That set aside, they had to get through this evening safely, and that meant convincing Santiago their relationship was real...even if it wasn’t.
“All right.” She slid her hands up his chest to his shoulders. “Let’s try that again.” She rose up and kissed his mouth, then lowered and looked up at him with her best I’m attracted to you face. “How was that?”
His eyes smoldered. “Good.” He stepped back. “A little too good.” She smiled and went through the door. Damon followed but walked beside her once they appeared in the restaurant and bar. She recognized Sonny, who sat at a table with two other men. She presumed the older man was Santiago. He looked over as they approached.
She stopped next to Damon at the table.
“Ruby Duarte?” the man said.
“That’s me.” Ruby smiled, having to force it. These people were no different than Kid.
The man stood and extended his hand. “Santiago. Damon has told me a lot about you.”
“Has he?” Ruby glanced over at Damon. Only he could read her thoughts. He’d talked a lot about her because she was an integral part of his investigation.
“All good, of course.” Santiago smiled, and for a moment he could pass as an ordinary, friendly guy. He turned to his cohorts. “This is Orlando and Sonny.”
“I’ve met Sonny before,” she said tersely, then in greeting she said, “Orlando.”
“Nice to meet you,” Orlando said in a flat tone. His eyes were beady brown and dead. No doubt, he was a scary man.
“Nice to see you again, Ruby,” Sonny said a little snidely.
“Please. Have a seat. Join us,” Santiago said.
Ruby bet he was not this congenial most of the time. Kid had been the same way, playing nice when in reality he was an extremely dangerous man. She sat beside him, Damon to her right at the round table, one of the largest in the dining area.
The men went about talking business for what seemed an endless length of time. Santiago and his men talked about nothing that had any bearing on her safety, just a lot of bragging as far as she could tell. She checked the clock on a nearby wall and saw more than thirty minutes had passed.
When she faced them again, she noticed they all looked at her and their conversation had stopped.
“Damon tells me you work at a bookstore with a coffee shop?” Santiago said.
“Yes. And attending college for nursing,” she said.
“Ah. A woman with a caring heart. No wonder Damon kept going back for your coffee.”
Ruby smiled at Damon, who met her eyes with warming energy passing between them. That she didn’t have to fake. She wondered if he did.
Turning back to Santiago, she saw that he had noticed the exchange and seemed skeptical.
“We were all saddened by Kid’s death,” he said. “He was a friend and a hard worker. Loyal.”
Loyal. Ruby smothered a scoff. Loyal in breaking the law.
“Kid told me you left him a few years before that,” Santiago said.
What was he getting at? Why was all of this important? “Yes.”
“And he kept your daughter.”
“Against my will, yes, he did. He forbade me from seeing her, although I tried.” Ruby could not pretend she had obeyed or gone along with that. She glanced at Orlando, whose expression apparently never changed. Sonny eyed her smugly.
“I will say that he was upset you left. Heartbroken.”
Really? He’d had an awful way of showing that.
“Keeping your daughter was probably his way of lashing out. It was an emotional reaction,” Santiago said. “I hope someday you can forgive him. I realize having a child taken from you is difficult, but know that it isn’t something Kid took lightly.”
Difficult? The man was insane. Difficult didn’t begin to describe what she had gone through. And Kid deserved no forgiveness. Kid may not have taken it lightly, but he had done it out of spite and viciousness.
“She’s getting past that, and Maya is doing very well,” Damon said.
He must have sensed her steaming reaction.
“This is good,” Santiago said. “I was beginning to wonder if the two of you were parting ways.”
Ruby stewed inside. They’d been spying on her for a long time, and she had never known. She had suspected, that’s all. She’d wanted more than anything to rid herself of Kid. Permanently. Even dead, he still terrorized her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Why would you think that? And why would it matter?”
Under the table, Damon tapped her foot with his.
Santiago’s entire demeanor changed. Ruby saw the evil emerge in his eyes and the way he leaned back in his chair and drove his gaze into hers.
“I don’t think I need to explain that to an intelligent women such as yourself,” he said. “But now that you mention it, we noticed the two of you weren’t together last Saturday and weren’t together after that until now. It’s suspicious.”
So he was the couples police on top of drug slash arms dealer? Why did he care? His weapons, of course, but why was it important for Ruby and Damon to be together? Because he thought Damon was playing her and he’d have a better chance of getting her to talk?
“Where did you go that night?” Santiago asked.
Ruby checked her rising ire and indignation. This was where Damon would tell her their lives depended on how she answered.
“I was invited to a party,” she said.
“And you didn’t take Damon?”
“We’re just dating,” Damon said.
“Yes, just dating, but you, Damon, weren’t home that night, either. Where did you go?”
That told Ruby he’d had someone follow her and probably had someone watching Damon, but he had made sure he wasn’t tailed. Santiago knew she had ties with the Coltons.
Good lord, this was getting diabolical. And way, way too dangerous.
“I went to see a friend,” he said.
“Who’s the friend?”
“Someone I’ve known since high school. He lives in California and came out to see his family. We spent some time together.”
Ruby forced herself not to look at Damon. He was such a good liar. He sounded calm and confident, and seeing Santiago’s face confirmed he believed him.
After a time, Santiago turned to Ruby. “I trust Damon’s intentions, but I have trouble with yours.”
The sting of fear shot through her. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”
“I mean... Kid took your daughter from you. Have you infiltrated yourself into Damon’s life in some sort of plot to have revenge?”
Her breath whooshed out of her.
“She didn’t know me before I went to get coffee,” Damon said.
“Yes, yes. I know. But once she knew where you worked, she might have devised a plan.”
Oh, geez. That was so ridiculous. Ruby hoped her cynicism didn’t show.
“She had no plan. She only wants to be rid of Kid and anyone associated with him. She lives in fear every day.” Damon turned a pointed look toward Sonny.
Santiago smiled, and not with any humor. “That is good to hear.” He met Ruby’s eyes, which she was sure were hard and direct right now. “Since you don’t know where my guns and ammo are, perhaps your daughter does?”
That was enough. Ruby shot to her feet. “How dare you!”
Santiago flattened his hands on the table, and his face grew ominous. “How dare I? How dare you speak to me that way!”
“You’re suggesting my daughter was involved in what Kid was doing,” Ruby said, not softening her tone at all for this reprobate.
Damon stood and took her hand. “Ruby?”
She glanced at him, incensed that he would allow this man to threaten her little girl.
“Not involved. I merely said she might have s
een something.”
While that might be true, Ruby would not stand for Santiago drawing Maya into any dangerous situation.
“She’s five years old!” Ruby spat out at Santiago.
Santiago continued to regard her as though at any moment he would signal his men to take her out. “I am aware. But she was with Kid in his last years. You were not. She may have seen something. Perhaps you can ask her.”
“I will do no such thing.” Not the way he likely pictured that playing out. Ruby wouldn’t ask her daughter where Kid hid a stash of weapons.
“My advice to you now is to consider very carefully how you proceed, Ms. Duarte.”
Meaning she had better do as he asked or he might take matters into his own hands—take her daughter from her as Kid had done. That infuriated her.
She stepped around the table and leaned down, putting her face close to Santiago’s. “If you or your men go anywhere near my daughter, I’ll kill you,” she hissed.
Santiago looked up at her face, his anger having faded. Now he only looked amused. He turned to his men, who had put their hands on their weapons, exposing them for her to see. With a shake of his head, his men concealed their guns.
Santiago looked at Damon. “She’s a pistol, this one. But then, I shouldn’t be surprised, given she was with Kid.”
“You’ll have to excuse her. She’s very protective of Maya. We’ll see what we can do, though. You have my word,” Damon said.
He walked to her and took her arm in a gentle but firm grasp. “Let’s go, Ruby.” Then he turned to Santiago. “Until we meet again.”
Ruby fumed inside, but she knew better than to incite a man like Santiago any further. She left with Damon, itching to have it out with him. She didn’t have to wait long...
Chapter 8
At the door requiring a code, Damon took Ruby’s arm and gently turned her to face him. Leaning down and close to her face, he said sternly, “What were you thinking talking to him like that?”
He got it that she understood he had his cover to preserve, and she probably thought he had to understand she would not budge when it came to Maya. He didn’t blame her for that. She’d lived around these thugs. She knew what they were capable of. She also knew the only language they listened to was violence.
“Anyone who even implies a threat to Maya will know my wrath,” she said in an equally terse tone.
Letting go of her, he pinched the bridge of his nose. After he calmed himself, he lowered his hand and looked at her.
“Ruby, I’m not in the habit of letting pieces of work like Santiago run me, but I’m undercover here. The way you behave and the way you speak to a man like that could trigger his psychopathic nature. He’s a violent narcissist. He could order you killed in an instant.”
Ruby’s head lowered. Then after a few seconds she lifted it and looked into his eyes. “I know. How can you possibly not realize that? I was with Kid Mercer.”
Damon held his hands up. “Okay, yes. I do know that, but you aren’t a professional in dealing with these people. You were a victim. I’m the guy who’s trying to put an end to them all.”
He could see her concession. She agreed. And maybe she even liked what he said about ending them. Ending the violence. Ending their terror on innocent people. Damon’s number-one goal was to stop it all. Hopefully, she liked that about him.
“You can’t behave like that ever again,” he said as gently as he could. She was a mama bear when it came to Maya, maybe even more so than most moms given her history.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked.
“No disagreeing or showing your abhorrence for the man. Never forget that I’m on your side.”
She eyed him dubiously.
“Trust me, Ruby. Trust me as a DEA agent. If you can’t trust me as an ordinary man, trust me as an agent.”
Her doubt and distrust eased, he saw. And she said, “Okay. Deal.”
Geez, this was going to be harder than he thought. Ruby was no pushover. A little transparent in an unabashed way. She never internalized what people thought of her. She had her thoughts and owned them. Her expressions gave her away because she didn’t care to hide them. She was about as honest as a woman could be, which both endeared him and raised his defenses. He had thought Laurel was honest, too.
Entering the apartment, Damon saw Sean had arrived and both he and January were in the kitchen, fresh vegetables strewn over the counter and something delicious cooking. Maya saw them from her perch on the kitchen island and jumped down to rush to her mother. Ruby swooped her up and held her in a smiling hug. Then leaned back to look at her daughter’s sweet face. Ruby kissed her nose.
“I love you,” she said.
Love, Maya signed.
Ruby carried Maya to the kitchen and put her down. “It smells great in here.”
Making fried chicken and mac and cheese, Maya signed, excited.
“Oven-fried,” January said.
A little healthier. But kid-friendly.
“Also a salad and some mashed potatoes,” Sean said. He wore an apron that matched January’s.
“Did Sean bring the aprons?” Ruby asked.
“He brought everything to make dinner. We decided together.” January looked at Sean and the two shared a warm exchange.
Damon thought how nice it would be to have that with a woman. While he felt he might be able to have that with Ruby, he had been through relationships in the past where he’d believed the same and ended up being wrong. So for now, he simply envied a couple who had found that rare love, shared by both. Damon didn’t consider himself lucky in love. Especially with Ruby, at least right now.
When Ruby reached for the bowl of salad, Sean playfully swatted her hands away.
“Go sit down,” he said. “This is our treat tonight.”
Ruby laughed. “What did we do to deserve such pampered treatment?”
Damon enjoyed watching her easy charm and the way she moved, so graceful. Her figure didn’t go unmissed, either. He always admired her shape. She had nice legs, long and fit in leggings today with a blouse that fell to just below her waist.
She directed Maya to a chair at the table, and Damon joined them, sitting adjacent to Ruby. Sean and January brought the food and soon they were all preparing plates, Ruby helping Maya with hers.
“When January told me you lived here, I got a little curious.” Sean broke the silence other than the sounds of the process of eating.
Damon chewed some chicken and looked at him. He was always careful about his undercover work, but with his identity blown with Ruby and her connection to his family, he had no choice but to take a risk. Sean and January knew enough already, with Sean being a cop who’d worked a case involving Mercer. As a cop, Sean was no dummy. It hadn’t taken much for him to ascertain the reason Damon was living here, above the Foxhole. He probably already knew Mercer’s gang hung out in the pub.
“Don’t worry, we know the drill. We won’t say anything to anyone.” Sean glanced over at January.
“Nope,” she said.
It was no secret Sean was well aware of Kid Mercer and his followers. “I’d rather not talk about it,” Damon said.
“I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Santiago tonight—playing my new role.” Ruby turned a caustic gaze to Damon.
“I had to introduce her to the new leader downstairs.” Santiago. He looked at Ruby. “It didn’t go so well.”
Ruby shoved her food around on her plate. “He started to ask if Maya knew anything about what her father did, and I got upset.”
January’s brow lifted. “Understandably so.”
Damon didn’t blame her for that, either, as he’d already concluded during their meeting with Santiago. He only wanted her safe. Maya safe. It drove him to anxiety sometimes. What if he couldn’t protect them? She’d fight Santiago with all
her might, but by herself she’d fail. Damon had spent months infiltrating Mercer’s organization. She knew what they were capable of, but protecting her daughter might cloud her judgment.
“If you need any help, I’ve got experience with Mercer,” Sean said.
That wasn’t a mystery to Damon. “Thanks. I just might take you up on that. You’ve heard of Santiago?”
Sean glanced around. “Is this place bugged?”
“No.” Damon grinned. “I sweep it regularly.”
Sean nodded, clearly relating to Damon as an undercover operative. “Yes, I’ve heard of Santiago. Not the most congenial gent.”
“Oh, he can put up a facade,” Ruby said, scooping up a bite of mac and cheese at the same time Maya did, who giggled as she chewed.
“He says Mercer had a stash of armaments and has pretty much said Ruby knows where it is, whether she does or not.”
“Which I don’t,” Ruby said.
“He expects us to find it.”
“He thinks Maya knows where it is.” Ruby rolled her eyes, elbow on the table, fork hanging from her fingers. “They’ve been harassing me. After the party I came home to a note that said, We’re watching you. Who does that?”
Suddenly Ruby stilled and turned to Damon. She had not told him that.
“What?” he demanded. “They sent you a note, and you didn’t tell me?”
“I told you Sonny came to see me,” she said. “That was more threatening than a note.”
“Don’t keep anything from me, Ruby,” he said, exasperated. “Why didn’t you think that was important?”
“It was important. I didn’t want to scare Maya,” she said.
Why did she have to do that? He would have done the same. Not talk about danger in front of an impressionable child. Or not want to frighten Damon, so as to alert her daughter to that danger. Whatever it might be, Ruby’s foremost thoughts were of Maya.
“Please, Ruby. Find a way to tell me when things like that happen,” he said.
Ruby poked her fork into what was left of her macaroni. “All right. I will. But it isn’t as if you haven’t kept anything from me.”
Colton 911: Temptation Undercover Page 11