Dateline: Kydd and Rios by Tara Janzen Read Free Book Online Page B

tonight. I’ve never been wrong. You know that.”
    “I’d hate for this to be the first time.”
    “It’s not,” she stated emphatically.
    “Okay, Nikki. You sold me.”
    “Thanks.”
    Half an hour later Nikki hung up the phone and slumped over her typewriter, every muscle in her body aching with tension. There was no turning back now. She’d set the wheels in motion; she just prayed they wouldn’t go spinning out of control.
    A deep sob caught in her throat. Damn Travinas, She’d never felt more manipulated in her life. She’d been sidestepping his deportation threats for so long, she’d never considered the possibility that he might have a use for her. Well, he’d found two—emotional blackmail and betrayal of the best friend she’d ever had. He wanted Joshua Rios at any cost.
    In his palatial office, he’d torn her values apart piece by piece, stealing every shred of her integrity and reducing her to a helpless mass of conflicting loyalties and loves. Her mother’s freedom, the remaining years of her life, in exchange for getting Josh back into San Simeon. She’d had a choice: accept Travinas’s proposal and pray she could come up with the right solutions at reckoning time, or play the saint and reject the offer out of hand.
    Nikki knew she wasn’t a saint, but she’d always thought there were a few sacrosanct lines she would never cross. Then Travinas had shown her a photograph of her mother. One look had convinced her there was more at stake than a person’s freedom. The woman in the picture was near death, not only in spirit but in body as well. Empty eyes had stared back at Nikki from, a hollow, haggard face. Four years of imprisonment had changed Helen Cavazos from a pampered matron of society into an ancient, withered woman without hope. But the general had a much worse fate in mind for Josh; he’d sicced the mad dog Brazia on his trail.
    Even in the relative safety of her apartment, the memory of Travinas’s words sent a shudder of fear through her body: “I will have Joshua Rios, Señorita Kydd, with or without your help. Brazia left for Colombia yesterday. Unfortunately, Rios had already disappeared. It could take Brazia weeks to track your friend down, and I don’t have weeks to wait. I have already made you a generous offer for your help, but if you need added incentive to overcome your naive aversion to betrayal, think of this—if Rios proves difficult or is reluctant to return, Brazia will kill him. I will lose some important information if he does, but I can still win the war. And winning, señorita , is the only thing that matters.”
    “Damn him!” She brushed back frightened tears as she jerked open the top desk drawer and pulled out her address book. Travinas hadn’t wanted to give her the story, but she’d convinced him that the front page of the
Post
was the quickest, most reliable way of contacting Josh, and she’d known the general had something big planned. The whole country was growing restless, waiting for the ax to fall. Travinas’s final willingness to give her what she wanted had confirmed Josh’s unprecedented importance.
    Now she was going to use that information to her advantage in every conceivable way. Yes, she’d promised him Josh, but she wasn’t going to lead Josh to slaughter. Not if Carlos Delgado appreciated the early warning, and not if she could convince the minister of Josh’s value.
    But the biggest “if” of all was Josh. Would he remember? Would he understand the hidden message? And if he did understand, would he care enough to come? The love they’d shared had been fleeting, barely a memory now, but their friendship had been inviolate—until the night he betrayed her.
    Nikki slid back in her chair and covered her face with her hands.
Please come, Josh. Please come back to me . . . and when this is over, please forgive me
.
    * * *
    Mustache or no mustache? Josh leaned forward over the sink and eyed the sleek line of whiskers above his