“It’s too dangerous,” Dallas said.
“He’s right.” Normally, Austin didn’t shy away from a little risk. But after hearing the message DeLuna left on Roberto’s phone, it seemed apparent that DeLuna would shoot first and ask questions later.
“Tell me another way,” Roberto said. “And make it fast. The longer I take to contact them, the more suspicious they’ll be.”
Leah stepped out onto the porch. “What’s going to prevent Rafael from killing you?” she asked Roberto.
Austin had known she’d been listening. At first he worried it would be too much for her to hear, but then he realized she had a right to know.
Roberto met her gaze. “If he thinks I’m working for him, he won’t.”
“But when the police show, he’ll know you set him up.”
“I’m going to try to be out of there by then.”
“Yeah, try. But I listened to your plan, and you never mentioned how you were going to do that.”
“It’s risky, I know, but I haven’t come this far to walk away.”
“But have you come this far to die? Because that’s what’s going to happen. And my half brother has hurt too many people already.”
It was almost seven, dark, and quiet, except for the voices on the front porch. Leah had offered to make sandwiches for everyone. They’d declined. So she sat at the table staring at her hands. The cabin door opened. She expected it to be Austin; he’d come in earlier and just held her. It had felt so good, his arms around her, resting her head on his shoulder.
She looked back. Roberto shut the door and eased inside. “Can I sit down?”
Leah nodded, and suddenly she couldn’t help thinking of Sara. She’d been mesmerized by this man, and yet now he was probably going to go off and get himself killed. And it was Leah’s half brother who was probably going to do the killing. She wondered how she could even be related to that monster.
“Sorry for upsetting you,” he said.
She looked at him. “Don’t do it.”
He dropped his hands on the table. “When you went to see your brother, didn’t you know it would be dangerous?”
She took a deep breath. “Luis is still alive. But your wife—”
“I know, and as crazy as this sounds, until I get justice for them, it feels like my wife and son are alive, too.”
Deep down, Leah knew if Rafael had killed Luis, she’d feel the same way. “I just want the ugliness to end.”
“I do, too.” He ran his hand over the edge of the table as if considering his next words. “About Sara and what she did. I’m hoping you’re not upset with her. I know she was worried about it.”
Leah leaned in a bit, confused. “What happened with Sara?”
He closed his eyes a second. “I just thought… she said she was going to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
He appeared to debate speaking up.
“Sara’s my friend, I’m sure that whatever she did was… fine.”
He nodded. “She’s the one who took the bullet out of my leg.”
“Okay.” Leah gulped, trying not to think of the consequences if… if police got word of that.
“I put her in a bad spot. Don’t blame her.”
“I don’t.” And Leah wouldn’t. But then she couldn’t help adding, “She really likes you.”
He frowned. “She did. I pretty much ruined it.”
Her protective nature for her friend surfaced. “What did you do?”
His expression filled with remorse. “I was an idiot. I tried to apologize, but…” He raked a hand through his hair. “Just tell her I’m sorry.”
As soon as Roberto walked out, Leah went on a witch hunt for Austin’s cell phone.
Sara’s car was done early, so she’d had the shop bring it to her. She dropped off the cat at the other vet clinic and was picking up Brian, when her phone rang. Again. She let it ring.
Her mom looked at her suspiciously. “You aren’t going to answer that?”
“Nah,” she said.
Her mom, already suspicious since Sara had asked her to keep Brian, and was now there to pick him up, propped her hand on her hip. A hand on her mom’s hip usually led to being referred to by both her first and middle name.
“Sara Jane, sit your butt down and tell me what’s up.”
A frog-size knot tightened her throat. “I’m not ready to talk, okay?” She grabbed her phone to cut it off and saw it wasn’t Roberto.
Shit! It’s confession time. She looked at her mom. “I gotta take this.”
Sara walked into the bathroom. “Hello?”
Leah didn’t bother with formalities. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. Why?”
“I just spoke with Roberto and—”
“I’m sorry. He was bleeding, and then I shot him, and—”
“You shot him?” Leah asked.
“Not in the leg. He was already shot there. He gave me his gun and it went off. It… it only grazed his ear, but I felt bad. If you want to fire me, I’d understand.”
Leah exhaled. “No. I don’t care about that. Well, I do, but it’s okay. He said something about needing to apologize to you. What happened?”
Sara hesitated. “I did something stupid.”
“You mean besides shooting him?” Leah sounded perplexed.
“Yeah,” Sara answered. I had wild, wonderful sex with a man I hardly knew even when he’d practically told me he still loved someone else.
“Well, according to him, he thinks he’s the idiot.”
“He was!” Sara said, still bitter. “But I’m not without fault.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Leah asked.
“No. I want to forget it.” She pushed her own problems aside. “How’s Luis?”
“He’s black and blue, but he’s going to be okay.” Leah paused. “I’m sorry, Sara. You shouldn’t have gotten caught up in this. Even you meeting Roberto is on me. I’ve got this lunatic half brother and he’s… evil.”
“Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault.” Sara hesitated.
“Is Evelyn okay?” Leah asked.
“She’s worried about you. You know how she is, she thinks she’s the mother hen. She’s been bugging me to give her Austin’s number, do you mind?”
“No, give it to her,” Leah said.
“How’s Austin?” When Leah didn’t answer right away, Sara asked. “He won you over, didn’t he? I knew he was a good guy.” She sighed. “Why is it I can pick ’em for other people, but when I pick one for myself it turns out to be a clusterfuck?”
“Was it that bad?” Leah asked.
“It feels like it right now.”
“Okay.” Leah exhaled. “Shit. I probably shouldn’t say this, but I don’t think Roberto is all bad, either.”
“You’re right,” Sara muttered. “You shouldn’t say that.”
“I know, and I wouldn’t, but he’s about to… You’re right. Forget I said anything.”
Sara paused. “Damn! You can’t start to say something, then not finish. What is it?”
“You better have a damn good reason for disappearing!” Cruz snapped.
“I do.” Roberto looked at the four guys standing on the other side of the porch. He’d first tried to reach DeLuna by calling Don’s phone, but it had gone straight to voice mail. Probably already buried with Don’s body in some landfill.
“Then why the hell didn’t you take DeLuna’s call?”
“ ’Cause I was getting a bullet dug out of my leg.”
“What the fuck happened?” Cruz asked. Roberto heard someone in the background. DeLuna?
“Don and I had just got to the warehouse and Luke showed up. I was opening the door to the warehouse when a white Saturn pulled up and bullets went spewing everywhere.”
“Did you see who was shooting at you?”
“No. It was dark, then I must have passed out. When I woke up, Don and Luke were dead.”
“Then why are you still
alive?”
“Hell, I don’t know. Luck? Whoever did it probably thought I was dead. Do you know who it was?” He put some anger in his tone.
“Forget that. Who got the kid to the hospital?”
“How the hell would I know?” Roberto asked. “The last thing I remember was Don getting the kid out of the trunk. When I woke up I was bleeding like a stuffed hog and grabbed the keys out of Don’s dead hands and got the hell out of there. I found an emergency vet clinic and held the damn bitch at gunpoint and made her dig the bullet out. I’ve been holed up in some damn hotel, eating doggy pain pills.” Lies. He was getting too good at telling them.
“Who’s got the product?”
“I do. And I don’t like driving around with the shit.”
He heard the voice in the background again; this time he was certain it was DeLuna.
“Hang on,” Cruz said.
The line went silent. He knew Cruz was filling in DeLuna. And he couldn’t help wondering if they weren’t onto him and weren’t already planning where to hide his body. God, he hoped it wasn’t in some landfill beside Don and Luke.
“Hey,” Cruz said. “I’ll call you tomorrow and tell you where to meet us. Make sure you answer this time.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
LEAH HAD JUST hung up from checking on Luis. Rick said he was asleep. She’d almost set the phone down, when Austin’s phone rang. She glanced at the number and it was Evelyn. Her friend had dozens of questions, and Leah tried to answer them matter-of-factly. But when she asked Leah if Austin was behaving and Leah said, “Very well,” Evelyn somehow knew more than Leah wanted her to know.
“So he’s that good, is he? I should have known; he has big feet.”
Leah laughed, but she didn’t deny the implications. Heck, she didn’t want to deny them. She’d slept with Austin and it had been wonderful. It had been amazing. But…
“You deserve to be happy,” Evelyn said.
“Yeah.” Leah traced her finger along the table’s edge.
“Is that hesitation I hear?”
“I just… it happened fast and I’m not even sure we want the same thing.”
“What do you want?” Evelyn asked.
“A real relationship.” Everything my parents didn’t have.
Dallas stuck his head in the cabin to say good-bye; Leah said good-bye to Evelyn and walked outside to offer her farewell to the others. The night was dark, making the stars shine brighter, and the breeze came with night noises—insects and birds. The cool air whipped her hair around her face. Austin came and stood beside her. As everyone drove away, he dropped his arm around her and pulled her close. She leaned into his side, his scent mingling with the woodsy night air.
“You could have sat in on everything. We weren’t trying—”
“I think it would have made everyone uncomfortable.” It would have made her uncomfortable. She held no loyalty to Rafael. She wanted him caught, wanted him to pay for his sins. But down deep existed a thread of shame. Rafael shared her blood. He should have mattered, just as Luis mattered, but he didn’t.
All this time, she’d thought Rafael had been the lucky one to have had their father—to have had his love. Now she couldn’t help surmising if Rafael’s upbringing hadn’t somehow contributed to the terrible person he’d become. Who would have ever guessed it turned out that she and Luis had been the lucky ones.
Leaning into Austin’s warmth, she asked, “Did you talk Roberto out of seeing Rafael?”
Austin glanced down at her. “No, but we’re going to be close in case—”
“We?” she asked.
“Dallas, Tyler, and I. They’re supposed to call Roberto tomorrow and tell him where to meet. Early tomorrow, I’m taking you to a hotel in Austin and have another of our PIs with you just in case.”
Leah’s heart clutched. “What? You’re going to see Rafael, too?”
He squeezed her arm. “We’re going to be close. In case—”
She shook her head. “Someone could die. Just call the police.”
He ran a hand down her cheek. “Leah, we were the police. We’ve been trained to deal with this, plus we’re calling the police as soon as we know for sure he’s there and it’ll be a good arrest.”
“Or you kill him, right?” she asked. “Isn’t that what you’re really after?”
He hesitated, a mix of emotions on his face. A mix of emotions in her chest. “We want justice. Not blood.”
She looked at him, doubting his words.
He exhaled. “Okay, at one time we all wanted blood. But it’s not like that now. I want him caught because some people still think we did this.”
She walked to the edge of the porch. How could she blame him for that? She couldn’t. She wanted justice for what he’d done to Luis, too. “I hate that he’s my brother. I hate knowing that we share the same DNA.” Tears filled her eyes.
Austin came behind her, wrapped his arms around her middle, and pulled her against him. “I think about that, too. I don’t even know who my father was, but he can’t have been much of a man to have walked away from my mother and me. But I tell myself that our destinies are our own. We make our choices, not DNA.” They stood on that porch for the longest time. Just holding on to each other. It felt so right.
“It’s so quiet here.” She listened to the night.
“I know. I love it.” He held her even closer. “There are a few cabins around, but I own twenty acres. There’s a slight hill about an acre back. I dream of putting a house there.”
“It would be nice.” They didn’t talk for several more minutes.
“I’m starved. Let’s fix dinner.” He rubbed his palms up and down her arms.
She nodded and tried to forget what tomorrow might bring.
They made grilled cheese sandwiches. She noticed he’d bought margarine to cook with, and she knew he’d remembered her saying she preferred it. After dinner, he talked her into taking a shower, together.
He undressed her—slow and easy. Her modesty peaked, but as soon as she started removing his clothes, she didn’t mind her own state of undress.
They took turns washing each other—more touching and teasing than cleaning. Between the warm steam, hot kisses, and soapy hands, she was past ready when he guided her out of the shower. Before she walked out of the bathroom, she made him drop the window blinds.
“So no exhibitionist fantasies, huh?” he teased.
“Tons of them,” she teased back, “but I’ve lived that fantasy today.”
He laughed. When the blinds were lowered, they dropped into bed wearing nothing but smiles. Their lovemaking was less urgent this time, and somehow more meaningful than earlier.
He held her as they caught their breath. She rested her head on his chest and he ran a finger over her cheek, then lifted up and stared at her ear.
She cut her eyes up at him. “If they’re dirty, you’re going to have to talk to the guy who bathed me.”
“Just checking to see if any cat has ever tried to remove one of your ears.” Laughing, he tugged on her earlobe.
She chuckled.
“Do you have pierced ears?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you wear jewelry?”
She felt her heart clutch a little, remembering the jewelry her dad always brought her mom. “Remember, I don’t like gifts.”
“Why?”
“Just because.” That’s all she gave him.
They lay there talking about crazy things. Movies they liked. Which Saturday cartoon they watched as kids. Favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon. His was to come to his cabin. Hers was to read an entire book in one sitting.
He fell asleep. Leah fell back into worrying. Her heart raced with the thought that tomorrow he would confront Rafael. His hand shifted and rested on her hip, and his touch sent bolts of emotion to her chest. Would she lose him before they ever really had a chance?
The pain of that thought made her chest hurt, and she wanted to wake him. She
had questions. She wanted to know everything about him. His favorite candy bar. His favorite meal. Where had he gone to school? How many years had he worked on the police force?
What was this thing happening between them? Did they have a stab at a future? Had he ever been married?
Tears filled her eyes. She brushed them away before they fell on his bare chest. But fear, fear of where all this was leading, whittled its way into her heart.
She didn’t know him well enough to care this much. And yet, here she was, up to her eyeballs in caring.
“Can we really trust them?” Brad asked Roberto when Tyler and Dallas left the table to grab a beer. They’d been sitting at the hotel bar, going over the plans.
“They’re good guys,” Roberto said.
“I know, but when the cops get there, am I gonna end up in jail? Do they know that I—”
“No. They don’t know. I told them just what I told Cruz. That I didn’t see who shot at me and the others. And if that whole thing comes up, that’s what I’ll tell the cops, too.”
Brad sighed. “And if you don’t make it out, what’s going to happen?”
Roberto’s gut clenched. Why did everyone think he wouldn’t make it out? “Austin will take care of you.”
Brad nodded and kept quiet when the two guys returned.
Roberto’s phone rang. His heart jolted. Cruz was supposed to call tomorrow. Was he ready to do this now? He checked the number. His heart did another tumble.
“Is it them?” Dallas asked.
“No.” He stared at the number. “I gotta take this.” He stood and started out.
Then, afraid she’d hang up, he answered. “Hi, Sara. I’ve tried to call you a dozen times.”
He walked into the hotel lobby and headed to a quiet corner. “Sara, this is you, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Her voice sounded hesitant. “What are you doing, Roberto?”
“I was having a beer.”
“No. I mean… I talked to Leah. She said you were going to get yourself killed.”
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