Alejandro (5 page)

Ale figured it was time to try a different approach. Reaching out, he took hold of her shoulders, giving them a slight squeeze. “Audrey,” he said gently. “Trujillo is not a man you want to take on by yourself. He’s capable of great evil, as you well know.”

The elevator chimed. “Yes, yes, I know. And that’s why I’m going to see he gets the punishment he deserves.” She shrugged off his hands and darted into the elevator.

Ale groaned, but followed her inside. “Audrey—”

“Look, Marshal, I appreciate everything your team is doing and the offer of protection, but I’m checking in to a hotel.”

She backed herself into a corner, keeping her eyes straight ahead, and her chin high. Ale leaned against the opposite wall and hooked his thumbs on his belt loops. The longer he stared at her side profile, the more she fidgeted — checking her watch, gripping her bag, glancing up at the ceiling. If she were going to give him a hard time, he’d at least have a little fun. “How do you plan to leave? If I recall, we drove here in my car. Yours is back at your sister’s.” He smiled triumphantly.

She favored him with half a glance before setting her gaze on the control panel. “I’ll call a cab.”

“No one is going to give you the number to a cabbie, on my orders.”

She gave him a chagrined smile. “There’s an app for that on my iPhone.”

His eyes fell to her bag and he lifted his brows. “I’ll wrestle it away from you.”

“Ha! After our last fight? You wouldn’t dare.”

“Wouldn’t I?” Being reminded of his literally crushing defeat at the hands of a woman would’ve normally irked him, but he remained unbothered. In fact, the thought of another round with the pretty spitfire intrigued him. She gave him a slitted stare, and he responded with a wide grin.

“You have some nerve.”

“Actually, you don’t know the half of it.” The memory of their kiss exploded in his brain, his blood pounding in his ears and racing throughout his body, warming muscles stiff after a long day’s work. Her eyes widened a bit, and he wondered whether her thoughts mirrored his own.
Maybe they do…

“You Santiago men… you’re still the same. Getting what you want by bullying.”

Now he was irritated. His high school days were far behind him. He wasn’t the same kid, and if she needed reminding, he’d oblige. “You don’t remember me.”

“Oh, yes, I do. You and your brothers used to create havoc in the halls at school. Did you know Rafael is a completely changed man? Attends church and everything.”

Ale blinked. Rafa in church? He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes on the trembling but determined young woman with light brown hair and eyes a deep blue like the sky before gray storm clouds moved in. Her scent — fresh and sweet — filled the elevator car, which seemed to be running a lot slower than usual. They were only a few floors up. Why hadn’t they reached the lobby?

Ale shifted his thoughts from how her fragrance made his body tingle with an unfamiliar desire to Rafa being in a church of all places. If what she’d said were true, that would mean his younger brother had returned home — something Ale hadn’t done since he’d been kicked out more than ten years ago. He’d never forgiven his father for ditching his mother with three young boys, and he’d refused to excuse his mother for making
him
leave home after high school.

The first time he felt any real sense of worth was when he’d received a phone call from the local US Marshals unit a few years ago, congratulating him on being accepted into their service. Finally, his life had purpose. He’d prove to both parents that they’d made a mistake tossing him aside like garbage.

“That’s a shock,” he replied with a bit of sarcasm. Not even news about his reformed brother would deter him from convincing Audrey to go to the safe house.

“Yeah, so um, I don’t need your help.” She gave him a decided nod and he burst into laughter. Her neck and cheeks heated to a soft pink color.

To his disappointment, she didn’t respond with a ready retort, but as soon as the doors opened, raced out the elevator. Ale rolled his eyes.

“Audrey!” He charged out of the elevator car, but stopped short.

She was gone.

****

Audrey couldn’t be more grateful for the nearby bathroom she ducked into after escaping the elevator. She needed time alone: away from Ale and the investigation, away from everything. The last time she’d experienced this overwhelming sensation of suffocation was when her parents had died. Suddenly, she was no longer a teenager but a grown woman. A woman with bills and a younger sister to care for, and she’d never looked back.

Lord, I’m so tired!

Her eyes burned as tears gushed out. She slid down the wall and landed hard on the cold tile floor, sobbing into her hands as memories of her baby sister’s smiles and laughter filled her mind. There were no good-byes, no heartfelt apologies, or tender words of forgiveness. Audrey didn’t even know whether Penny retained the faith their parents worked to instill in them when they were children. So many unanswered questions, and once again, she was burdened to endure when all she wanted was to give up.

She had no choice but to continue on. Angel needed her. With his mother dead, he’d have questions of his own, and as his aunt, it was her duty to provide answers. Audrey sniffed loudly, wiped her tears, and stood on wobbly legs. At the sink, she twisted the faucet and cool water streamed between her fingers. She cupped her hands and expelled a breath after splashing her face. A paper towel dispenser hung on a tiled wall nearby, and she snatched a few towels and patted her face dry. After blowing her nose in the wet paper and tossing the soiled wipe into the trash, she walked to where she’d left her purse on the floor. She snatched up the heavy bag and pulled out her phone. The application for a cab service popped onto the screen and Audrey dialed the nearest company.

Audrey stepped out of the restroom and gasped. Leaning against the wall was the marshal she couldn’t escape, his shoulders sagged, eyes drooping. Audrey frowned. Had his day been long? His life as an undercover agent intrigued her. What did he have to tolerate? What he must have had to eliminate from his life — the people he left behind, the life he once led. And now to be babysitting her… Audrey bit her lip at the twinge of guilt she felt.

Ale stood to full height, his worried gaze on her. “Are you all right? I heard… I thought I’d let you take a moment.”

Instead of pursuing her into the bathroom again? Audrey nodded and smiled at the consideration. “Thank you, I’m better.”

His gaze roamed her face, as if searching for any hints to the contrary, but soon the deep lines of concern between his brows smoothed and his eyes lightened. “Good. Are you ready to go to the safe house?”

Audrey forced her grin not to spread at the hope in his voice that she had relented. “No. I called a cab and it should be here shortly.”

“Aud—”

“Alejandro, I can’t stay at a safe house.” Moving past him, she strode down the corridor toward the entrance to the building. “I have to get my nephew and—”

“And we can accommodate you both.” The sound of his voice was close behind her as he followed.

“That isn’t necessary.” When she reached the door, she paused before turning to face him. She read a mixture of anger and acquiescence in his eyes. “If I need you, I’ll call.” She pushed hard against the heavy door and jogged to the nearby waiting cab.

****

If I need you, I’ll call
.

How many times had Ale glanced at the screen of his phone, thinking perhaps his phone hadn’t rung when she called? She’d left him standing at the door of the Natural Selection Bread Warehouse, a front for the US Marshals Fugitive Recovery task force command center. He couldn’t lawfully hold her at the safe house against her will, and Audrey didn’t seem the type who could be forced into anything, no matter how dire the circumstances. She knew her own mind, and no one would decide for her.

Resoluteness was a trait he admired in a woman. His mother had the same firmness of mind after her husband left her. Ale rarely witnessed it in other women, but he’d been undercover for a while and that left little time to form any real relationships. The girls in Trujillo’s organization obeyed any and every command a man threw their way. Their lack of self-respect, coupled with the insatiable lust of Trujillo and his men, sickened Ale.

He sighed. Three o’clock in the morning, and he was just starting to drift off to sleep. Picking up his phone from the nightstand, he activated the screen, the bright light in the darkened room blinding him for a second. As he squinted to read the screen, his heart dropped in unexpected disappointment. No new voicemails or texts. The last word he had from Audrey was a text saying she’d arrived safely at the hotel. He didn’t wish danger on her, but the thought of how their paths wouldn’t intertwine further without it caused him a moment of frustration.

He needed a new job. Two years of focused intensity, of watching his back until his neck nearly broke from looking over his shoulder — of not enjoying any meaningful time with a woman — began to grate on his nerves. He blamed Audrey… and her lips. If she hadn’t been such a lingering pain since that first knee to his groin, if her lips hadn’t been so warm, he’d be dead asleep now instead of fighting off images of her in his arms. He made it a rule to steer clear of her kind — the type that wanted to settle down. Committing to a woman meant promises and family, and he couldn’t give or do either.

Thanks to his father.

Ale shut his eyes, willing away a potent mental picture. In the end, he’d win. Whatever he set his mind to, he accomplished.

Chapter Four

HER cell phone ringing startled Audrey out of a deep REM cycle. She moaned, putting a hand to her head as dizziness overtook her. After a few slaps to the nightstand, her fingers brushed her phone. It was her friend, Genie Green.

“Hello?” Audrey croaked, and then yawned.

“Aud? Are you okay? Did I wake you? I’m sorry I missed your call last night. I was at a crime scene.”

“Really? A sleep crime?” Audrey’s mouth involuntarily widened as a powerful yawn overtook her ability to speak further.

“And your voicemail sounded as lost and incoherent as you do now.” Genie chuckled. “Wake up, sleepyhead. What’s this about your sister Penny? I’m sure I didn’t hear you correctly. She’s—”

“Dead. Yes. Some drug trafficker guy killed her.” Audrey sat up, her foggy mind beginning to clear. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Seven o’clock in the morning. She could barely recall when she checked in to the hotel or even how she managed to make it into the bed.

“Oh, Audrey. I’m so sorry. I know how excited you were to see her again after so many years. What about Angel? How is he?”

Audrey took comfort in her friend’s warm sympathy. Since they’d formed a friendship in middle school, Audrey trusted no one as fully as she did Genie. “I’m not sure. I’m going to pick him up today.”

****

“You’re spending a lot of time away.”

Ale glanced up at the sound of Miguel Trujillo’s severe tone. His boss stood in the doorway with both his voice and eyes accusatory. It had taken Ale two years to build the trust Miguel placed in him. In that time, he learned to read the heartless killer. Although Miguel smiled, no humor was in the stiff upward slant of his mouth; something was troubling his boss. “Have you finished your business here in San Antonio?”

Miguel closed the glass door to the office. They utilized a mechanic’s storefront to hide their narcotics activity. As Miguel’s chief operations officer, Ale oversaw the shipments of drugs placed in compartments of the vehicles brought into the shop for service.

Miguel walked to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. Ale watched from his seat behind a desk littered with service requests both for vehicles and drugs. Miguel never enjoyed confrontation unless he was murdering someone. He’d drop none-too-subtle hints of his displeasure, and everyone around him knew they only had a small window of time to fix whatever they’d screwed up before Miguel struck. He favored no one.

In an attempt to look busy, Ale lifted a clipboard from the desk, and took his time reading the paperwork before signing off on a finished order. “The Gran Torino is ready, ahead of schedule. I’ll have José ready to ship it to Florida, just say the word.”

Miguel casually sipped his coffee, watching him from above the rim.

“If my work isn’t up to par—”

Miguel laughed. “
Basta ya
. You’re my best man, Ale. You know I trust you. Good work on the Torino. Have José ship it.” Blasting out a loud breath, Miguel rubbed the thinning dark hair on the top of his head. He dragged his hand down a side of his weathered face, a testament to the amount of time he spent outdoors working the ranches in rural Texas long before he started running drugs. Miguel took another gulp of his brew before slumping into a nearby chair.

“¿
Qué pasá
Miguel? Something about the business?”

“No, my friend.” Miguel locked eyes with him for a long moment, and Ale’s lungs constricted.

If Miguel really trusted him, he’d have told him why he killed Lana. Not knowing what conflict existed between Miguel and Lana was a blind spot Ale couldn’t afford to have when dealing with Trujillo. Ale needed Alba. If Lana told Miguel something about the fugitive…

“You know why I stayed in San Antonio.”

“Something about Lana?”

Miguel nodded.

Ale wet his lips. If he treaded lightly enough, he could pry bits of information from Miguel to make an educated guess on where Alba was hiding. The US Marshals had received their last anonymous tip on Alba’s whereabouts months ago. Former tips put him inside Mexico’s border, while others still had him around the San Antonio area. Miguel had mentioned Alba’s name in a phone conversation, but beyond that, he’d remained silent about Alba, and his dealings with Lana. “I thought she’d agreed to resume the relationship.”

“She did.”