Basement Level 5: Never Scared

by L. R. Wright

  “From that moment on, I knew I was never going to have a normal life. I mean, how could I if my father was willing to kill someone right in front of me. After he murdered the man, he told me it was just the way of life. Your father was there, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, Pop just gave the order to clean up the mess.”

  “You never told me this story before,” she admitted softly.

  She knew that when Dro’s grandfather arrived in the States from Puerto Rico, he had founded Martinez Organization and opened a neighborhood store. But he quickly realized he could make more money by branching out into some illegal activities. So he began making hooch, or moonshine, and smuggling it to neighboring states. Eventually, he expanded into narcotics, using the store as a front for business.

  Dro’s father, Enrique Martinez, a shrewd business man, took over business when his father retired. He established many legitimate businesses under the Martinez Organization umbrella, but the biggest money maker continued to be their illegal activities. Enrique delved further into the drug trade, becoming the main supplier for Tri-State area. But that wasn’t enough. He also wanted to become a major player in the selling and distribution of weapons and made millions smuggling guns to Puerto Rico and other nearby countries.

  Alexa knew all this, but she knew very little of Dro’s early brushes with the dark side of the family profession. Surprised and interested, she gestured for him to continue.

  “When we were younger,” he said. “I kind of embraced the life. We all did. We all knew that our name gave us power. My father built the company by stealing, manipulating, and murdering people who crossed him. Because of that, we were untouchable. It wasn’t until I fell in love with you that I realized I had so much to lose.”

  She wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled into his neck.

  He pressed his lips to her hair. “Then my priorities changed and I took steps to distance you and me from that side of the business as much as possible. And now, I’m faced with the real possibility that all of the decisions we made when younger—and all the lives my father and yours ruined—are coming back to haunt us and our children. It’s hard. So I do understand where you’re coming from.”

  She kissed him gently. “I guess when I think back on our lives, and all the people our family has hurt, I can’t help but worry. There are too many secrets, too many lies. Someone is waiting in the wings to get revenge, and it could be anybody.”

  “We still have to fight, though. We can’t afford to bury our heads in the sand and hope this goes away.”

  “I know, Dro.” She sighed and sat up. “I guess I should make some calls.”

  “You probably should.”

  “After this is over, maybe we will finally be able to retire to an island somewhere like we dreamed about.”

  “And ensure Ky and Alex have the life we didn’t.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Make love all night, every night, without me having to run around and make sure security is tight.”

  She skimmed her fingers across the hair at his nape. “Are you getting soft in your old age?”

  “Never that, Lex,” he murmured with a soft chuckle, then he fisted a hand in her hair and jerked to him for a passionate kiss.

  CHAPTER 13

  March 19, 1998, a Martinez Organization safe house:

  After the shootout in front of Martinez Hotel that wounded Lei, Dro told Chase to drive to the closest refuge. A remote cottage outside of town, it was used by the family for various activities, but mostly as a place where employees who were on the lam could lay low.

  Several hours after arriving at the farm, Dro sat at the small table nursing a glass filled with cognac when Alexa entered the kitchen. She stared at him and he shrugged. He didn’t drink often, but he was wound tight. Lei was more like a brother to him than a friend. At this point, the doctors weren’t sure he would survive. Dro heard Alexa’s shoes on the linoleum floors as she approached him.

  She smoothed her hand through his hair. “You okay?”

  Dro studied her, focusing on her blood stained dress. It was a reminder that Lei had damn near bled to death. It looked like she’d tried to wash her neck and arms, but he could still see Lei’s blood on her skin.

  Dro finished the rest of his drink. “When I was younger, your father told me to never let my guard down. He told me the minute I stop paying attention, someone dies.”

  She knelt in front of him and placed her hands on his knees. “Lei is going to be okay. You have to believe that.”

  He traced a spot of dried blood on her bare shoulder with his fingers. “What I believe is beside the point. I never wanted to be the type of person my father was. But your father...when he told me he wanted me to marry you, I felt honored. I felt like he trusted me with his most precious asset. That felt good to me. He taught me everything I know. He’s been more of a father to me than my own. And I let his son get shot.”

  “Stop it, Dro.”

  He stood and paced back and forth. “Lei could die and what was I doing? I was so busy looking after you that I failed to pay attention to my surroundings. What if I hadn’t seen that car when I did?”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “You’re getting a guard.”

  “A guard?” She frowned. “What? No.”

  “I’m not taking any more chances,” he told her. “I’m going to get someone to protect you.”

  “I don’t need a guard,” she yelled. “And don’t treat me like I can’t defend myself.”

  “Will you just shut the hell up and take the damn guard?”

  Her eyes widened then narrowed with intent. “Did you just tell me to shut the hell up?”

  “Is that what you heard?”

  She nodded.

  He lifted his hands up to his sides. “So what part don’t you understand?”

  Fury radiated from her, flushing her fair skin a dark shade of red. “First off, you don’t tell me to shut up. Second, you need to trust me and my ability to take care of myself.”

  “This isn’t about you anymore. Your father and my father trusted me and Lei to handle security for all of us. None of us want guards, but we’re going to have them now.”

  She glared at him. “Yeah, right. Kendrick will never agree to a guard.”

  “He will if I tell him to. This isn’t up for discussion. Do you realize what could have happened tonight? We were involved in a drive by shooting in front of our fucking hotel. Any one of us could have been shot and killed. I’m not willing to take any more chances with our lives. This has nothing to do with whether or not I think you can handle yourself. I know you can, but you’re still getting a guard.”

  “Dro, I’m still in high school. What do I look like having a guard shadow me all damn day?”

  He shrugged. “I couldn’t care less. Our parents are on their way here, and this is the only thing I can think of to appease them. We don’t know who came after us tonight. It’s not like we lead pristine lives here. My father made his fortune off the misfortune of others. And your father...he’s basically a hired assassin.”

  She turned away from him and he immediately felt guilty. He knew her father was the most important person in her life. But she knew who he was and what he did, even if she didn’t feel like hearing it.

  Dro grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Alexa, don’t turn your back on me. We both know how our parents got to be so powerful. My father is a criminal. And yours...” He couldn’t finish his sentence. “They’ve done many things in their lives to cause someone to want to gun Lei down. I mean, we tell ourselves your father is different because he works as a CIA operative. But he’s done plenty of jobs that didn’t have anything to do with the government.”

  Dro sighed. As much as he loved Leiland Sr., or Pop, the man was a cold-blooded killer. At a young age, he’d enlisted with the marines and quickly gained the respect of more than a few high ranking officials. These same officials thought it was a good idea to send him out to complete so
me “hard tasks.” He excelled and eventually began doing jobs for other government agencies.

  When Pop was discharged from the marines, he immediately went to work for Martinez Organization and formed Martinez Security with Enrique’s blessing. While the security branch specialized in training bodyguards for celebrities and politicians and developing security systems for high profile companies, it was mainly was a cover for Pop’s work with the CIA. And he’d made a lot of enemies over the years.

  “It’s not forever,” Dro assured her. “But I do need you to stand by me, Alexa. Don’t give me a hard time with this.”

  Kendrick stepped into the kitchen “Dro?”

  “Did you get the truck out of the garage?” Dro asked him, keeping a grip firm on Alexa.

  “What was left of it,” Kendrick said. “Someone did a nice job vandalizing it.”

  “Probably trying to make sure we had no transportation out of there,” Dro mused. “We need to figure out who did this.”

  “I’m trying to gain access to the hotel’s security cameras to see if someone in the hotel looks suspicious,” Kendrick told him. “Whoever it was knew we were there and coming out at that time.”

  “My father will be here any minute—and so will Pop.”

  Kendrick nodded and left the kitchen.

  When Dro turned back to Alexa, she had her arms crossed and was scowling at him. “What?” he asked, though he already knew. With a shrug, he picked up the open fifth of cognac on the table, poured himself another glass, and downed the contents in one gulp. “Kendrick is getting a guard, too.”

  “So why didn’t you tell him that?” she growled.

  “I don’t need to. Kendrick, unlike you, realizes I have to make hard choices to appease my father—and yours. He won’t care.”

  “Don’t.” She snatched his glass from him and slammed it on the table. “Don’t act like I’m this pain in your side.”

  He refilled it again. “You’re acting like a pain in my side. I get that you feel like you have something to prove. But you don’t have to prove anything to me. I’ve never underestimated your ability to take care of yourself. And this isn’t some sinister plan to make you feel less than Kendrick or anyone else.”

  She softened her stance a little, dropping her hands to her side.

  He took another sip of his drink and eyed her. “Robert will be your guard.”

  She gasped. “Robert? No! I want Julio.”

  “Hell no. You’re getting Robert. He’s older with plenty of experience, and he won’t fall for your charms like Julio will.”

  “Fuck you, Dro,” she growled, stomping her foot and bolting for the door.

  Dro caught her with an arm around her waist.

  “Let me go,” she demanded, trying to break away from his hold.

  He’d given up trying to convince her he was right. He needed her in a different way at that point. His fingertips tingled with the need to touch her and take her, to make sure she knew just how much he loved her. The thought of losing her scared him more than anything had in his life. His lips skimmed the skin under her ear as he dipped his head and inhaled her scent. “I don’t want to fight with you,” he whispered against her ear.

  Feeling her body loosen as he nuzzled her neck, he brushed his lips against hers, lingering at the corner of her mouth. “I don’t see any other way. Just trust me. Trust me to know what I’m doing.”

  “I do trust you Dro. I just...you’re right. I do feel like I have something to prove. I’m not sure why, but I do. I’m a woman, and I feel like people will always discount me.”

  “That’s not true. I never discount you. So trust me.”

  “Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll accept the guard, if it’s what you want.”

  He nipped at her ear. “It’s what I want.”

  She turned in his arms to face him. “Robert still thinks of me as a child. Daddy might as well be guarding me. Does it have to be him, Dro?”

  He smirked and rested his hands on her ass. “Yes.”

  “Fine. Whatever you say.”

  He leaned in to give her a kiss. She placed her well-manicured forefinger over his lips. “Not so fast. I’m sure you think that by making nice all is forgotten. But you did tell me to shut the hell up. And while I may accept the guard, I won’t accept that. I’m going to bed.”

  ***

  November 4, 2011, B5:

  Pop followed Chase into B5 at eight o’clock in the morning. After one look at the place, he smiled. “Chase, you did one hell of a job here. I’m proud of you.”

  “Thanks Pop. I appreciate it more than you know.”

  Pop rubbed his graying beard. “Which room is my wife in?”

  “She’s the first door on the right,” Chase told him, pointing him in the general direction.

  “Ladybug and Dro?”

  Chase pointed in the opposite direction. “Third door on the left. Lei and Makayla are the second door on the left.”

  Pop nodded. “I won’t wake them up now. Thanks for coming to pick me up.”

  “How was your trip?”

  “It was tough. I didn’t know what I would find when I got back. I want to be briefed on the situation as soon as everyone’s up. We need to develop a plan of action.”

  “Well, I’m ready. They should be up in a few.”

  Dro burst into the kitchen, wearing only sweatpants. “You’re here,” he said, embracing Pop. “Good to see you.”

  “Good to see you too. Where’s my ladybug?”

  “In the bed. Rough night.”

  “I bet. I was just telling Chase I want to know everything that’s happened.”

  “That’s fine,” Dro agreed. “Let me finish getting dressed. I actually came out here because Chase only brought soap for Alexa.” He glared at Chase. “And there’s no way I’m using cinnamon fruit drop or anything like that.”

  Pop laughed as Dro hurried off in search of soap.

  CHAPTER 14

  November 4, 2011, B5:

  Alexa rolled over, expecting to burrow into Dro’s warm body, but all she found was cold sheets. Opening her eyes, she spotted him on the far side of the room, slipping on his pants.

  She sat up straight. “Is everything okay? Where are you going?”

  “Pop is here. He wants to talk.”

  Alexa couldn’t help but feel excited at the news of her father’s arrival. She had missed him. Hopping out of bed, she headed for the closet. “Well, then let’s not keep him waiting.”

  “Wow, when I came in last night, you wouldn’t even look at me. Your father comes, and you jump right out of bed.”

  She brushed passed him and bumped him away from the dresser so she could retrieve a bra. “That’s not true. I remember very well what I did when I saw you.” She looked over her shoulder at him and winked. She rushed to the bathroom, bumping into him again. “Dro, can you please not start this discussion without me?”

  He followed her into the bathroom. “You know that’s not going to happen. We’re in this together, baby,” he said and started to shave as she stepped into the shower.

  “I’ve been thinking,” she said. “Daddy is probably going to want to come up with a game plan and wait before we make a move. But I think we need to make a move first and then see what happens.”

  “I think we need to wait until we have more information. We definitely need to set up surveillance on Melissa’s family and do some digging around to see if we can figure out who her partner is.”

  “Yeah, but Melissa is a dingaling. If we get to her first, we may be able to break her.”

  Dro cleared his throat. “I know you want to see her suffer, but we have to think about her family. Her parents are very wealthy and have a lot of influence. We don’t want to make a move too quickly.”

  “Dro, she hired men to come into our house and kill us. Didn’t you tell me it was time to fight? I want to fight that bitch.”

  He laughed. “Oh, you’ll get your chance, but not until we know more. You tol
d me you were going to make some calls. Did you get that done?”

  Pretending she didn’t hear him, she sighed and turned off the water. “What about the kids?”

  “We’ll play it by ear. We’re pretty secure here, but we should still consider other options.” He tossed her a towel as she stepped out of the shower. “Are you going to answer my question?”

  She dried her body then wrapped her hair up in another towel. “I put in a call to my contact. He’s checking into it. And that’s what makes this so hard. We know Melissa isn’t smart enough to do this by herself. It could be anybody.”

  “It’s important to narrow this down though. Are these thugs after you for your work with Martinez Security or is this connected to some outside job you did for the CIA?”

  A chill ran up her spine. Could this have something to do with the Company? It wasn’t common knowledge that she’d been recruited by one of her father’s friends to do freelance work for them. In fact, the only people who knew were Dro and Kendrick. Even her father had no idea she’d done freelance work for the government.

  Pop had made it clear to his contacts that all jobs contracted with Martinez Security went through him. He funneled them to the group because he didn’t want them involved in the politics. When Alexa was contacted directly, she’d thought long and hard about betraying her father to work with the CIA. Ultimately, she chose the money and the adrenaline rush they provided. But there wasn’t a single day that she didn’t wish she could share that side of herself with her father.

  “You’re right,” she said, running a brush through her hair. “We need more information before we go any further.” She stopped when she noticed Dro watching her. “Baby, what’s up?”

  “Nothing.” He wrapped his arms around her and placed a quick kiss on her lips. “Just looking at you. I can’t look at you?”

  She smiled. “You can look at me any time you want. But are you sure you’re okay?”