A Taste of Remy Read online

  “Cross as in mad, right?” Remy asked.

  She pointed her finger at him and then got up and fixed her clothes. “You guessed it. It’s the wrong time to ask that kind of question.”

  “You want flowers, a romantic dinner and the works?” Remy walked over and wrapped her in his arms.

  “You’d better believe it,” she muttered as she lay her hand against his broad chest.

  Cross, my ass, he thought but she was right. He was going to propose the right way. Dr. Schiller came back in and in her hand she carried a couple of small bottles of vitamins. She explained that they had a lot of samples in the back and thought that would be better to give Lynette instead of a piece of paper with words scribbled on it. She described each one as she placed them in a bag and gave her the date of her next appointment. They walked out hand in hand to the parking deck and Remy made sure she was in and her seatbelt was fastened before he got in.

  “So where are we going for my tortilla soup?” Lynette asked as he drove slowly out of the parking deck.

  “One of my favorite places called Bueno,” Remy said.

  “The restaurant is just called good in Spanish?” she questioned.

  “Very good,” Remy smiled. “You’ll be fluent in Spanish in no time. It’s a place I worked after I left the Bronx in lower Manhattan. You will love Maria’s tortilla soup.”

  “If it’s anything like Suzie’s I’m sure I will,” Lynette replied. They rode a while in silence and then she added,“I’ve had a few more of those hang-up calls. Well, not so much hang up as to curse at me and then hang up.”

  His heart went cold. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

  “You said the first one was a fluke so I wanted to make sure it wasn’t,” Lynette said. “I can put a tracer program from my computer to your land line if you—”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Remy said.

  “Really, it’s no trouble.”

  “I said I’ll take care of it,” Remy snapped and winced when his voice came out louder than he intended.

  “Oy, excuse me?” Lynette turned to face him. “Obviously, there is something going on that you don’t want me to know. I don’t like secrets or lies, Remington, and if you bloody well have some kind of second woman out there who thinks I’m a threat—”

  “It’s nothing like that, Lynette,” Remy said quickly. “I just don’t want you to focus on this and get upset.”

  “Please piss off on that. You’d better start coming clean with me, or at least tell me who you think it is,” Lynette snapped.

  “It’s probably someone from the gang I ran with. I saw one of the guys at the airport that day I picked you up.” Remy sighed. “I’ll go to the police myself and I’ll get Favian’s permission to use some security software from research and development. I will take care of this, I promise.”

  She folded her arms over her chest. “Yeah, whatever, do what you bloody well want.”

  “Lynette…”

  Her face was set like stone. “Are we stopping to eat or not? I’m hungry.”

  Her changing the subject made him grit his teeth at her stubborn demeanor.

  “Yes, we are,” he replied.

  “Good. Afterwards you can drop me off at Adira’s, please. I would like to be in the company of someone who doesn’t have secrets.”

  He sighed in exasperation. “Lynette, I don’t have secrets. Let me take care of this my way.”

  “Like I said, whatever, and when we’re done eating, you will take me to visit my friend,” Lynette said simply.

  “Will you need me to pick you up and bring you home later?” Remy asked.

  “I’ll let you know, but you may be busy ‘taking care of things’.” Her voice was clipped and short.

  There was no use trying to reason with Lynette when she got like this. He’d learned even before they got together that she would become a statue of silence when she was upset. Great. Now the fucking seven-one-eights are causing problems in my relationship. He’d take her to Adira’s and talk with Favian to see if they could solve this immediately before Lynette went completely nuclear. He wanted to keep her stress level down and make the next few months for her all about her and the baby.

  They pulled into the parking lot of Bueno off of Franklin Roosevelt Drive and Lynette was out of the car before he could come around and help her. Inside, they found a booth for two and before he knew it, Maria, the restaurant owner, bustled over. She was wearing the same red apron he remembered from his youth over her plump figure and her usual scowl was quickly replaced with a huge smile when she saw him. The hair he remembered as pitch black now held more gray but she still moved with a purpose and carried an air of dignity.

  “Remy Sanchez, cómo estás?” Maria beamed and held out her arms. Remy stood and gave her a hug.

  “Estoy bein. Cómo estás?” Remy embraced the woman and inhaled the scent of garlic, peppers and cheese that had wafted over with her.

  “I’m fine. Speak English and introduce me to your friend,” Maria said sternly, but he could hear the fondness in her voice.

  “This is Lynette.” He held out his hand to her, but she ignored it and stood on her own. She was still pissed, and he noticed Maria look away and probably knew they’d had a little tiff.

  “It’s very nice to meet you,” Lynette said.

  “Oh, your accent is wonderful!” Maria beamed.

  “Thank you,” Lynette replied. “Remy said you are the place to get the best tortilla soup in town.”

  “Did he now? Well, that does my heart good to see he still remembers. We don’t see him enough,” Maria said. “How far along are you?”

  Lynette gasped. “How can you tell? I’m not really showing.”

  Maria waved her hand. “It’s all in the face. Plus, my tortilla soup is a favorite with the expecting mothers around here.” She sniffed and he saw that she had tears in her eyes. “Remy, you are going to be a father. I’ve never been happier for anyone. You were always like a son to me.”

  “Gracias.” Remy kissed the cheek of the elderly woman.

  “I’ll go get you that soup, Mama.” Maria laughed and then warned, “Whatever you did to make her mad you’d better fix it. I expect to be holding and cooing at that baby in a few months.”

  “Si, yes, ma’am,” Remy said respectfully.

  “Thank you, Maria. I may need a gallon of your soup to survive until this baby decides to stop making me ill.” Lynette sat back down and directed her attention to Remy. “I’m not easily won over so don’t even think about it.”

  “I know that.” Remy sat down and took her hand and kissed the tip of each finger individually. “I’ll show you I’m not hiding anything, and I will fix those calls coming in.”

  “We’ll see,” Lynette said.

  Maria soon came back from the kitchen carrying a tray with a huge bowl of her tortilla soup on it as well as a glass filled with a light pink liquid. “I brought you some fresh guava juice as well, mama-to-be. I hope you enjoy it.”

  “Gracias,” Lynette said with a smile and inhaled the steam rising from the bowl after it was placed in front of her. “Oh, this smells wonderful.”

  “Hey, what about me?” Remy asked teasingly.

  “You know where the kitchen is. Come get it yourself,” Maria replied primly.

  Remy chuckled and got up. He had expected that answer. “I’ll be right back, mi reina.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” Lynette was focused on her soup.

  Remy shook his head and followed Maria into the kitchen. He made himself a plate of rice and beans, pulled beef, guacamole, queso and freshly made tortilla chips. When he came back through the doors, tray in hand, his heart stopped and his blood ran cold. Lynette was standing, her skin was pale, and fear was in her eyes. In front of her was Lola, a woman he had hoped he would never see again and she was pointing a gun at the woman he loved.

  “And here’s the man of the hour. Remy, how are you?” Lola said

  Remy saw that gang life, th
at hardness of life, had also taken a toll on her. Her body was much too plump to fit into the spandex tights and top she wore. While she still tried to dress young and hip, it was obvious her time had come and gone twice over.

  “I would be much better if you weren’t pointing a gun at my woman,” Remy said calmly. His mind was searching a million miles a minute for a way to disarm her without Lynette getting hurt.

  “Madre de Dios, chica. Are you insane?” Maria yelled. “Everyone knows my place is one of no violence. Get out now before I call the police!”

  “You or anyone in the back touches the phone, she’s dead before they can call nine-one-one,” Lola said coldly.

  “What do you want, Lola, money? I have plenty of that. Put the gun down so we can talk and come to some kind of agreement,” Remy cajoled.

  “Imagine my surprise when Alex told me how you treated him at the airport and since then we’ve had our eyes on you.” Lola laughed, then her bright red lipsticked mouth twisted into a sneer. “Years go by and you think everything is okay and you’ve gone past the reach of my people. Now you think money will make a difference? You caused my brother’s death and I’ve waited for years to take something from you, something you love, just like you took from me.”

  “You hurt her and I will make you and the seven-one-eights know what true horror is.” Remy’s voice became cold and deadly. It matched the feeling in his heart with Lynette being on the other side of that gun. “You left us, you left Jose, and you blame me? He loved you with every fiber of his being and when the DA offered him a deal he refused only to get shanked in Rikers. Blame yourself, Lola. Blame your damn self.”

  “I know your woman is carrying. What if I shot her in the stomach?” Lola’s laugh was cruel. “Kill that baby and any chance of her being a mother again.”

  “No!” Lynette instantly wrapped her arms around her stomach.

  A car horn blared from outside and it caught Lola’s attention for a moment. It was the only opening Remy could see so he dropped his tray and the world seemed to move in slow motion. The clatter of the tray and the sound of broken china as they hit the floor filled his ears. He grabbed Lola’s arm and tried to wrestle the gun from her hand. She gave a screech that reminded him of the stories of the duende he’d heard of as a child. It was akin to the lore of the banshee except it was in Latin American folklore. But if there was such a thing, Lola would fit the bill. Lynette was moving out of the way, trying very hard not to be in the focal point of the gun as they struggled. They fought for control of the gun and just as he thought he had it, he felt Lola’s finger move and a shot rang out.

  Maria screamed and Remy gave Lola a shove that sent her to the opposite side of the room. But it was too late. Lynette lay on the ground and a pool of blood began to stain her T-shirt from the upper shoulder. Remy forgot about Lola and rushed to her side. She was in shock, staring up at the ceiling and her breath was coming out in furious tiny pants. He stripped his shirt from his body and pressed it against her shoulder. It was then that Lynette screamed as the pain finally caught up with her brain.

  “Shh, baby. Oh, God, I’m so sorry.” Remy could hear the panic in his voice and tried to squelch it. “Maria, call nine-one-one, por favor.” He looked at Lola who got up off the floor and shook her head. He pointed and snarled, “You stay right there, goddamn you!”

  “Poor Remy, chase me or save your woman. What a choice to make,” Lola sing-songed. She turned when she heard sirens. “I’ll be back, Remy. One of these days that puta will be alone and she’ll have that baby in her arms and I’ll take them from you just like you took Jose from me.”

  With that, she ran out of the restaurant and Remy wanted to chase her and kill her himself. Lynette was shaking and crying. Tears poured from her eyes as he tried to stem the bleeding at her wound. Maria came and knelt beside them and replaced Remy’s blood stained shirt with a clean white towel. For a moment, Remy stared in disbelief at her blood on his hands. The ambulance and police arrived and while he explained to the police what had happened, the emergency technicians worked on Lynette to stabilize her.

  “I’m pregnant, I’m pregnant,” she said faintly. She repeated the words until her voice faded away.

  “She’s losing consciousness! Get an IV into her now!” a tech ordered and they began to move feverishly.

  “Lynette!” Remy cried out her name and blindly pushed the police and EMTs aside to fall on his knees beside her. “Mi amor, stay with me, please, stay awake. Te amo, I love you. Oh, honey, I love you so much.”

  “Sir, let us get her to the hospital,” one EMT ordered. “How far along is she?”

  “Twelve weeks. We just heard the baby’s heartbeat today. Please tell me she’ll be okay,” Remy pleaded.

  “You can follow us to the hospital. You should call her OBGYN to meet us there,” the EMT said. “Right now we’re moving.”

  “Mr. Sanchez, we’ll meet you at the hospital to ask more questions,” a police officer said.

  Remy barely nodded as he watched them wheel Lynette outside to the waiting ambulance.

  Maria took off her apron and ordered the kitchen staff to come out of the kitchen. “Manny, you close up the shop and take off the rest of the day. All of you clean up when the police say you can. Remy, give me your key. I’ll drive.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Don’t be an ass. You can barely form a sentence,” Maria snapped. “Give me the keys, mijo, and call her doctor and your friends to meet you at the hospital.”

  Remy gave in and handed the keys to her. Next, he called Dr. Schiller who said she would meet them there. He then called Adira and Favian and hated hearing the terror in Adira’s voice when she learned that her best friend had been shot and then Favian’s panic and almost stoic anger as Remy repeated the story. Adira would leave Mateo with Suzie and would take a cab to the hospital. Favian was leaving from work.

  He looked down at his hands, still stained with blood, and felt the complete disintegration of his life. He thought he’d outran his past but now someone he loved was caught in the crossfire. If anything happened to Lynette or the baby, there was nowhere Lola could hide that would keep him from finding her. The cops would be the least of her worries. He’d become a one man army and would dismantle the seven-one-eights himself. Hell, when he was told she was going to be okay, he was going to find her anyway. She’d made a long-term threat against his family and no one threatened his family and walked away. He turned his focus on Lynette as Maria drove and vowed to himself to make this up to her. Just be okay, he pleaded silently. Please just be okay.

  Chapter Six

  Lynette’s eyes fluttered open then squeezed shut again as waves of pain assaulted her. The first thing she felt was a deep throbbing radiating from her shoulder all the way down her arm. It felt like her arm was on a fire. She whimpered and figured if she kept her eyes closed maybe she could control the pain that way. But the insistent voice of Adira kept asking her to open her eyes and speak to her.

  “Sodding hell this hurts.” Lynette moaned.

  “Oh, Lynette. How do you feel?” Adira asked.

  Lynette reluctantly opened her eyes and looked over at her friend standing near the bed. “It hurts.”

  “Oh, honey, you gave us quite a scare—”

  “The baby, how is my baby?” Lynette moved her free arm to the bump of her stomach.

  “Your baby is fine,” Dr. Schiller said gently. Lynette turned her head to see the doctor writing in her chart at a small table by the window. “You lost a good amount of blood and that worried me, but the EMTs got fluids into you quickly. The baby’s heartbeat is fine, but you’ll be on a fetal monitor until you leave.”

  “But she’s okay?” Lynette asked persistently, making sure to look at the doctor’s face, for fear she may be lying.

  “Absolutely fine. The doctors say the bullet hit no major arteries or nerves.” Dr. Schiller got up from the table. “The doctor will be in later to talk
with you. You Brits seem to get in a lot of trouble.”

  “It wasn’t my intention, trust me. All I wanted was some tortilla soup,” Lynette muttered.

  “Well, you’ll be able to go home soon and I want you on bed rest for at least a week so your body can catch up on all that blood loss and get over the shock,” Dr. Schiller ordered.

  “I’ll make sure of it,” Adira interjected. “I think I’ll be staying with you and Remy until you’re on your feet.”

  “I’d rather stay with you,” Lynette said softly. “Can you have Favian gather my things and take my stuff over to your house?”

  “Lynette, you’re going to leave Remy?” Adira gasped. “From what he told me, he didn’t expect that woman to show up with a gun.”

  “Who expects a bloody gunman to come in to the place you’re eating?” Lynette snapped and sighed. “You don’t understand, Adira. He knew this was coming. We’ve been getting hang-up calls for weeks and all he said was I’ll take care of it. He knew how dangerous these people were and yet he blew it off. I got the generic story about how it must have been someone in the gang he used to run with, but this woman had murder in her eyes. Then she threatened my baby! She said she’d never stop coming all due to a vendetta against him! He could’ve told me the truth, told me how dangerous it was to be getting these calls. Instead, he snapped at me and acted like it was nothing, and I almost lost my child and my life! Say what you want, but you’re not the one lying here with a bullet wound.”

  “I understand you’re upset, but—”

  Lynette shook her head and interrupted her. “This is past being upset. If you think that Favian will be mad if you choose your best friend over Remy I can stay in a hotel, but I refuse to stay with him.”

  “Never, Lynette. You are my family. You are not staying in a hotel.” Adira rested her hand on Lynette’s unwounded shoulder. “You can stay with us as long as you want.”

  Favian poked his head in the door. “Hey, I’ve got a worried daddy-to-be out here.”