buy those. I have no family in Illinois.” She gulped back what sounded like a sob. “My boss doesn’t expect me back anytime in the next couple of weeks.” Briana shrugged. “Might as well go to Montana.” She gave him a weak smile, her hand buried in Lucy’s fur. “Hear that, Lucy? We’re going to Montana. I just hope the guys who attacked us don’t decide to follow.”
Rafe felt the same way. He could be taking the problem with them. At least, in Montana, he’d have backup.
Chapter 5
Numerous times during the long journey, Briana asked Rafe to let her drive to give him a break. He’d refused, stating he was used to being up for long hours and didn’t fall asleep in vehicles.
He might not sleep in vehicles, but once the sun set, she did, and she slept hard until morning light. She yawned and stretched, amused to find Lucy lying half on the floor, half across her lap, the dog’s head resting in her palm.
Briana smiled softly down at the dog who had been grieving for her former owner. “Poor baby. You miss your guy. I miss my friend. We’re a pretty sad pair.” She glanced up, blinking back some pesky tears. “Where are we?”
Rafe drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Montana. We’re about an hour and a half from Eagle Rock.”
“Is Hank expecting us? I thought I heard you talking on the phone a little while ago.”
He nodded. “About an hour ago, I called Hank to let him know we were on our way in. He said we could crash there for a day if we wanted, until we can get a better handle on who is after you and how to stop them. However, I think it would be better if we go straight to the hunting cabin he has lined up for us. I don’t want to put Hank and his family at risk by our staying with them.”
“Agreed,” she said. She wished she’d known Alejandra’s phone had been in her purse when she’d entered her apartment. Had she known, Sheila might not be dead. Then again, she’d had no idea how far El Chefe would go to find his woman and child.
“We’ll need to give Hank more information about this guy who’s threatening you, so that his computer guru, Swede, can run some checks, maybe find out who he’s hired to do his dirty work. Also, so that he can check on the woman and her baby.”
“I can tell you the name of the man she said is after her and the baby. He’s from El Salvador. His name is El Chefe Diablo.”
Rafe’s head jerked around, and the truck slowed. “Who did you say?”
“El Chefe Diablo from El Salvador. Apparently, he’s a very dangerous man.”
“You’ve never heard of him before now?” Rafe asked.
Briana shook her head. “I’ve been so focused on saving abused and neglected children, I haven’t had time to immerse in international news. Why? What do you know?”
He gave a low whistle. “Holy hell. If the woman you helped find shelter is El Chefe’s woman, he won’t give up until he takes her back to El Salvador or kills her. He won’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in his way.”
“How do you know this?” Briana asked, rubbing her arms.
“I swear I read that once he sent a squad of men to his neighbor’s house to shoot the neighbor, the children and the servants in that house because he got tired of listening to the dog bark, and the people never did anything to make it stop. He killed the family and had the dog brought to his place where he beat it until it didn’t bark anymore.”
Briana rubbed her hand across Lucy’s shoulder, a frown pulling at her brow. “All because a dog barked?”
Rafe nodded. “I remembered the story because it seemed too bizarre to be true. I researched the issue and, sure enough, it was true. The guy’s a sadistic bastard. He murdered an entire village because one man in that village skimmed a batch of the drugs they were producing and sold it to another cartel leader. Women, children…it didn’t matter to him. He killed them all and burned the village to the ground.”
Cold dread washed over Briana. “I’m glad we came to Montana. Surely, he won’t have his men follow us here.”
“If he does,” Rafe said, “it’ll be easier to see them coming than on a city street.”
“What can I do to keep safe?” she asked,