Rafael (The Santiago Brothers Book One) (8 page)

“We met yesterday, Mrs. Santiago.”

“And we’re working on a case together,
Mamá.”

“Oh, that’s right! I remember you mentioned
you'd be working with the police. How’s that going?”

Rafa cocked a brow at Genie. “How is it
going, Genie?”

Genie produced a stiff grin. “Well, it’s day
one. Hopefully, we won’t trouble your son for much longer, Mrs.
Santiago. I’m sure he’s eager to return to his beat.”

Rafa’s eyes formed slits.

“Well, I’m glad to have him home again, and
hopefully you’ll stay awhile?” she asked her son with a hopeful
look.

Rafa offered her a soft smile. “Of course,
Mamá. I’m on loan to Genie’s department so there’s no rush for me
to return to San Diego.” He returned his gaze to Genie, lips
curving upward, showing his teeth.

Genie glared.

Someone called the room to attention and
Genie dropped like a rock into the couch directly across from Rafa.
A slicker version of his previous smile graced his tanned face and
Genie averted her gaze to her lap where her Bible lay. The leader
asked them to open their Bibles to their passage of study. She
yanked it open and ripped through the pages until she landed in
Romans. Genie breathed out slowly, and then calmly raised her head
to the lecturer as he began.

Genie couldn’t concentrate on anything the
instructor said. Instead, her eyes darted everywhere but at Rafa.
Several times she attempted to focus on the lesson, reminding
herself she was here to work out her issues with Jeff, but the
harder she tried, the stronger her partner’s presence in the room
became. Her head continued to send an urgent memo to her eyes to
look his way, but Genie refused. Then she heard a throat clear.

Rafa
. Her eyes
found him at last. His were already on her.
Did he cough just so I would
look at him?
Swallowing,
she slanted her gaze away.
Nice, Genie, real nice. Are you really that
vain?
No, she wasn’t,
but then why was she uncomfortable? Sure, he was easy on the eyes,
but what did she know of him besides his rough past?

Genie
recalled he mentioned growing up in this exact church. Genie
remembered seeing Mrs. Santiago, but couldn’t conjure a memory of
her sons attending services. Genie glanced over at Mrs. Santiago.
She smiled peacefully. All those prayers she had vaulted to heaven.
At least one prodigal son had returned.
And if prayers worked for her, then
maybe I could try it again.

Genie
boldly stared at Rafa now. He had his elbows on his knees, looking
intently at the small, open Bible in his hands. He nodded to
something the presenter said and then leaned back in the chair, his
gaze never leaving the printed page. His level of concentration
stunned her.
Wow, I guess some things do change.
He must have reconciled with his mother as
well. She seemed only too pleased to finally have her son
back.

Forgiveness
.

Genie couldn’t count the number of sermons
she’d heard on the topic. She had always agreed forgiving others
for the wrongs they had committed against others made logical
sense, if not emotional sense. Genie still labored under the pain
Jeff had inflicted. At work, she could deny it but here in church,
with a model — Mrs. Santiago — of it being carried out before her
eyes, she couldn’t quite escape it.

Genie once again rested her gaze on Mrs.
Santiago. She still smiled. How her sons must have broken her heart
time and time again. True, Genie’s pain was extraordinarily
different — a man had crushed her heart — but either way, both hers
and Mrs. Santiago’s hearts had been left in pieces. Mrs. Santiago
had found a way to forgive and open her heart to her son. Genie,
however, found the sting of Jeff’s betrayal still too fresh to let
go. His actions had catapulted her into the life she now presently
led. And it was glorious. She enjoyed the ambitious hunger too much
to stop eating now.

“I’ll do it.” Rafa spoke. He had just offered
to lead the class in their final prayer. Genie bowed her head. She
listened as he thanked God for bringing them all safely to the
class for fellowship and asked for their safe return home. When he
petitioned for the Lord’s leading in their lives concerning the
lesson they just had, Genie felt a pang of guilt. What exactly was
the lesson? He ended with a heartfelt request of reconciliation for
his family.

Genie
opened her eyes before he said amen. His tone, his prayer…
everything sounded sincere. The bad boy who once genuinely made
good on his threats to beat down fellow members of their student
body now sat, head bowed, in a church, praying in front of others
to God.
Unbelievable!

When he opened his eyes, he caught her
staring at him. Genie snapped her gaze back down to her Bible as
heat flooded her cheeks. She closed the book with a deliberate
action and raised her head.

He was gone.

Genie resisted the urge to scan the room for
him and instead decided to head home. She nodded and waved to those
who called out to her and noted the delight on their faces at
seeing her. But she had no desire to stay and chat. She walked out
of the room while fishing for her keys in her purse. She bumped
into the back of someone and her cheeks colored when that someone
turned around.

“Didn’t you see me? I know you tried very
hard not to look at me for a whole hour.” Rafa flashed his
legendary dimples.

“I was there to study.”

“Honestly, Genie, did you hear anything the
man said? You looked completely preoccupied. Worried, actually.”
The teasing grin vanished, replaced by a concerned frown. His eyes
scanned her face, searching.

How could he guess? Genie worked to bury her
emotions over Jeff. No, she didn’t hear what the teacher had said,
but she’d never admit that to Rafa. “Were you listening?” It was
harsh, she knew, but he started it. Of course he heard. What Genie
refused to hear was her own heart telling her this man had changed.
She chalked it up to the detective in her. She needed to see proof
of a transformation and attending one Bible study wasn’t going to
do it.

Thoughts of Jeff resurfaced and she gripped
her keys. How often did she hear him tell her he’d changed? “The
past is the past,” he’d insisted. “I’m not that man anymore” was
another plea. For one brief moment, she believed him, and it was
the biggest mistake of her life.

Rafa peered at her through dark lashes.
“Something’s wrong. What is it?”

Genie fought to keep her lower jaw from
slacking. Either she was foolishly wearing her emotions on her
sleeve or Rafa was incredibly perceptive — and she refused to
consider the latter a real possibility. Genie straightened her
shoulders and lifted her chin. She had to remain in control. When
she wasn’t in control, she could be taken advantage of, and the
consequences would devastate her life. She’d only allow one man to
wreck her — Jeff. She wouldn’t give Rafa a chance.

Genie fixed him with a hard stare. “Nothing.
I’ll see you in the office tomorrow.” She left him staring at her
back as she walked away

RAFA
pinched the
space between his eyes. He had been on hold for the last five
minutes, waiting for his contact in San Diego’s FBI White-Collar
Crime Department to answer the line. It was almost five in the
morning on the West Coast but Rafa knew the man got an early start
to the day. Rafa clocked in around six, not wanting to be outdone
by Genie, but when he arrived, her chair sat empty. As the minutes
ticked by, cups of coffee added up and Rafa grew more and more
irritated. Not so much at Genie for taking her sweet time to come
in, but at the slow progress on the case. He dismissed the fact he
had only been here a day.

A whiff
of sweet perfume drew his mind away from the dry music on the phone
to a female figure passing his desk.
Genie
. She didn’t acknowledge him when she sat down until after
carefully placing her purse underneath her desk, moving the mouse
to wake the computer, and glancing around the top of the desk. She
raised her eyes to his. The dark brown depths were strangely
intense. Before he could mouth a hello, she smiled and her mouth
formed the silent greeting.

“Rafael? Rafa, are you there? Rafa, I can
hear you breathing.”

Rafa blinked, breaking the spell, and cradled
the receiver closer to his ear. “Yeah, Jimmy, sorry about that.
Hey, good morning. Sorry about the time.”

“No worries, you know I’m always here. Where
were you a second ago?”

In la-la land.
“Oh, ah, my partner just walked in. You have a minute to
discuss the case?”

“Absolutely. How’s it going out there, by the
way?”

“Four deaths so far, all with the
marking.”

“That’s not good.” Jimmy’s grim voice came
through the phone. “You think it’s connected to the Snakes?”

“It’s their MO. I know La Cocina Dulce isn’t
a chain, but there’s a location out here in Springfield. My partner
says their financial unit is looking into the restaurant's
financials. I wanted to touch base to see if you have anything
new.”

“Two restaurants, hmm. They could be working
in conjunction but more likely independent of each other.”

“How do you figure?”

Rafa heard the shuffling of papers before
Jimmy responded. “Well, all of our research on the one out here in
San Diego shows no ties to any other establishment. Granted, the
owner of Springfield’s restaurant is the half-brother of the owner
of ours out here in San Diego. Santoro is his name, I believe.
Santoro hasn’t lived in California for years. Now, it’s absolutely
possible we’ve missed something. If so, then we have our work cut
out for ourselves.”

Rafa let out a breath and raised his eyes. He
caught Genie’s gaze and she gave him a concerned look. He shook his
head at her to assure her there wasn’t cause for alarm — yet.
“We’ll keep you posted on any new developments.”

“Sounds good, Rafa. I’ll give the Bureau out
there a call and see if I can get an agent you can trust to work
with you on this.”

Rafa smiled. “Thanks, Jimmy. You’re the best.
I owe you.”

“And you’ll pay up when you get back out
here.”

Rafa laughed stiffly. “Later.” He didn’t have
plans to return. He hadn’t told the boys back at the station, but
he had received an employment acceptance letter from the Bureau and
he was to start training at Quantico in a couple of months. After
training, he would report to his duty station in Virginia as a
special agent. An equally capable detective will inherit the
investigation of the Snakes and then he'd start a new chapter of
serving the public as an agent with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.

“Good news?” Genie kept her eyes on the
papers in front of her.

“Actually, yes. My guy at the Bureau is going
to vet someone from the office out here for our investigation.”

Genie’s head rose. “I already have the Bureau
running a few checks for us. Are they involved in the investigation
out in California?”

“Absolutely. The restaurant is heavily
implicated in a money-laundering ring. We are running a joint
investigation with the Bureau.”

“So there’s a link between the La Cocina
Dulce in California and the one here in Virginia?”

Rafa shrugged. “Anything other than a
familial connection hasn’t been verified. If there is a link, my
man Jimmy will find it.”

Genie nodded. “That sounds promising.”

Her tone hardly matched the stated opinion.
Rafa took a moment to study her before responding. She tapped her
fingers against her desk, and her eyes were focused on the computer
screen. Rafa crossed his arms over his chest. Even if she didn’t
appreciate his efforts to solve the case, the least she could do
was pretend to be interested. “You came in late this morning.”

Genie rotated in her chair until she sat
straight across from him. Her eyes had darkened and narrowed.

“Are you accusing me of slacking on the
job?”

“I’m sure your conscience will guide you
concerning your work ethic.”

Genie huffed. “I’ll have you know I’ve done a
bit of research myself.” She smiled at him again, and this time he
recognized the type. She hadn’t smiled at him this morning because
she was being friendly; she'd smiled because she had something to
tell. And he guessed he wouldn’t like what she had to say. “I’ve
spoken with the gang unit this morning and—”

Yup, he didn’t like it.

“Wait a minute.” Rafa leaned forward,
wondering whether he’d heard her correctly. He had asked to speak
to the gang unit detectives the day before, but Genie wanted to
postpone their meet-and-greet. She insisted on being with him for
the meeting, but gave him some lame excuse about having to leave
work early. Then she arrived at Bible study that night. “I thought
you were going to introduce me to a few of the detectives.”

“I couldn’t find you.”

The innocent look in her eyes made him grind
his teeth. She knew exactly where he was. “I’ve been here since six
a.m.”

“
I was
here at five. Like I was saying, they have confirmed through
their
sources that these killings
were not committed by any members of the groups in this
area.”

Rafa rolled his eyes. “Of course none of the
gangs here are involved. The MO is very specific.”

Genie offered a stiff smile. “Look, Rafael, I
shouldn’t have to explain basic investigative techniques to
you.”

Rafa reclined in his chair, anger suddenly
vanishing into amusement. He wanted to laugh out loud but rolled in
his lips to keep the sound in. If he had witnessed her behavior
from anyone else, he'd have concluded they were immature and quite
green in the profession. But Genie was a seasoned professional. Why
she felt the need to one-up him he couldn’t fathom. He had no
interest in obscuring her path to success. As soon as they wrapped
the case here, he'd continue on to Quantico and a job with the FBI.
“Believe me, Genie, you don’t.”