“He is staring right at me,” he said with a frown. “I think that boy is challenging me!”
Odessa started to laugh. She said to him, “Stop being silly. He is only eating.”
“No, he is staring at me knowing I can’t get to my beautiful cocoa covered mounds but he can. He is sucking on that boob taunting me!”
Saxton’s two fingers pointed at his eyes, then he pointed the same two fingers at Robbie. He repeated the motion several times. He said loudly, “I’m putting you on notice kid. Those are mine!”
“Speaking of kids...did you know Eduardo Delgado has four?” she asked him.
“No way!” Saxton laughed. “Can you imagine them all calling Ry, Mama?”
“Evidently two of them already do,” she said.
“How? She was only gone a week!” he repeated.
“It gets better. My daddy punched Eduardo in the face,” she said. “He dropped that man like a sack of potatoes.”
Saxton was beside himself with laughter. In between spurts of alternating choking, slobbering, and coughing, he asked, “Didn’t Eduardo have that mountain of a bodyguard with him I have heard so much about?”
“Yes, the bodyguard knew what my Daddy was going to do and stepped out of the way so Daddy could hit Eduardo in the snout,” she said.
This only made Saxton laugh harder.
“It’s not funny Saxton. What did Eduardo do to Ryanne to make the guard want vengeance for her? Mama said Kevin Jr. came into the room too fast and the guard, Tombe or something she called him, had Kevin around the ankles holding him upside down. The same guard – that allowed my Daddy close enough to damn near break Eduardo’s nose - something stinks....”
“You’re right,” he said as he lifted Austin’s little leg, lowering his head to sniff at her tiny baby butt. “Shit! How can something so small put out poop so strong it smells like she ate some of Grammy’s chili?”
“Seriously Saxton...what if she gets in trouble again...we can’t fly into Pissy Pretna to go get her,” Odessa said.
“Puente Piedra,” he corrected, frowning at the stench which wafted up from the open diaper he was changing.
“Whatever! And you know what else... Eduardo convinced Daddy to get the hip surgery,” she said with her eyebrows up.
“Now I am worried,” he said to her. “I want to know how that happened.”
Saxton exchanged babies with her as Austin was held in her other arm, feeding on the other breast and Robbie went to his father for changing and burping. He watched her closely as the little mouth latched on to the breast, her tiny eyes closing as she sucked in a belly full of liquid nutrients.
“See her eyes are closed!” Saxton exclaimed.
“I never realized you had ADD,” she said to him.
“I don’t. I am trying to wrap my mind around this day. Wait a minute, you said he convinced him to get the surgery?”
“Yes, when they went fishing I guess,” she said.
“Stop it! Stop it right now. You are really trying to convince me that the head of the Zeta Cartel went to Big Sarge’s favorite fishing hole in the corner of the butt crack of Dallas, Texas to spend an afternoon discussing your daddy’s hip? Shit, ain’t nobody that much in love,” Saxton said to his wife.
“Head of the Zetas....no baby. When he married Ryanne they made him the head of the serpent. He is now in charge of all operations in the Americas,” she told him.
“No!” he said as he flopped down on the corner of the bed, cradling his son’s head. “They put that evil fucker in charge of two continents?”
“Language Saxton,” she chastised him. “Even worse, honey. He is trying to take them legit by extending his reach in the global markets,” she said.
“That is your sister’s doing isn’t it?” he said with some distaste in his mouth. “I swear, sometimes, I want to take Ry over my knee and beat her ass.”
“Get in line. My momma wanted to as well as take out that middle boy of Eduardo’s. She said she had a damp dish towel in her hand before she knew it and Ry had to pry it from her fingers,” Odessa said.
“What did the kid do to her...did he get flip at the lip?”
“Worse, he asked her to make him some neck bones and college greens,” Odessa said, using the exact phrasing the child used. “Momma said he asked her to cook the meat of the bones from the neck of the pig... I think that’s how he phrased it.”
Saxton lost it. He didn’t know which was funnier, asking Dora Trodat to cook some soul food or imagining the expression on her face as she reached for the dishtowel. The laughter was cut short by the ringing of his phone. He was still chuckling when he flipped the top to answer it before it went to voicemail.
“Blakemore,” he said in the line.
As the voice on the other end spoke, Saxton’s face went dark. She knew that look. It was a look that struck fear into her heart for more than one reason. Someone was in trouble and her husband was going to go and play hero.
I hate this.
“Saxton,” she said softly as he ended the call.
“Kevin Jr. has been kidnapped and Roget has been taken too,” he said.
He laid Robbie in his crib as he made his way to the bathroom. It was a trap and he knew it. The look on Odessa’s face said she knew it as well. He didn’t have a choice, he had to go. Saying no wasn’t an option.
In the closet next to the bed was his private weapon’s stash. Saxton entered the eight-digit code to open the door. Inside, the walls were laden with weapons of various calibers, some were allowable in other countries, and others that were prohibited. Taking Connard’s plane home had afforded him the opportunity to bring all of the weapons from their house in Dallas to Houston. The closet was custom built before Odessa had everything moved down.
“I don’t want you to go. You are a father now...we have a family...,” she said as the tears began to run down her cheeks. She swatted at the foreign fluid leaking from her eyes. “I am an emotional, hormonal mess...!”
“Baby, if I don’t go get your brother and Roget...I would never forgive myself,” he said as he wiped away the tears on her cheeks.
“If you go and get yourself killed, I will never forgive you either,” she told him. Her heart sank as she watched him dress in black pants and a black tee. His favorite backpack was quickly filled with a change of clothing, a toothbrush and personal items he would need.
“I will be back in a day or so,” he said as he leaned over to kiss her quivering lips. He picked up each child, planting a tender kiss on each little fuzz-covered head. “I love you, Mrs. Blakemore.”
“I know,” she said. The tears burned her eyes as she wiped them away. Austin began to cry as her father opened the bedroom door. “I love you too, now go...and you’d better come back!”
He winked at her as he pulled the bedroom door closed. The click of the knob sliding into place was the loudest sound she had ever heard. No matter how many times she calculated the outcome of this venture, one of those men were not coming home unscarred or unscathed. She didn’t like the idea of thinking about one over the other.
My husband.
My brother.
Our friend.
As if I have the right to choose who lives or who returns.
Her only saving grace was that her husband was really good at what he did for a living. No agent was much better in his skillset even with a partially damaged eye. Last, but not least, in her resolve, she spoke softly to their children, and no one is better at being Mr. Blakemore than Saxton.
Chapter 5 – Let’s Be...
Vacamonte, Panama
“What is it with these people and shipping ports?” Agent Roget whispered to Carlos. They had arrived under the cover of night in Vacamonte at a shipping port 19 miles west of Panama City. The whole pier smelled like old fish and a bad bordello in Singapore. It was a smell that haunted him at night from another failed mission where he neglected to return with a captured agent. He had to come home with young Trodat.
<
br /> “It is easier to load the cargo onto a boat in a container to ship around the world,” Carlos told him. “Stay low and follow me.”
Roget didn’t trust Carlos any more than he trusted his horse killing, agent shooting brother. Just because the man had married into Odessa’s family didn’t automatically make Eduardo Delgado a friend of his let alone some dude who claimed to be his brother. On top of that, the man he claimed was his brother shot him. An incorrect train of thinking on Roget’s part was the force which whispered he should go left when Carlos had urged him to turn right. When he went left, he ran right into a group of rough looking men who seemed very happy to see him. Over their shoulder were two young Asian women that had received the brunt of the excess energy the bored men needed to burn off. Those who opted against sloppy seconds were much happier to have something to beat up on. The new target was probably going to be his face. He couldn’t at the moment find it in him to feel sorry for the women since his fate was also in the men’s hands.
In the distance, a clear American voice could be heard. “He is worth more alive to you than dead,” the voice called out.
“Check his pockets,” the gold-toothed leader called from the background. The words were spat out as he pushed the abused, naked Asian woman to the floor from the table top. She collapsed in a heap as he stepped away, zipping his pants as if he’d done nothing more than take an afternoon whizz.
“He is some kind of agent,” Shifty Jones, an American mercenary said. He had come from the back when he’d heard the ruckus of the men. By the sounds of their voices, he knew from the timber of tones that the group of cut-throats had found a new pet to torture.
Gold tooth stepped forward, his eye on Roget, “I know this man. He is friends with the American agent with the crazy black wife who has the towel-twirling Mamá.”
“Did he come for her brother that we have in the back?” Shifty asked.
“I am thinking he did,” he said as he threw back his head in laughter. “This is going to be fun,” he said to his crew. The men all grinned lasciviously at Roget on the floor on his knees.
“Señor Rentería, why is it going to be fun?” Shifty wanted to know.
“Because Saxton Blakemore is going to come now for certain. I have his wife’s brother and now the Agent Roget, all we have to do is make the call and wait,” Alberlado Rentería, said with a huge grin. “My Uncle Elizondo has spoken of this Blakemore, said he is a fierce fighter, but afraid of the snakes.”
Shifty Jones was still blurry on the plan. He wanted the money this Rentería had promised him. Shifty also wanted out of the mercenary game. Each year, the men on the crew became more ruthless and loyalty was often lacking. He was constantly in fear of waking up with someone over his bed ready to slit his throat or worse. Maybe...if I keep this Roget alive...he would help me get out from under the grip of these snakes. More than anything, he was tired of working for the Renteria’s. Mateo had been a dark and disturbed man, but Alberlado was something sadistically wickeder. It was undetermined if he was a child of one of the Rentería brothers or a bastard like Mateo. He would never speak of it. From what he understood of the family, the direct descendants didn’t work with nasty jobs like human trafficking; those were reserved for the bastards who wanted to have the approval of their fathers. Alberlado didn’t seem to want anyone’s approval. What he did to the women alone was enough to turn Shifty’s stomach. The whole body parts division of the human trafficking enterprise was even more dastardly than breaking the spirit of the women captives; several times he had thrown up after seeing some of the heinous acts. The fate which was about to befall the two Asian women was not going to be nice.
“Someone get them cleaned up and then over to the holding cells,” Alberlado said as he pointed at the two women on the floor.
Shifty asked, “And what about this Agent...what is his name...Roget?”
“Let the boys have him for 15 minutes to soften him up, then throw him in a cell too,” he said.
“Are we selling him?” Shifty asked.
“You are asking a lot of questions today Shifty...are you going soft on me tambien?” Alberlado wanted to know. “Are you going to vomit again?”
“Of course not, but if we ask that Blakemore guy for money for them both, we can make a nice profit,” Shifty said. His eyes were on Roget who had remained quiet, watching, listening, and looking for a chance to run.
Alberlado asked Shifty, “Are you saying we request a ransom, then sell him to the Arabs?”
“Yes, we could double the money,” Shifty lied.
“He is too old,” Alberlado said.
“If we make him into a eunuch, with his training, he could oversee some of the harems,” Shifty suggested.
The word eunuch was all Roget heard as he sprang to his feet and started to run. He wasn’t certain which way to go. The agent ran blindly toward a lighted area only to receive a blow from the butt of a very large gun to his temple. It was a good thing for the big man. Unconscious, he was unable to feel what was being done to him during the 15 minutes the men were given to have fun with his body.
Houston, Texas
Odessa sat at the kitchen table staring out the window. Her eyes were on Uncle Dusty as he painstakingly made his way across the field from the foreman’s house to the main one on the Busy B to have an evening beer with his brother. Her eyes had finally stopped watering and the babies were comfortably settled enough for her to walk away to get some dinner.
“Hey,” a booming voice said, startling her from her daze. Bobby Ray had come up behind her. For a man so large, he walked softly, barely making a sound.
“Hey back,” she said delicately.
“It’s not like you to worry,” he said to Odessa. “It’s definitely not like you to cry.”
“It’s the hormones,” she said.
“Liar,” Bobby Ray responded. “Have you calculated the probability of all three of them making it back alive?”
Tears began to sting her eyes when she frowned, her nose crinkled and her lips turned downward signaling the beginning of a full-blown waterworks display. Bobby Ray watched, not liking what he was seeing. He especially didn’t like where her mind was going.
Bobby Ray yelled at her, “Cut that shit out!”
Odessa jumped in the seat. She had never heard the man raise his voice before. It jolted her brain from the fugue state from lack of sleep and little people sucking at her boobies until they hurt.
“You can’t be at his side to load bullets or whatever in the hell it is that you do when you two are in the field, but you can shift the odds in their favor. You need to recalculate and add a new variable,” Bobby Ray said.
“What’s that?”
“You!” he said. Odessa didn’t understand. Her brain fighting through the fuzz from sleep deprivation. Her heart was heavy with the news of her sister...the mild stroke Ms. Patsy had... then the idea of...
“Me!” she said, suddenly feeling a burst of energy. “I need to calculate what I can do from here to help.”
“Yes, you get on that phone and call your sister. Have her wake up that horse killing, sneaky son of a bar-b-que stealing husband she just married and have that mean son of a tortilla maker fuel his plane. Tell him Bobby Ray Blakemore needs a favor. He takes care of me and this home will always be open to him and we will welcome him into this family,” he said.
“Mr. Blakemore do you mean that?” Odessa asked in disbelief.
“I need him to bring them all home alive,” Bobby Ray said. “If he does that, yes, he will be family.”
Odessa wasn’t sure what that would mean to a man like Eduardo Delgado. All she could do was make the offer. She prayed it would hold some favor with him, if not, she would have to rely on her powers of persuasion to kick him into gear.
If Ryanne didn’t beat her to it.
Chapter 6 – What will be...
Puente Piedra, Colombia
Both phones begin to ring at the same time as two sleepy bodi
es rolled over in the bed, each reaching for the nightstand lamps. Ryanne answered her phone first.
“¡Buenas!” Eduardo said into the line. He sat up on his side of the bed listening to Carlos attempt to explain what had happened in Panama. The last thing Carlos ever wanted to do was disappoint his big brother. He had failed him. Twice. He was given a simple job - to keep an eye on the men and teach the kid how to blend in. Technically, it wasn’t his fault. Kevin Jr. was taken before he had reached the meeting place with the two men.
“¿Qué cuentas?” Eduardo asked his brother.
“I told Roget to stay low, and follow me. I went right, he decided to go left Eddie. They took him...but you have to hurry...these men...sick men...they were going to...I can’t even...I was about to rush in to stop it, but some guy...an American intervened...Eduardo...these men should die,” he said with a voice full of emotion.
That was all Eduardo needed to hear from his younger, peace-loving, law-abiding brother. Carlos, now a senior at UCLA, he labeled as an extremely bright young man who did not care for violence. He had no desire to be a part of the family business, which was one of the reasons Eduardo wanted to take his enterprises legit, so his brother would be an interacting member of the family legacy. Hugo, the brother who met his demise via the help of a bullet from Odessa Blakemore, often said the youngest of the clan was too soft.
“You make him soft by cossetting him,” Hugo had told him.
“The next generation of Delgado’s will not be criminals,” Eduardo had cautioned his brother. Unlike him and Carlos, Hugo had been the one who craved power. In order to have power, a man needed money. There was no faster money to be made than the open market for humans or the sum of their parts. It was the one division Eduardo did not want his name attached to in any shape, form, or fashion. The current situation must have been horrific for his brother to want him to kill the men. Carlos, a bleeding heart liberal, believed that everyone deserved a chance. Evidently, he saw no redeeming qualities in the men he was observing.
Being Mr. Blakemore (The Blakemore Files Book 7) Page 3
