by Sybil Bartel
“Dellis.” But I was going to speak to him about that later. “You’re very young.”
“But not inexperienced.” He gave me a practiced smile. “How much do they know about Miami?”
I knew he meant the man not the city. “Blaze said Ariel confessed to killing him.”
His head dropped and he started writing on a yellow pad of paper. “And Ariel is?”
“A stripper he beat and raped the night he died.”
More writing. “Blaze?”
“My um...” I cleared my throat. “Gunnery Sergeant Blaze Johnson. He’s my—boyfriend. He was there last night.”
“Was he present the night of the yacht fire?”
When I didn’t answer, he looked up. “Right. Okay.” He touched his temple with two fingers and raised an eyebrow. “Any other injuries from last night?”
“Shorty also punched me in the stomach.”
He frowned. “Did you receive medical attention for these injuries?”
“An ambulance was on scene, the paramedic checked me out. I refused to go to the hospital.”
The lines on his forehead deepened, he wrote some more then looked up again. His clear blue eyes were ten shades darker than Buck’s. “Shorty’s real name?”
I glanced back at André.
“Michael Maldonado,” André answered.
“Were you also present last night, Mr. Luna?”
Barrett knew André’s last name?
“Yes, sir.”
“In an official capacity?”
“Yes, sir. Gunnery Sergeant Johnson retained my services on Miss Dellis’s behalf. I gave my report to the police last night.”
“Were there witnesses to Mr. Maldonado’s assault of Miss Dellis?”
“Yes, sir. Three, sir.”
Barret frowned again then slowly sat back in his chair. “Mr. Luna, if you were protecting Miss Dellis, how did Mr. Maldonado manage to get close enough to strike her not once, but twice?”
André stiffened. “An oversight, sir, won’t happen again, sir.”
“I should hope not. Your reputation precedes you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome.” Barrett leaned forward again. “Okay, Miss Dellis, I have enough for the time being. Give your statement to the detective, answer only what he asks and I will stop anything I deem unnecessary. Ready?”
Before I could say yes, the door burst open and an austere man in his fifties plowed through. Too much cologne, too much hair gel and way too much ego, the man set his briefcase on a chair and leaned across the table with his hand out.
“Miss Dellis, I’m...”
I didn’t need an introduction, he hadn’t changed in three years. “State Attorney James Lara.” I shook his hand but I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to talk to him, I didn’t want to see him and the surprise of seeing him was making it difficult for my brain to process why he was here.
He stared at me a moment then smoothed his tie. “I have spoken to your counsel and if you are willing, we would like you to hear a recording of a few voices and tell us if you recognize any of them.”
It was as if someone dimmed the lights. Two pinpricks of light became my sole source of vision and a roaring sound filled my ears. Vertigo made my body sway but I didn’t think to grip the table in front of me.
A hand closed over my shoulder and my chair moved backward.
Arguing voices, muted and indistinguishable, faded into the rushing wind filling my head. Then the back of my neck was pushed and my head went to my knees. Lungs and stomach compressed, I had to fight for a breath.
Three gasps and the pinpricks of light swelled into a face.
“Breathe, ma’am. Six seconds for inhale, eight seconds on exhale. Count.” One hand on my back, the other holding his phone, André squatted in front of me.
One, two, three...I filled my lungs then let it out slow to a count of eight.
“Again.”
I inhaled again.
“Are you going to faint?”
I shook my head and he removed his hand. I sat up and noticed both the detective and Lara were gone. Barrett was standing with his back to the door, looking nervous as hell. He opened his mouth to speak
André’s hand immediately went up. “This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to inform them that Miss Dellis was released from the hospital yesterday after having surgery. She was then assaulted and dragged down here for a statement she is clearly not well enough to give. You, and only you, may come to her residence at a time I deem appropriate to take her statement regarding last night’s incident. There will be no other questions, no listening to recordings, no further statements until Miss Dellis is healed and given a go-ahead from her physician.” Jaw tight, voice low and controlled, I didn’t have to know André to know he was pissed, royally pissed.
Barrett blinked. “The police will want their own statement.”
“Then tell them to call her,” André barked. “But you better make damn sure both you and I are a part of that conversation.”
Palms flat behind him, Barrett just stood there against the door like he was holding back a siege.
“Go,” André snapped.
Barrett jumped forward, scooped up his papers then turned to leave, but André wasn’t finished.
His voice lethal, André glared at Barrett. “Counsel.”
Barrett looked back.
“There will not be a single question about that recording or you’re fired.” Except the way he said fired, André wasn’t just saying he was fired. The threat was clear. He was saying the destruction of Matthew Barrett’s career would become his personal mission.
To his credit, Barrett didn’t even flinch. “Understood.” Then he looked at me. “Miss Dellis, my apologies.”
The second the door closed behind him, André handed me his phone. “Thirty seconds, I want to get you out of here.”
I put the phone to my ear. At first there was only static, then, “Baby.”
“Blaze.” My voice broke.
“You okay?”
Fighting back tears, I couldn’t make full words. “Mm-hm.”
“Fuck.” The single curse told me he wanted to be here as much as I wanted him here. “We didn’t know you were going to be ambushed like that. I never would’ve let you go if I knew Lara was coming. Listen to me. You are not doing this alone. You hear me? You’re not listening to that recording without me.”
My hand gripped a handful of the soft material of my dress. “Okay.”
“That piece-of-shit lawyer will hold them off until I’m home or André will put you in touch with one who can.”
Hearing him say home made my nerves calm down. I inhaled.
“I want to hear that sexy voice.”
“Okay,” I said stronger, clearer.
“That’s my girl.” The static got louder.
“Where are you?”
More static, then, “Did you shower yet?”
Heat hit my cheeks and my thighs clenched together. “No,” I whispered.
“Feel me, baby. I’m coming home to you.”
Then the line went dead.
I handed the phone back to André without looking at him.
“Let’s get you out of here.”
I stood and my phone pinged with a new text. Reaching in my purse, I stepped forward and André’s hand went to the small of my back. Like I’d been hit with a cattle prod, my whole body tensed.
André immediately dropped his hand. “Sorry.”
I knew he was only guiding me, I knew it was a gesture of protection, but my heart and soul felt the betrayal. I didn’t want any man touching me except Buck. I nodded and glanced at my phone.
Talon: You ok?
I dropped the phone back in my purse and walked out of the police station.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
I woke up the next morning to a text.
Good Morning Beautiful. 68 days.
I didn’t reply because it’d been sent from Buck’s email address, which meant he was out of cell phone range. I sent a quick email back telling him I loved him but I didn’t get a response. I got up and as I showered, I remembered Buck’s words to me yesterday and my stomach fluttered with butterflies.
Halfway through my coffee, my cell phone rang with a number I didn’t recognize. I thought about ignoring it, but it could be my lawyer and now that some time had passed, I had a few choice words for him.
“Hello.”
“Ma’am, Ariel is at your front gate.”
“André?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Okay, this was weird. “Why are you calling me?”
Pause.
“André?”
“I diverted your home phone to my cell when you fell asleep last night.”
Okay. Inhale, exhale. “You came in my house last night?”
“No, ma’am.”
Jesus. “I thought we were past this. Shorty’s in custody.”
“I have my orders, ma’am.”
“Which are?”
“It’s an assault charge, ma’am. They won’t hold him until trial.”
Shit. Shit shit shit. “So, what, exactly, are your orders?” I wasn’t stupid, I needed protection.
“Sixty-eight days, ma’am, personal protection, around the clock. Once I become familiar with your routine, I’ll assign a team.”
“Sounds cheap,” I muttered.
“Ma’am?”
I sighed. “I don’t want Blaze paying for this. Bill me.”
Another pause. “I’m not comfortable discussing the terms of our arrangement...but I would never charge Gunny.”
“Why not?”
“He saved my life, ma’am.”
I couldn’t argue with that. I knew what it was like to have Blaze Johnson save your life. “Fine. But let me know when you assign my team and I’ll pay for their time.”
“I’d prefer you let them keep their jobs, ma’am.”
“Excuse me?”
“If you don’t pull a disappearing act, I won’t have to fire them,” he explained.
I felt guilty all over again. “Point taken.”
“Thank you, ma’am. Ariel’s still at the front gate.”
“Tell the guard to let her in.”
“She’s not alone.”
My stomach clenched. “Who’s with her?”
“Her son, ma’am.”
“Let them in.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I hung up and contemplated the bathrobe I had on. Fuck it. If Ariel was going to come knocking on my door at eight in the morning, she could deal. A few minutes later the doorbell rang. I was surprised to find André, his back to me, searching through Ariel’s shoulder bag.
Glaring at André, Ariel held tight to a tiny little hand. “S’okay if I bring my diapers in her house?” she asked sarcastically.
Apparently satisfied, he handed the bag back to a scowling Ariel. “Yes.”
I noticed she wasn’t subjected to the “ma’am” routine.
“Greeeeaaaat.” Ariel reached down and hefted the little boy up into her arms then shoved past André.
André did not look happy. “Ma’am, if you need me, I’m right out front.”
“We’re good, thanks.” I waved but I didn’t even notice André leave. I was staring at big, giant, chocolate-brown eyes and silky black curls. Ariel’s little boy was the most beautiful child I’d ever seen. He took one look at me and a glorious smile spread across his face.
“Ariel,” I whispered. “He’s so beautiful.”
Eyes wide, her mouth hanging open, Ariel didn’t spare me a glace. “Damn, girl. This place yours?”
Sweeping her gaze around the living room, she slipped her flip-flops off and walked in like each step might break something.
“What’s his name?” He had the face of an angel.
“Conner. Shiii-iiit girl, damn. Damn... Damn.” She sank onto the white couch in the living room and bounced up and down a little. Conner giggled then squirmed to get out of her arms. “This shit’s like a palace, or a five-star hotel. The pictures didn’t do it justice.” She set Conner on the couch.
“Pictures?” I smiled at Conner and he beamed at me.
“Yeah, the magazine spread? Miami Homes or some shit like that? I dunno, I forget. It’s how I found your place. Plugged your name in, slogged through all the murder crap then found the pictures. I cross-referenced it with a few addresses I’d found for Dellises in the Miami area and here I am.” She looked at me and then cringed. Her finger swirled around her temple. “You should put some makeup on that.”
Conner picked up a glass vase from the coffee table and I quickly reached for it. Setting it behind me on the console, I turned around and Conner held his arms up to me. “Can I pick him up?”
“He ain’t gonna break, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Ariel stood and walked to the wall of windows.
“Hey, Conner.” I smiled. “Can I pick you up?” I held my hands out and he came right to me. Lifting him onto my lap, the sweet, sweet smell of baby powder and fresh laundry and innocence cuddled into me.
I fell in love at the same time my heart shattered into a million pieces.
“This view is fucking amazing.” Ariel spun around and when she saw me, she made a sad face. “Hey, I’m sorry.” She came and sat next to us. “I overheard them talking to the pigs and the paramedic last night.” She rested her hand on my shoulder, and Conner wiggled out of my arms and into hers.
“Thanks.” I ran a finger through one of Conner’s curls.
She held Conner close and stared at me. “It’ll get better, girl. I had a miscarriage after I had Conner. Turned out to be a blessing since his father’s a stupid shit, but that’s another story. All I’m saying? It’ll get better and you can try again.”
“We weren’t really trying.” We weren’t not trying either, but still.
“Yeah, well, if I was lying next to that prime piece of soldier meat every night, you can bet your ass I’d be trying.” She grinned. “Or at least practicing like hell. He is hoooo-ot!” She fanned herself.
I couldn’t help it, I smiled. “Thanks.”
“Damn, I should be thanking you. Not every day you get to see one of them. And it’s not just one, you’re surrounded with the hot shit, girl. You’re like a magnet or something. I gotta spend more time with you.” She laughed and Conner giggled.
We both looked at him, then we all laughed.
“So, where’s Mr. Soldier?”
“Marine, they hate being called a soldier.”
“All that muscle? I’ll call him whatever he wants.” She looked around. “Where is he?”
“Deployed.”
Her eyes cut back to mine, and her voice turned serious. “That sucks.”
No shit. “Agreed.”
Ariel inhaled. “So, whatdaya doing today? Besides being watched by Mr. Bodyguard?”
I had to admit, I liked how she nicknamed everyone. I could relate. “I don’t know.”
“Great. I was going to take Conner to the beach, but you got a pool, so even better. Let’s lie around on our asses all day, order pizza and talk about those hot men of yours. I need some girlie time.” Her smile was genuine and sweet.
I smiled back, but I did correct her. “I’ve only got one man.”
She snorted. “Looking like you do, I seriously doubt that. You got any Diet Coke?”
“Coffee?” I hadn’t been shopping.
“Sold—if you make it iced.”
“Sacrilegious, but I’ll bend the rules for you.”
We walked into the kitchen, and she carried Conner, nibbling at his ear and making him giggle. He watched me while I made coffee, but he didn’t squirm around or try to reach for everything. He just sat contentedly with his mother.
“Do you work tonight?”
“Nah, night off.”
I wanted to ask her a thousand questions, mainly about what had happened when she gave her statement. I also wanted to know how she dealt with all the creepy men at the club, but she didn’t strike me as someone who’d let that sort of thing get to her. She struck me as someone who was determined to make the most amount of money in the shortest time possible so she could be with her son.
I tickled Conner’s foot. “He’s a good boy. Does he talk?” He hadn’t said anything. Not that two-year-olds talked a whole lot, but if they were walking, they were usually saying something.
“Nah.” Ariel nuzzled his neck. “You’re holding out on me, little man, aren’t you?” She kissed him and he giggled again. “He used to talk, little words, ya know? Mama, baba for bottle, shit like that. Then I came home that night, he saw me all beat up, burst into tears, and hasn’t said a word since. He wouldn’t even let me hold him for a week. Pediatrician says he’ll come around.”
I wanted Miami to die all over again. “I’m sorry.”
She tickled his tummy. “It’s okay, he’s going to come around. Won’t you, little man? Cuz Mommy’s waiting for her payoff. You gotta say Mama. Who’s your mama?”
Conner placed his hand on her chest and smiled.
Ariel beamed. “That’s right, I’m your mama. Good boy.” She squeezed him and set him down.
“I’m sorry we didn’t get there sooner that night.”
Ariel shrugged. “Don’t be. I’m alive. That’s what counts, right?”
“Yeah.” And Conner still had his mother.
“Speaking of which, Mr. Marine looked a little worse for wear last night. What happened to his head? Last time I saw him, he wasn’t sporting the Frankenstein look.”