Tamara nodded and glanced at her watch. If she arrived early she could throw something together for him to eat. Maybe on the way home she’d stop and buy soup, that was always a safe bet.
“I’m sorry if I’m holding you up,” Terri said with a bite in her tone. “Have you talked to Max? I’ve been trying to reach him but my calls go straight to voice mail.”
Tamara stood and took a page from Brock’s book. “Yes, I have. I’ll tell him you’ve been trying to reach him.” She stepped around the woman, waved at Crystal and Beth, and walked out the club.
* * * *
Max had been asleep for an hour when there was a knock at the door. Tamara hurried to answer so that Max wouldn’t wake. Her momentary shock at seeing him black and blue was nothing compared to the awfulness of how he’d gotten in that situation. For the next few days, Doc, a field doctor from Max’s military days, left specific instructions that he remain in bed. If things got worse, she would call 911 no matter what Max said. Seeing all the marks and bruises, she had been appalled he hadn’t gone to the hospital.
She reached the door, looked through the peep hole and frowned. “Yes?” she called through the door.
“Police. We have a warrant for the arrest of Maximus Delgado.”
“Maximus?” She looked down the hall toward the bedroom. What was going on? If anything, the thugs who beat him up should be arrested. “I need to verify you are who you say you are. Who should I call?” She punched in Brock’s number and turned aside. While the officer was talking, she told Brock what was going on. He promised to be there in two minutes.
“I’m sorry, can you give me your precinct phone number again so I can call and verify you’re who you say you are.”
“Ma’am, this is the last time I’ll give you the number. If you don’t open this door, you’ll be arrested for aiding and abetting.” He rattled off the number and she called the police station. By the time the person in charge answered the phone, Brock was outside.
“Open the door, Tamara.”
She opened, and he allowed the officers inside.
“Where is he?” the officer asked.
Tamara looked at Brock, pointed toward the hall, then turned and headed to the kitchen, where she could hear them read his rights and state the charge. What? She dropped her cup in the sink. Assault, breaking and entering with a deadly weapon? What the hell?
“One second,” Brock said, his voice sharper and louder than she’d ever heard. “He’s on medication, call an ambulance and take him in.”
She rested her head against the door jamb to hold back tears. Max couldn’t buy a break. The officer called it in and remained in the room with a drugged Max. Doc was the next person who entered the front door, and without saying a word, he immediately headed to the bedroom. Two other police officers walked in, and a detective. The front yard looked like a cops convention, she was sure her neighbors wondered what was going on.
Tamara sat in the kitchen chair while the doctor, who she discovered was a legitimate MD, the detective, the cops, and Brock filled her bedroom. Life had turned into a soap opera since she met Maximus Delgado. She chuckled at his name. His parents had marked him for greatness.
“Tamara, are you okay?” Nick stuck his head in the kitchen, no doubt on his way to the party in the back.
“Yeah, I’m good.” She sniffed.
“No, you’re not. I’ll call Susan, or would you prefer Gayle?”
“Right now, neither. Just take care of Max, I’ll be okay.” She waved him on. After another concerned glance in her direction, he walked down the hall.
The ambulance arrived. Bodies spilled out of her bedroom into the living room. She refused to offer the cops anything, not even a smile. Nick walked next to Doc, who watched the ET workers carefully. Tamara knew without asking that he’d be riding in the ambulance. Brock and the detective walked behind the gurney. She was surprised Brock spared her a glance, but he nodded in her direction and then walked out. The uniformed cops were the last to leave.
Leaving the kitchen, she stood in the front door and gazed at the ambulance. Max was in the back and they were all talking at once. A cop headed back toward her. Lord help him if he thought to question her now, she wasn’t in a cooperative mood.
“Ma’am, Mr. Delgado is asking for you, it’s important you come speak with him.”
Before the final words were out his mouth, Tamara pushed past him and headed to the opened doors. “Max?” she cried out.
“Tamara, I’ll see you soon, baby. Don’t worry, okay?” His voice sounded strange and she remembered he’d taken a lot of medication.
“Okay. I’ll see you soon.” She couldn’t hold back the sob that rose in her chest. She stepped out of the way as the doors closed, and then the ambulance left. Alone in her front yard, with her neighbors staring at the cars leaving one after another, Tamara wrapped her sore heart with her tested pride, turned and walked into her home.
Chapter Eight
His head hurt and so did everything else. Max went to rollover and couldn’t because of the cuffs. He’d made a rookie mistake by going to check out that house alone and paid for it. Some woman claimed he assaulted her, actually identified him as the one who broke in and beat her. He exhaled and shook his head at the timing. His son needed medical care and he was not only in a hospital, but under arrest.
Stupid, stupid, stupid… He stilled as he heard footsteps. Nick walked in, followed by Brock. Max looked for Tamara, but she hadn’t come, not yet.
“Formal charges and bail hearing is later today. The witness is adamant you broke into her house, smacked her around, and then left. She’s not claiming robbery since she can’t find anything missing.”
“I didn’t beat anyone.” Max had to say it again, would say it a hundred times, if necessary, until he proved his innocence. “Look at me, I was pushed into that woman’s house and assaulted.”
“I know. Doc’s given me your records from the time he saw you. I mentioned all the bruises and your current condition. The DA says that could be an isolated incident totally separate from the assault,” Nick said.
“Did they search her place for blood?” Max asked. He'd bled quite a bit, which should help prove he was beaten in the house.
“Yes, your blood was there, so were your fingerprints. Whoever jumped you left no prints of any kind. It looks as if you and the victim were the only ones in that house the entire time.”
Max ground his teeth and clenched his fist. “I can’t believe I did something so stupid, especially with Kevin so sick.” He paused, sucked in air and released it, along with every foul thing he wanted to call himself. “I fucked up, what do I do now? How do I prove my innocence?”
“First we make your bail. Because of your former occupation and the nature of the crime, the prosecutor may try to jack it higher. I’ll present your service to your country, your lack of criminal record, and try to keep it low.”
Max nodded and glanced at a quiet Brock. Their eyes met. Brock had something he didn’t want Nick to know about. Good. They’d need to work the front and back door to clear him of this bogus charge.
“Since they have an eye witness, it makes it harder to prove our case. That means we need to know everything.” Nick looked at Brock. “And I do mean everything about Sasha Loils, the victim. Go back to the day she was born, we need to know every person she talked to regarding the break-in, family members, former classmates, lovers, criminal and mental records, everything. This woman makes or breaks this case. If she goes on the stand crying and screaming that Max slapped her around, the jury will look at this big Navy SEAL and think he snapped. They may feel bad about PTSD or whatever they think made you snap, but they will believe her.”
Max’s spirits sank. Nick was right. “There has to be a way to prove I never broke into her house or touched her.”
“We’ll be working on that, in the meantime, I’ll work on getting you out of here. Doc says you’re doing better, but not completely out of the woods
yet. When he releases you, please follow his instructions, the last thing you need is the prosecutor dragging you back into court for any type of violation. We have to play this by the book. This Loils woman is screaming to anyone who'll listen that she was beaten and that you had a gun. I want to shut this down as bad as you do, but we do it by the book. Got that?”
Max nodded. “Yeah, I’m good.” He didn’t bother looking at Brock because the man would never agree, and Nick couldn’t make him. After Brock stared Nick down and got no response, he shook his head and headed toward the door. “I’ll represent you as long as you stay on the right side of the law, Max. I don’t represent criminals.” On that note, Nick left them alone. Brock waited a few seconds, pulled something out of his pocket, and handed it to Max. He took it.
“Where’d you find my phone?” He placed it on the table next to the bed.
“In her yard.” He paused. “Okay, here’s the deal. For some reason this woman has it out for you. It’s possible she saw you when you were leaving and was too scared to say anything. She may have walked in and saw you on the floor, or any number of combinations. But she knows you were the one in her house. Do you remember anything after you woke up?”
Max tried to recall, but everything after the beating was fuzzy, even his calling Brock. He didn’t remember. “Nah, man. I don’t.”
“How do you know she’s lying, then?”
Max’ head snapped up and he narrowed his eyes at his buddy. “For one thing, I don’t beat women, not for any reason. Especially tied up women who can’t defend themselves. Only a punk, a sorry excuse of a human being, would do that,” he snapped, straining against the cuff.
“Good. Remember that when the prosecutor asks, because they will.” Brock ran his hand through his hair. “Skinny and Jace hit a wall on that other address. After I get the information on the Loils woman, I may need to pull them in to help go through it and then hit the streets.”
“No. Don’t pull them from searching for Kevin, I need to find him and get him medical care. If he dies from meningitis, I die too. I need to find him, Brock. I left him with her.” He tapped his chest with his finger. “I did that, man. It’s my fault, he’s just a kid and I left him with that bitch, and now she’s too damn scared to get him the medical help he needs.” Max inhaled and tried to slow his racing heart. “Bring in someone else to run leads on Loils, but leave Skinny and Jace to search for my boy.” He looked at a skeptical Brock. “Please, man. I need to keep looking for him.”
“The other guys are away in the field, no one else who’s familiar with how we work is here. Do you understand what Nick was saying to you? Do you?”
Max’s stomach clenched, he didn’t answer.
“There is someone fingering you on an assault with a deadly weapon charge. Another year could pass by the time you get out of jail, and that’s with early parole. You’ll have a criminal record that can be used against you in a custody case. Think man, think. You’ve got a limited window of time to beat this case and it’s going to take everybody working this.”
“I can’t…”
“You can’t help him if you’re in prison, no one will look for him like you. If you’re locked up, she wins. Helen. Grant. Wins.”
Brock had said something similar when they thought Max would be arrested for Carin’s murder not too long ago. “Okay, do what we need to do. Detective Vargas can still monitor the wanted posters, hospitals, and other counties from his end, and we’ll focus on clearing my name.” It hurt to think that while he's trying to stay out of prison, his son could get worse. “We need to start pulling those threads stat to shut this down. Meningitis ain’t no joke, I gotta find my kid and get him to a doctor.”
“I’m on it. I started pulling her preliminary records, surface stuff. By the time I get to my system, the first level search will be done. I’ll call Skinny and Jace, and we’ll get together this evening. Split it up.”
“Sounds good,” Max said. “Everything happened so fast, that type of set-up takes planning. How’d they know I was coming? I didn’t even tell the guys I was going, I just left. Who’s tipping the bastards off?”
“I wondered about that too. I’ll do a sweep of the club, your office, and your place tomorrow, just to be sure nobody's listening. I’ll check the exterior cameras to see if anybody’s been sitting nearby.”
Max nodded, but they both knew if somebody really wanted to listen in, they didn’t need a van or bugs. He thought of the bugs at Carin’s place and the Federal agents that worked the scam Carin had been involved in.
“Let’s just get this done.”
Chapter Nine
Tamara walked into Reclamation, waved at Mark and Crystal, and headed to the restaurant. Nick called earlier to tell her Max made bail and would be leaving the hospital soon. Brock would bring him to her place after his release, and asked for Charlene’s meatloaf dinner.
She walked through the hall to the restaurant. “Hi Charlene, you got that to go order ready?” Tamara headed toward the counter where a new waitress worked the cash register.
“Yes, baby doll, give me a minute and I’ll bring it out.”
“Okay.” Tamara walked to an empty table, pulled out her cell phone and checked her messages. A few clients were interested in a showing. Tamara sent the requests to another agent, telling him to handle it, that she had an emergency.
“Here you are.” Charlene placed a large brown paper bag on the table, and Tamara knew there was enough food inside for both her and Max. That’s why she loved the woman.
“Thanks, it smells great.” She peeked inside, and then rolled the top of the paper bag so she could hold it.
“Wait, don’t be in such a rush.” Charlene’s much larger hand covered hers. “Sit back down. How’s Max? I heard someone beat him bad. And then he got arrested for beating that woman.”
Tamara wondered how anyone could have heard anything already, it hadn’t been that long since the arrest. “He’s doing the best he can, especially if he can order meatloaf. His appetite’s on point.”
Charlene gave her that get serious look.
She sighed. “I can’t talk about it, Max has to tell you anything he wants you to know. I’m sorry.” Tamara hated hurting Charlene’s feelings, but she refused to gossip about her man.
“I understand. Tell him if he needs anything, just call me or my man, Mark. We’re both worried. It’s been a while since I’ve done undercover work, but I’m good.” Charlene stood and looked at her. “I’m glad he has you in his corner. You’re good for him. Now, can you get those heffas outta town? The young one’s about to make me go off on her. If she asks about Max one mo’ time, I’ll scream.”
“Terri?” she asked, standing and grabbing her bag.
“Yeah, kin to that demon Carin. They’re waiting for Max to pay for something I betcha. Those kind never make deposits, only withdrawals. Don’t let them use him.” She wagged her thick finger at Tamara.
She chuckled rather than explain she had no say in what Max did with his money. According to Beth, he’d always helped the two women, so they weren’t wrong in expecting him to continue.
“Bye Charlene, thanks.” She held up the bag as she walked back toward the bar to apologize to Crystal for being so abrupt the day before.
“Tamara,” Crystal called out as soon as she turned the corner, causing a few heads to turn in her direction. Tamara stopped to wait as the shorter, pixie-faced woman left from behind the bar and headed toward her.
“How’s Max?”
“He’s being released from the hospital today. I stopped to get him his favorites.” She held up the bag as proof.
“Good, that’s good. You have a sixth sense, you knew something was wrong and checked it out, that’s good, real good.”
Tamara had never heard Crystal ramble like this, something was different. She searched the woman's gaze and saw nothing. “I wanted to apologize for being short with you yesterday.”
Crystal waved her down. “No, it�
��s good. Max is good, it’s all good.” She wiped her hands along her pant leg as if she didn’t know what to do with it. “Uh, can you tell him Terri needs to um… talk to him when he has a chance? They need to leave town, babysitter and all that.”
“Terri? Carin’s sister?” Tamara frowned and looked around the club for the woman.
“Yeah, yeah. She’s been trying to find him, he hasn’t returned her calls. You… uh, you aren’t stopping him from doing that, are you?”
Tamara jerked and snapped her brows together. “Serious? Do you know anyone who could make Max do something he didn’t want to do? His son is missing, he’s in the hospital, those things trump him returning her calls.”
Crystal’s face reddened and she ran her fingers through her hair. “That’s right, I forgot about Kevin. Lot more important, Max is always looking for the boy.” She glanced at Tamara and shook her head. “Sorry about that, they been here every day looking for him and she asked me to talk to you. I should’ve known Max wasn’t avoiding them, just a lot going on.”
As much as Terri pissed her off, she understood the woman’s predicament and would talk to Max tonight, but she wouldn’t tell Crystal. “Yes, he does. Brock’s bringing him home, they’ll be busy for a while. If he’s up to talking, I’ll mention it, but if he’s out of it, I’m not. No promises.”
“Forget that. Max getting better is the most important thing. Let me know if he needs anything,” Crystal called over her shoulder as she headed back to the bar.
Chapter Ten
The strip club was fairly busy for noon, lots of business lunches, and a few college students sat at tables sipping overpriced drinks and munching on overcooked food. No matter the time of day, the place was always dark and full of shadows where a man could get a lap-dance, finger a woman, or hide in plain sight.
Lies in the Morgue Page 5