Rafael (The Santiago Brothers Book One) Read Online Free PDF

rounded. “A detective?”
    “Difficult to believe, eh? With my
background?” Rafa smiled, hoping to dispel the growing level of
edginess he detected in her voice.
    “Difficult? Hardly. More like
impossible.”
    Rafa
swallowed thickly. She watched him now through slits. She wanted
answers. Answers about him. About the years he spent in California.
If they were going to be partners, she'd only do so if she trusted
him. He hoped she’d settle for his credentials and let the past
remain buried, but who was he kidding? They went to high school
together. Genie remembered the boy from fourteen years ago. She
didn’t know the man who sat before her. Well, Green, what do you want to
know? I can’t guarantee you’ll like it…
    “You have a case open on the owners of the La
Cocina Dulce?”
    Rafa nodded. “It’s a multi-agency
investigation with the Bureau and the Drug Enforcement Agency.”
    “How long has the case been open? Why haven’t
we heard of anything? If the owner of the restaurant here—”
    Rafa sighed and threaded the thick coils of
his hair with his fingers. “The money-laundering charge has just
recently been attached to the investigation. It originally started
as a drug case with the DEA and the Border Patrol. The restaurant
wasn’t even a target at first. The Snakes are heavy in the drug
trade, participating in a lot of runs across the border with
contacts in Tijuana and farther south into Sonora.”
    “And you’ve been working the case since…”
    Rafa met her gaze and held it. “Since the
beginning. Ten years.”
    “Ten years?” Her voice peaked barely above a
whisper. She averted her gaze, forehead lined, brows together. Her
mouth moved with words only audible to her.
    She wasn’t thinking about the case at all.
“If you’re doing the math in your head, don’t bother. I wasn’t a
detective at twenty-two. I was a source.”
    Her head snapped back. “A source?”
    Rafa
didn’t respond. Just let it go .
    “A drug source?” Her eyes showed both shock
and leeriness.
    Of course she wouldn’t let it go. Any trust
he had built in the last few minutes was in danger of eroding away.
Sources were often considered dirty, their loyalty always in
question. A detective couldn’t exactly rely on a source’s
allegiance alone; everything had to be checked and verified. If he
confirmed his position as a source in a drug investigation, then
she'd have more reason to distrust him. If he lied or said nothing
at all, she’d never believe another word he said.
    Rafa lowered his eyes. “I wasn’t exactly into
drugs.”
    “Not into drugs? But you just said—”
    Rafa
leveled his stare on Genie’s. Time to come clean, even though it
would likely mean the end of their fragile partnership. A necessary
risk . Rafa steeled his
nerves for the onslaught of her wrath. “I was a member.”
    Genie waited for half a minute and then
blinked. “A member of?”
    Rafa let out a loud, strained breath. “The
Snakes.”
    Genie gasped.
    His gaze focused on the investigative file in
his lap. When he first arrived in California, his cousin Enrique
introduced him to his friends, all members of the Snakes. It wasn’t
long before Rafa became a regular among the group. He had second
thoughts about joining, but his cousin stressed what an honor it
was for Rafa to be invited to join; not just anyone off the street
could petition the group. “After I joined, I was thrust into a life
of activities I’m not proud of nor wish to revisit at this time,”
he added gravely.
    “But you said you were a source.” Genie’s
voice was low and thoughtful, seemingly without judgment.
    Rafa returned his gaze to her face. Her eyes
held only curiosity now and the contempt he thought she'd have for
his past didn't show. Her attitude seemed to do a complete
one-eighty. His mind fogged in astonishment. He sensed ease
settling between them and relaxed. “After a while, I went to the
police with information about the group. The information