by Lenora Worth
“Maybe later,” her dad replied, his gaze on Belle. “I have to leave soon for my management meeting with one of the supers”
“Ah, sí.”
Soon, dinner was over, Mr. Montera had left for his meeting and the girls cleared the table.
“I’ll wrap up the leftovers for you,” Belle’s mom said.
“No. You should keep those,” Emmett replied. “I did crash your meal.”
“Nonsense. You are welcome here anytime.”
Joaquin pushed through the kitchen. “I’m going out.”
“No, you’re not,” Mrs. Montera said. “Just because your father had to leave doesn’t mean you get to roam the streets, especially now when your sister has warned us about the man who attacked her.”
Joaquin’s frown shouted teenage defiance. “My friends are waiting.”
Belle touched her brother’s arm. “You know we’re being extra careful right now. Why don’t you hang around? You can come down to my place and we’ll play a video game.”
Joaquin tossed his bangs and rolled his eyes. “I want to go out.”
“No, Joaquin,” Belle said. “Not tonight.”
“You can’t boss me around, Belle.”
“I can and I will if it means protecting you,” Belle said, sending her mother a worried glance.
“I don’t need your protection,” her brother shouted before heading up to his room. “I know how to take care of myself.”
“I’m sorry,” Mrs. Montera said to Belle and Emmett. “He has a very bad attitude these days.”
“Teenagers,” Emmett said, trying to lighten the tension. But the danger out there was real.
When they were back down in Belle’s apartment, he watched her putting away food and then turned to face her. “I guess I should head home.”
“No,” she said too quickly. “We didn’t get a chance to talk. I need to tell you something.”
“Oh, okay then, I can stay for a while.”
He didn’t want to leave, anyway. His place was lonely and too sterile without a woman’s touch. Belle’s apartment was homey and full of color and flowers. Kind of like her personality.
He should leave. Like now. And he needed to remember how this was a bad idea on so many levels, the first being he might have to help her put Randall away. After that, their heavy work schedules could ruin a good friendship.
She offered him a mineral water over ice and then poured herself one, too. “We can sit out back. I’m sure Justice could use one more break before bedtime.”
They went out on the tiny stoop. Belle motioned to a folding chair off the porch and Emmett grabbed it and opened it so he could sit next to a bright red table with glass tiles covering the round top. Belle sat in her comfortable chair. Justice took off to the far corner where a gate to the alley completed a solid wooden fence that enclosed the rectangular yard.
“Nice out here,” he said, enjoying the coolness of the summer evening while he scanned the yard several times. “This heat wave has everyone frazzled.”
“Yes. New York in summer. Brings out the worst in people.”
“Sure does.” Emmett leaned in, ready to get down to business. “What did you need to tell me?”
Belle glanced up, then said on a low voice, “My sister Anita told me this earlier.” She went on to explain about a man coming into the café where Anita and Cara worked for their Uncle Rico.
“He’s taunting my family, Emmett. I’ve warned all of them and I called Gavin to ask for more protection. My Uncle Rico is aware and my dad is being diligent, too. But is it enough? Noelle and I were shot at again today.”
Emmett didn’t like this latest news. He wouldn’t overreact, however. Belle knew her work, so he had to stay neutral even if apprehension seared through him. “I’ll help you in any way, you know that.”
“I’ll go over his background and see what else I can find—check out gyms around his apartment and go back and confront his cagey landlord once again. Johnson’s got it in for me and it goes deeper than my catching him assaulting a woman.”
“Hatred like that is dangerous,” Emmett warned. “He probably blames you for sending him to jail and ruining his life, but he did that all on his own. Just be careful.”
“I’m going to set up camp near his apartment,” Belle said. “He’s got to show up sooner or later.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
Before she could dispute him, Justice stopped near the back gate and growled low.
Emmett held a hand on Belle’s arm as they both became alert.
Belle nodded. “Let’s see if anyone tries to get through that gate.” She stood. “Got to get to my weapon.”
Justice growled again as the gate started shaking.
Emmett stood and moved away from his chair. In the next second, something heavy came barreling down from the rooftop three floors up and landed in the chair where he’d been sitting. The chair’s webbing ribbed apart.
The chunky piece of concrete had gone through the flimsy webbing and landed on one of the stone steps with a loud crack that sounded over the neighborhood.
Justice started barking now, his eyes still on the gate.
The pressure on the gate ended as Belle rushed forward. Emmett heard footsteps running away. Belle called Justice back and then reached for her cell to call for backup.
“Are you all right?” Belle said to Emmett after she got off the phone. “That could have hit you.”
“Yeah, if I’d still been sitting there, it would have knocked me out.” Looking toward the gate, he frowned. “Two of them?”
“The roof,” she said, whirling to hurry toward the fire escape on the side of the building. “One at the gate and one on the roof.”
“I’ll take the fire escape,” Emmett said. “You know the stairs inside better.”
“I’ll grab my gun on the way.”
Belle took off, Justice leading the way. Emmett hurried up the rickety fire escape, worried that Belle would run headlong into a would-be killer. But she was capable, and she had Justice. He had to remind himself she’d been at her job long before he came into the picture.
He made the rooftop at about the same time she came bursting through the door. Justice bounded out with her and ran to the far corners but returned and stood at her feet.
After scanning the entire roof, she threw up her hands in frustration. “Impossible. How did they get away?”
Emmett glanced around. The roof was empty. “Is there another way into the building from here?”
“No. Just this door to the inside and up the fire escape. This door is usually locked, and we were right there by the fire escape.”
“So they had someone distract us with the gate rattling and then came in through the front?” Emmett examined the heavy door to the roof. “This lock is intact.”
“They had to have had access to the key at the front door,” Belle said, her eyes going wide. “Emmett, that means they can enter this building anytime they want.”
“That or someone you know let them in,” he said, his tone grim.
“But my family members are the only ones who know about the key and where we keep it.”
“Your immediate family or extended family, too?”
“My mom’s sister and my dad’s brothers might be aware,” she said. “I’ll have to ask around.”
The door pushed back and her mother stood there, staring at them. “Belle, want to tell me what’s going on? I heard a loud noise and then saw you flying up the stairs to the roof. Did your stalker try to get inside here?”
“Someone was here,” Belle said. “I called for backup, but they’re probably long gone.”
Before Belle could explain what had happened, her sisters came running out onto the roof. “Joaquin is gone. He’s n
ot in his room.”
* * *
An hour later, Belle and Emmett finally found her brother sitting in a park not far from their building. He was with a group of boys gathered on an old picnic table.
Justice alerted and barked, picking up her brother’s scent right away.
“This is not good,” Belle said, her heart dropping. “I’ve already had to tell my parents we might have an intruder who wants to kill me and now I might have to arrest my own brother for loitering.”
“We’ll handle it,” Emmett told her, his eyes on the boys in the park.
Belle had to admit, it felt good knowing someone was willing to help her on all sides. She’d always had her family but Emmett saying that caused her whole system to come alive. She was beginning to really care about him. But she had to push that acknowledgment away for now.
When they pulled Emmett’s big truck up to the curve, the boys all turned in surprise. Someone shouted, “Cops!”
They took off running, dropping trash on the sidewalks while they scattered in all directions.
Except for Joaquin. He stood there, glaring at her.
“Joaquin, what are you doing?” she asked, checking him over to make sure he wasn’t high or hurt. Justice stood with his nose in the air.
“Having some fun,” her brother said on a sneer. “Something you should try sometime.”
“Hey,” Emmett said, stepping in front of Belle. “You had your whole family worried. If another officer had come along, you’d all be in trouble for loitering.”
Her brother looked nervous and for good reason. But that didn’t stop his attitude. “Man, you can’t come in here and tell me what to do.”
“Yes, he can,” Belle told her brother. “I’m going to give you a warning this time but next time, remember the loitering laws. This park is off-limits after dark.”
Joaquin glanced around, then lowered his head.
“Yep,” Emmett said. “All your buddies swarmed away. Left you having to explain things.”
“They were scared,” Joaquin said in a weak defense. “I’m the one who told them the cops were here.”
“They were cowards,” Belle retorted. “You can’t keep doing this. It will only lead to trouble. They’ll leave you holding the bag and I don’t want it to be a bag of drugs.” Reaching out, she touched his arm. “Because I won’t be able to protect you if that happens.”
Sullen, Joaquin looked out from underneath his bangs. He almost said something, but then clamped his mouth shut. “Can I go home now?”
“Good idea,” Belle said. Then she wrapped her arm across her brother’s shoulder. “Did any of those boys have drugs on them?”
“I can’t say,” Joaquin replied. “Okay? Just let it go.”
“For now,” Belle said, her voice low. “I won’t tell Papá but if you mess up again, I’ll have to let him know. Especially since I’ve warned all of you about a suspect who has it in for me—and my family.”
Emmett remained silent, letting her take the lead. Another thing she liked about him. He wanted to protect her, but he also gave her the space to do her job and handle things on her own. Completely the opposite of her ex.
After they got back to her place, she turned to Joaquin. “We had an incident here tonight. Someone managed to get on our roof and drop a chunk of broken concrete down near where Emmett and I were sitting on my back stoop. Mamá and Papá and the girls are all okay. What time did you leave?”
Her brother stared up at the house. “I don’t remember.”
Belle sent Emmett a glance, then turned in her seat. “What do you mean? You don’t know what time you snuck out?”
“I didn’t look at a clock.”
Shaking her head, she asked, “Did you notice anyone hanging around when you left? Did you make sure the front door was closed tight?”
Joaquin slapped at the back of her seat, his eyes downcast, causing Justice to yelp at him. “Let me out. I don’t know anything about any of that.”
Belle got out and let the seat down so her brother could scoot out of the jump seat. Joaquin hurried toward the house.
She stood there, watching, and then turned to Emmett. “My brother is not telling me the truth.”
“Nope.” Emmett glimpsed toward the house. “I think he might know something about what happened here tonight.”
“Me, too,” she said. “And it’ll be up to me to find out what.”
ELEVEN
Belle hadn’t confronted Joaquin last night. When she’d gotten back inside, her parents wanted to talk to her.
“Did you find him?”
“Yes,” she told her mother. “He was with some boys in the park. We broke it up and brought him home.”
“I’m grounding him for a month at least,” her dad said. “He’ll do dishwashing duties in the café and he’ll help me paint and clean apartments.”
“Good idea but he might give you a hard time.”
“Hard work will cure that,” her father admonished. “It worked for my brothers and me.”
“Now about you and the man stalking you,” Mamá said. “What more should we do?”
“Change the locks, for starters,” Belle said. “Sarge is going to send round-the-clock patrol cars to monitor our street and the café.”
“I’ll keep up our watch, too,” her dad replied, nodding. “I’ll alert all of your uncles again and we’ll escort your mother and the girls everywhere they go. I’ll keep Joaquin with me.”
“This is why I wanted you to be aware,” Belle said. “But please don’t take matters into your own hands. That will only lead to more trouble.”
“We take care of our own,” her father said. “But I won’t make a move without letting you know first.”
That was the best she would get from him. Her father wouldn’t do anything violent, but he would stand his ground.
Now, she was with Emmett in her SUV, Justice in his kennel in the back. “Today, we start with the fitness centers and gyms around Canarsie,” she told Emmett. “I’ve reported everything to Sarge so he’s aware of what I’m planning.”
Emmett gave her a questioning glance. The man sure looked good first thing in the morning, all fresh and woodsy smelling, that crisp, close-cut hair shimmering a dark gold.
“Exactly what are you planning?” he asked, bringing Belle out of her crush.
“You sound worried, Marshal Gage.”
“I am worried. I’ve seen you in action.”
“I told you, first these places and then we’ll revisit Lance Johnson’s charming building super, Albert Stein, and get the truth out of him, at least. For all we know, he’s in on this with Johnson.”
Emmett absorbed that and said, “So Johnson’s car has been impounded for illegal parking?”
After checking traffic, she weaved in and out of lanes.
“He didn’t pay so yes, his vehicle has been removed from the lot. I hope we’ll get a warrant to search it since I IDed it as the car we saw the other day at the storage unit.”
Emmett glanced over at her. “I can back you up on that, at least.”
“His parole officer is looking for him, too. So you might get to serve him a warrant yet.”
“I’d like nothing more,” Emmett said, his tone grim. “In fact, I’ll alert my division and ask for that assignment.”
Belle knew he’d get it done. Emmett seemed to have the respect of everyone who knew him. Too bad his cousin hadn’t fared so well.
“Okay, so there are three different workout places within walking distance of Johnson’s apartment,” she said. “Let’s start with this one.”
She pulled into a beat-up parking lot and squeezed the SUV into a tight space between a sports car and a big sedan. “Well, the clientele certainly drives nice vehicles.”
“Not like Johnson’s at all,” Emmett repl
ied. “He abandons both his home and his vehicle. He must have someone hiding him.”
“And helping him to harass my family.”
Belle shuddered each time she thought of that chunk of concrete coming down so close to Emmett and her.
“Here we go,” she said, using her key fob to open the back door of the SUV. “Justice will make sure no one tries to bully us.”
Emmett followed her into the stifling hot gym where boxing rings warred with heavy weightlifting equipment and a musty smell permeated the air. Belle showed Lance Johnson’s picture to a man who said he was the manager.
“Yeah, I remember him. He came in here a lot a couple years ago. Didn’t pay his monthly dues so I kicked him out. Haven’t seen him since. He was a troublemaker, anyway.”
“One down and two to go.”
The next fitness center looked new and smelled a little better than the last one. It had a yoga room and a spin class. “Not Johnson’s type,” she said to Emmett.
They talked to a woman who wore a zip-up lightweight jacket and matching workout leggings, her gym shoes designer status. “I’ve never seen that man in here,” she said with her nose in the air. Then she checked the books. “No record of him, either.”
When they were back outside, Belle said, “Okay, one more.”
Belle drove about three blocks past Johnson’s apartment building and pulled around the back of an old brick building that could have been a garage at one time.
They entered the big industrial doors and saw a true weightlifting arena. “We need to see the manager,” she told the young man who greeted them at an old beat-up metal desk.
A burly man with a shaved head glared his way to them. “What can I do for you, officers?” he asked, giving Justice a narrow-eyed glance.
Belle pulled out the picture of Lance Johnson. “We’re trying to locate this man. We think he might work out here. Do you know him?”
The man whose name tag said Perkins nodded. “Yeah, that’s Lance Johnson, all right. He comes and goes and he owes me money. What kind of trouble is he into now?”
“The kind you don’t want to be involved in,” Emmett replied. “When was the last time he was here?”