Alejandro (The Santiago Brothers Book Two)
Page 17
It wasn’t as if she were familiar with the sound of gunfire, but when her call to the agent outside went unanswered, she grabbed her nephew at the same time she heard jiggling at the metal door. “We have to play hide and seek now,” she had whispered in Angel’s ear. “But we have to be very, very quiet.”
“Who are we hiding from?”
“Bad men.”
She hadn’t heard a peep out of Angel and that was five minutes ago. His hot breath rapidly fanned her fingers beneath his nose. “Don’t be scared,” she whispered. Angel nodded.
The metal door was the last thing they heard — three minutes ago. Audrey licked her dry lips. Ale, hurry. God, please send him to us! In her haste to move Angel to the hiding place, they’d left the living room and ran immediately to Ale’s bedroom. She couldn’t call or text with her phone on the kitchen counter. No time to backtrack to the kitchen.
The creak of floorboards stopped her heart. The person was inside the room. Audrey strained to hear the muffled voice and nearly cried out.
Two people!
In the distance, the metal door ground in its track. It was Ale. She couldn’t accept any other reality. Audrey’s heart responded by hammering in its ribcage. The voices fell silent.
Oh, no, no, no. Please, God, keep him safe! She bit her lip to stop a cry from revealing their location. She couldn’t help him, but Ale wasn’t alone. Squeezing her nephew tighter, she lauded prayers to Heaven.
Two loud pops and Angel moaned beneath her hand. Ominous boot steps vibrated the floor underneath her bottom and stopped just beyond the door. The gunman was in the closet and in a second, the door providing their only cover was wrenched open. Light streamed in along with the muzzle of a gun. Angel wiggled furiously in her arms, his moans increasing.
“Vamos!”
A hand reached in and caught hold of Audrey’s arm. She cried out and shoved Angel to the back of the cubbyhole. “I’ll come, I’ll come, just leave him alone,” she pleaded with her captor, unsure if he actually understood. Pulled from the hole and shoved against the back wall of the closet, Audrey kept her eyes on the gun pointing at her as the man grabbed Angel and pulled him out by the leg.
Screaming, Angel’s small hands latched onto the edge of the open hole and he held on with all his might. The gunman muttered something unintelligible, but Audrey guessed it was vile, and the gun wavered as he struggled to yank Angel free.
I can do this.
Angling to the opposite side of the gun and moving forward, Audrey caught the man’s arm and shoved it high in the air. A shot rang out, causing her to flinch as her eardrums hummed in pain, but she held fast to the man as his other hand grabbed one of her arms. “Run, Angel!”
His little legs scampered away.
Forced into the wall again, Audrey gasped as the pain in her shoulder blades wrenched the breath from her lungs.
“Marshal!”
Why was Angel’s voice still so near? “Run, Angel!” she called out before a fist slammed into her jaw, causing her to see stars. Her fingers loosened on his arm, but something wasn’t right. The man was stepping away. Putting her hands to the wall to stop herself from slumping to the floor, she ignored her weak knees and forced her eyes to come into focus.
The intruder wasn’t stepping away. He was grappled by Ale and jerked back. The man tried to take a swing at Ale, who deftly ducked and landed a solid blow to the stomach before kneeing the man’s face. Head snapping back, the invader fell on his back, knocking his head on the floor. Ale aimed his weapon at the unmoving body. After a few seconds, he holstered his weapon and with one arm, flipped the unconscious man onto his stomach and cuffed him.
“Alejandro,” she called to him weakly.
“Auntie Audrey!” Angel came rushing into the closet, just as Audrey had the strength to propel herself forward. The boy wrapped his arms tightly around her right leg, halting her progress toward their rescuer. Ale covered the remaining distance between them, a single arm wrapping around her and Angel.
“You okay?” he asked into her hair, his lips finding her cheek in a sweet, lingering kiss.
“Yes!” she forced out, overwhelmed by emotion. Her eyes found the body of the second intruder near the entrance to the room. Thank you, God! They survived and it was over — it was all over.
Why do my fingers feel wet? Audrey pulled back to look at her right hand and her breath caught. Blood! “Ale? Ale, your arm… you’re hurt!”
He cupped the side of her face with the hand of his opposite arm. “I was shot, no big deal.”
“No big deal?” she shouted.
“You were shot, Marshal?” Angel released Audrey’s leg and peered up at Ale’s bloody arm. “Cool! Does it hurt?”
Before answering, Ale pulled Audrey close, his lips taking hers swiftly. “Not anymore,” he whispered, his warm eyes locked with hers.
“Whoa… blood.”
Ale chuckled and knelt until his eyes were level with Angel’s. He ruffled the boy’s hair before scooping him into a one-armed bear hug. “Yes, that’s blood and no, it’s not cool.” His attempt to be firm was negated by his laughter at Angel’s disbelieving scowl.
“What do we do now?” Angel asked.
“Now?” Ale returned his gaze to Audrey, his slow half grin causing goose bumps to mark her flesh. “Now, we get you to your new home.”
Chapter Twelve
“THE only one missing is Ricardo.”
Rafa was right — it’d been too long since they’d seen their baby brother. Homecoming had been better for Ale than he’d ever allowed himself to dream before. His mother welcomed him with open arms, and ever since he eyed his younger brother, Rafael, Ale knew the truth behind the words “there’s no place like home.”
Audrey and Genie sat on the opposite couch, chatting about something girly while Angel played with an old train set Ale hadn’t seen in years. Thanks to Rafa’s connections with the US Marshals in Virginia, Ale was able to get an assignment change approved, and in a few months, after he had completed his investigative work for Trujillo and Alba’s trial, he settled in Virginia to be near the woman he planned to marry. Ale’s gaze strayed to Audrey’s empty left hand. I got to get her a ring.
“Need anything, hijos?”
“No, mamá,” Rafa responded for the both of them.
Ale smiled at his mother, who looked no different in the years he’d been away, except perhaps the tiny crow’s feet in the corners of her amber eyes. She eased her plump form into an overstuffed chair and called to her future grandson.
Grandson.
They hadn’t discussed it, but Ale planned to adopt Angel — if Audrey allowed it. It was the least he could do after making the boy an orphan. He’d drawn his mother back into a world she’d escaped for her son’s sake, and Carlos… Audrey insisted that the man’s death shouldn’t weigh on Ale’s conscience — after all, Carlos had chosen that life, she’d said. True, but he’d argued if he hadn’t convinced Carlos to turn against Alba, Trujillo might not have found the two of them together discussing Carlos’s change of heart toward Alba. From what their investigation had uncovered, Trujillo had had Ale followed since shortly after his first meeting with Carlos in Trujillo’s office. Ale couldn’t recall when he’d run such a sloppy investigation. He was looking forward to joining the fugitive recovery team. He’d heard of US Marshal Brandon Worth’s reputation, and felt he could match the man’s fugitive capture record.
“You think you’ll like it here back home?”
Punching his brother in the arm for his taunt, Ale settled back into the couch, sighing at the thought of a real home with a wife and child. “Aud, can you help me with something in the kitchen?”
“Whatever you need, I’ll get it.”
His mother started to rise, but Ale laid a restraining hand on her shoulder. “No, mamá. We’ll be fine.” A faint blush colored Audrey’s cheeks and she stood, keeping her eyes downcast as she hurried past him, clearly embarrassed. Before following, he turned to
Rafa. “I think I’m going to love it.”
Rafa grinned, and then motioned for Genie to join him on the couch. As she nestled next to her fiancé, the thought of Audrey in his arms had Ale’s feet hurrying to the kitchen.
“Well, you’re one to make a girl wait.”
Ale narrowed his gaze on a woman with bright blue eyes and chocolate-colored hair that hung straight past her shoulders. Her stance of mock disapproval — arms crossed over her chest, toe tapping — only fueled the heat stirring in his blood. In two strides he had her in his arms, muffling her giggles with a slow kiss demanding her surrender, which she gladly did by pressing as close as he would allow. A single look from her tempted him like no other woman ever had, but he’d hold out for marriage — for her sake.
Ending the kiss, he angled back until her heart-shaped face filled his view. “Mujer… te amo. Sabes?” Her gaze drifted to the ceiling as she mouthed the words. Teaching her Spanish was going to be a long, long process. Instead of waiting for her to translate, he set a tender kiss on her lips. “Now do you understand?”
Reddening, she smiled and leaned in.
The End.
About the Author
From childhood, K. Victoria Chase enjoyed writing stories and plays and reading Christian romance. She received degrees in Criminal Justice and Diplomacy and worked as a federal law enforcement officer for several years before deciding to try her hand at writing a complete novel. Today, K. Victoria Chase is an Amazon bestselling author both in the US and the UK. She writes both clean and Christian interracial romance.
Visit K. Victoria Chase at http://www.kvictoriachase.com
Contents
Title page
Additional Titles by the Author
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
About the Author