Chapter THIRTY-FOUR
“WHAT’S GOING ON?” Austin asked Dallas, seeing concern flicker in the eyes of the cute clown in the passenger seat.
“Roberto called,” Dallas said. “DeLuna and his friends are in Austin. I’m ten minutes away. We’re moving Luis Reece to a new hospital.”
“Has anyone shown up at the hospital?” Austin asked.
“No, but—”
“Then let her see him for a few minutes?”
“I’m seeing Luis!” Leah seethed.
“Goddamn it.” Dallas’s voice boomed through the phone. “If they’re here, then that means they are looking for the kid. In spite of what Rick told them, they have him listed under his real name. DeLuna probably knows where he is.”
“You don’t know that for sure.” Austin stopped at a red light. “We’re almost at the hospital. I’m going to ride around. If it’s clear, I’m bringing her in. We’re in costume; even if he’s there, he won’t know it’s us.”
“At least wait until I get there.”
“That I can do.” He paused. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“I was worried.”
Austin sighed. “You worry too much.”
“You worry too little.”
“Call me when you’re at the hospital.” He started to hang up, but added, “Be careful.”
“All I want to say is I’m sorry. Please pick up.” Roberto saw Brad step out of the sandwich shop, so he hung up.
“Who do you keep calling?” Brad crawled into the car. He dropped a sandwich in Roberto’s lap. Roberto wasn’t hungry.
He’d called Sara five times since he’d left her apartment. He’d met Brad at a service station and they were scouting out six locations where Brad knew DeLuna had stayed in the past. So far, they hadn’t found him. Dallas had suggested they keep driving between the locations until hopefully they came across him.
Roberto pocketed his phone. Obviously, Sara wasn’t in the mood to talk to him, or to forgive him. Not that he deserved it. He was an a*shole.
“You calling that chick?” Brad asked.
“Yeah.” Why lie?
“You like her, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but I screwed up.”
“What did ya do?”
“Nothing,” he said, unwilling to share.
“I messed up with Sandy in the beginning. She forgave me.”
“Yeah.” Roberto doubted Brad had screwed up that bad.
After a pause, Brad asked, “What did your PI friends say?”
Roberto had realized that Dallas, Tyler, and Austin wanted DeLuna as badly as he did. Together they actually stood a chance of getting him.
“We’re going to meet up and work out a plan as soon as they get Luis Reece moved.”
“You sure about them?” Brad asked. “I beat up that blond cop pretty bad.”
Roberto looked at Brad’s face. “He got in a few licks, too.”
“He might hold a grudge.”
“You helped him save Leah Reece. He owes you.”
“I hope so. You think they’ll go along with my plan?”
“Yeah,” Roberto said. Brad’s plan might really work. Get the cocaine back to them and call the cops. But there was one flaw to Brad’s plan. He thought he could find DeLuna and Cruz and simply sneak in the powder. That didn’t sound so simple. They needed an inside man. And Roberto was it. DeLuna might think he was the rat, but if he showed up with a hole in his leg, and a good story, he could plant the evidence himself.
Was it risky? Yeah. There was a chance he wouldn’t make it out of this alive. But he hadn’t gone into this two years ago thinking he stood much of a chance. Of course, then he hadn’t been so sure he’d wanted to live. Now, he couldn’t say that.
He just wished he could talk to Sara. He wanted to tell her she hadn’t been a mistake. She’d been one of those rare gifts, so wonderful he didn’t deserve it.
Leah, scared she wouldn’t get to see Luis, waited for Austin to pull over before she spoke up. “I’m seeing Luis. If you or anyone tries to stop me, I’ll—”
“Slow down.” Austin held up his hand. “I’m going to take you, but you need to know DeLuna could be there. And we’re waiting until Dallas is there for backup.”
Her throat tightened. Not from fear, but emotion. She wanted to see Luis. Needed to see he was okay.
“But”—he pointed a finger at her—“the moment we step out of this car, you are to do exactly what I say. If I tell you to do jumping jacks, you do friggin’ jumping jacks. Got it?”
She nodded.
He exhaled. “Shit. If you get hurt, I won’t be able to live with myself.”
“I won’t get hurt.” Tears filled her eyes. “Thank you,” she said.
“Thank me when this is over and you’re not hurt.”
Sara’s phone dinged with another message. She ignored it and continued scrubbing the grout in her kitchen floor. It had been bothering her for a month since Brian had spilled grape juice on the floor. Who wanted purple grout?
Who wanted to be someone’s mistake?
It didn’t matter if the mistake was due to the unjust, untimely death of someone’s ex-spouse. Sure, she sympathized with him. She knew how it hurt to have someone yanked from your life. But what was she? Chopped liver? Oh, no, he told her what she was. A mistake.
She dipped the toothbrush into the soapy bleach water and commenced to scrubbing. Scrubbing hard. Her sinuses stung. She blamed the bleach. She’d cried enough. It shouldn’t hurt this much. It hadn’t hurt this much when Brian’s father walked out. But she knew why. There had been something about Roberto, something she couldn’t explain. The connection. The feeling of fate. And yet she barely knew him.
But she did, a voice inside her said. She’d known him well enough that she’d risked her job to remove a bullet from his leg. She’d trusted him enough to bring him into her home. To get naked with him. To offer him the one emergency condom she’d bought a year after Brian was born just in case some knight in shining armor showed up to sweep her away.
He’d swept her away. He’d made her glow inside.
She’d thought he was her knight. She could still recall the talk she’d had with her dad less than a month before he died. She’d just broken up with a boyfriend and he’d told her, Sweetie, he wasn’t the one. You weren’t shining from the inside out. You see, when you meet the right person, like your mom is my person, you’ll glow. It’s this feeling you get inside, as if you just discovered another part of yourself.
Roberto had held her so tenderly and made love to her. Made that lonely knot she’d felt for months fade away like a rainbow faded from the sky after a rain shower. Just talking to him over the phone had infused her with… happiness.
Then he’d called her a mistake.
After she finished the kitchen grout, she might as well do the bathroom.
Leah tried to be patient. But Luis was in that hospital and they were driving around the building over and over again. Austin talked to Dallas twice. They hadn’t spotted Rafael or Cruz. Enough already, she wanted to scream.
Finally, he parked. He glanced at her. “Wait until I open your door to get out.”
“Why?” she asked.
Austin’s clown face went stern. “What did I tell you about doing everything I said?”
“Sorry.” She wasn’t accustomed to taking orders.
He opened her door and pulled her to his side. His touch sent bolts of emotion coursing through her so strong that it physically hurt. It hurt more when she realized the reason for the closeness. He was shielding her. He was willing to take a bullet for her.
She held her breath until they entered the hospital. The knot of unease in her stomach lessened, but not so much for Austin. His gaze flipped from side to side as if he thought Rafael might be inside.
They got in an elevator.
Stepping out on the third floor, another tall cop-looking guy stood at the door down the hall. He nodded. “Make it short. We’re moving him to another hospital in ten minutes.”
Ten minutes didn’t seem like enough time, but she’d take what she could get. Austin motioned for her to go. So he trusted her enough not to think he had to come in and listen. Or was the room bugged? As soon as the thought hit, she sent it packing. He wasn’t the enemy anymore. But what was he? Her heart seemed to know the answer, but she wasn’t ready to listen.
She moved in. The door swished closed. The room’s silence enveloped her. Luis was asleep. Emotional pain gripped her chest at the sight of his swollen face and bruises. Tears filled her eyes and her breath hitched as she imagined the pain he’d endured.
She inched closer, trying to find a spot on his body that wasn’t black and blue to touch. Even his arms were purple. She rested her hand on the back of his.
His eyes opened, or tried to. He stared at her through swollen eyelids.
“Hey. It’s me,” she said, remembering her costume.
“Shit!” he muttered. “What are you doing here?”
“I had to come.” Her throat thickened; tears spilled from her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Luis. Why did Rafael do this?”
“Because he’s… a bastard. He thought I was somehow getting information to the police. A kid that he thought was behind this went to school with me. I hardly knew the kid. And then he had some deals go bad in Austin and then in San Antonio. And because I was in both places at the time he just assumed…”
“Shh.” Leah could tell it hurt him to talk. She started to touch his lips but pulled her hand back when she saw the stitches on his bottom lip.
“I told that PI to keep you away. Rafael’s one sick human. Enjoys seeing people hurt.”
She pressed her hand over her mouth to keep from crying aloud. Breathing deep, she found a small measure of control. “Austin and his friends are moving you to another hospital so Rafael can’t find you.”
“I know. You leave,” he muttered. “Go somewhere safe.”
“I love you.” More tears slipped from her lashes.
“Love you, too, but please leave. You’re not invincible like you think.”
Fury built in her chest for Rafael. She wanted to hit him, to hurt him like he’d hurt Luis. “Is anything broken?”
“Just a rib,” he said. “I’m fine. Get out of here.”
The door swished open and Austin stepped in. His gaze met hers as if saying her time was up. He glanced at Luis.
“I’m Austin Brook.”
“You the clown who saved her?” Luis tried to smile, but it looked painful.
“Yeah,” Austin replied.
“Thanks. Now get her the hell away from here before Rafael shows up. Don’t let her push you around. Her bark is worse than her bite.” He nudged Leah away. “Go.”
Leaning down, she pressed a kiss to his forehead.
“Love you,” she whispered.
Austin took her hand as they walked to the door. “You okay?”
Emotion swelled inside her. “Promise me you’ll catch that bastard.”
He smoothed his thumb over the top of her hand. “That’s my plan.”
Austin nodded at Rick as they stepped out. Leah looked at him. “Please keep him safe.”
“Don’t worry,” he said.
Austin’s phone rang. He checked the number. “Dallas.” He took the call. “We’re leaving,” he said into the phone, then frowned. “Shit! Where?” He listened for a second and hung up.
“What?” Leah and Rick asked at the same time.
“Dallas spotted a dark sedan with tinted windows parked three cars over from our rental. They’re here.”
Rick pulled out a set of keys. “Take my truck. White Ford, parked outside the emergency room. Dallas and I’ll hold the fort down here. Get her out of here.”
“No,” Leah insisted. “I’m staying with Luis.”
“We’re leaving,” Austin growled.
“They don’t know what room he’s in,” Rick told her. “We moved him. Go. We’ll take care of your brother. If you’re here, we’ll have two of you to protect and that makes it harder.”
Austin handed Rick the rental car keys. “It’s a Chevy Cruze, silver, south entrance. My truck’s at the rental place.” He took Leah’s arm. She followed. She didn’t want to, but she did.