âNothing like a little excitement in the middle of the day.â
As Caleb spoke over the sound of the smoke detector blaring, he looked at Maggie. His eyes were penetrating, piercing as though she were smoke he was trying to see through.
âSo tell me, Margââ
She put her fist to her mouth and coughed in a desperate and hackneyed effort to stop him from asking about her. If he started probing Margaretâs life, sheâd probably tell him the truth about herself.
âAre you OK?â His concern was real and she felt the bite of guilt she always experienced when a subject expressed concern over her faked moments of weakness.
This was no different. In fact, seeing the worry in his blue eyes was worse. I gotta get out of this job, she thought. Caleb Gomez is going to be the last person I trick. The last person I lie to and hurt.
âJEFE!â
The door to Benny Delgadoâs office crashed open and ricocheted off the cheap wood paneling on the wall behind it.
Bennyâs semiautomatic was in his hand, safety off and aimed at the intruderâs heart before the walls stopped trembling.
âJesus,â Benny sighed when he realized whom he nearly killed.
His younger brother, Miguel, stood in the doorway like a dog waiting to come in. âSorry, jefe, butââ
âThe door was shut, Miguel,â Benny said, laying the gun back on the desk.
âI know, but you needââ
âThe door was shut.â He folded the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle heâd been doing and arched an eyebrow at his little brother.
Miguel twitched and cracked the knuckles on his right hand, clearly worked up about something, which was odd for Miguel. He was usually too high to get agitated about anything. But whatever was wrong, there was no reason to break the one damn rule Benny insisted on.
When the door was shut, Miguel was supposed to knock.
The rule was put into effect during a particularly nasty period when one of his soldiers was suspected of cooperating with federal agents.
Benny tried to protect his brother from the bloodier aspects of the business.
Finally, Miguel sighed heavily, stepped back and knocked on the open door. âThereâs something on the news you gotta see.â
It was their motherâs fault, Benny thought. Sheâd babied Miguel, allowed too many weaknesses to grow underneath the profile that was so much like her long-dead husbandâs.
Benny, she always said, looked like a mongrel. Bits and pieces of no one in particularâa fact that had never inspired much maternal devotion.
In the end he was better for it. Stronger than his beautiful brother.
âThis better not be an excuse to get the Lakersâ score on my TV.â Benny reached over to the remote control at his elbow and turned on the giant flat-screen monitor on the other side of the room.
âItâs not.â Miguel came to stand beside Bennyâs desk.
âWhat are you doing watching the news, anyway?â Benny asked, looking at his brother from the corner of his eye. Miguel wore the white tank top and oversize khaki work pants that were the uniform for Chicano street thugs in Los Angeles.
Benny had stopped dressing the part of a petty criminal years ago; looking like a thug raised too many red flags for the cops. And once he stopped being a petty criminal, he could no longer afford the attention.
âLita was watching it. Turn up the volume, jefe. Jesus, you got enough stereo equipment to blow the roof off.â Miguel pointed to the flat-screen TV and high-tech stereo equipment that stood out like a shiny technological thumb in the dumpy room. âYou could at least listen to it.â
Benny could afford better than this crappy houseâwith its water-stained ceilings and fraying carpetâin Long Beach where his mother grew up, but he liked it here. He had grown up here, was safe here.
âChannel twenty-four,â Miguel said. He crossed his arms over his chest and tucked his hands into his armpits. âThey been talkinâ about it every fifteen minutes.â
Benny changed the channel and turned up the volume so he could hear the special report, wondering what it was that inspired Miguel to watch the news.
ââthe American journalist who was held hostage in Baghdad then rescued in a daring prison break that cost the lives of three American soldiers, is being released from the hospital today,â the blond anchorwoman with the great tits said. âCaleb Gomezââ
A photo of a good-looking man with dark skin and blue eyes flashed on the screen and Bennyâs body went cold.
âSee? Isnât thatâ?â
Benny held up his hand and his brother quieted. Transfixed by the image of the Hispanic man on the screen, Benny stood and walked around his desk.