****
“It happened so fast.” Flores moaned from her hospital bed. She suffered a slight concussion from a fall she took during the attack. “Something came through the window and the door busted open and I saw your partner fire her gun. Aye, it was so loud! Like firecrackers or something, no?” She put both hands to her ears for dramatic effect. “Then your partner got hit and she landed on the floor, hard. Diego tried to help and he struggled with the guy.” Her eyes began to fill with tears again for the fourth or fifth time since Rafa had entered the room not fifteen minutes earlier. Clearly the woman was distraught, and the thought of her brother must have played heavily on her mind. “I tried to help, too! I jumped on the man, but then I fell and my head started throbbing.” She closed her eyes and put a hand over them.
“It’s okay, Flores. Don’t tire yourself out. Take your time.” Rafa frowned as he watched the young woman take a few deep breaths, her chest shaking from the sobs she kept bottled up.
Rafa remembered how she’d cried out for her brother before being put in the ambulance for transport to the hospital. Diego had disappeared, along with the two assailants. A few of the local uniforms began a search of the neighborhood, and Rafa gave a description of the black sedan he saw earlier, but without definitive details on either the men or the car, finding them would be next to impossible.
Rafa gently eased Flores’ hand away from her eyes so he could see them. “Can you remember anything after you were knocked to the ground?”
Flores whimpered and sniffed. She shook her head. “I don’t know! How many times do I have to tell you?”
“Flores!” He laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Tranquila. Flores, please calm down. We’ll find your brother. I promise.”
“You promise?”
Rafa sighed at the look of hope in her eyes. In times like these, he wished he didn’t feel the weight of his past indiscretions. But the more he could do to help someone in need, the more God could forgive him, and perhaps he could forgive himself. “You have my word.” He prayed he could keep it.
Tonight, two killers literally took two police detectives by surprise. Lieutenant Winters arrived at the hospital in time to see Genie being admitted for her injuries. The look on Winters’ face had made Rafa wince. He could understand Winters’ reaction. All he thought about as he struggled with his attacker was her safety. If those gunshots were aimed at her, if she were dying only feet from him… Dread had filled him and surged him to fight as hard as he could to get to her. But Flores said Diego had fought the second intruder. Had he been injured? Had he caused injury to Genie’s attacker? Hospitals and clinics in the local area had received pictures of both Huera and Montenegro. If either of them had checked in, the police would be the first to hear of it.
Regardless of their attackers’ injuries, with an officer wounded, a possible witness missing, and two killers still on the loose, Rafa knew he and Genie were in hot water. Winters would expect a full report later on that night with the official browbeating to begin first thing in the a.m. I wouldn’t be surprised if Winters was on the phone with my boss right now.
“How is your partner? What’s her name?”
Genie. “Detective Green.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right. How is she? She got slammed into the wall pretty hard. I don’t know how she was able to walk into the hospital.”
“She’s tough.”
Flores nodded. “A beast.”
Rafa bit back a grin. He wouldn’t exactly describe her as an animal, but on some days the characterization was definitely close, but he’d never tell her. “She’ll be fine. Just got the wind knocked out of her. In fact, I should go check in on her so we can discuss how we’re going to get your brother out of this.”
“That would be nice.”
He grinned at her sarcasm and patted her arm. “You get some rest and we’ll keep in touch. There’s a guard outside your door. Yell if you need anything.”
Flores nodded and yawned. She settled back into crisp white pillows and closed her eyes. Rafa studied her face. Although her breathing settled, lines of worry still creased her forehead and her lips were pulled tight. She wasn’t at peace; with her brother gone and Huera and Montenegro still on the loose, none of them could rest.
Rafael (The Santiago Brothers Book One) Page 25
