Chapter TWENTY-EIGHT
“SARA?” THE DEEP voice sent panic spidering her veins, but recognition had her turning around.
“What are you…?” Visions of Leah’s ransacked office filled her head. “Where’s Leah?”
Roberto collapsed against the door frame. “With Austin.”
“You know Austin?”
He nodded and squeezed the top of his thigh.
She saw the dark spot in the blue denim below his hand. Blood?
“I need a nurse, Sara,” he said.
She recalled the wrecked car in the back. “What happened?”
“Don’t overreact.”
That made her overreact.
“I was shot.” That’s when she noticed what he had in his right hand. A gun.
Her breath caught. She’d known it. He was a criminal. She stepped back. “You need to go to the hospital,” she said. “And then prison. And when you’re there, say hello to Brian’s daddy.” She turned to run.
“Please don’t go.”
She got three steps, imagined him shooting her in the back, and swung around. He wasn’t pointing the gun at her. “You rob banks, too, don’t you? Am I a magnet for criminals?”
“I’m not a bad guy.”
“Then I’ll call an ambulance. They’ll take you to the hospital.”
“I can’t, Sara.” He moved closer.
“Because they’ll take you to jail?”
“I didn’t do anything. I’m the one who got shot.”
She stared at the gun. He followed her gaze.
“Take it. Take the gun if it’ll make you feel better.” He grabbed her hand and put the gun in it. “If I was a bad guy would I do that?”
“It’s not loaded,” she accused, convinced he was tricking her.
“It is,” he said. “It’s ready to shoot. I didn’t know who—”
“Really?” She raised the gun and put her finger on the trigger. The sound popped in her ears and her arm jerked.
Roberto dropped to the ground.
Leah crawled up in the seat as soon as he hung up from a call. He’d told her to wait. She was sick of waiting. Her heart pounded against her breastbone. She couldn’t get enough oxygen into her lungs. Coffee churned in her stomach.
Who had he been talking to? She remembered him saying, I have her, and then, I can’t talk. They could be following me. I’ll call you back. Answer this time.
“Where’s my brother?” she asked.
“In a hospital.” His gaze shifted between the rearview mirror and the road.
“What hospital?” She envisioned Luis alone and hurt.
“I don’t know.” He frowned. “But I’ll find out and have someone check on him.”
“Take me to him now!”
His grip tightened on the steering wheel. “Not until I know it’s safe.”
“I don’t care if it’s safe. I want to see him.”
He exhaled through his teeth.
She considered everything he’d told her. “You’re lying. Luis isn’t hurt. You just wanted me to stop fighting you.” She wanted to believe Luis was okay.
“Did I lie about the men coming back?”
Her breath caught. She could still hear the bullets whizzing past her, the pings and clunks as they hit the cement. She’d never been shot at; never had her wrist and ankles taped, either.
“Then take this tape off me and let me call him.”
He glanced at her. “I don’t think he’s answering the phone right now.”
Tears blurred her vision. “How bad is he? Please take me to him.”
His jaw tightened. “As soon as I know it’s safe, I promise.”
She shook her head. “You can’t do this. This is kidnapping.”
“I saved your life.” He cut his blue eyes to her.
“You could be the bad guy and those guys back there were trying to rescue me.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“Why wouldn’t I? You’ve done nothing but lie. And for what? Money? Someone paying you to find Rafael?”
“No,” he said.
“Liar!”
He didn’t look at her. “When you calm down, I’ll explain things.”
“You could have asked me if I knew where Rafael was. You didn’t have to humiliate me by… seducing me.”
“I wasn’t…” His jaw clenched. “If I’d asked about him, what would you have told me?”
“That I don’t know where he is!” She said the truth.
“But you’ve spoken to him, haven’t you? And you wouldn’t have told me that.”
Still on the floor, Roberto propped himself against the hall wall. He pressed a hand to his ear. A warm sticky substance met his hand. Blood. He looked at Sara. “How much ear do I have left?”
Shaking, she knelt. “It just nicked you. Oh, God, I didn’t mean to shoot you.” Tears filled her eyes.
He spotted reason in her eyes. “Help me, Sara. Please.”
“You’re a criminal,” she muttered.
“I’m not. It’s about Leah’s brother. He’s the criminal.”
“Luis isn’t—”
“Not Luis. Leah’s half brother.”
Sara frowned. “She only mentioned him once.”
“That’s because he’s bad. And he’s trying to hurt her and Luis.”
Sara’s eyes widened. “That’s who broke into her apartment. And sent the chicken parts.”
Chicken parts?
“Are you a cop?” she asked.
“No, I work for a private investigating company. Doing undercover work.” The lie felt heavy. He didn’t know what provoked him, but the real truth followed, “Leah’s half brother killed my wife and kid. I’ve been trying to find him.”
Her eyes widened. “You said they died in a car accident.”
He nodded. “They were pushed in front of a train. My wife witnessed Leah’s brother kill someone. Less than a week later, she was dead.”
Sara shook her head. “Leah wouldn’t have anything to do with that.”
“I know. I was here to see if she knew where he was. When I didn’t think she did, I left. But Austin came back to see if he could find out anything.”
“Austin’s a private investigator?”
He nodded.
“Does Leah know?”
“She probably does now. Her brother, or someone he sent, was here trying to hurt her. Austin saved her.”
“You sure she’s okay?”
“I’m sure. But I need your help, so I can help them. So I can find DeLuna.”
“You’re shot. You can’t help—”
“Sara, I have to do this. I’m going to do this, with or without your help.”
She bit her lip. “What do you want me to do?”
“Get the bullet out.”
Her mouth dropped open. “I can’t—”
“You told me you did it for a dog once.”
“You’re not a dog.”
“It’s the same thing.”
“No, it isn’t.” She looked at his leg. “There’re major arteries in there.”
“It’s not deep. Just get the bullet out, sew me up, and give me some antibiotics. And I’ll leave.”
She squeezed her hands together. “It’s against the law.”
“If you get caught, I’ll say I forced you. I’ll say you shot the tip of my ear off trying to stop me.” His ear stung like hell, too.
She frowned. “I didn’t mean to shoot you.”
“I know. Help me? Please.”
Austin saw Leah’s brow twitch. “Be honest. You’ve spoken with him, haven’t you?” This wasn’t the right time, but he wasn’t sure there would be a right time.
She hesitated a second too long. “No.”
“You’re lying.” Disappointment pulled at his shoulder blades. She knew he was telling the truth about DeLuna’s men coming after her. He’d hoped she’d be a tad more understanding.
“Why should I tell you anything when you’re kidnapping me?”
“I’m not kidnapping you,” he said.
“Then pull over, untape me, and get the hell out of my car!”
He stared at her. “Okay, I’m kidnapping you. But if that’s what it takes to save your life then—”
“I don’t want you to save my life.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said.
“You’re going to jail for this. I swear you’re going to jail.”
That pissed him off. “I’ve already been there. Your half brother sent me there.”
When that quieted her, he thought maybe she was ready to listen. “I was a cop. Me and two other cops were close to shutting his organization down when—”
“I have nothing to do with him, and this has nothing to do with you kidnapping me!”
“He framed me and two other guys for murder. We were convicted. Went to jail for sixteen months!”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Neither did anyone else until an undercover FDA agent heard him bragging about it and actually found the gun he used. But after all of that, some people still think we did it.”
She stared at the window as if she was done talking. That was fine. He needed to figure out a plan. The only thing he knew was where he was going. His cabin outside of Austin. His mind raced with questions. Had DeLuna been in the car shooting at them? The realization hit. He hadn’t gotten a good look at them, but they had seen him. And if they recognized him, they might go after Dallas or Tyler. Shit. He needed to warn them.
As Austin expected, Dallas was concerned and pissed. Concerned more about his wife and Tyler’s wife than anything. But he was also concerned for Austin when he told him what he’d had to do. She can have you arrested for this.
Austin didn’t mention that Leah had promised to do that. But what were his choices? Let DeLuna grab her?
As upset as Dallas was, he spewed laughter when Austin asked him to have someone grab his and Leah’s cats and bring them to his cabin. And when he told Dallas he could find Leah’s key in his kitchen drawer, she glared at him.
Dallas groaned when he’d asked him to also pick up his truck from the rental place and pay the guy outright whatever the owner felt his silver Cavalier was worth. Explaining why he’d had to rent a car so he could watch the vet office had Leah scowling even more.
The call ended. Several minutes later with nothing but the humming of the tires on the pavement, Leah spoke. “Even if Rafael did what you said, I had no part in it. I shouldn’t be punished for what he did.”
“I know. That’s why I couldn’t let him hurt you.”
Tears filled her eyes. “Stop this nonsense and take me to Luis.”
“As soon as I know it’s safe, I’ll take you. I give you my word. Dallas is going to find out where he is and make sure he’s safe. Then we’ll see about getting you there.”
“I want to see him now! And as someone who lied to me, your word means shit.”
He looked back to the road. Her words hurt. Not that he didn’t deserve them. He’d been wrong to lie to her. Wrong to have ever kissed her. Or to let her kiss him.
But friggin’ hell! He wasn’t wrong to force her to come with him. And he wasn’t wrong not to take her to the hospital until he knew it was safe.
He’d take her anger over her getting hurt or killed. He just hoped if he did time for this, he’d feel the same way.