“No, you’re not going anywhere. This time, I’m not letting you get away, you hear me? I get it now. I get why you sent me away all those years ago, and it breaks my fucking heart. All those years, Alia. All those lost years. Do you know what we could have been to one another?” Was he saying what she thought he was? It wasn’t possible. She stopped moving and stared up into his eyes.
“You were meant for better things,” she whispered.
“Better than what?”
“Better than me. I would have done to you what my mother did to my father. What I did to my father.”
“Your dad was a headcase. A cruel one, at that.”
She flinched. “I’m a headcase too, didn’t you hear, I had a shrink in college?” She winced as soon as she heard the words come out of her mouth. She knew better than that. Apparently, so did Hunter because he didn’t let it slide.
“That just tells me you had the good sense to get help. Do you know I’ve had to go to the military shrink? Our missions can really mess with our heads. Sometimes, we need help to keep it together. Off the top of my head, I can think of one man, who I really respect, who had to spend over a year on a couch, probably needed meds too. He had to really fight his way back. He wasn’t a headcase, he is a hero.”
She let out a long trembling sigh. “This is a lot.”
“I imagine it is. Jesus, that’s a fuckload of poison you’ve been holding onto.”
“I think I feel a bit better,” she admitted.
“Baby, while you try to sort that out, can I hold you? I’m scared to let you go.”
She looked at him questioningly.
In a display of strength that astounded her, he picked her up, while reclining on the couch. Then he laid her on top of himself. He snagged the afghan from the back of the sofa and draped it over her.
“Will you be comfortable if we sleep like this tonight? I’m afraid if I leave, you’ll disappear behind a wall again.”
She relaxed into the heat of his body, stretching and arranging herself until she fit comfortably.
“You’re killing me,” he whispered huskily.
“What?”
“Never mind, Chaquita. I think we’re going to have to work our way up to some things. Something tells me my Alia is a little naïve.”
“I am not,” she protested hotly as she pushed up on his chest to look into his eyes. “I’m a Vice Principal of a school. I know lots of things.”
“Been kissed much?” he asked.
She dropped her forehead to his chest and whispered, “No.”
“Go to sleep, mi Cielieto. I have you.”
She yawned. She was absolutely drained. She hadn’t thought she would be able to sleep on top of Hunter, but the last thing she heard was the beating of his heart.
Chapter Ten
Hunter got a text from Dalton at one a.m.
“Cariña, I need to go.” He was blanketed by blonde hair, the stuff of dreams.
“Mmmmm?” She woke up languid and sweet. “You’re so warm,” she said in a husky whisper, burrowing closer.
His hands enveloped her small back. She needed to eat more, it was probably why she was cold. He would see to it.
“I’ll be back later to take you to Mamie’s.”
“It’s Saturday already?”
He looked up and saw the bruising on the left side of her face was turning yellow. He trailed his fingers against it. Brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. Just one, he promised himself. His lips touched hers, and she flowered open.
He molded their lips together and was rewarded when he felt her nipples prod his chest. He shifted, and she moaned and twisted against him. He drew back and began seducing her mouth with licking, nipping, and nibbling kisses until she grabbed his ears and pressed her lips against his, thrusting her tongue into his mouth.
He had never been so tempted by a kiss. His hand went to the back of her neck, and he tilted her head so he could get a better angle to feast. Her silken tongue lured him to new heights, her soft heat driving him crazy. He hooked one hand around her thigh and drew it around his, so she was straddling him, his cock cradled by her jean-clad heat. Her hands moved from his ears to his face, down to his shoulders, and he felt her fingers bite. It was the only thing that penetrated his haze of desire.
His woman’s body was sliding slowly, sensuously, innocently against his. He smoothed back the glory of her hair, hating to do so. It was as if he was bringing in the outside world when he lifted back the veil of sunshine.
“Easy, mi Amor,” he brushed a tender kiss against her temple.
She took a deep breath. Then another. And then…and then…she smiled.
“Hunter.”
“Yes?”
“No, just Hunter. I’ve said your name so often in my head when I needed strength when I needed joy when I needed saving. And now you’re here.”
Her words hit him in the heart.
His phone vibrated. It wasn’t a text this time, it was a call. Aliana recognized it and sat up, pulling the afghan around herself.
“Yeah?” he said into the phone.
“Zed’s got a situation. If you don’t get your ass out of the house now, I’m taking your bike and going. He needs some backup. He thinks he has a lock on Ynez and Darla, and it’s not good.” Hunter was up off the couch and putting on his boots before Dalton finished his last sentence.
“Gotta go, Cariña. Lock up behind me.”
“Hunter, what’s―”
“Gotta go.” He snagged his shoulder holster and jacket and flew out the door sure Aliana would follow his orders. He plugged in the tracking program on Zed in his phone. Dalton and Hunter had added him to their network first thing.
“Fuck,” he said to Dalton as he got to his bike.
“What?”
“The girls are in the middle of Las Nuevas Espadas territory. No wonder Zed is calling in backup.”
“How bad is that?”
“They’re Los Demonios, it’s not so much the men of the gang as the women of the Espadas. Not good at all,” Hunter said as he swung his leg over his bike. He pressed a number into his phone.
“Hey LL, need a favor, my man.”
“You always need favors.”
“Yeah, well, it’s Friday night, and I don’t have any information on Mateo, now do I? So, since you haven’t delivered on that one, maybe this one you can deliver on.”
“You’re trying my patience.”
Hunter took a calming breath.
“LL, there are two girls, both of them high school age, one of them is four months pregnant. They’re in your territory, and they’re in trouble. I don’t have the details, but I have a friend monitoring the situation, and he wants me over ten minutes ago, so I know it’s bad. I need you to intervene.”
“These girls are with Los Demonios?”
“Yeah, they’re over at the club on Seturnas and Lennox. They’re in line, waiting to get into the club.”
“I’ll send Martin, he’s the closest.”
“A friend of mine, Zed, he’ll be there. Can’t miss him, my size. Half Mexican. When things escalate, he’s stepping in.”
“Got it. I’ll tell Martin. Is he a SEAL?”
“Affirmative.”
LL laughed. “I love that shit.”
Hunter hung up the phone on LL’s laughter.
He shoved his phone deep into his jacket’s inner pocket and strapped on his helmet. He gave a low wave to Dalton and rode out toward Las Nuevas Espadas territory.
Fifteen minutes later, he heard the sound of gunfire as he turned a corner onto the Lennox. He came to a halt because young men and women, mostly teenagers dressed to the hilt, ran past him. They were on the sidewalk and the street, yelling and screaming in fear. One girl literally fell into his bike, then righted herself, leaving a high heel, and scrambled behind him to continue on. He heard more gunshots. The only solace he could take is it wasn’t an automatic weapon.
He put down his bike and pushed against
the crowd toward the club. He sprinted over the downed red velvet rope and jumped over the gold stanchions. At the entrance of the dark club, he pulled out his gun and ducked inside.
His eyes acclimated quickly as he slid against the wall. He saw the hostess stand and a curtain behind it. Screams pierced the air. He heard more gunshots and then a deafening explosion of glass crashing. He peeked through the curtain and saw dim, ambient lighting, spreading prisms of color from a shattered chandelier that showered the dance floor. He saw multiple bodies lying in the midst of the debris, one trying to get up. Were they stupid?
To the right was a bar which encompassed nearly the entire wall. The mirror was also in pieces as were most of the bottles of booze. He saw two muzzle flashes in rapid succession come from the top of the bar. Somebody must be firing blind.
“Get down,” Zed said as he ran across the dance floor and shoved the girl who was trying to get up back to the floor. He zigzagged as he flew toward the bar, shooting his weapon.
“Got you covered,” Hunter yelled. He saw another flash from the other end of the bar, but this shooter stood up. Hunter took aim and hit his target in the head. He searched the room for other bogeys as Zed jumped the bar.
On the floor, he saw someone struggling to lift their arm. Was that a weapon? He couldn’t tell. He felt the glass splinter beneath his boots as he ran to the figure who was raising their hand. He stomped on their arm, and felt it break, the woman screamed as the gun dropped from her useless fingers.
The stream of curses was long and colorful as Hunter raised his boot. He looked around to the others on the dance floor. He counted seven, five women and two men, teenagers really. One was dead, her head crushed from one of the arms of the huge chandelier. A boy was helping a girl sit up. A girl lying on top of another girl suddenly moved.
“Whore!” she screamed in Spanish. She punched the girl underneath her. Hunter moved forward and pulled her off the unconscious girl. When he did, he found Darla. He recognized her from the picture at Nicolas’ apartment.
“Darla! Is she alright?” Another girl crawled over, uncaring of the glass.
“Are you Ynez?” Hunter asked.
“Yeah.”
He heard sirens. They didn’t have much time. He felt for Darla’s pulse. It was strong. He felt along her body, noting the slight swell of her abdomen, she didn’t appear to have any broken bones. She moaned.
“Ynez?”
“I’m here, Darla.”
“Bitch came at me from behind,” Darla snarled.
“Her man pulled a gun on the guy you were dancing with,” Ynez said.
“Yo! Tex! We gotta get outta here, you find your girls?”
Hunter heard Martin’s shout from the front of the club.
“We need an ambulance, Martin,” Hunter yelled. “Zed, what’s your status?”
“I’m good,” Zed said in a normal voice. Hunter looked up. He was right behind him. He crouched down beside Hunter. “Darla, we’re friends of your brother, Nicolas. We’re going to get you some help,” Zed said in Spanish.
“Sure you are,” she said bitterly.
“We are,” Hunter reiterated. “Mateo’s a thing of the past. He won’t be coming back to bother you ever again.”
“Bullshit.”
“But first we need to know where he is.”
She didn’t say a word. She rolled to her side, hugging her abdomen.
“Can you really make sure that bastard gets what’s coming to him?” Ynez asked.
“Absolutely,” Hunter answered.
She gave him a long, considering look in the darkened club. “Mateo’s slut girlfriend is set up in a nice place over on Olympic Blvd. It’s called Fern Terrace, the same apartment where the singer Polly lived before she was discovered. Mateo’s bitch thinks she can sing, but she’s got nothing but fake tits.”
“What’s her name?”
“Huh?”
“Name. What’s her name?” Zed demanded.
“We’ve gotta go!” Martin shouted. “Cops are a block away.”
“The bitch is Juanita, don’t know her last name. But she dyes her hair red. She looks ridiculous.”
“Got it,” Zed said.
“Ynez, stay with Darla,” Hunter said. “She’s going to need to go to the hospital. Tell Nicolas where she’s at. We’ll find her and tell her when it’s safe to go home.”
“You get that motherfucker. Make sure he dies bad.”
“Shut up, Ynez. You promised not to tell.” Darla started to cough.
“We’ll take care of this.” Hunter got to his feet and so did Zed. Hunter took one last look at the girl who couldn’t be much bigger than a minute, except for her bulging belly. Yep, Mateo already had his head on the chopping block, but now his method of dying just got uglier.
***
Aliana watched her grandmother’s eyes gleam as she brought in her kozunak sweet bread. Hunter had mentioned yesterday that Velma was baking a German chocolate cake, so Babička was pulling out all the stops at today’s book club. Then she noticed the dining room table where Mamie indicated her grandmother put her dessert. It was loaded for bear. Aliana smothered a laugh. Apparently, the ladies were in a competition to spoil Hunter. She hoped he was hungry.
“Son?” A woman with a cane walked up to Hunter and poked him in the belly with the point of her cane. Hunter kept a straight face.
“Yes, ma’am. What can I do for you?”
“Do you have your VA card?” Her wrist got shaky, so Hunter gently lowered her cane to the ground and smiled at her.
“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Petty Officer First Class, Hunter Diaz. I’m active service, so I don’t need a VA card.” He helped her sit down on the couch next to Aliana’s grandmother.
“Well, you better get one. They are invaluable. Saved my grandson, Walter, on one of them there iPhones. He also got free online tutoring, which he desperately needed, all because of that there card.”
“It’s for Veterans ma’am, I’m active duty,” Hunter explained again.
“And you get a discount on your underwear. The next time I see you, you better have your card.”
Hunter sighed, “Yes, ma’am.” He turned away from her and Aliana smothered a grin when she saw him get poked again by the cane.
“He got really good insurance too.”
“The VA card is really important to get. I know, I’ll tell all my veteran buddies to arrange for one the day they get out.”
“You’re a good boy,” she smiled. “Now go get me a brownie and some lemonade.”
Aliana couldn’t hold it in. She laughed outright as Hunter went over to the dessert table. Mrs. Diaz stood up in the middle of the room.
“Ida is the only one who couldn’t make it,” she said to the assembled group. “I know we were all excited to discuss Lori King’s latest release, especially that one scene,” Mamie fanned herself, and the women laughed.
Velma looked over at Hunter as he bent over to deliver the brownies and gave him an appraising look. “Too bad we couldn’t have your grandson reenact a scene.”
Mrs. Diaz got a sour look on her face. “Really Velma, that’s taking things just a little too far, don’t you think?”
Aliana snuck a peek over at her grandmother, and she was whispering with the ‘cane’ lady. Aliana now knew that blushing was a hereditary trait.
“I’m sorry, Rosa,” Velma said, a definite twinkle in her eye. “Now, I’d like to go first. I’ve been doing some checking. I talked to Father Michael at St. Anthony’s, and he suggested I talk to Sister Xena over at the Mission First Street Mission. She told me about Hank the homeless man who hangs out over on―”
“Velma, please, for God’s sake, get to the point already,” Mrs. Diaz sighed.
“I’m just trying to tell you I definitely spent some time investigating this.”
“We all got the picture.”
Aliana glanced over at Hunter, who was rubbing his mouth, obviously trying to
smother a grin.
Velma leaned forward. “Word on the street is Los Demonios is losing members and not because they’re being recruited by other gangs, they’re disappearing.”
Aliana’s shoulders slumped. After the big buildup, she’d really been hoping for new information.
“Velma, we knew that,” Rosa said sharply. “I told all of you that on the phone.”
“Well, there’s more.” She lowered her voice. “All of them were either currently attending Bertrum or had gone there at one time. That’s why you were targeted, Aliana. And―”
A tiny woman sitting in the corner eating some a plate of sweet bread snorted. “How in the fuck can that be Aliana’s fault? Everyone knows Los Demonios pretty much came from Bertrum High and Las Nuevas Espadas come from Lincoln High.”
Aliana shuddered at the name of her old alma mater. She hated that school.
“Esther, you agreed not to drop the F-Bomb today,” said a woman in a pretty pink sweater set. Her low Cuban heels, lipstick, and hair matched her suit. Aliana would bet anything she was the one who brought the pink cupcakes.
“He’s a sailor, he’s heard the word fuck before,” Esther said before popping another piece of bread into her mouth.
“You’re not listening to me,” Velma raised her voice.
“What?” Rosa Diaz asked.
“I was trying to tell you that San Marcos lost three of his prostitutes last week. He thought they were recruited by Las Nuevas Espadas, but I found out from my beautician’s cousin who is a friend of―”
“We don’t care how you found out. Just tell us the information,” Esther growled.
“Two days ago, he was able to track their last known whereabouts to Union Station. He wants those girls back, and he’s positive Aliana knows where they are.”
“But I don’t,” she protested. But she would bet anything that Nicolas did. Hunter reached over and grabbed her hand in his.
“That is really good work, Velma,” he smiled. The woman preened under his praise.
“Does anyone else have anything to add?” Rosa Diaz asked.
“I found this book a little too racy, perhaps we can choose something more appropriate next time. Something without a half-naked man on the cover?” The woman in the pink suit said. “I found this book with a man in a suit on the cover. It’s called ‘Fifty Shades of Gray’, maybe we could read that instead before our next meeting.”
Her Passionate Hero Page 16
