Liberty At Last (The Liberty Series) (30 page)

Matthew strapped a plastic watch around my wrist. “We have to get you down to a ten minute mile,” he said, kindly. “Can’t be leaving the little lady behind in the jungle.”

The watch reminded me of the one I wore back in Vegas, back when I was trying to get my Fiesta up to thirty so I could make it to work on time. It seemed like a million years ago, not just a few short months. I remembered my disgusting bathroom and checking for bed bugs every night. Even if things were different, and John and I weren’t going to be together, I wouldn’t go back to that life. I couldn’t. I thought of myself dancing, exposed in front of so many men, and I shuddered. I would find a way to do something different — live somewhere cheaper, work at a coffee shop or a library, find a way to go back to school. I wasn’t embarrassed by what I’d done. I was just over it.

“Congratulations, by the way,” said Matthew, a huge grin on his face. “I had no idea John was proposing to you this weekend. Did you expect it?”

“No,” I said, coming back from my Vegas reverie. “I had no idea. I’m so excited!”

Matthew patted me on the shoulder. “It’s awesome, Liberty. I knew he was going to, I just didn’t know when. I’m so excited for you guys. I’ve known John for a long time. He’s a different guy, now. He’s so much happier.”

I knew that, of all the people we’d told this morning, Matthew would be the one who was unequivocally excited for us. “Thank you,” I said. “It’s nice to hear that. Catherine was, ummm, a little less than thrilled.”

“She’s nuts,” Matthew said, shaking his head. “You know it, and I know it. And John just hopes it’s not gonna last.” He shrugged. “I don’t blame him though. As a parent, it has to practically kill you to see your kid that messed up.”

I nodded. I felt so bad for him and Eva.

“Speaking of being a parent — how was trip home? How’s your family?” I asked.

“They’re good,” Matthew said, and he smiled a smile that only came out when he was talking about his wife and son. It must’ve been his real smile, and it was a beautiful thing. “Mer’s pregnant,” he said.

“Matthew! Congratulations!” I said.

“We’re excited,” he said. “But it went over like a lead balloon that I’m going back to South America soon.” He shook his head. “It’s good that Mer’s family’s around. I feel bad, but I can’t make money like this anywhere else. I’m doing it for them.”

“Does Meredith want you to quit?” I asked.

He shrugged. “She would love it if I was a lawyer, or something,” he said and laughed. “But seeing as I barely graduated high school, that’s not in the cards. She’s always supported me, though. We’ve been together forever. It’s just different when you have kids. The idea of
Daddy
getting shot at seems a lot more scary. It’s worse for her, and for me.”

I blew out a deep breath.
I bet.
“So, what’re you going to do?” I asked, genuinely curious. I couldn’t imagine Matthew — or John, if I was being honest — sitting behind a desk.

“I can’t go back to the real world,” Matthew said, and shrugged. “It’s been too long. Maybe someday I could be a cop, or something. At least then I’d be closer to home. But as long as John wants me, I’m with him. He takes care of me. I own my house in Florida, my kids will have college funds, and that never could have happened without him. Plus, I like what I do. I get paid to work out and beat the crap out of bad guys. That
rules
, you know?”

I nodded at him, mutely. Yes, I’d heard it as much.

John was probably going to hate me for the rest of his life if I made him quit…and on top of that, I would be taking away the livelihood of his men.

Crap. Double crap.

“Let’s run,” I said, ignoring Matthew’s shocked look.

“Being engaged to a superhero suits you,” Matthew said, zipping up his jacket. “So let’s work on getting that time down.”

John didn’t come back that night. “They ran some tests on her today. I need to be here tomorrow. They’re going to make some decisions about what course of action to take then,” he said when he called.

“Eva and I are going to grab dinner. Is that okay with you?” he asked. He didn’t sound concerned, just like he was being polite.

He really might be perfect.

I held up my sparkly ring and gazed at it. “Of course it’s alright,” I said.
I didn’t know how many carats of awesomeness I had on my ring finger, but even without it, I trusted him.
“How’re you guys holding up?”

“It’s been a long day. Eva and I were both interviewed about Catherine’s childhood, her personality before her disappearance. It was tough. Dr. Sullivan said he doesn’t think she needs drugs, maybe just an antidepressant. In other words, he doesn’t think she’s psychotic. Which is good, on one hand, because she’s not psychotic. On the other hand, it means she’s committed to her ideals and her relationship with Angel in a real way, a way that might not be…
curable.
For lack of a better word.”

Silence hung between us for a moment. “You mean they think she really loves him,” I said.

“Yes,” he said. His voice was heavy.

“So then, what?” I asked. “What happens?”

“I don’t know. She’s experienced trauma over the last few years. She definitely needs some therapy. So we’re going to figure that out first. After that I have absolutely no idea. I guess I’ll have to accept a cartel-leading drug-dealer for a son-in-law —”

“And a twenty-one year old ex-stripper for a wife,” I said. “Gee, John, here’s your street cred.
No problemo.
”

At least he laughed.

“I love you,” he said. “I’m going to miss sleeping next to you tonight. Or
not
sleeping next to you tonight, if you know what I mean.” His voice was husky.

“I do,” I said. “This bed’s too big without you.”

“I’ll be home tomorrow,” he growled, making my belly clench with anticipation. “By the way — thank you for saying yes.”

“Thank you for asking,” I said. “I love you, Mr. Quinn.”

“I love
you
, soon to be Mrs. Quinn,” he said, softly.

I went downstairs, slowly, because I was sore from the day’s workout, and found Ian on the couch. He was drinking tea, wearing red flannel pajamas and watching
NESN
.

“Hello my dear,” he said, patting the seat next to him.

“John told me there were some exciting developments while I was away. Let me see,” he said, taking his glasses off and wiping them carefully. He put them back on and I held up my left hand. He let out a low whistle.

“That’s just beautiful. Just like you, Liberty,” he said,beaming at me. “I’m so happy for you two. I’m thrilled you’re going to officially be part of the family.”

I leaned over and hugged him. “Thank you,” I said. I knew how lucky I was. I couldn’t imagine that too many proper gentlemen would be thrilled that their forty-something, wealthy son was marrying a penniless twenty-one year old with a checkered past. To his immense credit, Ian had always made me feel welcome. Special, even.

“How were the Red Sox?” I asked.

“Good,” he said. “I went and saw the game, and then I went and looked at a lot of modern art I didn’t understand. I just wish I was looking at it with my wife, still.”

I patted his hand. “I’m sorry,” I said.

“Don’t be,” he said. “I don’t regret a thing. And neither will you.”

“You need to be prepared for heat, humidity, and bugs,” Matthew said.

“Awesome,” I said, flatly.

“And after next week, after we get you up to speed a little bit, you’re gonna have to start running with a backpack. A pretty heavy backpack.”

“Totally awesome,” I said.

Matthew got up and grabbed us both waters. “More?” I asked. “Seriously?” I had gone from being completely dehydrated to being completely waterlogged in a matter of weeks. Every two minutes, someone was handing me a water bottle or some sort of protein gel, telling me to drink it like I was a child.

“Stop complaining or I’ll tell John,” he said, sitting back down. We were looking at pictures and maps of Brazil on several different screens. It looked beautiful, but it also looked hot, humid, and buggy.

“Can you please explain to me why we have to do this? Why does Darius want to kill Cruz? What do they even have to do with each other?” I asked. John had been silent on the matter, telling me that any information I received on his cases was on a strictly “need-to-know” basis. Well, I
needed
to know why we were going to drag ourselves down to South America, camp out in a scary jungle filled with hairy spiders and god only knew what else, and shoot at people.

“It’s on a need-to-know basis, Lib,” Matthew said, clicking through pictures.

“I need to know, asshole,” I said. “You guys need to start trusting me. Seriously.”

Matthew laughed at me. “Of course we trust you,” he said. “We just don’t want you getting captured and tortured. Again.”

I sighed heavily. “Matthew, please. I need the back story. If I have to pack a gun, and sleep next to spiders, I need to know why.”

He blew out a deep breath. “Okay, then,” he said. “You asked. Darius and Cruz are brothers. Clearly, they’re not on good terms. They used to run their family business together, but then Cruz wanted to get cashed out a couple years ago. It was too dangerous. He made Darius buy him out, and he used the cash for several investments, including your old club in Vegas. I’m pretty sure that was more of a vanity project than an investment though,” he said and laughed.

I just sat there, waiting, my mind in a whirl.
Brothers? Brothers trying to kill each other?

“Darius has had trouble since Cruz left. Trouble managing the business,” Matthew continued.

“What kind of business is it?” I asked.

Matthew looked at me like I had three heads. “Drugs, Lib. Drugs, weapons, other very bad things. You know, the usual.” I sat there, considering that for a moment, as he went on. “Darius believed that Cruz had gone in with one of his competitors down there. Darius lost a lot of business after Cruz left. He thinks Cruz planned the whole thing — leave the business but then take over their territory through another entity, cutting Darius out of it.”

“Is it true?” I asked. “Is that what happened?”

Matthew shrugged. “I don’t think so, otherwise John wouldn’t have taken the case. He doesn’t accept drug money. A year ago, Darius sent someone else to take Cruz out. It didn’t work, so the next time he came to do it himself. That’s the night we met you. The only reason we didn’t kill Darius then is because Cruz thinks someone else may be involved now — so that even if we take Darius out, someone will still try to hurt Cruz.

“That’s why we let Darius go back to Brazil. We were trying to figure out if there’s another piece to the puzzle. But now he’s just gone.”

I was still confused. “Back when Darius was still here, John called him an extremist,” I said. “But that doesn’t make sense now. I thought it was something political, or religious. But it’s drugs.” I thought about it for a second. “What’s with all these drug dealers, anyway? We should just send Angel Morales and his guys down there, and let them finish each other off.”

Matthew laughed. “That’s a brilliant plan. It would tie up a
lot
of loose ends. But it’s not just drugs with Darius,” he said. “If it were just money, it would be easier. But it’s personal. He believes that Cruz ruined their family. Family is a big deal to Brazilians. They do most of their business that way, through family connections, personal connections. When Cruz left the business and the family, it really hurt Darius. It hurt him personally, and it also screwed up his business dealings, because Cruz had been the front-man.

“People stopped trusting Darius because it looked like his own brother had stopped trusting him. So his business was suffering because he’d lost the value and pride of his family name. He’s out for revenge, now. We believe that if he was crazy enough to come to the States to try to kill Cruz before, he’s capable of just about anything. The whole thing’s just a mess.”

“So what’re we going to do?” I asked. It couldn’t do any good to capture Darius again. He wasn’t even slightly cooperative when we’d had him before. And now John had shot him, twice. We weren’t exactly on his good side.