Her lips twisted as she thought about it. “I suppose, but how does this make a difference since Tommy said it should’ve been me in that tub?”
My teeth clenched. “I don’t know, but my gut tells me there’s a lead here. I’ll have to ask the M.E. some more questions.”
PENNY INSISTED I SIT at the head of the table so I could serve the lasagna as I cut it. Raegan sat to my left, handing me empty plates, while Mamá sat on my right, passing full plates around. No sooner had I set my own plate of hot food in front of me than the doorbell rang.
“It’s about time. That girl does not know how to tell time, I swear,” Laura muttered. She looked at Penny. “Do you mind if I answer the door? It has to be Erica.”
Penny nodded, and Laura left the table.
Laura came back, saying, “Well, Erica decided to bring a plus-one. The more the merrier, right?”
I turned to see Laura’s smile was fake and Carlos stood next to Erica. “You lost your mind,” I grumbled to Erica.
Mamá stood up while launching into a string of Spanish, but Erica cut her off. “Stop, Mamá! I brought Carlos because he’s in trouble and I wanted Clint to help him.”
“Why would he help him, when Carlos thought Clint was following him just last week?” Laura asked.
I glared at her. “I wasn’t following him. Told you that on Saturday.”
“And I didn’t believe you.”
“If you’d have stuck around, I’d have filled you in.”
She looked away and I turned to Erica. “He’s got problems, so you bring him here?”
My little sister glowered. “Knew you’d be here, and I knew you’d refuse to talk to him.”
“He doesn’t belong here,” Mamá hissed.
“It’s not even your house, how can you say that?”
Raegan went to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water and a plate. She set the glass in front of an empty seat and put the plate next to me. “It’s fine, Erica. I’m Raegan and this is my Mom, Penny. It’s nice to meet you, Carlos.”
I scowled up at Rae. She could be charming, but this was completely different from years past. My suspicion was her ex-husband had everything to do with it, and I didn’t like it.
“It’s nice to meet you, Raegan. And Penny, you have a very nice house.”
Rae sat down. Her foot nudged mine. “Can you dish another slice, please?”
I sighed. Mamá sat down as Erica and Carlos joined us. Mamá took the plate from me, passing it to Carlos.
“Did you want wine, Erica?” Laura asked.
She looked around the table. “No, thanks.”
Penny engaged my siblings and Carlos in small talk. In between bites, I kept my eyes on Carlos. It might have been my imagination, but he had his eyes on Raegan more often than not.
“Carlos, what do you do?” Penny asked.
He turned to her as if the idea of holding a job was a foreign concept – and for him, it probably was.
“Oh, I’m in-between jobs.”
I nearly choked. “When did you get let go from your last job?”
His eyes narrowed for a scant second. “About a month ago.”
My eyebrow arched. “Is that the trouble Erica mentioned you’re having?”
He stalled by sipping some water. “No. That’s something different, but I don’t want to bother the ladies with it.”
Penny speared some salad. “Oh, you never know. We might have a different perspective to offer.”
“He doesn’t listen,” Mamá muttered.
“Be nice,” Erica hissed.
Penny glanced at my plate. “Clint, you ate awful fast. Do you want another piece?”
I shook my head. “No thank you. Carlos, are you feeling like seconds?”
He shook his head while popping the last bite of pasta in his mouth.
With a jerk of my chin toward the kitchen, I took my plate and beer to the kitchen. He came in behind me.
“Should we discuss this outside?”
His disdainful expression strengthened before he nodded. He started to turn around, and I said, “This way. We’ll head out the side door.”
I led him a few feet from the house because I didn’t trust any of the women not to eavesdrop.
I faced him. “So, what’s the trouble you’ve got?”
He shrugged. “Erica’s overreacting.”
He shuffled his feet drawing my attention to his shoes. Even in the dim light, I could see they were scuffed. Carlos always had pristine sneakers, whatever brand was the going trend, no matter how pricey. His jeans were frayed, but that might be intentional.
“You accused me of following you. Plus, you were worried about me staking out your corner store, and I have to wonder why that is. There something you feel guilty about?”
His lip curled. “Fuck this shit.”
The things I did for my sister. “I can probably help. All you have to do is tell me about it.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“Is it money?”
He scoffed. “Nah, man. I shouldn’t have laid it on Erica.”
“But you did. So, lay it on me. Otherwise I’ll get it from her.”
“You’re such an arrogant prick,” he muttered.
“All right then, good talk,” I muttered and strode past him.
“The Bloods want me for beating the asshole who beat Erica.”
That didn’t make sense. If that gang wanted retaliation, they’d have snatched Carlos and beaten him senseless.
I turned around. “How’ve you dodged it so far?”
He jerked his head in dismissal. “Don’t matter.”
My eyes widened. “The hell it doesn’t. The man you beat knows where Erica lives, which means they’ll go there, looking for you. So, how are you dodging them?”
He grunted disgustedly. “She never took that jackass to her place.”
“So fuckin’ what? They’ll figure out where she lives. It isn’t hard to do.”
His face softened just enough to tell me he hadn’t thought of that. “When I’m not with Erica, I’ve been staying with my ma.”
I pulled my cell from the holster on my belt. Back in the spring, I had loaded a hotel booking app, so I used it to book a room in Erica’s name using my credit card.
Neither one of them would like this idea, but if
