Rafael (The Santiago Brothers Book One) (19 page)

“Now this is an interesting development.”

“
Mmm, he
kissed me back.” Genie drew in a deep breath. “The kiss was
amazing
.”

“I bet.” Audrey giggled.

Genie yawned. “I probably should get some
sleep while I can. The boss made it clear I need to be at work
tomorrow.” Before Audrey responded, Genie heard a light rap on her
bedroom window. Her head snapped in the direction of the window.
“Wait a minute, Audrey. I think I hear something at my window.” She
clicked off the light and saw a distinct shadow at the window.
Genie threw herself to the floor. She winced, her ribs burning.
“Audrey,” Genie spoke into her phone, gritting from the pain.
“There’s someone at my window. I have to call you back.”

“Be safe!”

Genie dialed Rafa’s cell. He picked up on the
first ring.

“Genie? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” His
voice held concern along with grogginess.

“Rafael.” Her breath came in gasps.
“Someone’s at my bedroom window.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he stated,
his voice now alert. “Call the police.”

“Wait. He’s knocking again.” She grabbed her
gun from the nightstand and crept towards the window.

“Detective Green!” a male voice whispered
frantically.

Genie pulled back the curtain. “Rafa, it’s
Diego!”

“Don’t let him leave.” Rafa disconnected the
line.

Genie motioned for Diego to meet her at the
back door. When she opened it, he clutched his chest and fell at
her feet. “Diego!”

Genie placed her weapon on the nearby
counter. She reached underneath his arms and pulled the groaning
man inside. His hand remained at his chest. Genie knelt down,
reached out, and removed his hand. Warm liquid oozed between her
fingers. She held them up to the moonlight and there was no
mistaking what she saw, or what she smelled: blood.

“You’re injured! We have to call 9-1-1.”

“No! No, I don’t know if they are still
following me.”

Genie
stiffened. “You led them here?” She stood quickly and snatched her
weapon. She locked the back door and then peered out its window.
Darkness stared back. Not even the porch light could penetrate
it.
Rafa,
please hurry!

“I don’t know,” Diego responded with a hoarse
cough.

“How did you find me?”

“From the hospital. I followed you. Wanted to
make sure my sister was safe.” He coughed again and moaned.

Genie inwardly groaned. If Diego had been
followed…

Diego’s moaning drew her back. She placed the
gun back on the counter and reached for the dishrag draped over the
kitchen sink. “How bad is it?” Genie bent down, dishrag in hand.
“Let me see.” She pushed aside the hand covering a wound to his
chest. “Diego, I’ve got to get you to a hospital.”

“No, it’s not bad.”

“Yes, it is! You could have a punctured lung
or something. How did this happen?” She pressed the towel into his
wound.

“I ran. After they showed up at Flores’
house, I ran. I had to get them away from her. I knew they would
follow me if I ran.” He gurgled and coughed up blood.

“Okay, okay.” She snatched a towel from the
handle of her oven and used it to wipe his chin. “Can you make it
to the couch? I can better tend to you there, and it will be more
comfortable.”

Genie grunted, ignoring her own painful ribs,
as she pulled him off the floor and half-carried him to her living
room couch. He moaned softly and settled back into the cushions.
“Stay here. I’m going to get some antiseptic and gauze.” After
retrieving her weapon, Genie hurried to the nearest bathroom and
opened the vanity underneath the sink. She grabbed the first-aid
kit and then sprinted to her bedroom for her holster. After pulling
up a pair of jeans, she strapped her gun to her hip and proceeded
back to the living room.

A heavy
knock at the front door caused her to stop at the edge of the
sofa.
Please
God, let that be Rafael!
She peeked through the peephole. It was him! She yanked
open the door, grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt, and pulled
him inside. She flipped the deadbolt and rushed back to
Diego.

“What happened?” Rafa came to her side to
face Diego.

“It looks like he’s been stabbed.” She opened
the medical kit.

Rafa knelt down and opened the man’s shirt.
“Is it bad?”

“He’s been coughing, and the wound is still
bleeding.”

“It’s not bad,” Diego countered. “He missed
the heart.”

“Who missed the heart?” Rafa leaned forward
with gauze.

Diego coughed again. A small stream of blood
trickled down the outside of his lip. He cried out when Genie
placed some liquid onto the wound. “I only heard the name
Nicolas.”

“Montenegro,” Rafa breathed.

“One of the guys wasn’t doing so great.”

“That’s because I beat him to a pulp.”

Genie gave Rafa a sideways glance and smirk.
“You enjoy mentioning that, don’t you?”

Rafa winked at her. He refocused on Diego.
“Can you tell us why they are after you?”

Diego winced as Genie dressed the wound. “I…
I overheard something. Something I shouldn’t have.”

“What was it?” Rafa pressed.

“I heard the owner and the manager talking
about some dirty money. They had a lot of money they were going to
funnel through the restaurant.”

“Money laundering.”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell us anything about the other
deaths? Your girlfriend? Alberto Gonzalez?” Genie asked.

“Alberto, that old fool. I told him to leave
early that night. He had a birthday party to get to — his birthday
party. He wouldn’t leave and then he passed by the corner I was in
and into the manager’s office. The door was slightly open, and I
guess he didn’t think anyone was in there.” Diego stopped abruptly.
His body shook, not from cold but from emotion. Even in the
darkness, Genie saw his eyes water, and his next words were spoken
in a shaky voice. “I told him to go home. I told him! All he did
was empty the trash.” Diego broke down, sobbing.

Rafa angled towards Genie. “Guess they
couldn’t take the risk of any loose ends.”

“They assumed he had overheard them,” Genie
agreed.

“What about you?” Rafa returned to Diego.
“How did they know you overheard them?”

“Alberto. He mentioned I was just outside the
door and if there wasn’t anything else they needed, we were going
to leave,” he answered grimly.

“What about Maribol?” Rafa asked.

Diego put his hands over his face. “Maribol.”
His voice threatened an onslaught of sobs. “That wasn’t supposed to
happen. I was supposed to… I was supposed to die. They killed her
because she was there that night.”

“At the restaurant?”

“Yes. She walked in as I was leaving. The
manager saw her.”

“Perhaps they thought you’d say something to
her,” Genie suggested softly. “I’m so sorry, Diego.”

Genie’s brows furrowed. She caught Rafa’s
gaze. “No one mentioned she’d gone to the restaurant that
evening.”

“She wasn’t supposed to be there. She stopped
on her way home,” Diego sputtered through sobs. Then the whites of
his eyes gleamed in the darkness. “We passed by some woman. She was
on her way out with an order.”

Rafa nodded. “Consuela Cruz. She’s dead. So
is Mario Desanto.”

Diego’s chest jerked, and he put an arm over
his eyes. He cried softly into his sleeve. Rafa touched Genie’s arm
and motioned for her to follow. When they were in the kitchen, out
of earshot but still within sight of Diego on the couch, Rafa
leaned in to her.

“We need to get him to a hospital now. He’s
lost a lot of blood, and who knows what other injuries he has.”

Genie remembered the blood on Diego’s lips.
“I agree. But he doesn’t know if he’s been followed here or not.
That’s why I haven’t called 9-1-1. I wouldn't want to alert whoever
is watching.”

She saw
Rafa’s features tense. “If they
did
follow him, then they’ll know you’re helping
him.”

“My only concern now, Rafa, is his safety. He
needs to go into protective custody.”

He didn’t argue. “Fine. Let’s get him to the
hospital now, and call the lieutenant to discuss a custody
arrangement. I’ll go outside and see if it’s clear, then I’ll
signal for you and Diego to follow.”

Rafa walked out the front door, and Genie
came beside Diego. He was wiping his eyes with his sleeve. “Can you
walk? We are going to get you to a hospital—”

“I can’t!”

“You can and you will,” she stated firmly and
then her voice softened. “You need medical attention and you can
see your sister. We’ll keep you safe, I promise.”

“No, you won’t. No one can keep me safe.” He
grabbed her shirt and pulled her forward. His eyes bugged, the
terror in them acute. “Not from them,” he whispered hoarsely.

Genie unlatched his hand from her shirt. She
then wrapped an arm around him and hauled him from the sofa. Her
chest on fire, she cried out in pain. A wave of weakness hit her,
but she pushed herself to move, sweat beading her brow. One step at
a time, she and a debilitated Diego moved toward the front door.
After seeing the signal, she ushered Diego outside. Rafa sprinted
up to her porch and took Diego the rest of the way while Genie
locked the front door.

Genie jogged to the car. One foot in the car,
she heard a branch snap. She whirled, drawing her weapon.

“What is it?” Rafa asked.

The breeze whipped, and she glanced up. The
branches from the tree in her neighbor’s yard rustled and swayed in
the wind. The darkened sky, illuminated with a splattering of tiny
stars, revealed no shadows… no watchful eyes.

“Nothing,” Genie responded with hesitation.
“I think.”

****

Diego suffered a punctured lung. The doctors
were amazed he was still conscious after the amount of blood lost.
Rafa chalked it up to the unshakable will to live. Diego had a
sister whose life had been threatened. Rafa thought of his own
brothers. What if one of them was in danger? He hadn’t spoken to
either of them in a long time. Did they think about him? Rafa
resolved to reach out to both Alejandro and Ricardo as soon as he
wrapped up this case.

When she heard her brother was in the
hospital, Flores insisted on seeing him. She now slept in a
recliner situated in the corner of her brother’s room. If they
killed Maribol and Consuela for just being at the restaurant, then
Flores was also in danger. She needed to be protected as well.

Rafa nodded a greeting to the guard stationed
outside Diego’s room and walked down the hall to a small area with
vending machines. Genie stood before them, jingling coins in her
hand, undecided on what to buy. He rested his hands on her
shoulders, standing so close that whenever he breathed in, he could
smell that light floral scent of her hair.

“Honestly, I don’t want anything,” she
said.

“Then why don’t we go to the waiting area and
sit down.”

She nodded and followed him out to an area
where a few drab-colored couches and plastic sitting chairs were
arranged for visitors. They sat side by side on one of the couches,
shoulders touching. Rafa studied her face. Small bags had formed
under her eyes. “How do you feel? Did you get a chance to
sleep?”

Genie yawned and looked at her watch.
“Actually, no. I was on the phone when Diego knocked on my bedroom
window.” She added quickly, “But, I’m okay.”

He placed a hand on the back of her neck and
gently turned her face to see her eyes. “Are you sure? Maybe we
should get a room so you could lie down. You were just here a few
hours ago.” He kneaded her tense neck muscles.

She smiled at his suggestion and then closed
her eyes, her muscles relaxing underneath his fingers. “Thank you,
but I’m fine right here,” she murmured.

“Oh, because I’m here?” he teased.

Genie blushed to her roots. “No. Not because
you’re here.”

The butterflies in Rafa’s stomach made him
warm all over. “Liar,” he countered softly.

“Agent Compton has been called off his
surveillance and will be here shortly to brief us on Diego’s
protective custody arrangement.”

“I can’t believe I have to work with that
guy.”

Genie laughed.

“Didn’t realize two murderers running loose
is a joke.”

Agent Compton stood in the doorway. All
amusement died away.

“Agent Compton.” Genie stood.

Drake sniffed, tilting his nose a bit higher
in the air. “I have the necessary documents to take Mr. Cera into
protective custody. I’d also like to discuss with the two of you a
task force with the IRS.”

Rafa stood. “Compton, we’d like to know if
there are any new developments into the whereabouts of Jorge Huera
and Nicolas Montenegro.”

Drake met him with a challenge in his eyes.
Rafa’s gaze did not waver.

“No leads. Our sources haven’t been able to
deliver any concrete information on where they’re staying. If in a
hotel, they are undoubtedly using aliases.”

“Undoubtedly.” Rafa’s agreement was laced
with sarcasm. Genie’s eyes widened at him and he smirked at the
warning.

“In any case, the task force will stand up
tomorrow morning and we’ll all meet to discuss the next move.”

“The next move needs to be the capture of
Huera and Montenegro.”

“
Detective
Santiago, I’m not sure if you’re at all familiar with how a
task force works, but allow me to educate you,” Compton stated
lazily.

Rafa crossed his arms, his jaw working.
“There might be only one way to draw Huera and Montenegro out. As
assassins for the Snakes, they won’t stop until the job is
completed. We may need Diego Cera here.”

“You mean use him as bait for a trap,” Genie
spoke.