His Redemption

by A. F. Crowell

  “Thank you for taking care of her. I’m really sorry. I’ve never slept through or not heard her on the monitor.” Granted, Jane usually pushed me right out the door and stole the morning cuddle time with her.

  “I may have turned the monitor off so it didn’t wake you. I heard you come to bed about half past one, so I knew you’d be sleepy. Besides, I’m used to being up early. And I may have wanted to play with her a little,” Emmery said, squinting and holding her index finger and thumb a half an inch apart.

  “Either way, I appreciate it. You’re really good with her. She doesn’t take to too many people like this. Usually just family. But then again, I guess you sort of are, aren’t you?” She looked confused at my comment. “Jane is the only grandmother she will ever know on my side of the family. Leila’s mother is dead but Jaxon’s mom is in her life.”

  “Oh, right,” she said glancing up to me from the floor. She was still sitting there barefoot, cross-legged with dolls, teacups and stuffed Mickey Mouse toys surrounding her like a fortress. Lilly might have had too many toys, but she was a princess and a princess needed lots of toys. At least that’s what Jane told me.

  Later that morning, near noon, I took out my phone and slipped away from Lilly once she was asleep in her Pack ’N Play. Jane and Emmery went downtown to the open market to do some shopping. This gave me the perfect chance to call Jaxon. I had procrastinated enough. Finally, I pressed the green phone icon and dialed him.

  “Somebody better be dead, Brody,” Jax answered, sneering. I could hear Lei in the background fussing at him.

  “Listen, I need your help with something and you can’t tell Leila. Can you write down some names and look into them for me?” Walking into the kitchen, I looked out the window into the backyard to see the sun shining and blue sky cloudless.

  “Shit, man,” he grumbled. Cleary he covered the phone because sound got muffled. “Babe, I’ll be back.” Then it was clear again. “You owe me big time Brody. I was just—”

  “Stop. I don’t want to hear it. I just need to know if you can help me. It’s for Jane’s niece. She’s mixed up in something, but the shit she’s telling me doesn’t really add up. Something is missing and I don’t think even she knows what that is.” Entering the office, I brought my shoulder up to hold the cell in place as I pushed the solid-wood French doors almost closed. This way I could still hear Lillian if she woke up.

  “If it’s for Jane, I’m in. Whatever I can do, I will, but can’t this wait until later?” Jaxon’s tone was sharp.

  “No. Emmery wants to leave to return to New York in a day or two and I need to have a handle on this before she’s back in danger with nobody there to help her. This is time sensitive.”

  “Fuck. All right. Whatcha got?”

  I spent the next ten minutes filling in Jaxon on the information I had. We conferenced in Kai who had already started researching the guys in New York that approached Em at the barn and Veronica at her apartment. Kai had discovered that the men were still hanging around. He had been to the barn that morning and discovered their SUV sitting in the driveway across the street from the facilities.

  Kai was able to get a couple of good face shots and emailed them to Kaci, our IT girl. If their pictures were in any database in the world, she’d be able to find it. He was also able to get a full license plate. He intended to call Kaci when we got off the phone.

  Once Kai disconnected, Jaxon and I were alone on the line. “I hate that I’m gettin’ ready to say this, but we need to meet and talk in person,” Jaxon said. “Not on the phone.”

  “Okay, I have something I need for you and Drew to see anyway. I’ll text you the address. A place to meet and discuss things. Let’s meet at three. I don’t want to wake Lilly up from her nap early if I don’t have to. I’ll drop her off to Lei on the way. Can you let her know?”

  “Yeah, don’t wake her up. She’s a bear just like her momma if she doesn’t get enough sleep,” he informed me, like I didn’t already know. “I’ll tell Leila that you will drop her off. See ya in a few.”

  My little endeavor with Jaxon and Drew was now taking up more of my time than I could really afford. I had to get Joselyn, Viper’s newest secretary, to learn these books and accounting software soon, or I’d lose my shit. Newest, because these chicks they were hiring were coming through like a waterwheel. We would pick them up, then they’d go down to train some with Ridge—then some on Ridge—and then they’d disappear into the murky waters to never be heard from again. Jax, Drew and I agreed we needed to hire someone who wouldn’t be susceptible to his tattoos and bad-boy persona. We also told Ridge to stop fucking the help or he’d need help.

  Joselyn was smart, young, funny and most importantly, not affected by Ridge in the least. She had been happily married to Taylor, an Air Force flight instructor, for the last ten years.

  Shortly before I had intended on leaving, Em and Jane arrived home. I was sitting in the living room with Lillian watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when they came through the front door, loaded down with bags from several different shops.

  “Did y’all buy out the market?”

  “Oh stop. You know I love to shop. Besides only half of this is mine,” Jane playfully scolded.

  My eyes landed on the exquisite Emmery. She was wearing a fitted flannel shirt, snug faded blue jeans with tan cowgirl boots and her arms were lined with a variety of plastic bags and thin rope handles. “What didn’t you buy?”

  “I only bought myself a few little things. Like a candle, a sweet grass basket, a new bag, Charleston Christmas ornament, a Salt Life sticker… Ya know, stuff.” She rattled off items as she looked through the bag.

  Shaking my head, I chuckled. “Then what is in the rest of the bags?”

  “Toys,” she said matter-of-factly, cocking her head. That look was daring me to object.

  Jane placed her bags on the breakfast table then came to steal Lilly away. She certainly didn’t mind; she squealed and lifted her arms up to Jane. “Come see MawMaw before Daddy takes you home to your mommy.”

  “Ma-Ma,” she said as she whipped her head around toward the front door then back to me.

  “How about we get some fruit puffs?” Jane asked. Lillian’s blue eyes beamed and her little lips smacked. Jane carried her off toward the kitchen and put her in her highchair.

  “Did you really buy her more toys?” I asked, dreading the answer I already knew.

  “Of course I did. Do you think I’d lie to you?” Em sat on the floor with the bags scattered around her. Peeking into each bag, she moved them strategically around and made two piles. One for her and one for, I had to assume, my daughter. Next, she began pulling things from the bag.

  “A new Mickey and Minnie. A tea party set for her big-girl table. A baby doll that has her own bottle and a little pillow I had embroidered while we waited. It has an ‘L’ on it with a princess tiara. Every princess needs her own tiara pillow,” she said as the pulled the fuzzy, pink pillow from the double-handled white bag.

  “That was kind of you.” I thanked her with a smile then turned my head. “Jane, I hate to cut this short, but I have to drop her off to Lei. I have a meeting in thirty minutes. Also, Em, I may be traveling to New York tomorrow. If you would like you could ride with me and avoid commercial travel.”

  “Ugh.” She rolled her eyes, confusing me momentarily. “I sat next to the rudest guttersnipe, as my grandmother would say, on the way here. She was appallingly horrible to the steward and she took my drink. So, yes. I would greatly appreciate a ride home. What time did you need to leave?”

  “I’ll have to get back to you on that after my meeting.”

  “Okay. I’ll get my things packed tonight.” She sighed then smiled sadly as she leaned back on the palms of her hands.

  “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  “Could you text me so I know what time I need to be ready?”

  “Of course. What’s your cell number?” I pulled out my cell and tapped away on the screen a
s she rattled off her digits. “Okay, got it. I’ll text you later with a departure time. Okay, I’ll grab Lil’s diaper bag. She should be fine—I just changed her diaper before y’all got home.” Standing, I crossed the room and jogged up the stairs to Lil’s room. Once I collected her things, I went back downstairs to find Jane with Lilly ready and waiting. I transitioned her from Jane’s hip to mine with her diaper bag on my shoulder. “Tell MawMaw bye, Lilly.”

  She swung her little chubby hand like she was shooing away a mosquito.

  “Bye, my sweet angel. MawMaw loves you.”

  “Lil, can you tell Emmery bye-bye?” I ask her as we left the kitchen, passing the living room, walking toward the garage door. She grinned then buried her face in my shoulder.

  “Before you go, can I give her the pillow?” Em asked jumping up, rummaged through the bags then producing the pillow. “Lilly, I got you a princess pillow like I told you about this morning.”

  Lilly turned her head to look at Emmery but did not lift it up, until she saw the pillow. Em clomped over to us in her heeled cowgirl boots and held the pillow out to my little girl. I reached out for the pillow, and as I did Lil grabbed for it and brought it to her face. She squealed then rubbed her face across it back and forth.

  “Ooh, someone has a new nappy pillow,” I declared before readjusting the diaper bag on my shoulder. “Okay, I’ll see y’all later. I have to get on the road before I’m late. I hope to be back around six or seven. Please don’t wait for me for dinner. I’ll get something whenever I get home. I don’t want to hold y’all up.”

  ***

  An hour later, I had dropped Lillian off to Leila and was headed across town to North Charleston to meet the guys at what would be our new office. The warehouse was off Rhett Avenue near the old naval base. I arrived first to the metal, rectangular building and unlocked the solid metal front door. Feeling around in the dark, I found the light switches and flipped five up. Slowly the large hanging bell lights flickered and hummed then one by one buzzed on.

  There was an office to the left and the rest of the space was wide open. Perfect for what I had in mind. The large hangar door would need to be replaced or at minimum fortified. As I looked around the concrete space, I heard a low rumble in the distance.

  Jaxon.

  I kept telling myself that everything happened for a reason. He and I were in a better place than we had been a year ago. We could actually be in the same room without attempting to kill or maim each other. Most days. Working together at Viper definitely helped things. There wasn’t as much tension. I was trying to let it all go and let the past stay where it was supposed to be.

  Hell, I didn’t have any choice.

  Backing out the door, I turned around just in time to see Jax pull into the gravel parking lot. Yet another thing that would have to be remedied. Following the all-black, matte-finished Harley was a plume of dust and a trail of flying rocks. He roared in and skidded to a stop. Clad in tattered blue jeans, a grey thermal shirt and black boots, he killed the engine and swung off the bike.

  “Hey,” he greeted me, lifting his chin while striding over. “What is this place? Why are we meeting here?”

  “Drew should be here in a few and then I’ll explain.”

  As I spoke, a charcoal-grey Chevy Silverado with blacked-out windows pulled into the lot beside us. “Someone got a new toy,” Jax announced with a chuckle.

  When the door opened, Drew climbed down from the lifted truck and took off his aviator sunglasses. Tossing them onto the seat, he closed the door and walked over to us. “What’s up boys? Why are we at this dump?”

  “Nice truck,” I complimented. I thought about asking him how he was doing since Sierra dumped his ass, but I didn’t feel like talking about anyone’s feelings or singing Kumbaya and shit, so I left it alone.

  “Thanks.”

  “Now that you’re here, I’ll tell you why we’re at this dump. It’s the new home of Viper Security. I settled on it just before Christmas. My contractor should be out tomorrow to start revamping the place. I have blueprints drawn up, but I wanted to run things by you two first.” I went to the car and pulled the long, rolled papers from the backseat of the SUV. “Oh, and before we start, someone needs to deal with Alegra Valentine. She approached me at Shi Ki last night and threatened to cut off my balls all while offering to fuck me at the same time. That lady is a fucking whack job. Drew, can you please get her the numbers she asked you about? She wants a breakdown of her bill, man hours, mileage, gas, et cetera.”

  “Yeah, she’s a piece of work all right. I told her Christmas Eve, when she was blowing up my shit, I’d email her the numbers this week. Jesus, that lady needs a fuckin’ Xanax.”

  Jaxon laughed. “Yeah, Joss was sayin’ the other day she keeps callin’ for bullshit reasons.”

  “Okay, enough about the cougar. Let’s see these plans you’ve got.” Drew was always one to get straight to the point. We walked inside and I laid the plans out on the dirty folding table in the office.

  Over the next hour, we looked at, argued, changed and then changed the plans again. Finally, we had agreed on a layout, budget and timeline. Jaxon added several security details, including an electrified fence with barbwire. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was still a threat out there he wasn’t disclosing. Jaxon was a Marine then he worked undercover for the Department of Homeland Security. He was an integral player in the demise of a local motorcycle gang that was assisting a drug cartel to run drugs up the I-95 corridor. Jaxon’s best friend, Viper, was also undercover DHS. He was gunned down and murdered during the final takedown. They had always talked about starting their own security firm but never had the capital.

  After we’d hammered out the building details, Jaxon and I brought Drew up to speed on the Emmery situation. “Kaci should have more intel for us by now. Drew, can you please get her on the phone? I haven’t had a chance to reach out to Kai. Jax, you had something you wanted to talk about, not on the phone?”

  “Yeah, let’s wait for Kai. I don’t want to have to try to explain this again,” he looked to Drew, who now had Kai on the phone. “Put him on speaker, would ya?”

  Drew tapped the screen then held the phone out in front of all of us. “You’re on.”

  “Brody, I have information on the guys here in New York,” Kai informed us.

  “Okay, can you email us all of the information?” I asked.

  “Sure. There’s something else going on here, isn’t there?”

  Jaxon chimed in first. “There is. Brody discovered last night that Emmery’s mother is related to the Varela cartel.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Kai cursed then mumbled something incoherent.

  “Seriously, the Varelas?” Drew questioned. “What the fuck, man? Why are we always gettin’ mixed up with the worst people on the planet?”

  “I don’t think Emmery knows that part of her family. It’s her mother’s uncle. But here is where it gets tricky. Her mother walked away from Emmery and her father almost two years ago. It just so happens that’s when the Varela cartel started losing shipments between Venezuela and New York.” I laid out the information as I had discovered it the night before.

  “Juan Carlos Varela is gettin’ up there in age. The contact I reached out to on the way here just informed me that there has been some rumblin’ that someone within the family might be plannin’ a takeover. They’re not sure who, but whoever it is, they’re not workin’ alone,” Jax explained as he leaned back on Drew’s truck and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Kai, what did you find out about those guys? Where are they from?” I asked.

  “I haven’t been able to find out who they are working for but I do know that they are from Venezuela. The big guy is Manuel Avila Cortez and the smaller one of the two was Juan Salazar. Both are on watch lists as drug traffickers.” Kai informed us of the basics. “Now that I have an idea of where to have Kaci dig, let me call you guys right back.”

  “Okay, Kai, call me when
you have more,” I instructed him. Drew ended the call and put the cell phone back in his pocket.

  “So what are you thinkin’, Jaxon?” I turned and asked him first because he had the most experience with these kind of people. Gangs. Cartels. Bad people in general. Drew had experience with bad people too, but not to the extent that Jax did.

  “I’m thinkin’ these guys were sent from the Varela crew. Whether they were sent to help or harm remains to be seen. From what you said they told Emmery, it sounds like they want to help her in a way that would end up with her owing them,” Jaxon said as he scratched the back of his neck.

  “Their goal seems like they want to have something to hang over her head. What I don’t get is why her? She doesn’t have any idea who these people are. I don’t think she knows that her mom’s side of the family is the Varela cartel because when she and I spoke, I asked her if she had any idea why they would want to inject her horses. She had no idea of anyone who would want to hurt her.” As I was talking her mother’s email played through my brain. Even though I may not be there, I am still watching over you from afar.

  “What is it, B?” Drew pushed off the truck. We had always been able to read each other.

  “Em’s mom emailed her the other day and something she said in her email has stuck with me.” Before I could continue Drew gave me a what-the-hell look. “She was using my laptop and may or may not have logged out. I happened to see it. Anyway, I haven’t been able to forget what her mother wrote or its undercurrents. She said, ‘Even though I may not be there, I am watching over you from afar.’ She even talked about watching her ride. She has to have someone watching her. What if these guys were sent there by her?”

  “I mean, that might explain the cryptic comment, but it doesn’t match up with what those two told her. You said she told you that their boss wanted to meet with her, and Emmery told the caller that she didn’t want to meet with him. If it was really a woman, wouldn’t he have corrected her?”

  “Perhaps. There’s something about that email that’s needling at me.”