Rafael (The Santiago Brothers Book One) (13 page)

She had
nothing to complain about. After a season of pimples during her
teenage years, the scars had faded to a smooth caramel complexion.
Earlier, she brushed out her curls and pulled her hair back into a
tight ponytail. The image of Flores Cera entered her mind: her
provocative stance, the flirtatious eye-batting, the toss of her
thick, wavy hair. Genie let out a
humph
and yanked her ponytail down. Staring at the straight
locks, she suddenly wished for curls.

The doorbell rang again. “Genie?” She heard
the tension in his voice as he called out.

“
Yeah,
coming!” She furiously ran her fingers through her hair and then
bent over, shaking her head to add a bit of volume. When she stood
upright, she paused at the woman who stared back. Dark tresses fell
around her shoulders, her cheeks flushed from excitement. She’d
even begun wearing perfume to work, and that
never
happened. “Who are you? This is Rafael Santiago!”
She put her hands on her hips when her reflection didn’t answer.
“He may still look totally kissable but he’s
still
Rafael Santiago!”

“What?”

Genie slapped her hand over her mouth. She
forgot he stood just behind the door. Genie swallowed and opened
the door. “Sorry about that,” she croaked.

“Were you on the phone?”

Genie scooted by him, locked the door and
started for his car. “What?” she called over her shoulder,
pretending not to hear him.

“I heard you mumbling in there.”

Mumbling, good.
He didn’t hear the conversation she’d had with herself. Of
course, he probably already figured women thought him kissable. “It
was nothing. We’re going to be late.”

Rafa didn’t unlock the car. Instead, he
leaned against the hood on the opposite side of her and appraised
her. Genie forced an even stare and her cheeks cooled. “Well, it’s
your fault. You look like you took some extra time today in front
of the mirror.”

Internal heat seared her cheeks. At least he
noticed. Embarrassed, she ran a hand through her hair. “Are you
done?”

Rafa laughed. He unlocked the doors and
watched her as she practically dove in. Unhurried, he sat down and
closed the door. The clean, spicy scent of his aftershave
overwhelmed her. She wished he’d turn the car on so she could roll
down the windows. Instead, two eyes burned holes in the side of her
already inflamed cheeks.

Genie slowly met his gaze. “What?”

“You look beautiful.”

The words were spoken not in jest, nor with
any hint of sarcasm. Warmth in his dark eyes complemented the
slight trace of huskiness in his voice. Genie swallowed, her throat
dry as toast. Was this another act? Was he still the same cavalier
guy he was in high school? Jeff was the last man she let get close.
The only man, actually. But he had turned out to be someone like
the boy Rafael Santiago was in high school, only behaving like an
eager teenage boy in a grown man’s body, and his actions crushed
her heart.

Genie
stared out the window. She desired nothing more than to bask in
Rafa’s attention and ponder the possibility he
just might
be a changed man. Yet, with the Snakes on
the loose…
Stay focused on the case, Genie
. “Let’s just get to work, okay?”

In the window’s reflection, she saw the edges
of his lips turn up into a superficial smile. His eyes cooled and
the car revved to life. “Sure. Anything you say.”

If their silent drive was any indication of
their workday, then a long one awaited them. At the office, they
received an update — or rather no update — from the FBI. The Bureau
was still running down leads. The partial from her patio door
returned zero matches from their database. Genie would welcome even
a call from Flores Cera with news on her brother. Genie took a
break from her computer screen and sat back in her chair. She
watched Rafa field another call from San Diego about some case he
worked just before he arrived in Springfield.

She fingered a few strands of her loose hair.
According to Rafa, she didn’t need curls. What had possessed her to
wear it down? She firmly believed a woman’s hair should remain up
and away from the face in a work environment. A man didn’t take a
woman seriously if her hair flounced and bounced around her
shoulders.

Rafa had called her beautiful. She flipped
her hair around her face to hide the blush warming her cheeks. Her
sudden change in behavior baffled her. His attention had befuddled
her, making her respond in an ultra-feminine way, too unlike her.
She reached for her purse and removed a compact. She unlatched the
compact and saw her reflection in the mirror. She liked what she
saw.

“You look great.”

Rafa’s smooth baritone reverberated in her
ears and sent tingles down her spine. She watched in the mirror as
her cheeks reddened. She snapped the case shut.

“Listen, Genie, about last night.”

Genie met his gaze, her blood pressure
rising.

“I know you’re keeping something from me.
About the possible leak? Did you tell anyone else about the
case?”

He sounded calm but serious, his eyes
guarded. What did she do to tip him off? “I might have mentioned it
to my source.”

She watched him squeeze his eyes shut,
holding up hands. Then dark eyes assessed her. “Wait a minute. So
you did tell someone else?”

“My source.” The surprised look in his eyes
dimmed to one of… disappointment? “He doesn’t know every detail,”
she mumbled.

“Eugenia!”

Genie bristled at his exasperated tone. “You
tapped your sources, and I used mine.” Sure, it sounded justifiable
in her head, but the fierce expression on her partner’s face made
her rethink her reasons. Rafa sprung from the chair. Genie whirled
to see him storm toward the conference room. “Rafa!” She sprinted
after him.

She entered the conference room and closed
the door. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped. Rafa stood
rigid with his head bowed and hands on his slim hips. Why was he so
angry? She only did what he'd do in any investigation where leads
were scarce.

“I can’t believe you lied to me.”

“What?”

He rotated to face her, his charcoal eyes
burning with anger. “I asked you if you told anyone else.”

“Rafael, it was a source!”

“A drug source?”

She swallowed the thick lump in her throat.
For a brief moment, she considered lying again, if it meant
thwarting his ire. Why did his opinion of her matter? If he were
any other detective in the department, except maybe the lieutenant,
she wouldn’t care. But she did. This man, Rafael Santiago, the man
who epitomized all she hated in men, she cared what he thought and
that forced the truth from her lips. “Yes. But I don’t see
how—”

His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “You
don’t see how that could’ve put you in danger.”

She clamped her mouth shut, wondering. The
attempted break-in the night before. Her source didn’t exactly
answer her question about being at her house. “Look, my source
isn’t brilliant. There’s no way he was at my place last night.”

“You know the Snakes are deep in
narco-trafficking. You don't think that maybe, just maybe, they’d
have an idea who the local dealers are?” he asked, exasperated.

She hadn't thought about that. She’d only
been concerned about Ricky contacting his own network for
information and getting her answers. “It… it didn’t exactly occur
to me—”

“No, it didn’t,” he snapped. “Genie…” He let
out an exasperated laugh and then raked his hair with one hand. He
turned away from her, and all of a sudden she understood.

“Rafael…”

He let out a heavy sigh. “Genie, you make it
so hard.”

He cared for her. His concern while at her
house last night, the suggestion to “stick to her like glue,”
pushing for more open communication. None of his actions had put
her at a disadvantage. Only her actions did.

And her feelings? She'd been so consumed with
her career, she didn’t know. But she could trust him. Genie’s
stomach knotted and a sick feeling consumed her. Besting whoever
she assumed stood in her way had been her focus for so long, she’d
overlooked something so basic, and that mistake could have
potentially endangered her life. It still could.

He marched to her. His gaze held her to her
spot. She could see her reflection in those deep, dark pools. The
anger in them dissipated and in its place whirled intense concern.
Concern for her. Hot liquid burned in the back of her eyes.

He reached a hand up and fingered a few long
wisps of hair framing her face. He gently brushed them behind her
ear. His hand settled on her shoulder. “You need to understand,
these men… I know them. I knew them. They have no regard for life.
They are like machines that do what they’re told, no questions
asked, no conscience stopping them.” He averted his gaze, his eyes
clouding as if he remembered some dread from his past. “They’ll
eliminate anyone who gets in their way.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “It was an
amateur move. It won’t happen again.” He still refused to look at
her. “I promise,” she prompted.

He fastened his gaze to hers. She hoped he
read sincerity in her eyes. When he grimaced, her heart sunk. He
squeezed her shoulder and nodded before breaking their connection
and leaving her standing in the conference room. The door closed
behind him.

Alone.

She hated this feeling. True, she’d thrived
on her solitude but for the first time in a long time, she wanted
more. Wanted someone else to stand with her. Needed someone to
point out when she was wrong. Longed for someone who sincerely had
her interests at heart. She followed him out the door and back to
her desk. She positioned herself in her seat across from him. He
kept his gaze focused on some papers.

“My skills as a detective are unmatched.”

Genie tensed at the sound of Franco’s voice.
Rotating in her seat, she watched his confident approach, a slick
smile on his face. Her nerves already frayed, whatever he had to
say, Genie was sure she didn’t want to hear it.

Rafa also noticed Franco. “What’s that?” Rafa
asked.

She’d
have to brief Rafa on what
not
to
ask Detective Franco.

Franco casually waved a piece of paper in the
air, as if baiting them. “Seems that kid, Mario Desanto, was an
employee of La Cocina Dolce after all.”

“What?” Genie snatched the paper from
Franco’s hand and began skimming the contents of the page.

“He was a part-time busboy.”

“That leaves Canales and Cruz without
connections to the restaurant,” Rafa added.

“I'm not so sure,” Genie said, perplexed she
could have missed something so basic. “Mario’s parents swore up and
down their kid didn’t work. Even the neighbors flat-out denied the
boy had a job.”

“That’s because it wasn’t on the books.”
Franco patted his over-moussed hair as if it wasn’t already in
place. “I talked to some of his friends and they confirmed he
worked at the restaurant for a few hours a week. Apparently, he was
saving money for a car his parents couldn’t afford to buy him. What
you have in your hand, Genie, is my draft write-up on the
interviews of his buddies.”

She could see that for herself. What she
couldn’t begin to see was the look of self-satisfaction she knew
was on Franco’s face, so she kept her eyes glued to the page. She
mumbled a “thank-you” and impatiently waited for him to remove
himself from her workspace.

But he kept talking. “You gotta know who to
talk to and what to ask.”

Genie calmly placed the paper on her desk and
slowly rose from her seat.

Rafa cleared his throat. “Thanks for the
tutorial, Franco. I think we can handle—”

“
I gotta
know
what?
” Genie
pinned Franco with her stare. She took a step toward him, but
Franco didn’t back down. Instead, he closed the distance between
them until they stood nose to nose.

The slick grin remained, bolstering the
challenge in his eyes. “I think you heard me, Green,” he said, his
voice low and smug.

A loud squeak from a chair signaled Rafa was
on his feet. He wrapped a warm hand around her elbow, gently
pulling her back. She didn’t want to relent, but cool heads always
prevail and right now, she was anything but cool.

“Why don’t you put some of your know-how into
finding out how Cruz is connected in all of this?” Rafa stood
between her and Franco. Franco smirked at the order, as if the task
were beneath him. “We’re working another angle and what you may
find could blow this thing wide open.”

Genie’s jaw dropped to the floor. Why was
Rafa giving Franco ammunition? The last thing she needed was to be
upstaged by another arrogant jerk. The reason was soon clear.
Franco nodded, a confident grin replacing the earlier smirk. He was
putty in Rafa’s hands.

“That shouldn’t be too hard to figure
out.”

Rafa spoke with strained patience. “No, it
shouldn’t.”

“I’m on it.” Franco strode away.

Genie snorted. “I don’t know how you do
it.”

Rafa gave her a small grin, but his eyes told
her he was glad the exchange was over. “Franco’s a tool. You can’t
let him get to you.”

“But does he have to lord it over me?”

Okay, so perhaps she should have risen above
the situation, but sometimes the climb was just too steep.
Sometimes, no matter how much one tried to act as if they’re not
injured, the pain just increased. And she was tired of the pain,
tired of justifying her right to decent treatment.

Rafa gripped her shoulders, forcing her to
look into his intense gaze as it bore into hers. “There are always
going to be those type of guys. Don’t let them win. Make them work
for you.” A humorous smile brightened his face. He kneaded her
shoulders. “Right now, we have Franco chasing down leads, leaving
us to focus on the threat.”