Chapter 20
DOMINIC
Ishot Rose a disbelieving look.
“Who else do you think he was here for? I bet he was staked out here for days, waiting for you to get home and lead them to the drugs. Did you find it?”
“No, the place looks clean,” I said. “The only person who can tell us where they are is the person who hid them in the first place. If only you guys could find him.”
I winced in pain as Logan probed the wound on my arm.
“It’s just a graze, as you said, Mr Carlisle. The bullet nicked the skin, but didn’t hit anything important. I’ll just apply a quick dressing and you should be good to go,” he said, as he helped me stand up. “I’ve got the medical kit in the car.”
I was aware of a rising fury, aimed mostly at Rose. She had lied to me. And if I hadn’t gotten here in time today, I would have lost her. The thought of never seeing that smile again made me want to put my fist through the wall.
“Look at me, Dom,” said Rose urgently.
When I finally looked her in the eyes, she shrank before the anger in mine.
“Are you really okay?” she asked in a small voice.
I forced myself to ignore the way it tugged at my heartstrings and gave her a brisk nod.
“I’m fine. Let’s just get out of here before someone else shoots at us,” I said curtly, and taking her by the elbow, I led her out of the room.
Logan fixed a clean dressing on my gunshot wound and dropped us off at my apartment. I was silent all the way back home, and Rose kept shooting concerned glances at me. When we were finally alone in the apartment, I turned to her, and she froze in place when she saw my expression.
“You lied to me,” I stated.
“Dom,” she began, but I held my hand up to stop her right there.
“I asked you where you were, and you said you were going to the salon.”
“How did you know where I was?” she asked.
Was that her first concern right now?
“I asked Trevor to pick you up from the salon and bring you to my office for a quick, late lunch. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that your mani-pedi was scheduled for yesterday. It didn’t need a genius to figure out where you were going, and you were damn lucky I got there when I did,” I yelled.
“Don’t yell at me, Dominic,” she said coldly. “I was at my own house, and that is not a crime. How did you know about the sniper?”
“Logan spotted him up the tree and warned me he was aiming at a window. Again, it didn’t take a genius to deduce that you were standing there, giving him a clear shot at you. And you still haven’t explained why you lied to me. You could have told me what you were doing.”
“And would you still have allowed me to do it?”
“Of course, not,” I replied immediately.
“That’s why I didn’t tell you where I was going,” she said, with a shrug.
“You almost got killed, Rose,” I roared loud enough to rattle the windowpanes.
Sweetpea and Scary Mary scattered in fear, but Rose merely crossed her arms across her chest and glared up at me with no sign of remorse.
“I’m sick of waiting for Joe to show up, Dom. My life is in limbo right now, and I hate it. I want to find the damned drugs, give them back to the people who own them, and get on with my life. Is that too much to ask?”
“We’re doing our best to find Joe Cheney. And I’ve learned that you cannot negotiate with the cartel. You either do what they tell you to do, or you fight back with equal force.”
“What choice do we have left now?”
“We’re fighting back now, Rose. They just shot at you, even though we’ve made it clear to them that you’re my girlfriend and I’m now going to show them a world of pain,” I vowed.
They could have left Rose out of this, but they hadn’t, and now they were going to face the consequences of their folly.
“What can you do?” she asked worriedly.
The Carlisle Foundation was the biggest contributor to the Maplewood Police Department’s funds. And it was time to call in some favours.
“Got the Police Commissioner on the line for you, boss,” said Trevor, coming into the room with a phone.
“MacNeil, nice to hear from you, man. Yes, we’re both fine, thank you for asking.
Well, you know how it is. We just saw a man in a tree, who escaped before my guys could catch up with him.
I’m going to need your help finding him, my friend.
If I’m correct, it’s someone on the payroll of the Luigi cartel. ”
I narrated all that had happened since Rose broke up with Joe Cheney, and that’s all it took to get him on our team.
“I’ll send an officer over immediately to take down a formal report, Dominic. We’ll get your guy soon. Both of them, in fact,” he promised.
After I ended the call, Rose walked over to me and stood staring up at me hesitantly.
I opened my arms and she flew into them.
I held her tightly, shuddering at the thought of having almost lost her forever today.
If I hadn’t shoved her out of the way just in time…
If my sudden appearance hadn’t thrown the sniper off his game… so many ifs.
She kissed my gunshot wound softly and then pulled my head down to her and kissed me deeply.
“I’m really sorry I lied about where I was going,” she whispered against my lips. “I was just trying to help. It’s my house. I thought I could find the hidden stash, even if your team couldn’t. I didn’t know the cartel really meant to kill me.”
“There’s no reasoning with people like them, babe.
Still, they will soon learn what happens when you mess with the wrong man.
Logan’s team is digging up confidential informants willing to rat on them for various reasons.
Soon, they will see their supply chains getting hit by cops, and their dealers and parties getting raided far too often.
Maplewood PD is going to partner with the DEA to come down hard on the drug scene in and around us.
We aren’t going to let the cartels take over our town. ”
There was a knock at the door, and we turned as one. Rose gasped in surprise when she saw my mother standing in the doorway, her sharp gaze taking in the fact that her goddaughter was wrapped up in my arms.