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“You’ve made a grave mistake, my friend. I always thought you didn’t take innocent lives.”
“I’ll simply repeat what you said. I didn’t kill him. If I were you, I’d be more worried about who did. I take that back. I’d be more worried about me.”
“Don’t do this, Dante. I know about your girl, remember?”
My voice dropped. I let every bit of the ice in my veins manifest. “If you think threatening her will help you, you’re wrong. She means nothing to me.”
“Yes. I can believe that. Someone already tried to kill her twice and yet, you walked away from her and left her all alone.”
“That’s interesting. We discussed the contract on me, but I never said anything to you about someone trying to kill Noemi. I’m done chatting, Delacroix. The only hope you have to stay alive is to give me some proof, that you’re not the one behind this fucked up mess. Until I get that information, until you convince me otherwise, you’re my next contract.”
I hung up on him.
Back in the car, I put the burner phone along with the fake id and credit cards that I used at the hotel into a baggie and put them into the suitcase for disposal.
I was buying time with Delacroix, time for him to decide if whoever was pulling his strings meant more to him than his own life did. He gave himself away when he mentioned Noemi. He was either sloppy or very clever.
If he didn’t kill that kid, someone else did. But he’s the one who hired Donald and put him in harm’s way. As far as I was concerned, Delacroix might as well have pulled the trigger himself.
He was also wrong about Noemi. She may have been back in Connecticut, but she was never alone. Gabriel made sure of that.
Though my little brother would take care of her, my stomach still clenched at the thought of what was coming next. I sure as fuck couldn’t trust Delacroix, and no matter how many men Gabriel had surrounding Noemi, there was always the chance one of them would slack off. Gabriel would be pissed if he ever heard me say that out loud, but if he had idiots like Jacko working for him, then I had reason to worry.
I pulled an alternate phone out of the glove box. It was three am, but he’d answer also. I just had to know that Noemi was all right.
He answered on the third ring.
“You’d better not be dead,” Gabriel growled.
“I’m fine,” I answered.
“Good. Then I can kill you myself.”
I heaved a sigh and started the car. “Take a number.”
He groaned into the phone. “Do you need anything? What can I do?”
“I’m fine. Just... busy with work.” What I really wanted was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t push the words out.
“Hmmmm. And that’s why you’re calling me at four am. To tell me how busy you are.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
I heard the rustle of covers and Gabriel’s voice became a little clearer.
“Noemi’s fine,” he said quietly. “I have people watching her house. I have a team following her. So far, there’s been nothing suspicious. She’s stayed to herself since she came home. We haven’t seen much of her. She was here yesterday, chatting with Ma.”
“How is she?”
“She’s pissed at you, bro. Probably plotting your demise for being the heartless bastard you are.”
I rolled my eyes while my heart sank. I knew she’d be angry and that our travels wouldn’t remain a secret. Like she had told me, she and Lilly talked about everything, but Noemi wasn’t the one I was referring to when I asked that question.
“I meant Ma,” I clarified.
“She’s fine. She has another round of testing next week. Nothing major happened this week. Some random things like forgetting where she put her purse or that she already poured a cup of coffee. Stuff like that.
“Are you really not going to ask about her? You’re more fucked up than I thought,” Gabriel growled when I didn’t say anything else.
“I just asked about Ma,” I snapped back.
“I was talking about Noemi!” he barked. I heard him take a deep breath. “Look, I don’t know what happened between the two of you when you went wherever the hell it was you went, but the woman who came back is not the same woman who left. Big brother, I love you, but you have some serious explaining to do.”
“I’ll be home soon,” was all I said right before I hung up.
If he thought I had some explanations to make now, wait until he saw what was going to happen next.
