Page 78 of Bazooka
I considered all the safe options before finally running my fingers through his hair.
“That’s nice,” Luz purred. “Keep doing that.”
Itwaskind of nice. His hair was soft like silk, and it felt good to touch it. I watched shadows playing on his face and I traced them with my finger, making him chuckle. I smiled too, loving the way his expression turned peaceful, and his body relaxed. His lips pouted, making me think of that kiss, but it suddenly didn’t seem like such a big mistake anymore. It seemed like something we could overcome.
Luz raised his hand, moving it blindly until it found mine. When our fingers intertwined, I looked around, feeling as if I were in a parallel universe. It was a beautiful day, and the park was filled with people lounging in the sun. For a moment in time, it made me forget about my line of work. Perhaps it even made me forget who I was. It was also why the text I got was more difficult to stomach.
Maddox:It’s done.
“Let’s go, Luz,” I said with a sigh. “We need to leave.”
As if he could feel that something was wrong, he immediately straightened up.
“What is it?”
“Something I need to take care of. Work-related.”
After we packed our things, I led him to my car.
“Aren’t we going back to the station?” he said, frowning in confusion.
“No, I need to deal with this first. It won’t take but an hour, yeah?”
“What is it?”
“I’ll tell you when we get there.”
“Does it have anything to do with that Mendoza guy?”
“No. These guys are worse.”
After a short and silent drive filled with tension, we reached the Bradford Motel.
“Stay in the car,” I said and turned off the engine. “I’ll be right back.”
I didn’t want him in panic mode before it was necessary, so I kept my mouth shut.
After I found the room that I was looking for, I knocked on the door.
“Come in.” I heard Maddox say.
I entered the room and closed the door behind me, scanning my surroundings. Maddox was lying on the bed and watching a cartoon on TV. He was cackling, but his gun was pointed at the four large guys kneeling in front of the bed. I ignored the voice in my head, which told me something was very wrong with my colleague, and concentrated on the perps. I recognized them immediately from the photos Marcello sent me. One of the guys had a black eye, probably courtesy of Maddox. The other one had blood running out of his nose, also courtesy of Maddox. All four of them were gagged with… their socks?
“They weren’t cooperative,” Maddox explained. “I had to convince them to stay.”
“What’s that?” I said, pointing at the bunch of incriminating stuff on the table.
“Oh, the usual,” Maddox replied. “Three kilos of heroin, a few bags of oxy, some cocaine, two hunting knives, and a gun they don’t have a license for. These boys were having a party, and they didn’t invite us. They even tried to convince the maid to join them, but her screams for help told me she wasn’t in the mood. I told her to go to the hospital so they could fix her broken nose, and I gave her some money. She refused the money and said something that sounded like,Mata a esos malditos imbéciles de que lo haga yo mismo. Or something like that. I don’t speak Spanish. She also said she wants to press charges. Oh, and the local drug dealer dropped by, but he split when he saw me.”
“‘Kay, give me a minute.”
I went back to the car and motioned for Luz to follow me. When we reached the room, I touched his arm, making him look at me.
“Do you trust me?”
He blinked in confusion. “Of course.”
I opened the door and led him inside. As soon as he spotted the perps, he gasped and slammed his head into my chest, turning his back to them.
