I wondered if I would have to start doing the same thing.
But as I told him it all from the beginning, I could see a softening coming into his eyes. He was believing me. He could see the truth.
“So you were walking through the town square when the shots happened?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Obviously we didn’t notice them.”
His eyes narrowed slightly and he exchanged a look with Luisa. “But if these are trained assassins as they seemed to be, how did you not get hit?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Derrin pulled me in for a hug or something. The ground behind me exploded. Near miss. Then we ran.”
“And how well do you know this Derrin? Not at all, right?”
“I know him enough. He saved my life.”
Javier smiled to himself, almost smug. For some reason it reminded me of a snake. “So it would seem he did.”
I chose to ignore that. “So what do I do now? They’re after me because of you.”
His eyes turned cold. “So this is my fault is it?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Oh, I know what you mean,” he said coolly. “I have no doubt these people want to send me a message. But more than that, I think they mean to deliver the message themselves.”
“What does that mean?” I tried to fold my arms but Luisa held tight.
He tapped his long fingers along the cans on the shelf. Somehow his fingers were always so manicured. He must never had to do any dirty work these days.
“It means that it sounds like whatever has happened to you has been part of a more elaborate scheme, to bring someone you don’t know into your life. To make you trust them. To make it seem like your life is in danger.”
“It is in danger!” I yelled at him. A shopper passing by gave me a quick look before hurrying away.
“Keep your voice down,” Luisa warned me.
“Get your hand off of me,” I growled right back, ripping out of her grasp.
She took a step back, hands in the air, looking to Javier for his orders. He shook his head slightly and then turned his eyes back to me.
“Your life may be, but I have no reason to believe that bullet was ever meant to hit you. Same with the car. Same with the motorcycle chase. These people are fake. They are only making it look like they’re after you. How else could you explain that you got away?”
Because Derrin is way more than you think he is, I thought to myself. Even I don’t know what he’s capable of.
At that thought I had to wonder where he was right now. Surely he would have come out of the office and trailed me. He had to be watching but I was too nervous to look around and see.
“So what,” I said, “you think that this is all a ruse for me to trust him.”
He nodded sharply.
“And then what? Wait to kill me?”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s going to wait to kill you,” he said, so casually that it got under my skin. “But that’s not a promise. He’s waiting for you to come to me. Like you just have. He wants me to take you in.”
I shook my head. “No. No, he’s the one who didn’t like this idea. He wants me to stay with him, he told me it’s not safe for me to go off with you.”
He tilted his head, considering. “Well, that might be true. My place is no place for a lady.”
Luisa cleared her throat in annoyance. He flashed a disarming smile at her. “Luisa, love, you are no longer a lady. You’re a queen.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Ugh. Cheesy.”
He looked to me, not amused. “Whatever would I do without my sister acting like a brat?”
My mouth dropped open. “I am not acting like a brat! I’m scared Javier. I thought you would help me.” I looked to Luisa. “Or at least you. I saved your parent’s life, remember. I held onto them for weeks, do you think that was easy? We were all scared shitless.”
Luisa’s face momentarily crumbled. There was still a good, kind woman in there somewhere. She was just getting buried by Javier.
She glanced at him. “We should take her in.”
“No,” Javier said adamantly. “No. This is very clearly a trap. We would take her with us and he would follow. I have no doubt Alana that this man is not who he says he is. He is using you to get to me, to what he really wants.”
I placed my hands in my face in frustration before throwing them out to the sides. “So then what? You’re going to assume something you know nothing about and then you’re just going to leave me here? With someone you think aims to hurt you, hurt me?”
He frowned and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. “Don’t be so dramatic, Alana. Of course not. I’m just telling you you’re not coming with us. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”