****
Physically exhausted from her bruised ribs, and emotionally spent from her confession to Rafa, Genie plodded to her bedroom with one goal: to be asleep within five minutes. She yelped from the pain of removing her blouse. The thought of a shower too difficult, Genie kicked off her shoes and pulled back the comforter. She climbed into bed, pulled the covers up to her chin, and sighed, her tense muscles relaxing.
Ten minutes later, she lay wide awake. Her thoughts drifted to her kiss with Rafa at the hospital. Genie groaned. She kissed him! How many other women had kissed him first? She blamed him; he was pretty irresistible and frankly, she couldn’t resist. She wanted to know what it felt like.
Yet, that was only partly true.
Rafa had worn her resolve down. She tried to convince herself she wasn’t attracted to him; she couldn’t trust him because of who he used to be. Yet she couldn’t help but notice him, his kindness, his dedication to the job and his mother, his faith. It occurred to Genie that Rafa was a sweet man. An efficient officer and capable of securing her own residence, she reveled in his care of her. Genie placed a shaky hand over her pounding heart. Am I falling for him?
Her cell phone rang and caused her to lurch. Genie cried out in pain. She saw her friend’s name on the caller ID. “Audrey!”
“Hey, I know it’s really late, but I got your text. Did you make it home safely from the hospital?”
“Yes, Rafael drove me home.” Her trembling hand moved to her lips. “Audrey, we kissed.”
Silence greeted her on the other end.
“Audrey?”
Her friend laughed. “I was just picking my jaw up off the floor. What happened?”
“We were in the hospital and when I tried to walk out, he stopped me. Audrey, he was so close to me, and I couldn’t help myself.”
“Wait a minute. Are you telling me that you kissed him?”
“Yes,” Genie laughed. “Audrey, I can barely believe it myself.”
“Now this is an interesting development.”
“Mmm, he kissed me back.” Genie drew in a deep breath. “The kiss was amazing.”
“I bet.” Audrey giggled.
Genie yawned. “I probably should get some sleep while I can. The boss made it clear I need to be at work tomorrow.” Before Audrey responded, Genie heard a light rap on her bedroom window. Her head snapped in the direction of the window. “Wait a minute, Audrey. I think I hear something at my window.” She clicked off the light and saw a distinct shadow at the window. Genie threw herself to the floor. She winced, her ribs burning. “Audrey,” Genie spoke into her phone, gritting from the pain. “There’s someone at my window. I have to call you back.”
“Be safe!”
Genie dialed Rafa’s cell. He picked up on the first ring.
“Genie? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” His voice held concern along with grogginess.
“Rafael.” Her breath came in gasps. “Someone’s at my bedroom window.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he stated, his voice now alert. “Call the police.”
“Wait. He’s knocking again.” She grabbed her gun from the nightstand and crept towards the window.
“Detective Green!” a male voice whispered frantically.
Genie pulled back the curtain. “Rafa, it’s Diego!”
“Don’t let him leave.” Rafa disconnected the line.
Genie motioned for Diego to meet her at the back door. When she opened it, he clutched his chest and fell at her feet. “Diego!”
Genie placed her weapon on the nearby counter. She reached underneath his arms and pulled the groaning man inside. His hand remained at his chest. Genie knelt down, reached out, and removed his hand. Warm liquid oozed between her fingers. She held them up to the moonlight and there was no mistaking what she saw, or what she smelled: blood.
“You’re injured! We have to call 9-1-1.”
“No! No, I don’t know if they are still following me.”
Genie stiffened. “You led them here?” She stood quickly and snatched her weapon. She locked the back door and then peered out its window. Darkness stared back. Not even the porch light could penetrate it. Rafa, please hurry!
“I don’t know,” Diego responded with a hoarse cough.
“How did you find me?”
“From the hospital. I followed you. Wanted to make sure my sister was safe.” He coughed again and moaned.
Genie inwardly groaned. If Diego had been followed…
Diego’s moaning drew her back. She placed the gun back on the counter and reached for the dishrag draped over the kitchen sink. “How bad is it?” Genie bent down, dishrag in hand. “Let me see.” She pushed aside the hand covering a wound to his chest. “Diego, I’ve got to get you to a hospital.”
“No, it’s not bad.”
“Yes, it is! You could have a punctured lung or something. How did this happen?” She pressed the towel into his wound.
“I ran. After they showed up at Flores’ house, I ran. I had to get them away from her. I knew they would follow me if I ran.” He gurgled and coughed up blood.
“Okay, okay.” She snatched a towel from the handle of her oven and used it to wipe his chin. “Can you make it to the couch? I can better tend to you there, and it will be more comfortable.”
Genie grunted, ignoring her own painful ribs, as she pulled him off the floor and half-carried him to her living room couch. He moaned softly and settled back into the cushions. “Stay here. I’m going to get some antiseptic and gauze.” After retrieving her weapon, Genie hurried to the nearest bathroom and opened the vanity underneath the sink. She grabbed the first-aid kit and then sprinted to her bedroom for her holster. After pulling up a pair of jeans, she strapped her gun to her hip and proceeded back to the living room.
A heavy knock at the front door caused her to stop at the edge of the sofa. Please God, let that be Rafael! She peeked through the peephole. It was him! She yanked open the door, grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt, and pulled him inside. She flipped the deadbolt and rushed back to Diego.
“What happened?” Rafa came to her side to face Diego.
“It looks like he’s been stabbed.” She opened the medical kit.
Rafa knelt down and opened the man’s shirt. “Is it bad?”
“He’s been coughing, and the wound is still bleeding.”
“It’s not bad,” Diego countered. “He missed the heart.”
“Who missed the heart?” Rafa leaned forward with gauze.
Diego coughed again. A small stream of blood trickled down the outside of his lip. He cried out when Genie placed some liquid onto the wound. “I only heard the name Nicolas.”
“Montenegro,” Rafa breathed.
“One of the guys wasn’t doing so great.”
“That’s because I beat him to a pulp.”
Genie gave Rafa a sideways glance and smirk. “You enjoy mentioning that, don’t you?”
Rafa winked at her. He refocused on Diego. “Can you tell us why they are after you?”
Diego winced as Genie dressed the wound. “I… I overheard something. Something I shouldn’t have.”
“What was it?” Rafa pressed.
“I heard the owner and the manager talking about some dirty money. They had a lot of money they were going to funnel through the restaurant.”
“Money laundering.”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell us anything about the other deaths? Your girlfriend? Alberto Gonzalez?” Genie asked.
“Alberto, that old fool. I told him to leave early that night. He had a birthday party to get to — his birthday party. He wouldn’t leave and then he passed by the corner I was in and into the manager’s office. The door was slightly open, and I guess he didn’t think anyone was in there.” Diego stopped abruptly. His body shook, not from cold but from emotion. Even in the darkness, Genie saw his eyes water, and his next words were spoken in a shaky voice. “I told him to go home. I told him! All he did was emp
ty the trash.” Diego broke down, sobbing.
Rafa angled towards Genie. “Guess they couldn’t take the risk of any loose ends.”
“They assumed he had overheard them,” Genie agreed.
“What about you?” Rafa returned to Diego. “How did they know you overheard them?”
“Alberto. He mentioned I was just outside the door and if there wasn’t anything else they needed, we were going to leave,” he answered grimly.
“What about Maribol?” Rafa asked.
Diego put his hands over his face. “Maribol.” His voice threatened an onslaught of sobs. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. I was supposed to… I was supposed to die. They killed her because she was there that night.”
“At the restaurant?”
“Yes. She walked in as I was leaving. The manager saw her.”
“Perhaps they thought you’d say something to her,” Genie suggested softly. “I’m so sorry, Diego.”
Genie’s brows furrowed. She caught Rafa’s gaze. “No one mentioned she’d gone to the restaurant that evening.”
“She wasn’t supposed to be there. She stopped on her way home,” Diego sputtered through sobs. Then the whites of his eyes gleamed in the darkness. “We passed by some woman. She was on her way out with an order.”
Rafa nodded. “Consuela Cruz. She’s dead. So is Mario Desanto.”
Diego’s chest jerked, and he put an arm over his eyes. He cried softly into his sleeve. Rafa touched Genie’s arm and motioned for her to follow. When they were in the kitchen, out of earshot but still within sight of Diego on the couch, Rafa leaned in to her.
“We need to get him to a hospital now. He’s lost a lot of blood, and who knows what other injuries he has.”
Genie remembered the blood on Diego’s lips. “I agree. But he doesn’t know if he’s been followed here or not. That’s why I haven’t called 9-1-1. I wouldn't want to alert whoever is watching.”
She saw Rafa’s features tense. “If they did follow him, then they’ll know you’re helping him.”
“My only concern now, Rafa, is his safety. He needs to go into protective custody.”
He didn’t argue. “Fine. Let’s get him to the hospital now, and call the lieutenant to discuss a custody arrangement. I’ll go outside and see if it’s clear, then I’ll signal for you and Diego to follow.”
Rafa walked out the front door, and Genie came beside Diego. He was wiping his eyes with his sleeve. “Can you walk? We are going to get you to a hospital—”
“I can’t!”
“You can and you will,” she stated firmly and then her voice softened. “You need medical attention and you can see your sister. We’ll keep you safe, I promise.”
“No, you won’t. No one can keep me safe.” He grabbed her shirt and pulled her forward. His eyes bugged, the terror in them acute. “Not from them,” he whispered hoarsely.
Genie unlatched his hand from her shirt. She then wrapped an arm around him and hauled him from the sofa. Her chest on fire, she cried out in pain. A wave of weakness hit her, but she pushed herself to move, sweat beading her brow. One step at a time, she and a debilitated Diego moved toward the front door. After seeing the signal, she ushered Diego outside. Rafa sprinted up to her porch and took Diego the rest of the way while Genie locked the front door.
Genie jogged to the car. One foot in the car, she heard a branch snap. She whirled, drawing her weapon.
“What is it?” Rafa asked.
The breeze whipped, and she glanced up. The branches from the tree in her neighbor’s yard rustled and swayed in the wind. The darkened sky, illuminated with a splattering of tiny stars, revealed no shadows… no watchful eyes.
“Nothing,” Genie responded with hesitation. “I think.”
Rafael (The Santiago Brothers Book One) Page 28