“Their deaths had nothing to do with what you didn’t or did tell our parents, Elijah,” Rachael denied. “You can’t take on the responsibility. You did everything you could to keep us alive.”
“I didn’t kill Armando, Rachael. ”
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“Killing him might set the two of you free, Elijah,” Rio said, “but it won’t bring anyone back, and it won’t make you feel any better.”
“I’ll settle for making certain Rachael is safe. Even if we could find a way to put him in jail, he’d send someone after her and he’d never stop until she was dead. It doesn’t matter if I went against the laws of our people and got a conviction, he’d find a way to kill her. I know him. Armando is vindictive and he hates me. In his mind, I betrayed him. He offered to make me his son. I was the heir to his empire and I went along with it for years. I had to make him believe it.”
Elijah looked into Rio’s eyes with the focused stare of his kind. “You probably can’t understand that kind of twisted hatred, but he wants to kill Rachael more than he wants anything else. I chose her over him. That’s the way he looks at it. She held some kind of power over me, otherwise, I would have become his son.”
“But you made your move too soon and you couldn’t get him. Why?” Rio returned the focused stare, every bit as unblinking and merciless.
“He came to me one night and told me it was time to clean house. He wanted Rachael dead. He said he knew I couldn’t do it, so he wasn’t asking me to kill her, he didn’t need a sign of loyalty. He told me he was going to do it himself, that he wouldn’t take the chance that any of the men would dishonor her first.” Elijah drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. “That’s exactly how he put it to me. He was casually talking about killing my sister, but not to worry, none of the men would be allowed to rape her first.”
“So you had to make your move.”
“I had my men in place. I had a loyal following. I got Rachael to a safe house and made my move. Unfortunately, he was still too strong. He knows the way to defeat me is to get to her. She’s everything I care about. You know that, don’t you, Rachael? I swear I don’t know what I said to you when I pulled you out of that car, but Tony was taking
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you to Armando, and you would have been sent back to me in pieces.”
“It’s all right,” she said softly. “Elijah, I’m sorry I ever doubted you. Whatever was said is forgotten. Please forgive me for the terrible things I was thinking.”
“Who could blame you, Rachael? We’ve lived with betrayal for so long it’s become a way of life for the both of us.” Elijah shifted in his chair. “So tell me what you want me to do, Rio. Let’s see if we can manage to hash out a plan to remove the threat to Rachael.”
Rio rocked Rachael gently, a soothing, comforting gesture he was barely aware of making. Her body trembled in his arms. She was overwhelmed by everything but hung on to her calm demeanor because she was Rachael and that’s what she did. She had a way of moving him, turning him inside out over the simplest things. He felt the love she had for her brother and the fear for him all mixed together.
“Have Tama take you downriver, far downriver, as many miles as possible. We’ll start the rumor that Rachael’s shoe was found. Then let’s get an informant on the river to tell a government official in front of Armando’s mole that Rachael is living in the forest. Once the mole gets the information to your uncle, he’ll send his leopard out to confirm first.”
“Or kill her.”
“Or kill her,” Rio agreed. “That will be the most critical time. You’ll have to put your trust in me and stay a long way away. I’ll try to keep you informed, but this won’t work if he even thinks you’re anywhere near her. He’ll sense a trap. You’ll have to be downriver and on the lookout for a hit on you.”