Page 89 of Great White
I can’t stand not knowing if she’s okay. Not knowing if Marco is taking care of her, or if Raffi is giving her hell.
He’s definitely giving me hell.
The sun is just starting to rise, turning the sky a fiery orange. It blazes over the desert as far as the eye can see. How can a world with so much beauty can have so much malevolence?
Tires screeching on the pavement grabs my attention.
A car stops short in front of the unmarked parked across the lot.
Gunshots ring out, and I duck.
Crawling across the floor, the only thing I can think to do is run. I have no gun, no phone, not even shoes. But my instincts tell me to go.
Everything is suddenly quiet, so I wait just a heartbeat before I swing open the door and make an attempt for the broken fire escape.
My efforts are fruitless, though, because I don't even make it past the threshold before the barrel of a gun is shoved in my face.
I glare up at the man who’s now holding my life in his hands.
“You . . .”
22
Tate
The outsideof Toro Embolado is a literal crime scene.
I flash my badge at the officer behind the barricade, and he lets me through.
Taylor is gathered in an intimate crowd around the front door. It’s early morning, no more than five a.m., but the lights of the police cruisers and the ambulances light up the street like it’s midday.
I walk up on Taylor, and he greets me hello with a stern nod. I recognize who he’s conversing with. It’s Agent Cameron, the man who raided the club my first night on the job.
“Cameron, this is Collins,” Taylor introduces us. “He was working UC with the Deltoros until recently.”
I hear everything Taylor says, but I can't peel my eyes away from the ground. I’ve seen plenty of dead bodies in my time, but this one isn’t just any old DOA.
It’s Stefania Deltoro.
My limbs go numb from the sight of her. Her death wasn’t kind or pretty. She’s beaten and bloody and was shot execution-style.
Dove is going to be destroyed.
“Do we know who did it?” I ask as evenly as I can. I can’t show any emotion or regret, even though her death affects me, too. I may not have been in love with her, but we did share some intimate times. It’s hard not to acknowledge that during a time like this.
“We have our theories,” Cameron divulges.
“Have you talked to Marco Rayas? They’re together.”
“He’s on our short list. But we can’t find him.”
“In the wind?”
“Or something else?” Taylor throws in his own theory.
“Something else?”
Taylor lifts his hand, offering me a large brown envelope. “As tragic as Ms. Deltoro’s death is, this isn’t the only reason I called you down here.”
