by Em Petrova
But no, Roades Knight had a power over Hernan unlike any other. He was father figure and big brother rolled into one, and after spending time with him, Hernan had straightened up, finished school and gotten a job.
That was before the hurricane, and now there were no jobs. At least not ones on the up and up.
She swallowed the aching lump in her throat at the idea of her little brother lording his power over the land, keeping people like Mr. Báez from even a glass of water to drink.
She stepped toward Angel. “Please tell me where to find him.”
“Can’t.” He twisted from her imploring gaze. “But there’s water here, and you can take what you need. If you can’t carry it all, take the cart and we’ll come by and get it.”
Dragging in a deep breath, she racked her brain for a way out of taking anything from Angel and his looters. But she’d been using him for a week now to supply her clinic and get medicines her patients wouldn’t have any other way.
She raised her chin a notch, meeting his dark eyes. “I need medicines too.”
He waved a hand at the table. “You’ll find them there. I said take what you need.”
At what cost?
She’d have to pay the price later. Right now, she didn’t have a choice—her hands were bound and it was either do this deal or let her people down.
Setting down her water jugs, she stepped up to the table, opened her cloth bag slung across her body and began filling it. Each item she took came with a steep price, and it wasn’t one she wanted to pay. It was for the greater good, though.
Once she had all she needed, she started for the water. Angel caught her arm, his presence intimidating even though she’d known him when he was half her size.
“We’ll come by and get that crate from you later.”
The crates of painkillers had been her only bargaining power. Given to her by the doctor she’d worked closely with in the clinic, who had also fled to the mainland. He’d left her with the crates, and she’d never realized that she sat on a goldmine.
Angel would sell the drugs on the black market and in return, she’d get medications for heart disease, blood pressure and other life-saving drugs for anyone who came to her for help.
What made her any different from Hernan? She was still engaged in illegal activity.
She pulled away from Angel’s grasp and walked stiffly into the next room. Hundreds of water jugs sat there and so did the cart he’d mentioned, a two-handled wooden box on wheels. She could easily take a dozen jugs if she could move the heavy weight.
And she would do her best.
Damn you, Hernan. The minute she set eyes on her little brother, she’d give him a piece of her mind right before she slapped him silly.
Chapter Two
Roades walked into the garage with two fishing rods and a tacklebox, heading for the corner where his mother insisted they all keep their sporting goods. Leaning against the wall were more than a dozen rod-and-reel combos as well as a dinky pole from when Chaz decided to head north one winter and do some ice fishin’. Needless to say, it hadn’t been touched in a while.
After setting everything in the corner, he turned to go inside and there sat the weight set one of his brothers had received as a Christmas present one year. As a Marine, he kept fit doing hundreds of pushups per night but he hadn’t lifted in a while. Maybe he would after grabbing a drink.
When he stepped inside the mudroom, he found a rifle leaned in the corner. “Hey, Maman, is Chaz going to the range to shoot?”
His mother’s head popped around the refrigerator door. “How would I know? You boys have been leaving your weapons in my kitchen for so many years that I don’t even notice them anymore.”
He chuckled and came forward to take the head of lettuce from her hand. “You told us off about it more times than I can count.”
“Yeah, gave that up too. Don’t care to waste my breath. Here, take this too.” She passed him a small bag of tomatoes.
“Salad for dinner tonight?” He dropped an impromptu kiss to her cheek.
Her eyes widened with surprise but she nodded. “What was that for?”
“Just felt like it. Can’t a son show his maman he appreciates her?”
“You only appreciate me so much because you’ve been hanging around the house eating for weeks.” She closed the fridge door, a pepper and a cucumber in hand.
Yeah, he was bored as fuck too. Since being put on probation, he’d fished out every body of water in the area. He’d spent hours at the gun range. And he’d tried warming a barstool but that had gotten annoying fast.
“What’s for dinner besides salad?” he asked.
“Chicken and baked potatoes. I still have to run to the market for chicken, though.”
“I’ll drive you. Are you ready to go now?”
She eyed him but finally nodded. “Give me a minute to tidy myself.” She went into the bathroom and Roades leaned against the counter, tapping his boot on the hardwood floor. The house was silent—where was his sister? His only brother who wasn’t married was Chaz and he was on a mission.
Where? Roades could only imagine the fun the Knight Ops team was having without him.
“Ready.” His mother breezed past him to the door. In the driveway, he pointed to his bike. “Want to ride the Ninja?”
“No, I do not want to ride the Ninja!” She flushed as she realized how that sounded, and Roades laughed. She was used to her boys’ foul senses of humor and fouler mouths, but they could still get her blushing sometimes. Their youngest sister Lexi was the easier target, though.
He held the door of his beat-up truck for her. She looked in at the Coke cans on the floor.
“Sorry.” He gathered the cans and tossed them into the bin in the garage before getting behind the wheel. The drive was short, and his mind was with his team. Then he realized his mother was talking about his other sister.
Glancing over, he said, “You heard from Tyleri?” Lexi’s twin hated having a boy’s name, so he and his brothers had stuck an I on the end to appease her. Which only ticked her off more.
“Yes, she’s got leave at the end of the month and we’ll have a big dinner. If your brothers are home, that is.”
Ouch. That stung to think that he’d be here and not his brothers. Off being heroes without him.
The grocery store didn’t remotely lift his spirits but he pushed the cart for his maman as she shopped.
“Roades.”
Her serious tone had him looking at her. “What is it?”
“You like this?”
“Like what?”
“Grocery shopping with your maman.”
“Yeah, it’s great.” He reached out to a shelf and plucked off a random box, holding it up.
She eyed the tampons in his hand. “You sure about that?”
He grunted and put the tampons back. They continued to stroll and he pushed the cart with the squeaky wheel.
“I don’t think you’re enjoying yourself one bit,” she went on.
“It’s a vacation. I’ve been hard at it since I joined up at eighteen.”
She placed some grits in the cart and continued down the aisle. “You won’t convince me this is how you want to spend your time. Playing chauffeur to me and fishin’ or shootin’.”
“Well, I was going to lift some weights later,” he began.
She pierced him in her stare and he stopped moving, feeling ten again. When Maman gave them that look, they knew they’d better zip their traps and open their ears.
“You’re not happy, Roades, and you’ve got two more months of probation. Maybe it’s time to find something to do that isn’t focused on yourself.”
He recoiled. “I’m helping around the house as much as I can. There isn’t much to do.”
She gave a shake of her head, which set the bun on her nape wobbling. “That isn’t what I mean, son.”
“What do you think I should be doing instead?”
When she looked at him, her expr
ession softened. “You’re smart—you’ll find something.”
After carrying her bags to the truck and stowing them in the back, he drove home in silence. His mind focused on what she’d said but damn if he could think of anything worth filling his time with. Charities weren’t him. He was more of a save-the-day type, and those jobs were scarce on the ground.
* * * * *
Carissa raked her fingers through her freshly-washed hair. It felt good to be clean and have enough to drink, but the price of the water turned her stomach. To discover it was her own brother hoarding the supply…
She heard the key in the lock and looked up as her cousin Mari entered the small house they shared. After her parents’ car accident when she was studying nursing, she’d had to work full-time to keep the house just to give her brother a home. Mari, being five years older, was able to move in and help. They’d saved the house but not her brother, it seemed.
If only Roades had remained in her life. Even at the young age of seventeen, he’d been the strong male authority figure that their father hadn’t had the heart to be.
“You look moody, as usual,” Mari said, setting down her purse.
Carissa stifled a groan. Her cousin regularly told her to lighten up, but the weight hadn’t lifted from Carissa in far too many years. Her life felt like a series of responsibilities, and at times the weight grew too heavy to bear. Sometimes, she wished she could just sit and stare at the ocean and let her mind go blank.
She dropped her head against the couch cushion and stared at the ceiling instead. There was a water spot where the roof had leaked after the hurricane. Another responsibility.
She tore her gaze away and fixed it on her cousin. “Have you seen Hernan lately?”
Mari arched a brow and drifted to the couch. She sank next to Carissa and pulled the elastic band from her hair, letting the brown locks drift to her shoulders.
“I don’t like the way you asked that, Carissa. What’s going on with Hernan?”
A lump of anger and disappointment lodged in her throat. “He’s the reason nobody has water.”
“What?”
“Yes, he’s cut off the supply and you can only get it for a price. It’s… It’s horrible!”
“But he gave us some water?” Mari looked over Carissa’s wet hair.
“No, I used the rainwater from the barrel,” she muttered. No way would she wash her hair with something so dear as the fresh water.
The concern didn’t leave Mari’s face. “You’re certain Hernan is responsible?”
Mari didn’t know of the agreement between her and Angel. If she did, she would not keep her disapproval to herself. She’d always believed Hernan’s friend was trouble—and she was right.
Carissa nodded. “I’m sure of it. The pequeno mierda needs put in his place. Who can do that, though? Not you or me.”
Her cousin didn’t even blink at her calling her brother a little shit. “The police?”
Her little brother had been in trouble with the law before, and Roades had come into her life at that time and set him straight. The idea of giving up her brother to the police burned. There had to be another way.
Yeah, Roades.
No. The man had been out of her life for five years. At one time, he would have done anything for her, gone to any lengths to make her happy. She’d met him in New Orleans while visiting a relative, and he’d swept her off her girlish feet. After spending a month falling in love with him, her time in Louisiana was up, and she returned to Puerto Rico.
That was when he showed up at her door bearing a ring with a proposal on his lips. With so much love pouring out of her, she’d jumped into his arms and said yes. Her parents had welcomed him to the family and he’d stayed with them while her mother and aunts planned their wedding ceremony.
But on the morning she was to wed Roades, she woke to a thundering knock on their door. Her father had handled Mr. Knight in his calm, passive way, agreeing they were very young to marry. The words had sliced through Carissa, and Roades had thrown her a serious look before going outside with his father.
After agonizing minutes, Roades had come back inside and taken Carissa by the hand. She hardly remembered the words he’d spoken—just the meaning.
He was breaking it off. Leaving her. He promised to call and write but in the end, he’d done neither. Over the course of months and years, she’d realized he was gone from her life. And to allow his family to split their bond… Well, he must not have really loved her in the first place.
Now she looked at the whole situation as a blessing. They’d both been too young to know what they wanted out of life let alone a marriage. It would have only ended badly.
But Roades was still often on her mind, especially today since learning what Hernan was doing.
“Well, what else can we do?” Mari was asking.
She shook her head, that weight of helplessness—hopelessness—settling over her once more. “I’ll think of something.” She turned a smile she didn’t feel on her cousin. “I left you enough rainwater to wash your hair too. Let’s hope it rains this week.”
Her cousin returned her smile and smacked at Carissa. “Of course it’s going to rain this week. How long have you lived here, Carissa?”
If she’d married Roades, she probably would have moved to Louisiana with him. By now—
She cut off the thought. Roades wasn’t for her anymore—that ship had long sailed. But if he could stop Hernan from the crime he was committing…
She waited until Mari was in the bathroom and she heard water sloshing into the sink. Then she grabbed her cell phone.
Service on the island was spotty since the hurricane. She didn’t even know if she could get a call out to Roades or if she had the right number for him anymore.
But thinking of all those poor people standing in line waiting for water they’d never receive gave her no choice.
With shaking hands, she dialed Roades.
The number was emblazoned on her brain, and she’d sooner forget her own birthday than how to reach him. It rang once, twice.
Heart thumping, she waited, wondering who would answer. Would it be one of his sisters? She liked them both, each as sassy and full of mischief as the other. Of course, they’d been young teens then. Now they were grown women.
“Knights.” The harsh answer about gave Carissa a heart attack. She slapped her hand over her chest.
“R-Roades?”
“Who’s this?”
The line crackled.
“You’re cutting out. Is this… Is this Carissa?”
Emotion she shouldn’t still feel slammed her. She felt herself nod but no words emerged.
Then the line went dead.
She whipped up the phone to call back. Desperation hit, and it had nothing to do with Hernan—it was her bone-deep need to hear Roades’ voice again.
She couldn’t get out the second call or the third. She tried again half an hour later, but it was the same.
She had no way of reaching him.
Going outside in the dark wasn’t always safe, according to Mari, but she didn’t care right now. The house felt claustrophobic and she couldn’t even draw a full breath. It didn’t help that her mind was thick with memories of Roades here on the island with her.
The front stoop was only big enough for one person to sit. She sank to the cracked concrete and looked out across the neighbors’ back yards. But she didn’t see grass or even weeds—she saw her own wedding bouquet. Her dress, a long confection of light silk with beading outlining the bodice. When she’d tried it on, she’d only thought of how Roades wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off her.
She pushed out a sigh. They’d been young and stupid. It was probably for the better that she hadn’t reached him by phone because she couldn’t face the disappointment of rejection. When he told her he couldn’t just fly to Puerto Rico and give her brother hell, she would feel the same stone in her stomach she’d felt on the day Roades’ father had shown up at th
eir door.
A figure came through the darkness, and she leaped to her feet. “Who’s there?”
“Just me, Carissa. Juanita.”
“Oh dear. Is your heart troubling you again?” She rushed off the step, her bare feet on the cool grass as she crossed to the woman who wore a head wrap and a housedress. She grasped the woman’s elbow and led her around the back of the house to the small shed that was her clinic.
She turned on the battery-powered light and the space lit with a faint glow. It was enough for Carissa to note her neighbor’s paleness, though.
She sat her down and checked her pulse. Rapid and faint, just as she expected.
Concern creased her face as she looked into Juanita’s eyes. “Juanita, are you sure you won’t go to your daughter in Florida? You need a cardiologist.”
She waved a hand. “That life is too fast for an old woman like me. Don’t you have any more of those pills you gave me last time? They fixed me up for a spell.”
Looking at the locked case where she kept everything from anti-diarrheal pills to the digoxin Juanita spoke of, Carissa wondered for the millionth time how terrible she’d feel if her care backfired. She was not, after all, a doctor. Her training brushed the mere surface of medicine.
But what choice did she have? If she didn’t treat Juanita and she died, she’d never forgive herself.
She patted the woman’s bony shoulder. “I will give you the pill tonight, Juanita. But I want you to give serious thought to at least visiting your daughter and seeing a cardiologist. What I’m giving you might make you feel better for now, but we both know there’s more going on in here.” She tapped a forefinger to Juanita’s chest.
The older woman sighed. “I’ll think on it. You care too much, you know that, don’t you? Your mami would be proud to see you now.”
Yes, her grandmother would have been very proud, had she lived to see Carissa become educated. And her mother as well, had her life not ended abruptly in the car accident. At least her parents were together. What did Carissa have?
Now she was just feeling sorry for herself, when it was Juanita she should be thinking of.
She gave her some clean water and one of the pills. As the woman swallowed both, Carissa urged her to lie down for a while and she’d monitor her for the night. She got her a lightweight blanket and settled her onto the cot. Then Carissa sat next to her, watching her breathe.
