Chapter 10
NADIA
PRESENT DAY
Because what if Fernando Ruiz evaded capture?
The Hidalgos knew she’d been there. They might just assume she was someone important to Thomas. They’d been in his bedroom! What if they killed her to make Thomas suffer? What if they captured her like they had James and used her to lure Thomas out in the open?
The more she thought about her options for the immediate future, the further down the pit of despair she sank. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Flat on her back, she groaned into her hands for the umpteenth time that night. Why had she answered his text? Why had she agreed to meet with him at his house?
Through the thin walls, Nadia heard Thomas bark James’s name. Thomas had been frantic earlier when he couldn’t reach his brother, and she was relieved James finally returned his call. That meant James was still alive.
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, giving up on any sleep tonight.
She slid her arms into the sleeves of the black fitted hoodie she’d picked up at Walmart and zipped it over the white ribbed tank top and gray yoga pants she’d worn to bed.
Then she left the dark room, following Thomas’s voice to the living room that was just as dark.
“The family is under attack, James. Ruiz is out there—”
Thomas stood before the window, staring through the partially opened curtains to the quiet street. The nearest streetlight cast his profile in a gilded glow. The hard lines of his jaw and the frustrated impatience in his tone were all the indication Nadia needed. This call wasn’t going well.
“I’m trying to protect you… It ends when he’s behind bars. Until then, you have to take precautions.”
Thomas dragged a hand over his mussed hair and noticed her leaning against the wall, watching him, as she waited for an update.
Her teeth tore a cuticle from her thumb and she rubbed the tender edge of her fingernail.
She was restless and worried. James might have made a reckless decision years ago going after Phil on his own, and while that cost his relationship with Aimee, she’d always cared for James.
They’d grown up together. He had two sons and nobody wanted to see any harm come to them.
“Listen to me. My house is in pieces. Bullet holes everywhere. If Ruiz finds you—”
Thomas spared her a cursory glance and turned away from the window to pace the room. He was agitated. “I know you’re angry but think about your family. Please, just let the security stay… James? Jim! For god’s sake.”
Thomas tossed his burner onto a low table and dropped unceremoniously onto the couch. With a groan, his head lolled back. He stared at the ceiling, his fingers tapping a rhythm on his thigh.
Nadia sat in the armchair opposite him. “I take it the call didn’t go well.”
“About as well as it seemed. On the bright side”—he lifted his head and looked at her—“that was the most words he’s spoken to me in four years.”
Nadia cringed. She suspected they were estranged but hadn’t realized the extent that they’d drifted apart.
James had once been Thomas’s world. The two had been inseparable when they were kids.
When James wasn’t with Aimee, he was tagging after Thomas.
Thomas’s methods to save James had been unorthodox, and she’d probably feel the same as James had it been her the Hidalgos tried to murder.
It could be said that Thomas had stolen his life.
But their estrangement hadn’t been easy on him.
She could see it in his slumped posture and distant gaze.
His hands were restless, fingers tapping, scratching at the fabric of his jeans.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not really.” He sighed and leaned forward on his elbows, hands hanging between his thighs. “There were a couple of patrol cars waiting when he got home. The cops won’t leave.”
“Isn’t it a good thing they’re there? I thought you wanted the extra protection on him given what happened to you.”
“Yeah, but the boys are spun out because they’re old enough to understand the threat they’re under.”
“It’s safe to say we’re all a bit shaken. I’m sure he’s just scared.” She certainly was.
“It still doesn’t change the fact that he blames me for this. He has every right to.”
“He forgets you’re the reason he’s alive.”
“Says the woman who told me this afternoon that she hated me.”
“Still do.” She winked. “But we’re not talking about me. If anyone’s to blame for all this, it’s Phil.”
Thomas huffed a dry laugh. “I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me.”
Nadia tucked her legs under her. “Are you seriously joking right now?”
“I’m being dead serious.” His eyes met hers along with a slight smile that lingered a beat too long before dipping to his phone. He flipped the device screen up.
“Have you heard from your mom?”
He shook his head. “No. Phil either.”
“Do we care about him?”
“Now who’s joking?”
“I wasn’t joking.”
He rubbed his jaw. “No, we don’t care about him. But if something does happen to him, it means Kane is right.”
An icy thread of fear snaked through her. “About what?”
“He suspects they’re cleaning house.”
His announcement landed like a stone in her stomach. Her fingers trembled in her lap and she found it hard to draw in a full breath. Thomas watched her with what she interpreted as worry deepening the lines between his brows.
“Sorry if I woke you.”
“I was already up.” She stretched out her legs, shaking off some of the oppressive fear.
“Trouble sleeping?”
Her mouth quirked. “What do you think?”
“Same.”
“Have you been up this whole time?”
He nodded, his expression somber as he looked at the rug underneath his feet.
“Well,” Nadia said, pushing up from the chair. “Since sleeping seems to be off the table, I’m going to make some coffee. Want a cup?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Relieved to have something to do with her hands, Nadia set about brewing coffee, the simple task sending her mind reeling to those bitter cups she’d shared with Thomas at Joe’s. As she scooped grounds into the filter, memories surfaced from the last time her life had been unraveling around her.
It hadn’t taken long for her parents to separate. The night Lisa kicked Don out was the last night he’d spent at home. Since then, Nadia found solace in her evenings with Thomas, while at home her mom barely moved from the couch, her days spent perpetually in a sleep shirt and robe.
On one particular day, Nadia had unfolded the babysitting money she’d been paid, adding it to the small pile on the kitchen desk where bills went untouched, when she’d come across the final notice from the mortgage company.
The warning sent her stomach plummeting.
Where would they live if they lost the house?
Unable to stand another moment in the dark house with her mom’s indifference, Nadia announced she was going to Aimee’s. Lisa just stared at the television. Frustrated and at her wits’ end, Nadia grabbed her backpack and left.
She rode her bike to Aimee’s where she found her best friend in the sunroom with James. She was reading on the couch while he painted. Mr. Tierney watched football in the family room.
Dropping her backpack on the floor, Nadia flopped onto the couch opposite Aimee. James waved hello with his paintbrush. Aimee toed Nadia’s thigh though her fuzzy, yellow socks to get her attention. “Have you finished your science project?”
Nadia groaned, her head falling back on the couch. She’d forgotten about the project, the plants she’d bought for her experiment already dead on her windowsill.
“Almost,” she lied. She’d have to speak with Mrs. Wilcox after class tomorrow and beg for an extension. She’d need to come up with a really good excuse because she didn’t want to share with the world what was happening at home.
She also didn’t feel like hanging out at the Tierneys’ right now. They were all so normal compared to Nadia’s situation at home which was just tragic.
She picked up her backpack.
“Where are you going?” Aimee sat up when Nadia stood. She closed her book, her thumb marking her place.
Nadia shrugged.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
Aimee didn’t believe her. But Nadia was already out the door before her friend could call her back.
Nadia rode through the neighborhood wishing her dad wasn’t a jerk and would just send the money. She wished her mom would get off the couch and find a job. She’d been riding for over an hour before she passed Joe’s Diner and saw Thomas’s car parked on the street.
She was hot and sweating, and she wasn’t in the mood for conversation. But that’s what she liked about Thomas. Some days he didn’t talk to her. They just sat at the same table and studied.
Inside, Thomas was seated at their usual table, his back to her. She slid onto the seat across from him. He barely looked up from the forms spread before him. His pencil scratched in answers on narrow rows.
Nadia picked up a plastic menu. She skimmed the selections she now had memorized, salivating over the burgers and sandwiches.
Thomas continued to fill out forms as she peeked at him over the menu.
Head bent, his rich, brown hair fell loosely over his eyes.
He chewed on his bottom lip, brows pulled in tight.
She adored that little quirk when he concentrated.
It made her feel all sorts of things inside her.
She liked it almost as much as the muscles that rippled in his forearm while he wrote.
Her gaze trailed over his wrist to the forms, then to the uneaten turkey club by his elbow.
Stuffed with lettuce, tomatoes, at least five slices of turkey, and oozing with mayo, the sandwich looked mouthwatering.
“Your thinking is fucking loud, Jacobs. Talk to me.”
Nadia snapped the menu upright, hiding her face. Her cheeks flamed. “About what?”
He glanced at her then. “Why you’re here. Why you’re staring at my sandwich.” He flicked his pencil at the plate.
“I wasn’t staring.”
“Hungry?”
“No.”
“Hmm.” He went back to his forms.
Angela stopped at their table. “What can I get you, Nadia?”