Page 50 of Renegade

“Not that big a deal, ma’am,” Miguel reassured her as they shook hands.

After doing the same with her lawyer, the two of us headed out of the Getty, getting lots of stares as we made our way through the large museum, headed for the truck.

“Now, tell me the rest, Miguel,” I said as he slipped into the passenger seat beside me, snapping his seatbelt into place.

“There’s nothing more than I told them. I swear it, Sunshine.”

But there was something and I couldn’t stand the fact that he’d just lied to me.

“I noticed you didn’t mention the incident in McNulty’s office, and I know you haven’t told me everything.” He squirmed in hisseat, and I knew I’d hit the nail on the head. “Do you know who the guy with the gun was, Miguel?”

He glanced over at me and sighed. “I wanted to wait to tell you until we got home.”

“I’m not turning on this truck until you tell me what you’re leaving out.”

He sighed again, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. His head thunked back on the headrest and he rolled his head until he was looking at me. “She said John was the one in the trees…the one pointing the gun at me. But I know she was lying. He’d never do that.”

I wanted to scream at him that he didn’t know anything about what Sutter would do. He didn’t know him at all anymore. Instead, I just nodded and reached over to pat his thigh. “Okay, baby. If you say so.”

Chapter Sixteen

MIGUEL

If the truth be told, I didn’t know what to think. I couldn’t believe John Sutter, the man I’d known and served with for years, the man I’d buried, could be behind a plot to threaten me with violence, much less, a weapon of some kind. I didn’t want to tell Raven that I had my doubts at this point because I didn’t want to admit it to myself. But he wassomehowconnected with this case. I had seen him at the Sagebrush Cantina. I’d never ever believed he meant to harm me, though. He’d been as surprised to see me there as I’d been to see him. The man in the trees was most likely the same bastard who’d accosted us in the stairwell.

The worst thing about it was, Raven hadn’t believed me when I’d told him I didn’t think it was John holding the weapon. He obviously didn’t trust John, always using his last name, always careful about the way he spoke about him when we were talking about the situation. I trusted Raven with my life, and I knew he trusted me with his. That’s how lovers were supposed to behave. The trust between them was supposed to be the ultimate bond, at least that’s the role model my own parents had set. I wanted to punch something in frustration and if I hadn’t been dressed in this monkey suit, sitting in a car beside the man I loved, I would have.

We were home by nine-thirty, earlier than we’d planned. When we walked in, Dolly was seated on the sofa watching TV in the living room. Her hair was up in curlers, and she was dressed in a robe and slippers. She practically jumped off the couch the minute we came through the door, ties hanging loose, jacketsover our arms. “Oh my! Please forgive me. I didn’t expect you to be home so soon.”

I smiled as Raven walked over to her. “It’s okay, Dolly. Have a seat. We left early. We’re gonna go get changed but stay up and watch as much TV as you’d like.”

“Raven,” she said, smiling at him. “You’re so good to me, but my show’s done now. I was gonna head off to bed.”

“Don’t hurry on our account,” I said, hoping she’d stay out here a little while longer. Ned’s former bedroom, where she’d be spending the night, was right beside ours and I really wanted to talk to Raven without worrying that our conversation could be heard through the wall.

She stood up and reached for the remote control, shutting off the flat screen TV. She smiled up at us. “You two really do make a beautiful couple,” she said before walking toward the hallway. “Have a nice night.”

“Thank you again, Dolly,” Raven said. He turned to me once she’d closed the door at the end of the hall, leaving us alone in the living room. “We should probably go to bed too.” His expression was wary. “Is there something else you wanted to talk about?”

I reached out and took his hand. “Yeah, there’s something I want to talk to you about. Will you sit here for a second? I don’t want to talk about it if there’s any chance she can hear us through the wall.”

Raven scrunched his brow but nodded, letting me lead him over to the sofa where I pulled him down next to me. “What is it, Miguel?” he asked. His eyes were so trusting.

I sighed, looking down at my lap. I ran a hand through my hair. Raven immediately caught it, stopping me and making me look directly at him.

“Miguel…you’re nervous. What is it?”

“I just don’t know anymore,” I said honestly. “I’m beginning to think that maybe it was John in the trees. Rosina Cassanova knew things about me. She called me Trigg for fuck’s sake. She knew that we’d been—” I stopped, looking away and taking a deep breath before looking back at him. “She knew you were my lover, and she knew something had gone on between John and I…not the actual details. It was almost like she assumed our connection was…deeper, that we were lovers. Although that doesn’t make sense with something else she said. There’s no way she could have known that unless John told her.”

Raven frowned. “She actually called you Trigg?”

I nodded. “That could have only come from John because unless she’d talked to another Marine, how would she know that?” But I shook my head, knowing we all wore our nicknames on cloth patches in the camp. Hell, it could have been a hundred other Marines, but my gut feeling was that it came from John. How else would she have had any details about what he and I did together? Still, she hadn’t known the extent of our physical relationship at all.

Raven looked like he was still processing what I said. “Why would Sutter do that…reveal anything about you to Cassanova at all?”

“Hell, Raven, I’ve been asking myself that for the last two hours. Maybe she’s a CIA asset who was given the information to get me to comply with whatever fucked up plans they have.”

“How? Why would that particular fact make you want to comply with their demands and turn over the ruby, assuming we get our hands on it to begin with?”

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