“What’s being done to find Ramón?”
Whitaker leaned back and focused his eyes on my breasts again.
“You and this Ramón an item?”
“What? That has nothing to do with anything.”
He licked his lips and sighed.
“I was just wondering. A man looks at you and he can’t help but wonder… and imagine.”
I crossed my arms tightly over my chest. This served two purposes. One, it kept Whitaker from staring at my breasts, and two, it kept me from reaching across the table and strangling him.
The door to the room opened and a man stepped in. Everything about him said Fed, but he appeared intelligent and he was looking at Whitaker as if he were something he’d stepped in.
“Detective, get out, this is no longer your case.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
The man flipped his credentials at Whitaker. Whitaker read them, and I swear, his lips moved as he did so. Afterward, Whitaker gawked up at the man.
“Thomas Lawson, Homeland Security? Shit, is she a terrorist?”
“Leave, Detective, now, and if I find out that you watched us through the glass, you’ll no longer be a detective.”
Whitaker made a face at Lawson then left the room.
Lawson sighed as he took a seat across from me.
“On behalf of law enforcement, I apologize for him.”
“What’s being done to find Ramón?”
“We found the van abandoned. It had been stolen earlier in the day. There’s an alert out on your friend. The ID’s on the three men who tried to kill you were phony. We’re running their DNA through all available databases but getting a match could take weeks.”
It was the long way of saying that they had nothing, but at last, someone had told me what was going on.
“I killed those men in self-defense.”
“I understand that, and that’s how it’s being written down. The prints from two of the men came back as matching prints found at the site of a terrorist attack. That’s why I’m here. Those men were all terrorists; you did the world a favor.”
“Terrorists? Why would terrorists kidnap Ramón?”
“I was hoping you might know the answer to that, Miss Steele.”
“I have no idea, but I know he’s not involved with them.”
“We don’t think so either, but I have some photos I’d like you to look at; please tell me if you recognize anyone.”
Lawson laid a six-pack of photos on the table. All of the six women resembled one another, but it was number three that got my attention.
I jabbed a finger at the picture.
“That’s the woman that drove the van.”
“You’re absolutely certain?”
“Yes, who is she?”
“Natalie Stone, or at least that’s her most frequent alias.”
I stared at him. He was being very forthcoming for a Fed.
“Why are you being so honest, revealing so much to me?”
“A mutual acquaintance has vouched for you.”
“What mutual acquaintance?”
Lawson started to answer, but then he eyed the one-way mirror and decided to choose his words wisely.
“The man I’m speaking of is often referred to by the name, Mr. White. You and he were recently involved in the apprehension of a date rapist, one Owen Leonard.”
“I know who you mean, but I wasn’t aware that he had federal connections.”
“It’s a recent development.”
“Am I free to go?”
“You are, but I’m hoping that you’ll stay.”
“Why would I stay here?”
“Mr. White not only vouched for you, he also recommended that I allow you into the investigation.”
“And you’re letting me in?”
“I am, but only in the area of the search for your missing friend.”
I stood. “I want to see everything you have on the dead men. Were their residences searched?”
“Yes, the licenses were phony, but they all had key cards on them for various motels. We confiscated everything we found, but no one has had a chance to sort through it all yet.”
“I’ll do that. Take me to it.”
There wasn’t much, considering it belonged to three people, but then, terrorists staying in motels wouldn’t have many personal items.
I went through everything twice and only came up with one possible clue.
Lawson held up the two packs of cigarettes.
“I don’t get it; this is a very common brand.”
“Each one of those packs belonged to a different terrorist, but check out the numbers on the packages.”
“They’re almost identical; what does that mean?”
“I think it means that they were purchased at the same store. Most people purchase cigarettes near their place of business or close to their homes, but these men all lived miles apart in different motels. The cigarettes were likely bought where they work, or in this case, where they scheme.”
Lawson nodded. “And once we know where they buy their cigarettes, we’ll have an idea where they operate.”
“Isn’t there some database that you’ll be able to cross-reference that information with?”
“Maybe, we do keep certain groups and individuals under observation. Good work, Miss Steele.”
“What else can I do?”
“There’s not much else to do now but wait.”
And so, that’s what I did.
2:11 a.m.
I was asleep while sitting in a chair in the police station’s break room when Lawson woke me by tapping me on the shoulder.
“Hey, what’s happening?”
“We have an address. It’s in Dallas. Natalie Stone is known to have visited there five years ago and the cigarettes were both purchased at a nearby store. I’m leaving now with a swat team; would you like to observe?”
I stood up and grabbed my bag.
“I’d like to lead the assault, but I’ll settle for observing, and thanks.”
The drive took only fifteen minutes because they had lights and sirens blaring and the driver was a maniac. That said, he was a skilled maniac, and we parked a block away from a club named O’Leary’s Lair.
After a short talk with the local authorities, the assault team hit the place. The club had been closed for nearly an hour, but there were still people on the premises. I would bet they all got the shock of their lives. Even sitting a block away inside the van, I could hear the stun grenades.
When it was over, two people were dead, while four were arrested, and a badly beaten Ramón was helped outside by a black-clad assault team member.
I reached him just as they were loading him into the ambulance.
“Blue! Oh, thank God, I thought they had killed you.”
I touched his face gently. One eye was swollen shut from the beating and his nose was obviously broken. They had also fractured one of his fingers, and there were dozens of bruises across his torso.
“You’re safe now.”
“You helped to find me, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you, the man that did this to me was running out of patience. He was headed toward me with an electric carving knife when they shot him.”
“We’ll talk later; right now, we’ll get you to the hospital.”
Ramón let out a cough and nodded.
“Yes, a hospital sounds good.”
I rode along and held his hand. Every once in a while, he would arch his back as if he were in great pain, and I wondered if he had internal injuries. Once we were at the hospital, they separated us and told me that he was headed for a complete examination.
He called to me from the gurney.
“Blue!”
“Yes?”
“I still want that pizza.”
“As soon as you’re up to it,” I said, and then I sent him a wink, along with a sexy smile.
He answered me in words that made me l
augh out loud.
“It’s deep dish, if you know what I mean.”
Then, the doors swung shut behind him, and once more, I waited.
Ramón awoke at noon and caught me eating the applesauce that came with his tray of hospital food.
“You stayed all night?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome; now tell me what’s going on.”
“I’d like to know that too.”
The voice came from the doorway and I turned to see Lawson standing there. I introduced him to Ramón.
“That woman, Natalie, did you catch her?” Ramón asked.
“No, she’s still in the wind, but we’re looking.” Lawson said.
“So is she, and she’s looking for Colin Talbot.”
Lawson straightened at the name, but it had no meaning to me.
“Who’s Colin Talbot?” I asked.
Lawson grabbed a chair from the other side of the room and sat near the bed.
“Colin Talbot was an Irish terrorist who turned against his friends and leaked information about several groups. He did that for years, but then suddenly vanished. We presumed that he was dead, killed by his own people.”
Ramón shook his head.
“He’s alive and well, and he was never a terrorist. He and Natalie Stone fell in love while she was pretending to be someone else. Once Colin learned the truth, he stayed with her to pass on information to the authorities as an informant. On the day he had planned to leave her, Natalie revealed her pregnancy to him. He then stayed until their daughter was born, only to snatch her away from Natalie. She’s been searching for them ever since.”
“How do you know this?” Lawson said.
“I know, because I’m the one who hid him and his daughter away.”
“Natalie Stone really has a daughter?”
“She does, and she’s five-years-old now.”
Lawson made a “huh,” sound.
“So that’s why she’s here in Texas. It must also be why she was here five years ago. She must have tracked Talbot to this state.”
“Yes, Colin and I lost her five years ago, but now it looks like she’s learned of my involvement.”
“What group do you work for?”
“I don’t work for a group.”
Lawson leaned back in his seat. “What are you, CIA?”
Ramón laughed loudly, but then winced as the effort made his injuries act up.
“I’m just someone who saw an opportunity, Mr. Lawson. I created a private witness protection program, but instead of funding it through tax dollars, my witnesses pay me to make certain that they disappear.”
I took Ramón’s hand. “Is that what you do? But you told me that you find people.”
“And I do, I find people for other people to be. The reason I have a perfect record at finding people, is because I’m the one who creates them, I create the false identity. Say you’re a dissident from a foreign country who’s been marked for death and you don’t trust the government, any government, that’s where I come in. I’ll find you a new identity and a safe place to spend the rest of your life. I’ll also provide around the clock security.”
“How is that possible?” Lawson said.
“Trade secret, but trust me when I tell you that Colin Talbot and his daughter are safe.”
“You mean that they were safe. Natalie Stone almost made you talk, if she had, Talbot and his daughter would be looking at her right now. Tell us where they are and we’ll protect them.”
“No, and just so you know, even if I had given up their location, they would remain safe. It’s built into the system.”
“How much do these people pay you?”
“It varies, it’s been as high as millions and as low as a single dollar, but all of it is used to make it happen, and to support the system.”
“Intriguing,” Lawson said.
“Yes, it is,” I said, while looking at Ramón with new eyes.
“Natalie Stone still believes that you know where her daughter is and she’ll keep coming, let us protect you.”
“Of course I will, but I want Blue protected too.”
“I agree. She killed three of Stone’s people; they’ll want revenge. I’ll set up teams at each of your residences.”
“Actually,” I said. “I’ll be staying at Ramón’s, at least until he heals.”
“You will?” Ramón said.
“I will, unless I’m not wanted.”
Ramón looked over at Lawson.
“She’ll be staying with me.”
“Forgive me for saying this, but I hope Natalie comes for you again. It’ll give my people a chance to catch her.”
“I wouldn’t mind another chance at her too,” I said.
Lawson rose out of his seat and shook Ramón’s hand.
“Someday you’ll have to explain this private witness protection program to me.”
“It was bad enough that I spoke of it at all, and I hope you’ll keep it to yourself.”
Lawson smiled enigmatically.
“I’m a man of many secrets; in fact, it’s part of my job.”
Lawson left, and I realized that I was still holding Ramón’s hand.
“Is it my imagination, or does your speech seem less… street, than usual?”
“I think the reason that I help to hide people is because in some ways, I’ve spent my life hiding from people.”
“And you’ve been hiding your true self from me?”
He gave my hand a squeeze.
“I realized the other night that I no longer wanted to hide from you.”
I leaned over and kissed him.
“Come on out and play.”
Chapter 9
Ramón was released from the hospital two days later.
When he returned home, I stayed with him. He was moving slow because of the beating, but he was on his feet, and the bruises on his face were beginning to fade.
Lawson left three men to guard us. They shared one of the home’s large bedrooms, while I stayed in another. I felt a bit odd to be staying in a separate room from Ramón, but despite our growing closeness toward each other, we had yet to do more than kiss. I doubted that we would become physical until his internal injuries healed.
I had called my boss, Ron, and told him that I needed to take a leave of absence, and he grudgingly agreed. I felt bad about asking, because I knew that he had yet to replace the people we’d recently lost, but time off was something I needed. In truth, I was actually self-employed.
Ramón and I were sitting on the patio at the rear of the house.
We had just come back from taking a walk around the property after dinner. I was happy to see that he had walked considerably farther than the day before.
“Are you feeling stronger today?” I asked.
“Yes, there’s less pain inside, the doctor told me that the beating bruised my organs and caused them to swell, but that in time the pain would go away. I’m happy to see he was right.”
We were sitting together on a wooden bench and I moved closer and placed my arms around him.
“Does that hurt?”
“No.”
I held him tighter and then gave him a long kiss on the mouth.
“What about that, did that hurt?”
“No, but if you keep this up, swelling will occur in a certain area.”
I laughed and kissed him again. He kissed me back, and soon our hands began exploring, but when I touched a spot on his left side, he hissed and pulled back.
“Are you all right? Did I hurt you?”
“A little, I guess I’m still not quite ready for… strenuous exercise.”
I gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
“But you will be ready, and when you are, you let me know.”
“You’ll be the first to know, Chica, believe me.”
I pulled back from him. “Don’t call me that.”
“What? Chica?”
�
�Yes, it’s what you called me before, before you let me in, before you let me see the real you.”
“And now you are Blue.”
“And I want it to stay Blue. I don’t want to go back. I want to go forward. I need to go forward.”
He took me in his arms and kissed me, then leaned his head back and stared into my eyes.
“There’s something I want to show you.”
I stood in the middle of the attic and gazed about. Everywhere I looked, I saw beauty.
Paintings, dozens of paintings, most were representational, but some were abstracts, and I marveled at all of them.
“You’re an artist.”
Ramón shrugged. “I paint. It started as a hobby, but lately I’ve begun selling them on online auction sites. I did it mainly to display them, because until then, I was the only one who had ever seen them. Then they began selling, one even sold for five grand. I was amazed; I never thought that anyone would pay that much.”
“Ramón, I’m awestruck. These are all so beautiful, you have quite a talent.”
“Thank you; take any one you want, except that one in the corner. That one stays mine.”
I followed his gaze to a back corner of the room and saw a painting hanging on the wall. It was a painting of me, done from memory. In it, I was wearing my boots and jeans, and I stared straight ahead with a slight smile on my face.
“Wow, it looks like me, only better.”
He came up behind me and placed his arms around my waist; I instinctually leaned back against him.
“That’s how I see you.”
I turned in his arms and kissed him again.
“You are so not who I thought you were. Tell me more about yourself. I want to know everything.”
“Compton, California?” I said.
“Yes, my father was a gangbanger and my mother was a part of it too. He was killed by a rival gang when I was six. My mother died of an overdose when I was nine.”
“God, what a childhood.”
“The gang was all I knew. After my parents died, I grew up as a banger on the streets, and I know that you’re worldly enough to know exactly what that means.”
“Yes, it means drug dealing. And it means committing acts of violence, often against innocents… and even murder.”
Blue Steele Box Set Page 17
