Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows) (45 page)

“Dillon? What about you?” Abby frowned at Lou but she just shrugged.

“Ah, we do have a bit of luck there actually.” Max smiled. “Even though you are knee deep in this investigation, Vinny’s wife is making him go to a doctor’s appointment in the morning. They are having a sonogram. We learned this through our excellent new agent, your uncle Seamus. He was having dinner with them this evening when Vinny tried calling you several times with no success.”

“My phone got killed.” Lou pouted.

“Oh! I forgot to give you your replacement!” Abby shot up from the floor and ran to the guest room.

“No matter, Seamus said that he would pass along the message, which he has done through me.” Max grinned. “I spoke to your captain earlier and he is aware of what went on today so he is going to cover and say that you and Dillon were going through phone records until very late so he ordered you to take an early weekend. He’s using having to deal with red tape with Homeland Security as well.” He rolled his eyes. “Bottom line is that you two are excused from class tomorrow. Frank told Dillon while he was finding him clean clothes.”

“Until they make the connection on the warehouse to Arcano. Then it will be back to us.” Lou reminded him.

“You will deal with that when the time comes.” Max got up from the chair and stretched. “Until then, I suggest you get some rest. Abby is going to check on you through the night what with your concussion and all.” He gave her a disapproving look. “I am not going to even bother scolding you on that, especially since you made me a nice little sum over it.”

“Hey! Yeah!” Lou attempted to look insulted. “What’s up with you betting on my misfortune?”

Max chuckled. “What’s that saying? If you can’t beat them, join them?”

“Very funny.” Lou tried not to grin. “How much did you win anyway?”

“It was twenty bucks to get into the pool.” He waggled his eyebrows. “I made out with almost a grand!”

“What?” Lou’s eyes almost popped out of her head.

“That’s right. Nine-hundred dollars in my pocket. Marta was the bank so she paid out after Abby told us what had happened tonight. Right before I went to meet the boys.”

“Marta was in on it?” Lou pouted.

“My dear, given the opportunity, I am certain the entire Sheriff’s Department would have gotten in on it.” He smiled at her and smoothed her hair back behind her ear, taking a good look at her facial injuries. He could see that by tomorrow the left side of her face would most certainly be solid black and blue. “I just wish it had been a hangnail or a sprained toe rather then this extreme.” He sighed, his eyes softening as he gazed into her eyes. “I know that you are a tough, impossibly capable woman. I admire that strength and tenacity in you, it’s what makes you so exceptional. I just...” He cut himself off, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“You just what?” Lou was entranced by his tenderness.

He hesitated to finish his thought. “I wish that I had some way of keeping you safe. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

Lou’s breath caught and her heart nearly stopped dead in her chest. It was another one of those vague statements he made every now and then that made Lou think it might be possible he actually had feelings for her. The last time he did this she swore if there ever was a next time, she was going to push the issue so she could know for sure.

“I’m sure you would find a suitable replacement in no time.” She chuckled, her nervous humor kicking in, foiling her previous plan.

Max sat down on the edge of the coffee table, right in front of her and gathered her hands in his. He noticed how impossibly small they were compared to his and it made him smile. He looked at her intently and took a deep breath before he responded to her blase’ retort. He felt her hands trembling and that made his heart skip a beat. It was inevitable that he was going to have to bare his heart to her eventually, he just was not ready for that to be now. There was too much at stake for him to handle it poorly.

“Lou, you need to know that you are irreplaceable to me.” He made sure she was looking him in the eyes as he spoke, hoping she would understand. “One day without being able to see your beautiful face, bruises and all, is an eternity too long for me.” Before she could think of some sarcastic come back he lifted her knuckles to his lips and kissed them tenderly. He gave her a soft smile then stood up just as Abby to came flying into the room waving Lou’s new phone in the air.

“All charged and everything!” Abby announced but stopped short, seeing that she had interrupted something.

Lou could barely tear her gaze from Max but finally she did. She struggled for something to say, clearly flustered and overwhelmed by his tenderness. “I’ll need to program it.”

“It’s already done.” Abby smiled. “Your old phone backed up automatically so I just uploaded the data to this one. It’s like nothing ever happened.”

Max walked to the door, patting Abby on the head as he passed her. “Our little miracle worker.” He winked at her and walked out of the room. “Sweet dreams ladies. See you in the morning.”

“Night!” Abby shouted after him before he disappeared down the hall.

“Good night.” Lou finally croaked, still overwhelmed by his previous words.

“You really should get some rest.” Abby wanted to pry and ask what happened while she was gone but she thought the better of it. Instead, she headed over to Lou’s bed and pulled the covers back for her. “Don’t freak out if you see me wandering in during the night OK? I know it’s supposedly not true but I’m old school with head injuries and concussions. We were always taught not to go to sleep for a while afterward.”

“Yeah I was old school too but the medic set me straight this evening.” Lou grinned at her.

“Benny?” Abby asked. “Benny Pierce was your medic, right?”

“Yeah, you know him?” Lou shouldn’t have been surprised.

“He is such a sweetie!” Abby helped Lou get out of the chair and hobble over to the bed. “He worked at Walter Reed in D.C, for a while. We met when I volunteered, reading to the wounded soldiers.”

“That is so wonderful of you Abby.” Lou knew that Abby had found Dillon at Walter Reed but she hadn’t really thought about it since Dillon told her his story. “One of these days you’re going to have to give me the full dish on Dillon. I know he’s your special project.”

Abby smiled. “Yeah, he yanked on my heartstrings pretty good. I kinda think of him as my favorite nephew, ya know?”

“I guess.” Lou collapsed on the bed, feeling her body’s dead weight give way. “Man I hurt.”

Abby frowned. “Let me get you another pain pill before you crash.” She scrambled to get Lou her medicine and her cup of tea to wash it down with.

“I’d try to argue with you but I’m too tired.” Lou snorted.

Abby returned and handed Lou her pill then helped her sit up so she could wash it down with the tea. “There ya go. That should take the edge off so you can get some rest.”

“Thank you for everything Abby. You are a rock star.” Lou held her ribs tightly as she slowly laid back down.

“Nah, I’m just good at taking care of my family.” She smiled down at Lou and adjusted her pillow carefully. “Rest now. I’ll see you in the morning. Holler if you need me though. I can hear you no problem from down the hall.”

“Thanks again.” Lou’s eyelids were already drooping. “Sweet dreams.”

“You too, sweet pea.” Abby leaned down and kissed Lou’s forehead, as her mother often did. It made Lou smile only briefly because she was sound asleep in the next second. When she immediately started snoring, Abby had to cover her mouth not to laugh out loud.

It had been a long hard day for Lou. One that only a select group would ever know the true story of. Dawn was only a few hours off but thanks to Max, Lou and Dillon were going to be able to sleep in a little longer and recuperate a little bit before they had to be at full speed again. Once Vinny got the call about the warehouse, the drugs and the Arcano coffee sacks, they would have their probable cause for warrants on Carlos Vargas. Both warrants for his Malibu home and his office would need to be carefully orchestrated. He would be brought in for questioning at the same time and Lou didn’t want the man tipped off that they were coming for him until they hit his door. Carlos Vargas had to know where his brother Ernesto was and Ernesto had to know where Manual Rojas was. If they were not together that is. It was a safe bet that they were with Cameron Timms or at least knew how to get to him. Until Vinny got the call, it was a waiting game once again. Fortunately for Lou, she could sleep while she waited.

Niko arrived at
the rental house just before dawn. The place was dark and silent save for the faint sound of Yuri snoring in the distance. He walked straight to the laundry room, slipped off his shoulder harness, setting his guns on the dryer then stripped off his clothes, socks and all then tossed them in the washer. He set the machine to heavy duty, picked up his guns then padded out and down the hall, stark naked. The plastic poncho had kept his clothes free of any blood spatter but they had dust and grime from two countries and thirty-six hours on them. He had burned his boots earlier, along with Juan Rojas’ shoes and clothing. Rojas no longer needed shoes, clothing, or air. He no longer existed. Just as Max had ordered, Juan Rojas was made dead, divided up into several easy to handle pieces, reduced to ash, then dumped in several different Andy Gumps around the valley. It seemed a fitting disposal for the good doctor, at least to Niko’s mind.

When he finally reached his designated room on the first floor, Niko tossed his harness and guns on the bed and headed straight to his bathroom shower, not even bothering to wait until the temperature was right before getting in. He scrubbed himself down then just stood there, letting the now scalding hot water sink deep into his bones. After several minutes of stillness and quiet, he lathered up once more and began scrubbing away again. When he felt sufficiently cleansed of the night’s transgressions, he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, finding fresh fluffy towels waiting for him along with a large glass of scotch. A paper napkin was placed over the glass, apparently to keep it fresh. He smiled as he reached for the scotch before the towel. He savored the first draw of the amber elixir and noticed there was writing on the napkin.

“
There is a fresh bottle in the refrigerator that was gifted to you earlier this evening. I don’t mean scotch. Drink it all. You have had a rough twenty-four hours and I need you sharp this morning.

Get some rest.

- Max

P.S. Thank you.”

The fact that Max had taken the time to leave him a note, the scotch, some fresh blood and say thank you for doing the job Niko was supposed to do was a classic example of why Niko loved him like a brother. He wasn’t just his Dominor, he was truly his best friend. He smiled to himself as he toweled off then headed into his room to fish some sweat pants out of his bag. Unfortunately, his bag was empty. Abby must have unpacked for him and he had no idea where anything was. Forced to turn on the light so he could hunt down something to put on, Niko raised an eyebrow when he spotted Yuri sitting in a chair in the corner.

“You looking to get shot, sitting here in the dark?” Niko asked him then proceeded to rummage through the dresser drawers.

“No, but I might go blind if you don’t hurry up and put some pants on.” Yuri kicked his feet up onto the ottoman and snuggled into the chair.

“What do you expect to find when your in a man’s room in the middle of the night? Cocktail attire?” Niko finally found his sweat pants in the last drawer he looked in.

“Please refrain from using the words
cock
and
tail
in the same sentence until you have pants on, please.” Yuri crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, as if he were going to go to sleep right there in the chair.

Niko chuckled. “You are hilarious.” He tossed his wet towel at Yuri’s head. “What’s going on? Why are you waiting up for me?”

“Just checking on you, bro.” Yuri folded the wet towel and set it on the small table by his side. “I didn’t really like leaving the wet work to you after we landed. I wanted to make sure you were OK. It’s been a rough day.”

“Things needed to get done.” Niko said as he slicked his damp hair back out of his face. “I wanted to take care of Rojas myself, you know that. Be back in a second.”

“I put your bottle on your nightstand.” Yuri told him before he made a wasted trip. “I heard you come in and knew you were going to need it.”

“Thanks bro.” Niko appreciated Yuri’s concern as well as him looking after him. “You guys get anything off Rojas’ computers?” Niko asked as he unscrewed the cap of his bottle. He paused a moment, acknowledging the container’s precious contents. He was grateful to whomever had freely given of themselves so that he could be sustained and revitalized. It was no small thing to him, this crimson liquid in the plain, non-descript bottle. It was twelve ounces of life to him so he said a silent prayer of thanks before he took his first sip. It was what Niko did every time he drank.

“Hard to think of anyone taking such a precious thing for granted, isn’t it?” Yuri knew exactly what had just run through Niko’s mind. “Treating it like a commodity to be harvested and traded like soybeans or grain. Even still, some think it’s owed to them and the people they suck dry are nothing more than containers, vessels, sippie-cups with a pulse!” Yuri was working himself up again.

“Don’t think on it anymore. At least not for now. What about the hard drives?” Niko brought Yuri’s focus back to the question.

“Yeah we got stuff.” Yuri settled back into the chair. “He had names of some clients that he direct shipped to. Those are all out of our jurisdiction though. Max is handing those names over to the Senatus to be dealt with by the respective Dominors.”

“No names for anyone here?” Niko was a bit surprised.

“No.” Yuri shook his head. “Just shipment details, logs, inventories and destinations. He treated it like someone would a winery. Seriously!” Yuri saw the disgust on Niko’s face. “Connor and Finn are still sifting through his emails. I went through all the business files though and was able to compile a list of all the victims names. Max is addressing that with the Senatus in the morning too.”