Deep Deception 2 Read online

  “Yes?” He stood at the bottom of the steps. He looked so uncomfortable, I felt sorry for him.

  “I need to run to the basement to see if I can find something to wear. Could you come upstairs and watch the baby? He can’t fall off the bed, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

  He quickly climbed the stairs with a big grin on his face. I patted his shoulder as we passed on the stairs.

  LM was not on the bed when I returned to my room with several pairs of jeans and tops to match. My father was also missing and I began to panic. My heart started beating real fast; I found myself gasping for breath. I’d asked him to watch over the baby. I didn’t give him permission to move him. I threw the jeans on my bed and stormed off down the hall to the room that he was occupying. I stopped short at his door when I saw him cradling my son and whispering into his tiny ear. My heart swelled; I could not stop the tears from flowing down my face. I hadn’t given my father any credit. I’d forgotten that he used to hold me in the same manner. I silently turned and went to my room to get dressed.

  I needed to get to my sister and let her know I was alive and that our father had finally come home. I wasn’t sure how I was going to break the news about Ramón. I would just have to cross that bridge when I got to it.

  CHAPTER TEN

  TILO ADAMS

  “Do you like it?” The hairdresser swiveled my chair around.

  I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My new hair came down well past my shoulders, and it was very full at the top. It actually looked good. I hardly recognized myself. “Excellent! You did a great job.” I got out of the chair and moved in closer to the mirror.

  She handed me a small mirror so I could exam my entire head. I wanted to make sure no tracks were showing. I wasn’t about to walk around looking like a damn fool. “Shit, my own mother wouldn’t recognize me.”

  If she thought it was something strange to say, she didn’t say it. I had to be careful unless I wanted to pick up another body at the hairdresser’s.

  “That’s what a weave does, creates a new persona and allows some people to be who they weren’t at birth.”

  “Whoa, that’s how you feel about it?” I was surprised that she would be so blunt with her description. But when I thought about it, she was absolutely correct. Weaves did allow people to be what they weren’t. If you were bald, it allowed you to have hair. If your shit was thick and coarse, you could buy some slick and silky curls.

  She said, “I’m glad you like it.”

  The weave was tight, and I was glad I’d taken the time to get it done. “Keep the change.” I handed her $200. I was feeling extra good and sexy. I even felt like putting on makeup, something I hadn’t done in years. I would indulge in that on the way to the airport in the morning.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  MOSES RAMSEY

  “Moses, please don’t get upset with me, sweetie. All I’m saying is that for all of our sakes, you need to give it up. You’re never going to find Tilo.”

  “Verónica, I don’t want to talk about it. Besides, I need to get to the office.” Truth be told it wasn’t so much a need to get to the office, it was a need to get away from her whining. She had been playing the same tune for eight weeks and I was sick of hearing it. I pulled on my pants and buttoned up my shirt. My tolerance for nagging was low and lack of sleep was starting to take its toll on me, so I knew I had to get out of the house before something happened that I couldn’t take back.

  “Are you going to let it go?” she said, continuing to push the envelope.

  I almost lost it. “Yes,” I agreed between clinched teeth.

  When we were seeing each other, I never noticed how much of a pain in the ass she could be. But I was sure getting a good dose of it now. She was clocking my every move.

  “Good, because I wouldn’t want anything else to happen. Too many people already got hurt. I’m sick of all the drama. I just want our lives to go back to normal.”

  I stopped and looked around the kitchen. Did she honestly believe that what we had going on could actually be conceived of as normal? Everything about our lives, marriage, and love, was based on a lie. It was moments just like this that I questioned whether I’d ever loved Verónica.

  “Moses?” She had this strange look on her face.

  “Huh?” I’d zoned out and hadn’t been paying attention.

  “I asked what time you’d be home?”

  “I don’t know, babe, I’ll call you.” I knew that I was being unreasonable by getting an attitude with her, but I could not help myself. She could be so annoying sometimes, especially when she got something in her craw.

  “Don’t be mad, Moses. I’m just thinking about you.”

  “I’m not mad, sweetie. It’s all good. I’ll see you this evening.” I bent down and kissed her on the head. I poured a glass of orange juice, which would serve as my breakfast. I told Verónica what she wanted to hear, but I had no intentions of giving up. She wasn’t the only one telling me to let it go. The Feds all but confirmed Tilo’s death from the blood in her car, but what they didn’t know was that she was planning on stealing all the money and disappearing. I was caught between a rock and a hard place because the only way I could persuade the Feds to use their resources to find her black ass would be to admit I was in on the shit. That wasn’t going to happen. I grabbed my briefcase and went through the garage to get to my car in the driveway. I was very distracted as I drove to work. Hell, I almost hit two cars in the process.

  “If you don’t focus, you dumb fuck, you’re going to wrap this car around a pole,” I said aloud. Finding Tilo wasn’t going to do any good if I killed myself in the process. I pulled over to the side of the road to get myself together. In a way Verónica was right. This Tilo shit was driving me crazy. I imagined seeing her everywhere I went. I was so obsessed, it had me running up on strangers and making a fool out of myself. I wanted to give it up, but I could not get past the bitch tricking me. I didn’t take that shit lightly.

  When I pulled back into the morning traffic, I concentrated on the road and arrived at work with no other mishaps. I caught the elevator to the third floor and pulled out my keys to open the door. My thoughts were still flipping here and there so I didn’t notice Verónica’s father until I bumped into him.

  “Excuse me, I wasn’t paying attention.”

  “That’s quite all right, son. I should have stepped aside when I saw you weren’t paying attention to where you were going.”

  I looked up when he called me son. I was still trying to wrap my arms around having a father-in-law.

  “Come on in.” I was suspicious of the visit. I opened the door, turned on the lights, and adjusted the air conditioning. He took a seat in one of the chairs facing my desk.

  “Can I get you some coffee or something else to drink, Mr. Mendoza?”

  “Son, we don’t have to be so formal.”

  “I’m curious about what brings you to my office instead of speaking with me at home.”

  “Because I want to know what type of progress you’ve made in finding Tilo. I want that bitch to pay for killing Ramón.” He was quiet for a moment, then whispered, “Victória opened her eyes yesterday.”

  I was surprised. She had been in a coma so long I had begun to lose hope of ever questioning her. “Really? I didn’t know. I’m surprised my wife didn’t tell me.”

  “She just found out a little while ago and was so busy rushing out of the house with the baby and all, she probably just forgot to call you.”

  While it was a plausible excuse, I couldn’t ignore the tiny tug in my gut that told me it could be more. “I’m sure.” I nodded even though I didn’t feel like it was true. I was ready for Carlos to leave so I could think about my next move. I was going to have to figure out a way to keep my investigation secret until I knew more about their family dynamics. For all I knew, Carlos may have a hidden agenda the same way his brother had. I was not about to be tricked again. “Have you been over to see Victória yet?�
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  “No, Verónica said I should wait until she had the opportunity to tell her about what happened.”

  “Don’t you think you should be the one who explains your actions?”

  He looked at me oddly. “That’s very insightful of you. No wonder my daughter chose you.”

  I was stunned. He actually sounded like he was proud to have me in the family. I sat back in my chair, speechless. Based on the conversations I’d had with Verónica, I never thought he would truly accept me.

  “I’m just saying, those two have been through a lot in a relatively short amount of time. It’s understandable they will have trust issues. Trust me when I say I know that firsthand.”

  “I wish I could do it all over again only differently. I have to make it up to them.”

  “Mr. Mendoza, with all due respect, some things can’t be undone. It is what it is. We’re just going to have to move on and make the best of it.”

  He stood up. “You’re a very wise man. Now find that bitch. I don’t have to tell you that time is of the essence.” He turned to leave.

  “We should continue to keep this between us for the time being. I have to live with your daughter, and she doesn’t want any part of this investigation.”

  “Fine, just find her.”

  If he only knew how badly I wanted to find her. It had been going on two months now since she’d disappeared and it was driving me nuts. To me it was personal. It really wasn’t all about the money. The bitch played me for a punk-ass bitch, and I was having a difficult time swallowing it. I didn’t care if it took me as long as it took to find Bin Laden, I was going to find her.

  The phone rang.

  “Private Investigator Moses Ramsey,” I announced as I picked up the phone. My afternoon was turning out to be a busy one. I was flipping through my mail when I heard the voice that haunted me in my dreams.

  “Moses, darling.”

  I dropped the mail. “Tilo.” It wasn’t a question, more like a confirmation that she was alive, and I knew she would taunt me. Now I was just waiting for it to begin.

  “Do you miss me?” She was laughing, which only made my blood boil even more.

  “What do you want, bitch?” I hissed. I logged on to my computer to trace the number she was calling from. However, she may have the ability to block it, but I wasn’t ready to give up my chase.

  “I understand some of your hostility, but it’s not good to hold on to hatred for such a long period of time. Don’t you agree?”

  I was so mad, I couldn’t even punch in the right numbers on my keyboard to activate the trace.

  “Moses, are you there?”

  “I’m here. I still want to know what you want.”

  “I thought you were a smart man, Moses. Surely you aren’t trying to trace my call. You didn’t underestimate me and think I would call you from my own phone, did you?”

  I wanted that bitch so badly I could taste it.

  “Humph, for what? You won.” I punched the numbers again, trying not to pound so loudly on the keys.

  “You may be a smart man, Moses, but you’re a horrible liar. This is a throwaway phone; you’ll never be able to trace it back to me.”

  She was right. With the disposable phone I could not trace it back to her, but I could trace the general area where the phone call was coming from.

  “Oh shit,” I muttered as the phone slipped from my ear. My dick got hard when I saw that the bitch was still in Georgia.

  “I’m not going to lie, I would have liked to get to know you better, but you dipped your dick in another woman first. So don’t even think about coming for me, or I’ll tell her you tried to kill her.” The line went dead. She had some nerve talking about where I had dipped my dick when she was pussy-bumping my wife’s sister. However, the threat was not lost on me. I had to eliminate Tilo, period. It wasn’t a matter of catching her and turning her over to the authorities, I had to kill the bitch.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  VICTÓRIA MENDOZA

  It began with a loud noise, more of a nuisance than anything. But this changed as the sound grew intense. It was so loud it hurt my eardrums and shook me from my deep sleep.

  “Make it stop,” I moaned, but my spoken plea didn’t sound anything like it did inside my head. My lips felt like mush; I had no control over how they formed my words. I twisted my head to the right and felt a blinding pain that infused my brain with tiny stars. My body tensed from what seemed to be a massive revolt inside my body; every muscle woke up, engaged in some sort of motion.

  I could feel my arms flailing, my legs jerking, my torso convulsing, and there was nothing I could do to stop them. I only wanted to go back to sleep, but each agonizing movement sent currents of pain to my brain. The noise in my head escalated. If I could’ve moved my arms with any controlled movement, I would have gripped my head to keep it still. Turning it to the right only brought more pain, but I couldn’t keep my head still either.

  Stop. I heard the word in my mind, despite the clutter in my head, but I wasn’t sure if the word came out of my mouth.

  Where am I? I tried to open my eyes but it felt like my lids were taped down. The more I struggled to open my eyes, the louder the noise in my head became. God, I give up. If you stop this pounding in my head, I’ll stop fighting. I waited for the pain to stop, but I could only assume God was otherwise busy or couldn’t understand me. My body continued to shake and shimmy on what I assumed was a bed. My arm exploded in pain when something hit it. My arm apparently connected with a solid object and pain shot up my limb. Whatever I hit was major because the pain in my arm was different from the pain in other parts of my body. It radiated up my left arm and centered in my chest.

  “We’re losing her,” someone shouted.

  Who the hell was that and who are they losing? The pain in my head subsided somewhat, but my chest was showing out.

  “Code blue. Code blue,” another voice shouted.

  These motherfuckers were getting on my nerves. I felt additional pressure on my chest, and I wanted to tell them to leave me alone. I couldn’t breathe. Someone was pressing down on my chest and my nose was covered. I struggled to open my eyes but they remained glued shut.

  Someone shouted, “Clear.”

  Clear what? I wish these stupid asses would speak English. Couldn’t they see I was in need of some assistance? My body lifted up off the bed and fell back with a thump. What the fuck is going on? Before I could get an answer, my body lifted again and crashed back onto the bed. My entire head was hurting now, not just the right side. I was convinced someone was trying to kill me. But just as suddenly as everything started to lose clarity, everything came in focus. The pain slipped away and my body relaxed.

  “I got a pulse.” A nurse bent over me and shined a light in my eyes.

  “Welcome back,” another spoke.

  I looked around the room as best I could without moving my head. I was afraid to because I didn’t want to trigger the pain I was certain was connected to my head.

  “You gave us quite a scare,” the first nurse spoke.

  I tried to speak but my lips wouldn’t cooperate. Frustrated, I started to cry. I didn’t understand what had happened to me but it must have been bad—very bad.

  “Don’t try to speak. Give the medicine a chance to work. You’re okay now.”

  Was this supposed to make me feel better? If it was, it wasn’t working. I wanted to know where I was and, more significant, how I had gotten there. I let my eyes roam the hospital room, searching for a familiar face, but I didn’t recognize anyone in the room. I lifted my hand and grabbed the nurse’s hand before she could leave me. I searched her face, seeking information.

  She reached for a cup with ice chips and coated my lips. “You’re at Grady Memorial Hospital. You’ve been here for almost two months and up until yesterday you’ve been in a coma. You started convulsing yesterday, and we’ve had to use the crash cart on you three times.”

  “I almost died?” My words seem
ed muffled, but she obviously understood.

  “Yes, but this is the first time that you’ve opened your eyes since you’ve been here; so, hopefully, the worst is over with.” She smiled.

  “Head hurts.” My throat was parched and it hurt to talk.

  She brought a straw to my lips. “Just take a sip or two. We don’t want to shock your system. I’m going to call your doctor. Try to get some rest.”

  Panic overwhelmed me. I didn’t want to be left alone. What if I crashed again? “I’m scared.” I felt tears roll out of my eyes and puddle in my ears.

  “I know, sweetie. I won’t be gone long. I’m just going to go up the hall and call your doctor. Your family has been notified. I’ll be back before you know it.” She patted my hand and she was gone.

  I couldn’t have held her there if I tried. I closed my eyes and turned my head to the right. My eyes shot open as my brain was infused with pain again. I shifted my body to the left, which also woke up some nerve endings, but I didn’t want to make the mistake of turning back to the right. Once I got comfortable, I silently prayed God would wake me up again.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  MOSES RAMSEY

  I spoke into the phone. “Dad, I need to speak with you. Is Mom around?” I paced my office nervously. I needed to get something off my chest, and my father was the only person I knew who I could trust with this information.

  “She’s in the kitchen.”

  “Good, what I have to say is for your ears only. Later you can decide whether to share it with Mom. Could you take me off speaker phone so she doesn’t come into the room?”

  “Moses, I don’t keep secrets from your mother. Secrets are little lies that can ruin a relationship.”

  “I know, Dad, but can you just indulge me for a moment? I need to speak to you man to man.”