“You didn’t find it odd that Mr. Arrays wasn’t home?”
“No. From what I understand, he’s powerful and successful. That equates to busy, right? It wasn’t odd for him to not be home.”
“How many times had you been there?”
Sinclair shrugged. “A couple before that night. I never got out of the car, though. I was just there to pick him up.”
Niall pulled into the parking lot of a small Cuban restaurant and got out. He waited for Sinclair to get out as well and follow him inside. The place was crammed and colorful, with a cracked linoleum floor. The smell made Niall’s mouth water.
“I hope you like Cuban cuisine.”
“It’s one of my favorites actually.”
They walked to the counter and scanned the overhead menu. A bored young woman with a black ponytail watched them while popping the gum in her mouth.
“Picadillo over rice and a coke.”
The woman looked to Sinclair.
“Side of plantains and an empanada.” Sinclair requested quietly.
“Coke?”
“Do you have Sprite?”
“Sure.” The bored girl said and meandered to the kitchen, where they could hear her giving the order in rapid Spanish. She came back and motioned towards an empty table with her head. “Go sit.”
The room had maybe a dozen small tables with two chairs each. Niall was happy there was only one other couple there, and they were elderly at that. The same girl brought two plastic glasses filled with ice and the respective cans of drink. She laid straws on the table with two rolled sets of plastic ware.
Niall watched Sinclair and wondered if her lack of eye contact was a usual thing or something just reserved for strangers. She seemed to be defeated and a little broken.
“Why did you do it?”
“What?”
“Take the rap?”
“Because I was stupid.”
Niall was mesmerized with her eyes. They were a bottle green, deeply set and wide apart. The edges tilted upward slightly accentuated by her heavily applied liquid eyeliner. The makeup reminded him of a mask.
“Do you wear contacts?”
Sinclair looked confused just before her brow furrowed. “Contacts?”
“Your eyes…they’re very bright.”
A slow frown tugged the edges of her lips downward. “No, I don’t wear contacts.”
Niall nodded, the trance he was being sucked into diminishing slightly. It was his turn to look away.
“So why did you really?”
Sinclair sighed. “I thought I could help him, and I was a little flustered at the time. I mean the alarm was blaring, and he just took off on foot without so much as a goodbye, kiss my ass, or anything!” Her face contorted in anger. “But, when the cops showed up and handcuffed me…I don’t know…I just thought there could be a chance to sort it all out.”
Niall stared at her without speaking. The food arrived and he suddenly was ravenous. Maybe it was more that he didn’t know what to say and the food could be a good excuse to not say anything.
Sinclair was still picking at her food delicately when Niall shoveled the last forkful in. She had barely eaten anything.
“What’s wrong? You don’t like it?”
“I do. I just don’t have much of an appetite right now.”
“I’ll get you a box or something then.”
Niall paid for the food and left a reluctant dollar in the tip jar. When he turned back to the table, Sinclair was gone. He let out a curse, drawing a disapproving stare from the elderly couple and ran out of the restaurant. He looked both ways up and down the sidewalk before turning back to see Sinclair staring at him strangely while standing by the table.
Niall took a deep breath and attempted a casual stride back in. The gum popping girl finally showed some emotion; she was grinning as she held the Styrofoam box out to him. Pop Pop went the gum and she giggled.
“You honestly thought I had left?”
Niall didn’t answer, instead he concentrated on putting her uneaten food in the empty container.
Sinclair blew air threw her nose. “Have you looked at me? How fast and how far could I have ran?”
“Where were you?”
“Uh…the bathroom?”
“Oh.” Niall felt like a fool, but at the same he didn’t. He had been a bounty hunter for the past nine years. He knew the tricks. All the tricks.
Niall drove to his apartment in silence. Sinclair kept her head turned to the passenger window. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft and weary.
“I need to go to my apartment and get a few things if I’m going to need to stay with you.”
“Where is it?” Niall bit down on the irritation. She could have told him before they left the restaurant.
“Village Crossing.”
“Oh ok. That’s fairly close to me.”
“Where are you at?”
“Pine Ridge.”
Sinclair simply nodded and resumed her inspection out the passenger window. She had no idea how she would explain all of this to Tina.
Tina stared up at Niall nervously pushing her glasses back up her nose even if they weren’t slipping. She opened and closed her mouth enough times that Niall grew weary of it.
“What?”
Tina shrugged and looked away. “Nothing. I mean…I just know Sinclair has never mentioned you to me…and I’m her best friend. You certainly haven’t ever been here.”
“That’s right I haven’t ever been here. And why would she mention me since she just met me tonight.”
Tina’s face fell, and her eyes belied the trap she had been trying to set.
Niall took an intimidating step towards her. “See, if she were your best friend, you wouldn’t have any reason to think she was lying, right? And this crap would be one outlandish story if it were a lie.”
Tina let her arms drop defeated. “Truth is stranger than fiction?”
“You’ve got that right.”
Sinclair came back in the room, an overnight bag in her left hand and a purse in her right. Niall thought she looked cute in denim capris with little white tennis shoes on her feet, the edge of baby pink socks barely visible above the edge of the shoes. Her pink sleeveless blouse was unbuttoned just far enough to give him a teasing glance of cleavage. He was glad to see that she wasn’t the type of woman to use breasts her size to her advantage. He shuddered at the thought of a previous human bounty who had to have been a triple D or larger, and she had practically tried to smother him with her breasts, handcuffed behind the back and all.
“Ready?” Sinclair asked, her voice thin.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Tina grabbed onto Sinclair. “Please be safe.” She whispered.
“I will, kid. Just make sure if my mother calls that you tell her I’m fine and I’ll call her as soon as I can. If I call you, it will be on your cell.”
“There won’t be any calls.” Niall said sternly from the door.
“Why not?” Sinclair placed a hand on one hip. “Just because I have to do this, doesn’t make me your prisoner!”
“No, but we play by my rules.” He stepped towards her, causing Tina and Sinclair to step back together. “Do you realize what type of man Enrique Arrays is?”
Sinclair’s eyes darted across his face. “A dangerous one?”
“More dangerous than you can imagine.”
Sinclair silently picked up her bag and followed him through the door. She heard Tina sniff as the door shut quietly behind them.
Niall’s apartment was not what Sinclair expected. She really didn’t know what she had expected to begin with, but it wasn’t the rustic looking apartment that she walked into. He had a tapestry which looked like it was made from quilt pieces hanging on the wall behind the high table with two bar stool style chairs. The tapestry was in four parts: the first of a mother black bear with two cubs, the second was an eagle in flight, the third a buck and his doe in the shaded sanctuary of the forest,
and the final piece was of snow caped mountains looking over a stream and a white covered field. The table was a deep mahogany.
The furniture reminded Sinclair of the décor of a cabin high in the mountains. All the colors were earth toned and soothing.
“I take it you like cabins?” She said as her eyes swept over two framed black and white photos of mountain scenes.
“I do.”
“Mountains too?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you here?”
Niall looked at her levelly. “Why are you? Your accent isn’t Floridian.”
Sinclair laughed in spite of herself. “Florida doesn’t have just one accent.”
“Right, and you don’t sound like any of them.”
It was Sinclair’s turn to lay a level look. “I’m originally from South Carolina.”
“What part?”
“Aiken.”
“Cute town.”
Sinclair nodded and tried to discern how many bedrooms were there. The kitchen was open to the living room and the tiny hallway ended in the one bedroom. A bathroom door was open and what she assumed was a closet was directly across from it.
“Where am I supposed to sleep?”
“You can have my room. I’ll take the couch.”
Sinclair studied his face. Niall had a problem with facial expression. The problem was he lacked expression. If he were a woman, Sinclair would have to say that he had resting bitch face. She supposed it helped him in his line of work. He wouldn’t want his thoughts spoken by a raise of the eyebrow or a sly smile, but his still blank face gave her the creeps.
“I don’t understand why I have to stay with you.”
“It’s Enrique’s guarantee that you won’t run.”
“I haven’t run yet, why would I now?”
Niall shrugged. “He’s a cautious man. And you were a no show at court.”
Sinclair took her bag to his room and sat on the bed, resting her bag on her knees. His room was shadowed, but she could tell that besides the bed and chest of drawers, the only other furniture was a bedside table. It looked like more earth tones.
Niall’s form blocked the light as he leaned against the door frame. It made him faceless, leaving Sinclair feeling menaced.
“We need to start this tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes, so freshen up, change clothes, or whatever. Who knows, maybe by morning Joseph Overman will be in custody, and you can get your life back.”
“Then let’s go.” She said angrily, rising from the bed.
Joseph’s last known address was well known to Sinclair, and probably Enrique as well. She really didn’t know why they were bothering with a dead end, but a starting point was a starting point. His roommates would be less than hospitable, she was sure. They barely tolerated her presence when she had stayed over.
“So, where are we going?” Niall waited with the engine idling softly.
“West Palm Beach 83rd Lane North. It’s Nottingham Apartments unit 41.”
“Not a great neighborhood.”
Sinclair licked her lips. “No, it’s not, but I’ve seen worse.”
“Here in Palm Beach?”
“No. I went to visit an aunt in Miami when I was thirteen.”
“Bad?” He glanced at her quickly, noting how she licked her lips again. It was sensual sight, as her tongue slid over her thick bottom lip before disappearing back into her mouth, but he knew it was a nervous gesture, and not one meant to arouse or tease.
“Yes, it was bad. My Aunt was not what my mother thought.”
“Why did she allow you to go if she didn’t know her very well? Was it your Mom’s sister?”
“No, my father’s.”
“Where was he?”
“He was supposed to be there visiting too, but he had other plans.”
“Like what?”
Sinclair whipped her head around, eyes narrowed. “Why are you so interested in my childhood?”
“Just making conversation. Sometimes a person’s childhood will indicate why they do stupid things as an adult.”
“Oh! So, you’re trying to see if I took the rap for Joseph because I crave love due to Daddy issues?”
Niall shrugged, sliding one hand to the top of the steering wheel.
“If the shoe fits…”
“The damn shoe doesn’t fit!” Sinclair barked and crossed her arms.
Good. Let her be angry. Anger can be an excellent motivator.
“For your information, my father loved me very much…he was just busy a lot.”
“Alright.” Niall’s voice didn’t belie any emotion, but it didn’t stop Sinclair from continuing.
“I guess you think that’s a grown child’s way of coping with the neglect?”
“I didn’t say that, Sinclair.”
“You might as well have!”
Niall tried to ignore the quick swipe she made of her cheek. She rubbed her palm along her thigh and sniffed lightly. He didn’t want to feel bad for this woman. He liked her spunk and her bravery, but he didn’t want to pity her. How could he hand her over to the police later if he liked and pitied her? It was painfully obvious that whatever went on in Miami hadn’t been good, and it was also obvious that her father hadn’t been in her life very much.
Niall was content to allow the entire conversation to drop, and was shocked when Sinclair’s voice cut a thin line through the vehicle.
“He was always on business trips. It wasn’t until I went to Miami that I figured out what kind of business trips he was always on.”
Niall sighed silently. He didn’t think he wanted to hear anything else about it.
“He was a hitman for the mob and that was it. Occasionally he would get pinched, and have to stay a little while in jail, but he always got out of it someway.”
Niall couldn’t help himself. “And your Aunt?”
Sinclair shrugged, and wiped at her face again. “An addict, who had the occasional pimp.”
“How long were you there?”
“Four days. Long enough to see my Aunt get high, and my father shoot a man.”
“Did your mother know?”
Sinclair shook her head. “My mother is a Bible beating Baptist. She wanted my father to be in my life, and she bought into the lies that he was a busy business man.”
“Did you ever tell her what happened?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“What purpose would it have served? She would have blamed herself, then made a telephone scene with my Aunt. Probably tried to have my father arrested. It just wouldn’t have been worth it.”
“Did you ever see him again?”
“No.”
They pulled into the parking lot of Nottingham Apartments, and Niall was struck by how plain the place looked. Two palm trees were the only landscaping, and the three buildings were simple tan stucco. It was slightly depressing.
Sinclair pointed to the building they needed to go in.
“It’s after midnight. I’m not sure this is a good idea.” Her attempt at persuasion sounded weak even to her ears.
“What is the living environment like? Is it hard working individuals who need to get up early?” The mocking in his voice was unmistakable.
Sinclair sniffed. “Joseph was the only hard working one while he worked for Enrique.”
“Then it won’t be a problem.”
Niall watched Sinclair climb the outer steps to the second floor, her back straight and head held high. He liked how she moved. She didn’t shuffle or close in on herself, her very presence exuded a confidence he knew she really didn’t have, but her effort was stunning. He shook his head lightly. What’s wrong with me? She smelled nice too. Her floral perfume mingled with something natural, that only one with heightened senses would be able to pick up on. If he named it he would say she smelled of cool clear nights.
Sinclair raised her hand to knock on the door of the apartment, her heart in her throat. What if he was
in there? What if he wasn’t? Music could be heard from inside. It was the usual fare for that household: punk.
Niall slid to the left hand side of the door, out of range for anyone peering through the peep hole. He stared at her steadily, nodding his head once.
Sinclair pounded on the door and stepped back. The music went silent and footsteps approached the door and stopped. She was sure she heard a quiet hiss and curse from the other side. Ricky opened the door as far as the inner chain would allow.
“What is it, Sinclair?”
Sinclair’s head went up a notch. “Is he here?”
“No, he hasn’t been here since that shit went down.” His shoulder length auburn hair was in dire need of a wash, and she could smell the acrid scent of marijuana wafting through the partially opened door. Someone whispered on the other side and Ricky’s eyes slid to the person quickly.
“I left a few items here…in Joseph’s room. May I get them?”
One corner of Niall’s mouth twitched. Smart.
“Nah, I don’t think that’s necessary.” He grinned and Sinclair was struck by how dirty his teeth were. She suppressed a shudder.
Niall pulled his badge from his front pocket. It wasn’t a real one, like a regular cop would have, but it seemed to make people move when he flashed it. He moved in front of Sinclair and pressed it toward the open space. He smiled as Ricky’s eyes grew large.
“Let the lady in.”
“Hey, you need a warrant to come in here!”
Niall stepped back and kicked the door. A piece of the broken chain hit Ricky in the forehead as he backed away.
“Hey, man! You can’t do that!”
Niall palmed his badge and returned it to his pocket. He swept his gaze over the little living room. One startled young man held a bong halfway to his lips, smoke drifted from the top in a mesmerizing cloud. Another man was already on the ground, face down, with his fingers laced over the back of his head.
“Either one of them him?”
“No.” Sinclair responded.
Niall pulled a snub nosed pistol from an ankle holster and handed it to Sinclair. He removed a more substantial handgun from his back waistband. Sinclair had no idea the weapons were on him.
He handed her the snub nose. “You know how to use this?”
BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) Page 19
