by Camy Tang
The man with the leather jacket studied Elisabeth. She noticed a pale, almost invisible scar along his left cheekbone in the shape of a large fishing hook.
“We figured Tomas would come looking for his girlfriend,” the man said, “but what does he want with you?”
Elisabeth had to fight to prevent the shock from appearing on her face. What exactly did they know? “How do you know about Tomas and Joslyn?”
“Oh, us and Joslyn are old friends.” The man had a smile on his face that made her shudder. Joslyn was involved with the Tumibays?
Liam’s eyes narrowed. “If that’s true, then you know where she is, right? She’d hide out with her ‘old friends.’”
The man’s smile grew hard. “I’m not going to ask you again. Why are the Bagsics after you?” The barely leashed violence in his stance made it clear that if she didn’t answer, he was ready and willing to resort to violence.
Elisabeth clamped her mouth shut, fighting back the dark memories in her mind. He needed information from them, so he probably wouldn’t shoot her, but he might hit her. She couldn’t afford to flash back to her ex-boyfriend, to the blows she’d received at his hand. She had to keep it together.
The man regarded her curiously. “You know about Joslyn. So that must mean Tomas wants you because you know something about her. Maybe where she is.”
“Or they know about the shipping container,” the other man said.
“Shut up, moron,” the first man hissed.
The shipping container that Tomas had somehow lost? How were the Tumibays involved in that? And did Joslyn have something to do with it?
“Who cares why the Bagsics are after us? What do you want?” Elisabeth tried to make her voice tremble in fear, but she thought she might have sounded too belligerent.
“We want whatever Tomas wants from you. Give it to us and we’ll let you go.” She didn’t believe him for a second. If he got what he was after, he’d either kill them or take them back to their gang bosses.
She needed to separate these two, because that was the only way she and Liam could disarm them. “It’s on my laptop, in the car.” She cast her eyes downward in an expression of defeat.
“What are you doing? Don’t give them anything,” Liam said. She hadn’t expected him to play along with her, but she was glad he was. It made the gang member even more eager to get her laptop.
“Let’s go.” The man came up next to her, his arm around her waist so he could hide his gun against her side.
“Liam...” She looked up at him. He was standing stiffly in front of the other man, who had his own gun trained on him.
“He’ll stay here, safe and sound,” the gang member said.
As she walked to her car, she was more aware than ever of the smell of oil and gasoline. What was she thinking, taking on a guy with a gun in the middle of a gas station?
But this was still her best chance for getting away—now, when there were only two of them. If Liam and Elisabeth were taken back to their bosses, there would be more gang members, and no hope of escape.
She looked again at the gas station attendant, but he was reading a magazine. Even if he looked up, he would only see the gang member with his arm around Elisabeth.
The gang member released her so she could take out her laptop case. She turned to hand it to him, but deliberately held it directly in front of his gun. He automatically shifted the gun to the side.
She released her grip on the laptop case handle at the same time that her other hand struck out at his gun hand, forcing the weapon to fly several yards away. She followed up with a sharp jab to his neck that made him cough and double over.
The laptop dropped to the ground. She flung a punch toward the man’s lowered head, but he ducked and she only grazed his ear. The man grabbed at her, throwing her to the ground.
The cement smacked into her back, forcing air out of her lungs in a sharp “Oof!” The man took advantage and straddled her, trying to restrain her.
Before he could get a solid guard stance, she lifted her hips and flung him sideways, rolling with him and grabbing at his arm. She used her hips as a fulcrum and pulled at his wrist, applying a jujitsu arm bar.
He shouted in pain and yanked at his arm to pull it out of her grip, and she felt one of the bones in his forearm snap. She released him immediately. He rolled over, grabbing his arm, shouting obscenities at her.
“Hey!” The gas station attendant had finally seen them, alerted by the man’s shouts, and he charged out of the building. “I’ve called the police!”
The gang member got up and ran toward his SUV. Elisabeth followed on shaky knees. She had to help Liam.
She turned the corner in time to see Liam landing punches to the man’s torso. Elisabeth’s attacker ran past them, jumping into the truck and cranking the engine.
Liam’s attacker, hearing the truck, shoved hard at Liam. It made him stagger backward right into Elisabeth, and they fell in a tangle of limbs.
The truck jammed out of the gas station with a roar of the engine.
Liam rolled over and grabbed her shoulders. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. What happened to his—”
“What were you thinking?” His blue eyes were wild as they bored into hers.
She pushed at him. “Why are you always yelling at me?”
He rolled onto his back and closed his eyes, breathing heavily. “I’m sorry. I was yelling at you because you took ten years off my life. I was worried for you.”
Who was the last person who had worried about her? Not her father, not her ex-boyfriend. No one since her mother had died, since she was sixteen.
“I knew you’d be able to take that guy out if you had him alone,” she mumbled. She slowly got to her feet.
The attendant turned the corner. “Are you guys okay?”
Elisabeth waved to him. The adrenaline rush made her arms and legs shake uncontrollably, and she leaned against the side of the building for support.
“The police should be here soon,” the attendant said.
“Where’s the guy’s gun?” Elisabeth asked Liam.
“Gun?” The attendant’s eyes goggled.
Liam pointed to the bushes behind the building. “I’ll call Detective Carter to let him know what happened.”
Elisabeth pushed away from the building to go look for her attacker’s weapon so the police could take it when they arrived. She found the gun, and the sight of it lying on the concrete made her remember fighting the man, fighting for her life.
He hadn’t been a Bagsic. He’d been a Tumibay, an entirely different Filipino gang.
There were not one, but two gangs after them.
* * *
The Geyserville police showed up within a few minutes, and half an hour later, Elisabeth saw Detective Carter’s car appear. He spoke to the Geyserville officers, then came up to Liam and Elisabeth. “You guys are going to qualify for frequent customer points.”
Liam gave a weak smile, then grimaced. Bruises were starting to show up on his face from where the gang member had gotten some punches in. Elisabeth wanted to grimace, too, at the pain he must be feeling.
Detective Carter’s face grew grave. “Was it the Bagsics or the Tumibays?”
Elisabeth blinked at him. “Tumibays. How did you know about them?”
“We looked at traffic cameras around your apartment after the Bagsics attacked you and noted the license plate for the SUV with scrollwork along the sides. When I found out about this attack, I was just about to call you to ask you to come to the station to look at this.” Detective Carter showed them a driver’s license photo of a Filipino man with a fishhook-shaped scar on his face. His name was visible—Lamar Garcia.
“That’s one of the guys who attacked us here,” Liam said, “although I can’t say for certain I remember seeing him outside Elisabeth’s apartment.”
Elisabeth nodded agreement. “We only got a glimpse of them. Who is he?”
Detective Carter sigh
ed. “He’s known to be one of the Tumibays.”
“What can you tell us about them?” Elisabeth asked.
“They’re a Filipino gang primarily based in San Francisco. Over the past few years, they’ve been producing meth in labs in the remote areas outside of Sonoma.”
“I should have guessed they’d be meth dealers like the Bagsics,” Elisabeth said.
“A few months ago, the FBI stopped the Tumibays from receiving an incoming supply of ephedrine to the Port of San Francisco, so their meth trade has suffered. But two weeks ago, the Sacramento police intercepted a large shipment of Tumibay meth heading north. They don’t know where the Tumibays got the ephedrine.”
Elisabeth’s eyes found Liam’s, and she knew he was thinking the same thing. Did this have to do with the shipping container that Tomas had lost? But wouldn’t the Bagsics have their shipments come into the Port of Los Angeles, not San Francisco?
“How did the Tumibays find you?” Detective Carter asked.
Liam’s mouth hardened. “They had staked out Brady’s house and followed us when we left.”
The skin around the detective’s eyes tightened. “That means...your father...”
“Could you have a squad car watch his house?” Liam asked.
“Not a problem. But I don’t have jurisdiction to order an officer to watch out for Brady here in Geyserville, where the police force is stretched thin right now.”
Liam nodded. “Elisabeth and I have already arranged to stay with him.”
“Good.” The detective relaxed.
But Elisabeth didn’t. The guilt gnawed at her. She was used to protecting women and children, not making people targets. It had been one thing when the danger was only to herself and Liam, but now the gangs had pulled his family into the mix. They were being boxed in by wolves who were circling, getting ready to attack.
“Will you two be all right?” There was genuine concern in the detective’s gray eyes. In working with him at the shelter, Elisabeth had always respected him professionally, but now he felt more like a friend. And she hadn’t let herself have many friends for the past several years.
“We’ll be careful,” she said, and Liam nodded agreement.
After the detective had left, Liam took her aside. “The Tumibays are involved in why Joslyn is on the run from Tomas.”
“And it might not be because of her father’s murder, but because of that shipping container,” she said, nodding in agreement. “We have to look into it.”
“If we can’t nail Tomas for the murder, maybe we can nail him on something to do with that shipping container.”
Elisabeth glanced at the policemen wrapping up their work at the gas station. “I think they’ll let us leave soon. I’m worried about your brother and his wife. The Tumibays know where your family lives.”
“Let’s go back to Brady’s house. We can’t protect him at work, but we can at least be at the house with Debra and Ryan. We can call Shaun to give him the heads-up about Dad’s house, and while we’re at Brady’s, we can do some research.”
After Elisabeth remembered to fill up the gas tank, they drove back to Brady’s house. Instead of parking in their driveway, Liam directed her to a nearby dirt access road about a hundred yards away from the back of the house.
“Their driveway only has one exit.” Liam got his things out of the car and led the way across Brady’s backyard, spacious with a large garden plot and a small pond. “And there’s trees and bushes on either side of the driveway, so if the gang blocks the entrance to it, we’ll need a different escape route.”
As Elisabeth followed Liam, she realized another advantage to hiding their car. The gang wouldn’t know right away that they were here. If they checked the garage, they’d only see Liam’s brother’s cars.
They crossed the lawn, passing a large fir tree strung with Christmas lights, surrounded by trimmed rosebushes rather haphazardly decorated with more lights. Elisabeth didn’t know Brady or Debra well, but she guessed that while Debra had done the decorations in the living room and front door, Brady had done these.
Debra answered their knock at the back door. “Come on in. Where did you park?” There was that faint air of resentment despite her polite words. Elisabeth supposed she didn’t like strangers in her home, or perhaps she simply didn’t like disruptions to her scheduled plans.
“On the access road. It leaves your driveway clear,” Liam answered.
“Whatever you like. Just don’t track in mud from the garden.”
Elisabeth followed Debra through the kitchen toward the guest bedrooms. The one-story home was built as a square with a spacious central courtyard including planted fruit trees. The guest bedrooms were next to each other and the hallway bathroom. The rooms had been decorated in shades of sand and taupe, matching Elisabeth’s apartment decor. As she saw the room now, she realized how arid and lifeless the color scheme was. Perhaps she ought to redecorate her home when this was all over.
Would it ever be over? She was exhausted from the adrenaline rushes of the past few days coupled with little sleep. Yet Liam still looked strong and alert. And he hadn’t lost that protectiveness over her. Strangely, she’d gotten used to it.
When this was over, her life could go back to normal. Safe. Predictable.
Isolated.
Was that what it really was? Was that what she really wanted?
Liam looked strangely hesitant as he stood in front of Debra, who had her arms folded in front of her. “Debra, did you have any plans to go out today?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I need to go grocery shopping.”
“It may not be safe—”
“This again? You admitted you didn’t know if the two men at your father’s home were connected to the gang that’s after you.”
“Two gang members just attacked us at the gas station down the road. They told us they followed us from your house.”
Debra started. “What do you mean? What kind of trouble have you brought on us, Liam? Why can you never keep any of your business to yourself?”
Liam’s eyes fell and a muscle flexed in his jaw, indicating that her words held some deeper meaning for him. It was strange how Liam was so easy and friendly with Brady, and yet he and Debra circled each other like Siamese fighting fish.
Liam opened his mouth to speak, but Elisabeth forestalled him. “Debra, we’re so sorry for all the inconvenience we’re causing for you. Our jobs involve protecting people, and right now we just want to protect you and your baby.”
Liam’s grateful look warmed Elisabeth, although she looked away quickly. She focused on Debra’s pinched expression rather than how Liam made her feel.
“You really are making things difficult for me.” Debra’s tone was petulant, but she was also a little less belligerent than before.
“We’re sorry. If you could stay home only for the next day or two...” Realistically, they wouldn’t be able to continue in this situation much longer than that.
Debra sighed. “Fine. I suppose I can go shopping tomorrow.”
They’d deal with it then, Elisabeth supposed. “We don’t want to get in your way. Is there somewhere we can get online?”
“You can use Brady’s office.”
Brady’s office faced the backyard, with a soothing view of the lawn, trees and pond. The room was meticulously neat, but there were also stacks of folders on tables and bookcase shelves. “What does Brady do?” Elisabeth asked Liam.
“He’s a forensic accountant. He investigates finances and fraud. He invited me to join his investigations firm when I came back from Afghanistan, but...” Liam grimaced. “I prefer less sedentary investigations, I guess.”
She wasn’t surprised to hear it. Elisabeth had noticed that he was most comfortable when in motion, though he was clearly capable of focusing on intense computer work. She admitted that he was better at the computer research, whereas her strength in her investigations was interviews. In that sense, as they were looking into Joslyn and Tomas, they compl
emented each other.
She shook her head. She had to stop thinking like that.
“Let me call Shaun.” Liam got out his cell phone and told him about the attack over speakerphone.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep us safe.” There was a steely confidence in Shaun’s voice, and Elisabeth could imagine he had been a formidable border patrol officer. “Dad’s got a good security system, and we’ll be careful.”
Liam visibly relaxed at his brother’s words. “Thanks.”
“Just...take care of yourself and Elisabeth, all right?” The concern in Shaun’s voice made Elisabeth look away. Shaun was a stranger to her, and yet he’d thought of her. With the brutality of her life, and the way she’d protected herself, the kindness of others crept through a chink in her armor, catching her off guard.
After hanging up, Liam dialed Brady’s number at his office. “Maybe I can convince him to work from home for the next few days. He doesn’t have great security in the building where his office is.”
“Are there are a lot of people around? The gang members might not do anything to him with so many witnesses.”
“True. He’s also in the middle of Geyserville. There are traffic and security cameras.” Liam put his phone on speaker. “Hey, Brady.”
While Liam explained again what had happened, Elisabeth glanced around the office. In addition to the file folders, Brady had lots of pictures of his brothers, his wife and son, and what looked to be some extended-family photos. She liked the ones with all the O’Neill men, because they always seemed to be laughing together over something.
At Liam’s father’s house, the closeness between Liam, his brother and his father had unexpectedly touched her. She dealt with so many women with no one to turn to, and Elisabeth herself had no close family. Seeing Liam’s family’s love for each other, their teasing and playful interaction, had given her a glimpse into what she might be missing.
Even Liam’s interactions with Brady, despite Debra’s coolness, showed how much the two brothers cared for each other. She had known that kind of relationship existed, but she’d never seen it firsthand. And it made her feel strange.
Lonely.
She turned her attention back to Liam’s conversation. Brady was surprised, but he took the threat more seriously than his wife had. “But I can’t leave my office today, Liam. I’m meeting with a deputy attorney general about a case.”