sex with this man, after meeting him ten days ago and going on one date.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
He glanced at her but didn’t respond.
“You’re not an accountant…are you?”
He briefly looked at her again, the lights of oncoming vehicles trailing across his crooked nose and high cheekbones. He still didn’t answer the question. He simply returned his gaze to the road.
Shanice hugged herself and prayed that everything would be okay.
Who was Vicente Diaz, and what had she gotten herself into this time?
11
“You’ll be safe here.”
Cruz dropped his duffle bag and other items on the floor and locked the door from the inside using a key. They’d dumped the car a couple of blocks back and walked to this studio apartment in North Miami, on the second floor of a mostly empty three-story building. A king bed dominated much of the space, and there was a kitchenette, and a blinds-covered window that looked onto the alley below let in a little light.
The apartment was smaller and darker than the place Miles had set up under the Vicente alias. Cruz hadn’t been here in a long time, but he liked the neighborhood because it was in a high-crime area where everyone minded their own business.
Shanice stared at him from the doorway, backpack on her shoulder and arms crossed over her torso in a protective gesture. He knew she must have a slew of questions to ask.
“Are you going to explain what’s going on?” she asked.
“Yes, but you need to sit down first.”
“I don’t need to sit down first! Who are you?” she demanded. “Because there’s no way the average accountant has the ability to kill a bunch of men, steal a car, and have a secret hideout in one of the roughest neighborhoods in the city.”
Even with the scared expression on her face, she was still a beautiful woman.
“If I didn’t kill them, they would have killed you.”
“And how exactly did you know I was in danger? How did you know to show up?”
He hesitated, knowing she wouldn’t like the answer. “I planted listening devices in your home. I’d followed you from work and was nearby and listening when I heard you were in trouble.”
Her eyes opened to the size of dinner plates. “What? You were spying on me? What the hell is going on!” She was shaking, on the verge of hyperventilating.
He took a cautious step toward her. “Shanice, calm down.”
“I will not calm down.”
She started breathing very fast. With the adrenaline gone, the stress of the past hour was hitting her. She dropped the backpack to the floor and clutched her chest.
Vicente rushed over, and she lifted a hand to fend him off, but he scooped her up in his arms and strode over to the bed. He set her down and crouched before her.
“Cup your hands and breathe into them. Slowly… Yes, like that.”
She repeated the breathing technique, and after a couple of minutes her breathing was back to normal.
He looked into her eyes. “You don’t have to be afraid of me.”
“You’ve been spying on me, and after what I saw tonight, I’m not so sure.” She swallowed. “What do you want?”
“What makes you think I want something?”
She laughed bitterly. “Because the first man you killed wanted something, and if you were listening, I have to assume you want the same thing. I’m sure you heard him.”
“I did. Do you have it?”
“Have what?”
“The data.”
“If you were listening, you heard my answer.” She stared angrily at him then ducked her gaze.
“This isn’t a game, Shanice,” Vicente said with a thread of steel in his voice. “It’s a matter of national security. People’s lives are at risk.”
She looked at him again. “Who are you? FBI?”
“No, but I can’t tell you who I’m working for.”
“Well, I don’t know anything about any data,” she snapped.
“We both know that’s not true.”
“No, we don’t. I—” She paused, a frown wrinkling her brow. “Wait a minute, is that why you started dating me?”
Cruz didn’t reply.
Her mouth fell open. “I’m right, aren’t I? You asked me out, pretended to like me, even kissed me, because you thought I had something you wanted. How far were you going to go? Were you going to fuck me, too?”
Her lower lip trembled and the hurt in her eyes indicted him for his dishonesty. Mierda.
Jaw tightening, she lifted her head higher. “Well you wasted your precious time taking me to dinner and pretending to like poetry to get close to me. All that work, and you’ll have nothing to show for