“But we have to do something,” I sighed.

  “What?” he demanded. “Save the world from itself? It’s not like those men are innocents who deserve protection. They wanted to hurt you. Leave them alone, Maria. Maybe they’ll just keep killing one another until they’re all gone.”

  Carlos turned away from me and I pulled the sheet back across my body. He grabbed a piece of bacon off the plate and chewed it absentmindedly.

  “It wouldn’t be hard to disappear,” he continued. “Oscar took off. We could, too. We could head for Canada. Just jump in the car and drive north.”

  “We have no money.” I curled my legs close to my body.

  Carlos stopped chewing and looked at me as if I had no clue of his life. “I have money in the bank,” he said. “I know I look rough, Maria. I’m not the pretty boy my brother is, but I have money. I can take care of you now.”

  My shoulders tensed as a tremble went through me. That money was dirty from the people Carlos had hustled to get it. How could I touch it after I had sworn to live a moral life? I’d be just like the people whose names were written in my journal.

  I looked at Carlos as he stared out the window that was the length of the wall, with a view of the crystal blue lake below. The sun was bright, and waves danced across the water as the light reflected off its glittering surface.

  Carlos’s eyes were a deep, rich brown until the sun rested on them, and then they shone like an iridescent gem. I wanted to stare into his eyes and believe everything would turn out right. I wondered if Carlos would have taken a different path if he hadn’t thought he had to take care of me.

  Turning, Carlos caught me staring and his gaze rested on mine. “Maria,” he said. “You worry too much. I’ll keep you safe. I’ve proven that to you. Have I not?”

  He brushed his right hand against my cheek, and I trembled. It was the hand that had killed Aaron. But what if Carlos hadn’t killed him? I gripped his hand tightly and pressed my lips against it.

  “Let’s be happy for today,” he said, “and we’ll worry about tomorrow when it comes.” He smiled as he sat against the headboard and placed the plate of buttered toast, bacon, and scrambled eggs on my lap.

  “I hope you’re not a vegan or we may have to go outside and take nuts from the squirrels.”

  I snapped a piece of bacon in two. “Normally, I try to eat healthy, but bacon is crack to a vegan.”

  “Well then this house is loaded.” He grinned.

  ***

  After we’d explored the cabin three more times and walked around the surrounding woods, Carlos and I poked through all of Emilio’s personal items stored in the closets, including a collection of biker magazines, porn DVDs, and hookah. Finally we found something useful - a bunch of bathing suits in a guestroom closet. Around noon, Hector drove up in a Mercedes sedan to pick up his car.

  “I brought you some supplies,” he said handing Carlos several stuffed shopping bags.

  Carlos dumped the bags out onto the kitchen table. Ground beef, corn on the cob, and other groceries tumbled out. He dumped the other bag, and a box of condoms bounced off the table and landed on the floor. He cocked an eyebrow at Hector then scooped the box off the floor and shoved it back in the bag. My face turned beat red as Hector laughed a deep belly laugh. Carlos just smirked. I had to admit it was funny, and we did need them. In the end, we all shared a good laugh.

  The day was unseasonably warm, and Carlos invited Hector to hang out for a while. Hector told us there were no updates. And nothing had been reported on the news. It didn’t feel right to me. There had to be something going on.

  The gas grill sizzled and Hector threw on some steaks. We sat on the patio at a glass table under a café style umbrella. Hector wasn’t interested in swimming in the lake, but eased himself into the spa instead. We joined him and smoked three of Emilio’s best cigars while sipping his expensive whiskey. Well, I tried the cigar, but gave it up after a coughing fit.

  “This is the life,” said Hector. “I don’t often enjoy how the other half lives.”

  “I noticed you didn’t go inside Emilio’s house,” said Carlos.

  “He told me I’d have to buy a suit.” Hector chuckled, blowing out a band of smoke. “He wants us off the bikes and in BMWs. That’s not my scene.”

  “Are you thinking of leaving the MC?” I asked, eyeing Carlos.

  Hector quieted and didn’t answer. It was dangerous to ask and foolish to answer. He puffed deeply on the fragrant cigar and let out a puff of tobacco-scented smoke.

  “The club is my life,” replied Hector. “It’s hard to turn your back on the only thing you know.”

  Carlos nodded before staring off into the distance. The sun had sank in the sky as it balanced above the tops of the pine trees. Hector heaved himself out of the spa and headed inside to dress and go back to Mesa. It was odd standing at the doorway beside Carlos as we waved goodbye to him. This glimpse of domestic bliss wasn’t how any of us had pictured our hard-tumbled lives; it was a taste of what might have been had we been born in a different neighborhood.

  Carlos hugged me around the waist, pulling me against his tempting body. I rubbed myself against him, letting my breast slide against his side. His breath grew heavy and heated my skin.

  “If you keep that up,” he said, “I’m going to have to open that box of condoms.”

  I smiled and pressed my bottom against his hard-on. I wiggled my hips slowly and lifted my arms behind me to stroke his broad shoulders. I felt sexy with him and free to express my desires.

  Carlos growled in my ear and nestled me into his arms. The stiff, hard bulge in his nylon shorts pressed against the small of my back. He slipped my breasts out of my swimsuit and massaged my nipples in his hands while licking my neck.

  “Carlos, not here,” I protested weakly. “Someone might see.”

  “Who? The squirrel in that tree? Hector is long gone.” He nipped the side of my neck and pinned me in his strong arms. “What room have we not done it in yet?” He laughed.

  Yanking off the top of my swimsuit, I turned to face him. “I’d liked to cum in front of a raging fire,” I purred.

  I tossed the top toward him and Carlos caught it in his hand as I darted back into the house, heading for the living room. It was the perfect setting for making love, with a huge fireplace in the center surrounded by a mantle of slate. Thick, plush carpet covered the floor in front of it. I grabbed the throws off the couches and tossed them over the floor while Carlos started the gas fireplace. The flames blazed as I lay naked on my tummy, waiting for him to turn around. His erection bounced out of his shorts when he pulled them off and pitched them away.

  Naked and exposed, I felt naughty lying in front of a sexy man who wanted me. Carlos’s body was fit, strong, and made to please me. He held his thick erection in his hand and stroked it while I licked my lips.

  “I’ve been hard all day,” he admitted. “I had to jump in that cold water to make it calm down.”

  I giggled, kicking my feet back and forth as I lay on the furry throw. “I’ll tell you a secret,” I said. “I’ve been drenched all day thinking about how big you are.”

  Carlos smiled as he continued to stroke his cock, spreading the pre-cum over the tip. “I like that dirty talk,” he said. “What else have you been thinking about?”

  I rolled onto my back and opened my legs wider to show him. Placing my hands on my wet pussy, I stroked myself and listened to his loud breaths.

  “I’ve been thinking how you feel so good when you stretch me apart.”

  My hand glistened and I lifted a finger to my mouth and sucked.

  Carlos knelt between my legs and placed his mouth on my aching pussy. I moaned as his tongue tasted my juices. My eyes fluttered when his tongue circled around my clit in slow, teasing movements.

  I grabbed his silky dark hair and tugged his mouth into me. I moaned as he flicked his tongue and drove a finger into my throbbing hole. My body was overcome with the delicious sensations I had missed, making me suck in a breath of air. My hips bounced against the floor and I climaxed hard. I didn’t know how I could’ve thought any other man would compare to Carlos.

  I held my arms open to him as he crawled over me. His cock was heavy and thick between our fiery bodies. I opened my knees wider and he lowered himself onto me. He pushed in hard making me let out a grunt. I grabbed his buttocks. Pulling him tighter, I wanted him in me as I tossed my head side to side. My body tingled with lust and arousal. Carlos worked himself into me, his mouth brushing against my breast. I panted as he spread me further apart. The heat in my tender pussy consumed him as I let him in. I pressed my lips against his sweaty skin, any skin I could reach with my mouth, as Carlos built up a rhythm. I banged my hips hard against him so I could feel more of his thickness nestled deep in me. He would always be my love and the only man my body would crave.

  With a shout, I came again as he pummeled deeper with jerky punishing movements. I dug my nails into his back, and Carlos cried out as his cock released into me. He wore a condom, but I knew one day I would feel him completely.

  The room was hot from sex and the fire. Carlos turned down the flames and I looked around the room for something else to do. I needed a break.

  There was an old television on a wooden cart facing the corner of the room. On the lower shelf was a DVD player. Emilio had a porn collection that would make a hormonal boy salivate with envy. Carlos didn’t watch much television, and I wasn’t interested in porn, so Carlos plugged in the old set and searched for a local channel.

  Wrapped in a throw, we sat watching an old procedural crime drama and I told him everything the actors were doing wrong. Carlos laughed and cuddled me close, stroking my tummy as I lay against his broad chest.

  After the rerun ended, the local news started, and we froze. Alert, Carlos’ hand slipped off my body, and I sat up straight. Our faces flashed on the news, side by side. Carlos dove for the set and turned up the volume as high as it would go.

  The attractive reporter spoke with confidence. “The couple is wanted for questioning in the death of a Lt. Aaron Drake, a sheriff’s deputy. They are believed to have had contact with the man before he died. Deputy Lopez had recently arrested Morillo in an unrelated incident.”

  Sheriff West appeared on the screen surrounded by microphones and reporters. “We’re concerned for the safety of Deputy Lopez. We’re asking the public to call with pertinent information. Do not approach the suspect; he may be armed and dangerous.”

  The reporter’s solemn face filled the screen again. “The sheriff’s department emphasizes caution. Call the stop crime hotline if spotted. This is Jocelyn Pruitt reporting. And in other news,” she smiled, “two pandas are visiting the city zoo.”

  With a slap of his hand, Carlos shouted as he turned the television off. Holding his fist, he fell against the couch, and I sat in shock trying to process what I’d seen. Feeling cold and uncertain, I wrapped a cover around me and climbed off the floor to stand in front of him. Carlos wouldn’t look at me.

  “What did Hector do with the body?” I demanded.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Then how do they know we’re involved?” My voice was shrill.

  Carlos looked at me in frustration. “I don’t know,” he replied.

  I sobbed in defeat. “I knew better. I should have gone to Sheriff West in the first place.”

  “For what? Protection?” Carlos stood up grasping my shoulders. “At least we’re safe here.”

  “We’re wanted criminals!” I shrieked.

  “I’m the criminal. I’m dangerous and wanted. You’re only wanted for questioning.”

  Whirling in circles, I said, “I need my phone. I have to call West.”

  “No,” Carlos’s eyes were stone, and I stopped in my tracks. “I’ll call Emilio.”

  I wanted to argue, but I couldn’t. I needed to figure this mess out. Carlos was silent as he withdrew into himself. But he was right. Things would have been worse if we hadn’t fled Mesa.

  Without speaking to him again, I went upstairs to dress. I didn’t feel like eating so I lay down on the bed. A little later, Carlos came into the bedroom. He looked at me, stretched out in my street clothes with the curtains drawn and the light on.

  “Are you okay?”

  I nodded.

  He walked over to the bedside table and flicked off the light.

  “I’m going to sleep downstairs and wait for Hector to call.” He paused, but I didn’t respond.

  I curled tighter into a ball as I listened to Carlos’s footsteps head downstairs.

  Chapter Ten

  CARLOS

  Maybe I should have climbed into bed with Maria and not retreated to the couch. But I saw the disappointment in her eyes and knew she blamed me for how things had turned out. Even for the things I’d had no hand in. I’d promised her I would protect her, and physically, I had. With Hector’s gun, I’d kept her sweet body from being harmed. She was mine, and I wouldn’t allow another man to touch her. But how could I protect her emotionally when I couldn’t even protect my own fractured spirit?

  The dying flame in the fireplace cast swaying shadows that moved across the ceiling. I lay on the couch in semi-darkness and stared out the window. If Maria hadn’t found me at the church, I’d be dead. But I wasn’t anxious to stay alive. When your number is called, you go.

  I tossed and turned against the bulky pillows on the couch and finally yanked them out from under me, letting them flop onto the floor. I wondered what had gone wrong and replayed the events in my mind. Emilio was always vigilant and meticulous. The cleaning crew knew where to hide things. How did the authorities link it together?

  Estúpido, the sheriff must have sent the man and when he didn’t come back, he guessed what had happened.

  I should have known better than to think Maria and I could start over again as if the past hadn’t occurred. I was worried about Maria’s future, but I hardly thought of my own. I tossed my body against the back of the couch, but my muscles were tight and sore in every position. Remembering the look on Maria’s face made me feel useless again. Did she think I’d let her down? I’d thought this time I could ride in and rescue her from the streets so she wouldn’t have to do it alone. Had I been wrong?

  Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and gave up on sleep. My phone flashed three a.m. It just confirmed I wasn’t getting any sleep tonight. The phone vibrated in my hand, making me jump. The display read, ‘Luis.’

  “You up?” I answered and stiffly leaned back against the couch.

  “Of course. Good, you picked up,” Luis replied. “I’m checking in with you, little bro.”

  “You see the news tonight?” I asked.

  Luis sucked in his breath before he answered. “Yeah, I saw it.”

  “Did they mess up the cleaning?” I asked. “El is always careful.”

  “They were careful,” he replied. “You know I do what I can to take care of you. And he has her best interest at heart.” We never referred to Emilio on the phone by name. We called him ‘El,’ short for ‘the Cazadores.’ In fact, we avoided names and locations as much as possible. Who knows who was listening tonight?

  I corrected him. “You mean El has his own best interest at heart.”

  Luis sighed loudly. “In her case, it’s what saved her ass. Why did she go snooping around the rich man’s house anyway? Is she loco?”

  We called the mayor the ‘rich man’ because he worked at City Hall.

  “You know her. She has to save the world singlehandedly from itself.”

  “You need to control your woman,” said Luis.

  “She’s not my woman.” My response was harsh, as if words could stop my brother’s perceptive comments. Nothing was certain between me and Maria. Not yet.

  I sat up on the edge of the seat and glared at the fading light searching for direction in the cooling embers.

  “Not according to your visitor. He could feel the tension between you two steaming up the room. Did you enjoy her yet?” Luis chuckled at my distress.

  “And you wonder why I don’t answer when you call.” I said back.

  “Sorry,” he replied. “I forget how sensitive you can be. But don’t hang up. El has a plan.”

  I sighed and stood up to pace over by the fireplace. I hit the gas switch leaving the room in darkness except for the moonlight from the tall, clear windows. “What kind of plan? Will this one work?”

  “It will,” Luis replied. “Our friend was serving soup the other day. The homeless hear things when people ignore them. The rich man has some dirty contracts.”

  I knew he meant Armando, or he could have meant Jane. They worked together at the 8th Avenue soup kitchen but only one of them was there for altruistic reasons.

 

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