Free Marisela Morales 03 - Dirty Little Christmas - Julie Leto by Contemporary Romance

in her, trusted her—and more importantly, cleaned up after her when she’d taken the law into her own hands.
    Since then, she’d had nothing negative to say about the guy, when she said anything at all. And she’d stayed on with Titan despite Frank’s invitation for her to join him in his private venture, which said everything he’d needed to hear.
    “I could sure as hell use Ian’s help now in finding my sister,” she snapped. “What kind of life did she live in London? She didn’t scream or fight once they had her in the SUV. She must have known the kidnappers. Trusted them.”
    She’d changed the subject without much finesse—but she’d changed it all the same.
    “Maybe they threatened to kill you if she resisted.”
    “They killed my car and nearly blinded my best friend.” She marched to the elevator and punched the up-arrow button. “They anticipated that I’d be an obstacle. That means they knew I was picking her up and that it would take explosives to keep me from kicking their asses.”
    She punched the button again, cursing when she realized that the lift stopped between the fifth and sixth floor.
    Frank was surprised his neighbor had gotten that far.
    “They couldn’t take her inside the airport,” he said, leaning against the tiled wall, attempting to fill the silence with useful information. “Too much security.”
    She shoved him to the left and matched his pose—back to the wall, arms crossed over her chest. “They couldn’t risk me getting her home, either, because the minute she walked through my parent’s door, she’d be surrounded by people twenty-four, seven. Their only chance for minimum collateral damage was to grab her in the parking lot.”
    “Not a perfect plan,” he surmised. “But not a bad one. What does it say about the kidnappers?”
    She scowled. “They’re smart.”
    “My contact at TPD said your car was damaged, but not destroyed. The explosives were placed beneath the engine, but not close to the gas tank.”
    “What? Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
    “Because your car is still toast,” he said. “They haven’t finished their tests yet, but the bomb squad said whatever they used wasn’t high grade. It was more like high-powered fireworks.”
    Marisela’s eyes narrowed. “Fireworks? Seems like a cheap option.”
    “Or an easy one. Means they might have been in a hurry. Or that they wanted to stop you, but not kill you. Maybe they’re rank amateurs with no access to the real shit.”
    She slumped against the wall, gingerly tilting her head back. Instead of retrieving her sister for a triumphant Christmas surprise, she was facing the prospect of telling her that Belinda had been kidnapped out of her care. Her only hope for help was him, and despite the dire circumstances, he couldn’t keep his mind off of how great she filled out her snug turtleneck sweater.
    “What if I don’t find her in time?” she asked, her voice quaking with the kind of desperation he’d heard from her only once—a long, long time ago. “What if they hurt her, Frankie? I’ll never forgive myself.”
    She turned so that her forehead was flush with the metal elevator doors. He glanced up at the lighted numbers above her, but the car was still motionless. He wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead, then jabbed at the button, as if moving the lift would somehow ease her pain.
    Of course, the damned thing didn’t move. He cursed and then spun around, desperate to find the stairwell even though five minutes ago, he’d known its precise location. Frankie had never needed to fix anything for Marisela. It had usually been the other way around. But now she needed him—and he didn’t know what the hell else he could do.

Ten
    Marisela gave herself one full minute to pull her shit together. The elevator would arrive sooner rather than later, judging by the fact that the chick in the short skirt had lost her panties before she got out of the car and the carbón who’d