Through Fire (Portland, ME #3) (19 page)

-

“H
is name is Terry Milano.”

I look up to find Mark’s face in the group gathered in Tim’s living room.

After a few stress-filled, painful hours at Maine Medical Center, Dino was there to drive us home. To Tim’s house that is. Neither of them seemed to listen to my assurances I’d be fine in my apartment. All I got was pointed looks at my arm, which is sporting a cast and sling that keeps it strapped against my body. Thank God for the clean shirt one of the nurses found for me.

Despite the shot they gave me beforehand, the setting of the broken bones had not been fun. That was after the doctor came in and showed two prior, improperly healed breaks on the X-ray. Tim didn’t say anything, but I could see his nostrils flare and eyes get dark. When the young intern asked me, with half an eye on Tim, who’d refused to leave my side, if I wanted to talk to someone
alone,
I hurried to explain those were old injuries.

To my surprise, no one approached me about cost or insurance, but when I mentioned it in the car, Dino just said Pam was looking after things. Pam was one of the people waiting outside Tim’s house when we got there, along with Gunnar and Tim’s brother, Mark. The sight of all them made me nervous.

Once inside, Tim made sure I was comfortable on the couch, while Gunnar disappeared into the kitchen to
put on a pot.

“At the pub, the guy who had a hold on you, his name is Terry Milano and he’s a cop.” Mark’s eyes on me look almost sad. “I recognized him when he shoved past me and took off. I was at a conference in New Jersey last year and met him. Boston PD. The guy is the captain of the precinct you were questioned at.”

“Son of a bitch.” I hear Gunnar mutter from the kitchen as I stare in disbelief at Mark.

“Ruby.” Pam’s gentle voice draws my eyes to her. “I know you’ve been protecting yourself the best you know how, but I think it’s time you let us in.” At the words, which sounded much like those Dino used not that long ago, my eyes went around the room to finally come to rest on Tim. Aside from Mark, there is no one here who hasn’t already proven to be trustworthy. I owe them the truth. Just as panic at the thought of exposing myself threatens to choke me, Tim’s kind eyes and slight nod of approval convince me.

“I grew up in a small rural community, just outside of Tenancingo, Mexico, where my father was a farmer. When I was fourteen, my parents were murdered, and I was taken by force by a man I’d imagined myself to be in love with. I was kept in a house on the outskirts of Tenancingo, where for two years I was, as they called it,
broken in,
by any means possible. Drugs, beatings, alcohol, anything to keep us compliant. Carlos Delgado was a regular visitor at the
calcuilchil.”

“What’s a
calcuilchil
?” Pam asks when I take a deep breath.

“House of ass,” I explain, my voice sounding as flat as I’m forcing my feelings. “Tenancingo has many.” I keep my eyes lowered, not able to tell my story while seeing so much emotion etched on the faces around me. Pity is an ugly thing in my experience, and I don’t want to have to read it on the faces of people I’ve come to care about. So my eyes stay focused on the floor as I tell the rest of my story to the best of my ability. Lastly, I explain where I’ve seen Milano before and the significance of the person he was with.

“He was with one of the shooters?” Dino is the one to voice that. “The police captain? What the hell.”

“He
was
the shooter. The only one I saw firing shots. His name is Eduardo Lima and he was a regular in the club.”

Silence settles heavily over the room when I’m done. I find myself holding my breath in anticipation of what is to come.

“Why did you not run? In all those near thirty years, how come you never just walked away?” How ironic that Mark, the only cop in the room, would ask that question. It doesn’t surprise me. I know, even if not always voiced, it’s the first thing anyone would think.

I lift my head and look him squarely in the eye. “At first, fear of punishment held me captive. They were quite...clear in their expectations and brutal when we wouldn’t live up to them.” I shrug the memories of the merciless repercussions off. “Later, it was more a case of better the devil you know...Carlos Delgado was predictable in what he required, as well as his punishments. Knowing what to expect was the safer option. I still could’ve run, I guess, but I had nowhere to turn. L
a jura,
his buddy cops, would hunt me down and send me back to the
calcuilchil
. He promised that’s what would happen and...” I wipe at the angry tears blurring my vision as I keep my focus on Mark. “And today they did.”

T
im

She’s killing me.

Sitting there with her back ramrod straight and her eyes glued to the rug in front of her feet, her voice emotionless, as she recounts her horrific story...killing me. When my brother asks his question, I’m poised to jump up and finally lay him out flat, but Dino’s large hand descends on my shoulder and keeps me pinned in my seat. “Wait,” he warns, his voice so soft only I can hear. So I wait. Not that I would’ve gotten far, because I may be a big guy, but Dino’s got even me beat.

When Ruby’s last words finally register, I can feel clarity settle like concrete in my gut. I don’t know how someone can survive what she has been through and still maintain such a sweet heart. You would expect someone to get hardened—bitter. Not Ruby, despite the injustices she’s suffered, somehow she’s retained an underlying innocence.

She turns to me, her face wet and her eyes large, almost hollow in her face. “I’m tired,” she whispers. Without saying anything, I scoop her up and carry her upstairs, leaving the room to explode in voices behind me.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles against the skin of my neck. “I wanted to tell you but I was afraid.”

“Hush. You get some rest and I’ll bring you something to eat in a bit.”

Sitting on the side of the bed, she lets me pull off her boots and socks, and doesn’t even complain when I undo her jeans and help scoot her up on the bed, so I can remove them. The look in her eyes is vacant when I pull the covers up around her shoulders. When I move to leave, her hand darts from under the covers and grabs my wrist. “Don’t be mad.”

“Not mad, honey. Never mad. This is me, sad: for you missing out on the life of love and laughter you should have had.” I lean over to kiss her lightly on her lips, and then again on her forehead. When I get to the door, I turn around to see tears rolling down her face again.
Fuck this.
Instead of walking out the door, I retrace my steps to the bed, kick off my boots and climb in beside her. Carefully shifting her, I wrap her in my arms and wait for her breathing to even out with sleep.

-

“I
’ll stay with her.”

Pam’s voice penetrates the half-doze I’ve fallen into, and I turn my head to the door. “I think you may want to get in on the conversation,” she says in a cautious tone, but I can already hear the raised voices coming from downstairs. Once I’ve eased my arm from under Ruby’s sleeping body, I get up and hurry out the door.

“Over my dead body!” Dino’s booming voice greets me, as I walk into what looks to be a standoff between him and my brother, with Gunnar stepping between.

“What the fuck is going on? She just fell asleep. Idiots!”

Both men turn my way, matching sheepish looks on their faces and Gunnar seems to be fighting a smirk. I pick my brother to pin with a glare. “Wanna fill me in?” Dino harrumphs and disappears into the kitchen, while Mark runs a hand through his mop of already unruly hair.

“I was just suggesting calling an FBI buddy of mine. Someone I’ve been talking to about the Delgado case, about that young girl. See if they already have a bead on Milano, because it sure as hell looks like whatever the hell is going on, he’s involved,” Mark says, throwing a glare in the direction of the kitchen. “Bullneck over there, didn’t take to kindly to the idea...”

“Fuckin’ A, I didn’t. Might as well put a target on her back.” Dino walks back in with a bottle of water in his hands. “Did you not hear her? She’s illegal here. They’ll ship her back to Mexico and then what? She fucking has no one looking out for her there. Whatever sick business these bastards have going on, it’s obvious they won’t take kindly to her talking to anyone.” I can tell he’s getting worked up again, but he makes a good point.

“She’s not going anywhere.” I look at each of the men to make sure I get my point across.

Mark is the first one to speak up. “No. She’s not,” he agrees. “But unless you have a better suggestion, I trust Mike. He’s a local guy, who went through the academy with me. After his first year with the Portland PD, he managed to get into the program at Quantico. We’ve stayed in touch, get together sometimes for drinks when he’s in town visiting his folks.”

“I remember him, Italian last name? His folks live on the south side?” I vaguely remember the lanky, quiet but very funny guy, who came with Mark to a family barbecue on the Fourth of July years ago. Cracked me up with his very dry humor. “Carmello or something? No shit, huh? FBI.”

“You know him?” Dino wants to know.

“Saw him with my brother a few times. Can’t say I know him, but if we have to trust someone, it doesn’t hurt to know where the guy’s family lives.” I shrug my shoulders.

“Can’t have her spend her life hiding, Dino,” Gunnar finally speaks up. “The woman clearly has been through enough in her life. Be nice if she got to experience what real freedom feels like one day.”

“Yeah, but what if she ends up being sent back across the border?” he repeats his earlier concern, when suddenly it dawns on me the answer to that might be the easiest of all.

“I’ll just have to marry her.”

R
uby

What?

I can’t quite believe what I’m hearing.

I’m awake when Tim leaves the bed. He doesn’t notice, but Pam does. “You can open your eyes now,” she says. “He’s gone.” I blink them open to find her standing by the bed, wearing a smile. “I wanted a chance to talk with you, find out where your head is at, but things down there are getting a little heated. Did you sleep at all?” She reaches out when I struggle to sit up. Not easy with one arm unusable.

“Dozed a little,” I confess.

“You looked comfortable enough,” she says with a wink. “You know you’ll have to deal with your situation, right? At this moment, there are four, big, chest-pounding males in that room downstairs, trying to decide by way of who can be loudest, what should be done with you. As much as I can understand wanting to roll up in a ball and hope it’ll all go away, you realize that is impossible. Once that cat got out of the bag, there is no way in hell it’s gonna go back in.” She sits down beside me on the edge of the mattress. “No hiding. No running. This is time for Ruby to stand up for herself. Look,” she says twisting her body toward me. “I understand that you’ve spent most of your life forced to submit to men, whose last concern was your welfare. I also get that when a good man, one who cares, comes along and offers to take on the world for you, it seems easiest to just let him. But Ruby, you didn’t come this far just so you can let someone else make the decisions for you again. This is your future they are discussing. Don’t you think you should have a vote?”

I hate it when she’s right. I was lying with Tim’s warm body shielding me, thinking how nice it was to just let someone else decide what comes next. It would be easier, but I owe myself more. I owe myself a voice.

I don’t even bother answering her. I just get up from the bed and try to wrestle my jeans on with one hand. Pam is quickly there to give me a hand and follows me down the hall where the voices are getting louder.

That’s when I hear Tim. “I’ll just have to marry her,” he says, forcing the air from my lungs as Pam bumps into my back.

“Oh, hell,” she mumbles behind me.

Damn right,
oh, hell.
I feel a rush of anger burn up my face. He’ll
have
to marry me? Like some kind of sacrifice? I don’t even realize I’m moving until I’m halfway down the stairs. Holding on to the railing with my good hand, I almost run the rest of the way.

“Like hell you will!” Granted, my entrance may have been a little dramatic, but they were talking about me like I’m an inanimate object. I barely hear Pam’s hearty laugh behind me through the blood roaring in my ears. Facing off with four oversized egos on legs, I propped my hand on my hip, watching their shocked faces take me in. It gave me a sense of power I’d never felt before. Gunnar was the first one to react, throwing his head back and busting out laughing. Dino was a little more subtle, but I could see the corner of his mouth tilt into a grin. It was the two brothers, who didn’t seem to be able to wipe the shock off their faces. Tim just stood there, his mouth working but no sound coming out. My focus stayed on him. “No need to sacrifice your well-guarded bachelor status. As you well know by now, I’m not exactly known as the marrying kind. Besides, in the unlikely event I would ever consider that, I’d prefer to have a say in the matter.”