Chris swallowed hard, and I wondered if he realized he’d reached to loosen his tie or if it was a reflex from knowing my mom was about to hang him.
“Is dad here?” I asked, trying to deter her.
She glanced at me briefly before turning back to Chris. “He’s at the office. Now what’s going on?”
“Why don’t we go sit down first, and I’ll explain everything,” Chris suggested. “Cami and Dylan are exhausted. They’ve been through a lot.”
She pursed her lips together and led us down the hall to the arched entryway of the sitting room. She gestured to one of the large leather sofas and sat across from us. “What’s going on?” she said again. “How did you get hurt?”
“I’m fine, Mom, really. I was in a minor car accident. That’s all. As you can see, I got a few scratches and bruises. Nothing to worry about.” I cast a sidelong look in Cami’s direction, and she rolled her eyes.
“Actually, Mrs. Wilcock, Dylan was in quite a terrible car accident. He was drag racing against the suspect in the case he’s working on, and he rolled his vehicle several time at an extremely high rate of speed. It was quite terrifying,” Cami said calmly. “We wanted to call you, but the police department asked us to wait, in hopes of keeping the case from being compromised. Thankfully, Dylan was okay and only required a few stitches to a cut on his head. He was unconscious for a while, though.”
I groaned out loud, knowing we were in for it now.
“Thank you, Cami,” my mother said evenly. “You have no idea how refreshing it is to be spoken to like an adult. These two,” she gestured between Chris and me, “seem to think I’m a fragile flower incapable of handling any kind of bad news.”
My eyes widened in shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“And you!” She jabbed a finger in Chris’s direction. “You should’ve known better! You can still have the decency to pick up the phone and let us know what’s going on!”
“Would you really have sat here waiting for news?” I asked, trying to defend Chris.
“It doesn’t matter. We’re your parents. We have a right to know what’s going on, whether it’s serious or not.”
I sighed. “You’re right, Mom. I’m sorry we didn’t let you know.” There was no point in arguing with her. She always won.
“And shame on you for being reckless in a vehicle! You know how dangerous that is!”
“Mom! I’ve been trained to drive at a high rate of speed. It’s not like I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“I know what training you’ve had, and they’re called defensive driving courses for a reason. It means you aren’t supposed to go out and actuar como un idiota!”
I knew she was really angry when she reverted to using Spanish to tell me I was acting like an idiot. “You’re right. I should’ve let you know,” I repeated. “It won’t happen again. There’s more I need to tell you, though.”
She let out a huff and looked at me pointedly. “What now?”
“We’ve been infiltrating a car theft ring. The case led us to Las Vegas this weekend, and we were really close to making a bust, but my cover was blown before the deal went down. Thankfully, my contact managed to tip me off, and Cami and I were able to run before they came for us.”
“Cami was with you?” She looked positively horrified.
I waved her off before she could continue. “Yes. It’s more of me being an idiota, but I’ll get to that later.” I took a breath and plunged ahead. “We were spotted before we could make a clean getaway and ended up running into a wedding chapel to hide while they searched for us. We put on some costumes they had for people who are into themed weddings. Anyway, the men searching for us were right outside the door, so we posed as a couple getting married before escaping in a limo that took us to safety.” I reached over and squeezed Cami’s hand.
Silence. Her expression didn’t change, and I winced. This was even worse than when she was speaking Spanish. She took a deep breath and stood, walking toward the archway before turning around suddenly. “Are you trying to tell me you got legally married?”
I nodded. “That’s what I’m telling you.”
“In costumes—in some shady wedding chapel—in the middle of the unholiest place on earth?”
“Yep.”
She made a sign of the cross and rolled her eyes heavenward. “Perdonarlo, Padre,” she whispered before crossing the room with her arms outstretched. “Welcome, Cami darling, to the family!” Cami stood and my mother hugged her close. “You poor dear. I know I’ve taught my son better than to get married in some sham of a chapel. You should’ve been married in a big church and had your union blessed by a proper priest.” My mother glared down to where I was sitting.
I gave an exasperated laugh. “What? It’s not like I planned for this to happen. I hadn’t even properly asked her to marry me yet!”
“Well, then you better do it now. This girl deserves to have everything she’s dreamed about.”
She and Cami broke apart and Cami laughed. “It’s okay, Mrs. Wilcock. It might not have been the ideal situation, but I’m very happy about it all the same.”
My mom smiled at Cami as if she was the most wonderful thing she’d ever seen. “Aren’t you just precious.” She patted Cami on the cheek and hugged her again. She stared hard at me again. “I hope you gave her a decent honeymoon.”
I stood and pulled Cami into my arms. “Mom, it was the best I could do on short notice—a nice room at a five-star resort.”
“It was perfect,” Cami said, leaning her head against my chest. “The best night of my life.”
I kissed the top of her head, knowing she was blushing without even looking at her.
“What are your plans now then? Will you take her on a real honeymoon?”
I sighed. “That’s why we’re here, actually. The guy we’re trying to catch is back in the area. He knows where Cami lives, so it’s not safe for her to go there. I was hoping she could stay here in my room while we get things wrapped up. I need to know she’s somewhere protected.”
“Of course she can stay. I’m assuming you will as well?”
“It depends on how long this thing drags on, and when I’m needed. As of right now, we’re waiting to be contacted by our informant.” I glanced at my watch. “I honestly thought we would’ve heard something from her by now.”
“I hope she’s all right,” Cami added.
“Me too. Let’s go get you settled in. You need some sleep. You hardly got any last night.”
She blushed to her roots. “Yeah, well neither did you,” she responded brazenly.
I smiled. “I’m aware of that—trust me—I’m not complaining one bit.” I grabbed her by the hand and started walking toward the door.
“You might want to get ahold of your parents too, Cami,” my mom called after us. “Feel free to use the house phone if you need.”
“Actually, we talked about that on the plane. We’re going to wait and tell them in person. It’ll be easier to explain,” I responded.
“I doubt it. You’re here right now, and I’m still not quite sure how it all happened.”
“I’ll give you the play by play later on,” I promised her.
“Dylan, what costumes were you wearing?”
I stopped dead in my tracks, a huge grin crossing my face. “Elvis and Priscilla.”
She raised her hands to the heavens, speaking Spanish so rapidly even I could hardly understand her. I started laughing as I led Cami out into the hall, and I could hear Chris laughing too.
“I like your mom,” Cami said with a smile.
“She’s great, isn’t she?” I released her hand and hugged her against me. “I’m glad you like her.”
“It’s nice of her to let me stay unannounced.”
“Are you kidding? You’re her daughter-in-law now. She’ll treat you as if you were royalty or something. Family is everything to her.”
“It seems so strange to belong to your family. I guess I neve
r really thought about how it would be once I got married.” She started laughing. “It’s a good thing my dad decided to like you, or your life would be a mess.”
“Yeah. It took me getting shot and crawling on my knees to beg for forgiveness before he was willing to have anything to do with me.” I chuckled at the memory. “They aren’t going to hate me now, are they?”
She sighed. “I hope not. They’ve both known we were serious, but I don’t think they ever imagined me married at eighteen.”
“Well, they’re going to have to get used to it. I’m not going anywhere.”
She wrapped her arms around my waist, squeezing me tightly. “You better not!”
Arriving at my room, I waited for her to go in before following after and closing the door. I made sure to lock it this time. Cami didn’t miss the sound, turning to glance at me.
“I thought you had to leave.”
I shook my head. “I’m to keep watch over you until I’m needed again. Those are my official orders. Chris will call me when he hears anything. Until then, there’s just a bunch of waiting around.”
“Hmmm. What to do?” She cast her gaze around the room. “I guess you can play your video games or watch television while you wait. Keep it down—I’m going to take a nap.”
She nonchalantly headed for the bed.
“Oh, no you don’t.” I grabbed her arm and yanked her up against me. “Nice try, but there’s no way I’m letting you get away that easily.”
She stared at me innocently. “Did you want to do something else?”
I chuckled as I began backing her toward the bed. “You know very well what I want to do.”
“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.” She was trying to hide her smile—unsuccessfully.
“Really? Well, that is disturbing. I guess all the hard work and effort I put into your training last night will have to be repeated again.”
She snorted. “Sorry. It must not have been very memorable. Maybe you’re a bad teacher.” She bit her lip, and I was sure she was trying to anticipate what I’d do next.
“Did you hit your head this morning?” I asked, running my fingers through her hair as I prodded her scalp, continuing to inch her backward.
“No. Why?” Her nose wrinkled in confusion.
“I was wondering how you got amnesia, because there’s no way you forgot how great last night was.”
She started laughing. “Someone is a little full of themselves. I didn’t realize how cocky you were.”
I grinned. “Not cocky—confident. There’s a difference. I’d show you the difference, but I’m not sure you’d remember.”
She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to respond, but that’s when the back of her knees hit the bed.
“We’re here,” I said softly. “So what’s it going to be—bedtime or video games?”
She paused as if considering it. I released her and turned to walk away, but she grabbed a fistful of my shirt and pulled me back. “Bedtime—definitely.”
I wrapped my arms around her, and lowered my face to hers. “So you do remember?”
She giggled. “Yeah, the haze suddenly cleared.”
I kissed her mouth gently. “Well, let me remind you again anyway.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Hunter-
“Which one’s the right place?” I asked Chris. “There’s another one down the street.”
“I don’t know. She said the storage unit on Oracle Road. This was the first one I looked up.”
“We need to text her back.”
“She isn’t going to answer, Dylan. She was lucky to get the text out to us while Ripper was sleeping.”
“I guess we’ll stake out both of them then. Which one do you want?”
“I guess I’ll take this one,” he replied.
“You know what? I have a much better idea. Call dispatch and tell them we need a search warrant. You said it was unit thirty-two, right?”
“Yeah, that’s what Roberta texted.”
“I’m going to flash my badge and tell the owners the warrant is on the way. They can call to verify if they need. If we open the right one, it’s going to have the money in it, correct?”
Chris shrugged. “If he left it in plain sight.”
“Well, he’s got to have something in there that’ll prove it belongs to him.”
“And if he makes an appearance while you’re in there?”
I lifted the police radio in my hand. “You’ll warn me, and I’ll arrest him. Besides, all the other guys should be in place soon. It’s not like we don’t have back up.”
“Be careful. I don’t want to be the one telling your mom and Cami you got shot again.”
“I will be. Besides, I’m wearing my bulletproof vest this time, and I know you’ve still got my back, bro.” I punched him in the shoulder and climbed out of the car.
There was a thin, dark-haired young man sitting behind a counter in the office reading a magazine. He looked up when I walked in, his stare immediately going to the weapon in my shoulder holster. “Can I help you?”
“Yes,” I replied, slipping my badge off my belt and laying it on the counter. “I’m Officer Wilcock. We received a tip that a murder suspect we’re trying to apprehend may be coming to retrieve belongings at a storage unit he rents. We aren’t sure if it was at this location or the one down the road. My dispatcher is sending a search warrant. You’re also welcome to call the station yourself to verify this. I’m wondering if perhaps you could check your records and tell me who unit number thirty-two is registered to.”
“Sure. No problem,” he said, quickly going to his computer and tapping in a few things. “I’m showing it register to a Juanita Valdez. Does that sound familiar?”
I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t.” I got on the secure radio channel Chris and I had. “This unit is registered to a Juanita Valdez. Does that ring any bells?”
“No, I don’t recognize that name from any of the information we were given,” Chris radioed back. “I’d check it anyway. He could have it registered under a false name, or it could be a friend’s storage unit he keeps things in.”
“Copy,” I replied, turning my attention back to the man at the counter. “Would it be possible for you to open this for me? I just want to look inside. I won’t disturb any of the contents. Like I said, we’ll have a warrant sent to cover any legal issues you might have on your end.”
“I’m happy to help.” He walked over to a thin cupboard and unlocked it, opening the door to reveal many sets of numbered keys hanging on small hooks. He grabbed the one marked thirty-two and locked the cupboard again. “Follow me.”
He led me outside, across the yard, to a corner unit located behind another row and opened the lock. “It’s all yours,” he said, stepping back and gesturing for me to open it.
Reaching down, I grabbed the handle and opened the door. I started laughing. “This is definitely not the right locker. Not unless our suspect has taken up knitting, crocheting, and doll making.” The place resembled a crime scene for the miniature, with bags of different doll-body parts stacked everywhere, along with massive skeins of thread and yarn. It really was a bit creepy looking. “Thanks for your willingness to help us out.” I handed him a card. “But if you see anything suspicious, please feel free to notify us in case we don’t have our facts correct.”
He took the card and stared at it for a moment. “I’ll be sure to do that. Sorry it wasn’t what you were looking for.”
“Don’t be. It helps us get one step closer. I’ll have a couple of officers keep an eye on this place today anyway.”
“Okay, thank you. Good luck.” He extended his hand, and I shook it before heading back to the car.
“Any luck?” Chris asked as I slid in beside him.
“Nope. It was full of doll-making supplies. Let’s go over to the other place. I told the manager here that we’d still have a couple of officers stake the place out today, in case we missed something.”<
br />
“I agree. That’s a good idea.”
In the span of a few minutes, I found myself standing outside the second storage unit of the day, this one being registered to a Margaret Rivera. Things were suddenly looking up. I slid the door open and found the space full of tools and car parts.
“This is the one we’re looking for,” I said to the middle-aged attendant, Laura, standing beside me. I radioed the information to the guys setting up around the perimeter.
“Everyone has access to these during regular business hours. At night, after we’re closed, they can get access if they have one of the twenty-four hour security cards, but they have to pay an extra fee for those.”
I closed the door, not wanting to touch anything inside in case it might be evidence. “Do your security cameras monitor the yard all the time?”
“They do.”
“Would it be possible to check the footage for the last twelve hours perhaps—to see if he’s already been here? I don’t want to waste time sitting here if we missed him already.”
“Sure. Come back inside.”
I radioed what I was doing to Chris and the team. He was parked beside a building across the street in the alleyway to avoid any vehicles on the road alerting Ripper.
Laura helped me arrange the security video on fast forward so we could get through it quickly. She sat beside me silently as we watched it together. We were several hours into the tape when my radio went off.
“He’s here,” Chris stated. “Driving in through the front gate right now. I don’t recognize the vehicle, but Roberta is in the passenger seat.”
“10-4,” I replied, ducking low behind the counter as I watched the car pass by. I turned to glance at the current security feed when he drove past my line of sight. “Laura, I want you to leave. Walk out the gate and turn to the right. An officer will meet you there and guide you to a safer location.” I had no idea if Ripper was armed, and I didn’t want any civilians caught in the crossfire.
She nodded, brushing her salt-and-pepper hair away from her face with a trembling hand before she reached for her purse. “Can I call my husband when I’m out there?” she asked.