Alejandro (11 page)

“You cooking me dinner or something?”

Audrey rolled her eyes at his smart comment. She wondered why she blushed, but found it easy to picture the three of them sitting at the dinner table, sharing a meal together. “No, I’m not cooking you dinner.”

He gave her a lazy grin. “Too bad. I’d rush home if I knew a beautiful woman had dinner waiting for me on the table.”

Neanderthal. Did he really think she was beautiful, or was he just teasing her? Audrey opened her mouth, but couldn’t summon a sharp retort. Instead, she physically responded, her neck warming, and her cotton nightgown sticking to her back, thanks to the perspiration.

Ale laughed softly at her silence, and then stood. “I’ll try not to be too late.” He held out his hand and Angel gave it a slap. “See you later, buddy.”

“Bye, Marshal!” Angel waved vigorously. Ale returned a wave and winked.

“Bye, Marshal,” Audrey echoed, and he was gone.

“Auntie Audrey?” Angel’s head fell back, his green eyes looking up, searching for hers.

“Yes, Angel?” She hugged him close and he relaxed against her.

“I like the marshal.” He yawned.

Audrey smiled into his hair. She stared at the empty doorway where a darkly handsome marshal stood a few moments before. His smile and warm green eyes — even his smart aleck jabs — everything about him made her agree with her nephew. “I like him, too, Angel. I like him too.”

****

“
El Jefe
wants this in Florida by the end of the week?”

Ale backed away from the car, his eyes on the back bumper. He’d installed a small tracking device inside the bumper in order for the DEA to track the car. As with all the previous shipments he oversaw, the DEA would monitor the vehicle, and then gather information on the recipient of the product before making an arrest. He moved to the front of the vehicle. The rusty color of the ’67 Chevrolet gleamed in the sunlight. The car, beautifully restored to its original glory, had no fault other than the drugs stashed in the hidden compartment in the dashboard.

Ale glanced at José. In forty-eight hours, the DEA would take José into custody, and with any luck, he’d make a statement implicating Trujillo, strengthening the San Antonio DA office’s case against the multiple murderer drug lord. “In two days.”

José scratched his week-old, gray-black beard before smoothing the front of his grease and sweat-stained shirt. “Um, why so soon?”

“I know you haven’t run in a while, but we’re cutting down our delivery times. This customer especially wants the product as soon as possible. Can you handle it?”

“
Por supuesto
, of course. Do you have my travel documents?”

Ale reached into his back jeans’ pocket. “Sure.” He pulled out a plane ticket for one-way travel from Miami to San Antonio, dated two days from today. He held them out to José, who took the document. He read the ticket before folding it in half and placing it in his front jeans’ pocket.

“Anything else,
hombre
?”

Don’t screw this up
. Alejandro licked his dry lips. The mini-operation seemed easy enough. He’d completed his part by installing the tracker. The drugs were already tucked inside a compartment behind the middle of the back seat. He’d received a text from the DEA in Miami, confirming their receipt of the tracker’s signal. Having no reason to check the bumper unless he got in a car accident, José would deliver the vehicle on time and right into the DEA’s hands.

And Trujillo would have even more reason to suspect a narc was inside his operation.

That couldn’t be helped. Ale personally oversaw the preparation of this vehicle, and he’d blame any misfortune on José, who’d be in custody — talking. With any luck, Ale and Trujillo would keep news concerning José’s arrest between the two of them. If they didn’t, Carlos might alert Alba to another lost shipment — if Trujillo didn’t kill him first.

“No.” He shook José’s hand. José got behind the wheel and started the engine. A few workers called his name and waved as he pulled out of the parking lot. Ale casually strolled away from the workers. Pulling out his cell, he sent a quick text to the DEA agent in Miami in charge of the operation on their end, confirming the shipment was on the move.

Ale glanced at the time on his cell. Seven o’clock. He headed inside the garage. A quick glance at the manager’s office on the second story saw Trujillo standing near the open door, his eyes on him. Ale suppressed a tremor of fear. Something was off. The way Trujillo was looking at him — he was compromised, but he couldn’t quit now, not with Alba days away from showing his face in San Antonio. Ale did a mental check of his activities in the last few days as he went to the lockers to grab his work shirt. He was careful in all his statements with Trujillo concerning the drug business, and although Trujillo’s men had followed him to Lana’s house, they weren’t able to provide a positive ID on the large, dark man with long hair.

Audrey was another story.

Discovering whether or not Trujillo knew Audrey’s identity was on Ale’s agenda today. If Trujillo could identify her, then there’d be no telling what else Lana had confessed to before she was killed. Who her attorney was? The location of Angel’s school? Ale was behind the curve on this one, but he trusted Mel to keep Audrey and her nephew safe.

He buttoned up the gray work shirt, and then took a look around the garage. There’d be plenty of work today with double the amount of night drop-offs as usual for a Wednesday. He might not make it back to the safe house in time for dinner. A surprising pang of disappointment shot through him. He’d love a good home-cooked meal, especially made by the hands of a certain Audrey Hughes.

****

“Here is the first set of documents relinquishing Mrs. MacGruber’s temporary guardianship. If you’ll just sign on the line at the bottom of the page, Mrs. MacGruber.” A smartly dressed attorney with her hair in a tight bun slipped the lone sheet of paper in front of Mrs. MacGruber. The attorney then handed her a pen. Mrs. MacGruber thanked the woman and proceeded to read the document.

Audrey let out a nervous sigh. She glanced at Angel, who sat quietly beside her, enjoying a picture book. Audrey’s eyes roamed the conference room at the firm where Penny had established legal guardianship for her son in the event of her death. A couple of fake green plants were the only colors standing out in the monochromatic-styled room. Even though a marshal stood outside the door, Audrey couldn’t help her fear in the cold, impersonal room.

She lightly ran her fingers through Angel’s thick hair. He kept his focus on the book. Would this be the end? After she became Angel’s legal guardian, she’d find a real estate agent to sell Penny’s house and then get herself and Angel out of Texas. She’d barely slept the nights she was there, knowing she wouldn’t feel safe until she and her nephew were back home in Virginia.

“Well, again, Audrey,” Mrs. MacGruber began while signing the form, “I hope this doesn’t mean that little Angel here won’t be able to return home from time to time.” She peeked above the rims of her reading glasses and smiled warmly at Angel, who still didn’t know anything else existed but his book.

“Of course, Mrs. MacGruber. As I told you before, I wouldn’t mind bringing Angel back for a visit, or you could even come to us in Virginia.” That statement had been true before the two men had invaded Mrs. MacGruber’s house the other day. How could she allow Angel to return to a place where he was being hunted? She trusted the gun-toting MacGruber not to endanger her nephew, but she didn’t trust anyone else.

Mrs. MacGruber nodded. “Fine, that’s fine.” She handed the signed document and the pen back to the attorney, who reviewed the signature and nodded with approval.

“And now you, Ms. Hughes.” The attorney slid a form in front of Audrey and pointed to a line at the bottom of the page. “You’ll put your signature here, indicating your official guardianship.”

Official guardianship. Once again she was required to care for a minor child. This time had to be different. Taking the pen firmly in her hand, Audrey signed on the line. It was done. She was now Angel’s guardian. “What about adoption?” she asked the attorney while eyeing the top of Angel’s dark head.

“Well, you’d have to petition the court for permission because the father is absent. With the father out of the picture, as the child’s legal guardian, you’d have a good case.”

Audrey nodded at the attorney’s answer. Who was the baby’s father? Penny hadn’t mentioned the child’s father in the letter she’d sent. Did Penny even know the father of her boy? Considering Penny in the arms of a number of men to the point she didn’t know who had fathered her child caused Audrey to close her eyes in silent disappointment. Their parents hadn’t taught them to be so cavalier with their feelings… or their bodies.

Alejandro
. Audrey wet her dry lips, but could do nothing about her parched throat. Her defenses were sorely incapable of safeguarding herself against his kiss.
I can’t let him kiss me again. I don’t know him; he doesn’t know me. I have to keep my distance, even if he can’t
. The attorney’s voice drew her eyes open.

“Here is an envelope with your sister’s signed will, and a sealed letter that she requested only you open.”

The attorney handed Audrey the letter while she kept the will. Audrey fingered the white envelope addressed to her in her sister’s handwriting. Audrey’s lower lip trembled and her eyes watered. She was helpless to catch the tears splattering on the envelope as the attorney read the last wishes of her sister.

She had wanted to be buried next to their parents. Audrey closed her eyes again, thinking of the funeral. They could never have an open casket. Sniffing, Audrey wiped the tears off her cheeks and focused her attention on the attorney. If she continued to dwell on how she’d already buried her parents and now she was burying her sister, she’d lose it right here in the office and she needed to be strong. For Angel. He was young, but he knew his mother wouldn’t return to him, and he’d have a long road ahead as he learned to comprehend her death.

“And she established a small trust fund for Angel, of which the monies will be released on his twenty-first birthday. The amount is as follows…”

Penny had put away more than twenty thousand dollars in the bank for her son’s future. Audrey gaped at the attorney’s words. A trust fund? How had Penny come into money? How had her sister supported herself?

Eyeing the sealed envelope, Audrey tore into it. Her sister had kept so many secrets from her. Would this be another one? Pulling out the paper, she silently read the first few lines. A locker at a local bus station held some contents Penny had hidden away.
A locker?
What would her sister need a locker for? And to hide more letters? Taking the envelope in her hand again, she felt something hard and small in one of the corners. Peeking inside, she saw the key that must belong to the locker.

“Ms. Hughes?”

Audrey looked up.

The attorney spoke again. “Your sister has also penned a small letter.”

“Please read it aloud,” Audrey said.

Audrey listened to the words of her sister. An apology for how she’d behaved in those first few years after their parents died. She asked for forgiveness. Although she’d lived how she’d wanted, since the birth of Angel, her heart began to remember the biblical teachings their parents had instilled in them, and she had shared them with Angel. She asked Audrey not to cry too long, for they’d soon see each other in Heaven.

“It’s like she knew she was going to die,” Audrey whispered. She’d already guessed, but her pain hadn’t been lessened upon hearing her sister announce her impending death.

“At least she had the good sense to set aside something for Angel,” Mrs. MacGruber said. “Whatever problems she had faced, her priority was her son.”

Audrey looked at the grim face of Mrs. MacGruber, whose eyes grew colder the longer they stared at Audrey. Yes, her sister had provided for her son, yet not even Mrs. MacGruber knew what Penny had suffered. A knot of emotion formed at the base of Audrey’s throat, knowing her sister was alone in her final days, preparing for a future she’d never see.

Mrs. MacGruber continued. “I’ve come to know that you and your sister weren’t close, Ms. Hughes, but I hope you’ll remind Angel how important he was to his mother.”

Audrey opened her mouth to spit a retort, but thought better of it. She clamped her lips shut and instead, kissed the top of her nephew’s head. How much animosity did Mrs. MacGruber hold against her? “Of course I’ll tell him about Penny. She was
my
sister.” Although she didn’t appreciate Mrs. MacGruber’s subtle attacks, Audrey empathized with the woman’s position. She considered herself a grandmother to Angel, and Audrey was coming into town — only after Penny died — to take the child away from her. However she reasoned Mrs. MacGruber’s harsh attitude, the offense still stung. Audrey hadn’t been an absentee sister by choice. She’d give anything to rewind the clock.

“That concludes the reading of the will,” the attorney said after a few moments of tense silence.

“Auntie Audrey, I’m hungry.”

Audrey looked down into the face of her nephew Angel. His big, beautiful green eyes, so much like her sister’s, stared up at her, questioning when they would eat. “It’s almost time for lunch. Can you wait a little bit?” Angel nodded and returned to flipping the pages of his book. Glancing up, Audrey caught Mrs. MacGruber’s disapproving stare. Audrey sighed softly. She had promised Mrs. MacGruber that Angel would return to see her, but now Audrey regretted making the promise. Mrs. MacGruber had no right to judge her. Whatever boundaries she’d set for Angel, she was sure Mrs. MacGruber would remove them.

Perhaps the old woman was right. Penny didn’t turn out okay… she ended up dead.
I was supposed to be responsible for her.
She’d sworn to her parents at their gravesite that she’d always look after Penny — that nothing would ever happen to her. She’d failed.

Sniffing, Audrey folded the letter concerning a box at a bus station back into the envelope. She’d read the rest of the message later. The attorney stuffed the will, Penny’s last letter, and other guardianship documents into a manila envelope and passed it to Audrey, who placed the envelope, still wet with her tears, inside.