Chapter 21
She and Rafe wove through traffic on his motorcycle. He parked in the back of the hotel and they ran for the elevators.
The door opened to a sobbing Debbie. Allison rushed inside. “Are you injured? Sick? What’s going on?”
She dumped her pack on the floor. “I’ve got...”
“It’s not me. It’s Comet.”
Then Rafe spotted Keith on the sofa by the window, their dog lying limp in his arms. Relief it wasn’t his friends mingled with deep concern. He knew how much they loved their dog. Comet was more than just a pet. He was a family member.
“I don’t know what happened!” Tears streamed down Debbie’s face. “We went out for lunch and came back and found him like this.”
True to her nature, Allison wasn’t taken aback. She sat next to Keith and gently examined the dog.
“No vomiting or diarrhea?”
“No!”
“I’m not a vet. But...” Allison shook her head. Comet was panting rapidly and drooling. “Looks like some kind of poison. He needs an emergency vet.”
Rafe scrolled through his phone. “I’ve got one. Texting it to you now.”
As Keith dialed, Allison tried to think of what might help the dog. “He’ll probably need oxygen and an IV. I don’t know much about dogs, but he may have ingested something toxic. I’m sorry. I wish I could do more, but the vet should be able to help.”
“We feed him only the best dog food and organic treats and a little people food once in a while,” Debbie said as Keith talked to someone at the animal hospital. “What the hell could he have gotten into?”
Debbie looked around the room. “He was sniffing the teddy bears earlier. He loves playing with stuffed animals. I hid them away last night, but this morning I put them on the bed as a reminder to give them out when we met to ride into town for the photo opp with the bears.”
Rafe had a bad feeling about this. “Which bear?”
Keith pointed to a tan bear near the foot of the bed. “That one. Okay, the vet is open and about fifteen minutes from here. We’re taking him in. Rafe, lock up when you leave.”
As the couple rushed out, Debbie carrying the little dog, his suspicions grew. “Stay back,” he warned Allison.
He pulled on his black driving gloves stuffed into his jeans pocket and lifted the discarded bear, freed from its cellophane wrapping. He saw something peeking through a slight rip on the bear.
Immediately he set the bear down and covered it with the sheets. Peeling off his gloves, he dropped them onto the bed.
“Allison, leave the room. Now,” he barked. “Get the hell out of here.”
She sped out of the room. He swore in Spanish and walked to the door but didn’t leave the room.
His mind whirled. The bears were supposed to be left at several drop points after the photo opp.
They’d received a text that anyone with a tan bear should drop them off either at The Dive Bar or a local store because the tan bears were designated for an orphanage.
Now he knew why the bears were separated.
Rafe dialed Jase.
Soon as his colleague answered, Rafe told him to contact Greg Whitlock with the Miami DEA.
“Tell him I need local DEA here within the hour. Have them dress like bikers to blend into the crowd here. I don’t want to create attention.
Call Keith and have him let the agents into his room.
Use extreme caution. Pack test kits, respirators and gloves, hazmat gear.
Tell them to get into the hazmat gear before entering Keith and Debbie’s room.
I need them to check out the tan bears on the bed inside that room. ”
Jase’s voice lowered. “Copy that. Damn, Rafe, what did you find?”
“Fentanyl. I’m pretty damn sure of it.”
A low whistle. “Copy that. You okay?”
“Yeah. I didn’t touch it. I saw a clear package with pink and blue pills inside the bear. Keith and Debbie’s dog Comet is at the animal hospital. When the cellophane was removed from the bears, he sniffed the bear and got sick. Dogs have extraordinary scent receptors. Tell Greg what happened.”
“Copy that. What do I tell Lincoln?”
Rafe’s mind raced over the potential bureaucratic pitfalls. As his supervisor, Lincoln had been hands-off the Hernandez investigation, letting Rafe lead his team until Rafe botched the undercover assignment at the Hernandez mansion.
Lincoln had been firm on Rafe staying out of the investigation while he was suspended. If he failed to follow protocol, Rafe knew he could ruin his career and get Jase into deep trouble.
“Tell him I found something and you’re checking it out. If this turns out to be what I suspect, we’ll bring the team in to investigate, but quietly. I can’t risk letting Hernandez know we’re on to him.”
“Lincoln will want a team on this.”
“He’ll get a team.”
“He’ll be pissed you’re involved.”
“That’s my prob,” he shot back with impatience. “When Hernandez is finally arrested, Lincoln can get all the credit and the glory. And I’ll finally sleep easier knowing that son of a bitch Hernandez is behind bars.”
“Copy that. You think the local police will get wind of what’s going on?”
“I don’t want to alert them until we have something. Then we can work with the sheriff, if Greg vouches for him. Last thing we need is a corrupt local sheriff tipping off whoever did this.”
“Copy that. Where are you headed to?”
“The Dive Bar. I saw more of those tan bears in a box and I need to check them out.”
“Copy that. This sounds serious. Be careful, Rafe. I don’t like you flying solo on this.”
“I’m not solo. Thanks.”
He hung up and thought of Allison and groaned. He had to find a way to ditch her until he checked out The Dive Bar. It was getting far too dangerous. But what the hell could he tell her?
Being left behind was not going to happen. She lingered near Rafe’s bike, wondering what the hell he had found.
Somehow this had to be connected to her sister’s disappearance.
Rafe laid a hand on her shoulder. Her startled shriek was cut off by his hand clapped on her mouth.
“It’s me,” Rafe whispered in her ear.
“You scared me.” She turned. “What’s going on?”
He peered over her shoulder. “I put the Do Not Disturb sign on the room so no maid enters.”
“You have to tell me what’s going on. Please. Is this related to Di’s disappearance?”
“Not sure yet. Come on.”
“I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.”
“Get on.” He didn’t have time for this. “I’m taking you back to the cabin.”
“No way. Tell me what’s going on, Rafe. You’re not leaving me out of this!”
“Allison, it’s too dangerous.”
“I don’t care. I’ll find out. If you found something, let me know unless you want me asking everyone in town what you’re up to.”
Eyes closing, he swore in Spanish. “All right. Get on, but you need to do everything I say. Otherwise, I’ll drag you back to the cabin. Got it?”
Nodding meekly, she climbed back on.
They roared out the back entrance.
* * *
Allison was filled with worry. Rafe wasn’t talking, and clearly he found something. For now she had to trust him.
As they headed on the main road, she clung to Rafe.
She didn’t know what happened. Didn’t know where they were headed.
Yet she trusted him. Rafe was single-minded and fierce in his dedication to bringing down the bad guys, and his protective streak extended to those under his care.
For now, she had to rely on her instinct that he wouldn’t turn Diana in, if her sister had fallen into trouble.
When he pulled into the entrance of The Dive Bar and parked, alarm filled her. Rafe cut the engine. Allison yanked off her helmet. Worry needled her.
“Why are we back here?”
Instead of answering her question, he pulled off his helmet and then the black driving gloves, his expression grim. Stubble on his face couldn’t mask the tension in his jaw.
“Allison, you’re sure you and Diana had the tan bears and you gave them to me? You didn’t see any others?”
“No. Di gave me her bear at the start of the bike run because she didn’t have any room. Then you took them.”
“And I gave them to Keith and Debbie after we got into town because they wanted all the bears together on the bed for their photo album. We were supposed to ride into town with the bears at three o’clock. It’ll be a media circus.”
He blew out a breath and dragged a hand through his hair.
A sinking sensation filled her. Allison’s pulse raced. “Oh damn, Rafe, what did you find in Keith and Debbie’s room?”
His mouth compressed. “Can’t say yet.”
“Will you quit being so secretive? Does this have to do with Di’s disappearance?”
“Don’t know. Ally, did you touch those bears after the wrapping was removed?”
“No. I gave them to Keith still wrapped up.” Suddenly she knew. “You found something inside of them?”
Rafe took a deep breath. “Fentanyl. I have agents coming here to test it, but damn it, Allison, we have to keep this quiet. Can’t risk blowing the investigation into Hernandez or putting more lives at risk. Can I have your word?”
There was more to this than she realized. Much more. “I promise.”
His tormented gaze met hers. He threw his helmet on the ground.
“We’ve been operating a joint task force with the DEA and a few months ago succeeded in putting a man undercover close to Hernandez.
We’ve spent years trying to nail that hijo de puta and put his ass in prison.
He killed two of my best agents last year, and I took a bullet to the neck and one to my abdomen.
If not for a Good Samaritan, I would have died. ”
I know. Her heart squeezed tight as she remembered that terrible night...
And had never told him. Never worked up the courage.
“Some of the task force is on their way here. That’s why I have to return you to the cabin. You can’t get involved in this.”
“I’m already involved! Rafe, only two milligrams of fentanyl can kill. And you think the tan bears contain pills?”
“That’s what I need to check out. Raine acted suspicious when you got near the bears in that box in the bar. Were all the bears the same color as yours and Diana’s?”
She nodded.