Surge (52 page)

“What happened to her?” Carlos asks. I shake my head. “Don’t shake your head at me, I want an answer.”

“A lot of shit, but I don’t know it all and I’m not repeating what I do know, it’s not mine to share.”

“I get that,” he replies. “But you don’t work on the force for ten years and not recognize a vic when you see one.” My eyes snap to his. “Don’t act all surprised, we do more than write tickets and eat doughnuts.” I laugh at that. “Seriously, she’s the mascot for abuse victims. Haunted eyes hidden by anger, she wears more clothes than an Eskimo when it’s 98° outside, and she flinches if someone comes too close to her. Osco and I recognized it the first day she stormed into the condo.”

“How?” I ask. “I didn’t know until Victoria said something.”

“So, she knew Red?” Carlos questions and I can see his cop senses sparking to life, trying to solve the puzzle. Good luck there, buddy, I only know what little I do from being told about it.

“Let’s just say that Red and her didn’t have the best relationship.”

“Mi mamá was a devout Catholic who always said to never trust a red head,” he comments. “
‘No confían en una pelirroja, que son el diablo.’
She thought it was a sign of the devil.” Carlos chuckles a little. “She was right, Victoria was just like Judas.”

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna start spouting scripture too,” I plead and he laughs as he shakes his head. “Good, I can’t take any more of that shit.”

“Nah, gave up on that when the world went to shit,” he replies. “So I think I’ll leave the screech- I mean -preaching to Kelly.”

“You had it right the first time,” I say with a smirk. I wipe it off my face to return to the serious matter at hand. “There’s nothing we can really do, so why don’t you hit the sack and come back for watch?”

“You think I can go to sleep when mi ángel de la oscuridad is like that?” Carlos demands and points to the door with a scowl.

“No,” I say and shake my head. “I was just suggesting that you catch a few Z’s before checking in on her later, when Akio’s through.”

“Joder que,” he hisses. “I’ll stay right here and wait with you.”

“Suit yourself,” I reply as I shrug.

“Why don’t you get some rest?” Carlos proposes. “And I’ll stay here. After all, you’ve had less sleep than I have.”

“Fuck that,” I say his same response in English.

“My sentiments exactly,” he says. “I may not like her the same way as you, but I still care about her. She’s part of the group and ella es mi pequeño nigromante.”

“Who says I care about her?” I inquire and Carlos stares at me like I’m dumb. “And what the hell is a nigromante?”

“Kid, I wasn’t born yesterday,” he answers. “And it means she’s
‘my little necromancer,’
brush up on your Spanish.” I flip him off.

“I’m not a freaking kid,” I counter and don’t I sound very kid-like when I say it? “Besides, you’re only like seven years older than me.”

“Still seven years,” he retorts with a smirk. “And if I were seven years younger, I’d be the one with stars in my eyes every time I looked at that girl in the room.” Carlos gives me a pointed look. “Like you do.”

“I do not,” I deny. “She’s just my friend.”

“I’ve never looked at a friend the way you do her,” he says. “The only woman I’ve ever looked at like that divorced me and took all my money.”

“Why’d she do that?”

“Because she said the job would kill me,” Carlos answers and gives me a wry smile while holding out his arms. “I guess the job didn’t get the chance.”

“No kids?”

“No kids,” he confirms. “I fell out of love real quick when I saw her true nature, a oro cava puta. I didn’t want to wind up like my mom, fighting my dad for child support and all that bull shit.”

“See, Bobby Boucher’s momma was right,
‘all women are the devil,’”
I remark and Carlos laughs.

“Listen,
Waterboy
,” he says. “Just because there are a few bad eggs, doesn’t mean you can knock the whole bunch. As you well know, men have their fair share of deadbeats and sickos.” I nod. “You’ve had your rotten one, now you’ve found a gem. Not everyone gets a second chance.”

“Listen, as great as your advice is,” I begin carefully. “It isn’t necessary. Olivia and I are just friends. That’s it.” When Carlos starts laughing, I explain. “I’m serious. I don’t think that she could handle any more, no matter how much I may want it.”

“So, you admit that you want more?” Carlos asks and I roll my eyes, but nod. “Good, the first step in L.A. is admittance.”

“L.A.?”

“Lovers Anonymous,” he states and I punch his arm.

“I do not fucking love her, alright?” Carlos just laughs. “I barely even know her. Not to mention that I don’t love any woman other than blood relations.”

“Admittance, that’s the first step,” he repeats and pats my arm as he stands. “You won’t go any further until you admit it to yourself. If you don’t, I feel sorry for you, since only a jackass wouldn’t want to saddle himself with her. Ella tiene fuego, and only women who have it survive.”

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Carlos and I have been sitting in silence for thirty minutes, and still haven’t heard a word. I’m beginning to fidget with my panic. What’s taking so long? Is something wrong? There must be if Akio’s still in there and Olivia hasn’t thrown him through the wall. Or maybe she’s unable to toss his ass out in her condition? I’m about to break the door down, and do some tossing of my own, when it finally cracks open to reveal a weary doctor.

“What is it?” I demand and rush over with Carlos on my heels. “Is she alright?”

“She’s fine,” Akio answers and rubs a tired hand down his face. “It’s just inflammation, like I suspected. I gave her a shot of pain meds to help her relax.”

“If it was
‘just inflammation,’”
Carlos counters. “Then why’d it take half an hour?”

“Let’s just say that there are many monsters in this world, but that girl in there is definitely not one of them.” My whole body tenses at that and Carlos’s eyes snap to Akio’s.

“How do you know?” I demand. “What’d she tell you?”

“Hippo law,” is his answer. “And I wouldn’t even repeat it if I weren’t under oath.” Brushing past Carlos and I, Akio continues down the hallway to bed.

My feet move before my brain catches up and are nearly sprinting toward the bed in seconds. At the last moment, my brain screams to halt and I’m able to restrain myself from lunging at the bed. Olivia’s shaking with blood shot eyes, making me clench my fists.

“What’d he do to her?” I growl out at a fuming Cory. Olivia’s eyes widen and she shakes her head.

“He didn’t do anything,” Cory hisses. “Just an exam.” I point to Olivia’s trembling state in reference.

“He obviously did something,” I reply with barely controlled anger.

“He didn’t
do
thing,” Cory repeats through clenched teeth. “Just every fucking prick in the commonwealth.” Olivia slaps a still shaking hand over Cory’s mouth and darts her eyes at Carlos standing beside me.

“He already knows,” I say. That earns me a look of severe betrayal and hurt from Olivia, along with a scowl from Cory. I shake my head. “I didn’t tell him anything, he figured it out on his own.”

“Ten years on the Boston P.D.,” Carlos confirms. “Seen a lot of shit, and know how recognize a vic when I see one. Osco too.”

Olivia grabs her pen and paper before writing something down. When she’s done, she holds it up and it’s hard to read it with all the shaking. But when I do finish, I want to hurl the damn thing out the window.

“No,” Carlos responds in a carefully bland tone, but I can hear the fire underneath. “I do not think you are
‘gross
,
’
and I will not, nor have I ever treated you differently.” When Olivia gives him an unconvinced smile, he continues. “You’re still mi pequeño nigromante.”

Olivia’s smile is genuine as she writes something else down.
“Bien, porque yo no quiero tener que patearte el culo súper camas.”

“Hermosa e inteligente,” Carlos says with a grin and Olivia’s smile grows to match. “Una chica a mi corazón.”

“English please,” I mutter. Carlos laughs, and if Olivia could, she would be too.

“Don’t be jealous, Jared,” he says and aims a smirk my way. “Mi ángel oscuro and I were just talking.”

“In a language no one else here speaks,” I reply.

“Actually, Jared,” Cory counters. “You’re the only one that can’t understand it. Must be your suburban upbringing.”

“I thought you were a country bumpkin?” I ask and feel nothing but satisfaction when I see him flip me off in response. “In all seriousness, I probably only understood a handful of those words, something about
‘good ass
,
’ ‘beautiful
,
’
and
‘hearts.’
So, you may want to explain before I get the wrong idea.”

“Or the right one,” Carlos says under his breath, but I heard him. He clears his throat and speaks the next part louder. “Olivia was just saying that
‘she’s happy she won’t have to kick my Super Twin ass
,
’
and I said that
‘she was beautiful and smart.’
Which she is.”

“Thank you, Rosetta Stone,” I reply. “How about we keep things in English, so I can keep up?”

“Fine,” Carlos huffs. “But I’ll talk to her in Spanish when you aren’t around.”

“Bully for you,” I say and hold my thumb out with a sarcastic smile. “Now, let’s go switch with Tommy and Leonard, they wanted to see her.” I look at Olivia. “Is that okay? They were worried about you.” Olivia shakes her head rapidly in the affirmative. “Okay, they’ll be here in a minute. Come on, Carlos.”

Carlos ignores me in favor of going closer to the bed. He whispers something to Olivia and she gives a small nod before holding her arms out slightly. Leaning down, Carlos gives her a brief hug and pulls back. What the fuck? Where’s my hug? I’m still fuming when he stands upright and smiles.

“Don’t ever do that to me again,” Carlos orders and Olivia bites her lip to keep from laughing. “I’m serious, you almost gave me a heart attack, and I’m much too young for that shit.” Olivia rubs a hand on her chest to say she’s sorry and shrugs like,
‘I couldn’t help it.’
“Just don’t do it again.”

Once Olivia nods her consent, as if she could telekinetically stop glass from embedding itself in her skin, Carlos is satisfied enough to walk out of the room. I’m about to walk out too when Cory’s voice stops me. He jerks his chin at Olivia, so I look over and see her motioning for me to come closer. I keep my pace slow, even though I want to run over and find out what she wants. When I’m close enough, she holds out something she wrote on the paper.

“I’m sorry I scared you.”

“It’s alright,” I lie. “You didn’t scare me.” Olivia gives a doubtful look and points at Cory. Fucking tattle tale. “Fine, you scared me a little.” Rolling her eyes, she shoos me away like she can’t stand to look at me anymore. Damn my pride to hell, I crouch down a little and lower my voice to a whisper. “Alright, I was fucking terrified. You nearly scared me to death. Happy now?”

Olivia shakes her head and surprises me by lunging forward for a hug. It’s nothing more than a brief squeeze, but it was enough to make me smile. Once she’s settled, she makes the shooing motion again. I shrug and walk out as if her willingly touching me is no big deal, when my heart is nearly beating out of my chest. Walking on cloud nine, I barely notice Leonard and Tommy sprinting past me as I plop down on the couch next to Carlos.

I even ignore his smartass comment of, “Don’t love her, my ass.”

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