I didn’t want to be there at all, but I didn’t see any reason to argue.
Instead of voicing that comment aloud, however, I pulled on my big boy underwear and nodded briskly before walking carefully to where Saint was sitting.
He was to the side of the door, his head down, as he spoke loud enough to be heard through the closed door.
“You mind if I crack the door open so I can hear you better?” Saint asked from his position.
A muffled ‘go ahead’ came from the door, and seconds later Saint had the door cracked just enough that I could see inside.
I couldn’t see anything more than a sliver of the room, but it was enough. A start.
I moved, positioning myself at the edge of the doorway and low, so if Romeo decided to do any shooting, at least the wall would protect me.
“Who else is there?” Romeo asked.
He must’ve heard me move.
“Another SWAT officer. You may know him. His name is Louis,” Saint explained.
“Louis, as in the same man that was with Ms. Alvarez, Louis?” Romeo asked.
Saint’s eyes met mine, and I shrugged.
I didn’t know if it would matter if he knew exactly who I was or not.
“Yes,” Saint said, keeping his eyes on me.
Saint’s eyes were like deep, fathomless pits of nothing.
If there was one person on this team that I knew nothing about, it was Saint.
Which was funny, because one would think it would be Malachi with his brooding personality. Malachi who was held prisoner for years. Malachi who was so anti-social that it was borderline laughable.
Saint, though?
Saint was always there… just not there.
He came to the events but never participated.
I knew his name. His birthday. His preference in ammo and firearms, as well as which piece of gym equipment that he would choose when working out, but I didn’t know anything personal about him.
I didn’t know where he was from. Where he lived. If he dated anyone—though, I assumed he wasn’t since when Caro, Michael the original ‘Saint’ of the SWAT team’s child, came around, Saint seemed to actually look like he had some life in him.
Right then, with him staring into my eyes, I almost felt as if I knew him.
But then some sort of shield came down over his eyes, and the cool, aloof Saint was back.
The door suddenly swung open, and both Saint and I were staring in shock at the door.
“Go.”
The stunned looking female officer came running out, looking pissed as hell.
Then, there was nothing but the kid.
“Can I talk to you alone?” Romeo asked.
He didn’t have the gun aimed at me, which instantly had me breathing a sigh of relief.
My eyes caught Saint’s, and he got up and left, leaving me with the time to talk, but not leaving completely.
Meaning, he was ready with his gun in hand just out of earshot, ready and willing to take the kid out if he so much as picked up his gun and aimed it in my direction.
“What’s wrong, kid?” I asked softly. “Why this whole show?”
“I didn’t know what else to do.” Romeo’s voice cracked. “How else do I get her home?”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I stayed silent. That seemed to be working for me so far.
“She pays for the house, comes home during the day when we’re not there. Then leaves again. I just… Julian is sick,” he croaked. “Julian needs… help.”
Julian.
Was Julian his brother?
A sick feeling started to roll through me.
“He needs… he needs her.” Romeo grimaced, swiping away the tears with the hand that he had the gun with. “He’s sick.”
“Tell me what’s happening,” I ordered. “Why do you think he’s sick?”
Romeo’s tortured eyes came to me.
“Julian is schizophrenic and delusional. They can be controlled with medication, but I think that he’s off of them.” His hands shook. “He… when he first started showing signs of not taking the meds, I called my mom. But she didn’t believe me. Or, if she did, she doesn’t care anymore. I don’t know. But I thought if I could just talk to her face to face, that she would have to believe me then. Only, no matter how hard I tried to get her here, she never showed.”
Meaning, he tried to play sick to get his mother to pay attention to him, and it never happened.
Hence the reason he’d gone to Calloway’s office every single day for weeks on end.
“And then I thought… Ms. Alvarez is really smart. She’s a nurse. I’ll just somehow get the two of them together. Maybe if she pointed it out to him…” He shook his head. “It backfired. He became obsessed with her. He’d put on such a good show that she didn’t even notice his problems.”
Oh, she’d noticed. She’d just thought he was weird and had ended the date with a finality that bordered on abrupt.