LOVE ABOVE LAW

by Alvarez, Sandy

  Closing my eyes, I rub the palms of my hands over my tired face and will myself to forget the humiliating ordeal. An incident I never mentioned to my brother in the few times I was able to speak with him. It was kind of hard seeing as my calls were monitored and lasted only a minute each time. I don't know how long I'm left sitting here in this room alone before a woman dressed in a button-down blouse and dress slacks walks through the door. She is taller than me standing at about 5ft 7in, has long wavy brown hair pulled back in a low ponytail and kind blue eyes. I also notice the badge clipped to the front of her belt. "Hello, Ms. Martinez. I'm Agent Stamos, but you can call me Zoe," she introduces herself taking a seat across the table from me. "Do you mind if I call you Leyna?" she asks in a friendly tone, and I nod. "First, Leyna I'd like to start by saying you are not in any trouble. You were brought here simply for us to question you, so we can hopefully put some of the puzzle pieces together." When I give Agent Stamos another nod, she continues. "Good. How about we start from the beginning."

  "There's not a whole lot to tell. I came home from one of my tutoring lessons one day to find Santino and two other men in my house. He threatened my brother and me. I did what he asked. We got on a plane in Cuba, and he brought to Montana where he kept me in a room at the house you all raided earlier. I never had any contact with anyone unless it was Santino or one of his men. I was never allowed to leave the room," I tell the agent. I purposely leave out the part about Gabriel showing up with his friends. I don't know if that is something that will get my brother in trouble. Either way, I'm not willing to risk it.

  "Did you at any time overhear Miguel Santino or any of his friends talk about their business? Anything about a shipment or woman?"

  Fidgeting in my seat, I nod. "Once. I heard him talking to Hugo."

  "Who's Hugo?" Agent Stamos cuts in.

  "Hugo was one of the men who was with Santino the most. I guess he was his top guy. I'm not sure. I do know he was usually always wherever his boss was."

  "Okay. This is good, Leyna. You're doing great. Now, what is it you overheard?"

  Swallowing past the lump in my throat I continue. "I heard Santino order Hugo to—uh, keep his distance from me."

  "Do you know why Santino would have given those orders?"

  I shift uncomfortably in my seat because this conversation is heading down a path I don't want to revisit. Sucking in a deep breath, I decide to get it over with. Then once we finish, I can put it all behind me. "Hugo was a creep. His boss told him to keep his hands to himself. Santino mentioned something about me being pure and being worth a lot more than he thought. I had my suspicions as to what he meant by his words, but it wasn't until a week later when I was proven right."

  "What do you mean? What happened, Leyna."

  Closing my eyes, I take a moment to collect myself before I continue. "I was startled awake one morning by Santino, Hugo and another man I had never seen before barging into my room. I was ordered to strip. I of course refused. My first thought was this was it, I was about to be raped. But I wasn't going to go down without a fight. It hadn't taken long for Hugo to over-power me. He held me down while Santino placed a gun to my head." I stop mid-story and get lost in my head for a few minutes. I don't know how many minutes pass before I realize Agent Stamos repeats my name three times in a row. Shaking myself out of my daze, I regard the agent once again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to zone out like that. It's just—."

  "You don't need to apologize, Leyna."

  "Anyway, Santino wasn't there to rape me. He was there to prove his suspicions. The third guy was a doctor. I was forced to strip naked so the so-called doctor could examine me; all while he and Hugo watched. Having a gun held to my head as a strange man not so gently confirmed my virginity was one of the most terrifying and degrading things I have ever experienced. And with all due respect, Agent Stamos, this will be the first and last time I tell the story because retelling it is just as humiliating."

  The moment the last word leaves my mouth I am startled by a crashing noise followed by a loud piercing roar coming from behind the two-way mirror. What the hell? I turn back to Agent Stamos. "Is everything okay in there?"

  "I'm sure everything is fine," she replies with a forced smile. Agent Stamos is about to open her mouth again but is cut off when the door to the interrogation room opens. Standing there with a wild look on his face is Agent Taylor. His look of displeasure is directed at his colleague.

  "You're done in here," he breathes heavily, nostrils flaring.

  My eyes dart back and forth between the two agents. Stamos must sense something in Taylor because after a few beats she nods toward him before her attention is on me once again. "I think we've talked enough for now. I'll be in town for a few more days so if I have any more questions; I know where to find you. Agent Taylor is going to take you to see your brother. He's been in contact with Mr. Martinez, so he's expecting you."

  The moment Agent Stamos steps out of the room, Agent Taylor's body loses some of its tension, and his face softens. Several seconds pass with the two of us never breaking eye contact. I don't exactly know what to make of Agent Taylor. He can only be described as intense. He's a stranger yet he looks at me as if he wants to consume my entire being. The funny thing is, I think I want him to. Agent Taylor stands over 6ft tall. He towers over my 5ft 4in frame. He has brown hair buzzed close on the sides, and the top is left a few inches longer. Its current messy state looks as if he's been running his hands through it. His hazel eyes look tired but no less striking under his dark brow. With the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up to his elbows I can see the array of colorful ink on his arms. Besides the suit and badge, Agent Taylor looks nothing like I'd imagine a Federal Agent would look.

  Using the same smooth, rumbling voice he did just a couple of hours ago when he found me locked away in that room, Agent Taylor strides up to me and holds out his large hand. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's get you out of here." Without hesitation, I place my small hand in his. The warmth of his touch instantly calms me. With a shuttered breath, I stand from the chair and allow him to lead me out of the room, down the hallway of the police station and outside to a black SUV.

  No words are spoken as he opens the passenger door. Once I slide in, Agent Taylor reaches around me, taking hold of the seat belt, and proceeds to buckle me in. The entire time I hold my breath while his face is a mere inch from mine. He smells of mint and some sort of woodsy cologne. "Breathe, baby," he whispers into my ear just as I hear the click of the belt and the way he says baby sends tingles down my spine.

  When Agent Taylor pulls back, I expel the air I was holding in my lungs, and it dances across his face. His eyes are so intense. For a brief moment, I think he's going to kiss me. Only he doesn't. The moment he steps back and closes the passenger door taking his heat with him, I feel a loss I can't explain.

  Five minutes into the drive Agent Taylor is the first to break the silence. "I spoke to your brother earlier. He knows you're safe and that you had to be taken in for questioning."

  "Thank you, Agent Taylor," I reply softly.

  "Lex," his gruff voice echoes through the inside of the truck. "To you I'm Lex."

  Not knowing what to say to his request, I nod in agreement. A few tense moments pass, and I watch the veins in his arm bulge as he keeps a firm grip on the steering wheel and notice a slight tick in his jaw. Then finally he speaks again. "I know you have been through hell these past several weeks, and you must be confused with having to face new adjustments, but I have to ask—do you know who your brother is? Do you know the things he's involved in and the kind of company he keeps? Because I have to say—."

  "I know exactly who Gabriel Martinez is, Agent Taylor," I snap. I'll be damned if I allow anyone bad mouth my brother. "Let me tell you the things I do know. My brother is the most important person in the world to me. He may be flawed, and I am not naïve when it comes to things he has done in his past or the present, but he is my blood. My brother is all I have left in this world
, and nothing you say to me will ever change the way I feel or where my loyalty lays."

  Turning onto a dirt road, Lex pulls off to the side and shifts the truck into park. Twisting in his seat, he reaches into the back and rummages through a duffle bag, pulling out a cell phone. "Here," he says handing me the phone. "My personal and work numbers are already programmed in there. I want you to call me day or night. I don't care when or why. If at any time you feel like you need an out, I can help. If you need me, I'm there. Even if it's to talk."

  Excepting the phone, I take in the sincerity of his words reflecting in his hazel eyes. "Thank you."

  Continuing down the dirt road, we come upon a gate, and it slides open letting us drive through. "Stay put," Lex orders when we stop in front of a large building. Five men are standing out front, and my eyes zero in on one in particular—Gabriel. Opening the door, Lex takes my hand and helps me down. "You okay?" he whispers in my ear, and I look at him.

  "Si. I'm good." I then turn away from Lex and meet the warm dark eyes of my big brother. "Hermano!" I cry and break off in a run. I don't stop until I'm safely in Gabriel's arms.

  "Shh, hermana. You're okay," my brother soothes. Clutching the front of his shirt, I dry my face. "Still wiping your snot on me," he chuckles.

  "Shut up, Gabe," I laugh through my watery smile.

  "Let's get you inside," he says, and I agree. "You can go now," Gabriel sneers over my shoulder toward Agent Taylor who is still standing by his truck with his eyes trained on me.

  "Gabriel Martinez!" I chastise.

  "It's okay, sweetheart," Lex assures me. "I need to get going. I got a fuck ton of shit to clean up and about a month's worth of paperwork waiting on me. Just remember my offer stands," he reminds me before sliding back into his SUV and leaving.

  The moment he's out of sight I'm once again hit with an overwhelming sense of loss. "Let's get you inside and settled," Gabriel breaks through my fog. "And after, we're going to discuss what that fucker meant by his offer still stands."

  I roll my eyes. "Forever the big brother."

  7

  Lex

  The entire morning turned into one big shitter the moment we stormed Santino's estate. First, I can't begin to explain my actions earlier when I threw a chair across the room, while Kurt, Kai, Mackey, and I listened in on Stamos questioning Leyna. I don't know what came over me. Rage filled me the moment she stated someone put their filthy hands on her. From the moment I laid eyes on Leyna I've had an overwhelming need to protect her.

  Then, it turns out the dead guy we found at the front door was one of Santino's bodyguards. The young male who was found on the floor of Santino's bedroom shot in the head hasn't been identified. Both men were determined to have been shot five hours before us showing up, and both killed with a high caliber rifle. Clean shot. Most likely, done by an expert sharpshooter.

  Then there is Santino himself. Fucking dead and had been dead for the same amount of time as the others, and I'm convinced the bikers had something to do with all of it. Unfortunately, there was no evidence in or around the home to put them at the scene of the crime, and all their alibis are airtight.

  It burns my ass the son of a bitch got the easy way out. The more I stand here thinking about it, the more I realize he could have continued running his dirty empire behind bars and maybe I should be more grateful he's no longer breathing.

  I look around the bright, sterile room I'm standing in while my thoughts run rampant, and stare down at the dead body of Miguel Santino as it lays on a metal table in the exam room here at the morgue.

  It's been a couple of hours since dropping Leyna off at The Kings clubhouse. I didn't like driving her out there. I didn't like watching her walk away. None of these feelings make sense. I keep asking myself what the fuck am I doing? I don't know this woman. She's the sister of an MC club member, and that should be a good enough reason for me to not give her another thought, but that's not the case. I can't stop thinking about her.

  Footsteps echo across the tile floor snapping me out of my thoughts and I look over my shoulder to see Kurt walking into the room. "Well, headquarters is pissed that all we have to offer them is a dead man. DA also has a big stick wedged up their asses over the situation." He stops beside me and shoves his hands inside the front pockets of his suit pants.

  "They aren't the only ones. We've all spent hours building a case against the bastard," I tell him. "They ever identify the younger guy they found dead on the floor of his room?" I gesture down toward Santino.

  "Yeah," Kurt blows out a breath. Turning we walk across the room to where another body lies on another cold metal table, and Kurt unzips the bag exposing the face of the man in question. "This here is Daniel Santino; Miguel Santino's nephew."

  "Shit," my hands go to my hips as I look down at him. "He can't be older than twenty-three. You know we may see some blowback from both being dead."

  Kurt zips the bag up, and I follow him out of the room. "It's possible. We won't know until someone tries to step up and fill his shoes. Also, the local police have almost finished with the on-scene preliminary investigation. Once all evidence has been collected, sorted, and cataloged they will have it sent over to headquarters for our team to process along with the bodies."

  "So, it looks like we are wrapping shit up here in Polson?"

  "Yeah, we should be able to get on the road by lunch. I'm confident with Polson PD handling the rest of the process so we can get back home by dinner." Kurt stops by the water cooler and fills a paper cup full of cold water.

  An hour later we get on the road to make the seven-hour drive back to Seattle.

  "Still brooding over Santino going back in a body bag instead of handcuffs?" Kai remarks from the passenger seat of my car.

  "More pissed those bikers got one over on us." I shift gears as we hit the open highway.

  "What would you have done if someone kidnapped one of your sisters then blackmailed you?" Kai poses the question causing my gut to clench like someone just punch me in the ribcage.

  "I'd kill the motherfucker." My hand tightens around the gear shift and my foot presses on the gas pedal pushing it further into the floorboard. I start thinking about Leyna. Santino was hours away from shipping her off to some sick fuck who paid seven figures to have her because she's a virgin. If she were my family—I would have done what the Kings did too.

  Several minutes go by, when I begin to feel Kai's heavy stare and side-eye him. "What?"

  "This woman has gotten under your skin, hasn't she?"

  Keeping my eyes forward I continue to drive without uttering another word. In Kai's defense I know he's only looking out for me. He knows about April and Chris; he also knows since then he's never seen me act this way before. As a matter of fact, since knowing Kai, I haven't been in a relationship at all. Not since April. All he's ever seen are the women that come and go. One night stands have become standard for me, and I always make my intentions clear to every woman before taking her to bed.

  Before long, knowing I'm not about to discuss the subject, Kai leans the seat back, crosses his arms over his chest and closes his eyes. For most of the ride back to Seattle he sleeps and leaves me alone. I have trouble rationalizing what the fuck I'm feeling for a woman I don't know anything about except for the fact she got dragged into a horrible situation and almost became a permanent victim herself. Not to mention who her family is.

  We've been back at headquarters for a couple of hours now. We've been briefed, and most of the paperwork has been dealt with. Nothing more can be done until our crime lab gets a hold of all the documented evidence along with the bodies of Santino, his nephew, and his men.

  "When do you guys plan on heading back to Florida," I ask Stamos and Mackey while we all sit around the table in the conference room.

  "Most likely the day after tomorrow—maybe longer. We have to stick around until after the bodies have made it through FBI processing," Mackey rubs the back of his neck.

  Kai stands. "Let's go ou
t—celebrate closing a chapter in the Santino case; my treat," looking around the table he waits for answers.

  "Fuck, I'm down." I could use a few hours to get out of my own head.

  Stamos gives a look in Kai's direction then looks to Mackey who shrugs his shoulders. "Sounds like a plan," he tells her.

  Crossing her arms, she gives the idea a few seconds thought before answering. "I need at least an hour to buy something to wear."

  "Works for me," Kai gives Mackey and me a glance, and we both return agreeing nods.

  Opening the door, we step out into the main office area where our desks are. I spot Kurt on the far side of the room with his back to us as he feeds papers through the scanner. Yelling across the room, I gain his attention. "Yo, Kurt." Without flinching, he keeps to his task.

  "What's up?"

  "We're going out tonight."

  "Where?" he asks.

  I look at Kai who lips Rumors. "Rumors in two hours," I tell him.

  Kurt finally stops and looks over his shoulder. "I'll meet you there."

  Kai rubs his hands together. "Listen, Lex and I will meet you two outside your hotel in a couple of hours," he tells Mackey and Stamos. "Here," Kai hands Stamos a card. "Give her a call, and she'll help you find the perfect outfit." Stamos looks down at the business card in her hand and raises a brow.

  "Personal shopper?" she questions with a smirk. Kai says nothing. His stare is enough to make her not question any further. Her and Mackey head toward the elevator.

  "I take it you're riding with me back to my place?" I assume.