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shock. Nick was unmoved. He had seen worse, much worse. Something familiar flashed back to him, and he murmured, "The wreck in the marketplace last Saturday. Oh, yes."
    Alex nodded and proceeded eagerly. "The child's mother was k-killed that day and Jenni has disappeared."
    He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but like I said—"
    " Capitan —" Jose began.
    Alex interrupted frantically, "The young woman who was killed in that wreck was my housekeeper." Choking on the words, Alex swal lowed convul si vely before continuing. "And now, her child is mis si ng. I want . . . I must find her. But I need your help to do it, Mr. Diamond. I don’t know where to turn. Please say you'll help me find her!"
    He shrugged. "What could I do that the police haven't already done?"
    "You have the resources, Mr. Diamond. Re sources," she empha si zed. "I don't know where to turn. You do. Even though I've lived here two years, I'm still la gringa . A foreigner. But you . . . just look at you. You're like one of them. You dress like them. You act like them. You've even earned a title of respect—El Capitan ."
    Nick Diamond folded his arms across his broad chest . "You seem to have a misconception about me. I just run an aircraft tourist service."
    Alex slipped the news clipping from his hands with a si nking feeling in her stomach. She should have known better than to expect anything from a man like him. "I had two misconceptions about you, Mr. Diamond. I was told that you were something of a hero. That you saved lives. That you had the resources to help me find my mis si ng child. And I believe you do, but for some reason, you're refu si ng to help me.
    "The other misconception was my own fault," she said. "I thought that somewhere in that American heart of yours was a shred of compas si on. Someone who would care about lives torn apart, of people in need. But I was wrong about you. You're a hard-hearted bastard, down here to make a fast buck!" Alex wheeled around and made a fast exit before she could humiliate her self by blubbering all over the place.
    As the rattl ing door slammed shut, Nick Dia mond looked at Jose . Their eyes met in an understanding flash.
    "D amn good looking woman!" Nick said as he moved across the room toward the door. "Check on her story, Jose ," he clipped, then added with a twinkle in his deep, dark eyes, "I've got to protect my reputation. Can't have her thinking I'm a hero, now, can I?"
    "And the shred of compas si on in your heart?"
    Nick answered readily. " Don’t know about compas si on, but there’s plenty of pas si on, my man. Pas si on is the key. "
    Jose ch uckled. "This is the one, Capita n."
    "Huh?"
    "The blond American I told you was looking for a child after that wreck in the market."
    Nick paused and narrowed his gaze. "Then she's telling the truth. Maybe the child was stolen, after all. It's pos si ble we're on to some thing. Another commodity smuggled out of Me x ico . "
    " Si , Capitan ."
    Jose watched Nick tear down the street after Alex. A smile twitched his lips beneath the wide, dark mustache. El Capitan was hard- nosed, all right. He had defied the melancholy blue eyes and quiv ering lips of the beautiful se norita. Even the sad story about the mis si ng baby had failed to break through his steel facade. Then why was he following her? To investigate the pos si bility o f another smuggling ring? Or be cause he wanted that blond woman called Alex to warm his bed?
    Jose shrugged and walked around to the back of the desk. He bent to open a wooden door near his feet, and with a low grunt, pulled out a hidden phone.
     
    Alex's heels cli cked on the si dewalk as she hur ried away from Nick Diamond's shoddy office. She wished a cab would come by and whisk her away from this part of town. There were bad memories here. A clap of thunder rumbled over head, warning her it would begin raining soon. She didn't care. Right now she just wanted to calm down and decide what to do next, now that El Capitan had turned