A Beautiful Acceptance (the NYC series Book 2)

by Alora Kate

  Not being able to turn my chair, I leaned forward and tried to view the screen. Lucas pushed it toward me, but it barely moved an inch, and again was no luck to me.

  “See something?” I asked, watching the men work, while my insides turned to mush. I relieved my bladder before I left and won’t be able to drink anything the rest of the night.

  “Maybe. Two men. One from each side, professionals, not thugs.”

  “Professionals?”

  “Maybe undercover.”

  “Cops?”

  “Could be DEA,” Mac spoke up. “The mom.”

  “What about her mom?”

  “Her mom knew some high-profile people in the drug world. Donovan, Ki’s father, is doing what he can on his side, and I’m doing what I can on my side. As you know, her long-lost sister Emma thinks she was murdered, and so far, I think that might be true. I contacted the DEA and asked around about her, things have started to trickle in. Nothing concrete. But if they took Alexa, it’s probably to protect her. Hold on,” he said as he put his finger to his ear and listened to whoever was talking to him. “Gunner said nothing about her disappearance alerted anyone. There was no fight or woman in distress in the store.”

  “She went willingly?” I couldn’t picture it.

  Lex was stubborn. She would have put up a fight, caused a scene. Unless . . . they scared her. Threatened her. Or maybe she wanted to keep someone safe.

  “It’s possible. It’s possible someone put a rag over her mouth filled with chloroform and stuff her into a suitcase and wheeled her out of the store.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “But, there’s no man leaving with a suitcase or bag large enough to carry an unconscious woman.”

  “That happened to someone?” Mac asked. “Someone wheeled out a woman in a suitcase?”

  Lucas looked away. “Something like that.”

  “Damn bastards,” he muttered.

  I wasn’t sure who was driving, but we came to another stop and this time the van shut off. “Gonna chat with Gunner.” He slipped between the two front seats and went out the passenger door, telling me that I wasn’t invited without saying the words.

  “She’s a pretty one,” Mac said, still typing on his keyboard. “And a good woman at that.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Been helping Lucas out since the shoot out.”

  “Heard about that.”

  “Open fire in the middle of the sidewalk, in New York City?” He shook his head. “Stupid crazy bastards.”

  Of course I agreed with him, but I said nothing.

  I pulled my phone out and tried to call her again.

  “Her phone is off, mate. Can’t track it either.”

  “Christ.”

  “Lucas is good. Not perfect, but good. We’ll get your girl back.”

  I was home by midnight.

  Lucas told me to meet him at Ki’s by eight a.m. so he could let her know what was going on.

  Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Lex. Snapshots of us together, before and after my accident, flashed in my mind. Me over Lex, her moans filling my ears. Lex burning toast in my kitchen, wearing nothing but an apron and a smile. Her laughter when we watched funny videos on YouTube, and her soft smile she’d flash when I kissed her good night. Her temper when she felt someone was being treated unfairly, and her fierce loyalty to Ki. My heart jumped in my throat and I stopped any tears that tried to break free. I just got Lex back, how is it that she was taken from me already. I didn’t even know if she was with the good guys or the bad ones, no one knew for sure. What if she’s hurt, scared. I can’t even help her. What if she never came back, what if—

  No. I refuse to think like that.

  Lex is a fighter, and if she’s with the bad guys, I know she won’t go down without taking some of them with her.

  I just need her to come back. We just got started, this can’t be it. This can’t be. This is my one chance at having something good in my life, why the fuck would it be ripped away from me again. What the fuck did I do in my life that was so bad that every single good thing I had going for me was taken away?

  What is it I have to do?

  When will I be enough to deserve one speck of good in my life?

  Not being able to sleep, I started working out. I had to work out my negative thoughts. They wouldn’t be helpful to anybody, and I had to work them out before our meeting.

  Lucas said Alexa was safe.

  I chanted with each pull-up I did. Up—Alexa was safe. Down—She’s with the good guys.

  He said protective custody.

  But they were unable to be reached.

  Undisclosed location.

  Lucas said he’d work on getting more information on what was going on and he’d tried to arrange a meeting so he could at least see her, to check on her, and make sure everything was legit. He had his theories but was still unsure as to why she would need to be in protective custody.

  The situation, reminded me yet again, that I couldn’t walk.

  I couldn’t chase anyone down.

  I couldn’t help look for her.

  I was useless.

  I finished one hundred pull-ups and then worked with my free weights, holding them above my head until my arms gave out.

  ###

  “Emma’s with Lex, they’re both fine. DEA got a tip that Avon Carlos was going to snatch them up, being as they were the daughters of Lana Johnson.”

  Ki remained silent at Prescot’s side, trying to keep her tears inside while Prescot held her close. Her eyes wide, she kept nodding.

  Lucas and the other three members of his team were here: Gunner, Lance, and Mac.

  “Lana was accused of stealing from Avon Carlos. It was drugs, money, or both. They aren’t sure yet because Lana never said anything to anyone, and um, well . . . we just don’t know.”

  “But they don’t know for sure if Lana took the money?”

  “A man like Avon Carlos doesn’t like loose ends. He’ll go through whoever he needs to go through to get what he wants. Lana didn’t give it up, so he’s going after her daughters.”

  “But what would he want with them?” I asked.

  Lucas looked at his team before turning to me. He blew out a breath and grimaced. “No one steals from Avon Carlos. No one steals and certainly, no one gets away with it. It was like Lana did him wrong twice—one, stealing, and two, getting away with it. Even as we believe that he may have been connected to her death, it still doesn’t make them square in his eyes. She got away with it, death being the better of the punishments he probably had in mind. And now he has to use her as an example for the other low-level lackeys he has. That’s where Lex and Emma come in. We believe, if Avon Carlos gets his hands on them, he’ll make them pay dearly, and not quickly, for their mother’s transgressions.”

  “How did he know about them?” Ki asked softly.

  “Same way Donovan knew about you. They live in their own world. Men like that have people everywhere. Connections. They keep tabs on everyone and everything in that world because they have to know everything to stay in power, to stay at the top, to be the best. They have to know everything before anyone else.”

  “What’s going to happen now?” I asked because I just wanted to know when she was coming home.

  “They want to use her to get to Avon.”

  “Fuck,” Ki and I said at the same time, making us look at each other. She didn’t pretend to hide her tears or wipe them away.

  I looked back to Lucas. “Is she going to do it?”

  “She hasn’t decided. She wants to talk to you and Ki, they won’t let her. Too risky.”

  “What about you?” Ki asked, taking a step toward him. “Lucas, will they let you talk to her for us?”

  “I’ll try, can’t promise anything.”

  She looked at me. “Lex has always done what she wanted to do. I doubt she’ll listen to us at all, but it might help to give her our opinion.”

  “No.”

  She gave me a sly smile. “Fi
gured you’d say that.” She stepped back into Prescot’s arm and added, “Tell her if she does it, I’ll punch her in the vagina.”

  Chapter 24 – Alexa

  “Lucas?”

  He turned around, confirming it was him and I took off running through the living room of the house. Seeing a familiar face put me in tears. I was strong for Emma, acting like being in protective custody was a vacation for us, but I haven’t been away from Ki in years.

  No contact.

  No phone or email.

  Total isolation.

  He hugged me tightly as I collected myself and I finally let him go, wiping under both of my eyes, smiling.

  “Lex.”

  “How’s Ki?” I knew he’d have a message for me.

  “She’s good.”

  “Tapper?”

  “Good.”

  “Well then, I’m assuming since you’re here we can’t leave yet.”

  “No. Did you make a decision?”

  “As a private investigator who’s sick of following cheaters around New York City, you’d think I’d jump on this opportunity but I can’t. Obviously, being in protective custody tells me that this thing with my mom and this Avon guy is the real deal. He killed her, he’ll kill me, and then probably come after Emma, and she’s pregnant.”

  “I heard.”

  “I have another idea.”

  His lips pulled up into a smile. “Really?”

  “Donovan.”

  He set his hands on his hips. “We’re working on it.”

  “So, I don’t have to worry?”

  “The guy in charge is a complete ass. It was stupid to ask you to go undercover or use you as bait. No offense.”

  “None taken.”

  “They don’t know about Donovan, for obvious reasons. Donovan’s made a mark in town, scared a lot of people by vacationing here, which we all know by now, is not a vacation.”

  “Figured he’d stay.” I shifted my feet. “So, were they worried about me?”

  “Tapper ended up at your place the same night, pulling himself up the stairs to find you.”

  That made my heart clench knowing how much he cared. “I gotta get a lift for him.”

  “The man would do anything for you.”

  That made me smile. “And Ki? Does she miss me? How’s her arm?”

  “Ki’s fine, said if you went along with their plan that she was going to punch you in the vagina.”

  I laughed for the first time since they took me. “Glad to know.”

  “Even though Donovan’s trying to go legit, he’s got pull, Lex. He’s got a lot of pull. He’ll handle it.”

  “Emma’s hormones are mad, she cries a lot and I’m trying to keep her calm so nothing happens to the baby. Stress isn’t good.”

  “Yeah, it’s gotta be tough. I did send one of my guys over there to assure Ben she was safe.” His jaw righted. “The extraction wasn’t handled properly. I understand the delicacy of the situation but they could have done it differently.”

  It was just then that I realized how much I liked Lucas. As a friend, of course, but he was a good man. Hard worker. Loyal. He cared for others a lot.

  “You’re taking care of everyone, Lucas, but who’s taking care of you?”

  “Not the right time for that.”

  “Sorry it didn’t work out with Ki.”

  “Wasn’t meant to be.”

  “You handle rejection well.”

  “I never said I handled it well.”

  We both smiled.

  “The asshole didn’t give me much time.”

  “It’s okay,” I replied.

  “Just enjoy the break from reality and you’ll be home in no time.”

  I watched him walk back into the kitchen that was enclosed and lead to a side door. The side door the men were coming in and out of was the only entrance as the front door on my right was nailed shut. The windows were nailed and boarded shut also.

  Emma and I were in a shared room with two twin beds. It was not a vacation at all. It wasn’t kept up with and I had to make them bring me cleaning supplies so this place was livable; well, for the most part, it was. They had leftover clothes that were hideous, so I just kept cleaning our clothes on a daily basis.

  Two days here felt like two years.

  I wanted to know if Ki was working, and if she was, was she working alone. This is why we needed an assistant and I’d remind her of that, yet again.

  I wanted to know if Josh and Molly really went on their date and more importantly, if it’s going to turn into two dates.

  I wanted to see and know that Tapper was okay.

  I wanted to walk around New York City, taking in the sights while working, even though I did it five days a week.

  I went back into the bedroom and shut the door. Emma was still sleeping which was the only time she wasn’t crying. They fed us crap food, but at least they were feeding us. You’d think if they wanted my help that they’d take better care of us. We have a TV but that was it. It was very boring. When Emma was awake, we talked but not about our mom since she put us in this situation. Plus, it made Emma cry. We talked about baby names and she told me stories about her childhood.

  And I was learning that I liked hearing about Emma’s childhood. Yes, it hurt; I was jealous of her. But I can’t hold Emma accountable for the resentment I feel in my heart for my mother.

  Emma is not my mother.

  She had no control over who was put up for adoption and who was left to suffer. I made the mistake of comparing our lives the first night here, and I couldn’t shake the look Emma gave me. One of complete horror.

  We were sitting at the table, eating stale bread and turkey sandwiches. Water. There was barely any food in the house and we had to make do with what we were given.

  Emma took a bite and grimaced. “Well, this takes me back.” She gave a soft chuckle.

  “To what?”

  “High school. I ate nothing but turkey sandwiches in high school because I didn’t have enough money to go out to lunch like the other kids.” She looked down at the mention of money.

  “I’d take turkey sandwiches over picking shit out of the trash,” I mumbled.

  Emma gasped and put her hand over her mouth.

  I didn’t meet her eye, but for some reason, I had to let the rest of my story come out. “Ma didn’t believe in keeping food in the house. Took away from the essentials, like drugs and booze. And whatever food we did manage to scrape in, her fuck buddies would eat. I shared crumbs with the cockroaches most the time. Of course, I didn’t have money to buy lunch at school, and we had no food for me to pack a lunch. My options were limited and I stole a lot. And when I couldn’t steal, I picked from the trash.” I met her eye. “I would have killed for a turkey sandwich when I lived with Mother.”

  Shit. Here come the water works. Emma sobbed. Not the dainty tears that rolled neatly down your cheeks. No. Emma sobbed giant ugly-cry tears, her face turning bright red, and snot running down her lip.

  “I . . .” she heaved. “I . . .”

  “Forget it. I’m fine. Look at me.” She did. “I starved most of the time, but I survived.”

  Emma took a deep breath. “Lex. Please, don’t ever eat out of the trash again. I don’t have much—”

  I waved her off. “So, what was high school like for you? Ya know, besides turkey sandwiches?”

  Emma stared off, absentmindedly wringing her hands together. “School sucked.” She giggled. “It was awful, Lex. The kids in our area were so mean. I was poor and it showed. They would kick me, call me names, and steal things from me.” It was my turn to gasp. Those fuckers.

  “Emma—”

  It was like she didn’t hear me. She just kept going, lost somewhere between here and high school. “I had no friends. No one I could confide in when I wondered if what they said was true. We didn’t have much growing up, but my parents tried their best and it never bothered me that I didn’t have the things everyone else had. The kids wore baggy jean
s while I wore mom jeans. They were wearing Converse AllStars, and I had the cheap knockoffs. I was never asked out, unless you count the one time I was asked out as a gag, with the most popular girls all listening in on the conversation, to later broadcast across the school. Ben was the first person I allowed in my life, that I could trust.” She met my eye. “So, you see, Lex, we aren’t that different after all.”

  Chapter 25 – Tapper

  “Say what?”

  Lucas sat on my couch and leaned his elbows on his knees. “Donovan is going to pay the debt off to free the girls.”

  “How much?”

  “A lot.”

  “I have the right to know everything.”

  “She was given a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of product to sell. She either sold it and kept the money, or used the drugs herself. We searched her apartment, tore it apart, and came up empty-handed.”

  “Christ.”

  I saved money the best I could during my fighting years and after my attack, I started investing in stocks, bonds, and some small investments to keep making money. I had around three million saved up, I could pay the debt off.

  “Donovan’s been in contact with Avon’s people.”

  “I can pay it.”

  “Donovan thought you’d say that, and he said the man is charging interest, so don’t worry about it. It’ll happen fast.”

  “How fast?”

  Today was the third day and I was growing impatient. I was pushing myself harder each day with my workouts and had just gotten back from therapy, where I practiced standing with a metal contraption they had. Technically, I stood, but I still couldn’t make them move. I swung my hips, I tried, but feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders, and then on my feet, it was too much.

  I gave up.

  I gave up quickly and I was disappointed in myself.

  “Tonight. I’m working with the asshole who’s running the DEA investigation and we’ll be wired during the exchange of money, so they’ll get him with that among taking down his immediate people in a separate operation.”

  “It’ll be enough to get the girls home?”