by Emerson Rose
There’s a clip of ammunition next to the gun. I’ve never loaded it but I’ve seen Julián do it many times. The doorknob on the front door wiggles and that’s all it takes. I snatch the clip, jam it into the grip of the gun, and tuck it into the baggy pocket of my overalls.
I’ll be lucky not to accidently shoot my toes off but at least that would be a diversion.
I smooth my hair out of my face and try to calm my breathing before I open the door and smile at my future brother in laws.
They take a step back, surprised when open the door.
“I’m so sorry, babies… they have their own schedules, ya know? I’m Kimber,” I say thrusting my hand out to greet them. “Nice to finally meet you both.”
They glance at each other and the quiet familiar one takes my hand first lifting it to his lips and placing a kiss on my knuckles. Inwardly I cringe at the bold inappropriate gesture but I plaster a smile on my face and giggle like a schoolgirl.
“Oh my, Julián never mentioned how charming you boys were.” Mr. Kissy Pants releases my hand and Mouthpiece takes a turn shaking it politely. “So, you’re going to have to tell me your names, there are quite a few of you Garcia’s, aren’t there?”
One thing Julián did tell me, the only thing, was that he was one of six siblings.
“I’m Sebastian,” says the talker. “And this here is Diego.”
Sebastian looks over my shoulder into the living room, “Baby G’s not home?” he asks and I’m not sure if he’s referring to Julián or Grayson.
I choose to play like its Grayson. “Oh, he just went down for a nap, we’ve been up for a little while.”
He laughs and Diego follows awkwardly like he does whatever Sebastian does.
“No, no. I guess I’ll have to start calling him Big Baby G now, huh, Diego? I mean your man, Julián.”
I fiddle with my earring with one hand and press my wrist against the gun in my pocket with the other for reassurance. “Oh, that’s funny. I’ve never heard anyone call him that before. You just missed him, he left for work a few minutes ago,” I lie in hopes that they will leave if they think he is close by.
“Did he now? Well that’s too bad, we were looking forward to telling him goodbye. We saw him a couple days ago and he said he would invite us over but I guess he forgot.” He tilts his head to the side and shrugs and Diego looks away.
“He didn’t mention that but we have both been pretty sleep deprived with the baby and all, it must have slipped his mind.” I smile sweetly but they don’t smile back.
“Why don’t we just cut the shit, Kimber? He never told you we were in town because he didn’t want us to meet you.” His voice is cold and menacing, opposite of the do you want a piece of candy, little girl tone he’s been using with me since I said hello through the door.
“Oh, I’m sure that’s not it, we have been so stressed lately, really he…”
“Stop making excuses for him, it’s weak and pathetic,” Diego says with a sneer. It’s the first time I’ve heard his voice and when I do I realize why he seems familiar. Not only does he look like my fiancé, he sounds exactly like him, too.
Diego is an asshole, though, and Julián is not. I can see why he doesn’t associate with these people. I frown at Diego and wrap my arm around my waist and hold it by the elbow with the other.
“I’ll just get to the point,” Sebastian says.
“Yes, why don’t you do that,” I say with enough sass in my tone that he knows I don’t appreciate being insulted on my own porch.
“We thought you should know what kind of family you’re marrying into. I’ll bet Baby G never told you his parents are on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, did he? Yep, your good ole Semper Fi Marine is the son of the infamous Manuel Jesus Garcia, the leader of the biggest drug distributing and money laundering family in the country.”
I feel all of the blood drain out of my face. I grab ahold of the doorframe and swallow back bile. My fiancé is related to Manuel Garcia? There is something in the news every single night about that family, murders, smuggling drugs across the border inside dead bodies in coffins, human trafficking. The list goes on and on. They are despicable, dangerous horrible people and my husband-to-be is one of them.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“We’re nice guys, Kimber. We thought you should know so you can make a run for it before you’re associated with a dangerous crime family. We have a lot of enemies, ya know? You never know when somebody might use you as bait or decide to kill you and your cute baby for revenge.” Sebastian says and Diego smiles.
“That’s all we wanted, you can thank us later, or not, if you decide to go into hiding.” He laughs so loud I take a step back and Diego jumps forward jerking his hands up when he says, “Boo!”
I jump and my hand slides into my pocket to grip the gun. I don’t take it out but I have it ready if they keep pulling shit like that.
“I think it’s time for you to leave.”
Sebastian stares hard into my eyes before lowering them to my pocket. “Ahh, Diego, little Mama G is packin, isn’t that cute? Maybe she did know about us. You’re gonna fit right in, honey. Tell my brother to bring his new family to Texas for Christmas. Oh, and bring your piece,” he says laughing. They turn and stroll down the driveway to their fancy car and wave when they get in like we are long lost buddies.
I close the door and lock it before they start the engine. I press my back against the wood sliding down to the floor trembling and remove the gun from my pocket and lay it on the floor next to me pointing away just in case.
My fiancé is the son of a crime boss. My sweet, playful, kind Julián is a selfish liar. Grayson and I have been in danger for almost a year. We could have been killed by crazy drug dealing murders.
I can’t catch my breath, my heart is pounding against my ribs and giant tears stream down my cheeks. I squeeze my eyes shut and cry hard and silent, the gut-wrenching kind of cry that comes out as a whisper between gasps for breath. How could he do this to me, to Grayson, to us?
We have to leave. I can’t live with a man who would keep such a secret from me, let alone marry him. My heart feels like a million shards of glass when I drag myself from the floor and climb the stairs to pack.
Chapter 24
Garcia
I’m going to get a fucking speeding ticket trying to get home. I knew this was a possibility. My brothers got to her before I could find a way to tell her about my past. I’m such a damn fool for not telling her the truth when we first met. She deserved to know what she was getting into. I didn’t give her all the information she needed to make an informed decision about me. I lied by omission and that’s no different than a bold-faced lie.
I pull into the driveway at home and have a sinking feeling when I don’t see a shiny black Bentley or Kimber’s Mazda CX 3 parked anywhere. I jump out of my Rover and run up the steps, the door isn’t locked and just inside on the floor is my gun.
Shit, she must have been really scared to get the gun out of the safe, she’s deathly afraid of it. But seeing it lying on the floor has me in a panic. What happened? Is she okay, is Grayson okay? Fuck. I grab the gun to put it back in the safe and freeze when I feel the full weight of it in my hand. It’s loaded, goddammit, this is all my fault.
I drop the clip out to check that it’s still full and put them both back into the safe and lock it.
“Kimber?” I call out but there is no answer. It’s eerily quiet, too quiet for a house with a baby.
“Baby, are you okay?” I sweep the first level and find nothing, as in nothing. No receiving blankets, no toys, not even a stray sock. Part of me doesn’t want to go upstairs and confirm what I’m beginning to dread but I have to. If she’s gone I need to know right away so I can start looking for her.
I take the stairs three at a time taking turns yelling her name and Grayson’s. Our bedroom looks like it always does, bed made up neatly, everything in its place. Except for the strap of a bra poking out of Kimber
’s dresser drawer.
I open it and find two of her perfect neat rows of panties and bras gone. I slam the drawer so hard the mirror attached to the dresser shakes and hits the wall behind it.
She’s gone. I don’t have to look any further to know she’s not coming back for a while, if ever. In the closet a section of her casual clothing is empty and none of her toiletries are in our bathroom. I didn’t need to check but I did to be 100% sure.
Grayson’s room was more disturbing, there was absolutely nothing left in his dresser. All of his diapers and bathing supplies gone, his blankets and stuffed animals stripped away. It’s all very permanent, very final, very unhappily ever after.
After standing in the nursery in shock staring at the nothingness that’s left for too long, I snap to attention and race downstairs and out to the Rover. I’m dialing my phone and pulling out of the driveway when someone bangs on my window.
“Garcia! Hey, open the window!” Tiana yells smacking the palm of her hand on the glass. I press the button to lower the window and start to tell her I’m in a hurry, but I stop when she says she saw Kimber leave.
“Why did Kimber leave? I saw a couple of sketchy guys on your porch earlier and I’m not exaggerating when I say I had my finger poised and ready to dial 911. But they left and a few minutes later, she did, too. It looked like she was leaving for like… well, for a long time.”
“She was, I mean she did, she’s gone. I need to go and find her, I don’t have time to talk.”
Deep frown lines crease her forehead and she narrows her eyes at me. “Is she in danger? Why would she go off without telling you where she was going?”
“I don’t know what happened, did you see if she left alone?”
“Yeah, she did. I came over to try and talk to her but she was really shaken up. I didn’t want her to drive like that but she wouldn’t listen. She kept throwing things into her car and mumbling something about being a mommy now and protecting her baby.”
Great, she thinks she has to protect Grayson from me and I’ve never done a criminal thing in my life.
“Did she say where she was going?”
“No, she was in a bad way. Garcia, I’m really worried about her, she shouldn’t be behind the wheel when she’s so upset especially with the baby in the car.”
“I know, I know, I’m going to look for her.”
“I’m going with you,” she runs around the front of my truck and jumps in before I can protest. I press dial and call her mother and peel out of the drive and down the street without knowing where I’m going.
“India? Have you spoken to Kimber?”
“No, why do you ask?”
“We had a misunderstanding, I came home and she’s not here, I thought maybe she would be on her way to your house.”
“I haven’t spoken to her since the day before yesterday. What kind of misunderstanding?” she asks, her voice full of suspicion and concern.
“I can’t explain right now but if she calls or stops by please ask her to call me right away, okay?”
“I don’t like the sounds of this, Julián, where is my grandson?”
“With her, I’m sure he’s safe. She’s just a little upset and I need a chance to explain something to her.”
“Are you messing around on my daughter, Captain Garcia? Because if you are I have a very sharp knife in my kitchen that I can cut your…”
“God no, India, never. I would never step out on Kimber. I love her and Grayson more than anything in the world. This has to do with my family, it’s nothing like that.”
“You had better not be lying to me, I know where you live.”
“No, Ma’am, I swear I’m not lying. I need to go and make some other calls, though.”
“Let me know when you find them.”
“I will.”
We hang up and I listen to Tiana tell Drake she’s with me looking for Kimber and Grayson. She hangs up and asks, “So, where are we going?”
“I don’t know, I thought for sure she would have called her mom but she didn’t. She could still be on her way to her house, though, she’s an hour away.”
“Where else could she have gone?”
I rack my brain trying to think of places she might go. She works from home and she hasn’t been back in North Carolina long. It’s hard to make new friends when you’re stuck at home with a baby all day every day other than the neighbors.
The only other person that she knows is Caleb. I fucking hate the thought of her turning to him at a time like this. He wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of her anger toward me and turn it around to benefit himself.
“I have an idea, I don’t like it but I have to check,” I say and bring up Caleb’s phone number. My thumb hovers over the dial button. I have to plan my next move carefully.
If she hasn’t called him, I’ll be giving him a heads up that she’s upset with me. If she has called him he probably won’t bother answering unless he wants to rub it in my face and I’m pretty sure he’s the type that would love to do that.
I lay the phone down. I’ll wait. I know his address. We can drive past first and see if her car is there, at least. If it isn’t then I’ll call him.
I make a couple of turns and start toward Caleb’s classy upscale neighborhood.
“What happened, Julián? You guys are the perfect couple, everyone says it, I’ve never even seen either of you frown at the other.”
“It’s a long story.”
She raises her eyebrows and looks out the window. “I’m not going anywhere.”
What the hell, I may as well tell her, everybody’s going to find out now anyway.
“I come from a family of criminals. I don’t have anything to do with them so I’ve never talked about it with Kimber.”
She pauses to let that sink in. “What kind of criminals?”
“Bad ones.”
“If you don’t have contact with them and you’re not a criminal then what’s the problem? Wait… were those guys part of your family this morning?”
“Yes, my brothers and who knows what they told her. I’m the only one who didn’t go into the family business and they hate me for it.”
“Oh, shit, this sucks. Did you try calling her?”
Call her? Why didn’t I think of that? She probably won’t answer but I could try, it’s worth a shot.
“No, not yet.”
“Call her, she might be waiting for your side of the story. She seems to be a pretty reasonable woman, maybe she’ll hear you out.”
I dial her number and wait until it rings through to voicemail. “Kimber, call me please. I don’t know what my brothers said to you but I need to explain. I love you. I love Grayson. At least call me and let me know you’re safe, or text, whichever.”
I disconnect the call and glance over at Tiana. She looks so sympathetic and sad, like she just listened to a hopeless plea for a last chance.
Maybe she’s right.
Fuck, how did I mess this up so bad? I was walking on air a couple of weeks ago with a perfect family, great career, and not a care in the world. Now it’s all falling down around me and there’s nothing I can do about it.
“Have you tried? Calling her, I mean?” I ask.
“Yes, about a million times. I left messages and texts but nothing.” She looks out the window for a while and I sense she notices the houses are slowly changing from middle-class to upper-middle-class.
“Where are we going again?”
“To her ex-husband’s house.”
She whips her head and looks at me with her wide multicolored eyes. “Why? She would never turn to that piece of shit.”
So she knows about him. Kimber must have really opened up to her, she doesn’t usually like to talk about her failed marriage.
“There have been some changes lately.”
“Like what? You can’t reverse douchebag-ism.”
I like this girl, she tells it how it is. Unfortunately, she might be wrong in this case.
&
nbsp; “He is filing for shared custody of Grayson. I think his girlfriend left him and he’s trying to get Kimber back, personally. But he says he was in shock when he found out she was pregnant and made a bad decision.”
“Ha, a bad decision? That’s an understatement!”
“I know, right? He’s been snooping around, showed up at our door one morning wanting to see his son. He didn’t even bother to come and see him when he was born, he didn’t even know his goddamn name.”
Her face is twisted with confusion. “Something isn’t right about that. The way she told the story he was a party animal with a slutty girlfriend who wasn’t interested in being a family man.”
“Yeah, well I guess he’s turning over a new leaf,” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
She snorts, “Bullshit. Once a douchebag, always a douchebag.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Chapter 25
Kimber
As upset as I am, I know driving while crying with a baby in the backseat is a bad idea. I don’t know anybody in Jewel Falls well enough to pop in and cry on their shoulder for a couple of hours while I plan my next move.
The closest friend I have is Tiana and she lives across the street from the one place I don’t want to be anymore. I’d go home to my mother’s but it’s too far to drive in my condition. And frankly, I’m too embarrassed to show up on her doorstep crying about my second failed relationship in one year.
I may end up driving the hour trip home later but for now sitting in the lot of a park a couple of miles away from our house is going to have to do.
I’m grateful Grayson has chosen now to be a cooperative quiet baby. He didn’t even wake up when I transferred him from his crib into this car seat to leave.
I get out and slide into the backseat next to him and watch him sleep while I cry some more. I try to be a strong woman and roll with the punches but the last year has brought me to my knees more than once and this is the last straw.
