Page 94 of Blind Trust
“Nicolás, stop!” Lyla screamed again when the front door swung open. She kept still, not moving, barely gathering breath to fill her lungs. “Please don’t come in.”
His attention moved to where she was standing, and when she saw the realization on his face, it made her understand just how bad this was. Nicolás took a step inside of the cabin, holding his hands up when Christine lifted her aim. He didn’t flinch, just kept his steady gaze focused on Lyla. “I know it’s rare for you to listen to my instructions, but please do it this time.”
Lyla’s lips quivered with a nervous laugh. “Just this one time, okay?”
“Well, we can all be grateful you didn’t make us gokaboom.” Christine León stepped back. “But I’m sorry to say this is goodbye.”
“No.” Lyla moved her foot, but she caught Nic shaking his head. Glancing down, she saw the cuff of her jeans was caught on the edge of a wire connected to a blue plastic box about the size of one of Etta’s Kentucky Derby hatboxes.
“Lyla.” Nicolás’s voice was low and steady. His gaze moved to the bomb, where it stayed, assessing. “Please.”
“We can’t just let her get away, Nicolás.”
He lifted his eyes to meet hers. “It’s not worth the risk.”
Lyla narrowed her eyes on Christine. How much danger wasshe in? Were they all in? She needed to give him time to figure it out. “What kind of a person are you?”
“The kind who learned that if she wanted to make things happen, she had to do it herself.”
“Something tells me you’re not the type to get your hands dirty.”
Christine’s smile was wicked. “And you would know. Must be hard to live a life of luxury—rich parents. You never had to want for anything.”
“You don’t know anything about my life,” Lyla hissed, and then she thought about her parents and was grateful she’d told them she loved them.Were those my last words to them?Her knees started to shake.
“So you know what it’s like to live under a regime of evil and corruption like my family in Venezuela?” Christine huffed. “You have no idea.”
“And you thought distributing weapons to the very regimes that oppress and violate women was the answer?” Lyla couldn’t control her sarcasm. “You really are the change the world needs.”
“No!” Christine’s irritation almost drove her to take a step forward, but her eyes dropped to the bomb next to Lyla. “What I saw was an opportunity to level the playing fields. If you think your country is immune to someone like Alberto Guzman rising to power, you’re blind. I was providing my people a way to fight back just like your country does when it suits their agenda.”
“And what was Genevieve Miller? The innocent victims in Omagh? And countless others who died because of the weapons you stole?” Lyla thought about Sean and Annie and how she’d never get a chance to know them. “If you say collateral damage, you’re just as evil as Guzman.”
The back door swung open, and a man stepped in and fired a shot. Lyla flinched and had no idea how she managed to keep still. She watched Christine crumple forward and drop to her knees before collapsing to the ground. Lyla sucked in a breath, trying not to panic.
The man in the doorway lowered the gun and looked at her. “She’s just evil.”
“Nicolás.”
“Don’t move, Lyla. Stay still.” Nicolás locked eyes with her. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t leave me.” Her body began to tremble. “Please don’t leave me.”
“Vale, come back around to the front of the house,” Nicolás said to the man staring absently at Christine’s body. “Lyla, do you trust me?”
Lyla gave a little nod.
“I will be right back.”
She watched Nicolás drag Christine’s body out of the house and heard the woman moaning. She wasn’t dead, and Lyla didn’t know if she should feel relieved or worried that she might try to run or attack them.
A tremor she couldn’t control was beginning to take over her ability to stay still. “Nicolás.”
Sirens echoed, and then she heard a thumping noise that sounded like a helicopter. Or was that her pulse pumping loudly in her ears? She glanced down at the device and prayed it wasn’t timed or remote detonated...
Lyla’s knees wobbled. She was going to fall, and the whole place was going to explode. Closing her eyes, she thought back to the verse Nicolás had given her—the one on the coin Walsh had handed to them when they were officially a team.
The Lord is my shepherd...I will fear no evil.
