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He nods and I leave, making my way upstairs. It’s time to put another plan in motion.
* * *
It’s fifteen past four and neither Rey or Mariella have shown up, so I make my way downstairs, through the lobby, and out onto the street.
I head in the direction they’d be coming from if they took the train and walked from the station. I walk nearly three blocks before I spot Mariella in the mouth of an alleyway. She’s kneeling over Rey’s body, her head whipping from side to side, frantic and panicked, like she’s expecting someone to come back for her. Passersby give them both quick glances but nobody approaches. Typical in this city. Nobody wants to get involved in something that looks like it could cause them trouble.
My steps quicken until I’m at a jog. Her eyes gain a sense of relief when she sees me coming.
“Oh my god. Someone was following us. He tried to grab me, so Rey hit him and they started fighting. He took out a knife, but then Rey took him down and it went flying. He ran that way,” she says, pointing farther down the alley.
Rey’s got his back against the wall, his black jeans covered in dirt with rips in the knees. Mariella’s holding his bloodied hand while his other hand covers his right eye.
“You good?”
He nods, grunting as he forces himself up higher. “I’ll be fine. Fucker probably bruised my face though.”
“I’ll be right back,” I say, heading in the direction Mariella said he went.
“No, wait! Maybe we should call the cops.”
Rey and I speak at the same time. “No.”
“He should at least go to a hospital,” she yells as I continue walking.
“I’m fine,” I hear Rey say.
I get to the end and round the corner, but nobody’s there. When I walk back toward Rey and Mariella, I spot the knife and reach down to pick it up. It’s a switchblade.
Pocketing it, I reach for Rey’s unhurt hand and pull him up. “Does anything feel broken?”
He stretches his fingers and then makes a fist. “Nah. I think I’m good.”
“Your eye?” I ask, looking at it. “You’ll definitely end up with a black eye.”
“Great. Can we get back to the casino so I can get some ice on it?” he says with annoyance. “I don’t need it to swell too much.”
Reynaldo is anything but modest. He’s an attractive guy and very aware of his effect on both men and women.
“What?” Mariella exclaims as we start walking out toward the main street. “We’re not gonna take him to get looked at and we’re not calling the cops? So, that guy gets away with trying to kill him and attempting to abduct me?”
I spin around. “Nobody’s getting away with anything, Mariella, but we don’t include the cops if we don’t have to.”
“But he was after me. I don’t have to mention you, but considering this is the third guy who’s come after me, I think it’s time I take it seriously. What do they want with me? Why…why do they keep following me?” she asks, her voice breaking as she attempts to fight off tears.
“Look,” I start, but before I can finish my sentence, a man rounds the corner at the end of the alley, running at us at full speed with something in his hand.
“You stupid bitch,” he screams, lifting his arm as if he’s about to throw something. It’s then that I realize he’s holding a brick.
Mariella turns around and screams, scrambling backward.
The man is maybe fifteen feet away when I pull the switchblade from my pocket and hold it out, ready to strike.
“Get her out of here,” I bark at Rey.
He grabs her and rushes out onto the street, hopefully taking her straight to the casino. I plant my feet and wait for the man to get closer. He attempts to move past me, focused fully on Mariella, but I block his path and he runs straight into me, the blade pointing directly at him. He stops completely, his eyes widening as he looks into mine.
ChapterTwelve
