Theo watched from behind the bar, frowning at all four of us in turn, as if he was suddenly putting the pieces together.
He and Ramón locked eyes.
Theo set down the glass he was filling and backed slowly away from the taps. If I had any doubt before that Ben had spilled the beans, they were gone. Theo knew exactly who we were and why we were here now.
He bolted, walking fast toward a door markedEMPLOYEES ONLY.
Ramón rose from his seat, but Javi was closer.
Javi launched from his stool, throwing Sophia off him in his rush to give chase. His stool flew backward into a server carrying a round of drinks. The server’s tray went flying, beer and broken glass spraying a group of frighteningly large men seated behind us. They rose from their table, beer dripping down their faces.
Sophia shook shards of glass from her running shoes. She grabbed a napkin from the bar and wiped at the beer on her shorts. “Jesus, Javier! What the hell is wrong with you?”
One of the men called Javi a clumsy asshole. Every head in the bar craned toward us as the man shoved him backward into another table. Chair legs screeched as the second group of angry patrons rolled up their sleeves and stood, trapping Javi in the middle.
Theo disappeared down the hall and the staff door closed behind him. Ramón swore. He helped the server to his feet and slapped a few bills into his hand, not bothering to count them. Then he hauled me off my stool. “Time to get out of here.”
“We can’t just leave! We didn’t find out what kind of car Theo’s—”
Ramón tucked me behind him as one of the men threw a punch. Javi ducked to avoid it, and the man’s fist connected with someone else’s jaw. All hell broke loose. Ramón hustled me toward the exit, shielding us both with his upraised arm as the fistfight spread like a virus through the bar. “Get Vero out of here,” he said to me. “And do not say a word to her about any of what you just saw.”
I didn’t have time to ask exactly what it was I just saw before Ramón got dragged into the fight. Glass shattered. Tables toppled sideways. Someone shouted at a server to call the cops. I didn’t stick around to see what happened after that. I made a run for the door, my heart thumping wildly when I finally made it through to the other side and the sounds of the riot quieted behind me.
I raced across the parking lot, panicking when I didn’t see Vero in the van. I called her name, nearly jumping out of my skin as she ran up behind me.
“Found it!” She bent over her knees, struggling to catch her breath.
“You were supposed to stay out of sight! There was a fight in the bar and we need to go. The cops are on their way, and you can’t be here!”
“A fight?! We can’t leave Javi and Ramón in there. They might murder my alibi!”
“Theo’s hiding in the back. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” I hoped that was true as I shoved her into the passenger seat. A siren was already wailing in the distance.
I got into the van. Vero tossed me the keys. “At least I found Theo’s car,” she said as I peeled out of the lot.
“How? There must have been at least ten BMWs back there.”
“But only one with the kind of horsepower Theo was crowing about.”
“Did you get his plate number?”
She held up Ramón’s cell. “Consider it handled. We should have no problem finding Theo now, and…Oh no,” she whispered. I glanced over and saw her frowning at Ramón’s phone.
“Don’t worry,” I reassured her. “Javi has his cell with him. He can call me when they get out of there, and I’ll go back to pick them up.” Assuming they didn’t spend the night in the hospital or in jail. I couldn’t worry about that now. “The only thing we should be worrying about is getting you home before your curfew.”
“That might be a problem.” Vero looked like she might be sick as she showed me the screen. “Ramón just got a text from my mom. Officer Oates just showed up for Mass at St. Pete’s, and she’s there looking for me.”
CHAPTER 13
I drove like a demon to the church, racing through half a dozen yellow lights and slowing only once we’d reached the turn for it. I killed the headlights as I pulled into the parking lot. The sprawling house of worship was flanked entirely with windows, the warm light of the sanctuary filtering through the cream-colored blinds. The service had started more than an hour ago. I spotted Officer Oates’s unmarked sedan parked close to the front of the building. The driver’s seat was empty, which meant she was probably inside the church, looking for us.
“This is not good,” Vero said, gnawing a thumbnail.
I frowned at the dark expanse of cars, searching for an empty parking spot. “There must be a few hundred people inside. How long do you think Officer Oates has been in there?”
Vero shook her head. “No idea. My mom said she spotted Oates by the chapel door when she and Gloria got up to take communion.”
I reached over and put a hand on her frantically bobbing knee to still it. “The church will be crowded. All we have to do is get you through the door without anyone noticing. You can sneak into the chapel, stand at the back, and pretend you were there the whole time.”
