by Dale Mayer
“Good,” she said. “In that case, breakfast would be nice.”
“Vince is picking me up a little before seven. Did he mention a place?”
“No,” she said. “I’ll send him a text and ask where to meet you guys.”
“See you in the morning then.” Reyes hung up.
She wondered at her instinctive sense of loss. It was one thing if it had been so many years ago when she still held a torch for him. But she’d gotten over that once he’d been engaged to her sister. Raina had worked long and hard, just to get her emotions in control and to break off from Reyes, so his upcoming nuptials to her sister wouldn’t hold Raina back. She’d been surprised, almost horrified, when they had announced their news, but Raina had dealt with it.
Now that he was back and single, she wasn’t going down that trail again. Something about knowing he’d been with her sister made Raina want to avoid him completely. But she and Reyes had been friends since they were kids. Good friends for a long time. And she didn’t want to lose that. And, if she were honest, that spark remained inside her when she spoke or saw Reyes. But to go down that path and to lose him again wasn’t a pain she was willing to bear a second time.
Like he’d said, it was hard to come back and to pick up the pieces, hard to find that natural rhythm in a friendship again. And, if he was trying, well, she had to do her best to try too. He was a good man.
She put away her phone and prepped for bed. Her last thoughts as she curled up with her head on the pillow were about her sister. Why would Reana have left her phone behind? And, if she had, who the hell had made all those strange calls? If Reana had made them, why wouldn’t she have taken her phone with her?
With nothing making sense, Raina pushed it all away. Not much about her sister’s life made sense.
Raina slept, but she slept rough. She kept surfacing, checking her phone to see if her sister had contacted her, then fell back under again. Her dreams were filled with tormenting laughter from the many years living with her beautiful yet sometimes obnoxious sister, mixed with some memories of her sister’s boyfriends who Raina had met over the years. Some had cried on Raina’s shoulder, hoping maybe she could somehow repair the damage done to their relationship with her sister. As if hoping Raina would go to bat for the men and that her sister would forgive them for whatever imagined transgressions they might have made. But her sister went through men like she went through clothes. They were fun and fashionable for a little while, and then she dropped them and moved on. She was a fashionista in a way most women never got a chance to try.
Raina had watched so many men fall at her sister’s feet, only to end up in puddles of devastation. That had been very difficult. But something about her sister’s relationship with Reyes had made her sister angrier, as if she couldn’t force him to do her will. And he’d been stalwart, never defending himself but never giving her the rise she wanted. One particular dinner, where everybody had been gathered for a barbecue, her sister had been at her finest, flirting with everybody, then daring Reyes to tell her off. He just raised an eyebrow and said that, if she chose to not be with him, then that was fine; he’d move on too.
He hadn’t said it in a way that would publicly humiliate her or him, but he’d said it quietly when she’d come back to him yet again with a taunting smile on her face, asking if he cared.
Raina just happened to be behind him at the time. She thought his response had been odd. But maybe not—considering how absolutely difficult her sister had been. Raina had tried to tell Reana that she was embarrassing her fiancé. Her sister had smirked and said, “When we pick a fight, my dear, the making up is that much better.” She’d patted Raina on the cheek and wandered off, tossing back, “When you grow up, you’ll understand.”
It had horrified Raina. And then made her wonder if that was really what this was all about—sex games.
When she finally awoke the next morning, it was already six-twenty. Her eyes burned. She didn’t have time for a shower. She got up, did a quick wash, struggling to find clothes she could wear to breakfast. She still didn’t know where they would meet, but she hoped it would be close by.
When she was ready, she snatched her phone and checked it. Sure enough, Vince had texted her to meet them at a little coffee shop around the corner from the greenhouses. She sent back a note, saying she was leaving soon. Then she grabbed her purse and walked outside.
When she got into the little restaurant, she saw the men were already there. She walked over with a big smile. Vince hopped up and gave her a bone-crunching hug. When she could, she stepped back, stretched up and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re still just a big boy, aren’t you?”
He gave her a mock look of outrage but chuckled. “Too much, huh?”
She smiled and sat on the bench beside him. “You were always too much.”
“Is that why you would never go out with me?” he complained.
She gave him a sideways look. “You never asked, for one,” she said gently. “And I much preferred men, not boys.” She delivered that last sting with a big smile.
He rolled his eyes at her and motioned for the waitress.
Raina turned to Reyes, who was sitting across the table, studying the two of them and their interaction. She leaned over, squeezed his fingers and said, “Good morning.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up in a grin that made her heart melt.
“Good morning,” he said. “You and Vince still act like school kids.”
She shook her head. “I’m not. That’s all Vince.”
But Reyes just grinned at her. “It takes two to tango.”
She rolled her eyes. “So how long are you staying?”
He shrugged. “Not very long. Maybe today, tomorrow, not sure.”
She nodded. “I’m sure your dad is delighted to see you.”
“He is indeed,” Reyes said.
Just then the waitress arrived with hot coffee. She placed the cups on the table and handed out menus. After a crappy night like she’d had, Raina was hungry.
As she looked over the options, Reyes said, “Look at this. I haven’t had coconut pancakes in a long time. That’s what I’ll have.”
She stared at the pancakes option on her menu and wondered what the hell coconut pancakes were. She tended to be a plain foodie. Although she loved coconut, she wasn’t sure about having it in her pancakes. She slowly lowered the menu, having picked out her choice, and placed her order with the waitress. When she left them, Raina glanced at the others. “Did anybody hear anything from my sister last night?”
The men both shook their heads. “We were going to ask you that question.”
She shrugged. “There’s been nothing on my phone. And there’s no point in phoning her if she doesn’t have hers with her.”
“Any chance she has two phones?” Reyes asked.
“If she does, I don’t know about it,” Raina said honestly. “It would be nice if she’d get in touch with us soon though. I know my mom is pretty upset. I didn’t call her yet this morning because I know she wouldn’t have had much sleep, and I didn’t want to wake her.”
The waitress came back and delivered glass of water. “I’ll be back with your food shortly.”
Vince looked over at Reyes. “So, what are you doing these days?”
Reyes straightened slightly and smiled. “The best kind of work,” he said. “Similar to what we used to do in the navy but private jobs.”
Vince leaned forward. “Do you think they’re hiring?”
“I have no clue. But the boss is here, if you want to meet her.”
“Maybe? Do I know anybody else working there?” Vince appeared to be interested but weary.
Raina glanced from one to the other. “I don’t even understand what kind of work you do,” she said. “I know you went into the navy, but I don’t know what you did there either.”
“We did a lot of stuff,” Vince said. “Top-secret military ops that nobody ever knows about. It’s one of the rea
sons I got out early.”
“Why?” she asked. “Couldn’t you keep a secret?”
He chuckled. “I keep secrets just fine,” he said seriously. “But it’s not always easy being in the middle of war-torn countries. After that last bout in Afghanistan, I walked. But I feel like, ever since, I’ve been trying to find the good things I had in the navy. That sense of camaraderie. Knowing you have a team, and you’re part of something you can respect.”
Reyes agreed. “That’s what I have now. It still sometimes deals with war-torn countries, but it could also be doing things like escorting a movie star on a trip.” He shrugged. “Or moving rare artifacts across the world. From day to day, absolutely no way to know what we’ll be doing.”
“But you’re still dealing with countries?” Vince asked. His gaze narrowed. “That means you’re a pretty big operation.”
“We’re not as big as the companies with defense contracts for other countries,” Reyes said. “I’m not sure Levi and Ice want to get into that or to get that big. But we have men traveling around the world all the time. A group is in Africa right now with another company we work closely with. Bullard needed a bunch more men for a couple jobs, so four of us are over there.”
Vince was surprised. “Now that’s interesting.” He leaned forward. “But let’s be honest. What about the pay?”
At that, Reyes laughed. “Considering everything that’s included, I’m doing way the hell better than I was in the service.”
Raina listened with interest. It was a different world to her, but she was so close to these men that she was glad for the insight. She hadn’t understood why Vince had left the navy. At the time he just gave her a crooked grin and said something about needing a different mind-set, needing to see other things than just the negative.
Even now she didn’t quite understand, but, if they were in war-torn countries, she couldn’t imagine it was very nice. She’d known Vince had gone to Afghanistan, and that had to be brutal too. But it sounded like Reyes was really enjoying life with the new company.
“We live together on the business property, called the compound, or some live outside the compound in apartments Levi built on his land close by. They have completely furnished family apartments on the property, and the actual main building itself has dozens of bedrooms. We have Albert and Bailey who run the kitchen, so we have three gourmet meals a day, unlimited coffee and treats. There is a rec center, a gym, a medical center that’s huge. Part of the reason why I’m here is the big pool. It’s being worked on right now. They’re tiling the inside, and Ice is trying to get the right plants to help create the look she wants.”
Vince stared at him. “Pool, weight room, medic center? How big is this place?”
Reyes smirked. “I think she’s up to twenty-two acres now, but the main compound itself is probably three or four acres. It’s quite the place,” he admitted. “We have two helicopters, and Ice is the pilot. She does a lot of the flights in and out as needed. Other than that, we fly out of the Houston airport.”
Raina was fascinated that the woman at the center yesterday was a helicopter pilot. She didn’t look like one. But she did have that no-nonsense, can-handle-anything look.
“Helicopters?” Vince asked, his tone low. “Seriously?”
Reyes leaned forward. “And that’s nothing. You should see our armory.”
She couldn’t help but catch the grin on Vince’s face and how his eyes lit up at Reyes’s words. “Well, there you go. Now you got his attention,” she muttered.
The men continued to talk. She listened, not part of the conversation. She pulled out her phone yet again and checked for a message from her sister, but there were none.
Her phone rang while she was holding it though. “Hi, Mom. I’m at a restaurant with friends,” she said. “I haven’t heard any updates from Reana.”
“Neither have I,” her mother said, her voice drawn and tired. “I’d hoped to sleep in this morning, but apparently I can’t.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything,” Raina said. She hung up and placed the phone beside her knife and fork.
The food arrived slowly, with the coconut pancakes first. By the time she got her plate, the men were already digging in. But then she was eating about half the amount they were. She had a traditional waffle with a fried egg and sausage on the side.
As she finished her last bite, placing her knife and fork on her plate, she looked up to see two police officers walking into the coffee shop. They stood at the entrance, their gazes slowly moving across the patrons. When they landed at her table, her heart sank.
“Uh-oh,” she said. “This doesn’t look good.”
Reyes looked at her with a frown. “What the devil do they want?” he muttered.
The men stacked their dirty plates to the side and reached for their coffee, almost as a defense mechanism. When the officers arrived, they looked at the three of them.
The first one asked, “Which one of you is Reyes?”
“I am,” Reyes said. “What can I do for you?”
Instead of answering him, they looked at Raina and asked, “Are you Raina Woodcroft?”
Slowly she nodded her head, her heart sinking even further. “What’s this about?”
“We need to know where you were last night.”
But they didn’t direct it at anybody in particular. It seemed like the police wanted to know where each of them had been last night.
“I was at home alone,” Raina said.
Reyes popped up next. “I was with my boss at her father’s house.” He rattled off the address.
“The whole night?”
Reyes frowned. “Yes, the whole night.”
“Can anyone vouch for that?”
She watched a stillness cross his face. “Well, I was with both of them up until I went to bed, and that was about eleven o’clock. Then I got up this morning, had a quick cup of coffee with the two of them before Vince picked me up for breakfast.”
“Did you sleep alone last night?”
He replaced the cup of coffee on the table in front of him, nodding slowly. “Yes, I did. But there is security at the house, and I’m sure it would record whoever was coming and going.”
The two officers exchanged a look and continued to write on their notepads.
Reyes repeated, “What’s going on?”
But they insisted on questioning Vince on his movements and then questioning Raina again.
Finally she couldn’t stand it. “Is this about my sister?”
The officers turned their gazes on her. “What about your sister?”
“We can’t find her,” she said boldly. “I called her last night and left messages. She called me back, and it was a very strange conversation. Then in the next hour or hour and a half, I got a series of calls from her, but nobody was on the other end. Vince went and checked out her place for me, but she wasn’t there. However, her phone was.”
By now the officers were writing furiously.
She waited until the pens stopped moving and in a hard voice asked, “What’s going on?”
The officers hesitated, and then one said, “We need the three of you to come to the station please.”
She shook her head. “I’m due at work very soon.”
Reyes, on the other hand, stood. “She’s dead, isn’t she?” he asked in a low voice. “It’s the only reason you’ve been acting like this.”
The officers studied him with fresh interest. “Did you have anything to do with her death?” one asked, his tone hard but low.
But Raina was stuck on Reyes’s words. She reached out and grabbed the officer’s arm. “Is my sister dead?” she whispered in a harsh, angry voice. “Are you telling me that my sister is dead?” Her voice rose. “Is Reana dead?” Pain, unimaginable pain ripped through her gut. She bent over, gasping for air.
Vince grabbed her hand. “Easy. We don’t know that for sure.”
But she looked at the officers and saw the answer in t
heir eyes.
Reana was dead.
*
Reyes’s stomach sank. He knew he shouldn’t have come back to California. Every time he was here, that damn woman caused him nothing but trouble. Immediately he felt sorry for his thoughts. It was the wrong thing to think and the wrong thing to feel. If Reana was dead, then it was devastating for her sister and her mom.
“What happened to her?” he asked, refusing to move. He still stood at the edge of the restaurant table.
He could see Raina shaking as she sat at the table. Vince still gripped her hand, trying to calm her down. It was a shitty way to find out your sister was dead. Notifying next of kin wasn’t usually done interrogation style.
“I guess you guys don’t get trained on how to inform family members of their deceased loved ones, do you?”
One of the officers winced, as if he realized how badly they’d misjudged the scenario. But the other one just glared at Reyes.
“When we pulled a list of people who most likely want her dead, you came at the top,” he said. “Sorry. We want to discuss your whereabouts for last night.”
“The only reason you would do that,” he said, his voice hard, his gaze straight at the officer, “is if she didn’t die of natural causes or of an accident.”
“She was found dead in her car, murdered,” the other officer said. “The vehicle was parked in the back of a large coffee shop parking lot.”
Reyes brushed off the policemen and helped Raina stand on her feet. She wrapped her arms around him. He could do nothing but hold her close. He wanted to clap his hands over her ears and stop this conversation, but it was way too late for that. She trembled in his arms. He wanted to take her away from this ugliness, yet knew it would be so much worse soon.
When he could, he looked at the officers and asked, “How?”
But the first officer wasn’t having any of it. “We’ll talk at the station, and maybe then you can tell us.”
He stiffened, but it was nothing compared to Raina’s reaction.
She spun and said, “You can stop looking at him as a suspect. If anything happened to my sister, a hell of a lot of people didn’t like her or had a grudge against her. You’re not picking on Reyes. He just got into town.”
