Chapter 19 Levi #2
“I pay him well.” His fingers tightened on the wheel. That didn’t answer the question, but then, who was I to ask about trust? I trusted Alejandro would do anything for his family, including disappearing after tying up loose ends.
Including taking me out?
I didn’t know.
The car went quiet, but not empty—behind us, the twins whispered, confused, trying to ask where we were going and why Uncle Alli wasn’t talking. Marisol hushed them, voice tight and trembling, and Doc didn’t look back once. The silence felt heavy, pressing on all of us.
We didn’t speak again. Not until we were pulling into a warehouse lot.
A bay door was already half up. Two figures waited outside, and fuck, I recognized them immediately—Rio and his partner Lyric.
Neither of them gave any sign of knowing me, keeping our connection clean, and Rio crossed his arms and scowled at Alejandro.
“What the fuck, Doc?” he snarled.
“I’m calling in my favor,” he began, “my family goes with you to an address that my sister knows,” Doc said. No explanation. No softening despite Rio snarling.
“Then we’re even,” Rio said.
Doc shook his head and jerked his chin toward Marisol and the twins who’d stayed in the car. “You stay with them until I say otherwise, and I’ll owe you free medical care for your entire fucking life.”
I didn’t know what to say, and Rio stared at Alejandro for a long second, expression unreadable.
“Is this going to put my family in danger?” He meant Redcars, but his gaze swept over me as well.
The Redcars family was now a blend of the men at the garage and the Cave, which included me, although keeping myself on the downlow as a serving detective kept me away from them all for the most part.
Alejandro didn’t get a chance to answer.
Headlights swept across the loading bay as Novak parked, then ambled over as if we were meeting for a beer, threw Doc an up nod, and stopped at his shoulder.
“What’s the play?” he asked.
“My family goes with Rio.” He pointed at Rio. “Rio keeps them safe, or he dies.”
“The fuck?” Rio snarled. Lyric placed a hand on his shoulder.
“We’ll keep them safe, off grid, we’ll protect them,” Lyric said, gripping Rio’s arm, which at least meant Rio’s anger eased. They were good together, Lyric calming Rio’s temper, and I wanted to be a balance for Alejandro, although we were both driven men, so how would that work?
Where had that thought come from? Did Alejandro and I make any sense? I leaned closer to Alejandro, making sure only he could hear me. “Tell me you’re coming back from whatever this is.”
Something flickered in his eyes—fear, resolve, something he didn’t want me to see. “That depends,” he sounded so fucking sad.
“On what?”
“On whether you still want me when this is over.”
Before I could form a reply, one of the teenagers—Bradley—slipped out of the car and marched straight to Doc’s side. He planted himself there like a damn guard dog, chin up, jaw tight.
“I’m staying with you, Uncle Alli,” he said. Not scared. Stubborn.
Doc spun on him so fast that Bradley flinched. “No. Get back in the car.”
Bradley didn’t budge. “I’m not leaving you.”
Doc’s nostrils flared. For a second, real anger—raw, terrified anger—broke through the mask. “Bradley. Get. In. The. Car.”
“I’m not a baby,” Bradley shot back. “You’re always scared for us. Always looking over your shoulder. It won’t ever be over if you keep trying to do it alone.”
That hit Alejandro like a punch. His jaw tightened. His eyes flickered—fear, guilt, something like grief—and he turned to Bradley, gripping his shoulders.
“You listen to me,” he said, voice firm but halfway to kind. “Your job is to protect your mom. Not me. Not this. Her. You look after her, and I’ll be home soon. This will be over.”
Bradley swallowed hard. “I know how to fight, and it won’t ever be over if we’re always scared, Uncle Alli.”
Alejandro closed his eyes for half a second, then opened them, the mask cracked just enough for me to see the truth bleeding through. “I know,” he said softly. “And that’s why I’m fixing this and tying up the loose ends. So, I can stop being scared for you all, and so you don’t ever have to be.”
Before Alejandro could stand, Molly slipped out of the car and crossed the distance with quiet, decisive fierceness.
“Me too,” she said, slotting herself beside Bradley. “We’re staying with you.”
Alejandro’s face went bleak. “No. You’re getting in that car. Both of you.”
“But—” Molly started.
“No.” His voice cracked like a whip. “You follow Rio. You don’t argue. You don’t look back. You have the biggest job of all: protecting your mom and each other. She needs you.”
Molly stared at him, eyes wet but blazing, Bradley pained and confused.
Then Molly nodded once, grabbed Bradley’s hand, and tugged him toward Rio’s SUV, the three of them going into the back seat.
Bradley tried to get out again, but Rio shut the door on him and leaned against it until Lyric was in the driving seat.
Then they left, and Doc watched them go as though he was watching a piece of himself being peeled away.
Something colder than fear crawled down my spine when Alejandro faced off with the murderer. Novak.
“We’re tracking down someone who should’ve stayed dead.” Then he turned to me. “You need to leave.” At this, Novak moved between us, hands loose at his sides.
“No way in hell,” I muttered, and attempted to shove Novak to one side, but the grim-faced man wasn’t moving. “Get out of my fucking way!” I snarled, and I realized the line between cop and accomplice had blurred so far behind me I couldn’t even turn to find it.
I stepped around Novak, fury buzzing under my skin, but what really pushed me forward was something that had been building since the moment he’d gone cold in that kitchen.
“Alejandro,” I said, forcing him to look at me. “I can help.”
His jaw clenched as he was calculating, weighing danger, risk, and intent. But something shifted. A crack. Hesitation.
“I don’t need a cop slowing me down,” he said, but it lacked teeth.
“Bullshit. You need someone who can move without drawing fire. Someone who can track a ghost, interpret the shit he leaves behind, and see things you’ll miss because you’re too close to it.
You need someone who can put a bullet in him in the middle of a busy street if I have to and get away with it.
” His eyes narrowed. “But that’s not the only reason,” I added.
“I’m not doing this as a cop,” I said quietly.
“I’m doing this because I saw your face when you thought he’d found your family.
Because I’ve watched you fight every instinct you have to keep them safe.
Because I care about what happens to you.
” A flicker. The faintest tremor in his breath.
“You won’t stop looking over your shoulder unless this ends,” I continued. “And you can’t end it alone.”
Novak glanced between us, expression unreadable, but he stepped back a fraction—just enough space for Doc to answer.
Finally, Alejandro spoke, voice low, scraped raw. “No.”
“Yes.”
“You get hurt,” he said as if it pained him, “that’s on me.”
“Then you’d better keep me alive.” Then I gripped his arm. “I can help you track Raven… There’s something you need to know.”