by Ambere Sabo
“Their hacker has tried everything, but she’s simply disappeared, sir. They’ve found no sign of her since she left Amarillo.”
“Idiots. All of you are idiots,” I scream. “She’s but a girl. How can no one find her?”
I hang up when she begins to cry. I don’t have the patience for tears or blubbering women right now. There’d better be something in her damned hotel room. I don’t think Lilly understands the longer she’s gone, the closer I am to losing it. I’ve been kind to her up until this point. But soon she won’t like the side of me she’ll meet.
Chapter 11
Gunner
“How are you holding up?” Cessy asks. I jump, knocking against the bike I’m working on nearly sending it crashing to the ground. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” she says with a laugh as I reach up to steady Prez’s bike.
Prez threw me a bone when he told me I could work on it. He’s trying to give me something to keep my mind off of baby girl, but he’d still kick my ass if I got a scratch on his ride.
Cessy leans against the standing tool chest lining the wall. Her belly is taking over her small frame. She stares at me, waiting for me to say something, anything, but I don’t know what to say.
It's been two weeks since Lilly left, and we’re no closer to figuring out where the hell she is. Snoopy is still trying to find her, but at this point, all we know is her car ended up in an impound lot in Flagstaff, Arizona.
We know someone has to be covering her trail. Seems the hotel she was staying at magically had all of their surveillance wiped in some freak electrical thing. Who’s doing it? No one’s fucking owning it, and it's driving Snoop up the wall. Me? I just want to know she's okay.
“Earth to Gunner,” Cess teases.
Rubbing my neck with a sigh, I tell her, “Sorry, Cess.”
“You seem to be in your own head a lot lately. Or out here working on the bikes,” she says motioning to the handful of bikes I’ve already fixed any and all problems on.
“The bikes are easier right now. If I'm not busy, I'm thinking about every what if. What if she’s hurt? What if he found her? What if she got herself in some other kind of trouble? Then the other questions come. Why did she run? Did she think we couldn’t protect her? What if that’s the last time I see her?”
“Okay, okay I get it. Slow your roll for a second,” she says throwing her hands out with a light laugh.
Waddling over to the stool I'm sitting on, she puts her hand on my shoulder. Kind eyes peer down at me. “You’ll drive yourself crazy if you keep doing that, Gunner. Right now, we all have to have faith that Lil knew what she was doing when she left. Out of all of us, she's the most level-headed. There had to be a reason she left.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” I huff out under my breath glancing away from her.
“What do you mean,” she asks as her brows draw down.
“I fucked up,” I admit, standing from my seat.
“What do you mean?” she asks, putting a knee on the stool I just vacated.
“Ugh,” I exclaim grabbing my hair. “I can’t have that be the last time I see my baby girl, Cess. Can’t let those be the last words I say to her. I just can’t. The hurt. Fuck, the tears,” I ramble as I begin to pace the garage.
“Alright, I'm trying to follow here, Gunner, but I think I’m missing something.”
With a sigh, I look at the ceiling. “After her party, I took her home.”
“Ok, I know that. Rose had her car.”
“She wants more from me than I can give her. She deserves more. Nothing will ever be good enough for my baby girl. Not even me,” I say shaking my head.
“Woah, hold up a second. What do you mean she wants more?”
“I made a stupid comment about Vic thinking we were doing things we shouldn’t be and hurt her feelings. She wants something with me that I just can’t give.”
“Were you doing something?” she asks with a raise of her brow.
“No,” I exclaim. “I know my baby girl is off limits. Havoc would have my head. Besides I get it she deserves more than all this,” I say gesturing to myself then the bikes surrounding me.
“Now just you wait one damn minute,” she scolds walking over to me. Cessy gets right in my space her baby bump the only thing keeping her from getting any closer. Glaring up at me, she says, “Lil can make her own decisions. No matter how much Havoc may hate that. Who she loves is her choice. And why in the hell would you think you’re not good enough for her, huh?”
Before I even have a chance to answer her, she continues, “If it was in your power would you ever let anything happen to her?”
“How can you ask that? She’s missing, Cess.”
“That’s by her own doing, Gunner, and no fault of yours. Did you do everything you could to protect her?”
“You know I did.”
“Would you purposely ever do anything to hurt her?”
“Never,” I exclaim.
“Do you love her?”
I can’t even answer her. I know the answer is yes, but saying it out loud. I just don’t know if I can.
She pats my shoulder. “To love, honor, and protect, Gunner. That’s what every girl like Lil wants. And you already do all that. Havoc will come around.”
Cessy turns to leave me with my thoughts, stopping when she reaches the doorway. She stands there for a second holding the door jamb before looking back at me. “Um, Gunner,” she says.
“Yeah, Cess.”
“Can you get Venom for me? I think it’s time.”
“Time?”
“Time,” she says, pointing to the puddle forming at her feet.
Chapter 12
Lilly
Mythic’s place is in Tahoe, California. And it has to be one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. The past few days, I’ve had a lot of time to wander the lake and little town here while Mythic has been holed away in what she calls her command center.
At first, I thought she was joking, but that room is no laughing matter. I thought Snoopy’s lair was extreme, but it’s got nothing on Mythic’s. She has at least six different monitors and more tech equipment than I’ve ever seen. I tried to sit in there with her my first day here but got bored as hell.
She tried to explain what she could to me about what she was doing, but I could tell she was starting to get irritated when I kept looking at her like a deer caught in headlights. Really, I just wanted to keep her talking about her past. I learned a lot on the seventeen-hour drive here, but she’s still only given me bits and pieces about herself.
I know she lives off of more Red Bull than can possibly be healthy for any one person to consume. She loves underground hip-hop and will try her damnedest to sing along. She’s thirty-four years old and has no living family. Anytime I tried to ask more about her past she suddenly became incredibly interested in whatever song was playing and the subject was quickly changed.
I want to know what it is that happened to her to turn her into the person she's become. From what I can tell, when she’s not playing babysitter to me, she’s here all by herself. Other hackers are her only relationships. I don’t know why, but that makes my heart hurt for her. It had to have been something really awful to make her not trust the outside world.
Sighing as I take one more look at the lake, I head inside. I’m hoping maybe today's the day she’ll open up. Tell me something more than just she plans to make Enterrador and the cartel pay for what they’ve done.
“Oh, hi,” I exclaim. “I wasn't expecting you to be here,” I tell Mythic as I almost run into her as I walk into the kitchen.
With a snort, she replies, “I do live here, Lilly.”
Laughing, I say, “I meant that you barely come out of your command center is all.”
“Well, I figured today I’d beat you to the punch.”
“Huh?”
Chuckling, she heads to the fridge and pulls out everything she needs for a turkey sandwich. “Everyday, you make me lunch and brin
g it to me as a way to try to get me to talk to you.”
“That transparent huh?” I say, taking a seat at the island.
Nodding, “Yup. Look, talking about my past is something I haven’t had to do in a very long time. Something I never wanted to do ever, but I get why you want to know. It took me a little bit, but I found something I want you to watch.”
“Okay,” I tell her, standing from my stool.
Grabbing my arm, she tells me, “After lunch, Lilly.”
Looking down, I can see the way her hand shakes when she pulls away from me. Whatever this is, it must be big…
Nodding, I sit and watch as she makes us each a sandwich, letting her come to terms with what she's about to show me. Without a word, she picks up her sandwich and takes her time with each bite. I know what it's like trying to keep your past hidden.
No one in nursing school knew anything about my family or their less than legal biker ways. Well, at least not until Gunner started following me around campus anyway. I can’t help the sigh that escapes thinking about Gunner. The sound draws Mythic out of her head.
“What's up?” she asks.
“Nothing, just thinking about home,” I tell her with a shrug while staring at the countertop.
“Uh-uh, that face isn’t one a chick makes when she’s just thinking about home. Spill it.”
“Gunner… I was thinking about Gunner.”
“Ah, the chocolate hotness. Or Mr. Arms as I call him,” she says with a nod.
I can't help the laughter that bursts out of me. “Mr. Arms?” I ask her.
“Girl, don’t play like you haven’t looked. He has some amazing arms. Add the tattoos and it’s just yummy.”
At the mention of Gunners tattoos, I freeze. “How do you know about Gunner’s tattoos? Or that he has nice arms? I thought you only worked with Snoopy?” I ask, glaring at her with brows drawn.
“Calm down, Lilly. I know about all of the Sons. Have pictures too,” she tells me like that’s a normal thing.
I bristle at that. Why would she have pictures of us? I stand from my seat taking a step away from her, needing some distance. Was I wrong to trust her?
“Lil,” she says looking hurt by the movement. “I had to make sure they were deserving of my help. I'm taking a very big chance of being discovered by helping Snoopy. Not everyone knows the things I do. If I’m not careful, sooner or later they’ll start putting the pieces together and my life as I know it now will be over.”
“Who will? Enterrador?”
“Or Diablo. Come on. I think you’ll understand a lot more shortly.”
With that, I follow her to her command center. She leans against the door frame, not coming any farther into the room. “I can’t watch this. I already know what happened, but when you're finished I’ll be on the deck. The remote is in front of the screen. Just push play. You can fast forward if you need to, and…” She pauses taking a deep breath. “And make sure you watch it ‘til the end,” she says quietly.
With that, she leaves me to watch what has to be the most gruesome thing I’ve ever watched The video is actually surveillance of a home I’ve never seen. There is no sound. But there’s no mistaking the figure on the screen.
Enterrador is much younger. It’s apparent in his features. He’s emotionless as he moves through a house that’s obviously not his. Horror fills me as I bear witness to his actions. This man who wants me is slaughtering an entire family without any sign of remorse. He slit what must be the wife and daughter’s throats quickly. I’m not certain without any commentary, but from what I learned from Snoopy, I’m guessing the bound man in the video is the one who killed Enterrador’s wife. When Enterrador moves to the man's son, I can’t even watch. As soon as he starts cutting off fingers, I fast forward it. Even in double time, I have to see as he works his way through each finger and toe before moving on to the son’s arms. I can only assume the boy’s gone into shock before Enterrador slices his throat too.
Last left in the room is a man tied to a chair, forced to watch as his entire family was annihilated right before his eyes. Having to witness the destruction of his family isn’t painful enough to satisfy the sadistic monster wielding the knife. The bound man is tortured too, starting with the removal of his tongue. It’s probably to keep him quiet. Thank God there’s no sound on the video. My finger pushes fast forward again, not needing to know every minute of misery the man endures before he’s killed. When Enterrador is finally finished and the family is gone from this world, he lays them together on the floor, cleans his knives, and leaves.
With a press of a button, I pause the video. Four hours of footage remains. But the family is already dead? What’s left on the tape?
Letting it fast forward to the end takes a bit of time, but there has to be a reason Mythic told me to watch to the end. With less than ten minutes left, I find out what she wanted me to see.
A girl walks into the home. She can’t be older than I am right now. Watching as her face changes to one of pure horror as she finds the family is heartbreaking. I can’t bear to watch her cry as she holds the little girl to her chest. I don’t need to know more. That young woman has the same face as the blue-haired beauty waiting for me on the deck.
Walking out to find Mythic, my feet feel like lead. She told me her family was gone, but I never would’ve imagined she was an Armijo. I don’t know what it’s taken for her to hide this long. Enterrador has hunted that family line for years. Eliminating every one he found, until the last living member was dead, or so I thought.
As I reach for the door to the deck, I peek out and see Mythic. She sits on the swing slowly swaying with tears coating her cheeks. I can’t believe she's been all alone for so long. My heart aches for her. When she sees me at the door, she looks away, wiping her face as she does.
Stepping on to the deck, I have no words. What the hell does someone say after learning that?
“You saw the end?” she whispers.
With a tiny nod, I join her on the swing. I do the only thing that feels right. Putting my arm around her shoulder, I just hold her. She leans her head against me and silently cries.
I don’t know how long it takes before she finally stops crying. It’s longer still that we sit there in silence. The sun is now setting, and the air begins to chill. The lake is a mirror of purples and pinks in a sunset more beautiful than I’ve ever seen before.
“You’re an Armijo. You’re worried Enterrador will put the pieces together.”
With a shake of her head, she replies “No, my daughter was an Armijo.”
With a gasp, I cover my mouth with my hand. “The little girl?”
She nods against my shoulder as more tears fall, dampening my shirt. “Jesús was her uncle. He was the only father figure I’d ever really known. He didn’t hurt Alex. He would never have done that. His death, their deaths, are on my shoulders.”
“Alex?”
“Enterrador’s wife. Jesús was set up, because of me. He would’ve never hurt a pregnant woman. Never.”
“What? Why would he have been set up because of you?”
Shaking her head, she vehemently says, “Now, you know why I’ll never let Enterrador hurt you. My baby, my family—he’s already taken too much.”
Chapter 13
Gunner
“If someone doesn’t come out here and tell us something soon, I’m going back there. I don't give a damn what that fucking nurse says,” Wraith says, earning a glare from the nurse sitting behind the receptionist’s desk.
“Maria is only doing her job, Wraith. Now stop your shit before she calls security on you. I can’t help you with them,” Vic scolds with a huff.
Wraith damn near got kicked from the waiting room not thirty minutes ago. He lost his shit because the nurse, Maria apparently, said she couldn’t give him any information on Cessy because he wasn’t family. Then he tried to explain we were all family, but she abruptly cut him off and asked if he was a blood relative. He spat out no, and she simply
shut the glass partition in his face. It took Rodeo and three members of the Reapers to wrestle him into a seat when he tried to throw a chair at the glass. Vic is a former volunteer here, so she helped calm the situation down and has been pissed as hell since.
Tensions are high with all the brothers of both the Sons and the Reapers prowling the waiting area. Cess will always be a princess to both clubs with her relationship to Wraith and Prez. That holds even stronger than her marriage to Venom. Right now, all we know is there was a complication and none of us are allowed back to see her until the doctor says everything is okay.
“Venom could at least come out and tell us something,” Wraith whines.
It happens so fast if I hadn't heard it I never would’ve known what happened. A loud thump fills the room. It’s a sound that comes when Vic turns and slaps Wraith upside his head. It has everyone's attention. Rodeo is poised to snatch Wraith up if he needs to.
“James Douglas White, if you don’t stop this bull shit right now, I will call your mama. Do you hear me? Venom needs to be in there helping our girl bring that beautiful baby boy into this world. Not out here giving your impatient ass an update. Now quit your shit, do you hear me?” Vic seethes.
For a few minutes, it’s quiet enough to hear a pin drop as Wraith just looks at Vic in shock.
“You wouldn’t call my mama,” he says in pure terror.
“You bet your ass I would,” she threatens with a glare.
Rodeo bursts into laughter, and shortly every brother in the waiting room joins him. Even Vic cracks a little smile.
“She told you,” Prez says with tears forming in his eyes.
“Shut it,” Wraith grumbles as he slides down in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest like a properly scolded child. Guess we all know Wraith’s weakness now, his mama.
The next few hours feel like they take days. The brothers take up a majority of the chairs in the waiting room. Some pace the room or roam the halls. All I can think about is how upset my baby girl is going to be that she missed this. When Cess and Venom asked her to be the godmother she cried. Later she told me it was the biggest honor she could’ve ever asked for.
