I had no idea how much time passed between our fleeing the guest room and the final tuft of white smoke curling off the extinguished embers, but it's fair to say everyone was exhausted, if not physically, then emotionally. Don Osorio Aragón patted every one of his workers and family members on the back, nodding in gratitude. He wasn't a man of many words on any day and there really was no need to say anything right now. Besides, no words could have expressed better what everyone felt than the sizzle of water beating down the last ravenous flame and the rooster crowing to announce a better day.
Chapter 22
The rooster kept crowing and I pulled a pillow over my head. That was one thing this country definitely had too many of. Every other household outside of San Juan seemed to own a rooster. And every one was meticulous in exacting their duty as nature's alarm clock.
Laughter and shower activity seeped into the room, and I squinted out from underneath my downy head cover. The other bed was empty. The clock on the nightstand switched its red glowing numbers from eleven forty-seven to a minute closer to noon. And the apparently time challenged – or extra eager – rooster crowed again.
"Show off," I mumbled, stretching comfortably in all four directions. Staring at nothing in particular, not making any attempt to get up. Around five a.m. I was convinced that all possibility of sleep was gone for the night, but who knew my brain would still have mercy upon me for over six hours despite bright sunlight, noisy traffic and bathroom giggles. Shouldn't I be feeling less exhausted with that many hours of rest? My mouth curled into a pout. What had I dreamed about? Ah, yes, the fire on the Aragón's hacienda. A restless night indeed. But I also recalled the beginning of it. Enough that I relaxed into a smile. He'd looked beautiful. As always. Those strong arms stretched around the pillow, Rafael's back smooth as silk and gleaming like mahogany in the moonlight. And yet…hadn't something been different? I strained my memory, trying to coax better visuals out of its data bank, but it was no use. With a yawn I curled into a C.
The bathroom door opened and I heard a hushed "shhh." I didn't move.
"Use the big towel, you're dripping all over the floor," Tee whispered. Wet splats marked Santiago's return into the bathroom. "I'll bring your clothes."
"Yours too," Santiago replied, and my eyes redirected toward the chairs where Tee was sorting through their things. I gripped my pillow tighter, staring over the edge of it, following four trickles of water as they launched themselves off the ends of Tee's hair. They took different routes down his bare back. One ran out of steam just past a large bruise above his waist – from his flight out of the SUV, no doubt. Another drop disappeared at the end of his spine, the other two followed the roundness of his rear end.
I should look away. That would be the decent thing to do. Tee straightened up, the lone winner of the water race reaching the finish line in the back of his knee. I was still looking. And when he shook his head, I strained to swallow a moan. That's why Rafael had looked off last night. The wildness of his hair. It hadn't been his. I squeezed my eyes shut and into the pillow as the bathroom door closed behind Tee.
My moan now rolled unhindered into the downy plumpness. I would have gotten that they're related. Really. The eyes were more than enough. I would have followed the same path, still would have found Santiago and been there to protect him. But this? My nights and days needed to stay separate.
Okay, so it had been me who touched Rafael's nose and cheek in broad daylight. My bad. I couldn't do that again. Tee was Tee and Rafael, Rafael. And anyway, it was about Santiago's safety now, wasn't it? I groaned again. Maybe I needed to call Elena back and tell her she should just go ahead and make a reservation with the shrink while I was still able to keep things separated. Sort of.
"Are you okay?"
My head shot out of the pillow, hot and wide-eyed.
Tee stood over me, his forehead marred by a frown. "You were groaning."
"Yes," I answered, my eyes meeting Santiago's, who leaned around his father's legs. "I was. I just saw the time. Noon already. I can't believe you let me sleep so late."
"You had such a hard time going to sleep last night, I didn't want to wake you."
I swung my legs out of bed, on the opposite side from where Tee stood. "I appreciate it," I said, unable to make eye contact with him. "Look at you guys, all ready to go. Guess I'd better get a move on it and take my shower." I grabbed my clothes and rushed into the bathroom as if someone was trying to race me for it.
Saved! I sank onto the toilet. Yeah right, Mel. Saved! Ha! Who do you think you're fooling? Because by now my memory generously gave up last night's events and I recalled with disturbing clarity that I didn't think twice about who I was swooning over.
"I'm sorry, Rafael," I muttered, flinging my clothes onto the counter. "Not to be putting any blame on you, but you shouldn't have passed on such a generous amount of your carbon-copy DNA. It would make my life a whole heck of a lot easier right now." I laughed. Easier. That would be nice, wouldn't it? If I trusted the nagging in the pit of my stomach, I hadn't seen the worst of it yet.
Chapter 23
We continued our trip eastbound toward San Juan in a forest green Jeep Wrangler.
"So tell me," I said, "is your talent for stealing cars something they taught you as part of your police training or something you learned on your own?"
A smile slipped across Tee's face and he glanced toward Santiago, who was busy with his Game Boy. "To tell you the truth I'm actually surprised I'm still good at it. It's been a long time."
"Meaning it wasn't police training."
He shook his head. "More of a hobby."
"That's some hobby."
Tee laughed. "I got a kick out of seeing if I could pull it off. Just took them for a spin and parked them a couple blocks from where I got them."
"And you always got away with it."
"I stopped before I got caught. My father started to teach me how to make jewelry, a decidedly more productive outlet for my creative hands." Pointing with his chin toward my arm. "I see you're wearing my bracelet."
It sounded wrong when he said that, my bracelet. Rotating the diamond shapes and squares around my wrist, I remembered the excited anticipation when Rafael unwrapped it for the first time. I'd fallen in love with it at first sight and now that I was wearing it, was more convinced than ever that it was always meant for me. But from Tee? "You mentioned that it wasn't your design. How'd you get it?"
"It's been in my family for generations. Guess you could say jewelry making is something being passed down in our genes."
Just like your eyes. The words perched on the tip of my tongue, but I forbade them to come out. "Nice legacy," I said instead. "What about your name? Tee. What does it stand for?"
"It stands for Taíno. But I've always been called Tee or T.J."
I smiled. Guey would've liked the name.
"No doubt you already know what the J stands for."
My cheeks turned crimson, and I thought of the folded notebook page in his pocket. "Same middle name as your father's?" I offered weakly, forcing myself to meet his inquisitive look. "Did you pass it on to Santiago as well?" Goodness. Faking innocence was difficult. I knew darn well he had the same name. Knew it from the second he had looked up at me with his black ink pool eyes at the ice cream counter.
Tee confirmed my unfair guess with a nod, and we both fell silent for a few miles before he probed again.
"So why the interest in my family?"
I laughed, cursing the nervous edge of it. "No particular reason. I'm just making conversation. You know – I keep asking you questions, you answer them. Me drawing conclusions on some things."
"Is that so?"
"Hm-hm." urreptitiously drying my suddenly moist palms along the side of the seat.
"So you expect me to believe that it's…accidental that you also happen to have the names of two of my ancestors and my father jotted down in your notebook."
"I already told you I wrote them down at the c
emetery. I thought it would be fun to look for the person who had been buried there the longest. The year of Luis Jagua's death was the year the cemetery was built, so I figured he must have been one of the first. Then when I came across your father's and Natalia's names, it surprised me that they too had Jagua as a middle name. It doesn't strike me exactly as common." Feeling somewhat smug and quite satisfied with my own explanation, I gave Tee my best innocent look. "Does it have a special meaning?"
He didn't answer, turning to check traffic and then pulling off the road, following a sign that read Arecibo Observatory. "I don't want to arrive in San Juan until after sundown," he said. "Thought we could do a short stop at the radar telescope. It's pretty impressive."
Impressive was definitely the right word. The Observatory's satellite dish looked like a gigantic bowl that had been pressed into the ground among the hills. Surrounded by dense forest and a spectacular view, 13 football fields could easily fit into it. It was hard to comprehend the number of radio waves the dish could receive from space and the knowledge about the formation of galaxies it helped decipher. Not to mention the spy action that had taken place here, which was of greatest importance to Santiago.
"James Bond has been here," he explained eagerly, more inventing than actually remembering the classic scenes from Goldeneye.
"He's only seen the movie once," Tee said with an apologetic smile, "and I don't actually recall it being quite as elaborate as he describes it."
Santi's arms punched air as he freely invented James Bond's adventures at the dish. His sound effects covered sliding and shooting and kicking and screaming, culminating in the dramatic drop and rolling death of the bad guy on the walking path. Tee picked up his little dual-action spy-bad-guy son by his feet, flinging the supposedly lifeless body over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, which brought Santiago back to life in a fit of laughter. I wished for my camera.
By the time we finished some ice cream and returned to the Jeep, the setting sun was dipping the Observatory in dramatic shades of orange and red. Santiago reclaimed his Game Boy the second he was on the backseat. I was about to open the passenger door when Tee turned my back to the car, his outstretched arms blocking me in.
"Can you look me in the eyes and honestly tell me that you don't know what my middle name stands for?"
My instinct was to muffle the thumping in my chest as I was sure Tee could hear it. I also wanted to lie like I had never lied before. But looking directly at him, no sound came out of my mouth. We just kept staring at each other.
"Please don't ask me to answer that," I finally said.
"How. Do. You. Know?" He asked again. "And why?" The muscles along Tee's jaw tightened, and I thought of Rafael, when the soldier had accused him of having stolen the necklace and how his frustration was only visible in the tautness of his jaw line. The same way it now showed in Tee's face. I slowly shook my head. There was no way I could tell Tee the truth, but I had to say something.
"Yesterday I thought you trusted me. I guess I was wrong." Surprised at how shaky my voice was.
"You have no idea how much I want to trust you," Tee replied, lifting his hand toward my face, hesitating, lowering it again without touching me. His phone rang and be broke the gaze that bound us. I used the moment to escape into the Jeep, as though the seat cushions could offer me a place to hide.
When he got in and started the car, he didn't bring the subject up again. I should have been happy, but instead felt like a heel for not just telling him that I was in love with Rafael and that he was the reason for everything I knew about his family. Rafael, whom he probably only knew as Jagua Fontana, if he had been told of him at all. Despite everything that had happened in my life over the past 30 years, even I knew it was an insane love for someone who seemed so far away, in a direction that seemed impossible to bridge. And yet, it was so real to me.
At the same time, I found myself sitting in this Jeep wishing nothing more than Tee having taken my face into his hand. Why did it hurt in my bones that the trust I thought he finally had in me was so fragile that I was able to destroy it in the blink of an eye? I couldn't bear the idea that maybe there wouldn't be enough time to gain it back.
"So what is our plan when we get to San Juan?" I blurted out. Anything to get my mind off Rafael and Tee and my feelings for them.
"We'll spend the night at a safe house," Tee replied, staring straight ahead at the road. "My cousin Miguel will meet us there. He didn't want to talk about details on the phone, but it sounds like he's got a plan."
Chapter 24
The safe house was in Bayamón. Bamboo green with a lighter shade of the same color trimming the windows. It had ornate bars in front of all windows and a gate protecting the front door. Very typical for the island and in no way standing out from neighboring homes in the community, except that the local police used it to keep witnesses out of sight.
Miguel was already waiting for us when we arrived. He sat on the hood of his Ford, feet propped up on the bumper, maintaining a gum chewing smile and his keys spinning while we parked the Jeep. He was tall like Tee, with a slightly upturned nose and a narrow scar forming a half moon around his right eye. He enveloped his cousin in a bear hug, and I liked him immediately.
After we managed to get Santiago off to bed, the three of us settled into the living room. I took advantage of the stocked fridge and brought out maltas and some sandwiches.
"So what's your plan?" Tee leaned back in the sofa, washing a hearty bite down with a gulp of malta. "I'm assuming you have something in mind."
Miguel nodded, reaching for a second sandwich. "I got a few guys on board we can trust. Now all we have to do is draw out the bad boys." He looked from Tee to me and back to Tee. "The plan is for Mel to call Valentín in the morning, telling him she's got Santiago and wants to make a deal."
I shook my head in mid-bite. "We can't get Santiago back in the line of fire," I said, trying to talk around a mouthful of ham and cheese.
Miguel raised his hands. "Now, hear me out before you go all motherly on me. Valentín was convinced you stole Santiago out from under him for the same reason he wanted him, to get Tee's jewelry. His buddies are mighty pissed at him at this point because it's been one disaster after another. Major regrets they didn't just stick to the homicide team."
"He won't buy it," I argued. "He knows I've been with Tee."
"Not necessarily," Tee said. "Think about it. I could've taken you by force at Walmart. When he saw you next, it was just you and Santiago heading back to Mayagüez, so for all he knows you escaped me. And after I hit him with the coconut, he was out cold and so has no idea if you're with me or if you got away."
Miguel scooted forward, eyeing the sandwiches again, reaching for another triangle. "He needs to make points with his teammates and fast," he stated. "I'm sure he's desperate enough to listen to you."
"What kind of a deal would I be offering?" The idea still sounded less than appealing to me.
"Tell him you want to get the jewelry with him, trade Santiago in for the stuff. Just the two of you. There's no way he'll double cross a bunch of already-ticked-off cops, but technically you don't know that. If he agrees to do it, he can turn not only Santiago over to them, but also you. That would work wonders for his sucky standing with them."
My appetite suddenly waned. "So basically, Santiago and I are the bargaining chips in your plan."
"Basically," Miguel said, shrugging. "You just have to trust that Tee and the others and I know what we're doing and that we won't let anything happen to you and the kid."
"Trust, huh?" I shot a glance at Tee and saw that the irony wasn't lost on him. "That seems to be something we've been having an issue with."
Tee blew out a slow breath. "We don't have a whole lot of options, Mel. This could work."
"So if I trust the two of you…"
"I'm putting my son's life in your hands," Tee interrupted. "Regardless of whatever else there is..."
"And I'm putting mine in you
rs," I cut him off. "Just tell me that this settles the issue once and for all."
"Fine. Yes. That'll settle it."
Miguel stirred his finger like a swizzle stick through the air. "Whatever is going on between the two of you isn't going to make things more difficult, is it?"
"No," I replied. "I think taking Santiago by the hand and walking with him into the lion's den is plenty difficult all by itself."
Tee kept his eyes fixed on his hands.
We listened as Miguel laid out the rest of his plan. I wouldn't have a wire on me, there was too much risk I'd be checked. Tee and I would have to explain what was going to happen to Santiago in the morning, and then everything else depended on my ability to sound convincing on the phone with Valentín. The more I listened, the more I regretted having eaten anything. Even the bland white bread was turning to acid in my stomach. My previous acts of heroism had happened out of necessity. Planning them on purpose was not good for my digestive system or my nerves. I was grateful when I was finally alone in my room, slipping between the covers.
Chapter 25
Lying there in the dark, I thought of Rafael's and my ride through the jungle, of his strong back blocking out the wind. And how we sat side by side against the wall of the prison cell. I recalled the pride I felt when Manuel approved of Rafael's talents as a jewelry maker.
A smile formed on my lips as I relived the moment when we both realized that Juan Luis was forever and irrevocably in love with Anacaona. And I relished the sense of joy and peace that washed over me as I remembered Rafael's body sprawled in deep sleep in the hammock.
I tried my best to will my brain to send me fully into any one of those moments, into the space where nothing else existed but Rafael. But all I did was turn from left to right and back to the left again. Covers off, covers on. Nothing worked. I wasn't falling asleep. Getting up, I slanted the shades to let in the night air. My bed looked like a battlefield, and I busied myself returning the pillows to their original shape and straightening out the sheets.
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