by K. C. Crowne
It had to be a coincidence, and I was sure that it was, but I gave Mal a look and we both shrugged at the same time. The worst that could happen was that we would look like idiots. But, that was nothing new and nothing I really cared about anyway.
“Excuse me,” I said, stepping up to the woman, “Do you happen to know a Chris Sturgeon? He works here as a security guard?”
Her smile fell almost immediately, and a tension crept into her body that was unmistakable. Her gaze moved from my face to the guard, then back again. She shifted in her designer heels and refused to look me in the eyes again after that. She cleared her throat and pushed her hair back behind her ear.
“The name doesn't ring a bell,” she said. “Sorry.”
“Oh, really? So you weren't dating him by chance?” Mallory asked, stepping up beside me. “Tall guy, built like a football player? Former Marine?”
“Who are you?” Julia asked.
“We're friends of his,” I said.
Mallory pulled her badge her pocket. Julia's eyes widened and the tension that was in her shoulders suddenly doubled.
“And I'm with the San Diego Police Department,” Mallory said. “We're just worried about him. He hasn't been home, and – ”
“I don't know who you're talking about,” she said quickly. “I'm sorry.”
The guard stepped up behind her, towering over all of us with his arms crossed in front of his chest, an expression of dark anger on his face.
“Are these folks bothering you, Ms. Santiago?” he asked.
My ears perked up at that. “Santiago? You don't happen to be related to the owner of the company, do you?” I asked. “Wife? Daughter?”
She pushed her way past me, mumbling something that sounded like a yes, but the guard grabbed me by the arm. I had an urge to swing at him, and my arm moved in the direction, but Mallory grabbed it. She shook her head and narrowed her eyes at me.
“Don't do it,” she hissed.
She was right. The last thing I needed was to get hauled off to jail for punching a security guard. Before we could turn back around, Julia got into a BMW that was waiting nearby and drove off, her tires letting out a loud chirp as she sped out of the parking lot.
We'd just missed her. Sure, it was possible she wasn't Chris's Julia – but, judging by the way she'd looked at me, not to mention her body language when I said his name, I had a feeling it was not so much of a coincidence as it was that she was hiding something. I turned to Mallory as we walked back to the truck, moving a little faster than normal, as if by some unspoken agreement.
“What do you think is going on?” I asked. “Think that was his ex?”
“Yeah, I do, and I can tell you, something doesn't feel right here,” she said, climbing into the passenger seat of the truck. “I can feel it in my bones.”
I hurried out of the parking lot, as fast as I could. Mallory didn't even ask where I was headed. She already knew.
I was following Julia Santiago's black BMW, hoping we might get some answers as to Chris' whereabouts one way or another.
3
Seth
I called into work that day and hung around Chris's place, waiting and hoping that he would turn up. I slept on the couch, and every sound woke me up, thinking it was him. It never was, which made the worry in my gut grow by leaps and bounds.
I checked the time and wondered if Mallory and Jason had gotten a chance to go by his job yet. I flipped through the Netflix catalog for the hundredth time, looking for something to occupy my brain and take my thoughts off in another direction, if only for a little while. But like the other ninety-nine times, I came up empty. Liam left the night before and I hadn't slept much. Every hour that passed only amped up my anxiety that much more.
At around eight-thirty that morning, there was a knock at the door, followed by a muffled voice coming from the other side.
“Chris, it's Julia,” I heard a woman say. “We need to talk.”
When I opened the door, I found myself with a petite Hispanic woman who was staring back at me with something between shock and horror on her face. Her eyes were wide and when she saw me, she screamed at me – like she'd just caught me breaking into Chris' house or something.
“Who the hell are you?” she screamed.
“I'm Chris's friend,” I said. “And you must be Julia.”
“Where's Chris?” she demanded, pursing her lips as she rested her hands on her hips.
“That's what I'm trying to figure out,” I said. “He didn't come home last night.”
More footsteps coming in our direction drew caught my attention. Mallory and Jason were right behind Julia. She turned and saw them, her eyes grew wider, making the tension in her body was even more pronounced.
“Julia, we just want to talk. That's all,” Mallory said, holding her hands up in a non-threatening gesture.
“I don't know anything,” she said.
The way she said it – so quickly and with a tremor in her voice – made me think she knew more than she was letting on, but Mallory was the cop and I trusted her instincts better than my own. I looked at her and gave her a slight nod.
“Why did you lie to us back there?” she asked. “At IHS?”
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Julia snapped.
Her lower lip trembled, and she stared down at the ground at her feet. I could see her hands were trembling and her entire body was tense. There was something she was afraid to tell us.
“Julia, you said you had never heard of Chris, and now you're here,” Jason said. “At his place and you're asking about him. It's more than obvious that you lied to us. We just want to know why, and we want to find our friend.”
She looked around and finally sighed. “Can we go inside at least?”
“Of course,” I said, stepping aside to let the three of them in. “Anything to get some answers.”
“I don't know if I have answers for you,” Julia said. “Probably only more questions, but I can try.”
“Well, you know stuff we don't,” Mallory grumbled, shutting the door behind them. “So start talking. First of all, why did the security guard – and you – pretend that Chris never worked there? Better question, why are you pretending to not know him?”
“To be honest, Alfred probably doesn't know Chris,” Julia said. “And I was just caught off-guard. I didn't know who you were or why you were asking. I – I thought he might be in some kind of trouble.”
I cocked an eyebrow and looked over at Jason.
The women took seats on the sofa, while Jason and I continued standing. He stayed near the door, leaning against the wall, as if guarding it. Almost like he was afraid Julia might bolt for the door if we gave her half a chance. I had to give her at least a small shred of credit – she stayed right where she was and answered our questions more directly than I thought she would.
“Do you have any idea where he might be?” Mallory asked. “Or what kind of trouble you think he was caught up in?”
She was the cop, so we let her do the questioning. Mallory knew what she was doing. She might look soft and sweet, but she knew how to get answers when she needed to. Her eyes were narrowed and her jaw tight – she looked absolutely fierce. God, it was so sexy to watch her take charge like that – and I immediately scolded myself for having such an inappropriate thought at such an inappropriate time.
“I don't – ”
“Bullshit,” Mallory said. “Stop acting like you have no idea what's going on. Clearly, since you're here looking for him, you're as worried as we are. So, cut the shit and talk to us, Julia. He's not in trouble with the law, we are his family, we care about him, and just want to make sure he's safe.”
Julia stared down at her hands. “I need to talk to my father first,” she said, standing up from the couch. “Then I can get you some answers.”
“Is your father Ignacio Santiago?”
“Yes,” Julia said softly.
“He's the owner of the company, correct?”
Julia nodded, but didn't say anything else.
“And he might know where Chris is? Why's that?” Mallory asked. “Did he send him on some assignment somewhere?” “I don't know,” Julia said.
I shared a look with Mallory – Julia was full of shit and we all knew it. She had some idea where Chris was and what happened to him – she just wasn't telling us what it was.
“Can you call your father right now and ask him?” I asked.
“No, I can't call him. But I'll speak to him in person,” she replied. “We're having dinner tonight.”
“Great. Where and when?” Mallory asked.
Julia looked at her, perplexed and uneasy, and answered very slowly. “El Huerto Secreto, but it's only open for family tonight, I'm afraid.”
“Your family also owns the restaurant?” I asked.
She nodded. “We are closed on Mondays,” she said. “It's a time for only family to be together.”
“What about a date?” I asked.
Julia turned to me, and sighed, though there was fear in her eyes. She obviously knew where I was going with all of this.
“If I had a date to introduce to my family, then yes, I could bring one, but – ”
“Alright then, I’ll be your date,” I said, cutting her off.
Jason stopped me. “Dude, let me handle this,” he said.
“No, I got it,” I said. “Parents love me, man.”
Jason snorted, and the three of us all shared a look. Usually, I was one to sit back and let others take charge, but this was my idea and I was going to run with it. I knew I could sweet talk the Santiago's. I could get intel from them without them even realizing it. I would see what they knew.
“Besides, I'm in finance, so are they. I know how to talk to people like this,” I said, patting Jason on the back. “Let me handle it.”
“I didn't say – ” Julia started to argue, but moving in unison, we all turned and glared at her.
I opened my mouth to speak, but Mallory beat me to what I was about to say, “We weren't giving you a choice. Do you care about Chris? Did you ever?”
Julia nodded, a stricken look crossing her face.
“Then Seth is going with you,” she growled. “Something isn't right, and we need answers.”
Julia could get us the answers, but we didn't trust her as far as we could throw her. If one of us didn't go with her, even if she found out what happened, who said she would tell us? There was no reason for her to cooperate with us, and she hadn't been all that forthcoming as it was, which meant I wasn't going to feel comfortable sitting back and hoping she played ball with us.
She wanted to argue, I could see it in her eyes, but then she turned to me and when she spoke, it was with a slight tinge of resignation in her voice.
“You're in finance, yes?”
“I am. I'm CFO of Nolan Securities,” I said. “Heard of them?”
She shook her head. “No, but I'm sure my father has. He knows everything that goes on in this city,” she said.
“Great. Then it's a date,” I said. “I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about.”
* * *
“Really, you're just going to keep an eye on Julia, make sure she's really telling us everything she knows,” Mallory reiterated to me for about the hundredth time.
Not only was I going in to see what I could find out about the family, I was also keeping an eye on Julia. So far, even though we knew she was holding back and we couldn't completely trust her, , she seemed to be as much in the dark as much as we were.
“Got it,” I said. “Why are we acting all super-secret again? Can't I just come out and ask him?”
“Well –” Mallory bit her lip, adjusting my tie for me as she met my gaze. “Let's just say I've done my research on the Santiago family. There's a pretty decent file for them in my office. Nothing on Julia or her father, but there may be a connection to some pretty violent crime families.”
“As in the Mafia?” I laughed, rolling my eyes.
“No, as in the drug cartels,” she said, her tone serious.
“You have got to be shitting me,” I said. “Please tell me you're joking.”
“I'm not,” she said, her voice dead calm. “Have I ever joked about something that serious before?”
The look in her blue eyes was cold and serious. I knew Mallory well, we'd been through a lot over the years, and I knew she wouldn't be making jokes about the cartels when they may be holding the key to finding our missing friend.
“Just be careful,” she muttered, biting her lower lip. “I don't like the feel of any of this. Something just smells off. Way off.”
Mallory reached out and stroked my cheek, and without thinking, I kissed her hand. It was meant to be a comforting gesture, but my lips lingered on her fingertips several moments longer than I'd intended, and with our eyes locked on one another, it felt like something more was happening between us.
Like the other guys, I thought the world of Mallory. I adored her and could imagine myself settling down with someone like her. Problem was, so could they. All of us wanted her, which meant none of us could have her. It would fuck things up in our little group and none of us wanted that. So, we had an unspoken agreement that Mallory was off limits.
“Enjoy your date,” she teased me before sending me out the door. “We'll be waiting outside in case you need us.”
“My very own backup squad,” I said, giving her a wink. “I feel important now.”
“You are important,” she said, her voice serious again. “Please, no matter what happens in there, don't take any chances and be smart, okay? Use your damn head. These could be some dangerous people, and I don't want you getting mixed up in anything.”
“Like Chris might have, you mean?”
“Yeah,” she said softly, a mournful tinge to her voice. “But God, let's hope not.”
“Don't worry, mama bear, I've got this,” I said.
We drove over in separate vehicles and I picked Julia up along the way. I'd been half expecting her to stand me up, which was something we'd already discussed. If that had been the case, I'd have showed up at the restaurant regardless, pretending that Julia had invited me. However, before I even got to her place, Julia texted me and asked where I was at. I responded as I parked outside her mini-mansion. Her home was ridiculous, especially for a single woman her age. Then again, I guess she could have been living with daddy still – though, I somehow doubted that. She walked out to the car, and while beautiful enough that I could see why Chris fell for her, there was something about her that wasn't exactly right. I couldn't place it, but there was a coldness in everything she did, and almost a wooden, or mechanical way she moved, that made me hate being next to her in the car. “I told my father I was bringing a date,” she said. “He wasn't happy by the last-minute change. My father doesn't like surprises.”
“But I'm still invited, right?”
She scowled. “Of course, you are,” she said. “If you weren't, do you really think I'd be riding over there with you?”
“You still don't understand why we're doing this, do you?” I asked.
“I don't understand why you can't just trust me,” she said.
“Because we don't know you, for one. And two, you haven't exactly been honest from the get-go,” I said. “So yeah, it's probably best if I come along for the ride, just to make sure everything stays on the up and up. Nothing personal, we're just concerned about our friend and want to make sure everybody's operating in good faith.”
“I'd never let anything happen to Chris,” she said.
There was a heat in her words. An anger that surprised me. It's as if she took great offense to the mere suggestion that she'd let anything happen to Chris, or that she somehow didn't care about him. It gave me a moment's pause, but only a moment – and then the moment passed.
“Never said you would,” I said. “I just think you know something you're not telling us.”
She no longer bothered to argue. Instead, she
slumped in her seat and pouted as we drove the rest of the way to the restaurant in silence. If she didn't want to talk, fine, but someone in her family might be more forthcoming. At least that was the hope.
We pulled up to the restaurant, and I tried to be a gentlemen and open Julia's door. She scowled at me and walked on by without a word. I glanced over and saw Jason's truck parked across the street. The windows were tinted, but I knew my three best friends were inside watching me. Not that I needed them. Even if the Santiago's were linked to the drug cartel, I didn't see things going down there. There's no way they'd straight shoot me in the middle of the Gaslamp Quarter.
El Huerto Secreto looked like a nice place, rather than a place run by some shady, violent cartel. Not that I'd ever been there before, but I'd heard the name. Tucked away in a brick building, almost hidden away as the name would imply – The Secret Orchard– had a patio with a garden-like atmosphere, surrounded by greenery so dense and thick, it almost made you feel closed in. Like you really were in some secret orchard out in the middle of nowhere, rather than in the middle of one of San Diego's biggest tourist districts.
Julia walked a few steps ahead of me but slowed down as we walked approached the gate to the patio. She turned to me and I could see the reticence in her face.
She whispered, “My family isn't always very accepting of outsiders,” she said. “Don't be surprised if my father gives you shit to try and rattle you. That's just who he is.”
“He likes to give all your potential boyfriend's shit?”
“Just like any father would,” she said. “Except, of course, he's not just any father.”
“What do you mean?”
There wasn't time for an answer though. We walked out onto the patio and were almost instantly surrounded by people, all of them speaking very fast in Spanish as they greeted Julia, hugging her and making a big fuss about her, all the while ignoring me. Not that I expected – or wanted – much attention. I looked around and noticed one woman, a gray-haired pudgy woman, with narrowed eyes and a pinched expression on her face, scrutinizing me from the back of the crowd.