The Witness (Harlequin Super Romance)

by Style, Linda

  “What does it look like? I followed you. I knew you’d do something stupid like this. And when you didn’t come out, I got worried.”

  “It’s not stupid. And I sure as hell don’t need a babysitter.”

  “You don’t know how dangerous it is to be here.”

  Crista almost laughed. This was the perfect opportunity to tell him she knew the dangers better than he did since she’d spent seventeen years of her life in this hellhole. But before she had a chance to get the words out, she heard voices and shouting and then a gunshot right outside the front door. Drawing her weapon again, she motioned Alex to get back. “Stay out of sight,” she whispered and then she crept around the corner to the bedroom and flattened herself against the wall.

  The front door burst open and through the crack between the door and the jamb, she saw two men come in. Diego. And Trini behind him. But as they came farther inside, she saw Trini had a gun jammed against Diego’s neck.

  Oh, God! Crista tightened the grip on her weapon. She didn’t know what was going down, but she knew she had to wait for the right moment to do something or Diego was a dead man. She prayed Alex didn’t make a sound.

  Still holding the gun on Diego, Trini shoved her brother into the chair. “It’s blood in, blood out. You know that!”

  Crista’s chest constricted as she saw the large TS tattoo on Trini’s forearm. Alex had been right. Diego was involved with the jail gang. Blood in, blood out meant the only way into the gang was to maim or kill someone. And the only way out was to die.

  Trini bounced from one foot to another, his hand twitching on the butt of the gun. “You want out, that’s the only way it can go down,” Trini said. He paused, waving his weapon in Diego’s face. “This ain’t easy for me, mi amigo. I’m cutting you a break. You take out Del Rio, and I’ll turn my back while you go.”

  “You’re cutting me a break? You’re a lying sack, Trini.”

  “We’re amigos. Why don’t you trust me?”

  Diego scoffed. “For one, I asked you to lay off Crista, and you agreed. Only now I find out you’ve been stalking her.”

  Trini shrugged. “I gotta do what I gotta do, man.”

  Stunned, Crista held her breath. Trini wanted Diego to kill Alex? Was all this because Trini wanted to get back at her? But that couldn’t be it. Alex had been a target before she came on the scene.

  “What’s it going to be?” Trini stood with his feet apart, twitching and waving his gun at Diego.

  One wrong twitch and his gun could go off.

  Suddenly Trini glanced toward the kitchen as if he’d heard something.

  Oh, God. Alex. Alex had heard everything.

  “I can’t do it,” Diego said.

  Trini drew his gaze back to Diego. His eyes narrowed and, with his hand still on the gun, he spat out, “I’m giving you a chance, and you’re throwing it in my face. The Syndicate finds out I let you go without blood, we’re both dead.”

  “Not if we get protection.”

  Trini let out a cackle of crazy laughter. “You’re loco, man. The Syndicate is deep in the blue. That’s why everything works so well.”

  Diego looked up, his eyes on the bedroom door. Crista stood perfectly still.

  Trini let out a sigh of resignation, as if he wasn’t sure what to do now.

  She had to make a move.

  “With Del Rio out of the way, the Syndicate moves one of our men inside and everyone looks the other way. Business gets even better.”

  Trini stepped closer to Diego, bent over and waved the gun in Diego’s face. “We took care of you in prison, mi amigo. It’s payback time.”

  Diego’s lips thinned.

  Trini straightened and pulled out a cigarette, offering one to her brother.

  Crista aimed her gun. Now! Suddenly, Alex appeared behind Trini, directly in her line of fire. She couldn’t risk shooting Alex. Taking the only action she could, her gun still aimed at Trini’s head, she stepped into the room. “Drop it!”

  Trini turned. His mouth fell open.

  “Drop it or you’re dead!”

  Still holding his own weapon, Trini’s gaze raked over Crista, his confidence seemingly unshaken. “Querida. You can’t shoot me.”

  “I said drop it!”

  He gave a smarmy smile. “You couldn’t shoot a man who gave you so much pleasure, could you? A man who knows how to satisfy you.”

  Crista didn’t flinch. “Try me. I’ll start with the cojones.”

  As the words left Crista’s lips she saw Alex lunge for Trini’s gun and in a sudden flurry of motion, Crista kicked Trini’s legs from under him. Trini went down, his weapon crashing to the floor. Crista dropped a knee on Trini’s back and shoved the barrel of her Glock at his temple.

  “Bring your hands around behind you, above my knee,” she ordered, and then jammed her gun harder against Trini’s head. “Diego, get the cuffs from my purse.” When he did, both Diego and Alex held Trini down while she cuffed him. After Trini was secured, they stood, chests heaving. No one said a word, each apparently trying to make their own sense of what had just happened.

  Crista glanced at Diego and then Alex. Alex turned away, as if he couldn’t look at her.

  Hauling in a lungful of air, Crista pulled out her cell phone and called for backup.

  Within minutes, the sirens sounded outside and Crista went to the door.

  The first patrol car on the scene was Captain Englend’s.

  AFTER GETTING the basic information from Diego about the assault, the captain directed one of the other officers to take Trini into custody. Alex drove himself to the station and Diego rode with Crista. Before they left the house, Crista advised both Alex and Diego not to say anything about Trini’s accusations. If there was corruption in the system, they didn’t know who they could trust.

  Crista and Diego rode in silence, as if talking about the incident might make it worse. Finally, Crista couldn’t take it any longer and said, “Can you tell me what was happening back there? I only got the gist of what Trini was saying.”

  She expected him to say no, but then he said, “What do you want to know?”

  What didn’t she want to know. “Are you a member of the Texas Syndicate?”

  Diego’s expression hardened. “It’s not what you think.”

  “Okay. Clue me in.”

  He hesitated, then cleared his throat, as if this was difficult for him to talk about. “When I got to Huntsville, I learned the only way to survive was to join one of the jail gangs. The Texas Syndicate tried to recruit me, but I held back. I knew how ruthless they were.”

  Crista held her breath. Blood in—blood out. She couldn’t imagine Diego hurting anyone.

  “I was attacked one night and I fought the guy off. He cut me twice, but I wrestled the shiv away from him and…” He stopped, unable to finish.

  Crista’s hands tightened on the wheel till her knuckles went white. “You…killed someone?”

  He closed his eyes and nodded. “It was self-defense. He attacked me and would have killed me if I hadn’t gotten him first. The guards saw it all. No charges were filed.”

  She’d fired on criminals before, but she’d never killed anyone. She couldn’t imagine how that would feel—no matter what the situation. A human life was a human life.

  “The Syndicate saw that fight as my initiation. From that point on, I had protection from the TS.” His face held no expression, almost as if he was talking about someone else.

  “It was the only way to survive in there. Trini was a member of the TS when he was in Gatesville and the Syndicate expects their guys to recruit on the outside once they leave. Since Trini and I were barrio brothers, they had him contact me before I was released. I told him I wanted out.”

  She glanced at him. Was he telling the truth?

  “Both of us knew there was only one way out. But he had a job for me, and he figured if I carried it out, that would cover me. Only I couldn’t do it. He got crazy. He figured he was helping me and
I was screwing him over.”

  “Why couldn’t you do it?” Had meeting Alex and his family been a turning point?

  He turned to her, his expression incredulous. “I’m not a killer,” he said. By the inflection in his voice, he thought she should know that. “Then you showed up. I thought if you could turn your life around, maybe I could, too.”

  He sank back against the seat. “I was wrong. It’s not possible. Not for me.”

  “But it is,” Crista said quickly. It was what she’d always wanted for him. “What’s to stop you now?”

  “If I testify against Trini, I’m a dead man.”

  “I’ll get you protection.”

  He scoffed. “From who? The Houston Police?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re wearing blinders, m’ija. The police are as corrupt as the Syndicate. Who do you think ordered the hit on your friend?”

  She turned so quickly to look at him, her neck cramped. Her foot jammed hard on the gas. “Are you saying someone in the department ordered the hit on Alex?”

  He nodded.

  “You have proof?”

  Diego rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. His mouth turned down at the corners. “Trini does. Ask him before the police let him go.”

  “He’s not going anywhere. He has a list of charges against him as long as my arm. Including assaulting an officer.”

  “Doesn’t matter. The Syndicato won’t let either of us testify.”

  She frowned, her mind scrambling for a solution. “Well…maybe we won’t need your testimony. Alex was there. I was there. We know what happened and I think we have enough evidence to put Trini away for a long time.”

  Diego gave her a look that said she was naive. “You think that will help? There’ll always be someone else to take his place.”

  She couldn’t blame him for being cynical. “You might be right, but taking Trini off the streets is a start. If we can show kids that joining a gang isn’t all that great…” She stopped herself. Now she was sounding like Alex. She gripped the wheel tighter. “Did you know they arrested Marco for the Encanto shootings?”

  “Marco? That’s ridiculous. With what evidence?”

  “The gun.”

  “He doesn’t own a gun. It had to be a plant.”

  Something she’d already thought of. They needed a body and Marco was as good as any. But a plant meant there was a dirty cop in her unit. Someone who had access to Pedro’s gun. Was it Fontanero? He was the logical pick since he’d made the collar.

  But she couldn’t let her dislike for the man color her thinking. She needed to see the file. See who’d been with Fontanero on the arrest. If what Diego said was true, if someone in the department had ordered the hit on Alex, it happened before Fontanero came on board, and if the dirty cop wasn’t Fontanero, who could she confide in?

  Turning the corner, she saw several squad cars returning to the parking garage. Her call had generated more backup than she’d seen in a long time. Then she saw Alex’s Lincoln sandwiched between two squad cars.

  Alex. What could he possibly think after all this? What would he think of her now that he knew she’d been with Trini? Her throat closed. If ever she’d thought they might have had a future…. Hell, who was she kidding? She knew it was a fantasy when she first met Alex. She knew it now. Making love—falling in love—didn’t change that.

  She parked the Jeep and started to get out, but Diego didn’t move. “You need to come inside with me. They may have more questions for you.”

  “Where’s Trini?”

  “He’s with the captain. He’ll be in a separate room. You won’t even see him.”

  Diego fidgeted. He looked as if he was ready to bolt, and she couldn’t blame him. His experience with cops had always been bad. But this time he was the victim. “I’ll be there for you, Diego. I promise.”

  The first thing Crista did when she went inside was to take Trini’s gun to Josey in CSU. “Top priority,” Crista said. “I need the information ASAP.”

  After that, she asked Diego to sit at her desk and wait. No one knew he was her brother, but that was going to come out very soon. Alex was in with the captain.

  She pulled out the papers to start her report, but the phone rang.

  “Can you come in here, please,” the captain’s voice boomed.

  “I have to go for a few minutes, Diego. If someone comes to question you, don’t say anything except what you already said.”

  She passed Alex leaving the captain’s office as she went in. His jaw looked as if it were wired shut and his expression could’ve been chipped from granite.

  “If you’re looking for my report, I’ll have it done within the hour,” she said to Englend after Alex left.

  Englend’s gaze bored into her. “I’m going to lay it on the table, Detective. It’s come to my attention that you and Mr. Del Rio are romantically involved.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “It doesn’t matter how I know, only that I do. You’ve broken department policy and it’s going to cost you.”

  Trini. He was going to get even with her, one way or another. “You took me off the case. Remember? How is that breaking policy?”

  He ignored her question. “And your screwups almost lost us the Encanto case.”

  “Screwups? What are you talking about?”

  He didn’t answer. “There’ll be an IA investigation. And until we get the results of that, you’re on administrative leave.”

  Crista couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “I want your gun and your badge.”

  Her stomach knotted. “You’re going to need my testimony to wrap up both cases.”

  “Forget it.” His voice was cold. “The Encanto case is solid. We’re done with it.”

  She didn’t think so. The fact that the gun used in the shootings and the gun Pedro used were the same changed everything. Pedro’s gun had been confiscated by the police. So how could it possibly show up in Marco’s possession? She had a pretty good idea, but she couldn’t tell Englend. Not until she made sure. Not until she knew who the dirty cop was.

  Not until she knew who ordered the hit on Alex.

  She set her gun and her badge on his desk, then went back and sat by Diego.

  The captain quickly came over. “You can go, Santiago.”

  “I’m here on my brother’s behalf, Captain. Captain Englend, I’d like you to meet my brother, Diego. If you’re done with him, we’ll be happy to leave.”

  Diego stood and extended his hand.

  The captain sputtered and without acknowledging Diego, he stormed back to his office. Just then her phone rang and she picked it up.

  “You’re not going to believe this,” Josey said.

  “Josey, I don’t have time for guessing games.”

  “There were two sets of prints on Navarro’s gun, his and another. The other print matches one I found on the gun used in the Encanto crime.”

  “You check AFIS?” If the print was in the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, they had a suspect.

  “I did. There’s nothing on the second print. The only match was Navarro’s.”

  If the other print belonged to the cop who planted the gun on Marco, it wouldn’t be in the criminal system, but it might be in the state system. All cops had to be fingerprinted.

  “Can you run it through the state’s database, and call me on my cell phone with the results?”

  “Uh, sure,” Josey said. “This is getting more interesting all the time.”

  Crista sighed. “Let’s not say anything until we get some results. Okay?”

  “Sure thing. Confidential all the way.”

  “Thanks,” she said, then hung up and turned to Diego. “I need to go again, but I’ll be back soon. When they interview you, don’t offer anything. Just answer their questions. The only thing these guys have the right to do is ask questions and take the information from you to file charges against Trini. Once you’re finished, go to
my car. If I’m not there yet, get inside and wait for me.” She pulled open her desk drawer and gave him her duplicate key.

  Fontanero was gone. Good. She did a quick check to make sure no one was watching and then pulled the Encanto case from his desk, shoved it into her briefcase and headed to Closed Cases before anyone could find out she’d had to relinquish her badge. The clerk at the screening desk recognized Crista and let her go directly inside without checking her status. Finding Pedro Castillo’s case file, Crista riffled through it again just to be sure. Nothing. Nowhere did it say the gun had been impounded. Either Pedro was lying or there was a cover-up.

  ANGER CHURNED in Alex’s gut as he drove home from the police station. If he hadn’t been working on the task force, none of this would’ve happened. His daughter had been injured because of him and it could’ve been worse.

  Had Crista been right when she’d said nothing would change in the barrios? God, he hoped that wasn’t true. He couldn’t think that way or everything he believed in wouldn’t mean a thing.

  He’d already seen progress. All the boys working for him had been in gangs, or on the verge of joining. Now they were spending more and more time at the center, and a couple of them actually talked about improving their grades and maybe going on to college.

  But if it meant putting his family in harm’s way…could he justify it?

  Deciding against going home, he turned and drove directly to the center. It was late, after ten o’clock, and no one would be there. The perfect place to think about what the hell he was doing. Someone wanted to take him out. The Syndicate wanted to get their guys inside and according to Navarro, someone in the police department was behind it. Did Navarro’s arrest mean his family was safe? Alex didn’t think so.

  Navarro’s words kept repeating in his head. “You couldn’t shoot a man who knows how to satisfy you.”

  In shock, he’d been unable to talk to Crista after that. And every time he thought about it, he felt like he might puke. She’d told him she’d been married once and it hadn’t worked out. She’d told him about her brother and her job, but that was it. She’d never mentioned being involved with a ruthless hood. What other dark secrets was she hiding?