Alejandro (13 page)

As the fear and anxiety of an intruder being in the safe house continued to diminish, an overwhelming fatigue fell into its vacated place.
I’m more exhausted than I realized.

Angel finally reached the bed. “Can you teach me to wrestle now?”

Well, he’d give it to the kid for being patient, and eager at the same time. Audrey said the boy had waited all day for him, and now he wasn’t going to delay until a decent hour.
You made him a promise, Ale.
And he’d keep it. Regardless of the consequences to his sanity — or his emotions.

Ale groaned as he sat up in bed, his muscles stiff, head foggy from sleep. “Okay, kid. I’m up. We’ll go up to the loft.”

“Yea!” Angel jumped up and down before rushing to the door and disappearing into the hallway.

Ale’s cheeks burned. He’d been holding a smile for, he didn’t know how long.

Ten minutes later, Ale was on his knees in front of a skinny kid with a bobble head that nodded up and down at every word from his mouth. Angel squealed when Ale carefully tackled him. After a few practice rounds, Ale allowed Angel to win bout after bout. After the fifth round, they both collapsed on the mat in laughter.

Lying on their backs with hands on stomachs, breathing heavily, Ale and Angel took a break from their training. “Marshal, is Auntie Audrey going to leave me?”

Ale cut the child a glance, wondering whether he’d heard Angel correctly. The boy was fiddling with the edge of his T-shirt, his tiny lips dipped into a frown. “Of course not. What makes you think that?”

“My mommy left me.”

Ale closed his eyes, distressed over the thoughts the boy was having. “That’s completely different, Angel. She didn’t leave by choice. She… she died.”

“Do you have a mommy?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Where is she?”

“She lives in Virginia.”

“But you live here.”

Brows coming together, Ale leaned on an elbow, facing the boy, who put his hands underneath his head and stared at the ceiling. “That’s right, I do.”
Where’s he going with this?

Angel turned, mimicking Ale’s position. “Did your mommy leave you?”

“No—” Ale choked on an unexpected lump of emotion in his throat. “My mother didn’t leave me.” Flashbacks of his mother’s tear-stained face, the looks of disappointment each time she was informed of another of his deleterious stunts filled his mind. Ale and his brothers had tormented her. “I left her.”

Angel’s brows bushed, his lips pursed. “Why did you leave her? Don’t you love your mommy?”

Ale worked his stiff jaw, as well as blinked back a stinging wetness behind his eyes. “I… I wasn’t a good boy, Angel, so I had to leave. But I love my mother.” The last words he’d said to her were ones of hate. He’d spent the better part of more than a decade in silent protest to the decision she made that had turned his life around — for the better.

Tears welled in Angel’s eyes. “If I’m a bad boy, will Auntie Audrey leave me?”

Now I’ve done it
. Ale wrapped the boy in a tight hug. “No, no I don’t think so. You’re a good boy — a smart boy.” Angel’s arms nearly collapsed Ale’s throat as the boy squeezed Ale with what seemed to be all his might.

“I don’t want to go. I don’t want Auntie Audrey to leave… not like my mommy.”

The walls of concrete around Ale’s heart crumbled at the entreaty. He heard his old fears echoed in the boy’s cry — fears from when his father left home without word of ever returning. Would he ever see his dad again? Why did he have to leave? Didn’t he love them anymore? Tears seeped from beneath closed eyelids as Ale continued to hold Angel.

He had to get Trujillo. Not just for Lana, but for her son. Her son who still wondered whether he was part of the reason his mother had left. Who couldn’t yet comprehend a murderer like Trujillo or even the act itself. “She’s not going anywhere, Angel, I promise.”

“Alejandro?”

Blinking away the stinging tears, Ale focused on Audrey. She stood just outside the training mat area, her arms encircling her robed middle, brows slanted down in concern. Ale released the boy. “We’ll train more later, okay? Good job, buddy.” He ruffled Angel’s hair.

“Angel, go ahead and wash up. I’ll cook you breakfast in a minute,” Audrey said. Angel ran to his aunt, and after hugging her leg, sprinted down the steps and disappeared into the hall leading to their bedroom. Audrey locked gazes with Ale.

“I was teaching him how to wrestle, you know, because I made a promise.”

She nodded. “I know.” Stepping onto the mat, she bit her lip, her gaze averted. “Alejandro, what you were saying earlier… encouraging Angel.”

He let out a long breath and ran his fingers through his loose hair. She hadn’t heard what he’d said seconds earlier — that he was a reprobate forced to leave his family home. He was sure she wouldn’t appreciate that bit of inspiration. Wiping at the drying tears on his cheeks, he walked to meet her. “If you think I overstepped—”

She held up both hands. “No, no I don’t. It was very… very sweet, what you said.”

“Listen, Audrey, about last night…” She turned away, but Ale caught her arm, forcing her to look at him. Her jaw hardened and her eyes flashed annoyance. If he wasn’t convinced his next statement was necessary, he’d work on softening her rigid lips with a kiss she so desperately needed last night. “I apologize. I crossed a line.” Audrey’s eyes narrowed, the look of skepticism in her eyes. “I shouldn’t have cornered you like that. It was wrong and I’m sorry.”

The doubt in her eyes dimmed, and her features relaxed. “I forgive you.”

Three simple words — words he couldn’t say but had heard often from his own mother. How could these women just look past his actions and give him another chance? A flash of his mother’s sad smile made his throat tighten. She’d forgive him and give him a hug, and two seconds later, he’d be back doing what had gotten him into trouble in the first place.

After kissing Audrey in this very spot two nights ago, he had promised himself he’d leave her alone for both their sakes. That promise had lasted less than twenty-four hours. The funny thing with promises: ever since his father split, he had tried hard not to make any promises, knowing the impossibility of keeping them. Eyeing the woman in front of him with the bright aqua eyes and hair piled high on her head in a lopsided ponytail, it amazed him the number of promises he’d made since meeting her and continued to make against his better judgment.

“Thank you for teaching him to wrestle. What you did means a lot to a child in his predicament. I’m sure he’ll remember it forever.”

Forever.
That was how long he’d remember his parents’ betrayal. Why couldn’t he forgive them? Let go of all the anger and bitterness he felt toward them? Because it had fueled his ambitions, propelled him into his position, and made him the man he was today. And no one was more proud of him than he was.

The change in Audrey’s eyes caused him to pause. She gave him a questioning look. “Ale, what did you mean when you said you’d left your mother?”

Ale dropped her arm. “It’s late. I have to get ready for work.”

“You promise it won’t happen again?”

Last night’s almost kiss. He moved past her to the stairs. “I wouldn’t go that far.” Well, he’d already proved he couldn’t keep his word in that area. Why make another oath he couldn’t uphold? She sighed loudly and he jogged down the steps, smiling.

****

She knew she shouldn’t have let the sun go down on her anger, but it was already dark when Ale arrived at the safe house, so she had an excuse. He was playing games with her. Teasing her. Tempting her. Exasperating her to her wits’ — and resistance’s — end.

But after watching him this morning with Angel, she’d seen a different side to the man whose appetite for her had left her emotions in pleasant turmoil. The comforting words, the tearful embrace. What had brought on their conversation? She doubted Ale suddenly had a desire for a heart to heart about his disreputable past in an effort to bond with Angel.

Yet, they’d bonded.

Audrey smiled, sitting in the back seat with Angel as Mel drove them to Angel’s school. Her smile waned when images of the handsome marshal, too close for comfort the other night, bombarded her mind. After their first kiss at Penny’s house, he’d kept a professional distance except when providing a reassuring touch whenever her grief incapacitated her. She closed her eyes, remembering the gentle kisses he’d given her on the sofa during the first night in the safe house.

But his kiss hadn’t always been so consoling.

The other night in the loft, he’d seemed so…
Not himself. She was sure of it. In his eyes she saw both determination and dread. He’d kissed her out of some unspoken desperation, and when asked about it, he retreated behind a hopelessly impenetrable shield. What had caused the momentary crack?
And can I exploit it?

Oh, Lord, forgive me. He’s under so much pressure. This case can’t be easy
. Neither was having to endure his sight, scent, and seduction tactics. A lethal triple threat. Audrey let out a long sigh.

Mel chuckled. “Alejandro getting to you? He must be a nightmare to live with.”

Audrey angled her lips to one side, considering her answer. On one hand, yes — a dream she had to live out in the daytime as well. And on the other — exhilarating. Infuriating. Never boring. “He’s certainly different from any man I’ve ever met.” She thought that a safe answer.

“Yeah, he’s your classic Type A. Dominant, go-getter, likes to work alone. Very rough around the edges, but lately I’ve noticed a bit of a change.”

Rubbing the top of Angel’s head and staring out the window absent-mindedly, she questioned, “How so?”

“Well, I’ve never seen him chase a woman into the ladies’ room before.”

Audrey’s cheeks stung, recalling the incident at the marshals’ office. “He was just concerned.”

“That’s just it — Ale doesn’t get emotionally attached. He’s undercover. Caring about someone can really mess with your psyche and cause you to make some really bad decisions that could jeopardize not only your life, but the success of the mission.”

Fully alert, Audrey’s heart beat erratically in her chest.
Attached.
Caring.
Did these words really describe Ale? His brief talk with Angel proved he was capable of intimate sentiment. “Are you saying he’s emotionally compromised?”

Mel groaned. “Well, it’s difficult to say with him. He’s playing a role, for sure.”

For sure
.

“But, you’re with him every day so what do you think? You two were shot at earlier at Lana’s — I mean, Penny’s house, right? I know that must have been traumatic, but did anything else happen?”

Their first kiss.

“Um—”

“Oh, I think we’re here.”

Audrey peered out the window, a single-story brick building surrounded by an immaculate lawn and clusters of yellow, purple, and pink summer perennials coming into view. The building seemed small, and from what Audrey could gather after conducting an Internet search, the academy was quite prestigious and allowed only a tiny percentage of those who passed the entrance exam.

“Just wait a moment while I take a look around,” Mel said after pulling into a parking space reserved for visitors and turning off the ignition. She hopped out of the vehicle, shut the door, and proceeded to walk toward the main entrance. Audrey watched through the windshield, observing Mel taking her time, looking around the parking lot.

Mel jogged back to the car and opened the back seat passenger door. “Looks clear. Hey Angel, let’s get you out of that seat belt.” She unfastened the restraint and lifted him down from the SUV. Audrey followed, taking the boy’s hand. All three walked briskly into the school.

The school administrator expressed her condolences to Audrey before retrieving Angel’s records. “Angel is an excellent student,” she remarked. “High grades in reading and writing. It’s a joy to see such promise in one so young. I imagine he’ll be attending a school comparable to ours in…”

“Virginia,” Audrey supplied. Audrey cast a glance to her nephew, who sat quietly on a nearby bench, playing with a handheld game bought by the marshals. She didn’t know. Honestly, she hadn’t thought that far ahead. First they’d have to make it back, but of course she’d enroll him in a program best suited for his needs.

“Ms. Hughes was well-liked by many of the parents here at the school, and the staff as well. She participated heavily in after-school programs and was looking forward to assisting us with our end of the year fair. Each year, the students present one project they’d been working on the entire year in anything such as science, creative arts…”

Audrey nodded, too shocked to speak. Her sister — motherly. Who would have thought? Audrey certainly hadn’t, but here she was standing in her nephew’s school, learning more and more about the secret life her sister lived so far removed from the drugs and partying of her earlier years. A pang of jealousy struck Audrey. From what she gathered, Angel was, well, an angel and Penny, the perfect mother.
How am I ever going to measure up? Penny didn’t even like it when I tried to enforce our parents’ rules, and she was actually a parent!

“Ms. Hughes, you’ll need to sign this release paper.”

Taking the document from the administrator’s hand, Audrey signed the paperwork and in three minutes, she, Mel, and Angel were sitting in the SUV — not moving. “Something wrong?” she asked Mel.

“There’s a vehicle directly to our left. I didn’t notice it when we arrived. I’m not sure, but I think I can make out someone behind the tinted windows.”

Audrey tried not to let the apprehensiveness in Mel’s voice worry her. They were at a school. Someone was probably here for some sort of parent-teacher conference. The engine roared to life and Mel drove out of the lot. Audrey rotated her neck to look out the back window. A car was slowly following them to the main road. “Is that—”

Mel’s firm tone said everything. “Yes, it is.” Mel made a quick right turn and accelerated into traffic. “I’ll have to lose him before we can return to the safe house. In fact, I may just take you to another one, just in case.”