“The money is safe where it is,” Ramos explained when I asked. “I’ll get it tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” I agreed, then remembered my purse. “Do you think they’ll put my purse in the safe too?”
“I’ll call Max and tell him.”
“Thanks,” I said, then remembered my phone. “Damn! I’m supposed to call Chris tonight, and my phone’s in my purse.”
“You can use mine.”
Nick opened the car door for me, and I got out, feeling almost back to my old self. At least the shaking had stopped. Still, I kept Ramos’ jacket around me, knowing it was silly, but feeling better with it on. Ramos unlocked the door to the house and pushed in the security code. Standing just inside he said, “Wait here.” He turned on the lights, and with Nick, quickly went through the house. Several minutes later, he waved me in. Normally I would have thought that was overkill, but not after today.
He handed me his phone. “Make it quick. I need to call Manetto.”
“Sure,” I agreed, grateful to have an excuse to give Chris as few details as possible. I couldn’t go into it tonight, but once I got home, I’d tell him everything. Maybe. Or maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. I didn’t want to upset him, and I knew he’d be…well, probably furious, distraught, anxious, and downright grumpy. Did I really want to put him through that? Not so much.
I went up to my room and straight into the bathroom, plugging the tub, and turning on the hot water. I called it bath therapy, and I needed it bad. With the tub filling up, I was ready to place the call.
“Hello?” he asked.
“Chris. It’s me.”
“Oh…I didn’t recognize the number. What happened to your phone?”
“It’s at the club where I played the poker match. I left it there on accident, so Ramos let me use his. I’ll get it tomorrow. Anyways…guess what?” I asked.
“What?” he sounded tired and a little grumpy.
“I won the poker match! Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah, that’s great.”
“You sound tired. Are you okay?” I asked.
He sighed. “Yeah, it’s just late. You’re forgetting that it’s after midnight and I have to go to work in the morning.”
“That’s right, I’m so sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m glad you called. So you’re okay? Everything’s okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m good. Listen, I’ll let you get back to sleep, and I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” he said. “Love you.”
“Love you too.” I disconnected and felt my chest constrict with pain. I missed my husband with a physical ache. He sounded so far away, and right now I really needed him. Tears ran down my cheeks, and I sniffed, wishing he were here to hold me.
A knock sounded at my door, and I quickly wiped the tears away before opening it. Ramos stood there. He’d come for his phone. “Oh yeah,” I said. “Here. Thanks.” I handed it to him. He took in my wet cheeks and a wave of guilt rushed over him.
“I’m real sorry about what happened tonight,” he said. “I never thought you’d be in so much danger.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. It’s not your fault.”
“Yes it is,” he said. “I was just too bullheaded to see what Carson would do. Can you forgive me?”
I looked up into his eyes and saw sincere remorse reflected in them. “Of course,” I sniffed. “I don’t regret it, Ramos. You’re my friend. We’ve been through a lot together, and you’ve always been there for me, just like you were tonight.”
“When I heard those shots and saw you lying on the floor, I thought…I was afraid you’d been hurt or worse, and it was all my fault.” He raised his hands to my face and gently wiped the tears away with his thumb. He cared for me more than he thought, and thinking that I’d almost died had made him realize that. It was his fault that I was crying, and he wished he could comfort me. He gazed at me tenderly and swallowed, his need to comfort me changing into something more. I immediately sensed a wave of desire rush over him, and his sudden need to kiss me.
My heart rate spiked, and I put my hands around his wrists. “Um…wow, can you hear that? I’m filling up the tub for a bath. I hope it’s not overflowing.”
A goofy smile crossed Ramos’ lips, and he dropped his hands. “Better go take care of it then,” he said, his voice low.
“Yeah. Um…see you in the morning.”
He nodded and turned away, thinking he’d wanted to kiss me, and he’d felt I’d wanted to kiss him back, but he was glad that I hadn’t let that happen. There was more to me than most women. I was brave and loyal to a fault, and it gave him hope that maybe someday he could find someone he could trust like that for himself.
I shut the door and leaned against it, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. I didn’t know which had been more dangerous, nearly being killed, or nearly being kissed.
Chapter 12
I woke the next morning and realized this was my last day in Orlando. It didn’t bother me in the least. I’d had a good sleep, better than I’d thought possible, and with the stress of the last few days lifted, I didn’t mind putting on the same jeans I’d been wearing for the last few days. So what if they smelled a little funny. I was going home.
Since I hadn’t worn my Lady Gaga t-shirt yet, I slipped that on. The song about Alejandro came to mind and I blushed, remembering the almost kiss of last night. I was glad it hadn’t happened, but just as glad I had the t-shirt to remember this trip with. This t-shirt was like a token of my time spent with Ramos. It had taken on a more personal meaning for me, and because of that, I would always treasure it.
After fixing my hair and putting on a little make-up, I wandered downstairs for breakfast. I made some toast and got out a yogurt and sat at the table to eat. That’s when I found the note. It was from Ramos. He’d taken Nick to the airport for an early flight out and would be back soon.
That was strange. If we were going home today, why did Nick need to leave early? What about Uncle Joey’s plane? Was it still here? Or did Nick take it back for something important? Where did that leave Ramos and me? Why didn’t he wake me up so I could go too?
I was getting all worked up, and that wasn’t good. There had to be a reasonable explanation, and I needed to calm down and wait for Ramos to get back so he could explain what was going on. I finished my food, washed my spoon, and had nothing to do. The pool looked inviting, but that would involve getting wet and re-doing my hair and makeup. I couldn’t chance it if we were leaving right away. I didn’t even have my purse to check my phone messages. So I did the only thing left and got out a diet soda, put it in a glass with crushed ice, and started guzzling.
Just then, the doorknob turned, and Ramos came inside. Finally. Now maybe I could get some answers. “I saw your note,” I began. “So Nick left? Did he take Uncle Joey’s plane? What are we going to do now? I still need my purse.”
“Babe, chill,” he said. “We have some things to take care of before we can leave, so Nick took a commercial flight. The plane’s still here, but he had to get back.”
“Oh, okay,” I said. Ramos hadn’t shaved yet, and he had on the same clothes from last night. “You look tired. Didn’t you get any sleep?”
“Just a couple of hours,” he said, slumping down onto the couch, and rubbing his eyes. “I had to get Carson taken care of.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “He’s dead. He’s not going to bother us anymore.”
Ramos sighed. “Yeah, but I couldn’t leave things the way they were at the house for the police to find, especially the crooked cops. They’d suspect me first thing, and I had to make sure that wouldn’t happen.”
“Oh. I hadn’t even thought about that.” I glanced at him, but he wasn’t going to tell me what happened unless I asked. “So what did you do?”
“You really want to know?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Or you can just let me get it from your mind.”
He rolled his eyes in
exasperation, knowing there wasn’t much he could keep from me. “Nick and I collected Carson’s body and went to the dock. We convinced Carson’s men that it would be in their best interests to work with us. When they heard Carson’s associates were looking for him, they decided to cut their losses and clear out. They helped us put Carson into his boat, and sent him out to sea. When his boat was far enough away, they blew it up.”
“Wow,” I said, my eyes widening.
“Yeah,” Ramos agreed. “Last I heard, they were going back to the house to collect any valuables they wanted to keep before taking off for parts unknown.”
“That’s pretty ruthless,” I said.
“Not really. It’s just common sense. Who knows,” he shrugged, “maybe one of them will try and take over his business? I told them Manetto might be interested in continuing the business relationship if they got it cleaned up. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
“Oh, I guess so,” I said. “I hadn’t thought of it that way. So what now?”
“We need to get the money…and your purse,” he added with a wry smile, “from Max. He should have everything ready for us.”
“So, we’re leaving? We’re going home?” I asked.
“Well, there is one more thing.” Ramos hated to ask, but it might be his last chance to find out anything about his brother.
“Oh, right,” I agreed. “We need to talk to Fitch. But what are we going to tell him about Carson? He can’t find out that Carson’s dead, or he’ll suspect you for sure.”
“True, but we still need to let him know about Esposito and his buddies. I don’t know if Fitch will be able to do anything about them now that Carson is gone, but maybe he can investigate them on his own.”
“True,” I said. “Why don’t I call him and we can meet for lunch at the same place we did before?”
“Sounds good.”
“Only…his number is in my purse.”
Ramos shook his head. “Of course it is.” He took out his phone and called Max, telling him we’d be there for the money and my purse in about an hour. “I’m going to take a quick shower and change.”
With Ramos in the shower, I hurried back upstairs and packed all my things. I found Ramos’ blazer and couldn’t help holding it close, smelling his scent, and remembering how he’d saved me last night. I knew it was silly, but holding his jacket was like holding him, something that could never happen for real.
I carried it downstairs, and Ramos soon joined me, his hair wet and curling around his ears. His eyes held that dangerous glint of a man on a mission. Or, maybe he was just tired.
“Thanks for letting me use this,” I said, handing it back to him.
“Sure,” he smiled. “Glad to. Are you ready to go? We’ll come back for our things after we take care of the money and talk to Fitch.” He was thinking that if Javier were here in Orlando, he might want to contact him before we left, which could put leaving off until tomorrow. He glanced at me, hoping I was okay with that.
I choked back my response. I was not okay with that. Didn’t he know I needed to get back to my husband and family? But how could I tell Ramos that now? I waited, hoping he’d change his mind.
He was thinking that when it came to Javier, he really didn’t know what to do. He wanted to talk to him, but he also understood that it might not be the best thing for Javier.
I sighed. This was a hard decision to make, and I decided to wait and see what Fitch said before I told Ramos what I thought.
Ramos was beginning to wonder what I was thinking. He couldn’t figure out why I didn’t respond to his thoughts. Did that mean I didn’t want to stay? He was starting to get worried. Usually I just blurted out what I thought. Was he asking too much of me? Would I do it for him?
“Let’s talk to Fitch first,” I said, to reassure him. “Then we can decide what to do.”
Ramos let out a ragged breath and nodded. “Okay.” He knew he was tired, and didn’t want to overreact, but this was his brother. All these years he’d thought he was dead. He needed my help, but he wasn’t going to beg.
I placed my hand on his arm. “I’ll help you, Ramos. But you might have to help me too. My husband is waiting for me to come home. If it comes to that, it would help if I could tell him the real reason why I needed to stay another night. Think about it, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” He pushed thoughts of his brother away and focused on me. He was being selfish, and it came as a shock. I’d helped him so much already, the least he could do was give in on this point. “You’re right. I’ll talk to Chris myself, if it will help.”
“Really?” I couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Sure. As long as he doesn’t tell anyone else.” He was thinking he wouldn’t tell Chris whole story. That way he wouldn’t have to kill him.
“What?” I said sharply, swatting him on the arm.
“Just kidding,” he chuckled, fending off my blows.
“Geez,” I said. “Talk about giving me a heart attack.”
Ramos snickered, thinking he liked teasing me, but he’d never kill my husband. He might think about it for obvious reasons, but he’d never do it…for the same obvious reasons. “Let’s go, or we might have to stay another night anyway.”
I got in the car, feeling a little elated that Ramos really did care about me. Did that make me a bad wife? I took a deep breath and tried to put things into perspective. I knew he cared about me, but I also knew there was no way anything could come of it. He knew it too. So what had changed? Absolutely nothing.
Feeling better, I turned to him. “Can we ride with the sunroof open and listen to some more of that salsa music?”
“Sure,” he smiled.
If this was our last day together, I wasn’t going to spend it worrying about where we stood with each other, or something that wasn’t ever going to be. Heck no, I was going to enjoy it.
The drive to the club passed in easy friendship, and Max was happy to see us alive and unharmed. “I’m glad you came out of that okay,” he said, thinking he was embarrassed that we got arrested in his club. It was bad for business. “I’m sorry those cops got in here. The only thing I could think of was that Carson must have tipped them off.”
“He did,” Ramos said. “But we got everything straightened out.”
“Good.” Max pushed his curiosity aside, knowing the less he knew the better, and turned to me. “I heard you played an awesome game. I wish I could have seen it. You know, it takes a real good poker player to beat a professional like Carson. My people were impressed. Any time you want to play here, you’re more than welcome. I’ll even wave the set-up fee.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling. “I’ll remember that.”
Next, we stopped at the bank for Ramos to deposit the money. I opted to stay in the car and call Fitch. I found his card, and was interested to see the precinct number crossed through and another number written above it. Probably his cell. I quickly punched in the numbers and waited for him to pick up.
“Hello?” he asked.
“Detective Fitch, this is Shelby Nichols. I have some important information for you. Could you meet with me at the same place as last time in about half an hour?”
“Yes, of course. Will your friend be there?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, see you then.” He disconnected.
Ramos returned to the car, and we headed for the restaurant. It was early for lunch, but that made it easier to get the table in the far corner where it was more private. At least this time, we got there before Fitch.
“Since he doesn’t know we know my brother’s alive, how are we going to find out more about him?” Ramos asked. “I guess I could just come out and tell him I know Javier’s alive, but I’d rather not do that. Fitch might warn him, and then I’d never see him.”
“That’s a good point,” I agreed. “Somehow, you’re going to have to start talking about Javier so I can pick up that information from Fitch’s thoughts. If that doesn’t work
, I’ll try and think of something that will.”
“Okay,” Ramos said. “But let me do the talking about Carson and the bad cops.” He was worried that I might say more than I should and get us into trouble. He was probably right, so I tried not to be offended.
We ordered drinks and some chips and salsa while we waited for Fitch. He finally came in looking a little frazzled and unhappy. He was thinking that they’d found bits and pieces of a boat floating near the Titusville Marina this morning. So far they hadn’t been able to identify it, but with my phone call, he figured it had something to do with Carson. He didn’t want the explosion tied to Ramos, and worried about what we had to tell him.
I glanced at Ramos and whispered out of the corner of my mouth. “He’s thinking about the blown up boat they found this morning and wondering if it has something to do with Carson.”
Ramos nodded and stood as Fitch approached. “Fitch, have a seat.”
“Shelby, Ramos,” Fitch said as he sat down. “What can I do for you?”
“It’s more that there’s something we can do for you,” Ramos began. “I have some information that would benefit you and your police department, but it’s of a sensitive nature.”
Fitch nodded, knowing it was something he might have to overlook as a cop. As long as it didn’t involve murder, he’d be fine with that. “All right,” he said. “I’ll bite.”
The waiter came over, interrupting us, but Ramos handled it like the pro he was. “Do you have time for some lunch?” he asked Fitch. “We can talk after we’ve eaten.”
Fitch was thinking that with his six a.m. phone call, he’d already put in five hours, so he might as well take the time to eat. From what Ramos had said, this might be more beneficial than any fieldwork he could do anyway. “Sounds good.”
The waiter took our orders, and Ramos and Fitch talked about sports until our food arrived. After we’d eaten and the table was cleared away, Ramos got down to business.
“Last night,” Ramos began. “Shelby was playing a round of poker with Carson when we got interrupted by a couple of detectives and two cops.”
Fitch frowned. “What did they want?”
Secrets That Kill: A Shelby Nichols Adventure Page 20