Wow. She was sounding less like a wife and more like a member of his team.
“So where is he?” I asked, scanning the parking lot.
She slipped her sunglasses back on. “He wants you to come meet him. On his terms.”
I stared at her blankly. I couldn’t leave this spot, not with Derrin watching.
She held out her hand for me and the diamonds on her rings blazed in the sunshine. “Come along, I’ll take you there.”
“Where?” I didn’t want to take her hand.
“Not here,” she said. “You’re not afraid of your own brother, are you?”
“Is he afraid of his own sister?”
She raised her brow for a second and then jerked her chin in the direction of Wal-Mart. “Come.”
I sighed, feeling horrible about this. I wasn’t afraid of Javier but being out of Derrin’s watch felt wrong and I knew he was probably freaking out – well, as much as Derrin can freak out – up in the office building. I just hoped he didn’t try and take Luisa out.
I grabbed her hand and she helped me to my feet. Once I was up, her grip was surprisingly firm which didn’t really sit well with me. It was almost as if I were being escorted somewhere, not led.
Somehow I resisted the urge to look over my shoulder in Derrin’s direction and I kept walking. Even though Luisa had shorter legs, I still had to hustle to keep pace with the cast on.
“That can’t be much fun,” she noted as she eyed me again. Her voice was softer now, like she was finally being herself and not the wife of Javier.
“None of this is fun,” I told her.
She made an agreeable sound and then took me toward the Wal-Mart doors.
“He’s in here?”
She nodded as the automatic doors opened for us and we entered the world of mayhem again. I was getting really sick of this store. “This is as safe a place as any,” she said, her voice lowered now.
“How is that possible?”
“Who would ever suspect Javier Bernal would be in a Wal-Mart? No one would even recognize him in here because they wouldn’t expect to see him. Hiding in a big SUV? Yes. In here, no.”
“So he’s unprotected.”
She led me down the aisles. “No, he’s never unprotected. He’s never alone. But take a look around and I bet you could never pick any of our men out.”
I briefly glanced around. I saw women pushing strollers, slobby looking men with giant beer bellies and trucker hats, short men wearing cheap dress shirts tucked into high-waisted jeans, a guy who looked like he just got back from surfing, store employees in starchy uniforms. They could be anyone. Or she could be bluffing. I would never know. Neither made me feel safer.
In fact, I didn’t even recognize my own brother until we were halfway down the canned food aisle. His back was to me and it looked like he was examining a can of beans or something. But of course as I got closer, I knew it was him without a doubt.
Even from behind, he dressed impeccably. His hair was a bit shorter now, not so shaggy at the back. I think last time I teased him that he was close to having a mullet like the redneck Americans do. He must have taken it to heart. Aside from his hair, he was wearing a crisp suit jacket, dark blue, and black pants. He wasn’t the tallest man in the world but he had a way of holding his body that could fool you into thinking he was.
We stopped a few feet behind him and even though I wanted to say something, I knew Luisa was the one who should.
“I’ve got her,” she said.
Got her? And with those words, the blood in my veins took on an icy touch, like I was hooked up to one of the IVs again.
Javier slowly turned his head to look at me, staring at me inquisitively for a moment. He didn’t smile, he didn’t say anything, he just studied me like I was some sort of imposter. His eyes were burning with that amber intensity they got when he, well, they were always like that.
Finally he looked down at my cast and up again to my face and tilted his head. “You look like you got hit by a truck.”
“It was a car,” I reminded him.
He raised his brow and then idly checked the gold watch on his wrist. “All right, let’s make this quick.”
I was a bit stunned. I wasn’t sure how I could make any of this quick. I wasn’t even sure what was supposed to take place.
“Do you want me to explain again what happened?” I asked. Luisa took her hand out of mine but now was holding my arm by the bicep. I looked at her slightly aghast but her attention was on her husband.
“Yes,” he said simply. He put the can back on the shelf and slipped his hands into his pockets. “From the start. From when you were hit by the car.”
Jesus, this was going to take forever, especially since he already knew most of this. But then I knew what he was doing. Javier has a way of sucking the truth out of you just by looking at you. He was discerning once and for all whether I was telling the truth or not. It bothered me that he hadn’t fully believed me yet but then again I guess he hadn’t survived this long by just trusting everyone, including family.