Chapter Seven HeadsTails
Henry
I did feel curious as to how the meeting went between Carlos, Selena and Alberto Mancini.
Maybe I could sit close to Rain and find out the details.
I knew they wouldn’t hurt Carlos. Not if they were smart.
I know Mancini had to realize exactly who Selena was by this point, if he hadn’t already before we even arrived.
Was I disappointed I missed this meeting?
Not really. I’d rather be with Maya. Yes, I had to admit it.
I know I was in my job capacity to be guarding her and the twins but this woman was one of a kind.
The stories the kids told about her. The love they had for her.
The Maya Angel? Damn. What a touching story that was.
Then her downplaying all the wonderful deeds she did.
I do not think I had ever been this impressed by a person. Male or female.
When we came into the very large dining room, I even paused at just the sheer size of it.
The table sat maybe thirty people. All lined with a beautiful Italian lace tablecloth.
Perfect silver settings. Gold candelabras, vases of flowers.
All the formal dining ware. I hope all of this did not overwhelm the twins.
Looking up, I watched them following Gabriela. I also spotted Maya following behind the kids. She slowed down behind them. Then she turned and headed back to me.
I felt glad she was coming my way. Or in my direction. But at the same time, I got the feeling that she was moving out of the way so to speak. Allowing Gabriela to be with the twins.
I smiled at her as she approached. Then when she got to where I stood, I nodded at her. “Would you like to dine with me?”
Nodding, she smiled back.
I gazed around and wondered if there was some kind of seating arrangement or what?
“I think we can just sit here, si?” Maya motioned to the chairs we stood next to. Leaning in, she looked at the table. “There are no place cards, so these two seats are free.”
I didn’t see any either, then I paused to wonder how she knew what formal dining was like.
With place cards for where each guest was supposed to sit.
Not with being a nanny in the slums of a small town in Mexico.
Curious. I’d already noted things about her that made no sense.
I would attempt to sleuth all of this later.
For now, I pulled her chair out and she sat down.
I pushed it inward a little, then pulled mine out and sat.
We both took a minute to look around. There were several couples here. I assumed they were Alberto’s kids and their spouses. Then I caught Michaels’ gaze from across the table.
He raised his hand and waved.
I did the same. Yes, I had intended to see if he was still here in the Crescent.
I had been away for a couple of years and we had one phone call last year at Christmas.
I know I should have kept in touch, but with my work and traveling, I just drifted away from him.
Our father tried many times to drive a wedge between us, all to no avail.
At one time we were very close, Michael and I.
Then when I went to work for let’s say… less than stellar clients, I knew I had to distance myself from my cop brother. For both our sakes.
Now however, I did not work for the mob or the Russians and he wasn’t a cop. Maybe while I was here, I could hang out with him. That is if Carlos and Selena no longer needed me. I turned my head to look at Maya.
She was looking back at me. “I was wondering about that,” she said.
“About what?” I asked as I reached for my glass of ice water.
“You never mentioned living here." Not that I can remember?”
“No, I didn’t.” This subject troubled me.
New Orleans almost became a death trap for me.
I left when Carlos was injured and stayed with him for a month in the mountains of Tennessee.
Green wooded and free there. While recovering from that bullet wound to his spleen, Carlos was in hiding, but then so was I.
Hiding that is. Rain joined us too. We had the best time and I shall never forget it.
When Carlos talked about it fondly in the motel in San Diego, I found out that he had enjoyed it too.
She took a sip from her glass now and stared at me over the rim.
I chuckled. “Ok… How about we trade info?”
She set her glass down to ask, “What do you mean?”
“I ask you a question. You answer it. Then you ask me one.”
She bit her lip as she hesitated.
“Look, I have secrets too,” I told her.
“Oh, really?” she asked as she smiled widely.
I jiggled my brows and nodded. “Very like… shocking ones.” Honestly, they weren’t. They were just not secrets I was proud of.
“Wow.” She laughed. “Ok, so what if we do not wish to answer?”
“The asker gets to ask another question. Like if we forfeit, we get another chance to be nosey.”
Her grin was wide now.
All I could do was stare at that smile. Holy hell. How could it be that she just became more beautiful every time I looked at her?
Staring at me, she nodded. “Ok.”
“Oh, and we keep the secret that is shared… a secret,” I added.
She laughed again. “I agree.”
I reached into my pocket and took out a quarter. I cupped my hand around it. “Heads or tails?”
She furrowed her brow.
I smiled and opened my fist. “See? Heads on one side.” Then I flipped it over. “Well, it is not tails on the other. It is a set of wings.”
Maya chuckled and said, “I like the wings.”
“So, you chose tails.” I nodded then cupped my fist and shook the quarter. I opened my fist and dropped it onto my wrist then flattened my palm over it.
“Wow, fancy moves.” She smirked.
I removed my hand and it was heads.
Maya beamed at me. “I get to go first!”
I slowly nodded at her. “Apparently.”
She giggled then placed a finger under her chin and closed her eyes. “I have so many questions.”
I paused. Surprised that she said this. I assumed that she really didn’t think one way or another about me. Wow…
Finally, her eyes popped open. “How long have you lived in America?”
“Ten years.”
“O via, that was an easy one!” She smiled.
“Ok, it is my turn and I have a lot of questions too.”
She bit her lip and replied, “Ok.”
“Why would a woman like you… Educated, beautiful and Italian, be in a ramshackle house in the slums of a town in a remote Mexican town?”
Her eyes widened as she asked, “Is that just one question?”
I laughed now. “Ok, so I’m sort of cheating a bit. I crammed it all into one question. But to be honest I wanted to add as a nanny and didn’t.”
She laughed again. Then she paused and shook her head. “Hmmm.”
“Is it that deep?” I asked when she hesitated.
“Kind of,” she replied. “So, I was in Mexico for another reason. Then I had to go to Catemaco for that same reason. I learned the information I was after… Well, those two old ladies had the answers. Or they were part of it all.”
I blinked at her. “You went there specifically to get close to the Castillo sisters?”
“Is that your second question?” Maya asked as she cocked her head at me.
I slowly shook my head as the game meant nothing to me now in light of this surprising answer.
“So, my turn,” she said.
I knew I wouldn’t be letting go of that subject yet as I raised my chin and said, “Go ahead.”
“Why did you move from New Orleans?”
I paused.
“Oh, it is that bad, eh?” she pushed. “Don’t forfeit on me now.” She grinned.
I leaned in and told her the bald-faced truth, “I made a very bad man, very angry.”
Her eyes rounded.
I gave her a nod and poured her a glass of wine from the bottle sitting by our plates then gave it to her. “Take a sip. Cause the next one will be a doozy.”
She stared at me and did just that. Took a sip or two. Setting the glass down she said, “Go ahead.”
“What were you looking for in Catemaco?”
She opened her mouth to answer.
“Her family.”
We halted and gazed up.
My brother Michael stepped between our chairs and added quietly, “She was looking for her sister and her parents.”
Maya dropped her gaze down to stare at her empty plate.
I looked up at him then at her.
She let out a sigh. “They disappeared while on vacation.”
“In Mexico?” I asked.
She nodded. “I know the police and Interpol thought it was kidnapping or they were robbed and…murdered. But I found evidence that it might have been for another reason entirely.”
“And did you take this reason to the authorities?” Michael asked her.
She glared at him. “They refused to listen. The Policía in Mexico are crooked and Interpol refused to help at all.”
“Can you tell us the reason?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “I don’t want to play this game anymore.”
I looked up at Michael.
He immediately knew I wanted him to leave. Michael had always been a genius and he did just that…he walked away.
I leaned in and took Maya’s hand. “We aren’t playing that game anymore. I want to help you.”
Raising her head she looked into my eyes. “But why would you do that?”
“Maybe because you are just about the nicest person I have ever met. Because what you did for those kids did make you an angel to me. And because I happen to know the best tracker in the world.”
She stared at me and asked, “Mr. Rainmaker?”
I nodded.
“You do not have to offer…I mean you do not owe me anything.”
“No, I don’t. But…I already got the idea that you were going somewhere. You said you were. And now I know that what you are looking into is dangerous as all hell.”
“Yes, I know. But I cannot care about that.”
“Maybe not but I care about that.”
“So why would Rainmaker help?”
I smirked. “He will not be able to resist.”
Maya looked confused.
I laughed. “Let’s have dinner then I wanted to check on Carlos and Selena.”
“They were sitting by Mr. Mancini.”
My head shot up as I stared at her. “Are you sure?”
Nodding at me, she replied, “I was at that end of the table when I was following the kids.” She motioned her head to the right.
I looked but really there were too many people and the distance made it hard to do without drawing attention.
The last thing I wanted was to have Mr. Mancini catch me staring at them all.
I reached for her plate and leaned over to ladle up the main dish for her.
“I would ask if you like pasta, but since I know for sure now that you are Italian…”
She laughed. “I never lied about that or told anyone I was Latino. They all saw my dark hair and eyes and just assumed that.”
“And the fact that you were in a place like Catemaco in Latin America as a nanny to Latino kids?”
“Ok, so there was that too.”
“See, I was feeling intrigued by you, because you for one have these bouts of sadness.”
“Oh, no. You saw that?”
“Yes, I did. So now I know why. Then today, you admitted to losing your family.”
“I meant what I said before, those two kids saved me. Not the other way around. I felt so desolate and so lost. Then when I saw them…” Tears filled her eyes.
“I saw the cruelty and the harsh living conditions they were forced to endure. I then poured all my pent-up emotions and myself into making their lives better.”
I set her plate in front of her. “It shows too. If you had told me they suffered these things. I might not believe you. Except when they hid after Gabriela clapped her hands. It really affected me. I wanted to go back to Mexico, track those bitches down and…” I halted.
“I wanted to hurt them. I wanted to kill them.”
“I know how that feels.” Maya placed her napkin into her lap.
I noted how her hands shook and commented, “Oh, I bet you do.”
She raised her fork and said, “But that’s not why I did it.”
I spooned pasta onto my plate along with a broccoli side dish and grabbed some garlic bread. “Why you did what?” I asked and took a bite of the bread.
“Killed them,” she whispered and took a bite of her pasta.
I halted and whipped my head to the side to stare at her. Then I choked on the bread.