Chapter THIRTY
THE CAR ROARING around the back wasn’t another black sedan. The tension in Roberto’s gut lessened, but not by much. Especially when the gun appeared out the driver’s window. He pointed his Glock, then turned to see if Sara had gotten in the car. She had.
The car squealed to a stop.
The door to the Saturn opened. Brad climbed out. “Stop pointing that gun at me!”
Roberto didn’t move, but everything around him seemed to. Brad, his car, the parking lot. Roberto fought to remain standing. “Have you forgotten you shot my ass?”
“That was a mistake.” Brad looked toward the sedan. “Who’s the chick?”
“She works with Leah Reece. And was kind enough to undo your handiwork. What are you doing here?”
“I lost Cruz and thought they’d come back here. I saw the sedan and thought it was them.” Brad moved in.
Roberto lowered his gun. “Does Cruz know you’re after him?”
“He does now,” Brad said. “I helped that blond guy get Leah Reece away. The same guy at her apartment the other day.”
“Good.” Roberto thought about Brad’s wife, Sandy, and what DeLuna might do to her and her girls. “Your wife?”
“She’s taken off with the girls.”
“What are you going to do now?” Roberto’s head spun again. He swayed.
The big bozo stood there as if thinking. “That blond guy, you know him, don’t you?”
Roberto nodded.
“He’s one of those cops DeLuna set up, isn’t he? DeLuna flashed his picture around once.”
“Yeah.” Roberto didn’t see any reason to deny it.
“You’re working with them? That’s what you were doing the whole time?”
“I helped them, but I have my reasons for going after DeLuna,” Roberto said.
“He hurt someone you cared about?” Brad asked.
Roberto didn’t answer, but Brad must have read his expression. “Figured,” Brad said. “It’s the only thing that could make people like us do this.”
Roberto shifted his weight off his left leg. Another dizzy spell hit.
Brad’s gaze lowered. “How bad is it?”
“Bad enough.” Roberto frowned.
“Sorry.” The big guy’s gaze shifted to the sedan. “Go take it easy.”
“You’re not the only one with an ax to grind,” Roberto said.
“But I’m the only one who’s not about to fall on his ass.” Brad started to leave.
“Damn it, Brad. What are you planning on doing?”
“The only thing I can do. Finish what I started.”
Roberto remembered how Sandy had looked, tears and love in her eyes. “If you walk away now, you might live through this and be there for your family.”
“If I walk away now, I’ll be running the rest of my life. Alone.” He sighed. “Sandy’s parents are in a nursing home. She wouldn’t abandon them.”
“If you keep this up, you’ll wind up behind bars.”
“I might. But I might’ve started this whole thing stupid… I don’t plan to finish that way. I gotta plan. The only people who know I’m behind this are you and that blond ex-cop. The car was borrowed and the guns I’m using belong to my dear ol’ brother-in-law. Actually that ex-cop probably has my gun. And I saved his and DeLuna’s sister’s ass, so I’m hoping he’ll keep his mouth shut.”
“You gonna try to make this all fall back on Cruz?” Roberto asked, and glanced back to see Sara peeking over the edge of the window. He waved to let her know it was okay.
“It’s a long shot,” Brad said. “But I’m kind of lucky sometimes.”
Roberto hoped Brad was right. “Where do you think Cruz and DeLuna are now?”
“If they aren’t here, they’re probably worried about not being able to reach Luke and Don. I haven’t seen any news out about anyone finding bodies at the warehouse, so they might go back to Austin to check on them.”
Roberto tried to think. “Let me drop her off at her place and we’ll go together.”
“Nope. You look like shit. Lay low. I’ll update you when I find Cruz or DeLuna. I’m not even sure they’re still together. But when I know something, I’ll call.”
Roberto nodded. Brad held out his hand.
Roberto nearly missed it when he reached out. “Take care.”
“You, too,” Brad said. “I’m going to overlook the fact that you’ve been lying to me all this time.”
“And I’ll overlook the fact that you shot me.”
“Deal.” Brad smiled.
Roberto watched Brad get back in the Saturn before he limped back to the car. He almost fell getting in. Not from pain, but from the dizziness.
Sara popped up in the front seat, fury in her eyes. “Why did you tell me to run and make me believe the guy was going to kill us and then stand there talking with him while I’m sitting here thinking we’re dead?”
“I didn’t know if I could trust him. He’s the one who shot me.”
Sara’s mouth dropped open. “He shot you and you just had a civil three-minute conversation with him? Are you nuts?”
Roberto grinned. “You shot me and I’m giving you a ride home.”
She huffed. “That’s different.”
“Yeah, it is. You’re a lot prettier than him.” He dropped his head back on the headrest as his world spun again.
Sara stared. “I think I’d better drive.”
He started to argue but realized she was right. “I think it’s the pills.”
“How many did you take?”
“Four before the surgery and four after. Like you said.”
She frowned. “I told you to take four. Two before and two after.”
“Oops.”
Thirty minutes later, Austin parked in a Walmart parking lot. Leah hadn’t spoken to him again since he’d hung up with Dallas. She’d leaned her head back, her eyes closed, but he didn’t think she’d slept.
His phone dinged with a text. From Rick. The text read: looks bad, but he’s doing good.
“Is it the video?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
She held out her hand, her eyes moist again.
He handed her the phone.
She hit play. Tears slipped off her lashes as she watched. Shit! He’d messed up. Maybe she shouldn’t have seen this. The sound kicked in.
“Hey, Sis. Don’t go freaking out. I’m fine. Black and blue, but the doc says I’m fine. Listen, I’m told you’re with a PI that works with the guy who’s here. You do what he says. I know you don’t like counting on people. But please don’t go doing anything stupid. Rafael told me he was coming after you. And if something happened to you…” The kid’s voice wavered. “Just listen to him, okay? I’m fine. And I’ll see you as soon as I’m out of here.”
She wiped her cheeks.
He wanted to touch her so badly it hurt—to offer comfort. But he didn’t.
Without looking at him, she handed him his phone. He felt a thousand watts of emotion run through his hand straight to his chest when their hands touched.
“I need to see him.” She stared out at the parking lot.
“I know it’s hard,” Austin said. And deep down, he wished that was completely true. Wished he knew firsthand the kind of family loyalty she had with her brother. Sure, he had his partners, and if one of them was hurt, he’d walk through fire to get to them, but there was something about real family ties that he felt he’d missed out on. As if not having family made him less human and somehow damaged. Just like your ol’ man. Candy Adams’s words played in his head.
Another silence filled the car. She looked out the window as if seeing it for the first time. “What are we doing here?”
He ran his hand over the steering wheel, relieved she sounded sensible now. “The cabin’s just up the road. I figured we’d grab some supplies.”
She looked in the backseat. “I didn’t bring my purse, did I?” She shook her head as if remembering how she’d gotten in the car. “Of course, I didn’t.”
“You won’t need it.”
She looked up. “I’m paying you back every red cent.”
He wanted to argue, but she had that look in her eyes again. Anger.
She opened the console between the seats and pulled out a pen and pad. She was actually going to keep a tally. But damn, she was hardheaded. Then a stray tear slipped from her lashes and rolled down her cheek, and he forgot about her being difficult and wished he could find a way to give her want she wanted—a visit with her brother.
Leah walked into Walmart; Austin pushed the cart beside her. He barely looked at her, and that was just dandy with her. On top of being hurt, Leah was back to being pissed—and for damn good reasons, too. Oh, sure, he’d gotten her the video and that had been nice, but if she’d understood half the conversation he’d had, Austin had kept one of her apartment keys. To do what? Snoop around her apartment?
Fine, she’d asked him once to break in, and he’d been nice to fix her locks, but did that give him a right to keep her key without telling her?
No.
And that made her wonder if he’d already been rummaging around her place when she wasn’t there. Was he some panty pervert going through her underwear. Had he searched through her private things to find information on Rafael?
She wanted to kick Austin’s ass.
But adding fuel to her fury was that she didn’t know this man, and yet he’d wormed his way into her life and… made her care.
As furious as she was, the fact that she was more hurt than angry told her she still cared. Cared for Austin Brookshire, an admitted liar. Wait. Was that even his name? Heck, he could be married or involved with someone. All she’d been to him was possible information.
She recalled him saying: I didn’t lie about everything.
“Define everything!” she wanted to scream. But asking was like poking around in an open wound. It didn’t stop the questions from forming in her mind.
Was it a lie when you said you liked me?
Was it a lie when you said I was the most fun you’d had in… forever?
Was it a lie when you told me you didn’t like broccoli and you’d had as terrible a childhood as I had?
Was the hard-on in your pants the night we rolled around on your wet kitchen floor a lie?
Yup, an open wound. Best not to know the answers. Best to just stay furious. She’d eventually stop caring.
He pushed the cart to the women’s underwear department.
“You might want to pick up some basic essentials.”
“Why don’t you just pick them out?” she seethed. “Since you kept the key to my place, I figure you’ve been snooping in my panty drawer!”
Okay, she wasn’t supposed to say that, but damn it felt good.
Looking slapped, he glanced around to see if anyone was listening. They weren’t. Not that she’d checked before blurting that out. She’d just gotten lucky.
He came closer. “I didn’t go through your drawers.”
“Then why did you keep the key and not tell me?”
He inhaled. “Do we have to talk about this here?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Because if I’m alone with you, and you tell me that you were trying on my panties, I might kill you. Here, you’ve got people to protect you.”
A woman walking by snorted with laughter. Austin looked mortified.
“I’ve never tried on a pair of women’s underwear… ever.”
“Then why did you keep the key?”
He released a gulp of air. “In case I needed to get in. You’d already asked me to break in to your place once.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me that?” she seethed.
He ran a palm over his face. “Because you can be the most unreasonable person I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.”
Her chest burned with anger. “And I thought you said you liked me. I guess that was a lie, too.” Realizing what she was doing, poking around in the wound, she searched the buy-one-get-one-free stack for panties.
He moved behind her so close that his warm breath caressed her cheek. “I do like you. But you’re still… pigheaded.”
“Really?” She swung around. With him leaning down, her nose came even with his. “Are you referring to my pigheadedness before or after you hogtied me and threw me in my car?”
His jaw clenched so tight she was amazed his words came out. “I saved your life.”
“So that excuses the behavior?”
He stared at her as if she’d grown two heads. “Yes, it completely excuses it! And if you’d been reasonable, I wouldn’t have had to do it.”
“And if you hadn’t lied to me, and hadn’t been worming your way into my life, pretending to have fun with me”—her voice rose—“and trying to get into my pants just so you could get me to give you information, then maybe I’d have been reasonable!”
“I wasn’t trying to get into—”
“Really?” she spit out. “Where I come from, when a guy unhooks your bra and sticks his hand down your pants, it usually means—”
A woman with a young boy cleared her throat. “Come on, Joey.” The mom hurried her boy past. “These people need some privacy.” She frowned at Leah.
“She’s mad like you were mad at Daddy last night,” the boy said.
Austin shook his head. “Told you discussing this here wasn’t a good idea.”
She grabbed the basket and rolled to the bra aisle.
While she was picking one out, he came close. “I hadn’t planned on being attracted to you. I wasn’t trying to seduce you to get information, I was doing it because… I couldn’t stop myself. But if you’ll recall, I did stop it. I told you we needed to take it slow. I didn’t want to sleep with you until I’d told you the truth.”
Another knot of hurt rose in her throat. “You should have never lied.” She grabbed a cheap white bra and some socks.
He frowned. “You wouldn’t have told me anything if I’d told you the truth.”
She went to the clothing racks and found a pair of jeans and a couple of cheap long-sleeve shirts. After grabbing a pair of sweats, she glanced up at him. “You fooled me into trusting you. Do you know how few people I trust? And now you’re keeping me from seeing my brother.”
“I’m sorry, but…” He ran a hand down the back of his head and squeezed his neck. “Have you realized that if I wasn’t here, you and your brother might be dead? I’m not saying I’m right, but maybe you could cut me some slack and not hate me so damn much!”
His words bounced around her head, dropped to her chest like a lump of pain. Did she actually owe him gratitude for deceiving her?
He grabbed the cart and rolled over to the men’s aisle. He picked out some boxers, socks, and a couple of T-shirts.
The words I don’t hate you, I hate what you did, and I don’t know who you are were on her lips. She couldn’t get them out. It felt like admitting she cared, and while she’d admitted it to herself, admitting it to him was too much.
She followed him to the food section. He haphazardly tossed items in the basket, rushing down five or six aisles. “Is there anything you want?” Frustration rang in his voice.
“I’m not picky.” She didn’t want to talk anymore.
“What if I picked out Chinese food?” he asked.
“Then I’d go hungry. Without complaining.”
He moaned and cut through the store to the registers. As they came upon the Halloween section, he stopped so fast, his shoes made skid marks.
“That’s it!” He smiled like a kid at Christmas. She hadn’t seen him smile since this went down, and it pulled at her heartstrings.
“What?” she asked, determined to ignore her heartstrings.
“Clowns.” He waved to the display of costumes.
“What?”
His grin widened. “Pick out a clown outfit, Leah. We’re going to see your brother.”