April 11, 2016
Of all the times I had broken a bone, this was by far the worst. It wasn't necessarily the pain, though it still hurt. Due to the type of break I had and the rod in my shin, I wasn't allowed to move my ankle or knee until the bones had healed. This meant I had a cast that encased my leg starting at mid-thigh and stopping at three-quarters of the way down my foot. My hip and toes were the only parts I could move and my left knee was in a permanent thirty-five degree angle, just enough for my foot to clear the ground when I was on my crutches. This also made sitting or lying down uncomfortable because of the awkward angle. Despite the throbbing that would happen whenever I was up for too long, standing was the most comfortable position at the moment.
"What are you doing? Julio asked as I balanced myself on one leg at the kitchen counter drinking my coffee.
I held up my cup for him to see.
"I would have brought it to you."
"I'm fine drinking it at the counter," I assured him.
He glared at me, took the cup and walked it over to the table next to the couch. I'd been sitting on one of the built-in recliners since I'd been released from the hospital two days earlier, and Julio had hardly let me get up to do anything other than go to the bathroom. I'd been sleeping there too because it was more comfortable that the bed since I still needed to elevate my leg. I followed him over to the couch on my crutches and raised the footrest once again. Julio stuffed pillows under my leg to lift it higher.
"Do you want anything else?" he asked.
"I don't know. What am I allowed to have?" I asked irritably.
"You're a shitty patient."
"I'm not a shitty patient. I just have an overbearing husband."
Julio scoffed. "Pot meet kettle," he said, gesturing between us. "Overbearing my ass," he muttered as he walked away.
I glanced at the clock and saw it was time for more painkillers. I swallowed the pill with a swig of coffee and leaned back in the recliner. Julio refused to bring me my laptop, so I couldn't do much for work. I texted with Rowan and Tank to see how things were going, and both offices were running smoothly. Everyone had been happy with Stephanie's work, and she'd called Friday to say she would stay on permanently. That was one problem solved for the time being. But I had bigger issues to deal with now. Like how to keep Morelli from killing Ziggy Kulesza. I'd been doing surveillance at the Pachetco Inlet Marina via two cameras I'd hidden at different angles, but the signal was short-range and required me to be close by to download the feed. I'd placed the cameras a month ago and neither Alpha nor Striker's crew had appeared on the feeds. I had no idea how long they'd been using that particular marina for their work before Stephanie followed Alpha to it, but wanted to have a head start whenever they did appear. It had been almost two weeks since I'd been there to download the latest feed. I needed to get out there this week to replace the batteries and download footage before the cameras died or ran out of storage. I hadn't thought much about it while I'd been in the hospital, but now that I was home, I had to consider my options. I couldn't drive and I couldn't tell anyone what I was doing. Only Julio knew about it, and as much as I didn't want to bring him anywhere near it, I had the feeling I would need to or else risk events going down as they had in my last life. Granted, Stephanie wouldn't be out there trying to capture him and it wouldn't put her in Ramirez's crosshairs, but I still didn't want my friend going to jail and running for his life.
I opened my email on my phone and started reading through the day's messages. Julio's phone rang in the bedroom a few minutes later, and I caught pieces of his muffled end of the conversation as I continued to read. I was in the middle of replying to the superintendent of the Muscogee County School District when Julio came back to the living room.
"That was the doctor. He said my testosterone levels were really low," he said in a distant voice. "Said it could be what is making me feel like this. I need to take a testosterone replacement to get it back to where it needs to be. He said I should start feeling better once the levels go up."
I looked up from my phone. "Glad to hear it. Did he say what causes that?"
"He said it's probably because I didn't have my surgery early enough to prevent damage to my testicles. Back then they thought you could wait until you were older, so I was seven when I had it done. Now they want you to have it done by your first birthday."
I paused typing my email to consider what he said. "What surgery?"
"For my undescended testicles," he replied, sitting down on the couch next to me.
"You had undescended testicles?" That was news to me. "But if you're testicles are damaged, wouldn't that mean your testosterone levels were always low?"
Julio shrugged and stared down at the phone in his hand and one leg started bouncing. "I asked him if I'll be able to have kids. He isn't sure. He's gonna refer me to a specialist." He swallowed hard and his leg bounced faster. "What if I can't have kids?"
"Don't borrow trouble," I said, squeezing his shoulder. "You don't know if that'll be the case. We have to do IVF anyway. Even if there are some issues, it can probably be solved that way."
Julio nodded and conversation stopped after that. I finished my email and he scrolled through his phone. A sideways glance revealed he was reading through medical websites about male infertility. I wanted to take the phone out of his hand but resisted. Maybe he could find some information to make him feel better. I felt the effects of the painkiller starting to kick in, so I put my phone down and let myself drift off to sleep.
I woke up at the sound of my phone ringing. The display told me it was almost five and that it was Stephanie.
"There's a walk-in client here," she said. "He wants to talk to you — only you — and won't leave until he does. Rowan tried to talk to him, but he insists on it being you."
Terrific. Just what I wanted in my life at the moment—someone who thought they'd own me if they paid me.
"Are you at your desk?"
"Yes."
"Put me on speaker," I said.
I waited a second until Stephanie's voice became more distant. "Okay, you're on speaker," she said.
"This is Carlos Manoso. Who are you and why are you harassing my office manager?" I asked.
"My name is Chuck Greenwell, and I want to talk to you privately," a gruff man's voice said.
Fuck me. I'd dealt with Greenwell in my last life when I first opened my office. He had been an enormous pain in my ass, and I'd only kept him on as a client to help get me off the ground in Trenton. I didn't need him this time.
"You can talk to me like this or leave," I informed him.
I heard Greenwell make a disgusted noise. "I'm going to pay you good money. I should get to talk to you privately."
"I haven't agreed to take your money. You have thirty seconds to tell me what you want, or Rowan will escort you out of the building."
"I'm a landlord and I've got people squattin' in my buildings. I'm not interested in takin' time with evictions. I need someone to clear them out and guard the places so they don't get back in," he said.
Greenwell had kept me on retainer in my last life for such tasks and he had called at least twice a month with a new job. I bit back a smile as I remembered my last life and recalled the first time Stephanie had worked for me had been to clear a Greenwell property.
"I'm not interested in expanding into such services," I informed him. "But thank you for considering us."
"What do you mean—," Greenwell began, but I cut him off.
"Goodbye, Mr. Greenwell," I said. "Rowan, see him out."
Once I'd hung up the phone, I noticed a yellow Post-it on the table beside me.
Went to pick up my prescription and get groceries.
I took advantage of Julio's absence to go to the bedroom to grab my laptop. I slung my workbag across my body once I had the computer and some files inside. On my way to the couch, I stopped by the refrigerator and grabbed a water. I also took a minute to look around the fridge, freezer, and a few cabinets to make sure there weren't any liquor bottles hidden away. I'd been planning to look earlier after I had my coffee, but Julio had been around. Despite knowing there were trust issues between us and I would be keeping him accountable, I still didn't want to openly look for signs of alcohol in front of him. I wasn't that insensitive.
I found two alerts from the credit card company on my phone when I got back to the couch. It showed Julio had spent $79.08 at one of the nearby grocery stores and another for $10 at CVS. After he confessed to drinking again, I'd set up our accounts so that all purchases sent an alert to my phone. I could see where money was spent and how much. I could always compare purchases brought home to receipts if I needed to, but I hoped that wouldn't be necessary. I wanted Julio to stay sober and believed he would do the work. He'd agreed to go back to therapy but would wait to start until we had gotten him moved to New Jersey. Coming clean to me had seemed to help some, but he had told me the night before about feeling the urge to drink. We'd sat together and talked, then turned on a movie until he fell asleep with his head in my lap.
He arrived home fifteen minutes later, carrying several cloth grocery bags in each hand. He saw I was awake and noticed the computer on my lap. He rolled his eyes and carried the bags into the kitchen. I maneuvered my way off the couch and followed him.
"The realtor called me while I was out. She said our bid got accepted," he told me as he placed vegetables in the crisper drawer. "She asked if we had any contractors we wanted to use for the inspection. I said I'd ask you and we'd let her know."
I bit back a groan. My father had been the contractor I'd used in New Jersey in my last life anytime I'd purchased property. I had trusted his judgment and knew he'd be as particular as I was.
"You know—," Julio began, but I shook my head.
"Don't. I'll ask Morelli if his cousin Mooch is any good. He owns a construction company."
"You don't think Morelli will talk up his cousin to get him some work?"
"No. He'll give it to me straight."
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and leaned against the counter while I texted Morelli.
I'm buying a house and need an inspection. Is Mooch any good?
Morelli's reply came back a minute later.
As long as he's sober. I'd recommend being on site when he does it.
"Mooch should be fine as long as we babysit," I told Julio. "I'll text his number to the realtor."
Another text from Morelli came through.
The guys suggested bringing the poker game to you tomorrow night if you're interested. Mooch is still convinced he can beat you right now. He said he'll bring the supplies, table, and chairs if necessary.
"Mooch wants to bring the poker game here tomorrow night," I told Julio. "What do you think?"
"You're the one that got hit by a car last week. It's your call."
I responded to Morelli that it was fine to bring the game to the apartment but to make sure the guys knew there would be no beer. I texted Mooch, then the realtor about the inspection. I left it to them to determine the time and date but said I wanted to be present during it.
Morelli was the first to arrive for the poker game the next night. He had the case with the cards and poker chips and had brought three extra folding chairs to sit around our dining room table. I took a seat at the end of the table along the far wall and Julio brought over an ottoman for my leg. I had just gotten situated when there was a knock at the door. Mooch, Anthony, Costanza, and Gazarra appeared a few seconds later with another man in tow.
"This is my friend Toby," Mooch said, nodding his head in the man's direction. "His wife just left him, and he needs cheering up."
Toby White stood in my living room dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, and I was immediately thankful he'd never seen me when he stopped by the house the day Amanda left.
"This is Carlos 'I didn't look both ways before crossing the street' Manoso," Mooch continued pointing to me. "And this guy must be his husband, Julio." Julio nodded and shook hands with both men. "You know the rest of these fuckers."
Julio sat on my right and Toby sat in the chair on my left, though the ottoman put some space between us. This month was turning into a strange one. We debated what game to play for a couple of minutes before Morelli dealt the cards.
"You don't look gay either," Anthony said to Julio as he picked up his cards. "No way I'd pick you two out of a gay guy line-up."
Julio laughed and everyone but Toby groaned. "Don't start that shit again," Morelli said. "Or Carlos may push you in front of Stephanie Plum's car."
"It's weird," Anthony said, watching us with his chin resting on his hand like we were some sort of interesting exhibit at the zoo. "When I think of gay guys, I think of those guys on that show with the hot woman married to Al Bundy. You know the one. Family something."
"Modern Family?" Gazarra offered. "Shirley makes me watch it with her. It's pretty funny."
"Yeah, that's it," Anthony said, snapping his fingers. "Angie watches it too. The two guys on there are married and have a kid. One of them is real prissy, but then coaches football and grew up on a farm. The other one is like a lawyer or something. Anyway, that's what I think of when I think of two dudes married to each other. But neither of you looks prissy."
"Why are you so fascinated by gay guys?" Mooch asked, looking at his cards in disgust and putting them face down on the table. "You gay or something?"
Morelli bit his lip to keep from laughing and Anthony's face turned red. "No, I'm not fucking gay!" he shot back. "God, can't I be curious about something? Angie's always telling me to use my brain and not my dick. I like pussy. Period."
"We used to say that too," Julio said, nodding in my direction. He tossed a chip into the pile on the table. "Call."
"Julio used to call himself 'straight with an asterisk'" I said, sliding two chips across the table. "I was the asterisk."
Costanza snorted. "I like that. I guess Anthony could be 'gay with an asterisk' and the asterisk is 'any woman but his wife'."
Everyone but Anthony laughed. He stayed quiet after that, only saying what he needed to play the game.
"Have you heard from Amanda?" Gazarra asked Toby as the third game started.
Toby shook his head and a dark look crossed his face. "No. She left her phone behind, and her family all say they don't know where she went. That bitch Karlie helped her. She was there that morning when I stopped by to get my wallet. One of my neighbors saw them and some guy throw her suitcases in Karlie's car and leave. Probably some guy she was fucking."
I saw realization cross Julio's face and he glanced in my direction. Even without knowing names, I'd told him enough about the job for him to recognize the details.
"Angie and I've split up a bunch. Maybe she'll come back," Anthony said. "Maybe she just needed a vacation."
"She filed divorce papers," Toby said bitterly. "All over one little fight."
More like the fiftieth fight that left bruises all over her torso and chest. "In my experience, a woman doesn't leave until she's truly fed up," I commented.
"What would you know about women?" Toby asked in a sneering tone. "You're gay."
I really disliked this guy, and I would have loved to tell him I helped Amanda leave his ass and then beat the shit out of him. But I chose the high road instead.
"I might be married to a man, but I have no doubt that I've made more women come than you ever will."
That elicited a combination of stifled laughter and sympathetic groans from around the table. Toby glared at me like he wanted to knock me out.
"You need some aloe vera for that burn?" Mooch asked Toby, slapping him on the back.
"Can any of you guys look into it?" Toby asked, ignoring Mooch's comment. He was talking to the three cops at the table. "You have to know some stuff, right? Can't you look her up and see if she's got a new number or something? I just want to talk to her."
Morelli happened to glance in my direction at that moment and I caught his eye. I discreetly shook my head, and he gave a subtle nod in return.
"She's a grown woman. She's allowed to leave and not tell anyone where she went," Morelli told him. "Besides, we can't use the systems to look into people without cause."
"People do it all the time," Costanza said. "You just can't get caught."
"Isn't that why Barnes got fired? He was looking into the guy his wife was sleeping with?" Gazarra asked.
"Yeah, but he used the information to go beat the guy's ass. Toby just wants a phone number," Costanza said. "But I doubt we'd find anything. People use prepaid phones and shit. It's hard to track that stuff, especially if she's only been gone a few days."
"She left on the first," Toby said. "Sometime between nine and ten. Karlie drove her somewhere with the guy. My neighbors said he looked Mexican or something."
"Sounds like you need to let her go," Morelli said. "You'll find someone else."
Let's hope not.
Toby gave up around eight, saying he was ready to leave. He had ridden over with Mooch and had offered to call a cab, but Mooch had been losing spectacularly to Julio, Morelli, and me, so he announced he was heading out too, leaving the five of us to play a few more games.
"I need to talk to you,Joe," I said to Morelli, once we'd played our last game. "Can you hang back a few minutes?"
He agreed and the other three left a few minutes later.
"Do not help Toby find Amanda," I said. "She left because he's an abuser and if he finds her, I don't think she'll live to leave him a second time."
"So you're the Mexican guy?" Morelli asked.
"Yeah. She and Karlie hired me. She originally planned to leave on the eighth, but after a bad fight she took the chance to leave early when he went to cover a shift. Discourage the others from helping him look for her and impede him however you can."
"I'm not surprised," Morelli said. "My mom's said stuff about them before. She knew the signs since she dealt with it from my dad."
"You should also keep an eye out for Karlie," I continued. "She'll protect her friend, but if he gets desperate enough, he might try to get it out of her by force."
Morelli nodded somberly. He had been a cop long enough to know how domestic cases went. He left a few minutes later and Julio locked up behind him.
"Holy shit," he said when he joined me in the living room. "I can't believe that guy was here. It's good he didn't know you were the 'Mexican' guy. He'd probably burn the building down."
"I don't like that he was here," I said. "Unless Karlie tells him or he manages to track down Amanda, no one else knows I helped her. I don't think she'd tell him where Amanda was, but if he pushed her enough she might tell him about me. She's determined to protect her friend, but everyone has a breaking point."
"Not you."
"Even I have a breaking point."
Julio snorted and rested his arm on the back of the couch behind my shoulders. "You were tortured for three days and didn't give up anything. I think you'd be fine if he tries to beat it out of you."
"Pain isn't my breaking point," I said. "You are. There's no limit to what I'd do to protect you. Even if it meant betraying everyone I love."
Julio watched me for a beat, as though he expected me to announce that I was joking. When that didn't happen, he gave me one of his crooked smiles and leaned over to kiss me. The kiss was slow and gentle, then deepened with the passing seconds. There was something behind Julio's kiss that had been missing for the last few months. I pulled him closer without breaking the kiss until he was practically sitting in my lap.
"Bed," I croaked as he moved his mouth to my neck. "Let's go to bed."
He helped me get up from the couch and I made my way to the bedroom on my crutches. I practically threw them when I reached the bed. I sat down on the edge, yanked my shirt off over my head, and pushed myself towards the middle of the bed so that I was lying sideways across it. Julio took his shirt and shorts off before grabbing the waistband of my shorts and pulling them off. He crawled on top of me and crashed his mouth down on mine, my eager erection lying between us. I reached down to touch his cock and found it slightly swollen, but not erect. I tried to stroke him but he pulled back and shook his head.
"Don't worry about it," he said breathlessly. "It won't happen. But I don't care right now."
He moved his mouth to my neck and worked his tongue over the pulse point before moving it over my Adam's apple and down my body. Once he reached my cock, he placed a kiss on the head and sat back on his knees.
"If we've got this far and you tell me there's no lube in this apartment, I'll kill us both," he said. His erection still hadn't formed but I saw a fire in his eyes that I hadn't seen in a while.
"Top drawer on the nightstand, towards the back," I said.
He climbed off the bed, opened the drawer as far as it could open, and looked inside. I saw his eyebrows go up in surprise as he pulled out a bottle of lubricant and a long black box.
"Is this what I think it is?" he asked, holding up the box. He tossed the bottle down on the bed and opened the box without waiting for an answer.
"You already replaced me?" he asked, pulling the dildo out of the box.
"Just a substitute while we were spending so much time apart," I said. I sat up and reached for his arm. "Get back here," I said, pulling him down on top of me.
"I can't believe you bought a dildo," he muttered as he kissed me again.
"I'll get rid of it if you don't like it," I murmured.
"Not a chance. It'll come in handy later," he said, picking up the lube and popping open the lid.
My apartment was on the fourth floor of a five-story building. The south wall of the bedroom overlooked State Street. The living room and kitchen were on the other sides of the northern and eastern walls, respectively. But above us, below us, and to the west of us were neighbors, who would have no doubts about what was occurring in our bedroom if they were home.
"OH FUCK! GODDAMN IT! FUCK!" Julio cried out as he rode me, his eyes closed in pleasure. The intensity of his thrusting was sending shock waves of pain down my leg, but in that moment I couldn't have cared less. I was just glad to be having sex with my husband again. I'd been pleasantly surprised to discover that he was still able to orgasm despite the absence of an erection and waited until he had come twice before finishing myself.
"Fuck," he said breathlessly once he had collapsed on the bed beside me. "That was amazing."
"Yeah, it was," I said, running a hand over his stomach. "I've missed you."
He turned his head to look at me and smiled. It was the most relaxed I'd seen him in over six months. "You know, I think I've found something else to replace my urge to drink. I don't need to smoke."
I laughed and reached down to hold his hand. "Babe, you might kill me."
"Is there another way you'd rather die?"
"It's the perfect way to die. I just thought you might want me around a little longer."
I moved my leg and winced at the pain.
"Was it too much?" Julio asked.
"Never. I could use my pain pills though."
Julio got out of bed and returned with my pills and a bottle of water a minute later. "Tell me when they kick in, but before you get too tired," Julio said once I'd swallowed two pills.
"Why?"
He picked up the dildo and tossed it end-over-end in his hand. "'Cause I got plans for this."
If asked, I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that I really did try to relax while recuperating at home. Julio would've said otherwise.
We arrived at the office at nine-thirty Friday morning, and I was thankful the lobby was empty except for Stephanie behind her desk. She was dressed in black pants and a green short-sleeved shirt. She looked up in surprise when she saw me hobbling in on my crutches.
"You're coming back to work already?" she said. "You haven't even been out of the hospital a week."
"It was either bring him to work or take a page out of your book and run his ass over," Julio replied moodily.
Stephanie's cheeks turned pink at the comment. "You must be Julio," she said in an effort to recover from her momentary embarrassment. "It's nice to meet you. Sorry for hitting him, but it wasn't really my fault."
Julio gave her a skeptical look. "Hadn't you been yelling at him for being with me right before that?"
"Yeah, but I didn't purposely run him over," she replied. "I was yelling at him for being a hypocrite."
"How was he a hypocrite? He broke up with me to be with you."
It was surreal being in the same room with Stephanie and Julio for the first time in this life. The only time I'd seen them around each other had been the weekend of his wedding. They'd gotten along then. I'd been hoping they would get along in this life too, but the bickering that was occurring during their first meeting didn't give me much hope.
"Enough," I said after a minute. "We agreed to leave the past where it belongs. I'm working here for a few hours for the sake of my marriage. But I'm not taking appointments or calls."
"Got it," Stephanie said. "Do you want these?" she asked, holding up a stack of blue folders. I nodded and reached for the bag Julio was carrying.
"I got it," he said, indicating the bag. He reached out for the files Stephanie was holding and carried both to the office for me.
"Grab one of those for my leg," I said, indicating the chairs my mother and her purse had occupied the last time I'd been in my office. I sat down in my chair and Julio helped position my leg on the other chair to something resembling comfortable.
"Pick me up at two. I want to take some time to tour the house before the inspection starts," I told him once I was settled.
That earned me a raised eyebrow. "That'll be a short tour since you can only reach the ground floor."
"I can make it up and down stairs. I'd just rather do it without an audience."
Julio squeezed his eyes shut and I suspected he was thinking he should have dosed me with extra pain pills. "I swear to God, if you fuck that leg up—,"
"I'll be careful. Promise. Now go before you give in to the urge to strangle me."
"If you'd actually listen to medical advice and rested, I wouldn't be tempted."
This from the guy who had ridden me like I was Secretariat a couple of days ago.
"Love you," I said. Julio snorted and rolled his eyes. But he leaned down to kiss me before he left, so I knew he wasn't as annoyed as he might appear.
I spent the next two hours reviewing files and catching up on the corporate side of the business. I was reading through the applications that had made it past the first level of scrutiny (Kim) when Stephanie knocked on the door.
"I'm going to lunch in a little bit. Do you want me to bring you anything?" she asked.
"Where are you going?"
"The deli."
I grabbed a Post-it note and wrote out my order. "Take money out of petty cash," I said once I handed her the paper.
She read through it and raised her eyebrows. "That's boring," she commented. "Turkey on wheat with lettuce, tomato, mustard, and mayo. Don't you want chips or a cookie with it?"
"No."
"Don't tell me you're a health nut," she said. "You treat your body like a temple and all that?"
Memories from my past life, of Stephanie teasing me about my diet, ran through my mind as I watched her. Seeing her like this was harder than seeing her in college. She looked and sounded like the Stephanie I'd fallen in love with in another life. A small part of me missed her. Not this Stephanie, but the one from my last life. The one who had made me the man I was today. Someone capable of love and commitment without being afraid of failure or not being enough. And this Stephanie would never know that. She still didn't understand why I'd given her a job after she'd yelled at me, then hit me with her car. She would never know the lengths I'd gone to for her in either life, or that I'd come back from the dead specifically for her.
"Earth to Carlos," Stephanie said, waving a hand in front of my face. "Do you want anything else?"
I shook my head and waited until she left to relax. I didn't like the feelings she was bringing out in me. I knew I wasn't in love with her, and I hadn't once felt the pull of desire that had always been between us in my last life, but some sort of conflicted connection remained. Maybe it was because she had been my reason for coming back. I still loved her, but in a way that was beyond definition. I would still protect her and help her, but I had my limits this time. I'd meant it when I told Julio he was my breaking point in this life and there were no limits to what I'd do to protect him. Stephanie had held that role in my last life, but now she didn't. I was still willing to do a lot of things for her, but I'd no longer lay my life down for hers. I'd never turn on Julio to protect her, but I would turn on her to protect him. Was that what this feeling was? I'd been so used to the idea of possibly dying for her last time that I hadn't stopped to consider what would change this time. It felt like I was betraying her in some way, even though I knew that wasn't the case. I'd come back to save her life, and it was what I would continue to do. With an asterisk.
The house we were buying was on a cul-de-sac in Robbinsville and would be a twenty-minute commute to my office. It was a two-story colonial house with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a two-car garage, and a partially finished basement. It had a large front yard, an even larger backyard with an inground pool, and only had a neighbor on one side. It didn't look like a house I would have ever considered buying in any lifetime, but it had all the things we wanted.
I walked around the ground floor, the sounds of my crutches echoing through the empty house. The one feature I didn't like was that the staircase was directly across from the front door. An intruder could break in the door and be upstairs to where a family was sleeping in seconds. I suggested changing the staircase so it would require going into the living room to access, but Julio looked at me like I'd grown a second head, and I gave up the idea. A formal dining room sat to the left of the front door and a living room to the right. A small hallway ran between the stairs and the dining room where a half-bathroom and the door to the basement were tucked under the stairs and culminated in the entrance to the large eat-in kitchen. A patio door in the kitchen led to a deck in the backyard. A small family room sat to the side of the kitchen and also gave access to the living room. A sunroom with an electric fireplace overlooked the backyard and gave another means of access outside, which was another point of vulnerability.
"This isn't a goddamn job," Julio said when I pointed this out. "This is where we're gonna live. Can't you stop being a security expert for ten minutes?"
"Shouldn't being a security expert be considered a good thing when looking at the house we plan to raise our children in? I prefer to keep our future kids alive and un-kidnapped."
"Me too, but can't you just look at the positive stuff? I've been negative enough for the both of us lately."
I bit back the urge to remind him that he'd used his professional expertise to nag at me for every movement I'd made in the last ten days and made my way toward the garage.
When it came time to go upstairs. I opted to sit on the steps and pull myself up backwards. I was able to take three steps at a time and make it to the top in less than a minute. Once I was upright and back on my crutches, I toured the top floor. I'd insisted on all the bedrooms being on the same floor and was happy to see the master bedroom was the first room accessible as you arrived on the second floor. It was a large, L-shaped room with a decent-sized bathroom and walk-in closet. Across from the master bedroom was the other bathroom and the remaining three bedrooms were situated around the staircase.
I'd just finished exploring the top floor when we heard the realtor arrive and she called out from the front door. Julio told her where to find us and she appeared at the top of the stairs thirty seconds later. Jill Wallace was forty-six and had the lean body of a long-distance runner and the 26.2 sticker I'd seen on the back window of her SUV confirmed it.
"I don't know how you managed to get up here in that cast, but I'm impressed," she said when she saw me. "What do you think? I know you took the virtual tour and all but seeing it in person is always different."
"I like it. It has everything we were looking for. There are a few things I'm not crazy about, but apparently that's because I'm thinking too much like a security expert and not like a normal person buying a house," I said.
"Occupational hazard," Jill said with a laugh. "My husband and I recently downsized after our last kid went off to college. We looked at one house together before he refused to look at any more with me and told me just to buy whatever I wanted. We'd probably be divorced otherwise. Aren't you a physical therapist?" she asked Julio. "I'm sure you've been going through something similar watching him walk around on those crutches."
I gave Julio a knowing look and he waited until Jill's back was turned to give me the finger.
Mooch arrived twenty minutes later with another guy from his company and they took the next two hours inspecting the house from top to bottom. Anytime they went outside for something, I had Julio follow along to 'ask questions' just in case they were going out to take a swig of something other than water.
"The house is in good shape," Mooch said once they were finished. "There was some minor termite damage in the attic, but nothing to worry about structurally."
"The owners treated that in 2005 before it got out of hand," Jill said quickly.
"HVAC system was installed in 2014 and works fine. Plumbing's about ten years old and everything ran smoothly. Sump pump in the basement is functional, but you'll probably need to replace it soon. The windows in the sunroom are older and aren't as well insulated as they should be if you intend to use the room year-round. The garage door openers are older and still working, but they're loud so that's a sign they're starting to crap out on you," he continued, consulting the two pages of notes he'd compiled. "But overall the house is in good structural condition and all the major stuff works well."
Once Mooch and his partner were gone, we told Jill we would proceed with the purchase at the quoted offer, and she promised to follow up with us next week. Once we were on the road, I told Julio what I needed to do at the marina and directed him towards Atlantic City. I'd grabbed new batteries for the cameras and explained to Julio what he would need to do. I was too conspicuous to get out of the car and stand around while he took down the cameras and replaced the batteries, but I could be downloading the feeds and keeping watch from the car.
"You really think this will help?" Julio asked.
"I do. Alpha protects Ramirez, but knows the clock is ticking on him, which is why he started getting involved with the Jamaicans. Carmen Sanchez learns about the drug ring and reaches out to tell Morelli, which is why she got killed before Morelli could get to her. If they get taken down before she decides to tell Morelli about it, then she lives and Morelli doesn't kill anyone."
"Are the police going to take anonymous information seriously?" he asked. "Especially since it's happening on the other side of the state and all that stuff happens in Trenton?"
"I'm sending it to both jurisdictions and the DEA. Someone will bite."
"When you told me you were doing surveillance, I thought you were sitting in the car taking pictures like some private investigator," Julio said.
"I could do that in Trenton when I'm tailing Alpha, but he's too hard to follow without being noticed. I rented an office across the street from him and have a camera set up there too. We'll check on that one tomorrow."
"What if you don't get the evidence in time?"
"I'll have to sit on Morelli that day and keep him from going to meet Carmen."
"He might get the wrong idea if you do that. And Anthony might get jealous. I think we might be his gay awakening," Julio said with a laugh.
"If Anthony Morelli is gay, then I'm a squirrel," I replied. "The man has had his dick in half the women in Trenton."
"And how many women have had your dick?
"In this life or my last?"
"Both."
I considered his question for a minute before answering. My number in my last life had been well over a hundred given that twenty-one year old Carlos Manoso had arrogantly declared he was going to have slept with seventy-five women by the time he left the Army in honor of being a part of the 75th Ranger Regiment. Getting Rachel pregnant had put things on hold. Even though I knew I'd be getting divorced, I'd still remained faithful to my marriage while it lasted. Once the divorce papers had been filed, I made up for lost time. I stopped counting once I hit seventy-five, having achieved my goal six months before I left the military. But a rough estimate of my post-Army sex life would have added another thirty at least.
"Am I counting people I slept with in high school before I came back?" I asked. "Or only after?"
"After."
There had been Stephanie and eight other women in college. During my first two years in the Army there had been fourteen (no, fifteen. Sixteen?). During the two years between reconnecting with Julio and being together again, there had been another twelve. I think.
"Since I came back in this life, I've slept with thirty-five women. Give or take a couple," I told him.
Julio looked over at me in surprise. "We were broken up for six years and you fucked thirty-five women in that time?"
"Yeah, which is a hell of a lot less than that same time period in my last life."
The cough Julio emitted sounded an awful lot like slut.
"What's your number then?" I asked. "Since we're over here sharing and judging."
"Three."
I bit back a snort of laughter, but not fast enough. "Only three? You've only slept with three women?"
"Yeah. The first time was with this other PFC when I was stationed at Leavenworth—"
"Hold on. You didn't have sex with a woman until after we'd broken up? What about Jasmine?" I asked.
"We did everything else. You were my first sexual partner. Well, you know, willingly."
No wonder he'd been in love with me.
"Then there was a woman named Gina who worked at a restaurant I went to a lot. We slept together a few times. And then Tori."
I stared at Julio as he drove, wondering how the hell this man had only slept with three women in his lifetime. "I don't get it," I began. "You're sexy, funny, smart, and you're great in bed. How did you only sleep with three women? Were there other men?"
Julio shrugged his shoulders as he turned a corner. "I don't know. Women would hit on me, but I didn't really want them. I wanted you. And don't you think sex with a woman is kind of gross? I mean, it gets the job done, but I wasn't crazy about it. And no, there weren't other guys, though I wanted to. It was weird 'cause even though we weren't together, it still felt like I would have been cheating on you if I slept with another guy."
I bit back another laugh, though with less success this time. "Babe. You know what that means right?"
"What?" he asked, looking genuinely clueless to the implications of his statement.
"That you've always been gay."
Julio stopped at a stop sign and checked the intersection before looking over at me. "You think?"
"Straight and bisexual men aren't grossed out by sex with women."
"So you slept with all those women and liked it?" he asked.
"Loved it."
He continued straight down the road that would take us to the marina. "Huh. Well, anyway, that just proves my point. You fucked half the women in the country and still ended up gay as hell. We can't write Anthony off yet."
Gay as hell?
It was almost eight when we arrived at the Marina. Dusk was lingering on the horizon for a few more minutes and the only lights around were from overhead lamps that shown on the cold storage facility. I showed Julio where the cameras were, explained how to change the batteries, and had him put on a baseball hat and gloves so he didn't get recognized or leave prints behind should someone come snooping and find my cameras. They couldn't be linked to me so if someone did find them it would be a loss, but there'd be no connection.
Once I had downloaded the feeds from both cameras, I sent Julio on his way and kept watch for anyone who might be around, but the marina was empty. It was only April, and the temperature was in the high forties. Not exactly yachting weather. It only took Julio ten minutes to change the batteries in the cameras and we were back on the road. Julio hit a drive-thru for dinner and we ate our hamburgers as he drove us home.
"I like this working together," I said. "You should just work with me and forget PT."
"No way."
"Babe."
"Carlos."
"It would be fun."
"I'll make a deal with you," he said after he chewed up the last bite of burger. "If Anthony comes out of the closet, I'll come work with you."
Empty promise since he knew I didn't believe Anthony was gay. "You could have just said no."
"I tried that, and you wouldn't listen. Do we have a deal or not?"
I looked out the window and watched New Jersey pass by in a blur of headlights and shadows. "Deal," I said, vaguely wondering what I'd need to do to get Anthony Morelli to tell Julio he was gay. Two could play that game.
A/N: I'm publishing this chapter the day after the publication of Now or Never/Thirty-one on the run. My fury at the book helped me write. So if I seem extra pissy towards Stephanie, that's why.