Her Only Protector Read Online Free Page B

bring us the whole way home.
    Sonny realized that, whether she liked it or not, she was probably going to have to stay the night in Colombia. Her first priority was to get away from this man and the attention he had brought to her. In order to do that, she’d have to leave the airport. The problem was she didn’t know her way around Cartagena.
    Sonny shook the thought from her head. She couldn’t fail. Not just for Cash and baby Ellie. But now for Lucia. She had no choice but to get away from the airport. At least for now.
    â€œNow that you’re done hiding, you can give me the information I need,” the stranger said, breaking into her thoughts.
    â€œI wasn’t hiding. I was on vacation,” Sonny said. “You know, people do have vacations.”
    â€œSure they do. You were on vacation,” he said sarcastically. “And my name is Alice and I live in a place called Wonderland.”
    â€œI guess I can call you Al, then?”
    He threw her a wry grin and pushed the door open. Sonny scanned the parking lot to see if anyone was paying attention to them.
    â€œCome with me. I have a ride waiting for us.”
    Sonny knew that the last thing she needed was to have to flag down a taxi. She’d heard that taxi drivers in Cartagena happily snowed you if you didn’t know the city. However, it was still safer to take a taxi than walk anywhere. American tourists with American dollars were targets for criminals.
    The fact that she was still on airport grounds put both Ellie and her at risk. But could she really take a chance on this guy and his ride, whoever that was?
    Another problem dawned on her as the sun beat down on her head. She was almost out of money. She’d paid for the hotel room and her meals with cash. Colombians liked U.S. dollars and there were enough tourists down here that American cash couldn’t be traced back to her. But she’d stayed longer than she’d expected and had gone through her reserve. She had a credit card, but credit cards were way too traceable, and she knew she needed to be careful.
    Careful? Yeah, right. They’d done everything as planned and Lucia was still dead. Except for the fact that this little baby who was now crying loud enough to drown out the street noise was finally in her arms, it had all gone wrong.
    Sonny wanted to cry, too, but she bit back the tears. There’d be time for that later. It wouldn’t do either of them any good if she broke down now. It certainly wouldn’t get her on that plane that was taxiing down the runway on its way to Miami.
    â€œOh, Lucia,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “I promise I won’t let you down.”
    â€œWhat was that?”
    They were still standing on the curb and for a moment, Sonny had forgotten someone was with her.
    She pushed away thoughts of Lucia and fought for composure. “Who are you and how do you know my brother?” she asked again.
    He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Sonny tried to cover Ellie’s ears, but the baby was flailing as she cried.
    â€œI don’t think anyone is going to appreciate your breaking their eardrums.”
    â€œIt’s hot and we’re sitting ducks here. It’s time to go.”
    A car rolled to a stop in front of them. The man stepped off the curb and opened the back door, gesturing for her to get inside.
    â€œThis is our ride. Get in.”
    She shot him a disbelieving look. “Are you out of your mind? What makes you think I’m going to get into a car with you before I even know who you are?” Sonny asked, knowing full well that she had no other option.
    â€œGillespie Waite. You can call me Gil.”
    â€œThat’s it?”
    â€œI introduced myself.”
    â€œI’m not getting in that car until you tell me what I want to know. People have a bad habit of disappearing in this country and this baby and I are not going to end up on that list.”
    He stared at