"Mel? Are you okay in there?"
I shut off the shower, grimacing at the red circles under my eyes. Nonetheless, I had to admit that the brief pity party did me good. I felt like I'd let at least part of my load wash down the drain. "Yes," I said. "I'm just about done. Sorry. It took a bit longer than I thought." I sloshed a few handfuls of cold water into my face, wrapped myself in one of the bathrobes that hung on the back of the door. As I came out, Tee backed up a few steps.
"All yours," I said, handing him the toothpaste.
He didn't reach for it. "Tell me what happened today."
I maneuvered my mouth into a crooked smile. "Santiago already gave you the Power Ranger version of everything. I'm sure if I retold it, it would be much more boring."
Tee leaned against the table, arms folded in front of his chest. "You knew their names."
I let my tongue glide slowly, noisily along my teeth. Just the way Elena always did when she had an epiphany. "I don't believe this," I said. "You still don't trust me. What do I have to do to get it into your thick skull that I'm not the enemy? Here" – I stepped past him and dug both guns out of my bag, shoving them against him so he had to uncross his arms and grab them – "they're both loaded. You can have them. I don't need them. Don't like them and don't have a clue how to use them. You, on the other hand, seem to know all too well what to do with these things since you were a cop yourself." I smirked. "You have all the power now. Happy? Or will I have to sleep with my hands tied behind my back?"
Tee's face stayed as annoyingly motionless as I was used to seeing Rafael's when he observed something or someone for hours on end. Only the slight twitch of jaw muscle gave away that he wasn't nearly as calm as he tried to portray.
"You didn't answer my question," he said at long last.
"The guy driving the car shouted Lorenzo's name, and I looked at Domingo's driver's license when we searched his pockets for the car keys. Satisfied?"
He wasn't. "Who told you I was a cop?"
I met Tee's gaze firmly. Not an easy feat, but I was determined not to see Rafael in him this time, to focus only on the here and now. "Your son," I said.
His eyebrows rose ever so slightly. "In what type of casual conversation with an eight-year-old did this come up exactly?"
"I explained to Santi that not all cops were bad like those guys who were chasing us. He told me he knew because his father was one of the good ones. Since I only know you to be a jewelry maker, I asked when you stopped being a cop and he said when his mother died." I hesitated only briefly before my next question slipped out. "How long ago did she die?"
Tee didn't say anything. He averted his eyes and gazed at his sleeping son.
I punished my big mouth by biting hard on my lip, wishing I could take back my words. Those flung too harshly and those that should have remained unsaid. I was about to apologize, but then he spoke.
"Two years ago," he said. "She was pregnant with our daughter, but…there were complications and they didn't make it." He shook his head as if to discard the painful memory, sat down at the table and began dismantling the guns. His interrogative tone had vanished, leaving him vulnerable in a way that seemed to make him edgy and uncomfortable.
I took a wide circle around him, as though he were an animal that could spook easily if I acted too hastily. "I'm very sorry," I said, sitting down across from him. I searched for words to take away the hurt, but if there were any, I wasn't privy to them. "Santi mentioned that he spends the afternoons with his grandmother. Do you think she is in any danger from these guys?"
Tee shook his head, eyes still fixed on the weapons he was taking apart with amazing agility. "No, I made sure of that. She's staying with friends in Fajardo until this is all over."
"Valentín and his buddies, they were trying to exchange Santiago for the jewelry you make?"
His lips disappeared into a thin line as he nodded briefly.
"But you said it was more complicated than that. What did you mean?"
Tee frowned at the question. "Why do you want to know?"
"Because I'm caught in the middle," I replied. "Since there are guys out there who are willing to fire at me, I think I have the right to know what's going on."
"Yeah, about that." Tee leaned on his elbows, studying me with such intensity I felt the need to pull the robe tighter around me. "Why are you in the middle of this? You said you weren't Valentín's girlfriend or working with him, but it sure looked different to me at the sales exhibit."
"Well, then you saw it wrong," I snapped. "We met at the hotel where I'm staying. I'm most certainly not his girlfriend. This is just me being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A most inconvenient…coincidence."
Tee snorted. "Coincidence? Sorry, but I don't believe in coincidences."
Me neither, I wanted to shoot back, but how could I possibly explain the whole chain of events that led me to Valentín and Puerto Rico? That would sound a hundred times more insane than claiming for all of this to be a simple kink in the universe's time table.
"Call it an unfortunate circumstance then," I said. "All I can do is tell you that I have nothing to do with Valentín or his friends. Nor with kidnapping Santi."
A smirk bent Tee's mouth. "I might buy the first one," he said, "but rumor has it you had the same plan as Valentín. Only that you were better at it than him."
My jaw slacked. "Please tell me you don't really believe that bull…that story."
"I don't know. My son seems to think you're Wonder Woman. And you did leave two of Valentín's guys behind in pretty bad shape."
"That's what normal people call a fluke, an incredible stroke of luck." My voice was louder than intended and as Santiago stirred, I lowered it again, albeit with some difficulty. "I was protecting your son and if that meant beating two guys over the head who want to harm him or destroying a windshield, then that's what I had to do. Do you think I would have handed you these guns if I was planning to swindle you out of your jewelry?" I gave the jumble of metal pieces a shove. "Why am I defending myself? Why don't you tell me why these guys are still trailing after us? After you."
Tee rose and his amused smile annoyed me. Picking up the small trash can by the bed, he placed the gun pieces inside one by one. "Because we can identify them," he said. "Because I can identify them." He hesitated and I worried he might change his mind about telling me. I was surprised at this unexpected need I felt to learn something about Tee, to find out what was different between him and Rafael, rather than savoring the things they had in common. It was a confusing sensation and a surge of panic made me want to brush it aside. I had not come here to lose Rafael.
"My last year on the force I found out about this crooked group within the department," Tee continued. "I was certain I could identify about six of them, including Lorenzo and Domingo, but catching them red-handed was near impossible." He headed to the door, and I hurried to stay with him as he went out onto the balcony. "These guys are good at what they do, and I wasn't sure who I could trust. They were starting to figure out that someone was on to their little side business. If my wife hadn't died, then maybe I would've kept at it." Tee hurled the weapons pieces in different directions into the forest. "I couldn't risk for anything to happen to me. For Santiago's sake. When I left, I mentioned my findings to one of my cousins who is still with the police in San Juan. He kept the file."
"Can you trust him?"
He nodded. "Yes."
"What about Valentín?" I asked. "Did you identify him too?"
Tee shook his head. "He wasn't part of the group back then. He's a narc. Most of the others are in Robbery-Homicide. Maybe they're getting bigger. Or he pushed his way in, I don't know. When Valentín zeroed in on my jewelry business, I don't think he had a clue that I used to be a cop or that I was the one who'd gotten onto their trail. I was just another target for easy money."
"Think the others know by now that it was you who was on to them?"
Tee sent the last piece of gun metal airborne be
fore we headed back inside. "Possibly. The investigations stopped when I left and after Valentín's call, I knew they were watching me, that he wasn't working alone. Maybe they put two and two together. I need to talk to my cousin. In person. To see if he can round up enough people to help bring them down."
"So we're heading back to San Juan?"
Tee nodded. "While we do want to evade them, I also need to make sure they keep following us."
"Great." I sighed. "We're not just the hunter, we're also the bait."
"Pretty much." He laughed, and it was the first time I noticed the circles darkening his eyes.
"I imagine it's difficult with Santiago here."
"Very," Tee admitted.
"I'll do whatever I can to protect him."
"Why?" He looked at me, and my pulse got jumpy. The word hung between us while I searched for a cautious reply.
"What's in this for you?" Tee kept probing.
"Nothing tangible like jewelry or money," I started, smiling weakly. "All I'm asking is that you trust me. I'm on your side." More than he could possibly imagine.
Tee's chest rose and fell heavily. "Trust you, huh? I'll have to think about that," he replied. "It's late. Get some sleep." He took a pillow off the bed and walked over to the couch.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping with your son?"
"Just take the bed," he said, pulling off his shirt and pants and stretching out across the length of the sofa.
I wished he would have turned the light off first. Seeing him sprawled out like that, I thought of Rafael in the hammock. Of how I had watched him all night trying to resist the urge to explore the peaks and valleys of his torso. I noticed my hands interlocking now, fingers holding firmly to fingers. It was a fight with myself to free them long enough from each other to blanket the room in darkness and slide by Santiago's side onto the mattress.
"Good night," I murmured, squeezing my eyes shut in hopes of erasing the images of two bodies vying for my touch.
Chapter 16
There was a stir next to me and I raised my head off what seemed to be a bed made of warm earth and cushioning leaves. We were enveloped in the blurry grey darkness that marked the night right before dawn, and my eyes had to adjust before I recognized the straight hair and strong shoulders. Rafael slipped on his shirt. He brushed the forest dirt off his pants, nudged Juan Luis, who was resting nearby, with his foot.
"Get up," he said, "the sun's coming up soon. We should get going."
Juan Luis grumbled something indecipherable and swatted at his friend's leg, but Rafael showed no mercy. With an expert loop he swung Juan Luis's shirt through the air and let it snap hard against his bare back. The cry it elicited spooked the still-resting jungle life, and high overhead a Coquí started singing.
"I don't think you have any Taíno in you," Juan Luis griped as he rubbed his sore back. "You're not kind enough."
Rafael and I both laughed, and it was comforting to meet his eyes in the early morning haze. The destructive hurricane was but a memory, and Manuel had not yet died and left Rafael a fugitive with a need to hide inland. We'd gone to a nearby settlement for a birthday celebration. The music and dancing and the air filled with the mouthwatering aroma of grilled baby pork kept Rafael at the hacienda and out of trouble. We'd spent an extra day since the festivities went late into the night or more accurately, until the early morning, and before we knew it, it was mid-afternoon before the three of us set out for the return to San Juan. Of course Juan Luis was convinced we could make it before nightfall, but eventually it was safer to just stop and rest for the night.
The horses now moved slowly since we weren't in any hurry. As the sun rose, the foliage marking our path took on juicier shades of green and the sounds of fluttering, singing, slithering, scurrying forest creatures increased. Off in the distance was the steady hum of a waterfall.
I marveled at the determined insistence with which the wilderness kept reclaiming the infrequently used paths. They crisscrossed the ground in various directions if one paid attention, and I wondered if they had been trodden by Taínos on a hunt for Hutías, the small forest rodents that formed part of their diet. Or perhaps they were paths that had been beaten on an escape from the vicious Caribs. Without doubt many had been forged by the hard-soled boots of Spanish soldiers and by the less durable shoes of optimistic settlers. But as soon as any human passing paused or ceased for good, the forest busied itself with covering the scars the feet left behind, making it necessary for us persistent humans to invent yet another route. It was hard to decide which was more stubborn – us or the woods.
Thus lost in thought, I rode on the horse behind Rafael. He and Juan Luis chatted about the fiesta or more precisely a couple of young ladies that had captured the heart of Rafael's friend at the celebration, leaving him to ponder if it really would be so wrong if he were to court both of them at the same time.
"They wouldn't have to know," he argued.
"Right." Rafael exhaled a laugh. "And because girls never talk and these two happen to live on the same hacienda, far away from everyone else, there's no chance they'll ever figure it out."
I stared heavenward, a gesture I seemed to practice a lot whenever we spent time with Juan Luis. "He's such a dog," I said. "You live in the largest settlement and still you don't branch out to get friends with higher moral standards than this."
Rafael turned his head.
"I know, I know," I hurried to add. "He's loyal and fun and always rescues you when things get sticky. But then again, 90% of the time he's also the one that gets you two into the sticky situations in the first place. Ever think about that?" I glanced past Rafael's back toward his pal who let the horse make its own way along the path while he gesticulated with both arms. His mother must have loved him as a small child, I mused, when Juan Luis was still taking naps and neither arms nor gums were flapping non-stop.
Without warning, something shot out of the woods and ran right in front of Juan Luis's horse. He was hard pressed to grab the reins and press his legs firmly against his horse's belly as it reared up. Dark eyes stared wildly up at us from a face rife with panic. The young girl hesitated, looking behind her, then back at us before digging her bare feet into the soft ground and continuing her frightened run into the thicket.
"Wait!" Rafael swung his horse around and followed her off the path. Juan Luis followed suit and as we angled under the whipping branches, I could hear the growl behind us.
"Oh no, Rafael!" My voice threatened to fail. "He will kill her." The panting growl came closer and as I looked over my shoulder, I could see the muscular Bullmastiff hunting after the footsteps of the young Taíno girl.
"Juan, get the dog!" Rafael dug his heel hard into his horse's side. I stared behind us as Juan Luis swung his horse around, purposely urging it into a rearing position. As hooves came down, the dog winced and wobbled, but rose again, determined to continue on his deadly mission. We kept following the girl, and I hoped fervently that Juan Luis would be able to destroy the dog before the owner would appear. A gunshot would have been easy, but it was a crime to shoot or stab the dog of a Spanish soldier who was out hunting escaped Taíno slaves. Having the beast trampled by a horse could still be considered as an accident.
It was too difficult for me to keep my balance on the horse while taking a look back at Juan Luis and the Bullmastiff. I turned around, keeping my eyes on the flitting girl and my ears peeled for the dying bark of the four-legged monster. It mixed with the sound of the angry Spaniard charging through the brush.
Juan Luis shouted an obscenity at the man, and I turned toward the sound. "He's heading off into another direction," I shouted. "Rafael, he's leading the Spaniard away from the girl. From us." Forgiven and forgotten were the missteps and idiotic antics young Señor Aragón kept getting Rafael involved in. I couldn't find words enough to thank him for averting the danger and prayed that God would protect him and let him get away this time.
Rafael leaned low over the horse's neck. "Datiao,"
he shouted in the direction the young girl was running. "Datiao, daca taíno."
"That's it," I encouraged him. "Keep telling her you're a friend and that you're good."
"Gua'rico gua'kia," he added. "Come to us. We're here to help you."
The young girl's feet moved quickly, but I could have sworn I noticed some hesitation in her step as Rafael continued to yell after her.
"Daca taíno," he repeated. "Daca Rafael Jagua. Datiao."
The formerly soft and steady murmur of the waterfall turned into forceful rumbling as we drew closer to it. Rafael raised his voice and shouted against the increasingly deafening sound, but the girl kept moving.
We both saw the rocks a short distance away underneath the trees and as Rafael pulled the horse to an abrupt stop, flying off as it still skidded to a standstill, I realized what he feared.
"No," he shouted. "Wu'a! Don't do this. Datiao. I'm your friend. The dog is dead. He can't harm you anymore. Ao'n operi'to. The dog is dead."
Since Guey's death, Rafael didn't use his mother tongue much anymore, and I could sense his frustration as he struggled to recall words to string together that would make sense to the frightened girl. Anything that would stop her from throwing herself over the sharp rocks and into the water.
I slipped off the horse as fast as I could. "Oh please, dear God," I prayed. "Don't let her take her life. Don't let her do it."
I knew that some of the captured and mistreated Taínos preferred to take their own life rather than endure any more mistreatments by the Spaniards. Had an anguished parent told this girl – their beloved daughter – to do just that before she would fall prey to any of them, or to the Bullmastiffs they used to hunt them down? I now understood why Guey never cottoned to having a dog around the house.
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