Wrong Side of the Tracks (Hope Valley Book 4)

by Jessica Prince

  “So that’s what you meant when you said she’d already put things into motion,” I said on a sigh.

  “Ten girls all willin’ to talk,” Lincoln confirmed. She came here to make sure they had someone lookin’ out for them the way you looked out for Gypsy. Her words, not mine. She was worried going to the cops before she put that in place would leave them all swingin’ in the wind.”

  “So I guess you’ve already got everything set.” It wasn’t a question. Lincoln Sheppard took care of his own, and he considered the people in this town his own. But there was no mistaking the admiration in his voice when he spoke of Gypsy’s friend McKenna. What she’d done, to him, was courageous, and if she and her girls needed help doing the right thing, he was damn well going to give it to them.

  “Already spoke with Hayes and Trick. Right now’s about getting any information we can while keeping those women safe. Xander’s workin’ the inside with another security guard by the name of Bruce.” I didn’t know Bruce personally, but I’d heard Gypsy talk about him. From what I gathered from her, he was a good guy. And if Xander trusted him enough to partner up, I knew he could take care of himself. “Bruce is on McKenna. Cord’s back on full duty so him, Hunter, Bryce and West are covering the others. Know it goes without sayin’, but I’m gonna say it anyway. You keep your eyes open. That son of a bitch already has your woman in his sites, and with the noose tightening, we don’t know what he’s capable of.”

  “Believe me. You don’t need to worry about that. Xander’s my next stop. I’ll get a GPS tracker from him to give Gypsy if you don’t mind.”

  “Don’t mind at all. You take whatever you need to keep her safe.” he answered without hesitation. “My gut’s tellin’ me shit’s about to go down. We need to brace. When the time comes to make our move, we do it fast and with surgical precision so Black has no chance of staunching the bleed.”

  A slow, wicked smile pulled at my lips as a matching one took over Lincoln’s face. “I like the sound of that.”

  With that conversation out of the way, I left the office shortly after and went in search of Xander. As I suspected, he was sitting in front of a massive bank of monitors, his fingers flying over the keyboard at lightning speed.

  “What’s up, man,” he greeted, flicking his gaze to me before returning it to the screens. “You talk to Linc already?”

  “Yeah. Just got done with him. Need you to hook me up with a GPS tracker for Gypsy.”

  “You got it.”

  Grabbing a chairs from one of the other stations, I wheeled it over and sat beside him. “And I have a favor to ask if you’ve got time.”

  The clacking of the keyboard stopped when he spun the chair to face me. “Whaddaya got?”

  Pulling a slip of paper from my pocket, I extended it between my middle and index fingers. “Need you to run a couple names for me.”

  He took the paper and opened it, reading what I’d scrawled across it before giving me a funny look. “This for real?”

  “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

  Reading the bitterness in my voice, a nefarious grin tilted his lips. “And what exactly am I looking for?”

  “Anything and everything that’ll help me take those fucker’s down,” I answered. “It’s got the slightest bit of dirt on it, I wanna know. You get me?”

  “I get you. If it’s there, I’ll dig it up. But I got another question.”

  “And that is?”

  “I find them and everything else you’re wanting, what then?”

  “Let me worry about that.”

  He paused, eyeing me for a beat. “Well, all right, my man. I’m all over it.”

  I nodded my appreciation. “Thanks.”

  “No need to thank me, brother. Now how about we get you set with that tracker?”

  Gypsy looked up from the stove, her face splitting with an exquisite smile the moment I walked through the front door later that evening.

  I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to seeing that first thing after getting home from a long day at work. I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to. Because then I might take all that beauty for granted, and I never wanted that to happen.

  “Hey, babe. Hope you like chicken enchiladas, ’cause that’s what I’m making.”

  The scent of spices filled the air, making my stomach rumble. Holly hit me with all the full force her little six-year-old body could muster. “Marco, guess what!”

  Grinning down at her, I brushed my palm over the top of her head. “What, preciosa?”

  “We drawed family pictures in class today, and mine came out the best!”

  “Drew, doodlebug,” Gypsy corrected. “You drew family pictures.”

  She gave her oldest sister a look full of attitude. “That’s what I said.” When she turned back to me, she did a little girl eye roll, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing before she brightened back up. “You wanna see it?”

  “Of course I do, baby girl.” She skipped off, and I headed into the living room to greet the rest of the kids before moving into the kitchen. Coming up behind Gypsy, I wrapped my arms around her and burrowed my face in her hair as I spoke against her lips. “Smells fantastic, girasol.”

  She giggled as her body shivered. “Me or the food?”

  “Both,” I returned on a grin.

  Wiping her hands on a dishtowel, she turned, forcing me to lift my head so she could wrap her arms around my neck and meet my gaze. “You have a good day?”

  “Better now.” I kept hold of her with one arm while I reached into my back pocket to pull out the tracker I’d gotten from Xander. “I got this for you today.”

  “Oh, uh...” She reached up and took it, her expression full of curiosity. “What is it?”

  “GPS tracker. I want you to keep it in your purse. See this little light right here?” I pointed to the little green dot. “If it’s green it’s good to go. If it turns red it needs to be charged. I’ll get you the charger for it. Always keep it on and check it every few days to make sure the light stays green.”

  Her lips parted and closed and parted again before her forehead puckered with a deep frown. “And... why do you want me to put a GPS tracker in my purse?”

  Pulling in a deep breath, I told her what I found out earlier today, choosing to leave out some of the details that would only upset her. If she knew what McKenna was doing, she’d try and jump into the fray and I couldn’t risk that. “I don’t want you to worry, but things with Black are heating up. Odds are nothing’s ever gonna happen, but you think you could do it for me anyway?”

  Her expression grew worried and her hold on my neck tightened. “Is everything all right?”

  “It’s fine, Gypsy. I promise.” She didn’t look convinced, so I gave her a squeeze. “You trust me?”

  “You know I do,” she answered without missing a beat.

  “Then you trust me to protect you? Just like I promised I would?” She hesitated for a few moments, then answered by breaking from my hold, moving to her purse on the counter, and slipping the tracker inside. “Thank you, baby,” I whispered when she returned to me and resumed her previous position, arms looped around my neck.

  “Like I said, I trust you.” Lifting on her tiptoes, she planted a quick kiss on my lips and spun back around to finish dinner just as Holly came barreling back into the kitchen.

  “Look, Marco, look!”

  I took the sheet of pink construction paper she was waving around and squatted to get down to her level. “Wow, honey. This is great!” I enthused as I looked at all the brightly colored squiggles on the sheet, trying to make them out.

  “See? It’s the whole family,” she stated, pointing out each figure. “That’s me, and that’s Sunny and Ray and Rhodes and Raleigh. And there’s Odette, and that’s Gypsy!”

  I pointed at the last squiggle on the page. “And who’s that?”

  She looked up at me with those big beautiful eyes, so full of innocence and love. “That’s you, silly! See? I made you bigger than everyone el
se ’cause superheroes are always big and strong.”

  A lump formed in my throat so large it was a struggle to breath. “I love that, baby girl. But I’m not a superhero. I’m just a regular man.”

  She shook her head emphatically and grinned. “Nuh-uh. You’re a superhero ’cause you keep us all safe and that’s what superheroes do.”

  When I cast my gaze up to Gypsy, she was smiling down with pride-filled, watery eyes. She’d seen the picture already, and I could tell just by looking at her she felt the exact same way. I had to clear my throat in order to speak. “I love you, Holly. You know that?”

  She giggled happily. “Yeah, I know. You love all of us. And we love you. That’s what makes us a family.”

  And with that bombshell, she snatched the picture back and skipped over to the fridge, sticking it beneath one the many magnates that littered the front, then took off to join her brothers and sister in the living room.

  “Hey, superhero,” Gypsy whispered as I rose to my full height, “How about you help me finish dinner?”

  Christ, but I loved my family.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Gypsy

  Everything began to change over the next few weeks. And most all of it was for the better.

  That first night I’d asked Marco to stay over at my place had been the catalyst for things to come. He didn’t return to his apartment unless it was to pick up more clothes, and after a week of seeing his duffle lying on my closet floor, I’d finally had enough.

  Marco walked into the room to find his stuff dumped out on my bed. “What are you doing?” he’d asked, looking at me with curiosity as I folded his t-shirts into a pile.

  Walking up to him, I shoved the stack of tees into his chest and informed him, “Put these in the second drawer, please. Your jeans and shoes are in the closet. Socks and underwear are in the top drawer of the dresser.”

  He stood motionless, staring at me like I’d lost my mind while I went back to the bed and continued sorting through his things. “Uh... Gypsy, baby. This your way of saying you want me to move in with you?”

  Spinning back around, I swiped a loose strand of hair out of my face and planted my hands on my hips. “You like your apartment?”

  The corner of his mouth trembled as he bit back a grin and replied, “Not particularly.”

  “You prefer staying here with us?”

  The humor fled his expression, replaced by that tenderness that made me swoon. “You know I do.”

  “Then it’s settled. Instead of living out of a duffle bag, your stuff will have a permanent place now. Problem solved.”

  It wasn’t the most elegant invitation, but I was still feeling my way around this whole relationship thing. Fortunately, Marco didn’t seem to mind my blunt command, and after shoving his belongings to the floor so he could spend the next hour letting me know just how much he liked my offer, he made a trip back to his apartment to get the rest of his stuff, and that was it. He was officially moved in.

  Sure, it wasn’t the ideal living situation, and my trailer wasn’t anything to write home about, but it was home. When I told Odette that Marco was moving in, she’d burst into tears and hugged me so hard my ribs squeaked.

  “My precious Gypsy girl is finally getting’ everything she deserves!” she’d cried.

  Marco picked up takeout from the diner on his way back from the apartment, and Odette came over to join us all in a celebratory dinner. All my family around one table, basking in all the good that surrounded us made it the best meal I’d ever had.

  Another change was that Rhodes had made a decision about what he was going to do once he graduated the following year. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, it was something he’d been thinking about for a quite some time. And after several long, private conversations with Marco—conversations my man refused to share with me because he didn’t want to break my brother’s trust—Rhodes announced he was joining the Army.

  I’d been terrified at first, saying anything I could to try and talk him out of it. But my brother had never been prone to rash decisions, and once he made his mind up about something, it was impossible to sway him from it. There had been a lot of tears and a few blowups—all on my part—but with Marco’s help, I eventually came to see that this was something to be proud of. My brother was starting his journey to becoming the man he wanted to be. And it wasn’t lost on any of us that that man was an awful lot like Marco.

  That filled him with so much pride that he’d walked around with a swelled chest for a week.

  I’d worried at what the lack of income from Pink Palace would do to my family, but once Marco had moved in, he’d strong armed his way into paying the majority of the bills, insisting that was part of him taking care of us. It had led to an argument, but he’d eventually won by pointing out that this was one of those times I needed to lean on someone else for help.

  It was foreign territory for me, and not an easy pill to swallow, but with Marco’s help, the burden of taking care of everything and everyone around me had been cut in half. It was like a weight had been lifted off my chest, and I could finally breathe for the first time in twenty-five years.

  After spending some time considering my job options, I’d finally decided that it was time for me to put my pride away and do what my friends so desperately wanted me to do.

  I asked for help.

  I reached out to Nona first, asking if she knew of anybody willing to take a chance on someone who might only have minimal experience but was a fast learner and hard worker. My friend jumped at the chance to help, saying she knew the perfect place.

  Turned out, that perfect place was her salon, Pure Elegance. The girl who worked her front desk had moved to Chicago with her boyfriend, and Nona offered me the position on the spot, saying the first person her clients saw was the girl at the front desk, and with a head of hair like mine, I’d triple her business in no time. The pay was great and there were no night shifts. It was a dream come true, and the best part was that I could quit my job at the grocery store as well.

  The thought of only having to work one job that would pay enough to support me and my family had been a little overwhelming, and I might have broken down into a big blubbering mess as I accepted and nearly hugged the life out of Nona.

  But what I loved most out of all the wonderful things happening in my life was that every time Marco kissed me—which was a lot—he’d pull back and stare into my eyes for several seconds. Then he’d smile and whisper, “No more wall.” That was his way of telling me he knew I’d given him all of me, and that he treasured it.

  The only thing adding a shadow to the wonderful changes taking place was my growing concern for McKenna. From my constant questioning of Xander, I knew she was still working at the club, and still tied up with Malachi Black. She and I talked on occasion, but the conversations never lasted very long, and I was always left with more anxiety than when they’d started. I didn’t know what was happening with the investigation into Black, but I couldn’t wait for it to be over so my sweet friend would finally be safe.

  I trusted Marco when he told me they were keeping an eye on her and that she was okay, just like I trusted him when he promised he was going to give me a great life. I just hadn’t realized I was going to get so much greatness so quickly. Some days I was overwhelmed with just how happy I was, but even those days were better than any that came before him.

  And that happiness was still filling me to near bursting as I pointed my minivan into one of the parking spots in front of Alpha Omega Investigations and killed the engine.

  I’d left my job at the grocery store early so I’d have a week off between that and starting my new one at Pure Elegance. Marco said I deserved some downtime, and while the idea of a week with absolutely nothing to do but rest and relax had initially sounded like bliss, I was only two days in and going out of my mind with boredom. The oldest kids were at school, and Odette was still watching Raleigh during the day, demanding I make the absolute most of my free t
ime—whether I wanted to or not.

  There wasn’t a single spot of the house that hadn’t been scrubbed to gleaming. The pantry and fridge were stocked full, so there was no reason to go to the grocery store. And every piece of clothing had been washed, ironed, folded, or hung.

  For the first time in my life I had nothing to do, and I was quickly discovering I hated it. So when my man called earlier and asked me to come by, I’d jumped at the chance to have something to do.

  “Hey, Rox?” I greeted with a bright smile as I pushed through the glass door into the lobby.

  She looked up from her computer and smiled. “Hey there, darlin’. As much as I’d love to gab with you right now, Marco’s been expecting you, and he’s kinda antsy.”

  My head cocked to the side on confusion. “He has?”

  She nodded in response. “He’s in Linc’s office, and I’m under strict orders to send you right in.”

  I was a thrown by that strange proclamation. “Um... Okay.” With a furrowed brow, I took a step toward the office, the happiness I’d been feeling just seconds ago mired in anxiety.

  I barely had a chance to rap my knuckles against the door before it was thrown open. “Hey, girasol,” Marco said quietly. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to my lips, then took my hand and pulled me inside.

  The door closed behind us with a soft snick, and my feet instantly glued themselves to the floor as I looked around. Lincoln and Xander were both in the room, but it was the unfamiliar woman sitting in front of the big desk that gave me the most pause. Her perfectly styled hair and smart business suit gave the impression of importance and screamed power. “What’s going on?” I asked, shakily, turning back to Marco.

  Instead of answering, he put his palm to the small of my back and gently pushed me forward. “Why don’t you take a seat.”

  I moved woodenly toward the chair beside the woman and dropped down heavily. Marco rested his hips against the edge of Lincoln’s desk, crossed his arms over his chest, and proceeded to drop a bomb that left me utterly speechless.