When Kai looked over her shoulder, she was surprised to see Eliot following quietly. She'd expected more of an argument (mostly from Alex), or for Eliot to have some excuse for why he couldn't go with her, but he just pressed his ice pack to the side of his face with one hand and gripped his coffee in his other as he trudged in her shadow.

"That was a little too easy," she muttered.

Eliot blinked at her. "I think Jake broke my finger."

"Not that. That was…" Well, unsurprising, if she was honest. She could certainly understand wanting to punch Alex. "I mean you coming to the station. I thought I'd have to argue to get you to come."

"You need my statement, don't you?"

"That's why I expected a fight." When he gave her a curious look, she added, "It seems the more I need something, the harder I have to work to get Alex's help. I guess I just expected the same from you."

"Hmm."

Ugh, that sound. Alex made that same sound when he thought he'd figured something out and was waiting for her to catch up. "What?" she asked, failing to keep the bite out of her voice.

"Nothing, just..." He took a sip of coffee, making her wait. What had she possibly done to deserve this? "Alex said you were a friend, but you don't seem to like him much."

"That's not true. I usually like him." He smirked, reminding her sharply of his brother, and she scowled. "Sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"Most of the time."

"Hell, I like my exes most of the time."

They'd reached her car now, and Kai threw a glare over the hood as she opened her door. "You know, you're a lot more like him than you think. Especially with the—"

Eliot went still, and Kai cut herself off as she felt the point of a gun press against the back of her head.

"Hello, Detective," Flores said.

She snapped her eyes to Eliot's. His left hand held his cup of coffee on the hood, and with his other he slowly lowered the ice pack from his face. "You seem to have had some kind of accident," Flores said, nodding to Eliot's split lip. "I guess my men weren't entirely unsuccessful. Though I am disappointed to see you still alive, Detective. No offense. I don't usually condone violence, but once I realized I'd been contacted by the Eliot Spencer, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to save myself some trouble down the road."

Kai frowned, but Eliot's gaze was fixed over her shoulder. "You knew who I was," he said, his voice a low growl. "But you thought two men would be enough to take me out?"

"Well I had to see if the rumors were true," Flores said. "And with the detective here gathering a case against me, I was running out of time. Did you try to arrest me this morning?"

The absurdity of the question made her pause. "It's not a difficult question," Flores said. "Did you try to arrest me before my men came in?"

What the hell was he talking about? "No," Kai said, her confusion plain in her voice.

"Ah, well," Flores said. "I suppose you didn't have enough evidence. But come now, we can't have this conversation in public. We wouldn't want any passersby to witness something they'd regret, would we?"

He took Kai's elbow to guide her from the car, but she stayed where she was. Eliot had found her eyes again, and she searched his face for an explanation. A torrent of frustrated thoughts whipped through her, flinging up questions and the uncomfortable, infuriating realization that she'd been lied to. Or if not lied to, then at least mislead. If she was looking at just the facts, she knew only one thing for certain: he'd used a fake name to contact a smuggler. She'd assumed that he was on her side, but if that were so wouldn't he have shown her a badge by now?

What if he really had been trying to buy from Flores?

"Come along, Detective," Flores hissed in her ear.

She had to stall. Ernesto was just across the beach, with Alex and—and another brother, who she knew even less about. No, she couldn't call them yet. She'd have to handle this on her own.

When Flores pulled her arm again, she went. The gun moved away from her head and slid down her spine. "You too," Flores said to Eliot. "Or I'll blow a hole in your partner here."

"She's not my partner," Eliot said. "I'd never seen her before this morning. Take me if you think you can handle it, Flores, but leave her here."

Flores chuckled. "You know, there are contradicting reports about you, Mr. Spencer. Some people say you've gone soft over the years, others say you're more dangerous than ever before. But do you know what I think?" He cocked the gun, driving it into the small of Kai's back. "I think you've lost your taste for blood. Can you say the same about me?"

Eliot's eyes narrowed. "You don't want to do this."

"Don't I?"

Flores leaned close, and Kai was abruptly done. She pivoted on her heel, reaching back and to grasp the barrel of Flores's gun and twisting it out of his hand. "Enough," she said, pointing the gun at Flores's surprised face. "Robert Flores, you're under arrest. Put your hands on the car."

He blinked at her as if trying to understand what had just happened. "On the car," she repeated.

Slowly, he obeyed. Kai clicked the safety on his gun and shoved it through the back of her waistband, then tried not to take too much pleasure in handcuffing Flores and shoving him into the back seat. She pulled out her phone as she shut the door on him and found Ernesto's number, but hesitated before dialing. Eliot hadn't moved from the passenger door. He watched her warily, as if trying to guess her next move.

She wish she knew it too. If what Flores said was true, Eliot was most likely some kind of criminal. What if he'd committed crimes here already? What if he planned on more? She should take him in with Flores, for questioning at the very least. He'd already agreed to come with her to the station. She should tell him to get in the car.

But... he was Alex's brother. And if he had wanted to hurt anyone, he'd certainly had plenty of opportunities. He could have escaped before she brought him to Alex, too, if he'd wanted to. Maybe it was just her relationship with Alex coloring her perceptions, but she couldn't look at Eliot and see just a criminal.

"I want the truth," Kai said, holding Eliot's gaze and willing herself to stay open to his answer. "Do I need to be worried about what Flores said?"

"You don't need to be worried," he answered.

For some reason, that didn't make her feel better. "What will happen if I bring you to the station?"

Eliot hesitated, and that was enough of an answer. "There are some questions you shouldn't ask if you want me to tell the truth," he said.

Kai sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes. "Alright," she said, making up her mind as she spoke. "Here's what you're going to do. You're going to go back to the gift shop and make amends with Alex. And Jake. Then in the morning, you're going to buy a ticket off the island. Understand?"

A long moment passed, in which Kai kept her expression hard and told herself not to be swayed by the uncertain look in Eliot's eyes. It had to be this way. Eliot was obviously withholding information, and if there was even a chance that he was here to do something illegal (or worse—if he already had), then it would be best for everyone if he just moved on.

Finally, he gave her a single, wordless nod. "I'll be by the gift shop tomorrow morning," she said, and she wasn't sure if she meant to say goodbye or to escort you to the airport.

He nodded again, closing the door and stepping away. Kai tore her eyes from his—he had that same abandoned puppy look Alex sometimes got, and she hated seeing it—and got into the car. She told herself to roll down the window and say goodbye, but he was already turning away.

That was probably for the best. They weren't friends, she reminded herself, no matter how much he looked like Alex. And she had a job to do.

Thankfully, Flores was quiet as she pulled onto the street. He was quiet when she called Ernesto a few minutes later and filled him in, and he was quiet when she parked outside the station.

But rather than being a blessing, his silence bothered her. He didn't look worried or angry or upset in any way—in fact, as Kai handed him off to one of the officers in front of Ocampo's office, Flores looked downright bored.

"Well done, Detective Mendoza!" Ocampo crowed, joining the group of people gathering to watch the officer lead Flores to the holding cells. "Congratulations! Where's Alamares?"

"He's coming," Kai answered absently. Her eyes hadn't left the back of Flores's head, and she continued to stare while he and the officer waited at the elevator.

Ocampo clapped a hand to her shoulder. "That's the quickest ending to a case I've seen in a long time. Keep up the excellent work!"

A quick end to a simple case. That's what she assumed it would be this morning.

So why did it feel like things were just getting started?