Stranger Danger by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

Author:Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy [Murphy, Lee Ann Sontheimer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“When I was summoned by a Capitan, high up in the M13 ranks, I had no idea what would go down,” he said. “I thought then maybe my cover had been blown. After all, although LA is a big place, a lot of people know who I am and would know I wasn’t Javier. But it was home turf for me, and I figured I could get lost if they found out I was a cop. Instead, they said I would be sent to Arkansas, as muscle here. I wasn’t very happy about it, querida, because I knew nothing about the state. I thought it would be all hillbillies like the Clampett clan or else like Mayberry from those old Andy Griffith television shows.”

Sara nodded. She’d thought the same until she met Erik. “Did you know I lived here, in Bentonville?”

Santiago shook his head. “No. All I remembered was University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.”

“You could’ve asked my mom or someone.”

“De ninguna manera,” he replied. “Remember, I’d been undercover, living as Javier for two years. I was in deep. I haven’t seen my mama or Luis or Gabi for a long time. And when I did, it required some major planning.”

“Wait a minute. You haven’t seen or talked to your family in over two years?” The Ruiz family had always been closer than most, so she found it difficult to imagine.

“I didn’t say that, la muñequita. It’d been awhile, though. Sometimes Luis drove down to San Diego and so did I to meet on the pier there. Gabi brought Mama to Las Vegas for a long weekend and I met them, but I had to be very careful. They don’t even know I’m in Arkansas.”

“Or in danger.”

“Si,” he said. “And the less they know the better.”

“What about me?”

Santiago rolled his eyes. “When you didn’t know, you were safe, chica. Not long after I arrived here, I saw you and figured out you lived in town. I kept my distance, for your sake, not mine.”

He’d reached the first part she didn’t like. “But you watched me like a stalker. You could’ve said ‘hi’ or something.”

Before she’d finished, he was shaking his head. “No, I couldn’t. I wanted you safe. Besides, you know me, not Javier.”

Point taken and understood. “Okay, that’s true, but you must’ve followed me around to find out where I lived, about Pretties and Posies.”

Strange to think he’d been in town for six months before she knew it. He’d inhabited the same space and she hadn’t been aware. I should have known, suspected, felt something. But she hadn’t as she plodded through her routines.

“I did,” he said in a soft voice. “And you never noticed.”

Sadness tinged his voice and she wondered if he’d hoped she would. “I didn’t, though...” Her voice trailed into silence as invisible fingers crawled up her spine. Until now, she’d thought little about it, but there had been two incidents, moments when she sensed someone watching. “Santiago, did you trail me to Crystal Bridge?”

The world

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.