Chapter 13
DIEGO
We're on our second round when I see her.
There you are.
The relief that moves through me is immediate and makes no sense. I had no idea she'd be here. I wasn't looking for her. But the moment I clock that blonde hair across the bar, something in my chest releases a tension I didn't know I was holding.
Something else tightens. I ignore it.
She's talking to a guy. Tall, blonde, the kind of broad that comes from a gym membership and disposable income. He says something and she glances over her shoulder, following whatever he's gesturing at behind her. My shoulders pull in.
I watch him fumble near her drink. Then his own.
I let out a low whistle and shift in my seat, nudging Raul with the angle of my chin. He follows my line of sight without asking and we both go still.
"Do you know her?" he asks.
"Saw her earlier. She works for my target."
"She's kind of hot, dude." He says it just to get a reaction.
"Shut up. Look — I think he just put something in her drink."
Raul leans back, skeptical. "This bar's packed. That'd be extremely ballsy to pull right in front of the bartender."
"We've watched grown men do crazier shit." I take a long pull from my bottle. "Especially to women who look like that."
He doesn't argue. We watch.
They move to the patio. Come back in less than five minutes, and now she's sweeping the room with her eyes.
Looking for someone. Her friends, maybe.
And then she finds me instead, those green eyes landing on mine across the bar, and even from here I can see they're wrong. Glazed. Heavy. Fighting to stay open.
"Fuck." I'm already on my feet.
The blonde has her elbow. He's steering her toward the door and I'm moving before the thought fully forms, Raul a beat behind me.
Outside, the alley is dim and close. She's on her knees in the gravel.
"Get the fuck away from her."
The guy spins. "Who the fuck are you?"
Behind me, Raul racks the slide on his pistol. One clean click.
The guy's face goes white. He turns and runs and doesn't look back.
I drop down beside her. She's barely conscious, shaking, skirt rucked up, one hand still weakly trying to pull it down. I get her upright and she doesn't resist, her whole weight folding into me without a fight.
"Where are we taking her?" Raul asks, already grabbing her bag and phone from the ground.
"The motel. One block. I know who's on tonight."
He nods and gets ahead of me to hold the door.
She's small against my chest and she smells like citrus and something floral underneath it, and I am acutely aware of both things in a way I have no business being aware of right now. I focus on the door.
"Diego!" Linda looks up from the front desk, her whole face rearranging into something warm and surprised.
I've known Linda since I was a kid, back when she used to slip me candy from the desk drawer while Ma finished her shift.
The smile lines and crow's feet have deepened since then.
The hair clip holding back her short gray hair is the same style as always.
"Hey, Linda. We need some help. Found this girl in the alley." I keep my voice even.
Linda's eyes move from Raul to the woman in my arms and back to my face, reading everything I'm not saying with the particular accuracy of someone who has known me too long.
"Do you know her?" she asks.
"Not at all," Raul says. "She was in the alley covered in puke. We couldn't just leave her."
Linda looks at me for another beat. Then nods, decision made. "Good boys."
She knew. She always knows.
"I'll get her cleaned up and call security to get an officer down here. You boys were in the right place at the right time." She glances at me with something that looks like approval and disappears around the corner of the desk. I hear her pick up the phone.
I don't move toward the door. The thought of walking out and leaving her here with people she doesn't know, even Linda, sits wrong in a way I can't entirely account for.
"We'll wait," I say, to no one in particular.
Linda reappears a few minutes later. "Security's wrapping up with a rowdy guest. Shouldn't be long."
Raul lasts about four minutes before he grabs my arm. "Great seeing you, Linda. I've got to get home and this guy's my ride."
"Of course." Linda's eyes find mine. "Go on. I'll take care of her. I promise."
I look at the woman one more time. Watch her chest rise. Fall. Rise again.
"Thank you, Linda." I hug her and let Raul pull me out the door.
We walk half a block before Raul speaks.
"You want to explain that?"
"Explain what."
"Since when do you care what happens to a stranger?"
"The guy was creepy," I say. "It had nothing to do with her."
He's quiet for a moment. "Yeah. I guess." He lets it go.
I don't deserve how easily he lets it go.
Because the truth is I can still feel the weight of her against my chest. Still catch traces of that citrus and floral smell like it followed me out of the motel and into the street.
Raul is right. I don't do this. I haven't been interested in anyone in years, and I have too much riding on the next two weeks to let something like this crack my focus.
She works for my target. That alone should be enough to end this.
I need to stay away from her.
I know, even as I think it, that I'm going to have a hard time doing that.