Page 118 of Queen Of Dark Money

Weall took a seat and listened to his story, all of us desperate to take our minds off the girl dying in the next room.Wecouldn’t help her now; it was up to the professionals to bring her back to us.

“Youguys have always known me asRafebecause on my birth certificate, that’s my legal first name.Butin college,Raphaelwas a bit old-fashioned, soIwent by my middle name–Daniel.Peoplecalled meDanny.Andwhen we met, that’s howIintroduced myself:DannySanchez.BecauseIdidn’t take my father’s last name untilImoved back here and took over his position in the law firm.”

Iwatched the realization break over all of us, one by one.Theonly man left unphased wasDom.Iwondered why, but there was no time to question his calm becauseRafewasn’t done telling us his truth.

“WhenIwas in my last graduate year in law school,Ilet a buddy drag me to a frat party whereIdrank far too much booze and hooked up with a girl who was out of my league on a normal day.WhenIrealized what we’d done,Ipanicked, and on my way out the door, she grabbed me for one last kiss and broke my necklace in two.Ileft one half with her, promised to call, and then never did.”Hesighed, his eyes glassy again, watching a scene play out in his memories only the two of them would ever see. “Ipussied out and never called her.Andthen, rumors started to fly.Rumorsthat, ifTheois to be believed, originated with her nosy roommate.Istarted to get taunted, stalked, and ostracized on campus, soIfinished my studies online and vowed to find her again one day and make her pay for making me look like a tiny-dick chump with rapist tendencies.”Heshook his head, hanging it in his hands as a sob burst forth from his chest and smacked every single one of us in the feels. “Ididn’t realizeit wasn’t her fault, and now it’s too late to tell herI’mfucking sorry.”

Rafehad never been emotional with any of us–sure, he andRiverhad something going on on the side, but it was purely sexual, to my knowledge.Hewasn’t the type to break down and cry like a baby in front of the men he knew would taunt him for it for the rest of his life.Butsomething about this time was different.Nota single one of us would ever mock him for being weak right now.Somehow, being weak forherwas okay, because we all felt it.

“Turnsout,” he muttered, his voice cracking, “Iwas almost a dad back then.Shetried to get ahold of me to tell meIgot her pregnant, and instead,Iblocked her and moved away.Andthen that fuckwad stalked her, ran her into a freezing river in the middle of winter, and she lost the–fuck!”

Wecould only watch on as he stood and stalked across the floor, snarling like a rabid beast in a cage, his shoulders tight, hands balled into fists in his hair, rage and sadness boiling over to form a heady, dangerous concoction of emotion that none of us could escape.

Ispotted the doctor heading for us before the others, the look on his face one of fear when he spotted the four grief and worry-stricken men waiting on his news.

No.Please, no.Notthat.

Hestopped a fair distance away from us, wringing his hands as he lifted the paper in front of his face and cleared his throat. “Um,Mr.Blake?”

Riverstepped forward, a grim set to his jaw, hands in his pockets to hide the blood on his hands. “Howis she?”

Thedoctor refused to meet our eyes as he spoke–never a good sign.IgrippedRafe’sshoulder, prepared to hold him off the poor man who was only doing his job, but he still hadn’tmoved from where he stood, waiting, his eyes hopeful, a bit of light shining through them.

“Wedid all we could.Shecame in without a heartbeat, and there was a substantial loss of blood–”

Rafespun into action, but instead of charging the doctor, he simply stormed off, his eyes bleak and rage-filled.Ifollowed quickly behind him, knowing someone had to keep him from killing off half the city in his despair.

Ididn’t need to stay for the customary formalities.The‘sorry for your loss’and ‘our deepest condolences’they bandied about as part of the training they got on dealing with family of deceased patients weren’t genuine emotions.Theysaw death every day as part of their job.Icouldn’t blame them for their disconnect.

ButIcouldn’t stand by and listen to it.Andapparently, neither couldRafe.

Igot to him just as he reached my car and realized he’d left his bike behind.Thepoor man was livid, holding out his hands impatiently in my direction, an expectant look on his face.

Iquirked a brow, trying for amused, but missing the mark by a mile. “Youneed something?”

“Yeah,” he growled, not in the least bit amused. “Gimmeyour keys.We’regoing somewhere.”

Ididn’t need to ask where.Itdidn’t really matter the destination.Heneeded to get away, to run, to put as much distance between himself and the harsh reality he couldn’t bring himself to accept as possible.

Anddeep down, so didI.

“I’lltake you anywhere you wanna go, but you’re not driving–”

Hereached out and gripped my shirt in his fists, yanking me to my toes.I’dnever seen him look so intimidating.Thiswasa side ofRafehe’d never shown us, and it was absolutely fear-inducing. “Give.Me.Your.Fucking.Keys.”

Itwasn’t my car.ItwasRiver’s.ButIhad the keys, and it didn’t look like now was the time to argue with the man before me.ThebestIcould do was hope he was in a clear enough state of mind to drive this car–and not off a pier with us in it.Wordlessly,Iswallowed my apprehension and handed him the keys, sighing in relief when he dropped me back to the ground.

Islipped into the passenger seat and buckled in, prepared for the unknown. “So, where are we going?”Iasked as he pulled out of the parking garage and burned rubber.

Hislaugh was evil, a twisted, malicious thing that encouraged a visceral response to the sound.Hedidn’t look at me as he maneuvered the expensive car onto the freeway, narrowly avoiding being clipped by a semi. “Imade a promise to a man, andIintend to keep it.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

RAFE

Ididn’t have a plan.Whenone decided on murder, spontaneously, as a result of pure, unbridled rage and unchecked grief, there was hardly time to formulate a strategy.ButIdid know three things:

TheoThompsonwas the reason she was dead.

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