Nowhere To Run (To Protect And Serve) (9 page)

The same family that
he’d claimed disowned him when he turned his back on the powerful Santiago Cartel.

Chapter Seven

Riley waited until he’d gotten out of Santiago’s hearing range before calling Jordan back.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t take your call earlier—“

“Riley— thank God!” This sound of her panic came through loud and clear.

“Jordan, what it is? Tell me what’s happened.”

She took a few much needed breaths before answering.

“I think someone just tried to kidnap me.”

“What? Where are you?” He reached for the police light he kept for emergencies and kicked the truck’s speed up as high as he dared in the heavy traffic.

“
I’m at my apartment--” Her next words were broken up with static.

“Jordan? Are you there? Jordan. Dammit!”
Riley swerved seconds before hitting a cab that’d cut in front of him. “I’m on my way.”

“No. You can’t.” She drew
in a breath. “I’m okay.”

“You’r
e not. Let me come get you.” He floored the gas peddle, hit the horn, then sped through the yellow light two blocks from her neighborhood.

“I’m two minutes away. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Riley dropped the phone in the passenger seat and parked the truck as close as he could get to her building and headed for the second-story apartment Jordan shared with her brother.

“I’m okay,” She
repeated as she unlocked the door and threw her arms around him. She was in shock, unaware of what she was doing.

Especially to him.

After a second’s hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her body and drew her against him. “You’re trembling.” He whispered against her ear and held her tighter.

“I know
, but I’m okay. “

Riley
released her then gripped her chin searching her face.

“He didn’t hurt you—“

She shook her head. “No. No. He scared the hell out of me, but he didn’t hurt me.”

“Come sit down
and tell me exactly what he said to you.”

Before she could do either of those things, her cell phone rang.

She took the phone from her pocket. “It’s Caesar again. He knows something’s wrong. I didn’t answer his last call. I have to take this one.”

Riley watched her turn away. He could no longer see her expression, but the brittleness in her tone ma
de it clear she didn’t trust her fiancé.

“Yes-yes, I’m fine. No, nothing’s wrong.” She
glanced hesitantly over her shoulder in Riley’s direction. “Of course I’m alone.”

Riley didn’t bother to pretend he wasn’t listening to ever word of their conversation. Jordan’s body language alone made
it easy to see she was terrified of Santiago.   

“No, I haven’t spoken to Detective Donovan at all.” She shot Riley a worried frown. “Look, Caesar, I-I’ll be leaving soon. I just want to spend a little more time here
, okay. I’ll call you when I’m on my way.” She snapped the phone shut without waiting for Santiago’s response and turned to Riley. “He won’t settle for that answer. He’ll come soon. You need to leave before he finds you here.”

Riley’s gaze settled on her.
“Jordan, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what happened to you tonight. You sounded…terrified.“

She dropped to the sofa
, shuddering as she remembered the ordeal. “I was.” She recounted the details of the unsettling exchange.

“
And he mentioned Caesar by name?”

“
No. Not exactly. He said, ‘Tell your fiancé this city is a cesspool. People die here all the time. I’d suggest, if he knows what’s good for him, he’d better watch his back—‘“. She stopped and glanced at Riley. “What is it?”

He shook his head. He didn’t want to tell her his suspicions
yet. “Nothing. Go ahead. What else did he say to you?”

Jordan drew a deep breath before continuing. “He said ‘anything could happen to a young woman such as yourself out alone…Doctor Scott.’ This has something to do with Jeremy’s death, doesn’t it?” When he didn’t answer she added, “D
o you think this has something to do with Caesar’s family?”

“I don’t know
,” Riley said. He couldn’t be certain, but he did plan to check on the family’s whereabouts. See if someone connected to the Cartel might have been in the city. If so, had they been here at the same time as Jeremy’s death?  

“
Who else would know I’m-I’m Caesar’s fiancé?” She couldn’t quite meet his gaze as she stumbled over the admission.

Riley didn’t answer.
“Did you recognize the man? Perhaps he’s someone you’ve met in the past. ”

“No, I’ve never seen him before, I’m sure of it. But there was something familiar about him. When he brushed against me, it gave me the creeps. I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let me go.”

“Would you recognize him again if you saw him?”

She hesitated
then shook her head. “Yes, I think so.”

“What happened after he let you go?”

“There were two men other with him. Standing next to a dark limo parked just a little ways from us. The man spoke to the others – not in English but Spanish.”

“Did you understand what he said?”

Jordan hesitated long enough for the detective in him to become suspicious. “No,” she said at last. “Not really, but I did get the license plate on the limo.”

“You did? That’s good. “He jotted the number down. “I’ll check it out. Hopefully I’ll be able to find out something about the man, but don’t get your hopes up.” He warned.

“Why? You think he wouldn’t have used his real name to reserve the limo?” 

“I think there’s a very good chance of it, yes
.”

“
There’s something else. The man spoke Spanish to the others. But it wasn’t so much the language that bothered me, but some of the terminology he used. I’ve heard Caesar say the same things when he’s spoken to his family.”

“
It’s not that uncommon, you know. Lots of people in New York come from Columbia.”

“Yes. But how many of them
would know our names. And not everyone has Caesar’s family…”

“
His family history?” He finished for her.

***

Riley’s sultry gaze slipped over her. Blocking him out was impossible. She couldn’t concentrate with him near. His presence seemed to fill every spare inch of space around her.

He’d seen something in her that troubled him.
He stepped closer, invading her personal space.

“
I need to get you out of here.” He’d moved closer. His nearness caught her off guard. Her breath stopped as did the protest she’d been about to make.

After Caesar’s indiscretions – the callous disregard he’d showed for her feelings, Jordan thought she’d lost the ability to feel anything for another man. Much less
desire. But she’d been wrong.

Her ribcage tightened and adrenaline rushed through her body when
Riley’s warm breath fanned her cheek.

She closed her eyes, her stomach plummeted and she fought to appear unshaken. “
No. I’m fine. I
will be
fine.” She amended

“
No, you won’t,” he insisted. “Your life’s in danger every second that you’re with him. You’ve seen what he’s capable of doing--”

“
He won’t hurt me.” A tiny fissure of apprehension moved along her spine. She wasn’t sure of that. She squared her shoulders and tried to appear strong. “He wouldn’t risk the public scandal that would cause.”

“Are you willing to bet your life on it?” He slid his hand around her wrist holding her there when she tried to move away.
“Because I’m not. And unless we can come up with some hard evidence proving Santiago responsible, he’s going to walk away from Jeremy’s death scot-free.”

“What do you mean?” Suddenly, she dreaded his next words.

“What I mean is
, so far, nothing about your brother’s life or death adds up.”

While her thoughts still reeled
with implication, he continued in a voice so low she almost didn’t catch the words.

“D
id you know Jeremy was arrested six months ago for possession?”

***

“I beg your pardon…” The disbelief in her voice could’ve been faked, but the body language wasn’t. Jordan had no idea what he was talking about. At least not consciously.

Riley put his hands on her shoulders and started to work on the tension she didn’t realize was there. “You didn’t know, did you
?” he answered for her.

“
No -– that can’t be.” she denied vehemently. “I was never notified about--”

“
You wouldn’t have been. By New York law, Jeremy was considered an adult.”

After a moment he added, “Jordan, w
ith all due respect, I think there’s an awful lot about your brother’s life that you didn’t know.”

She chose to ignore that. “What happened to the charges? If Jeremy w
as arrested six months ago, wouldn’t he have gone to trial by now?”

After a moment, he answered, “Normally. In most cases
, there would have been a trial. But in Jeremy’s case, the charges were dropped. All very hush-hush I might add.”

Clear green eyes analyzed his expression carefully. “Why were the charges dropped?” She managed at last. “Did something go wrong with the case?”

“You could say that.” Riley hesitated, debating how much to tell her. “Jeremy’s case was dismissed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Apparently, someone thought Jeremy would be more useful to them as an informant.”

She stared at him in disbelief. “What? You’re saying Jeremy was working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office? Why? What possible benefit could my kid brother be to…”

“You think Caesar found out about the arrest?” She forced out.

Riley
’s gaze riveted to hers. “I believe that’s exactly why he was killed.”

“And there’s only one reason they’d come after Jeremy. Because of his connection to Caesar
,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken.

“I think so.” Riley answered noncommittally. “But I’d like to go over some things with you first. I
’m hoping maybe you could tell me about Jeremy’s routine as of late. Anything out of the norm take place in his life recently?”

“No. No, not as far as I know.”

“You and your brother weren’t close?” After the way she’d reacted at the hospital and her actions now, this surprised him. Riley wondered how much of the sketchy facts he’d learned over the past few hours to reveal to her. “I thought—“

“Of course we were close …at least we were at one time, but over the past few months, well,
Jeremy changed.” Her focus shifted to something just beyond his left shoulder.

“How did
he change, Jordan?” 

She seemed unaware
of him. Jordan was a million miles away. “It wasn’t anything big, just small changes in his behavior. I remember he had trouble sleeping. He was prone to unprovoked fits of anger. And he’d grown…distant. Even when he was with me, he seemed distracted.”

“Do you have any idea what was going on in his life? Any new friends. Girlfriend troubles.”

“No, that’s just it. He never talked about anyone. Not even a girlfriend. As far as I know, there was just me and Caesar. And Jeremy practically worshiped him.”

“
Any reason why your brother would be in the South Bronx?”

Her gaze returned to his. “I don’t know. But you do, don’t you? Was it…”

“The autopsy showed traces of both heroin and cocaine in his system along with several other recreational drugs. Did you know your brother was using?”

She jumped to her feet and rounded on him. “Of course not! How can you ask me that? I’m a doctor
, for God’s sake. Don’t you think I would have helped him had I known he had a problem?”

Riley stood as well. “But you suspected. You had to. You’ve just described the classic warning signs of substance abuse. You of all people would have been trained to spot those signs. You’ve probably seem them a thousand times working with kids. ”

He saw the truth. She did know. “Jordan, I have to ask you, how well do you understand your fiancé’s family business?”

“You mean am I aware that his family allegedly runs the largest drug cartel in Columbia?”

“So you
do
know. And there is no allegedly. Does your fiancé ever talk to his family?”

“
You think Caesar is involved in the family business?”

“I not only think – I know.
He’s dirty. He killed your brother because he was going to tell the Feds everything.” Riley stepped closer. He needed her to realize the danger she was in by knowing this. “Don’t trust him for a minute, Jordan. Let me help you. I can get you to a safe place.”