Page 94 of The Perfect Stranger

Chapter Thirty-Two

“I’ll ask you one last time, Cross. Where the fuck is your friend? And don’t fucking lie to me!” a vaguely familiar voice could be heard yelling inside Nina’s apartment. Chief Delacroix. Nina’s boss.

I had spent a few days looking for Gabriel and Luis Santos and had come up empty. The media had been quiet on cartel news, reporting nothing of a kingpin fatality. The ranch was long deserted, and a feeling of dread had warned me to find Nina.

Delacroix was just as dangerous as Los Santos, and now he was alone with her.

Opening the door, I saw Delacroix standing over the top of Nina who had her hand protecting her face, a Glock pointed straight at her.

“Where the fuck is he?”

“I’m right here.”

Delacroix, turned, facing me. His brows knitted together as he tried to place my face. “You!” he said finally in recognition.

“I’m surprised you didn’t piece it all together.” Closing the door, I took a further step inside.

Delacroix gave a know-it-all chuckle. “I had my suspicions.”

“The game’s over. So how about you get the hell off her so we can end this once and for all?”

“Did he send you?” he asked, eyes narrowed, voice laced with contempt.

“I had my own debt to settle with Los Santos. You just happened to be tangled in their web. Now get the fuck off Nina.”

“Why don’t you leave, so I have a chance to settle my debt?” It wasn’t so much a question more a demand.

“No can do.” Raising my Glock I fired, hitting Delacroix below his shoulder. Nina rolled to her right while he rolled to the left.

“Cariña,” I murmured, pulling her up by my side. It was the first time I’d seen Nina since the hospital. Her wounds were healing nicely, and her smile that was meant only for me, caused a reaction I’d never felt before.

“Hunter,” she replied breathily. The moment was broken by the asshole still in the room.

Nina turned to Delacroix who was muttering a string of vulgar curses. “You were supposed to be the good guy, Chief.”

He scoffed, his hand over his wounded arm doing little to stop the blood from gushing out. “Good guys always finish last.”

Nina held my hand. “Not in this case.”

“Don’t kid yourself, Cross!” He almost laughed. “This is still all on you. Every bit of it. Garcia’s death, the convenience store massacre, assaulting a federal agent. And now, thanks to your admittance, defrauding the government.”

“I don’t think so.”

A snide smirk twisted his face. “Oh, I do.”

Nina left my side and retrieved her smart phone and held it up so her boss could see the screen.

She had recorded everything.

Delacroix paled.

“I will be honest and say that I wasn’t sure how this was going to pan out. I wanted to believe you weren’t corrupt. But I was wrong. It’s all been recorded, every last word,” Nina admitted.

Despite what had gone down, I was smiling, proud of Nina.

“That’s not going to mean shit,” Delacroix snapped.

“Won’t it? You just don’t get it do you, Delacroix? You’re responsible for all that’s happened. Whether you were behind the gun or the computer, you’re the one who snowballed this whole operation. Garcia is dead, because of you. I lost my father, because of you. I have become a suspect in my own partner’s murder, because of you. And it’s all on here.” She waved her phone as a reminder.

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