Chapter TWENTY-SIX
“DON’T GO SILENT on me.” Austin flipped the bacon and listened to her whip the eggs within an inch of their lives. His jeans still felt tight. He wanted to throw caution to the wind.
“What do you want me to say?” she asked.
Tell me about your half brother so I can come clean and we can take this where we both want it to go. “Where did you grow up?”
“Here,” she said.
He moved the sizzling bacon to a cutting board. “Who was the first guy to break your heart?”
She stopped beating the eggs. “My dad.”
The weight of her words hit him right in his chest. But this was where he needed to go. “What was he like?”
She looked up. “I don’t like talking about him.” She brought the eggs over. “Who was the first girl to break your heart?”
When he didn’t answer, she said. “Your mom?”
He pulled another frying pan from the cabinet. “I suppose.” Stepping over to pull out the butter, he glanced at her. “Butter, okay?”
“This once,” she said. “I’ll bet I’ve gained a pound this week.”
His gaze whispered down her. “It looks good on you.”
She rolled her eyes.
“You want to make some toast?”
“Sure.”
He put some butter in the pan to melt. Not liking the silence, he offered up a mood changer. “The second person to break my heart was Peggy Darlene Delmar.”
She glanced back, curious. “What happened?”
“She took me behind the swings, asked me to be her boyfriend, and told me she’d kiss me the next day. I met her on the playground to claim my kiss and got punched in the nose instead. She said I should’ve brought her flowers.”
A smile lit up Leah’s eyes. “So you’ve always had problems with girls, huh?”
“In my defense, I brought her a flower the next day, but she’d already fallen in love with someone else. He got punched in the nose a week later.” Austin opened the bag of cheddar cheese.
Leah laughed, and damn if he didn’t love hearing it.
“Well, my first real kiss was…”
“Define real kiss?” he asked.
She grinned. “I was twelve so it had to come with tongue.”
“That’s the only kind, isn’t it?” He remembered her tongue against his and felt the stirring below his belt again. “Go on.”
“It was at a football game; we were under the bleachers. I was so nervous, I got the hiccups.” She dropped bread into the toaster. “The kiss had barely begun when someone dropped their chili fries from the bleachers and I got christened.”
He laughed. They shared funny stories through dinner. He remembered she’d been married and his curiosity finally got the best of him. “What happened to your marriage?”
“You mean besides him screwing my neighbor and running up my credit card with phone sex charges?”
“He really did that?”
“ ’Fraid so.”
“He was an idiot.”
She made a cute face again. He wondered if the idiot ever realized what he’d lost. “We should introduce him to Peggy.”
They laughed. “How long were you married?”
“Three years. I was a fool. Even before we married, I started uncovering his lies. Stupid stuff, like he’d never mountain-climbed in Colorado or backpacked in France. I convinced myself he was just trying to impress me. Now I know, a guy who’ll lie to you, he’s capable of anything.” Her phone rang. She grabbed it.
She looked at the screen and frowned. He frowned, too, but for a whole other reason. What was the chance of her overlooking his lies?
“Just a junk call.” She sat her phone down. “I’m killing Luis for not calling me back.”
Roberto pounded on Luke’s hotel door located beside the cheap-ass room he’d been hanging in the last four hours.
“What?” Luke yelled from behind the door. Roberto heard moaning like some porn movie.
“I’m going out. Call me if you need me.”
The door opened. “Cruz said for us to wait here.”
“I’m hungry.” He turned to leave.
“You’ve gotta be patient if you work for the Boss.”
Roberto turned around. “Is the Boss here?”
“Yeah. He’s the one that calls the shots on this stuff.”
“Will I meet him?” Two years Roberto had dreamed of this. He’d killed him a hundred times in his mind.
“He usually takes us out afterward. To celebrate. Sometimes he gets us girls.”
Roberto had no interest in whores. “Celebration for what? What are we doing here?”
“Taking care of some mess.”
“What kind of mess?” Roberto asked.
“The kind that needs to be six feet under.”
Roberto’s gut spewed acid. Trafficking cocaine was bad enough. Murder, or even covering up a murder, was another matter. If that’s what it took to get to DeLuna, could he do it? But wasn’t he here to get justice for that very thing? Wouldn’t this make him the worst kind of hypocrite?
Luke’s phone rang. He glanced at the number and his sagging cheeks inched up in a smile. “You aren’t going anywhere.”
“Shit!” Austin muttered, still sitting at the kitchen table after Leah left. He wore his headphones and listened to her talk sweetly to her felines. He wasn’t even sure what his frustration was targeted toward—the lowering odds of Leah and him ever becoming something real, or the damn cat eyeing him from the carrier. Oh, hell, it was both.
When she’d mentioned a gift, he’d thought she might’ve picked up another water gun or another bottle of wine. But no, she’d brought him a damn cat.
He didn’t want a cat, not even for three days. He wanted Leah Reece. He wanted her completely naked, willing, and eager. With a water gun.
He recalled her words. Say yes. And you’ll be my hero.
He wanted to be her hero. Fat chance now, and all thanks to some a*shole ex-husband who’d lied to her.
Yeah, Austin was lying, too, but this was different.
Tossing the headphones on the table, he glanced back at the cat. The dang feline hadn’t moved. He stared at Austin as if… terrified.
He’s a little scared right now. He recalled Leah saying, He keeps getting moved from one home to another.
“I’m not going to hurt you. You stay away from me, and I’ll stay away from you.”
The cat blinked its big oval eyes. And for some damn reason, Austin suddenly related to the animal. He knew all about being dropped off at strange places, temporary places. From one foster home to the next.
Realizing the animal hadn’t eaten or drunk, Austin got up. He cautiously walked around the carrier and collected the food and water bowls from the bathroom. Easing in, he set the bowls down, then nudged them closer with his foot.
“Now, eat and drink. You die on me, Leah will hate me. Not that she won’t anyway.” Backing away, he sat down on the sofa. “Eat.”
The cat didn’t move. They had a staring competition for almost an hour. Austin finally lay down on the sofa thinking the cat might eat if he ignored him. Not that he let himself relax. He liked his body parts too much to let down his guard.
Luke drove into an abandoned warehouse parking lot. “You sure this is the right place?” Roberto asked, but his gut said it was. It looked like a place murder happened. Pitch-dark, nobody around. But damn, he didn’t want to be here. His fingers itched to pull his gun. But it was too soon.
“Don should be arriving shortly.”
“I thought the Boss was supposed to be here.”
“Change of plans.”
Did that mean someone was already dead? It might be too late. But if the person was alive, Roberto knew what he had to do. He couldn’t stand by and let someone be murdered, even if it cost him his whole plan.
He got out of the car, and the October night felt cold. Pulling his leather jacket closed, he looked up at the stars staring back at him. Hell, it was as good of a night to die as any. Oh, he wouldn’t go down easy—he hadn’t stopped wanting to kill DeLuna—but he wasn’t going to let anyone else die, either. Not if he could stop it.
A pair of headlights sliced through the dark parking lot. “It’s Don,” Luke said.
The sedan, exactly like the one Luke drove, parked. Don, bigger than Luke, crawled out.
“Open the door, kid.” Don tossed a heavy key ring to Roberto.
Roberto, who hadn’t been called a kid in over ten years, caught the keys. In the back of his mind, he wondered how many bullets it would take to stop Don. He wondered if he could stop this and still get to DeLuna.
“It’s the key with the green tip.” Don turned to Luke. “Help me get this piece of shit from the trunk.”
“Is he dead?” Luke asked.
Roberto’s breath caught as he listened.
“Not yet. But close.”
“Did he cop to it?” Luke obviously knew more about what was going on than he’d let on.
“Swears he’s innocent. Cruz’s bringing in his sister and gonna use her to make the kid talk.”
Innocent. Was this kid being blamed for being the snitch? Was it Roberto’s fault the kid got in this mess? Roberto recalled Cruz saying something about a brother and sister on the phone that day in his office. Clenching his fist, Roberto considered his next move. He hadn’t made up his mind, when the sound of squealing tires sounded behind him. He turned. A white Saturn hauled ass straight for them. Before Roberto could get to his gun, a string of gunfire exploded. Luke fell facedown on the cold parking lot gravel. Don dropped to his knees, then collapsed.
The last thing Roberto saw before a bullet claimed him was the shooter’s face.
Austin roused up, unsure what had stirred him awake. He wasn’t even sure where he was. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at a cat plopped on his chest. “Friggin’ hell!” He jackknifed up off the sofa. The cat bolted into the air and landed on the dining room floor, then shot back into the carrier.
Heart pounding so hard it hurt, he struggled to breathe. It took another second to realize his phone was ringing—his phone sitting on the dining room table. Which meant walking past the damn carrier.
Manning up, he forced himself to move. He snagged the phone. “Hello,” he growled.
“Austin?” An unfamiliar female spoke.
“Yeah?” He squinted at the clock. Just ten. He couldn’t have slept more than thirty minutes.
“I wanted to talk to you in person, but you haven’t been home.”
“Who is this?”
“Your mother.”
“I don’t have a mother.” He hung up and bolted across the room into his bedroom and slammed the door.
Leah’s words floated through his head. You may not be able to forgive her, but one day you might not be able to forgive yourself for not listening.
Leah was wrong. Candy Adams didn’t deserve the courtesy of him listening.
Roberto watched the white Saturn spin off. Had Brad known it was him? What if he came back…“Damn!” He pulled out his gun. His leg didn’t hurt; it felt icy numb. He forced himself to get up. Blood seeped through the hole in his jeans—not too much blood. The bullet hadn’t hit an artery.
He limped over to Luke, and the cold numbness in his leg became hot pain. He knelt and put his hand on the guy’s neck. Not a flutter of a pulse. He managed to get to Don, but he didn’t check for a pulse. He’d taken a hit to the head. Ugly.
Remembering the kid in the trunk, Roberto looked around for Don’s car keys. He found them clutched in the man’s hands. Limping to the back of the car, he pointed his gun, just in case whoever was in there decided to come out swinging. He clicked open the trunk.
No one came out swinging, or otherwise. The trunk light barely reached the body.
“Hey?” Roberto squeezed his stinging thigh. “You alive, kid?”
Only silence answered. Roberto stepped closer.
Austin had just fallen back to sleep when his phone rang again. Sitting up, he grabbed the cell off the nightstand and checked the number.
Not Candy. Holly Macon. A flight attendant he saw on and off. He looked at his alarm clock. Why was she calling at midnight? Who was he kidding? He knew why she was calling.
“Hello?”
“You tucked into bed all warm and naked?” Holly asked.
“Yup.” He rubbed his eyes, and that’s when he saw the cat curled up on the foot of the bed. “Shit!” He folded his legs up. How had the cat gotten in here? He recalled going to pee once.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Nothing.” Austin kept his eyes on the feline. “What’s up?”
“I was hoping you were. Pun intended. I’ve got a layover. I’m standing at your door not wearing very much, but you’re not answering it.”
“I’m not home.”
“Could you come home? I’ll be better than whoever’s bed you’re leaving.”
“I’m out of town. Sorry,” he said, but realized he wasn’t. He wasn’t in the mood to… An image of Leah filled his mind.
“Shit.”
“You keep saying that,” she said.
“Sorry, you’ll have to go to a hotel.”
“A shame. I fly in next week, too. How about a rain check?”
He opened his mouth to say yes, but that wasn’t what came out. “I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
She seemed to know what he really meant. “Your loss. I’m a good f*ck.”
“Yeah, you are.” He gave her that much.
“You meet someone?” she asked.
“Not like you think.” It wasn’t like he was in love. He just… needed something more real than what he’d experienced lately. And Leah was as real as it gets. Not that he was going to get that chance now. But he didn’t think he’d be in the mood to see Holly next week, either.
She offered an awkward good-bye, and he took it.
He leaned against the headrest and stared at the cat, who had curled back up. The animal stood up, did a front-to-back stretch, and moved closer. Austin held out his hand. “No! Get. Go!”
The cat kept coming. Scared to make a sudden move, Austin froze. The cat stepped up on his thighs, moved up a couple of inches, right above boys and friend.
Austin didn’t even breathe. “Hey, buddy, I wasn’t the one who neutered you.”
The cat did a circle, then curled up as if he’d found his new sleeping spot.
“I don’t think so.” Austin tried to wave him away. The cat looked at Austin, then put his paw over his eyes.
Austin chuckled. “Don’t pretend you can’t see me. Come on, move.” He went to push the cat away. But instead he gently touched the cat’s fur. It was softer than he imagined. The cat moved his paw from his eyes and dipped his head under Austin’s palm as if pleading for him to touch him. Shocked by his own bravery, Austin did just that. He petted the damn thing. Then the most amazing thing happened. The animal made a soft rattling sound. A purr. The cat was purring.
“Hey there, Spooky. You’re not so spooky after all.”
Roberto came up with a plan. It had flaws, but he had to do something. The kid was in bad shape. He hadn’t spoken and was in and out of consciousness. And he wasn’t breathing right.
“Don’t you dare die on me.” Roberto put the kid in the backseat of Luke’s car and then got behind the wheel.
Blood oozed out his own wound. The kid wasn’t the only one who needed medical attention, but he was the only one getting it now. He felt the kid’s wallet in his pocket, which he’d snagged in hopes of figuring out who he was, but first he needed to get away from the crime scene. He drove toward downtown, sure a hospital would be around there. Hearing the kid’s shallow breathing, he drove faster.
Ten minutes later, he pulled up into the emergency entrance driveway. He flipped opened the kid’s wallet to see his name. Luis Reece.
“F*ck!” This was Leah Reece’s brother. That meant Cruz had gone after her. The kid moaned. Roberto didn’t know what to do first, get the kid to the hospital or call Austin.
The kid gasped again. The kid came first.
Roberto reached for his bag with the few clothes he’d brought with him. Removing his bloody, and now holey, jeans, he traded them for a different pair. Lifting his leg hurt like hell. He’d bleed though this pair in no time, but maybe anyone seeing him would think it was Luis’s blood and not his. He figured the hospital probably had a surveillance camera, so he snagged Luke’s Dodgers hat from the seat and put it on.
He got out, spotted a wheelchair at the glass doors, and grabbed it. When he set the kid in the chair, he slumped over, unconscious again. Keeping his head down, Roberto wheeled him into the emergency room.
Three people sat in the waiting room. The nurse behind the glass window stood up. He’d done all he could. If he stayed, they’d ask questions. He ran out, which wasn’t all that fast considering he had a bullet in his leg. But he got in the car. As he sped off, two security guard types ran behind him.
He drove five miles, looking for cops in every direction. Only when he got on the freeway heading toward Heartbroke did he remember to call Austin.
He pulled out his phone. His dead phone. F*ck! He’d left his charger at the hotel.
Tossing it in the seat, he saw the kid’s wallet. He’d meant to leave it with the kid. Then again, maybe it was best they didn’t know his identity. Maybe DeLuna would be less likely to find him.
At five forty-five the next morning, Austin followed Leah to work, staying a few cars behind. He parked his car across the street and watched the lights come on in the vet office. His phone rang. He hoped it was Tyler with the license plate info. If that came back connected to DeLuna, he was going to come clean with Leah and insist she leave work and go somewhere safe.
Pulling his phone out, he saw the number. “About damn time!” he said in lieu of hello.
“Chew my ass out later,” Roberto said. “We’ve got bigger problems.”