Silver Shield Security Box Set

by Dee Bridgnorth

  Just then Nico let out a string of swear words, startling her out of her reverie.

  “Damn that bastard!” he muttered, still pacing.

  Tamika turned to face him with a frown. She remembered his reaction when she’d mentioned that name, what was it? Yeah. Cruz Fuentes. She watched him walk up and down the room, looking angry and sad at the same time. He was driving her crazy.

  “Nico.”

  “Hmm.” he muttered still pacing.

  “Nico!”

  He stopped and turned to her. “What?”

  “You’re driving me crazy, man. Sit down and tell me about this Cruz Fuentes.”

  He ran a hand over his head and then pinched his nose, his eyes shut. “I can’t believe he’s doing this now.”

  “Talk to me.”

  He walked to the nearest chair and threw himself down with a sigh. Tamika walked back to the sofa and sat back down.

  “It’s a long story…” he began.

  She shrugged, “I have time.” It was only nine p.m. and the night was still young.

  He looked at her and held her gaze. “Remember I told you I grew up in the hood?”

  Tamika nodded.

  “Well, I had this friend—he was my best friend really. We did everything together, and when he joined a gang, I joined as well. It was the only thing to do,” he said with a shrug. “But then my grandfather got to find out.”

  “Was that when he sent for your father?”

  He looked at her in surprise. “You remember what I said?”

  Tamika shrugged. “Yeah, sure.” What she didn’t say was that she remembered everything he’d told her. It wasn’t just that she had a good memory but that he intrigued her in a way.

  “Yeah, that’s when he sent for my father. By the time Mom came for me, I had already been involved in some petty crimes. My friend was a dope runner and I’d gone with him on some of his deliveries. It was only a matter of time before I started dope running and it was a downward slide from there.”

  Tamika got the picture. It was the sad story of most boys who grew up in the hood. Where Nico’s story was exceptional was the fact that he’d left. His father’s wife had saved him.

  “This friend was Cruz?”

  He nodded. “Cruz and I kept in touch and each time I went back to visit with my grandfather, we would hang out. While I’d cleaned up my act, my mother would have killed me if I hadn’t, Cruz had gone deeper into a life of crime and was running his own little gang. My grandfather died several years later, and I stopped going back to the hood. Cruz and I lost touch.”

  “Is that why he’s so angry with you?” She didn’t think it was enough reason to kill someone, but these hood rats took their loyalty pretty seriously. Nico was shaking his head.

  “No, it wasn’t that.” He sighed and got to his feet. He walked to the windows where she’d been standing just a minute ago and stood, looking outside. “I got a scholarship to Harvard and moved on with my life. I didn’t hear about Cruz again because I had cut all ties with everyone from my former neighborhood. Not deliberately, but there was just no reason to keep in touch. We had nothing in common anymore.” He turned to face her.

  Tamika nodded, she could understand that.

  “When I graduated, I moved back home to New York. One day I went to this café where I met a young woman. I did not recognize her at first, because she’d grown so much, but she knew who I was and told me she was Cruz’s sister. I was so happy to see her and find out that she was attending the community college. We caught up, talking about some of the people from the old neighborhood.”

  Tamika tensed. She had a feeling she was not going to like what came next. “What happened?” she prompted when he remained silent.

  “We started dating. We were so young and so in love.” He went quiet again, lost somewhere in the past.

  She could see the pain in his eyes and her heart went out to him. She got up and walked to him.

  “What happened, Nico?” she asked gently, placing a hand on his arm.

  “Several months into our relationship, we were practically living together. I walked in unexpectedly one afternoon and caught Mia doing drugs. I was devastated. I knew where it could end up and I was not ready for the emotional roller coaster of being with a drug addict. She swore to me that it was only the first time, but I didn’t believe her. A lot of things that I couldn’t explain suddenly made sense.” He shook his head. “I ended the relationship right there. If she wanted a future with me, she needed to get clean and stay that way.”

  As far as Tamika was concerned, he’d done the right thing. She had seen what drugs did to people around her when she was growing up. Nothing would make her take a chance on a drug addict. She considered it emotional suicide. She just didn’t have the strength to deal with that.

  “What happened to her?” She was curious to know. Was Cruz harassing Nico because he broke his sister’s heart? She rather suspected it was something much more than that, given the track record for drug addicts.

  Nico raised anguished eyes to her. “The next time I heard of her, she was dead. She’d Od’d.”

  Tamika had susptected that was how the story would end. A drug overdose had finally killed the woman. She’d had friends who had lost their parent that way. It was so sad.

  “And Cruz blames you for her death?”

  He nodded. “He felt I abandoned her. That I should have helped or something. He swore vengeance.”

  That was a road to heartache and emotional devastation. “You did the right thing, Nico.”

  His gaze turned pained. “Did I? I can’t help wondering if Cruz was right. I didn’t even try.”

  Tamika’s heart went out to him. She knew exactly how he felt. It was the same way she’d felt when she’d begged her best friend not to go to that new club, but she’d gone anyway and her fifteen-year old body was found in the dumpster the next day. For a very long time, she’d wondered if she could have done more, if maybe her friend would still have been alive today. But eventually, she’d come to terms with the fact that short of tying the girl up, there’d been nothing she could do.

  “Cruz was wrong, Nico,” she told him, her voice earnest. “She would have dragged you down with her.”

  He lifted a hand and gently cupped her face. “Thanks, Tamika.”

  She nodded, her heart skipping a beat as she quickly averted her gaze. She did not want him seeing in her eyes the kind of effect he had on her.

  “So Cruz is out to get you,” she surmised.

  “Yep.” He dropped his hand and slid it into his pocket. “What I don’t understand is why he waited this long.”

  “Hmmm.” She brought out her phone. It was time to make some calls.

  “Who are you calling?” Nico asked.

  “I’m calling Emily. This information you’ve given now changes everything.”

  He watched her through hooded eyes as she made the call.

  “Hi Emily,” she greeted.

  “Tamika, how are you?”

  “I’m fine. We have a situation here.”

  “Talk to me.”

  “The woman, Chicha, just got shot outside the club.”

  “Where are you now?” Emily asked.

  “I’m back at the hotel with Nico. Rusty and Pete stayed back to speak with the cops.”

  Emily was silent. A few seconds passed before she spoke again and when she did, her tone was grave. “This changes everything.”

  “There’s more.”

  And Tamika told her what Nico had said about Cruz Fuentes and his relationship with the man’s sister. She left out nothing. Well, nothing but the fact that she was pretty sure that there was something about the Chicha woman. How did she explain what she did not understand? She couldn’t, so she left it out.

  Emily listened to her in silence. While she was talking, Nico had resumed pacing and the constant up and down movement was driving her to distraction. She turned to face another direction, giving her back to him.

>   “From all indications, this is possibly a vendetta then?” Emily asked.

  “Most likely.” Tamika thought that was what it was.

  “Okay, make sure you are with Nico at all times. He must not leave your sight. Once Rusty gets in, we will have a conference call with the others to strategize. Call me, no matter how late.”

  Tamika ended the call and turned to face Nico. He was leaning against a wall, his attention focused on her.

  “Congratulations,” she said. “You’ve just got yourself a bodyguard.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “A bodyguard.”

  “Yep.”

  “I can take care of myself,” he said with a frown.

  “No doubt. But I’ll also be here, just to be double sure.”

  A calculating gleam entered his eyes. “You are my bodyguard?”

  “Yes.”

  “In that case, I really am helpless. I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep without you watching me.” He flashed her a grin.

  She rolled her eyes and bit her lip to keep from smiling. Shaking her head, she tapped her phone again and dialed Rusty.

  “Hey Tamika.”

  “Rusty, what’s up?”

  “We’re at Northwest Hospital. She’s still unconscious although her vitals seem okay.”

  “She’s still unconscious?”

  “Yeah. She was hit on the head with a heavy object before she was shot on the arm. She lost a lot of blood, but she’ll survive.”

  “I see. I’ve informed Emily about the turn of events.”

  “Great. I’ll be there in a bit and we can discuss further.”

  “Yeah. There’s a conference call once you get in.”

  They talked a little more and then ended the call.

  Tamika tried to slip the phone into her pocket, then remembered that she was still wearing the skintight leather pants. She clutched her cellphone and sighed as the events of the day washed upon her. She was still pretty much shaken and she did not understand it. She was a professional. She should not let anything affect her so much. But she knew that this case was different. She still did not really believe that she had a twin sister, but if it turned out that she did, it would go right to the root of everything she knew about herself.

  She was deep in thought when she felt a strong pair of arms go around her. Nico’s scent filled her senses. She stiffened for a fraction of a second, then closed her eyes and relaxed against him with a sigh.

  “You know you’re going to be okay, right?” he asked, his voice a gentle murmur against her ear.

  Tamika sighed. She didn’t know that she would be okay. “I don’t know. It was just so weird seeing her there…”

  “We’ll get to the bottom of this mystery. I’m sure of it.”

  She nodded. She knew she would not stop digging until she got to know who the mysterious woman really was. Her first point of call was a visit to the hospital, first thing in the morning.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The next morning, Tamika went with Nico to the hospital where Chicha was receiving treatment. She was placed in a private ward, to make it easier for their operators to keep an eye on her. They did not want whoever shot her to return and finish the job.

  They met Pete there. He was sitting on a hard back chair just outside the ward where Chicha was recuperating. He looked like he hadn’t had any sleep all night.

  “Can I get you a coffee?” Tamika offered, but he just smiled and shook his head.

  “Carla will be here any moment, then I can go freshen up.”

  Tamika nodded towards the door. “How is she?”

  They’d received a call from Pete that she had regained consciousness, which was what had prompted their visit to the hospital.

  “She seems to be doing okay. I just peeked in, haven’t had any interaction with her yet,” he said with a shrug.

  Tamika nodded.

  “I’ll wait in the waiting area,” Nico said when they got to the ward.

  Tamika turned to look at him. She did not want to walk through that door. No, that was not strictly true. She did want to meet Chicha, but she was apprehensive about what she would find out. Well, feelings of apprehension had never stopped her from doing what needed to be done. She released a sigh and nodded.

  “Okay, I’ll just be...” She waved towards the door. She flashed them a brief smile and walked then tapped gently on the door, before pushing it open.

  Tamika stood by the door. Chicha was sitting on the bed, her eyes were shut. Tamika could see the rise and fall of the woman’s chest. Her own chest was constricting. She normally did not like hospitals, but in her line of work, she found herself visiting them a lot.

  “You gonna stand there all day or are you going to come inside,” Chicha said without opening her eyes.

  It was the first time Tamika was hearing her speak and she liked the spunk she heard. She took a step inside.

  “You certainly sound fine to me,” Tamika said in a dry voice. “Wonder why they’re still keeping you here.”

  Chicha’s eyes flew open and Tamika found herself staring at brown eyes the exact same shade as hers. As their eyes met, a sense of knowing passed through her. Chicha’s eyes widened and she reached for the button at the edge of the bed. The head of the bed slowly went up, till she was in a half-sitting, half-laying position. They stared at each other for several minutes, then Chicha opened her mouth.

  “Tamika?”

  Tamika felt like she’d been hit by a truck. She gazed searchingly at the woman, trying to see if she could trigger anything. A memory, a feeling…anything. But there was nothing. After that brief feeling of knowing she’d felt when their eyes met, there’d been nothing.

  “How…how do you know my name?”

  “I looked for you,” she said simply.

  Tamika did not understand. “I don’t get it, who are you?”

  “I looked so hard for you,” she said again. Then her eyes filled with tears. “They told me you were dead. They said there had been a car crash and your entire family, your husband and two kids died in the crash.”

  Tamika stumbled back. She shut her eyes against the lacerating pain that shot through her heart. Her children…God, it hurt so much. She did not, could not… She took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh. She raised a hand, palm out.

  “Look, I don’t know who you are or why you were searching for me—”

  “Really? Have you looked into a mirror lately?”

  “I don’t appreciate your sarcasm,” Tamika snapped.

  Chicha waved a hand. “Okay, okay. You want to know? I will tell you. Might as well get comfortable.”

  They were both silent.

  “Mom died about eight years ago. Just before she died, she told me that I was a twin and the name of my twin sister is Tamika Esmeralda. She told me about the old neighborhood and that she’d left you with our grandmother.”

  “We are twins.” Tamika felt strange saying it. She looked at the other woman and was taken aback by the incredible resemblance. “We do have the same face.”

  “Ya think?”

  Tamika shook her head. It seemed they had the same dry sense of humor. “I had no idea.”

  “Mom wanted to get married and she said her new husband only wanted one of us.”

  “So she left me behind.” Tamika felt the sting of rejection, the same one she’d battled as a child.

  “Trust me, chica. You had it better. I wish she’d left me behind.”

  She sounded so bitter. “Was it so bad?”

  Chicha laughed. “It was worse really. I had to fend off her boyfriends and I wasn’t always successful.”

  The implication of what she said suddenly hit Tamika and she felt sad for the woman in front of her. Her twin sister. Strange.

  “So you came looking for me?”

  “Yeah. After mom died, I had no one and the thought of having a twin sister instead of being all alone in the world was just too tempting to resist. I went back to the neighborhood and
heard you’d enlisted.” She gave Tamika an appraising glance. “Hmmm…so you’re military, huh?”

  “Retired.”

  “Still works for me. Several years later, I found you again. Only it was too late by then. You had died in the crash.”

  “I survived.” She was not going to talk about that. “I really had no idea. Abuela never told me.”

  “Probably because she disowned our mother,” Chicha said with a laugh. “But, hold on…If you didn’t know about me, then what are you doing here?”

  “I’m here with Nico Ortega.”

  Chicha immediately went pale. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock. “N-Nico Ortega?”

  Tamika nodded. “That’s right.”

  She got frantic. “Tamika, you need to get away from him immediately. I can’t believe what an asshole he is.” She placed her good arm on her head and clutched her hair. “Ay ay…He’s out to get me and he must have figured out that you are my twin sister. He’s only with you to get to me.”

  Tamika looked at her with amusement. She was oddly touched. Somehow, the woman was trying to protect her.

  “Is this because of the plans you stole from him?”

  Chicha froze. Then she closed her eyes with a sigh. “He told you,” she said in a tired voice.

  “He told me,” Tamika confirmed. “I’m here as his bodyguard and also to retrieve the plans.”

  Chicha’s eyes flew open. “You’re a bodyguard?”

  “I am.”

  “Huh.” She was quiet for a while, then she slanted her gaze towards Tamika. “Is he very angry?”

  Tamika nodded.

  “Damn.” She shut her eyes again.

  “Why did you do it?”

  She really wanted to know. Chicha did not strike her as an opportunist, but she didn’t really know the woman. Knowing why she’d done what she did might help her understand her sister a little. Her sister? Even saying it in her thoughts sounded weird to her. Nice, but still weird.