by Jane Henry
“Do I?” Diego’s reply was soft and flat—his most dangerous tone, whether Tomás recognized it or not.
“You do,” Tomás confirmed with a nod. “I mean, what if something should happen to you while you’re taking care of things? This is a dangerous business, Padre. You need backup.”
Diego’s gut clenched as he stared at Tomás, processing the thinly-veiled threat in the man’s words. So Tomás planned to make a play for the throne, huh? He wanted Diego out? Well, Tomás didn’t know it, but Diego would be out soon enough. But in the meantime, an idea took shape in Diego’s mind… a way to set a trap for the man he’d once considered a friend that would protect him from El Jefe and bring him to justice, all at once.
“Have it your way,” Diego agreed. “I’m happy to share information with you. I’ll text you all the details and anything new I learn.” He saw suspicion flare in Tomás’s eyes at this easy capitulation and almost chuckled. He’d taught Tomás well in some ways, at least. “But hear me, man: You follow my lead. You do nothing without my authorization.”
“Of course.” Tomás smiled, but it wasn’t friendly. “Padre.”
Diego nodded, glancing around the table once more. Was this the last time he’d sit at this table with these men? It had been a long while since he’d let himself consider what the end of his assignment might look like. Years had passed and blood had been shed since then, but even back in the day, he’d expected the end might be bittersweet. A couple of days ago, it had felt downright impossible. But then Nora had come back into his life, widening his perspective and destroying the thick wall he’d erected around his heart. Now, he was so eager to get back to his woman and make sure she was okay, he could barely keep his feet from tapping impatiently. Only force of habit held him in his seat.
He rose abruptly. “Hasta luego,” he said. And then he looked each man, even Tomás, in the eyes. It hit him suddenly that if he ever saw them again, it would likely be from the opposite side of a courtroom, if anyone ever got enough evidence to really bring El Jefe down. These men would no longer look upon him as their brother, their leader, a man they’d take a bullet for, and who would take a bullet for them. Instead, they’d know him for the traitor he was.
He sucked in a sharp breath as his own words from yesterday came back to him. Feel every second of that pain. This is the price of betrayal.
“Vaya con Dios,” he told them softly, then he turned around and walked away.
“My ETA is five minutes,” Diego told Slay, holding the phone at his ear as he maneuvered his car through the busy streets of downtown Boston, keeping an eye on his rearview mirror to make sure he wasn’t being tailed. “Traffic near the museum was crazy. And I took an extra minute to pull over and check the car for devices, too.” He could imagine what Nora would call that level of extreme caution: paranoia. But whatever. He’d be cautious enough for both of them. “Anything happening over there?”
Slay understood that Diego didn’t want the play-by-play, and he cut to the heart of Diego’s question. “Nora’s fine.”
Diego’s shoulders relaxed, though he hadn’t been aware of how tense he was. “Good. Business as usual?”
“Yeah,” Slay confirmed. “They’re going crazy getting this fundraiser shit sorted, plus Elena had a meeting with a city counselor this afternoon. Alice and Nora have been busy smiling and showing some bigwig donors around.” Disapproval and worry rang in his voice. “Despite the fact that my wife is carrying another ten-pound Slater male.”
“Another boy?” Diego asked. “Congrats, man. I thought you guys weren’t finding out until the big day.”
“We’re not officially,” Slay confirmed. “But this isn’t my first rodeo. Between Allie, Elena, and the other women, I think I’m qualified to write a book on this shit. This kid is kicking twice as much as the twins did together, keeping Allie up all night. It’s definitely another son, and he’s gonna keep his big brothers on their toes!”
Diego shook his head. Slay might be psychic about a lot of things, but Diego wasn’t so sure he’d put money on this particular prediction.
Slay continued, “Anyway, it’s not good for Alice to be on her feet so much at this stage of the game. I want her to cut back her hours once this fundraiser is done, and maybe the two of us will duck out entirely for a little vacation before the baby comes. I kinda guessed from your call this morning that I wouldn’t have a problem finding a man to take security shifts here, now that you have a vested interest in keeping this place as safe as possible. So can I write your name in the schedule?” he teased.
Damn it. Diego had specifically avoided giving Slay any information beyond the basics during their briefing call that morning. Nora may have gotten herself on El Jefe’s radar last night, and he was putting her in a safe house. Could Slay arrange for someone to collect some clothes from her place? Oh, and Nora’s car was parked off Border Street. Could Slay send someone to get it? Figured the nosy fucker had already worked out there was only once place Diego would consider Nora truly safe, and that was with Diego himself. But how had Slay realized that this was going to be permanent, that things between him and Nora had changed?
“Your woman’s been smiling like a loon all afternoon,” Slay said quietly, before Diego could even formulate the question. “Pretty much happier than I’ve ever seen her. Doesn’t take an investigator to piece the facts together, brother.”
Diego cleared his throat but otherwise said nothing, and Slay laughed harder. “Yup. Definitely putting your name down for Centered detail. Otherwise you’ll be harassing whichever guy I assign, and I’ll have people quitting left and right.”
Diego rolled his eyes. He would not harass his coworkers.
Much.
Whatever.
“Already have an assignment,” Diego told Slay. “Or did you forget?”
“Hard to forget,” Slay muttered. “Considering I attempted a conversation with Camila myself this morning and saw exactly what life in El Jefe’s realm has done to her. But after what the bastard told you on the phone today, that’s a moot point. I’m not risking you any further, Diego.” Slay took a deep breath and said, “It’s time to tie your shit up and get out.”
Diego pulled his car into the tiny private lot behind Centered. He killed the engine, and sat staring at the brick wall that ringed the enclosure. It was time to get out. His hand had been forced by the situation with Camila and El Jefe’s ultimatum. His failure to bring the organization down despite all the shit he’d had to do and the sacrifices he’d made over the years left a bitter taste in his mouth, but his future with Nora was more important
“I have a couple of loose ends to tie up, a couple things to talk to you about. But I’ve said my goodbyes.”
Slay grunted. “Glad to hear it.”
“You gonna let me in the building or what?” Diego demanded, pulling himself out of the car and locking it before making his way to the rear entrance of the building.
“On my way down now,” Slay said. A moment later the door opened and Slay stood in the doorway, sliding his phone in his pocket.
Diego put his own phone away and held up his hand for Slay to take. “S’up?”
“Listen, the fancy suits are still here,” Slay said, rolling his eyes. “It’s some walkthrough thing so they can get their donation fingers prepped to write lots of zeroes at the end of their checks on Saturday.” He led Diego down the basement hallway, past a few storage rooms and mechanical closets, to a narrow set of stairs.
“These stairs lead to the hallway in front of Nora’s office,” Slay continued. “Two floors up. When you open the stairway door, her office is the first one on the left. You’ll see her name on it. Probably for the best if we don’t have you skulking through the halls, at least not while we know El Jefe has eyes on this place. Once we make sure ‘Diego Santiago’ has disappeared for good, and El Jefe has stopped looking for you, it’ll be a different story.” He turned to look at Diego. “Thought about a new name?”
Diego shook his head. “Haven’t gone down that road yet,” he told Slay. “New name, new identity, all to hide from that fucking psychopath El Jefe because I couldn’t get the job done? It burns just a little.” He thought of the people who had shared his name—his mother, his brother. Yeah, it burned a fuck of a lot.
Slay nodded somberly and clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m not gonna get all touchy feely or whatever, but there’s a lot you’ll never be able to tell people about this assignment. I’m one of the few who’ll ever know the details. So, just to say, I appreciate what you’ve sacrificed for this.”
Diego felt his cheeks heat. “It’s my job.”
“Yeah,” Slay agreed, his light brown eyes on Diego’s. “It is. And it’s also not. So just fucking accept my gratitude. You’ve made us all safer by doing what you’ve done.”
Jaw tight, throat working, he remembered his first meeting with Slay all those years ago. It felt like a different time. Like he’d been a different person. Diego nodded and accepted Slay’s words.
Slay clapped him on the shoulder again. “I’ll ask one of the volunteers to find Nora and let her know her office is occupied,” he said, moving off towards another set of stairs further down the hall.
Diego opened the stairwell door and climbed the dimly-lit stairs to the second-floor landing, but before he could pull open the door and find Nora’s office, he heard voices coming down the hallway. Heeding Slay’s warning, he ducked into the shadowy corner of the stairwell, where he wouldn’t be seen from the window in the door. He rolled his eyes at himself. How many years had he spent undercover? And yet the first time he’d been forced to literally duck into a dark corner was the day he’d decided to step out into the light.
The voices paused just on the other side of the door, outside what must have been Nora’s office.
“I must say, I’m impressed, Nora.” The speaker was clearly a woman, her voice husky and cultured, with a hint of a Spanish accent. “You’ve done excellent work here. And your plans for the fundraiser are spectacular. Your talent and passion for helping these women are extraordinary.”
“Oh. Wow. Thank you so much, Diana,” Nora replied, and he could hear the self-conscious smile in her voice. Diana was the woman she’d mentioned before, the one who was her mentor and champion. Curiosity about the woman had his ears perking up. “I-I think we have everything well in hand. Flyers are printed, volunteers are in place, catering is locked down…”
“I knew you were more than capable of handling this,” Diana said. “Or I wouldn’t have asked you to take on something of this scope. Just think of how many lives you’ll change for the better on Saturday.” There was warm pride in her voice, like Nora was her own daughter, and Diego smiled.
“That’s what I’m most excited about, helping the women who…” Nora began. “Oh! Speaking of the women, I almost forgot! You remember the reporter who’s going to do a profile on the fundraiser, Gretchen Liu? She asked me to verify contact information with you for Paolina and Ruth Castronieves, as well as Petra Alexandrovich. None of them have answered her calls or emails.”
Diana hesitated. “I’m sorry. Who?”
“Paolina, Ruth, and Petra?” Nora paused expectantly, then explained further. “The women you got jobs for? Down in Miami?”
“Oh! Yes, yes, yes. Of course!! I’m getting old, mija,” Diana complained, and Nora giggled. “Names, dates, it’s all a jumble. I contact people for information, not the other way around.”
Diego blinked as a feeling of déjà vu washed over him. Where had he heard that before? Slay, maybe? Or…
“Okay, first, you’re not old,” Nora argued. “You’re gorgeous and brilliant.”
Diana laughed, low and rich. “Gorgeous and brilliant? Oh, mija, you’re good for my ego!”
“I’m serious! And the way you mentor other women—like Paolina and Ruth and Petra and me—is pretty darn inspirational,” Nora said staunchly. “It’s rare enough that a woman runs a business that has a presence in almost every major city on the east coast—Boston, New York, Philly, D.C., Atlanta, Miami. But you didn’t just amass a big pile of money, no! You turned around and figured out ways you could give back! You got involved personally. You looked at women who were vulnerable, who’d run out of options, and you relocated them and got them jobs.”
Nora’s voice was practically vibrating with emotion, but Diego’s blood had gone cold. He and Slay’s team had investigated practically every major businessman in the city of Boston who had the means to run the kind of operation that El Jefe ran—those who had ties in multiple major cities, including an active presence in Boston and Miami, and had a multifaceted operation where regular shipments wouldn’t raise red flags on government shipping manifests.
But had they investigated businesswomen?
He shook his head. There was a reason why they’d all unconsciously ignored any women-run businesses. How likely was it that the mastermind of a fucking sex trafficking ring, a ring of criminals who preyed almost exclusively on women, was a woman herself?
Pretty freakin’ unlikely.
Was this the kind of over-cautiousness Nora had been talking about this morning? Another example of his suspicious nature, a paranoia he’d gained from years of living undercover? The woman, Diana, had been nothing but helpful to Nora and, for all he knew, to many, many underprivileged women over the years. He had to be barking at shadows. Didn’t he?
Diana’s cell phone rang, cutting off whatever her reply might have been, and Nora whispered, just loud enough for Diego to hear, “I’ll just step into my office while you take that.”
A second later, Diana was speaking into her phone in rapid Spanish. “I told you not to call except in an emergency… Contact? From who? Ahhh. Well, that is surprising. So he thinks he can double cross me?”
Diego smiled grimly. Seemed Diana wasn’t just a philanthropist; she could be ruthless too, when necessary. He pressed his back to the cool cement wall and listened closely.
“He’s out. You understand what I’m saying? Out. Permanently. Make it fucking happen, Miguel.”
Miguel. A common enough name. But Diego’s pounding heart remembered all too well where he’d last heard that name spoken. From El Jefe’s phone, and in nearly the same tone. Shit. If it was true… Who would ever imagine?
But hadn’t he just talked with Nora about this today? About Slay employing women who were competent for the job precisely because they deflected suspicion? How had none of them considered this possibility before?
He heard Diana knock gently on Nora’s office door before she stepped inside with a soft laugh. Part of him wanted to run in there right now, gun drawn, and remove his woman from the room, but he had no concrete evidence, only coincidences. A fuck-ton of coincidences, to be sure, but not nearly enough to prove to Nora that the woman she viewed as a mentor could be a criminal. He would need more proof before he could convince her—or, hell, anyone, that Diana could somehow be… El Jefe.
He gave one last hard glance at the door to the hallway, then forced himself to take the stairs back down a level before sliding his phone out of his pocket and redialing his last call.
“Slay?” he said, before the other man could greet him. “I lied. I’m not ready to pull out quite yet. One last avenue to explore, and it’s fucking crazy, man, but just go with me here. Listen…”
Then he proceeded to share his suspicions with Slay, growing colder and more convinced with the retelling.
Chapter 6
Nora shut and locked the door at Centered, smiling to herself when she saw Diego come up behind her peripherally. “Lurking in the shadows, huh?” she teased. He hadn’t really been lurking in the shadows but he had been there all day, and the day before that, and the day before that. Though she knew he’d come and gone at various times based on her shift, and he never actually interacted with anyone at Centered, he was keeping a close eye on her and everyone else who worked there, as was Slay.
“Skulking around like a kid wh
o shoplifted a candy bar,” he said, removing his hands from his pockets as he drew closer to her. His hands spanned her waist, the warmth of his mouth at her ear, his whole body behind her warming her. She shivered. Tonight, they had plans to go back to his place. Between his schedule and hers, they hadn’t been alone together in a few days, and she was eager for the privacy.
“Naughty, naughty,” she said, pocketing the key and turning toward him. He leaned down and kissed her briefly before taking her hand. His car was only a few paces away.
He clicked his key fob, opened the door, and waited until she was in safely before shutting the door behind her. When her door was shut, he glanced over his shoulder, tensed for a moment as if convincing himself danger didn’t lurk in the shadows, then went to the driver’s side and slid in.
“Hungry, baby?” he asked pulling onto the main road.
“Starving,” she said. “The girls at Centered were ordering food for lunch but I had a meeting with Diana, and didn’t want to be interrupted.”
From the corner of her eye, she watched as his jaw clenched. Was he angry with her that she hadn’t eaten dinner? An uber protective guy like him wanted to be sure his girl was taken care of, just like the other guys in her circle of friends often did. Her heart tripped in her chest as she adjusted her bag in her lap.
“Another meeting with Diana? Tell me about this woman,” Diego said, his voice shifting from daddy to commander.
Nora smiled. Diana had taken her under her wing, and she loved her. “I only met her face to face a few months ago—it was the first time any of us had met her. Before then, we’d only talked to her on the phone or emailed. She’s an advocate for women’s rights, and has championed for abused women for decades now. She’s a successful businesswoman, and invests a great deal of time and money in Centered.” Nora paused, aware that she was gushing now and that Diego had straightened beside her.
