by Matt Lincoln
“Were you not comfortable with it because of the island itself?” Holm asked.
“Well, that, and I’m not the biggest fan of Miguel’s.” She hesitated for a moment as if she was wondering if she should have said that out loud.
“Oh?” I asked, leaning forward in my seat. My arm had been pressed against Alejandra’s, and I missed the warmth of her skin once I broke contact. “What don’t you like about him?”
The woman grimaced. “Oh, just the usual situation. He’s my daughter’s boyfriend, so of course, I’m not going to like him.” Her voice trailed off at the end of her sentence, and I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t.
“Does Maria go to the Dominican Republic often?” Holm asked.
“Sure,” she nodded. “My husband was born there, and his mother and siblings and their children are all still there. He didn’t move here until after we got married.”
Alejandra sat up a bit straighter next to me. “What about you, ma’am?” she asked softly. “You were born here?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “My husband and I knew we wanted to be together, but I was not ready to leave my home.”
“So he left his,” I interjected.
The woman chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. “Technically, yes. His entire family is still there, though. He visits quite frequently.”
“Where is he now?” Holm queried.
“In the Dominican Republic,” she stated confidently. “He is staying with his mother.”
Holm and I exchanged a pointed look. Unless we missed something when we stopped by, Maria’s father was not staying at her grandmother’s house. This meant either this woman was lying to us, or her husband was lying to her.
“What is your husband’s name?” This last question of mine was important, as I wanted to feed the answer to Bonnie later. My first thought was Warner, but I had ensured his plate was pretty full during our phone conversation the day before.
“Angel Gonzalez,” she offered. “Why?”
“We’d just like to talk to anyone that may be able to help.” Holm’s quick thinking had a knack for smoothing over certain interview questions. “Two more questions, is there any place Maria would run to if she felt scared?”
“Well, here,” she replied as if it were obvious. “She’s always felt safe here.”
Holm nodded gently. “Lastly, did she have any enemies or anyone who would want to hurt her?”
The woman looked down at her own intertwined fingers. “No, my Maria was a sweetheart. She was close to her family and close with her friends. She knew she was safe. She knows she will always be safe here.”
I paused for a moment, in case she had anything else to add.
“Thank you, Mrs. Gonzalez, for your time,” I said gently as I stood up. Holm and Alejandra followed suit as I extended my hand out to her for a handshake. She took it gently.
“Please find her and bring her home safely,” she pleaded, her eyes boring into mine.
“I assure you, we are doing absolutely everything in our power to find her and ensure her safety.” I rested my free hand over hers as a show of comfort.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
We stepped outside and walked back down the block to Header’s truck in silence. Once we were all in the truck with the door closed, I looked over at Holm in the driver’s seat.
“What did you think?” I asked as he started the engine. I wished he hadn’t, as I now had to strain to hear his answer above the growl of the engine.
“She kind of laid it on thick with the safety thing,” Holm replied thoughtfully. “I also didn’t like how she trailed off about not liking the boyfriend.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I sat back in my seat. “I don’t think that house is as safe as they are making it seem, and I wonder if Maria knew that. Why don’t they like Miguel? That’s my other question. He is the president’s son, but that doesn’t make him an innately good person.”
“He is a very good person,” Alejandra interjected from the backseat. “While I applaud you for being so thorough, whatever issue that woman has with my brother has nothing to do with his character.”
“Forgive us,” Holm said sternly, turning to face her, “but we need to examine every angle here, whether it involves your brother or not. Unless you are constantly monitoring him, there’s no way you can assure us that he’s not involved in this somehow.”
I thought Holm was being a little harsh, but he had a point. We’d misplaced our trust in the past, and neither of us wanted to do it again.
“We’re not blaming your brother for anything,” I assured her. “We just can’t afford to leave any stone unturned.” I hoped that had softened the blow of Holm’s words, and based on the sharp look he threw my way, I felt confident that not only had it done just that, but Holm did not appreciate it.
“Okay,” Alejandra said quietly, sinking back into the seat. “I understand.”
“Oh, did you also notice her questioning why we asked for her husband’s name?” Holm switched the subject up quickly, but his gaze was still sharp.
“Yes, I did,” I agreed. “I want Bonnie to look his name up as soon as possible. I want to know what he is hiding.”
“It definitely seems like he’s hiding something.” Holm grabbed the shifter, and we began rumbling down the street in no time.
“So, Alejandra,” I called out after a beat of silence. She hadn’t said anything since she mentioned her brother, and I didn’t want her to feel awkward, uncomfortable, or excluded. “Is there anything you noticed during the interview that we didn’t already cover?”
“I don’t think so,” she replied, the confidence coming back into her voice. I glanced over at Holm, but he simply rolled his eyes.
I pulled out my phone and pulled up Bonnie’s number, sending her a quick message with Antonio Gonzalez’s information. Apparently, the as soon as possible qualifier didn’t go over well because her response was a bit rude. I chuckled to myself as I put my phone back in my pocket. Regardless of her response, I knew she would get right on it.
“You alright over there?” Holm asked.
“Yeah,” I assured him, “Bonnie’s just being…”
“Bonnie?” Holm chuckled.
I nodded. “Yeah, exactly.”
Our hotel was right in the heart of Old San Juan, and when the road turned from blacktop to cobblestone, I knew we were close. If I thought the lumpy back roads to get to the Gonzalez household were rough, they were nothing compared to how this truck handled over the cobblestones. I felt and heard my teeth clattering in my mouth, and couldn’t wait to get out of the truck.
We pulled up in front of the tall, narrow hotel with balconies stacked high and facing the bay. Down an alleyway of sorts was a large entrance to the building and a sign for valet parking. Holm pulled up, and we climbed down, gathering at the tailgate to collect our luggage. My teeth hadn’t been the only thing clattering, apparently, as Holm had to step up on the rear tire to grab each bag and slide them back to the edge of the tailgate so that Alejandra and I could reach them.
“Man, I miss my Lancer,” Holm mumbled. He grabbed his own bag and slammed the tailgate shut before leading the way into the building.
Holm’s dream car had always been a Lancer Evolution, and he finally got his hands on one. It was a gorgeous bright blue with a pearl finish and a large rear spoiler. It was a bit louder than Holm usually was, but I definitely understood his attraction to it.
Header had booked us two rooms, so Holm and I took one and left Alejandra with the other. The plan was to get settled into the rooms and then get ourselves familiar with San Juan. At this point, there wasn’t much else we could do without any feedback from Bonnie or additional intel from the Dominican president or anyone else involved.
As I finished getting unpacked, my phone rang, but I didn’t recognize the number.
“Marston,” I announced firmly.
“Ethan,” a soothing female voice replied. “This is Li
nda Reyes, Jake’s friend.”
“Linda, how are you?” I crooned. Holm’s head snapped up when he heard Linda’s name, but I turned my back to him.
“I’m doing great,” she said cheerfully. “My boat just pulled in, and I had a message from Jake, so I gave him a call.”
“And?” I pressed. “Is everything okay?”
“Oh, everything is fine!” she giggled. “I was told to take you three out on the town tonight. Jake says that you need to see Old San Juan before you leave.”
I sighed heavily. Leave it to Header to send someone else to stick their nose in our business. “That’s not necessary at all,” I assured her. “We’re--”
“Let me rephrase that,” she amended without letting me finish my thought. “Jake gave me specific orders to take you out tonight and to not allow you to talk me out of it. We’re going.”
I barked out a laugh. “Of course.” There was no sense in arguing. Header wouldn’t take no for an answer, and from what I knew of Linda so far, neither did she.
“I’ll meet you in the lobby of your hotel tonight at eight,” she replied firmly. “See you then.”
“See you,” I muttered before hanging up the phone. Holm was staring at me expectantly.
“We’re going out with Linda Reyes and her crew tonight,” I informed him. “She’s meeting us downstairs at eight.”
“You don’t sound excited,” he pointed out as he dug out his toothbrush and deodorant.
“Well, I tried to tell her I didn’t want to go out tonight, but she said she was operating on Header’s orders.”
“Oh, man,” Holm muttered. “That’s one way to force us out of a comfortable hotel room.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled. I walked over to the narrow double doors that led to our makeshift balcony. It wasn’t a very large balcony. I could probably take a single step and barely fit my foot onto it. They either looked a lot bigger from down below, or those cobblestones had jumbled up my brain.
First things first, I wanted to walk around during the daylight hours so that I could appreciate the view and the bright colors. I knew there was plenty to see above and beyond the nightlife. As long as we were back here before eight, our plates were clear for the day, and I couldn’t wait to see what Puerto Rico had to offer.
Chapter 12: Linda
I thought that my promotion to Lieutenant would mean less work on my end, but ultimately, now I worked just as hard, if not harder than I had before. I couldn’t blame it completely on my new title, though. With a close-knit team like mine, I found it difficult to take advantage of leaving work early when I knew someone else needed to stay behind for a bit, and I often got myself wrapped up in work that didn’t even belong to me.
Not today, though. Today, I was supposed to take Ethan and Robbie out for the evening to explore San Juan. I hadn’t met Alejandra yet, but I was sure we would get along just fine.
Before I crossed the brow to head home, I made sure I messaged every crew member the address of the place we would all be meeting at later. Still, I knew without asking who would ultimately show up. We had a small group on board that could always be counted on to show up for nights out, and since most of them already knew Jake, I didn’t expect they’d have any issues mingling with Ethan and Robbie.
After getting home and taking a hot shower to wash the smell of the boat off of me, I dug through my closet for something to wear. I wanted something vibrant and fun to contrast the endless stream of navy blue I wore on a regular basis. A coral-colored sundress fit the bill, and after artfully styling my hair so that it cascaded down across my shoulders, I was ready to go.
It had taken so long to get off the boat this afternoon, that it was already getting late by the time I had finished getting ready. A couple of text messages confirmed that people were starting to show up at the bar for tonight, so I headed down to the garage to my Jeep, grabbing the keys as I headed out the door. I loved my Jeep and dropped the top down at every given opportunity. Down here in Puerto Rico, I’d had a lot of opportunities to do so, but I decided against it tonight, in favor of keeping my hair from getting messed up. I settled for watching the colors of the sunset reflect off of the glossy white paint on the hood of the Jeep as I drove over the cobblestones along the bay.
Ethan and Robbie were staying in a hotel mere blocks from the Coast Guard base, so it was easy for me to find. I had the Jeep valeted and then headed into the lobby. Giant framed pieces of artwork lined a dark-colored accent wall, which loomed over a classy collection of chrome tables and ivory-upholstered chairs. I found a cushioned chair in the corner and took a seat while I waited and patiently watched the foot traffic ebb and flow through the main area of the lobby. I wasn’t waiting long when I spotted the two men walking toward me with a gorgeous woman with long, wavy, dark hair trailing right behind them.
Robbie had his hair strategically slicked back, and his light blue button-down shirt really drew out his eyes. Ethan, on the other hand, had opted to keep it simple with a dark gray polo shirt. The woman, who I had to assume was Alejandra, wore a simple fitted black dress that hit just above the knee. It was classic and yet understated.
I stood up and walked toward the small group with a warm smile.
“Hey! How was the ride?” I asked, holding my right hand out to shake theirs one at a time.
“Oh, not bad at all,” Ethan replied cheerfully. “It’s a pretty straight run.”
“Oh, yes,” I agreed. “It only took one trip for me to have the route memorized.” I looked over at the woman. “You must be Alejandra.”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “You must be Linda.” Her smile was disarming, and I immediately felt at ease.
“That’s me,” I chuckled, turning to Ethan.
“Most of the crew is already at the bar,” I informed them. “It’s not a long walk, and it’s gorgeous out. You up for a stroll?”
“Lead the way,” Ethan replied warmly, gesturing toward the lobby door. “We would love to see San Juan through the eyes of someone that lives here.”
I soaked in that statement for a moment. When I first moved down here for my latest Coast Guard assignment, I was often in awe of the location. I still was, sometimes.
“I can’t believe I live here,” were words that I often repeated, usually whenever I stumbled upon something new, and I still found myself thinking this exact thought on a regular basis. This island had so much to offer, and I was incredibly grateful that my promotion allowed me to stay here for another couple of years. I knew that I had barely even scratched the surface of what adventures this island held, and I felt driven to explore as much as I could during the time I had left. I owed it to my parents to learn as much as I could and to experience as much of my heritage as possible. It still felt surreal, though, two years later, that I was living in this tropical paradise, a place I had merely wanted to visit as a child.
Together, the four of us headed out to the street and turned up one of the side roads, heading uphill. The sidewalks were small, so we needed to step repeatedly into a single-file formation in order to get through the throngs of people. Every so often, we were pushed out onto the narrow cobblestone street, but eventually, a passing car would force us back up onto the sidewalk. Once we crested the hill, the neon lights up ahead showed promise and pushed us forward. By the time we reached the front doors, I was cursing my choice of footwear, and it sounded like Alejandra was cursing hers as well.
The slightly sticky humid air was immediately cut off by the blasting air conditioning unit that was inside the bar. Reggaeton blared from the speakers hanging overhead, and pink neon strip lighting ran the length of the bar that sat off to their right side. Behind the bar, a woman with blue hair and a nose ring was slinging drinks, and over on the makeshift dance floor, it seemed as if there was some sort of dance battle going on.
I led the way up to the scratchy wooden bar and found an empty spot big enough for everyone in the group to gather close. I noted everyone’s drink orders and relayed it a
ll to the bartender who immediately began working on them. When I turned back to Ethan with a glass of Four Roses, neat of course, I was rewarded with a huge smile from him. He took a large sip, and then I quickly turned around and collected the rest of the drinks, handing them out to each person as I scanned the room for my friends.
With drinks in everyone’s hands and my friends spotted, I led the way through the overcrowded space to the group of familiar faces on the far side of the dance floor.
“Cap!” Rogers shouted, his crop of red hair noticeable above the crowd.
Slade whipped around, followed by Sanchez and Murphy. “Linda!” They spread out as much as they could to make room for the four of us.
“Guys, you remember Ethan and Robbie,” I shouted above the heavy bass as I gestured to the two men. “This is Alejandra.” Alejandra waved at everyone before her, friendly yet reserved.
As everyone began intermingling and talking amongst each other, I looked out over the dance floor. The multicolored lights that bobbed around the room with the beat of the music amplified the movement on the dance floor, energizing the crowd and drawing new people to the center. A large crowd had gathered around the bar, and the bartender was hustling from one end to the other, trying to keep all of the drink orders on track. All along the wood-paneled walls, neon signs hung at irregular intervals, along with various advertisements for different drink options. Neon price stickers were slapped haphazardly onto each poster with the correct pricing. Behind the bar, the night’s drink specials were written out carefully and decoratively in neon chalk paint, and a blacklight was focused on it, attempting to capture the short attention span of the increasingly drunk bar patrons.
I felt movement from behind me, and I turned to see Robbie smiling at me.
“I’m no Latin dancer,” he warned, “but would you like to dance?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Absolutely!” I cheered, and Robbie gently took me by the hand and led me onto the dance floor. He found a spot with enough room for the two of us and turned to face me, and I allowed myself to get lost in the rhythm of the music. I glanced back at my friends and was happy to see Alejandra talking with Murph. Murph was great at making small talk and could make anyone feel welcome in a large group. I was glad he could make it out tonight.
