Read Online River to Cross, A by Yvonne Harris - Free Book Online Page B

and the possible overthrow of the Guevara regime.”
    “I read it,” Jake said. “Diego, of course, denies everything. Lloyd gave away too much too soon. Diego is furious that his plans were leaked, and humiliated that an American newspaper published them. Now Mexican soldiers sent by the president are stationed along the river.”
    “Was my brother killed in retaliation for that article?” It was a question she didn’t want to ask, being afraid the answer was yes, and yet she needed to know. Jake and his men had rushed into Mexico after her for a reason.
    Jake stared out at the river, then shook his head. “I hope not.”
    “So the dams are safe for now?”
    He nodded. “Because of the troops.” He was silent for a moment, and then he turned and met her gaze directly. “When all this is over, you and I have to talk.”
    “Let’s talk now.”
    He held his hand up. “I can’t. Not yet.”
    She frowned. “Maria said you and Ricardo were scouts in the Cavalry, that you worked together.”
    “Sometimes we did. They call it Reconnaissance now.”
    “And when I’m kidnapped by Mexican soldiers, Texas Rangers come after me and hide me in a former spy-buddy’s house. Am I seeing a connection here?”
    “Later.”
    “You’ve met my brother, haven’t you?”
    Jake hesitated, then said, “Your brother was respected and well liked. So is your father. I took a delegation from our Ranger camp and Fort Bliss to his wife’s funeral. A week or so after, Lloyd came out to the fort to see me. We had dinner together there, and at your house a couple of times. Once he had me bring Colonel Gordon with me to your house.”
    He stopped and gazed at her, his eyes unreadable—a blank look she’d come to despise, a look which locked everyone else out. Like an animal burrowing into its hole, he was gone. Would he lie to her? There was only one way to find out.
    She took a deep breath. “Maria told me that Lloyd has been down here. Is that true?”
    Jake dragged a hand down his face and sighed. “I brought him here to meet Ricardo.”
    “Why?”
    “I was following orders, orders I believed in and still do. I thought by exposing what was going on here, Lloyd could help the United States and his fellow Texans avoid another confrontation with Mexico.”
    “Whose orders?”
    “I can’t answer that, but they came from very high up.”
    “And Ricardo?”
    “The same. From someone high up in the Mexican government. Both countries want peace, Elizabeth.”
    “So if you hadn’t introduced my brother to Ricardo, would he still be alive right now?” Her voice wobbled.
    “I don’t know the answer to that. I refused when he first asked me, but he went over my head.” He paused, then added, “And then they came and kidnapped you.”
    “Coincidence?”
    He shrugged. “As Rangers we’re trained not to trust such things as coincidence. When I said I was going after you, things fell into place almost instantly. No problems getting into Mexico, and once we were there, we never saw a soldier until after we had taken you away from the Mexicans.”
    Jake shook his head. “I’ve said all I can say now. Let’s put the rest of this conversation off until we get back home. Agreed?”
    “For now,” she said.
    But in the back of her mind, questions were stirring, each one demanding answers. From out of nowhere, doubts about him began assaulting her thoughts.
    Who was Jake Nelson really?
    Besides the little that Maria had shared about Jake’s boyhood, everything else she knew about the man was what he himself had told her. He wasn’t married, had been in the Cavalry, Special Forces, and the Frontier Battalion.
    She nibbled her lip, trying to remember what she’d read about the Battalion. It was formed for two reasons only—Texas border patrol and Texas law enforcement. The Indians were mainly gone and not a problem anymore. The Battalion now concentrated on Mexican bandits and American outlaws, bank robbers, train robbers.
    The