Page 43 of Estranged Heart
“You’re better than this,”I bet he’d say.
Am I, though? Maybe I was once, but after what happened I’m not sure who I am anymore. All I know is that when I’m with Silas I want to keep living, go on unplanned walks, try a new pastry, and paint bedrooms yellow.
But those aren’t good enough reasons to keep seeing him. Not when I’m shattering a marriage at the same time.
“I’m not sure there’s much of a marriage left to ruin.”
The sadness in his eyes was heartbreaking, and he looked like a man who’d recently lost a lot too. I resonated with his pain so much, all it did was bring me closer, making it harder for me to walk away. We were like two broken wings syncing together to learn to fly again.
A crashing sound has me craning my neck. Two people are arguing in front of two docked boats. One is tall, dressed in all black with a hood over his head, and shoving a finger into the chest of someone else. I can’t make out the shorter man’s face until the taller one rushes away, leaving him alone in an erratic state on the dock. He grabs at his hair and stomps his feet, and when he looks at me the blood in my veins goes cold.
It’s not until I’m getting to my feet that his eyes widen and he steps back.
“You,” I shout.
“Look, you got the wrong man.”
My legs are already moving that way, getting ahead of my brain. “I don’t think I do. Your name isn’t really Hank, is it?”
Lifting his hands in the air, he walks backwards, nearly tripping on his own feet. “It’s not what you think.”
“No? Are you saying you didn’t plant a bomb on our boat?”
“If I were you, I’d leave it alone. Be thankful you’re alive and walk away while you can. Not all of us are so lucky.”
“Lucky,” I scream so loud my ears ring. “Lucky. Exactly what makes you think losing my husband to trafficking is lucky?”
His jaw tightens and he shakes his head. “You should be careful what you say, especially in a public place like this. You don’t want the wrong person to hear you.”
“Maybe I want them to,” I shout louder, getting so close I slam him against the front of a white boat.
Wincing, he raises his hands in front of his face. “Please. They’ll kill us both.”
“Who’sthey?”
Lowering his hands, he kicks me hard in the leg and slams a fist into my jaw. I spin so much I have to grab onto a metal railing on a boat to keep from falling into the water. By the time I catch my balance, he’s already slipping into a car and driving off. Rubbing my jaw, I run toward the moving vehicle and lift my phone to take a picture of the license plate. Not wanting to waste time, I get in my car and call the detective to give him the info.
“You shouldn’t have approached him. These men are dangerous, Mr. Pena. What if he’d had a gun or other men with him?”
“I didn’t want him to get away.”
He sighs loudly on the other end of the phone. “And he did anyway. You don’t need these people to view you as a problem. If you keep trying to play cop on your own, you’ll end up in the ground right next to your husband. Do you want that?”
“No, but no one else seems to be trying to track these guys down.”
He lets out another breath. “I’ll run the plates and do my best to bring this guy in, but even if we are able to charge him with anything, chances are he’ll get out on bail soon. Holding these guys for long isn’t easy.”
“What do you mean? This man planted a bomb on our boat. He helped other men kidnap and kill my husband.”
“That might be so, but we don’t have evidence to prove everything you’re stating. We have prints but they might not match his, and who’s to say he hasn’t already ditched the car. In order for us to properly help you, you need to promise to stay out of the way from here on. Can you promise me that, Mr. Pena?”
Grinding my teeth, I grip the phone tighter. “Fine.”
“Good. I’ll follow up as soon as I can. I already have someone tracking the car as we speak. It might not be until tomorrow that you hear from me again.”
“Thanks.”
We end the call and I drive home, hating how finding the man responsible for our boat exploding and me almost dying got me nothing but a bruise on the jaw. He got away. I let the asshole get away and who’s to say they’ll ever find him again.
