“Well, hell,” he muttered. He and Malcolm had both suspected the so-called thief had been set up, but they hadn’t been sure. Malcolm had mentioned he was working on something. Apparently he’d figured out who was doing what and had called in the authorities. But why hadn’t he told Santiago?
He hurried inside but came to an abrupt stop as he saw his brother being led away in handcuffs.
“What is going on?” he demanded.
The cops ignored him and Paulo didn’t look at him or say anything. Santiago started to follow, but stopped when he saw Callie and Malcolm. Malcolm made sense but Callie?
She saw him and went pale. For a second, he thought she was going to run, but why? And what about his brother?
“Tell me what the hell is happening,” he demanded as he approached. “Why is Paulo being arrested? What have you been doing here? Dammit, Malcolm, if you’re screwing with my family...”
“It was Paulo,” Malcolm told him. “He was the one stealing from us. He set up the whole thing and wanted one last score before we computerized the rest of the warehouse.”
Santiago stared at him. “No way. He wouldn’t do that.”
“He did it.”
“You made a mistake.”
Callie looked at him. “It was him,” she said quietly. “He blackmailed me into helping him because he knew about my past and he wanted to pin the whole thing on me. He said he messed with the alarm and the security system. He said he could get into the accounting programs, so you’ll want to check that.”
He didn’t believe her. He couldn’t. “You’re lying.”
Malcolm stepped between them. “She was wearing a wire, Santiago. We all heard him.”
He couldn’t believe it. “Not my brother. I got him this job. He’s family. He would never...” He glared at Callie as anger burned hot and bright. “What did you do to him?”
“Me? I didn’t do anything. He threatened me. I went to Malcolm right away. And if you’re going to ask why I didn’t tell you, this is the exact reason.” She swallowed. “I knew when it came to your family, you would side with them regardless and I was right.”
She took a step toward him and met his gaze. “You’re wrong about me and you’re wrong about your brother. I didn’t do anything, but you can’t see that, can you? It can’t possibly be Paulo. He’s one of you and I’m just that piece of ass.”
He flinched. “I never said that. You’re not being fair.”
“Me? What about you? You’re accusing me of setting him up. Of making this happen. What else am I supposed to think?”
She was making sense, only he couldn’t seem to believe her. Someone had to be to blame and it couldn’t be his brother.
“He’s family. I have to stand with my family. He’s the one who—”
She took a step back. “Matters. He’s the one who matters. You’re right. It was never going to be me, was it? Because for all you said, all you promised, in the end, I’m just the girlfriend and they’re your family.” She looked at Malcolm. “I’ll be waiting outside.”
“You don’t have to. I’ll take you home right now.”
He took Callie’s hand and pushed past Santiago. Together they walked out of the warehouse.
Santiago stood staring after them. He should go talk to her, he thought. Tell her...
Tell her what? That it was okay? It wasn’t. What she’d done couldn’t be forgiven. She was right—family was family and she was just...
He sucked in a breath, not sure how to define exactly who she was. Not that it mattered. He had bigger problems than her walking out on him.
chapter thirty
Callie spent Tuesday morning with the Alberto’s Alfresco attorney, giving her statement to the police. Once the paperwork was signed, she went back to the warehouse to start her shift. While parking, she realized she hadn’t bothered to tell her supervisor that she would be in late. As she considered her options, hysterical laughter, brought on by exhaustion, threatened. She supposed she could simply tell him she was part owner and that she was giving herself an excused tardy. That would go over really well.
She hadn’t slept at all the previous night. Of course she was upset about what had happened with Paulo but what really got her was her conversation with Santiago.
She’d believed him, had trusted him and in the end, he’d betrayed her. He hadn’t even once thought about the situation from her point of view. When push had come to shove, he’d walked away from her. She’d been busy falling in love with him and he hadn’t cared about her at all.
She was still trying to reconcile herself to that ugly truth and she had a feeling there was plenty more pain to come.
She walked into the warehouse and went to clock in. On her way to the locker room, she spotted Frankie. Her friend stared at her before hurrying over.
“Is it true?” Frankie demanded, her gaze sharp, her tone edgy.
“Is what true?”
“All of it? That you’re not who you said. That you’re Malcolm Carlesso’s sister and really rich and that you were in prison and that you had Paulo arrested.”
Callie came to a stop and emotions flooded her. Shame, fear, anger and regret all blended into a stomach-churning mixture that left her barely able to stay upright.
“Is it true?” Frankie demanded. “Is that why you were here? To spy on us? To report back to your brother on all of us? I thought we were friends. I looked out for you.”
Callie wanted to scream. This was so like the conversation she’d had with Santiago the previous night, only this time she was the bad guy.
“It’s not like that,” she began, wanting to explain so Frankie understood. “I wasn’t spying.”
Frankie’s eyes went cold. “So it is true. You lied about everything, didn’t you?”
“I—”
Before she could say anything else, Frankie walked away. Callie stood in the center of the hallway, aware of people walking past her, watching her, whispering about her, judging her.
She wanted to yell that it wasn’t her fault—that she’d done the right thing. Paulo had been the one stealing, not her. Only she had a bad feeling Frankie’s accusations didn’t have very much to do with Paulo. Instead they were about Callie—what she’d told them and what she’d concealed.
She saw Beverly, one of her work friends, and moved toward her. Beverly shook her head.
“No way. Don’t even think about it. You lied and I don’t forgive that.”
Callie felt the awfulness of the situation and didn’t know how to fix it. She wanted to call out that she was the reason they had a new lever in the basket department and she’d been the one to get Malcolm to change the leave exchange policy, but she knew that wouldn’t matter. As much as she felt betrayed by Santiago, they felt betrayed by her.
She left and drove home. She climbed up to the second floor and walked into her bedroom. She looked at the pretty decorations, the elegant furniture, then crossed to her closet.
She didn’t belong here. She’d never belonged here, she’d only been fooling herself. She was some kid from nowhere, an ex-con who couldn’t help screwing up no matter what. She would never fit in, never be comfortable anywhere. Certainly not here.
She grabbed the battered suitcases she’d brought with her when she’d flown to Seattle and tossed them on the bed. After opening one of them, she began dumping in the contents of her dresser, then pulled clothes from the closet. Only they didn’t fit. The first suitcase overflowed and there was no way she was going to get it closed.
Fine! She would leave everything. Just leave it all. She would get in her car and drive. She had money. Not just the trust, but her paychecks. Except for clothes and the gifts she’d bought Keira and their mani-pedi dates, she hadn’t spent much. She could drive until she found somewhere that made sense. Or maybe just a place where she could get lost and—
“What are you doing?”
She spun and saw Keira staring at her from the doorway to her room.
“What are you doing home?” Callie asked, surprised to see her sister. “It’s barely noon.”
“It’s the last week of school. We only have half days.” Keira’s eyes were wide and filled with fear. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
Callie felt the stab of the question all the way to her heart. “I have to,” she whispered. “I can’t explain it, but I have to. I’m sorry.”
Keira began to cry. “You said you loved me. You said we’d always be together.”
“I know, but—”
“No!” Keira’s voice was a scream. “No! You’re not leaving me. You can’t. I need you. I know where there’s more luggage. I’m coming with you. You have to take me with you. You can’t leave me behind. Callie, you can’t. You promised.”
The teenager’s pain and fear were tangible forces in the room. They grew and filled every corner, sucking out all the air and burning all they touched. When Keira sank to the floor and started to sob into her hands, Callie realized she’d damaged someone she’d promised to always care for. Until this second, she hadn’t realized the awesome power of love and trust.