Marisela Morales 03 - Dirty Little Christmas - Julie Leto Read Online Free PDF Page A

“She’s got something lodged in her eye, but it’s fairly large from what we can see and it’s clear of the pupil. The surgeons should be able to fix her up.”
    Marisela moved back, but lost her fight with gravity and stumbled. The paramedic caught her, waved away the detective who wanted to question her, then sat her on the step near the elevators and ordered her to stay put until one of his colleagues could take care of her.
    She had no intention of sticking around long enough for an examination or police questioning. Whatever damage she’d suffered would be nothing compared to the pain Belinda’s kidnappers would feel once she got her hands on them.
    Unfortunately, without a car, she wasn’t going anywhere.
    From her perch on the sidewalk, she eyed the elevators. Cops stood sentry at all doors, even across the lot at the second bank on the other side, far from the blast site. Blast site . Now that her vision was returning to normal, she avoided looking in the direction of her beloved new car. The fact that the kidnappers had destroyed her ride to make sure she didn’t follow them was the least of their worries. They’d taken her sister—and for that, they were going to pay in large, unmarked chunks of flesh.
    But first, she had to get out of here.
    She heard a uniformed officer call for the detective. He held Marisela’s gun, retrieved from under a sedan. It must have flown from her hand after the explosion. She cursed. Now, she was going to have to answer even more questions—unless she could get the hell out of here.
    Thrilled to find her cell phone was still in her pocket, she pulled it out and unlocked the screen. She was in a shitload of trouble. No one from Titan was available to help. Max was out of touch. Brynn and Ian were on the other side of the world. The closest operatives were hours away. With Lia injured and her parents peacefully in the dark, she had only one person to call—the one person who would always be there for her, no matter how many times she let him down.
    And to prove her point, he answered on the first ring.

Five
    “Frankie, I need you.”
    She’d had to rip the words out of her throat as if they were sick, pussed tonsils, but she’d said them and wouldn’t take them back. Not until she found Belinda and made sure the pendejos who took her paid with their balls—or their lives, if they’d hurt her or the baby.
    “Come on, vidita . It’s almost Christmas. Can’t you wait for a booty call until after the new year?”
    His chuckle warmed her heart, then shot the heat lower before her bloodstream reacted with an icy blast of cold. She didn’t have time to fuck around with him, literally or figuratively.
    “ Cállate la voca , Frankie. The only kind of booty I’m interested in is the kind I kick. I’m at the airport. I was picking up Belinda to surprise my parents for Christmas and—”
    “—and somehow, you’re involved in the explosion on the top of the parking garage.”
    “How did you know?”
    “Police scanner. Shit, Marisela. What the fuck did you do?”
    “I didn’t do anything except try to save my sister from being snatched by some brutes in an SUV. And I failed. She’s gone. She wasn’t here for five minutes. And Lia’s hurt. I need a ride. The cops are going to start asking questions and…”
    “Go to the hospital.”
    “I’m fine—” she insisted.
    Frankie cut her off. “You want to keep the cops from getting all up in your business, then fake a fucking migraine or pass out or something. I’ll meet you at the emergency room.”
    Frankie disconnected her call, which had the added effect of pissing her off. Her ex had a way of getting on her last nerve, even when he was doing something to help.
    But she took his advice, understanding that while she was under medical care, the police wouldn’t grill her. Just as she slipped her phone back into her pocket, the six-foot Amazon detective in the navy suit, gold blouse and killer knock-off heels