Chapter SIXTEEN
THE NEXT DAY, Roberto pulled into the diner for lunch. He wasn’t sure why he’d even come here. His appetite had seemed to go the way of his sanity. Had he really stayed up talking to Sara until two in the morning? Time had flown, and when he looked at the clock and saw it was two a.m., he thought the damn thing had gone haywire.
It hadn’t. He’d been the one to go haywire. Crazy to have called her in the first place. Before he’d hung up, he’d heard it in her voice. The question. What now? She hadn’t verbalized the question, but he knew she wanted to.
He’d almost answered it, too: What now? Nothing happens now.
As much as he wished it wasn’t so, he owed it to Anna and Bobby, Jr. to get the piece of shit who took their lives. There was no going back.
He got off his bike. The store in the strip center right behind the diner caught his eye. Funny how he hadn’t noticed the store until now. He started toward the diner, then thought what the hell. Turning around, he walked to the store.
Ten minutes later, he sat at his regular table with his bagged purchases at his side. Rosie delivered his coffee. “Fried chicken’s on special,” she said.
“Sounds good,” he said. “Thanks.”
She hung there. “You gonna be by yourself today?”
He remembered how Cruz had treated her yesterday. “I think so.”
“Well, if you get company, not that big, bald guy—he’s a nice guy—but that one from yesterday, I’m getting Bea to take over the table. That guy gives me the creeps.”
“I don’t blame you,” he said. “Sorry about that.” When she left, Roberto’s mind went to Brad, and he wished he had a clue as to what was happening with the guy.
But focusing on what he didn’t know wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He reached down into the bag and pulled out one of the books. He folded the cover completely back so no one could see what he was reading, and then he dove right in.
Two chapters later, he heard Rosie clear her throat. “You wanna eat, or read?”
“Sorry.” He dropped the book in the booth’s seat. As she placed the plate on the table, she glanced down at the book.
She smiled. “I read that book.”
He almost blushed. “It was recommended by a… friend.” The last word caught in his throat. Was Sara a friend?
“Your friend has good taste.” She lowered her voice. “Wait until you read the hot tub scene.”
Now he did blush. He slipped it back in the bag with his Patterson novel.
He’d barely picked at his food when Rosie came strolling back over. She had an odd expression on her face and the restaurant’s portable phone in her hand.
“It’s for you.” She offered him the phone.
“Me?”
“It’s the bald guy. Said he had to talk to you.”
Leah forked a piece of chicken from atop her salad and looked up at Evelyn and Sara across her desk. Jamie, the young intern from college who came in once a week, was watching the desk. And since they didn’t have appointments for the next hour, Evelyn decided they’d have lunch together.
Normally, Leah would’ve been thrilled, but for the second day in a row she had a wine headache. Of course, the wine wasn’t the only culprit. She regularly got headaches when consumed with worry. And she had plenty to worry over. What did Rafael want with Luis? Had it really been one of Rafael’s buddies who’d broken into her place and stolen her address book—which had Luis’s address in it? And although Luis had promised to stay with a friend for a few days, had he just been placating her?
Not that worry and wine were the only reasons her right temple throbbed. Regret always had her reaching for the Advil. Only this time her regret was bigger than the three Advil she’d popped. How could she not regret losing her inhibitions and climbing into Austin Brookshire’s lap and behaving like some stripper looking for a tip?
“Okay, do you two wanna come clean?” Evelyn crossed her arms.
“Come clean?” Sara asked, sounding guilty.
Leah realized Sara had been quiet. “Is something wrong?”
“Of course it’s wrong,” Evelyn said. “And don’t act like it’s all on Sara just because she’s been checking her phone every fifteen minutes. Because there’s the whole thing with your apartment getting robbed and you not calling the police. And you’ve only asked about a hundred times if Luis called. And if you don’t stop frowning, I swear that crease between your brows is going to become permanent. So spit it out, both of ya. What’s going on?”
Roberto waited for Rosie to walk away before he put the phone to his ear. “What the hell is going on?”
“It’s bad,” Brad said. “You need to get your ass out of there. Quick. Walk away before it’s too late.”
Roberto shook his head. “What’s bad? Too late for what? Why are you calling on the restaurant’s phone?”
“I had to make sure you weren’t with anyone. ’Cause if you were, you’d have to lie about who it was, and I don’t think you’re that good at lying.”
You’d be amazed at how good I am at it. “Where are you? Cruz is looking for you. Your wife called me looking for you. I didn’t know if you’d been arrested or dead.”
“Neither. Not yet. But that could change anytime.”
“Have you gotten with Cruz?”
“Forget that a*shole, worry about yourself.” Brad moaned. Roberto heard so much in that desperate sound—the sound of a not-so-bad guy put in a very bad position.
“Look, if you tell me what’s going on I might be able to help.”
“That’s why I’m calling you. I need you to get a message to my wife. Tell her… tell her I’m okay and that… just tell her I’m okay.”
“That’s not what I meant by help.” Roberto’s gut clenched. “Tell me what’s happening.”
“I’m not pulling you into this,” Brad said.
“Brad—”
“Talk to Sandy for me, please.”
Roberto closed his eyes. “I’m sure she’d rather talk to you.”
“I can’t call her. She… If she figures out what I’m doing—”
“What are you doing?” Roberto asked.
“Just call her, okay?” Brad insisted.
Had Brad killed someone? Had DeLuna made him do his dirty work? “Look if you did anything, you did it under duress.”
“Hell, yeah, it’s under duress, but what the f*ck difference does that make? I’m screwed no matter which way you look at it. And I’m probably going to end up losing the only thing that matters to me. My family. But I’ll lose them before… I gotta go.”
“Brad…” The line went silent.
“Shit!” he muttered. What the hell had Brad done?
“Fine,” Sara said. “I’ll go first. I made an idiot out of myself on the phone with the guy.”
“What guy?” Evelyn asked.
“The guy who brought in Spooky.”
“Ohh.” Evelyn wiggled her brows. “He’s worth making an idiot out of yourself over. But I didn’t think you’d heard from him again.”
“I hadn’t. Leah convinced me to call him.”
“Good for you,” Evelyn said to Leah, then turned back to Sara. “So what happened?”
Sara told them about how his wife and child had died in a car crash and then went into answering his call thinking it was her mom. “I think I said, ‘The panties are just about off, can I call you when the deed’s done.’ ”
In spite of her headache, Leah, along with Evelyn, laughed so hard she had tears in their eyes. Then Sara went into how she was supposed to call him back, and hadn’t. Then he’d called her back and they’d stayed on the phone talking like teenagers until two in the morning.
“And?” Evelyn said.
“And what?” Sara asked.
“When are you gonna make your own losing-your-panties story?”
“He’s working in Dallas,” she said, but something about her tone sounded off. And Leah wasn’t the only one picking up on it.
Evelyn frowned. “What does that have to do with the price of bread? It’s like a three-hour drive. What? He doesn’t think you’re worth coming up here on his day off? When I first met Stewart he lived in Florida, and let me tell ya, he didn’t let a few thousand miles get in the way of some good lovin’. He drove down sometimes two times a week. And I made sure it was worth it.”
“Stewart hadn’t lost a wife and kid,” Sara said, but didn’t sound convincing. There was something else going on; Leah heard it in her voice.
“Yeah, you said that was two years ago,” Evelyn said. “I think—”
“Evelyn?” Jamie called from the front, sounding panicked.
“I swear,” Evelyn said. “That girl couldn’t make a decision on her own if there were neon signs pointing the way. Bless her heart.” Evelyn sighed. “Gimme one second.” She popped up.
Leah looked at Sara. “What’s got you spooked about Spooky’s hero?”
Sara frowned. “It’s partly what Evelyn said and part… Oh, hell, I’m attracted to him. And while there’s this part of me that wants to believe everything he says—that he’s not on drugs and he doesn’t have warrants out for his arrest—I always fall for bad boys. He’s like this expert at avoiding questions about himself. But I’m falling. Falling hard. He’s all I can think about. I forgot to pack Brian’s lunch today. I had to go back to the house. I don’t know if I can do this. Whatever the hell ‘this’ is.”
“Leah!” Evelyn called, panic now ringing in Evelyn’s voice. “I think you’d better come out here. Now!”