Chapter 17

Alicia

R osie took us to a table in the corner of the bar area. It was in an alcove between the back offices and the pool room. “This is Storm’s private space. He eats here sometimes when he’s tired of being in his office. He likes this table because it has a pocket door that sides out.”

She gripped the side of the framing on the alcove and sure enough, a door slid out. She pulled it almost closed before saying, “Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll bring you some snacks.”

I beamed at her, “Thank you so much, Rosie. You’re always so nice.”

“Around the Dark Slayer’s clubhouse we take care of our own,” she replied.

The minute the door closed I turned to find both women staring at me. Mace’s mother, Wren, stammered, “You said your mother is missing, you mean like abducted by strangers?”

“No,” I said flatly. “It’s complicated.”

Their eyes went wide as I told them my story about how I’d been born in the US, but then my dad had taken me and my mom back to Mexico. How she was an American citizen, but she was stuck there. Essentially trafficked and under my father’s control. How she said he used to be a good man but changed when I was young.

Wren frowned, “Do you think he might have had some kind of head injury. I’m a nurse and I’ve seen people change.”

“I don’t know if that’s what happened to him. All my memories of him are as he is now. A monster and the head of a cartel.”

“A cartel,” Wren gasped and looked at Ruby. “That sounds extremely dangerous.”

I nodded, tearing up. “That’s one reason I’m so worried about Mace. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but he already got shot protecting me.” Before they could panic, I assured them, “It wasn’t a serious wound, but what if next time he’s not so lucky? I really care about him and don’t want to see him get hurt.”

Ruby leaned over the table and looked me in the eye. “My grandson is a warrior, like his grandfather before him. He’s smart and can take care of himself.”

Wren added, “Don’t you worry about Huri. He’s out with his club brothers, I might not approve of my son being in a motorcycle club, but I know his friends are good. Of all the men you could have chosen, my son has the best chance of finding your mom.”

I really got tearful when I heard her words, “Do you really think so?”

She opened her purse, pulled out a clean tissue and handed it to me. “Yes, I do. Huri’s a grown man who makes his own decisions in life. Don’t you start feeling guilty about him being hurt. He’s the type to right wrongs where he finds them. Just because you asked for his help doesn’t mean he had to say yes.”

I wiped my tears away, feeling terrible about the whole situation. “That’s just the thing. I didn’t ask for his help. My father made me come to America with him and his men. He kept me in a broken-down cabin in the wood, cooking and cleaning for them while they ran drugs and guns. I wasn’t safe there. When Huri saw, he saved me. When he realized my mother wasn’t safe, he got his club to start searching for her. Everything is so complicated right now.”

Before they could respond, the door slid back, and Rosie was standing there with two prospects with three trays of food. “Oh no, you’ve turned the water works on again. Here, use this napkin.” Rosie shoved a napkin into my hands and began taking food off the trays and arranging it around the table. “I know you’ve been really worried about Mace. That’s why I told Thunder to stick by his side today, you know, in case anything bad happens.”

I nodded, “Thanks Rosie. I appreciate all the things you do for me so much more than you will ever know.”

Setting the last few items down on the table, she gave me a faint smile. “Like I said before, I’ve been where you are. I didn’t have anyone but Thunder to support me. That’s why I’m making sure you’ve got women in your life that you can count on.”

She gave Wren and Ruby a firm nod before she stepped back and snapped the sliding door shut again.

I decided to trust these women. Rosie invited them to support me, so they must good people.

I looked down at my plate, I really wasn’t feeling hungry, and the thought of food made me nauseous. Though I wondered if Rosie had any pickled jalapenos. For some reason the thought of them was wonderful.

“You eat a bite and then tell us more,” his grandmother insisted.

I looked back at the plate as I felt my mouth fill with saliva. I swallowed repeatedly trying to quell the nausea. I’d been feeling nauseous a lot recently.

Nausea. Cravings.

Oh shit.

“You’re not hungry?” Ruby asked.

“My stomach’s upset. Maybe I’ll just drink the juice Rosie brought instead.”

His mother’s head snapped up to look at me. “Exactly how upset is your stomach?”

I shrugged. “Enough that eating isn’t appealing right now.”

“How long have you been having problems?” she asked as she glanced over at the older woman.

I shrugged, “I don’t know, about a week. It’s probably just the stress.”

The two women exchanged glances and nodded.

“I felt it early too,” Wren said.

“Always been the same with our women,” Ruby put her hand on my shoulder.

I looked from one to the other of them, confused. “Feel what?”

His grandmother, as blunt as ever, answered. “It is my daughter’s time to become an Unna-Inna .”

It took a minute to catch on to what they were implying. “No, I can’t be,” I protested. My heart was racing, and I could feel my face grow hot.

“My mother can always tell,” Wren said with a smile.

I grabbed my juice and took a big, refreshing gulp, not wanting to admit to this lovely woman that I’d been having lots and lots of unprotected sex with her son.

Suddenly, Mace’s grandmother spoke up again, her voice warm. “Don’t look so distraught. We wouldn’t be angry with you over something our family sees as a blessing.”

I rolled my juice glass nervously between my hands. “I’m not sure your grandson will be quite as thrilled as you are about a pregnancy at this stage of our relationship. It’s too early,” I sat the glass down because my hands were shaking so much, I worried I might spill the juice. I couldn’t be pregnant, that was crazy thinking.

His mother reached out and took one of my hands in hers. “You truly have nothing to worry about. I know my son well and he would welcome a child. God knows our son will make beautiful babies for you.”

I choked out a laugh, because making beautiful babies was the furthest thing from my mind at the moment.

She shot me an unguarded smile. “My Huri is crazy about you. He’s going to find your mother and you will both be welcomed into our family.”

Listening to her words, hope surged in my chest. I felt my blush slowly receding. I gave her hand a quick squeeze. “What you describe sounds like a beautiful dream.” Tugging my hand from hers I tell her, “Unfortunately, I think I messed it up already.”

His grandmother snorted a laugh. “There is no problem in the world that three smart women can’t solve if they work together.”

Wren nodded in agreement.

With a wave of her hand, Ruby eyed me curiously. “Tell us this mistake you made, and we will figure out a way to fix it.”

“My mom was stuck in Mexico because my father took her passport. She’d always wanted to return home, but when I was a child that was impossible. There was no proof I was an American citizen, and she was scared that if she did go to the authorities then she might be sent back, or I might be taken from her. She knew that my father might try and get me involved in his business, and that if he ever took me to the US then I should call one federal law enforcement agency after another and offer to turn state’s evidence against him for immunity and try and get my mother out. My worry is that he’s too possessive to allow her to slip his grasp if he ends up in jail. I think he’d implicate her, just for the satisfaction of knowing she’s behind bars at a women’s prison. When he was here and she was there, it wasn’t so bad, but now he’s back here and my mom is with him, I’m scared what he’ll do.”

“Your mother is right about protecting yourself. You must start calling now.”

“I already did. They assigned me a handler. I’m supposed to meet up with my parents in a few days. My father brought my mother here to use as leverage to get me to come back and marry the man he picked out for me. If I alert the feds, then they’ll arrest him and give us immunity, but if I let Mace and his club handle it instead, we won’t be guaranteed immunity from federal prosecution.”

Ruby’s voice cut into my long explanation, “This whole situation sounds complicated. I don’t trust the feds. They’ve screwed over our people too many times.”

Wren frowned, “If you trust my son and his club, then you prove your loyalty. Loyalty and honesty are very important to these men. However, they cannot give you the immunity from prosecution that you see for yourself and your mother.”

“We might get sent back to Mexico, and I’d lose Mace,” I said.

Ruby finally understood the quandary I was in and jumped in to add. “And if you chose the feds, you’ll get the immunity you need but you risk losing Huri. He’ll see it as you not trusting him. You’re sitting here wearing his cut, possibly with his baby in your belly. You would do well to talk to him and let him help you find a solution that solves all these problems at once.”

“He knows everything. His club found a stash of my father’s drugs and have made arrangements to trade my mother for his stuff.”

Both women were shaking their heads, like no man would never do that.

“My father is unhinged. He wants his million dollars’ worth of drugs back. Like I said, he’s possessive of my mom, so I think he’ll find and way to double-cross the Slayers or make the trade and then track back with his men and hunt us down. Mace knows how dangerous my father is, so he doesn’t want me anywhere near him. The feds won’t move until I am eyes on with my father, because they don’t want any false starts to tip him off that they’re hunting him.”

Both women looked at each other. I could tell from their expressions they understood how complex and dangerous the situation was, so I threw down the idea that had been going through my head. “The advantage of setting up an early meeting with my father and clueing the feds to show up, is that Mace wouldn’t be anywhere near the shoot-out. I know my father, and if he’s cornered then that’s what he’ll do. I can’t have the man I love jumping into my father’s crosshairs thinking he’s saving me. I know it’s dangerous for me, but I’m starting to think that keeping Mace and his club brothers out of the line of fire and securing the promised immunity is the only thing I can do. It’s the only way me and my mom can have a future free of worry.”

Both Wren and Ruby’s expressions turned empathetic. Wren finally spoke, “I’m worried about you getting killed. While you’re protecting everyone else, who is going to be protecting you?”

I knew my expression was showing my distress, but I couldn’t help it. Shrugging, I said, “Hopefully, the feds.”

Wren’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know, Alicia. There are too many moving parts. What if something happens after you get there, like if your father gets to you before the feds arrive or heaven forbid, he brings enough firepower to kill the team the feds send. Look how long it took them to get Pablo Escobar.”

I turned her words over in my mind, still not seeing another way out. That’s why when my phone rang, I grabbed it, hoping it was Mace checking up to see how the meeting with his mother and grandmother was going.

Disappointment must have been clear on my face because Ruby asked, “Who is it?”

My eyes lifted to hers as the phone rang again and I turned it to her so she could see the caller ID. “It’s my father, so I’ve got to take it. Wish me luck.”

Wren grabbed my wrist and said, “Be bold, Alicia. Bold but careful.” When she let my wrist go, I stood up, slid the door open and raced upstairs to take the call where no one could hear.