Chapter 25
He woke up, dazed and confused. Everything looked clean and white and bright. Did he die?
Rafe shifted his weight and felt muscles in his chest pull painfully. Nope. Still alive. Unless he was in hell and this was his punishment.
Then he became aware of soft breathing next to him. Forget hell. This was heaven with an angel at his side, an angel he loved.
Allison was asleep in a chair next to his hospital bed, her head pillowed on the bed, her hand gripping his.
Not wanting to awaken her, he went to ring for the nurse. Allison woke up and rubbed her eyes.
Suddenly alert, she was all nurse, checking his vitals, smoothing his hair back. “How are you feeling?”
“Not too bad. No longer like a wrecking ball smashed into me.”
Her beautiful mouth wobbled, but she smiled. “You’re tough, Rodriguez. You’ll live.”
She helped him sip water. “You had visitors. I got Keith and Debbie in to see you. They snuck in Comet.”
“He’s okay now?”
“Yes. Back to normal. He licked your nose.”
“No wonder it itches.” He rubbed it.
Allison laughed. Damn, he loved the sound of her laughter.
She glanced at the door. “Sam and Jase are waiting outside. The nurse wouldn’t allow them in, but I’ll get them.”
The two men came into the room, looking relieved to see him. “I need an update.” Rafe struggled to sit up.
“You relax,” Allison scolded. “You’re fresh out of surgery.”
“Bossy.”
“Get used to it, Rodriguez. I’m not going anywhere.”
They both listened as Jase reported what had happened.
Agents and police arrived at the warehouse to secure the scene.
In a barrel marked Furniture Polish they found the raw ingredients used to make fentanyl.
False bottoms in the dressers contained fentanyl pills.
Paul used the furniture business as cover and started setting up a lab for mass production to make the stuff and distribute it across the country.
“The local cops did a presser and got credit for the bust. Lincoln was more than happy to let them. He nailed Hernandez. We finally got him, Rafe.” Jase grinned.
Sam smiled. “He was sailing to Bermuda. Along with fentanyl hidden in the yacht freshly picked up from Mexico. Coast Guard did a thorough search.”
“We never could pin anything on Hernandez because he wasn’t actually running the operation.
Paul with his clean rep was. But then Hernandez began using his luxury yacht to smuggle drugs when their regular pipeline got shut down because of a raid.
It was Paul who shot you last year, Rafe, and killed our guys. ” Jase scowled. “Bastard.”
They filled him in on the rest. The list found on Marty’s phone was for Marty to keep an eye on Diana and Allison and check out Rafe.
It was Marty who broke into Allison and Diana’s motel room to search for the tan bears that contained fentanyl.
Paul had instructed Marty to leave a threatening message in hopes of getting Diana and Allison to return home.
Ten bikers who worked for Paul dealing in dope had volunteered to transport the tan bears on the run to bring them to the factory.
“How did you figure out it was Paul and not Hernandez?” Sam asked.
Rafe felt the warmth of Allison’s hand in his.
“Paul seemed too eager to have the wedding at his uncle’s house and have Hernandez pay for everything. It seemed off for a man who was supposed to be estranged from his uncle. That and the fact Paul had a warehouse in a remote area, a perfect location for setting up a lab.”
Jase frowned. “We raided Hernandez’s house and found candy labeled for the wedding.
Half of it was fentanyl. He was using the wedding as cover to smuggle drugs out.
Paul seemed squeaky clean and never fell under suspicion.
We were so sure Hernandez was the ring leader that we never paid enough attention to Paul. ”
Rafe grimaced as Allison held up a machine for him to blow into. “Must I?”
“Don’t knock the incentive spirometer. It helps your lungs recover after surgery.” She gave the two agents a pointed look. “Visiting time is over, gentlemen. You can check on him later.”
When they left, he struggled to blow a breath into the machine. Hurt like a bastard, but finally Allison nodded. “Enough for now. I want you to rest, and in a while we’ll try again.”
Rafe fell back against the pillows and eyeballed her, marveling at what a miracle she was. “One question. How did you nail that son of a bitch when he was coming at you?”
“I told you, knives come in handy.” Allison studied the IV dripping fluid into his arm. “I stripped the lamp wiring and shocked him. Makeshift Taser.”
“They teach that at nursing school?”
“Nah. Saw it on television once.”
Her hand rested on his. “I wasn’t going to let them get you again, Rodriguez.” Allison’s expression turned haunted. “Not like the last time I treated your gunshot wounds.”
Stunned, he realized she was ready to cry. “When was that?”
“Last year.” Allison took a deep breath. “Now you finally know. When you got shot, you could have died. That one bullet nearly nicked your carotid artery. I applied pressure and...”
His eyes widened. “Allison? That was you? Mi angel, the one who saved me? Who told me, ‘Don’t you die, you bastard’?”
Heat crept up her neck to her cheeks. “Yeah. I was leaving a small convenience store a few blocks away after a night shift, heard the gunfire and called 911 and ran there.”
“Ran to the danger instead of away from it.” Rafe marveled at her dauntless courage. “I tried to find out who saved me that night, but police said the woman left before they arrived. They only saw the paramedics. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
Her blush increased. “I wasn’t even sure it was you until I checked the hospitals later.”
“And then I roped you into being my CI for the Devil’s Patrol. I never knew.”
She met his gaze directly. “Your threats about jail time weren’t the reason I agreed to work for you, Rafe.
I wanted to do it, get to know you better.
That night on the street when you got shot doing your job, trying to keep the streets safe against drug dealers, told me exactly what kind of man you are. ”
“And what kind of man am I?”
“The kind I wanted in my life because you made me believe I could love again. I love you, Rafael Jones Rodriguez. Took me a long time to admit it to myself, but I do.”
He wanted to kiss her. Later. When he could do it properly, and long into the night.
He would keep kissing her for a long, long time, if she had him as her partner for life.