Traitor, The Read Online Free PDF Page B

laugh?"
    "Verdad." Vargas barked out a harsh laugh. "And
the loss of such a man is not so significant."
    He leaned over the seat to tap his bodyguard on the
shoulder. "There must be no more of these foolish deaths, Gabriel. No
more." He punctuated each word with a sharp jab to Santos' shoulder and
then blew cigarette smoke into the side of his face. "Our distributors
must let their customers know how pure the China White heroin is."
    "Yes."
    Vargas sat back and gazed at the glowing tip of his
cigarette. Through the rearview mirror, Santos watched him. Ay, did El
Vaquero expect the distributors to hold a seminar in safe drug usage of
illegal substances?
    Santos smiled again, but this time discreetly.
    #
    Humpty dumpty, indeed, Bella thought, pushing away. Rafe,
no-last-name, was trouble with a large dose of sex appeal, and while she'd
thought that's what she wanted, she now realized with the Vargas case on her
plate a distraction was the last thing she needed. "I should call a cab,"
she decided.
    "Nuh uh," he insisted, "You've had a shock
and you're not going anywhere until you rest."
    "But my clothes ... my sisters ... " She stared at
her sister's dress smudged with dirt, oil, and God knew what else. The ruined
clothes against her skin made her feel vulnerable. She heard the rising panic
in her voice, the shakes taking over again. "I don't want to wear these
anymore."
    "Okay, I'll find something for you to put on." He
headed down a short hallway off the main room, and she heard the opening and
closing of drawers and closets. Returning a few moments later, he handed her a
stack of clothing. "Try these. You might have to roll up the sleeves and
legs." He examined her face. "Maybe you should get washed up first.
You'll feel better when you've showered."
    She opened her mouth to protest, but clamped down on her jaw,
then snatched the clothes from his hands and marched down the hall to the room
he'd just exited. At the entry, she paused, eyeing him suspiciously. "Don't
think I don't know what you're doing," she said as she reached the door.
Did he think she was a complete fool?
    She glanced around the luxurious bedroom suite. To the left
rose a bank of four narrow windows that stretched from floor to ceiling with
white wooden shutters opened wide so she could see the clear, dark sky through
the slats. All three doors to the right of the bed were closed. Maybe she was an idiot. She didn't know which was the bathroom.
    Amused, Rafe listened to the slamming of the bedroom door.
He'd let her keep her pride. The first tremors of panic after an assault were
all too familiar to him, the vulnerability that hung on long after the attack
was over.
    He hadn't felt these emotions for years, but he remembered
them vividly. Right now showing her claws was healthier than giving way to
hysteria. When he heard the sound of running water minutes later, he figured
she'd found her way around his bathroom. He used the time to make a call about
the suspicious evidence he'd examined in the alley.
    Max Jensen, a local homicide detective, was catching
tonight. "Blood, huh?" Max said after listening to the account of the
attack in the alley. "Why'd you call me, Rafe? Why not your field office?"
    "Just reporting an assault."
    "But you didn't go to the hospital, right? No one
sustained injuries?"
    Rafe ran his fingers over his temple. "The lump over my
eye might argue with you, but no, neither of us got seriously hurt."
    Max laughed. "Shit, I figure your head's too hard."
    "Check that alley, Max. I'm pretty sure that was blood
I found. Recent."
    "I'll send a crime scene unit out."
    "And check out the bartender, would you? I have a
feeling about him. Hold him overnight if you can."
    Max snorted. "Sure, old buddy. LAPD lives to serve the DEA's
needs."
    By the time Isabella walked back into the living room, Rafe had
tended to his own wounds, showered in the guest bathroom, and dressed in sweats
and a long-sleeved police academy tee-shirt.
    "Feeling better?" he