Silence in the Dark by Patricia Bradley Page B

cook.”
    The image of the small woman who waited on them flitted in his mind. “How about the waitress?”
    “She seems to have escaped. I want to know why someone would kidnap you, burn down a cafe, and commit murder to find your niece.”
    “I’m telling you, I don’t know.” Joel forced himself to not look away from the dark eyes that bore through him, but he couldn’t do anything about the sweat that trickled down his back.
    Chavez cocked his head. “Where did you park your car?”
    Joel’s shoulders relaxed. “Around the block.”
    Chavez drove to the lot. The car wasn’t gone, but it might as well be. Only the shell remained. Everything else was stripped away.
    Chavez’s cell phone rang, and he answered. “I see. We’ll be there in ten minutes.” After he hung up, he turned to Joel, his expression unreadable.
    “Maria?” Joel fisted his hands, waiting for the bad news.
    The detective shook his head. “Your house has been ransacked.”

6
    D anny kept his eye on the traffic behind them, but so far it didn’t seem that anyone was following them from the airport.
    “Will you find my uncle?” Maria asked again.
    Danny knew he shouldn’t make that sort of promise, but the look in the child’s eyes made him want to try. “I’ll do my best,” he said. He wished Bailey would look at him the way Maria did. So far, they might as well be strangers. No. With a stranger, at least he had a chance. With Bailey there was no hope.
    Maria climbed out of Bailey’s lap and into his and hugged him. “You can find him, I know you can.”
    “I’d rather you sit with me,” Bailey said. “I wish the taxi had a car seat for her.” She tugged the child back into her lap and frowned at Danny like it was his fault there was no safety seat and that the car reeked of stale cigarette smoke. “Why didn’t you call me back?”
    “When did you call?”
    “I don’t know. Before we went to the airport.”
    Danny took out his phone and checked his missed calls. He frowned. How did he miss her call? It was right below the call to his secretary at the plant. No wonder she was angry. “I must have been talking to Tiffany.”
    Her shoulders stiffened.
    “I called her to get your flight number.” Was she still upset about what had happened with Tiffany? Or rather what didn’t happen. But even if something had happened, after she broke the engagement, she shouldn’t have cared what he did. Unless . . .
    Maria wiggled free. “I want to sit in Mr. Danny’s lap.”
    Bailey sighed but let her stay with him. Maria leaned against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. An emotion he wasn’t familiar with filled his chest. Who would’ve thought a little girl could wrap her fingers around his heart so fast?
    Maria raised her head to look up at him. “Who was that man? The one who carried me.”
    “I’d like to know that as well,” Bailey said.
    Before Danny could answer, Solana turned where she could face them. “His name is Angel, and he’s a good man.”
    Admiration for Angel rang in her voice, but a question nagged at Danny. Everyone else in the restaurant had run when the shooting started. But Angel had rushed to rescue them. Why? Danny had a few questions for Angel Guerrera when they reached the hotel.
    “Do you know his last name?” Bailey asked.
    “It’s Guerrera,” Danny said and shifted his gaze to Solana. “How do you know Angel?”
    “All the small businesses know him. We call him the Angel of the Streets because he and his friends patrol our businesses. They are fighting a war against the Calatrava. His men were there, trying to put the fire out at the cafe today, but they could not save Juan.”
    He jerked his head toward her. “What fire?”
    “The cartel. They came back after you left, and they beat up Juan, trying to find out where . . .” Solana faltered and glanced at Maria. “Then they set fire to the cafe and left. I tried to put it out, but it was too big. Angel’s men