Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
A MIXTURE OF emotions flooded my soul. Anger led the charge, closely followed by sadness and, I hated to admit, jealousy.
Yes, I was furious at the Ramos clan, but I directed most of the venom at myself. Why hadn’t I stuck around after Black’s apparent death and got to the bottom of this then? All that time I’d been trying to protect my friends, but I’d ended up consigning the person I loved most to months of suffering.
The sadness was over my relationship with Black. Would it ever be the same again? We’d always been able to talk to each other about anything. Well, almost anything, my true feelings for him aside. But today, the atmosphere had been strained. He seemed to be avoiding me, and his silence twisted my sanity.
Then there was the shame I felt at the green-eyed monster standing between me and Jane. She’d been with Black during the time I hadn’t, and it was clear he cared for her. Where did that leave me?
With that in mind, I resorted to my usual tactic: avoidance. When we arrived at the plane and Jed asked for a volunteer to co-pilot, I stuck my hand up.
“I’ll do it.”
At least it would be Jed sitting next to me. If it had been Nick or Nate, they’d have seen right through the smile plastered on my face and an interrogation would most certainly have followed. Especially because when Nick asked me earlier if I was okay, he seemed unconvinced by my answer of, “Fine.”
“Who’s that woman?” he’d asked, nodding at Jane.
“I don’t really know.”
Black’s hand had been splayed out on the small of her back, guiding her through the crowd of people, and Nick’s eyes cut down to it. “Are they together?”
I’d shrugged. Why couldn’t he leave me alone? “I’ve barely spoken to him, okay?”
“You want me to try?”
“No.”
If Black did have something going on with Jane, I figured I’d rather put off the agony of knowing for a few more hours. Fortunately, Eduardo had picked that moment to drag me into the dining room, insisting I try Alejandro’s petits fours.
Jed might suspect there was a problem, but unlike Nick, he’d never dig any deeper. If I told him things were good, he wouldn’t push it.
Once the gear was neatly stowed on board, trunks and all, we trooped up the steps, and I turned left towards the cockpit while Black turned right towards the back of the plane with Jane. Towards the freaking bedroom. Tell me they weren’t going to spend the whole flight in there together?
Jed settled next to me and stretched out.
“How’s your leg?” I asked.
“It didn’t feel so good, but the doctor gave me some pills, and it’s a lot better now.”
Pills? What pills? “Should you be flying?”
He laughed. “Yeah, I’m okay. Now the little green men have taken off in their spaceship, I feel almost normal.”
I gave him a sharp look.
“Don’t worry, they were only painkillers. Why are you so uptight? I thought you’d be ecstatic.”
“I am,” I lied through gritted teeth.
The takeoff was always my favourite part of a flight, and today was no different. I loved the feeling of sheer power as we roared along the runway and the wings lifted the plane into the air. After we were airborne, Jed climbed steadily, and we soon broke through the clouds and settled into our cruising altitude of thirty thousand feet. The clear blue sky stretched out in front of us as we headed for home.
I yelled to the passengers that they could take their seat belts off, and a minute later, Nick stuck his head through the door.
“You guys want coffee?”
“Please, I could do with a pick me up.”
A few minutes later I felt a presence behind me and turned around, hoping Nick had managed to find some biscuits because my appetite had returned with a vengeance. I’d only eaten a couple of sandwiches and a handful of tiny cakes at Eduardo’s, and I was ravenous.
“Thanks, you’re a...” I trailed off as I realised it was Black standing there and not Nick. And he didn’t even have my coffee. “Oh, it’s you.”
Something flared in his eyes, and for a second I thought it was hurt. But that didn’t match his tone.
“Bedroom, now,” he growled.
“Er, I’m flying the plane?”
“Diamond, we have seven other people out in the cabin who’re more than adequately qualified to pilot this thing. Get back there.”
Jed took the controls as I stomped down the aisle behind Black. Nick handed me a plastic cup of coffee on the way.
“Good luck,” he whispered, then headed forward to take my place on the flight deck.
I didn’t need luck. I needed a time machine.
Jane was propped up against the headboard with all the pillows stuffed under her. Even with those, and the duvet tucked around to keep her warm, she looked uncomfortable.
“Do you need another cushion?” I edged towards the door. “I’m sure we have—”
“Don’t even think about it,” Black told me.
He sat at Jane’s side, leaving me to perch awkwardly on the other end of the bed, my arms and legs crossed. Well, this was fun.
For a plane, the double room was quite spacious. But with me, Kitty sprawled on the floor asleep, Black and Jane, plus the elephant in the room that was our relationship, I started to feel claustrophobic.
“What?” I asked, sounding petulant and hating myself even more for it.
“I’m hoping you might care to enlighten me about what on earth’s been going on? Because I’ve been in the dark for the last eight months, both literally and figuratively.”
“Oh. That.”
He closed his eyes for a beat and sucked in a breath, exasperated. “Yes, that. I thought you were dead, but when I heard the explosions above ground, I knew there was only one person crazy enough to have turned up.”
“Hang on, back up a bit. You thought I was dead?”
“Diego Ramos told me they’d killed you in the same operation where they took me.”
I almost said, “And you believed him?” but I bit my tongue. Hadn’t I assumed exactly the same thing? I settled for a shrug.
“Throw me to the wolves, and I’ll return leading the pack.” And not only that, I’d teach them how to use assault weapons too.
“I always thought that, but then months passed and you didn’t come, and...” he trailed off.
“I didn’t know you were alive, that’s why,” I said quietly.
“What?”
“I thought you were gone, and after that, my hands were tied. But the Ramos family crossed a line, and I couldn’t let it go.”
His voice dropped to the dangerous level that meant he was getting properly irritated. “What line?”
“Look, why don’t we start at the beginning? You tell me what happened to you then I’ll fill in my bits.” I didn’t know where to start with my side of the story. Actually, that wasn’t right. I knew where to start. I just didn’t want to put it into words.
Black sighed and leaned back. “I suppose that’s sensible.”
Then he started to tell his tale.
“It was that meeting at the Green Mountain hotel last year.” He shook his head slightly. “Last year. I can’t believe it was so long ago.”
I couldn’t either, and the thought made me feel nauseous.
He stared at the far wall of the cramped cabin, eyes unfocused. “I arrived a few minutes early, told the receptionist who I was there to see, and she gave me a key and said to go straight up.”
“Who were we there to see?” That was one of the big mysteries in the investigation. Black had entered the appointment in his calendar himself, and it just said “New client.”
“A guy called me up, said he’d been given my number by Patrick Johnson. You know, he of the wandering hands?”
“I’m hardly likely to forget that creep.”
“Of course. Stupid question. Anyway, it wasn’t the first time Patrick had sent a client our way, so I said I’d stop by for a quick preliminary while he was in town.”
“And who was it?”
“No idea. He’d undoubtedly given me a false name, and the room was empty when I got up there. When I heard a knock on the door, I thought it was you and opened it. Next thing I knew, someone shot me with a Taser, and I woke up in the room you found me in.”
“Carlos made the appointment.” Jane’s voice was soft and timid. “He wanted to meet you.”
“Who’s Carlos?” Black asked.
Jane and I looked at each other. Which of us was going to tell him? She fixed her gaze on her hands as she twisted them on her lap, and I knew it wouldn’t be her.
I swallowed, my mouth dry as a bar in Saudi Arabia. I hated conversations like this. “He was your brother.”
“I don’t have a brother. You know that.”
“It’s true.”
“Emmy, my parents tried for years to have another child but they couldn’t. I found the paperwork when they died. My mother went through eight rounds of IVF before I was born and four more afterwards.”
He’d never told me that part. It all happened before I came on the scene, and I’d never wanted to open old wounds. Talking about his family hurt him.
“You look the same.” Jane started crying. “You’re twins.”
I grabbed a box of tissues off the tiny nightstand and passed her a handful. She wiped the tears away but kept sniffling.
Black raised an eyebrow. “Just because he looked similar, that doesn’t make us related.”
“Jane’s right. I only saw him once, and I could have sworn he was you.”
“You’re both mistaken.” Strong words, but Black’s voice lacked its usual conviction.
“DNA doesn’t lie, and his came back as yours.”
Already pale, he lost the last bit of colour in his cheeks. “You had a DNA test done, and you’re using the past tense. Emmy, what happened?”
“I arrived at the hotel bang on time, and I couldn’t see you in the parking lot so I was heading inside to look for you. Then a cab pulled up with you in it. Well, I thought it was you. Obviously, I know better now. I was waiting for you to pay and get out when two dudes in a van shot a couple of RPGs at it.”
“Except it was this Carlos inside, not me.” Black filled in the missing piece.
“Yeah. Honestly, he didn’t stand a chance. The whole thing went up like the Fourth of July. The cab driver bought it too.”
Jane burst into tears, big racking sobs that shook her whole body. Black pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair while she cried her heart out.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he murmured, holding her tightly.
Why was she so upset? What had I said? Then I realised.
Shoot.
When she stopped crying quite so hard, I reached over and took her hand. She tried to pull it away then went limp.
“He meant something to you, didn’t he?”
“All this time I hoped Carlos was alive somewhere, that he would come back. He promised he’d take care of us. And now he’ll never see his baby.”
Her face crumpled as she dissolved into tears again.