Chapter 18

Alicia

T he moment I answered, he said, “Alicia, I must talk to you now. Are you alone?”

“Yes. What’s going on?” My father rarely called because he was always paranoid that someone was eavesdropping on his phone calls. He liked texting and was prone to being cryptic. Today, he seemed agitated.

“Those gringos stole what’s mine.”

“Didn’t they offer you a trade?” I asked innocently.

“They expect me to trade your mother to get my merchandise back. I won’t stand for it, Alicia.”

“They’re just worried about her. So am I. Why don’t you let her come and visit with me for a few days? Maybe I can talk them into giving it back if you show that you’re willing to work with them and be fair.”

“Alicia, for a daughter of mine, you aren’t very smart. You think I’m gonna let your mama out of my sight? If you want to see her, you must come to us.”

I hesitated because the last thing I wanted was for both of us to be in their clutches. I didn’t know if I called my handler right now how long it would take them to arrange a SWAT team or their equivalent. But maybe this was my chance?

My father picked up on my hesitation and added, “Your mama hasn’t been feeling well. All she does is cry and ask for you.”

Fuck. My heart clenched in my chest. My old man knew exactly what buttons to push to get me to do his bidding. I realized it was now or never. I couldn’t leave my mom in his clutches any longer. I’d have to roll the dice and hope for the best.

“Okay, I’d like to meet you, but I don’t have a car.”

“I know where you are,” he said in a menacing tone. “If you leave through the back of the property and walk through the empty field, on the other side is a two-lane road. We can meet you there.”

“They have prospects guarding the gate,” I said.

“You walk past the gate, turn right, and around a hundred yards there’s a group of bushes. The fence is damaged there, you can escape.”

At his words I felt a chill. My father had clearly been spying on me, or on the MC. What had he been planning? If he knew this, then what had stopped him from launching an attack on the clubhouse. I knew there and then that I had to do this, it was the only way I could keep Mace and his club safe from my father. But I was still worried.

“No, that’s a bad idea. If the Slayers see you waiting for me, things might escalate fast. I don’t want Mom involved in anything like that. Tell me where you want to meet, and I’ll get a ride.”

His tone was dark when he answered, “Do you think I am an idiot? Call me when you’re on the road outside the clubhouse and I’ll give you directions in real time. Come alone, if that dirty biker is with you then you’ll never see your mama again.”

“Alright, I can be there in three hours. Anything quicker than that will arouse suspicion.”

“Of course, Alicia. Your mama will be so relieved to finally see you.”

“If anything changes, I’ll text you, okay?”

“Perfect,” he replied, clearly pleased to have me right where he wanted me.

Of course he had to add a threat at the end, because that’s just how he was. So, he added, “Don’t even think about double-crossing me. If you dare to do anything other than what I say, you know what will happen to your mother.”

He didn’t give me a chance to respond before ending the call. The minute my screen went dark, I went into my contacts list and called my handler.

He answered, “Alicia is everything okay?”

“Yes. My father is here and wants to meet with me.”

“Finally, the others said I was wasting my time by dealing with you, but I knew it would pay off.”

I frowned at that statement as it seemed a bit odd, but I supposed that in the weeks I’d been in touch with the feds I hadn’t really managed to give them anything of use, so maybe they were tiring of me? That just hammered home that this was my only chance to get immunity for me and my mom. “Remember, you promised to protect my mother and give us immunity. She’s not part of what he does for a living, and neither am I.”

“Yes, yes, your mother will be spared.”

Shock roiled through my gut as I tried to wrap my mind around what he just said. She will be spared, it sounded like they’d already decided to shoot my father on sight. I would have thought he’d be a better asset to them alive, but what did I know about how US government organizations worked?

His voice turned a shade darker. “Where is he? Tell me now.”

“He wouldn’t give me his location. He’s going to give me directions once I’ve left the clubhouse. As long as you keep your promise to protect my mother, I’ll lead you right to him.”

“Alright. We’ll do it his way. You better not think about double-crossing me, Alicia.”

Why on earth would I do that? He sounded as crazy as my father right now. I didn’t care if he was an egomaniac too, as long as he kept to our deal. “I won’t try anything. I want my father behind bars like he deserves, so me and my mom can be free and happy. I made arrangements to meet up with him in three hours. Will that give you enough time to get organized on your end.”

“We’re the federal government, Alicia. We’re always ready. Are you still at the biker’s clubhouse?”

“Yeah, there’s a field behind the clubhouse with a road on the other side. I’m supposed to be meeting my father there in three hours, but if he sees your vehicles he’ll just drive off.”

“Why thank you for telling me that, it wouldn’t have crossed my mind for us to be discreet about meeting you.”

I could tell by the tone of his voice, he was being sarcastic, but I didn’t want to antagonize him by pointing it out when I was so close to getting my mom back. “When can you meet me there?”

“Our field office is in Milton, about an hour and twenty-five minutes away. It’ll take us time to gear up. So, let’s say two hours. Then we can move into place for when your father arrives. Will that work for you?”

“Yes. I’ll be ready and waiting,” I replied with more confidence than I was feeling right now.

“Don’t fail me,” he said in what I felt was a vaguely threatening manner, then disconnected the call.

I tossed my phone aside and got into the shower, more for stress relief than anything else. Still rolling the conversation we just had around in my head. There was something odd about my handler, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was. Then again, I’d never met any federal agents before, maybe I was reading too much into the situation.

I had two hours to kill and decided to spend it in my room because I felt like if Rosie, Ruby, or Wren saw me, they’d want to talk, maybe about this decision I was making. I’d told Wren I was feeling a bit tired and nauseous and wanted to take a nap, I felt bad playing on their hopes that I was pregnant, but it meant I could hide away and not have to face them. I’d never been particularly good at keeping secrets. That’s why when Storm interrogated me, I told them everything, even about working for the feds. I couldn’t afford spilling the beans right now, not when I was one step away from freeing my mom. I paced a path into the rug at the foot of the bed, worrying about all the things that could go wrong. No matter what happened today, I needed to make a beeline for my mother and get her out of harm’s way. My hand instinctively went to my stomach, and I thought back to Wren’s words. My period was late—almost two weeks late—but the past few weeks had been so stressful it hadn’t worried me too much.

What did worry me was the possibility of getting shot, because I couldn’t think of a scenario where my father didn’t try to shoot his way to freedom. Gun fights were kind of his calling card after all.

It was at that moment I suddenly remembered Alejandro’s gun. It was still in the bottom of my rucksack. I rummaged around and pulled it out. The hilt felt cold in my grip and the overhead light reflected off the barrel. I checked the magazine, and it was filled with bullets, I hated guns with a passion because of my father, but I had an idea of how they worked, and hoped that if push came to shove, I could fire it. This might just turn out to be the one thing that ensured our safety. Bearing that in mind, I checked the safety catch was on and carefully hid it inside my waistband at the small of my back. My tight jeans held it in place, but it had a clip that snapped tight against the back of my waistband just to be sure it stayed in place. Then I pulled down my shirt to cover it. I slid on the property cut Mace had given to me as another layer to keep the gun hidden.

***

I slipped out of Mace’s room and fast walked down the steps and out to the back patio. Carefully avoiding the bar area where I could hear Rosie chatting with Mace’s mom and grandmother. As I was about to make a run for it, one of the prospects asked, “You want me to put you on some sausages?” He held up a big fat sausage that was bent in two. It looked to be about eight or nine inches long and at least an inch and a half in diameter. The thought of eating something like that was truly nauseating.

I shook my head and tried not to sound as disgusted as I was. “Maybe later. I’m going to go stretch my legs. I’ve been cooped up in my room too much lately, I need some fresh air.”

He gave me an empathetic look. “Be careful out there. Nine likes to dig holes. I wouldn’t want you fall in one and twist your ankle.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful,” I shouted him over my shoulder.

He yelled, “Let me know if you change your mind about the sausages.”

Before he could get into a full-blown conversation, I walked out into the field. I wandered around for a few minutes until I saw the prospect get back to making food and once his attention was elsewhere, I jogged to the other side of the field where the bushes my father had told me about were. Lo and behold, the wire of the perimeter fence had been cut. I squeezed myself through the gap—reminding myself to tell Mace about it once me and my mom were safe—and made it to the road, then began looking for my handler. I sat on the roadside for around fifteen minutes before a dark SUV with tinted windows pulled up. The driver’s window rolled down and the person said, “Get into the back.”

I did as I was told, surprised to find the vehicle full of Latino men in black dress pants and white shirts with a black tie. They looked like they were all going to a funeral. They scooted over to make room for me and their eyes ate me up as I slid into seat beside them. Something about these men made me feel uncomfortable, I was getting the same kind of vibes I got around my father and his men, but maybe I was just being paranoid.

“ Buenos dias ,” I said breezily to the man on my right.

Rather than a reply, my answer was four pairs of eyes glaring at me and the click of a safety catch being taken off.