Page 62 of Faded Gray Lines

“Brody sent him to San Marcos,” I reminded him, the thought agitating me even more.

“Yes, but Brody didn’t ask him to bed her.”

A car honked its horn, the owner flipping me off as I weaved into his lane. I didn’t want to think about Leighton and Luis together. Just hearing him say it out loud made me want to find Brody and punch him in the face.

“Maybe we’re looking at this all wrong,” he mused, oblivious to my jealousy. “What if Luis and Hector weren’t working together tohurtLeighton? What if they were working together to save her?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Has pussy rotted your brain? Look at the facts, Mateo. Hector is dead. By your own theory, the only person who would have anything to gain by his silence is already decomposing in a fifty-five-gallon drum. Someone didn’t want him to talk, and as you pointed out by his method of execution, they’re notfamilia.”

He was right. “You think someone else was after Leighton, and Luis enlisted Hector’s help in protecting her?”

“It’s a theory. One that could mean your girlfriend panicked and killed the messenger.”

My brain went into overdrive, trying to make connections between everything that had happened in the past few days and coming up with a shitload of questions with no answers. However, there was one path I itched to take. “Do you want me to confront Emilio?”

“Not yet.” When I growled my dissatisfaction, Val sharpened his tone. “How many times have I told you not to show your hand too early? Play strategically, Mateo. For now, I suggest you find whoever tried to make a hole in one with Diaz’s brain. That’s where you’ll find your connection.”

“Fine.”

“You have three days left,” he added before hanging up.

* * *

I drove around Houston, considering my options for the time I had left.

Leighton was already involved with the DEA. I could ask her to take everything to them and hope they made sense of it, but that would betray my own cartel, and I took an oath to Val. No matter what, I wouldn’t betray him. The only other option was to involve Brody by bringing him up to speed with everything I’d found, but that posed two major problems. I promised Leighton I wouldn’t involve her brother any more than he already was, and there wasn’t any easy way to tell a friend his mother was having an affair with his boss.

The clock on the dashboard radio read eleven-thirty. Leighton’s shift ended at eleven, and I briefly wondered if she was at the townhouse waiting for me. She knew the code to get in, so it wouldn’t be difficult. However, something told me after a conversation with her brother, I’d be sleeping alone tonight.

It was just as well. I needed to keep things calm between us. I’d all but forced Leighton to attend her mother’s campaign party on Wednesday. Now, with the asshole from the bar having an invitation and the existence of the tape acting as a smoking gun, there was no way in hell I’d let her go alone. As it stood, I didn’t trust any of them. Even Brody was on my radar.

Twenty-Two

Leighton

Monday morning,I woke up miserable and with eyes like worn sandpaper. Splashing water on my face did nothing to change the situation, so I opted for a shower instead. The hot water pelted my back, loosening some of the knots caused by my mother and Finn’s visit.

Mateo never showed up, and by the end of my shift, I was coming apart at the seams. I desperately needed a piece of my life back, and there was only one thing that could always make everything right when it went wrong. Unfortunately, once again I got a pleasant voice mail telling me to leave a message at the tone.

My skin was on fire by the time I turned off the water. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a simple red top, I tiptoed into the living room. “Brody?”

Ignoring the silence, my nose led me toward the kitchen table where a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon sat next to a glass of juice and a handwritten note. I grabbed the juice and the note and walked into the living room.

Lil’ Bit,

Put the juice down and eat the damn food I made you. I’m sorry I acted like an asshole yesterday, but you’re my baby sister. It’s my job to be an asshole.

~B

P.S. Talk to Mateo. Straighten this shit out before I do.

I groaned at his threat. Little did he know, I almost did.

I sighed, feeling strangely awkward. For the first time since arriving in Houston, I had the entire day off, and I wasn’t sure what to do with myself.

I’m going back to bed.