just doing my job. He prayed for me, just as he prayed for the men who had kidnapped and beaten him. I asked him if it was better to let a good man like himself be killed in order to keep from killing men like his kidnappers. He said it was not his job to decide who was good or bad, that there was good and bad in all men. I asked him what he would have done. He thought about it for a long time, then finally said that his choice should have been to try to find another path in order to gain his freedom. That there was a better way for the terrorists to achieve their goals too.”