She opened the next one in order and was surprised to see Christian’s name on the subject line. Reading down, she realized it had never been sent. There was no one on the “to” line, but the bulk of the text was all about the battle down in Laredo. In fact, based on what little she knew, it seemed almost prescient in its details. She frowned. Scoville was the one who’d called Christian, and he’d said Anthony was MIA. So why would Anthony know so much about what was happening?
Making a series of notes to herself, she stayed with the fax files, and eventually found one that had been sent to Vincent just a few hours ago. It was in Spanish, which frustrated her a little bit. She could get by in the language, but she was far from fluent. Still, she read through the text, using a translation app when she hit words or phrases she didn’t understand. And the more she read, the more worried she became. This e-mail had the same urgent tone as the one Anthony had written to Christian, but it urged Vincent to go far south into his territory, all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. It warned that Hubert had established a foothold in a small fishing village there, that he was turning locals, and creating an army in preparation for a move against Vincent.
But how could Hubert be in a village on the Gulf of Mexico if he was attacking the border outpost in Laredo? And hadn’t Christian mentioned that Vincent was on his way to Laredo?
More importantly, why did Anthony know so much about Laredo?
She picked up her cell to call Christian. Foremost, he needed to know that Vincent wasn’t coming. But he also needed to know that Anthony might be involved, and that the situation might not be what Scoville said it was.
She called his cell phone, but there was no answer and no voicemail. “Damn it,” she swore softly. He should be off the helicopter by now. She’d been working for several hours already. But that meant he was probably in the middle of a fight, and not exactly paying attention to his cell phone.
She stood there for a moment, staring at the floor, not seeing anything, deciding what to do next. But the answer was obvious. She had to go down there and warn him herself. She knew all the arguments against her going. She wasn’t a fighter, and blah, blah, blah. But she wasn’t as helpless as everyone seemed to think, either. Christian would still be furious, but better that than dead.
And bottom line, she couldn’t trust anyone else to do it. Everyone had an agenda around here, including her. The difference was that the only line on her agenda was keeping Christian and Marc alive.
Her mind switched to planning mode. No emotion now, just logistics. She knew the air charter company Anthony used. She could call and arrange transport using her authority from the estate. She could also use the estate’s money, which was both handy and karmically satisfying. But first, she needed an update on the situation. It wouldn’t do any good if she zipped down there, only to stumble into a bloody mess of a battle.
Information, information, she thought as she scrolled through her contacts, and stopped on Jaclyn’s name. With Jaclyn’s connection to Raphael, she’d certainly know what was going on. Natalie pressed the button, and listened to the phone rang.
“Hi Natalie,” Jaclyn answered with her usual lack of formality. “Are you coming in tonight?”
Natalie frowned, surprised that Jaclyn would expect her. Between Anthony’s unknown whereabouts, and a full-on battle on the border, the estate house was the last place she’d be expected to be.
“Probably not,” she said slowly, “what with Christian rushing off to Laredo.”
“Laredo? What’s happening down there?”
Fear seized her, and her heart stopped beating for a long moment. “There was an attack on the outpost tonight,” she said, her throat so tight she had to fight for the words. “Scoville called Christian in a panic, begging for help. It sounds like Hubert’s about to launch a full-scale invasion.”
“I haven’t heard anything about this,” Jaclyn said, her words laced with impatience. Her voice abruptly faded as she turned away from the phone. “Cibor,” she said, “what’s going on in Laredo?”
Natalie couldn’t make out what Cibor replied, but it wasn’t what Jaclyn wanted to hear. “Well, get hold of someone down there, and find out what the situation is. I want it five minutes ago.” Jaclyn’s irritated voice came back to her. “What else do you know?” she demanded.
“I only know what Christian told me about their phone conversation. But there’s something weird going on, because—”
“Hold up,” Jaclyn snapped, and then didn’t say anything for a long time, while the deep rumble of Cibor’s voice could be heard in the background. And then Jaclyn was back.
“Something odd is going on,” she told Natalie, her tone both worried and distracted. “No one here knows anything about an attack. And no one is rushing to defend the border.”
“Jaclyn,” Natalie said urgently, “it’s way more than odd. Look, I hacked into Anthony’s private files, and there are faxes and stuff. I think—” She drew a deep breath through her nose, fighting for calm. “I think Hubert really will attack tonight, but Scoville’s working with Anthony, and they lured Christian down there to face Hubert and his whole damn army all alone. They want Christian dead.”
Cibor could obviously hear every word, because he said something to Jaclyn, and then Jaclyn said to Natalie, “I think you’re right. But the only way to be sure is to fly down there ourselves, and I can’t go. I’m too closely linked to Raphael, and we can’t get in the middle of what some might consider a territorial challenge. But I’m sending Cibor down to eyeball the situation. If there really is an invasion, he’ll be a good addition to Christian’s side. And if not, he’ll at least be able tell us what’s really going on.”
“I’m going with him,” Natalie said, sliding off the kitchen stool and heading for her bedroom. “But you’ll have to stay here with Alon, just in case.”
“Stay there? Wha—Wait! Who’s Alon?”
“My dojo master. Christian turned him after he nearly died when Marcel Weiss tried to kill Christian last night,” she said, speaking rapidly.
“Marcel tried to kill Christian? What the fuck?”
But Natalie wasn’t listening anymore. “Alon won’t be any trouble, because he’s asleep and locked in a vault. But I can’t leave him here all alone.”
“Well, good, because you’re not going anywhere.”
“Can you get a helicopter?” she asked Jaclyn, ignoring her pronouncement. “Marc told Christian that a helicopter worked best, because of airport hassles and stuff, so—”
“We’ve got this, Natalie. Cibor will take care of it.”