Lindsay Bonner fought not to panic-because what she did in the next few moments would determine whether she lived or died.
Think, Lindsay, think!
A few minutes later, she had hidden her cell phone, and she stood alone, waiting for them to come for her and take her across the river and into Nuevo Laredo-and praying her husband would. She had not gone to him when he had needed her. Would he come now that she needed him?
Yes.
Bode Bonner would come for her. They no longer shared their lives, but he would give his life for hers. She knew that. And at that moment, she realized how much that meant-to know that he would always come for her. She heard the trucks stop outside and the sound of heavy boots on the ground. The blanket door was thrown aside, and a man now stood there. He held a black machete. He was tall and lean with jet-black hair and a goatee. He was the same man she had seen in the clinic that day.
El Diablo.
She knelt before him, her body trembling, and recited the Lord's Prayer.
"I am also Catholic," he said. "I am not going to kill you."
She stopped praying and looked up.
"Then what do you want with me? I am just a nurse."
He reached out and gently pulled her hat and scarf off, releasing her red hair.
"You are the governor's wife. He will come for you. And when he does, I will cut off his head with this machete. I will avenge my son's death. I will have justice."
He held a hand out to her. She stood without taking his hand.
"Remove your clothes."
"Is that what you want?"
"I want your husband's head on my desk. But I must ensure that you have no gun or knife or phone, and I prefer not to pat you down. Now, your clothes. Please."
She removed her lab coat then unbuttoned her yellow dress and let it fall to the dirt floor around her pink Crocs. He waited. She unhooked her bra and let it drop. Then she pushed her panties to her ankles. She stood naked before him. His eyes took her in. He inhaled as if smelling a flower. Then he nodded.
"Yes, he will come for you."
"How do you know?"
"Because I would come for you."
He lifted her dress from the ground with the machete.
"Please. Get dressed."