Rogue Diamond Read online

  "Has the administration announced budget cuts? And salary freezes?"

  "No, the official budget hasn't been released publicly. Unofficially, though, the word is that no salaries will be increased and that some departments will be cut . . . departments like Early Childhood."

  "Ours?" Alex lifted her brows. "I don't have tenure here to protect me."

  "What better place to make cuts than the children's department? We aren't strongly influential in the country, like agriculture or business. We just teach women how to take care of their kids."

  "But ours is one of the most important for the future. If the kids aren't educated and prepared for taking over responsibilities and problems, who's going to do it?"

  "Take it easy, Alex. You don't have to convince me. I'm on your side, remember?"

  "Sorry, Rosemary. If the budget for our department is cut, guess who'll be the first to go? Me! The exchange professor from Arizona. And if I haven't found Jenni by then—"

  "Now, Alex, don't jump to conclusions. Wait and see what happens."

  "I have no alternative, do I? Wait and see what the University is going to do with my job. Wait and see if the police find Jenni. Just wait. . . ."In frustration, Alex paced to the edge of the bougainvillea-lined patio and back. "It's not easy to wait. I want action now!"

  "Well, sounds like we're going to have action sooner than we planned. I think I hear my darling husband returning from the ravages of a morning of tennis. So much for our time alone, Alex." Rosemary went to greet her husband and Alex could hear her murmuring to him.

  In a few minutes, Sam poked his head out the door. "Morning, Alex. Feeling better?" He stepped out on the patio. "The coffee smells great! Mind if I join you two? Alex, I'm sorry about last night. You've suffered a terrible tragedy, and I'm afraid I've been insensitive to your feelings."

  "It's okay, Sam," Alex muttered. She was taken aback by his sudden apology. It was probably prompted by Rosemary. "Actually, you made me think about alternate ways of looking for Jenni."

  Sam draped a towel around his neck and mopped his brow with one end. After pouring a cup of coffee, he sat opposite her. "You're serious, aren't you?"

  "As serious as I've ever been about anything. She's like my own, Sam. I'm all she has, especially now that Teresa's . . ." Alex swallowed hard and didn't finish the statement. It hurt too much to say it.

  Sam nibbled thoughtfully on an empanada, a small fruit pie. "There is someone who might be able to help you, Alex."

  "Who?"

  "Padre Ramon, the priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe."

  "Padre Ramon? I know him. In fact, he'll be conducting Teresa's funeral mass tomorrow. How could he help?"

  "He knows everyone, and probably knows more about what's going on in this city than anybody I can think of."

  "I'm willing to try anything at this point."

  "I'm just looking at this realistically. You're going to need all the help you can get in finding that baby."

  Alex studied Sam's sincere eyes. "Okay. I'll go talk to this priest."

  The old priest's rich chestnut hair was sprinkled with gray and slightly shaggy along his white collar. His eyes were steady and kind, his chin square, his back straight and proud. He was a man who, Alex decided, had probably been quite handsome in his youth.

  "I'm glad to see you, Alexis. It gives me a chance to practice my English. Please, come in and sit down."

  "Thank you for seeing me, Padre. I must talk to you. It's urgent."

  "Certainly." His voice was kind. "This is a hard thing you must face. I understand you are Teresa's only family. Is it about her funeral?"

  "No, I ... I need your help with something else."

  "How can I help you?" He folded his hands benevolently.

  She sighed. "I'm having no luck in finding Jenni, Teresa's little girl. She was with us the day of the accident and disappeared right under our noses."

  "Are the police looking for her?"

  Alex shrugged and the discouragement showed in the sag of her shoulders. "They say they're looking. But nothing has come of it."

  "And you think I can do something the police cannot?"

  "Can you do something? Anything? Padre . . ." Alex lifted anxious blue eyes and began her appeal. "You know I'm the only family Teresa had. There is no one else to take care of her child. I'm her godmother, and I ... I love her."

  Padre Ramon nodded. "I can see that you do."

  Alex spread her hands helplessly. "Then do something to help me. Some say she might have been taken, abducted. I have to find her!"

  Turning away from Alex's stricken face, the priest studied a crack in the old stucco wall for a few terse minutes. "There is a man ..."

  "Yes?" Alex prodded him.

  He shook his head. "I don't know if he can help you or if he will. But if there is anyone in this city who could—"

  "Who is he?" Alex asked anxiously, leaning forward.

  The priest began to jot something on a slip of paper. "You must promise—"

  "Yes! Anything!"

  "Promise not to tell him, or anyone, that I sent you to him."

  She gave her word.

  "His name is Nick Diamond, but he is known around here as El Capitan. He has a business of sorts in town. This is his address."

  Alex leaned back reflectively. "El Capitan? I've heard of him. He's an American? A wheeler-dealer type?"

  The priest shrugged silently.

  Alex's eyes dropped to the slip of paper and she mumbled a response to her own ponderings. "Why else would an American have a business here in Mexico, but to make money?"

  "Be prepared to pay, Alex."

  "Pay for my own little girl?"

  Father Ramon's eyes met hers steadily. "Whatever it takes to get her back."

  Alex's back straightened as she drew up tightly. She was dealing with a different breed now. Someone who was devious enough to steal a child. "I'll do whatever is necessary. Thank you, Padre Ramon." Even as she said it, Alex wondered where she would get enough money.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Alex paused outside the shabby office door and took a deep, shaky breath. In the distance, she heard the plaintive wail of a siren and instinctively shuddered. It would be a long time before the reminders of the tragedy were gone from her mind. There was still the most visible reminder —her own empty house. She had yet to face those hollow rooms by herself.

  The sultry April air was suffocatingly hot and heavy. Perspiration trickled beneath her hair and down her back. She should have pinned her hair up for comfort. It would have hidden the frizzy curls that always busheled her hair during the rainy season. But she didn't think of it. In fact, Alex hadn't thought of anything except Jenni for the last two days. And nights.

  She gripped the doorknob. It rattled loosely and threatened to fall off in her hand. Across the thick patterned glass of the upper half of the door were painted the words: AIRCRAFT SERVICE —We Fly Anyone Anywhere. By American standards the place was seedy. Was this the office of the norteamericano, the one who could help anyone do anything? Or was he just down here in Mexico to make a buck? He advertised to fly anyone anywhere. Well, all she needed from him was help in finding Jenni.

  Alex stiffened, wondering what she would do if he wasn't willing to help her. But she preferred not to think of that now. She was desperate.

  Pushing the door open, she stepped inside. The interior of the office was hotter than outside, if it was possible. There wasn't a breeze stirring, no fan, nothing. Two men sat in straight-back wooden chairs, their feet propped up on desks and sombreros pulled over their faces.

  A slow, unreasonable anger that she couldn't quell grew inside her. They seemed so uncaring in their nonchalance. A life was at stake here! The precious life of a child! Perhaps she should have called first so they would be expecting her. A quick glance at the two battered desks revealed there was no phone. It was just as well. A phone call wouldn't have the impact that she had planned for this meeting with El Capitan.

>   Alex glanced at the first figure. He was short and stocky and his feet barely reached the desk. His legs were thick and powerful looking, and his broad hands exuded strength. Head turned to one side, he snored loudly.

  She turned disdainfully to the other man. He was tall, his body stretching easily from chair to desk. His legs were long and his scruffy boots with a hole in the sole caught her eye. Her gaze traveled up his length, past the noticeable male bulge where his legs connected to his torso. She couldn't avoid the erotic sight in those loose-fitting pants of his. Tanned, long-fingered hands were folded across his flat stomach. Her indigo eyes flickered for a moment, pausing to admire the bold virility of his physique, then quickly moved on to the expansive chest and the ridiculous broad-brimmed sombrero that covered all of his face except his chin, which rested on his collarbone. He must be the American, she thought.

  "Mr. Diamond?" she asked.

  Neither man moved or answered.

  "Mr. Diamond!" she said more loudly.

  As she stood watching him, a strange sensation came over Alex, bathing her with fury, filling her with something akin to hatred for this man who ignored her, just as he ignored the impoverishment around him. How could he be so blind? And uncaring! That's the way it was with a man whose total interest was in making money! She had him pegged, all right.

  She didn't know what made her do it as she stepped to the side of the desk, placed her hand on the man's shabby boots, and swept them off the edge of the desktop. With a loud noise, they clumped to the floor, and before she had time to utter another scornful "Mr. Diamond!" he was on his feet, legs widespread, hands reaching for her. Alex could feel the close presence of the other man, who was also on his feet and poised. They reminded her of two dark animals, ready to spring.

  She stepped back, the rabbit in pursuit, suddenly frightened by the quick moves of these two ruffians. She remembered her friend, Sam's words. Don't forget you're in a foreign country, and anything can happen. You have no rights!

  Alex gave the taller man an innocent gaze. "Sorry to interrupt your siesta, but I couldn't get your attention any other way."

  "Well, you have it now," he responded angrily as he straightened his broad shoulders. No cause for alarm, Nick thought. Take it easy. Just a woman. And damn good looking too.

  "Are you Nick Diamond?" Suddenly she felt very foolish. Of course he was. The man standing before her was tall, arrogant, more masculine than handsome. A scar deepened the crease on one side of his face, but still, he was appealing.

  He nodded, his hard, umber eyes assessing her in one glance. Ah yes, this was one very attractive tourist. And American, at that. Already they spoke the same language. A devastating smile broke beneath the dark bushy mustache, his straight white teeth clearly visible. "Good guess. I'm Nick. And this is my partner in flight, Jose Rios."

  She turned to shake hands with Jose first. He was just a little taller than her own five feet four but seemed very short beside his tall American partner. Jose's handshake was gentle yet he exuded a tremendous amount of strength from his great, broad body. His arms and chest were well developed. Alex guessed he probably weighed close to two hundred pounds and had the force of solid steel. But his face was round and friendly, and she couldn't help smiling at him. His long mustache extended beyond the width of his face and was elaborately groomed. He reminded her of Pancho Villa, the renegade Mexican hero.

  "Mr. Rios," she nodded. "Mi gusto."

  "Jose, please," he answered, speaking partially in Spanish. "A sus ordenes, senorita. Mi gusta."

  When she turned back to the tall American, he gave her his best sales pitch along with his most winning smile. "Where can we take you, miss? Over the devastating volcano, El Chichon? To the Mayan temple of Palenque where the lives of the most beautiful young virgins were sacrificed to the gods? How about the remote beauty of Copper Canyon, hidden from the world in the Sierra Madres? It's bigger than the Grand Canyon, so they say."

  Alex stared at him, hating him and his jaunty attitude, more and more by the minute. He was everything she despised in an American on foreign soil. Arrogant. Foolhardy. Caring for no one or nothing but his own stupid tourist service. And the money he could make doing God-knows what! She shook her head. "I didn't come here for a tour. I need your help. I was told you could help me if anyone in Hermosillo could."

  His dark, devil eyes grew sharp, but he folded his arms casually across his broad chest. "Who sent you?"

  "It doesn't matter. I was instructed to come to El Capitan, and you would help."

  He glanced quickly at his partner, then back to Alex. "I'll try. You aren't a tourist, then."

  "Hardly. I'm a teacher at the University. Alexis Julian is my name."

  Nick extended his large hand and quickly shortened her name. "Pleased to meet you, Alex. What can I do for you that seems so urgent?"

  She took his hand, the warmth of it penetrating her own clammy palm. But she wouldn't be swayed by his raw masculine appeal—she had a job to do and she would do it, with or without this man's assistance. "You can help me find a missing child."

  He shook his head. "Sorry. I'm not a private eye. That's a little out of my line. Tourism is my business. And flying."

  "Who knows what your business is!" A cold, hard anger mushroomed inside her breast, threatening to choke her if she didn't let it explode. "A child is missing, stolen from beneath my nose right on the street, Mr. Diamond, and you sit here sleeping!"

  "Now, wait a minute—"

  Alex rubbed her temple nervously and glanced at Jose, then back to Diamond. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't take my frustration out on you. But you see, no one will help me. They don’t even believe me. I will pay, Mr. Diamond. I will pay you to find her for me. Or for any information you may have."

  "Hey, you aren't suggesting that I know anything about this?" His abusive tone jolted her.

  "No," she said quickly. "No, of course not." She really didn't want to offend this man, and didn't want his refusal either. "I thought you might know where I could find her."

  He shrugged broad shoulders. "I don't know anything about your missing child. Or any other kids, for that matter."

  His tone was dismissive, and Alex was disappointed. How could she convince him to help her if the prospect of money didn't work? Alex whipped out a newspaper clipping and flung it on the desk. She tapped the accompanying photo. "This woman's child has disappeared. She's the one I'm looking for."

  "This is hardly my concern." He lifted the paper to look at it more closely. It was a poignant photo, the one that had made the front page of the newspaper the day after the car accident in the market. It showed a young Mexican woman lying lifeless in the foreground, and a blond woman kneeling beside her on the street. In the background was a chaotic scene of overturned wagons, fruit scattered everywhere, and vendors gathered in shock. Nick was unmoved. He had seen worse, much worse. Something familiar flashed back to him, and he murmured, "The wreck in the marketplace last Saturday. Oh, yes."

  Alex nodded and proceeded eagerly. "The child's mother was k-killed that day and Jenni has disappeared."

  He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but like I said—"

  "Capitan—" Jose began.

  Alex interrupted frantically, "The young woman who was killed in that wreck was my housekeeper." Choking on the words, Alex swallowed convulsively before continuing. "And now, her child is missing. I want . . . I must find her. But I need your help to do it, Mr. Diamond. I don’t know where to turn. Please say you'll help me find her!"

  He shrugged. "What could I do that the police haven't already done?"

  "You have the resources, Mr. Diamond. Resources," she emphasized. "I don't know where to turn. You do. Even though I've lived here two years, I'm still la gringa. A foreigner. But you . . . just look at you. You're like one of them. You dress like them. You act like them. You've even earned a title of respect—El Capitan."

  Nick Diamond folded his arms across his broad chest. "You seem to have a misconception about me
. I just run an aircraft tourist service."

  Alex slipped the news clipping from his hands with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She should have known better than to expect anything from a man like him. "I had two misconceptions about you, Mr. Diamond. I was told that you were something of a hero. That you saved lives. That you had the resources to help me find my missing child. And I believe you do, but for some reason, you're refusing to help me.

  "The other misconception was my own fault," she said. "I thought that somewhere in that American heart of yours was a shred of compassion. Someone who would care about lives torn apart, of people in need. But I was wrong about you. You're a hard-hearted bastard, down here to make a fast buck!" Alex wheeled around and made a fast exit before she could humiliate herself by blubbering all over the place.

  As the rattling door slammed shut, Nick Diamond looked at Jose. Their eyes met in an understanding flash.

  "Damn good looking woman!" Nick said as he moved across the room toward the door. "Check on her story, Jose," he clipped, then added with a twinkle in his deep, dark eyes, "I've got to protect my reputation. Can't have her thinking I'm a hero, now, can I?"

  "And the shred of compassion in your heart?"

  Nick answered readily. "Don’t know about compassion, but there’s plenty of passion, my man. Passion is the key."

  Jose chuckled. "This is the one, Capitan."

  "Huh?"

  "The blond American I told you was looking for a child after that wreck in the market."

  Nick paused and narrowed his gaze. "Then she's telling the truth. Maybe the child was stolen, after all. It's possible we're on to something. Another commodity smuggled out of Mexico."

  "Si, Capitan."

  Jose watched Nick tear down the street after Alex. A smile twitched his lips beneath the wide, dark mustache. El Capitan was hard- nosed, all right. He had defied the melancholy blue eyes and quivering lips of the beautiful senorita. Even the sad story about the missing baby had failed to break through his steel facade. Then why was he following her? To investigate the possibility of another smuggling ring? Or because he wanted that blond woman called Alex to warm his bed?