She gasped and darted her gaze around the room. “Reid, sit. Please.”

Good. I sat. “Get to the point, Ms. Romero. You’ve admitted to breaking into and entering my brother’s home. You’ve admitted to stealing.”

“I didn’t steal anything!”

“You stole a message from his answering machine. Trust me. My lawyers will make it stick.”

She looked down again.

“I can have you and your sister arrested and thrown in jail, and I will do it if you don’t start leveling with me.”

“All right. All right.” She sighed. “Leta and I developed a plan. I know about phone records, of course. I’m not an idiot.”

I rolled my eyes. I agreed she wasn’t an idiot, but I couldn’t help myself. I was that pissed off.

She opened her mouth, but her phone chose that second to vibrate against the white table covering. She looked down. “Sorry.”

“Go ahead.” Heck, I’d waited this long. I could wait a little longer.

She picked up her phone and answered it. “Hello.”

Pause.

She widened her eyes and gasped. “Oh my God! What hap— I mean— Oh my God!”

Pause.

Tears formed in her eyes. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Thank you. Oh my God…” She ended the call and stood. “I have to go.”

“What’s going on now?” I didn’t even try to disguise the impatience in my voice.

“It’s Leta. She’s in the hospital in Helena.”

“Why? What happened?”

“She was beaten to within an inch of her life.” Nieves closed her eyes and two tears squeezed down her cheeks. “This is… It’s all my fault.”

“What the hell is going on, Nieves?”

“I can’t. I can’t do this. Look what it’s already cost my sister!”

“Wait, wait, wait… You think Leta was beaten up because you’re talking to me?”

“Of course I do! And because she talked to you. We had a whole plan. We did. We thought every detail out. We…” She crumpled back into her chair and laid her head on the table, tears falling slowly onto the covering.

I wasn’t an unfeeling person. Not at my core. But this? I had no sympathy for her. I didn’t wish pain on Nieves or her sister, but they’d fucked with dangerous people, and this was the result.

“Nieves,” I said, “there’s only one way out of this mess.”

She lifted her head far enough to meet my gaze. “What’s that?”

“You need to level with me.”

13

Zee