“What did the cartel ask you to do?” Jace said through clenched teeth.
I felt my eyes drop from his face as shame started to course through my body. The cartel had done so much to me over these last two months that I could barely bring myself to say it out loud.
“It’s alright.”
I felt his finger crook underneath my chin before he rose my watery gaze to his.
“You don’t have to tell me everything they made you do.”
“I’ve been keeping in touch with Sebastian via burner phones ever since. He acted like he didn’t know what happened, but I knew he knew. He told me if I did what I was told, my brother would be safe. And now, it’s been two months, and I haven’t seen him. Or heard his voice. I have no confirmation of life or anything, and there’s always another job or another operation or another smuggling venture, and I’m so tired, Jace. All I want is my brother back. He’s all I’ve got left. My mom died, and my father hung himself because of his untreated depression, and I can’t do this without him. I need my brother, Jace.” Another round of tears formed in my eyes and I felt my whole body start to shake. I had hit my breaking point.
“Sh-sh-sh-sh.”
He pulled me into his warm grasp, and I clung to his shirt. My face fell against his chest, and I allowed months of pent-up frustration and anger and sadness and worry to fall from my eyes. I didn’t care who saw me. I didn’t care who knew I was crying. I fisted his shirt and drew him closer. Yanked him off the stool he had cocked his hip onto and nearer to me. He wrapped me up in his strong embrace, his long and lean arms cloaking me. Tears fell in droves as the bar slowly fell silent. Their eyes on me. Their attention to me.
“I’ve got you. It’s okay. You’re safe in this bar with us,” he said.
And everything inside of me believed him.
“You’ll have to forgive me,” I said breathlessly, suddenly realizing everyone around us was staring.
I pulled back and wiped at my face before the bartender handed me a napkin.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Jace said.
“I don’t know how to get my brother back anymore. I thought doing what they told me to would get me my brother, but now I don’t know what to think any longer.”
“This is how the cartel works. They use intimidation and empty promises of reuniting family members to keep their people in line. They see how much taking your brother has hurt you so they will exploit that at every chance they get. Have they given you any specific terms?”
“No, they haven’t. Just that after the job is completed, they’ll release him back into our town. They tell me to not go looking for him, or they’ll kill him on the spot. So, I don’t try. But I don’t know what to think anymore. I don’t know if he’s okay or if they’re feeding him. Maybe he’s already been released, and they’re just telling me he hasn’t been? If he was, I’m not sure why he wouldn’t contact me. I don’t know. I don’t know anything, and I don’t know how to get myself and my brother out.”
“That’s for us to figure out,” he said.
“So, you’re going to help me?” I asked.
His green eyes were so reassuring, and I desperately wanted to believe that he could help.
“Yes. I’m going to help you.”
And the instant he confirmed my suspicions, relief flooded my veins. A feeling of peace I had never known fell over my body. I knew things were going to be okay. I didn’t know how, especially since I didn’t know Jace personally, but gazing up into his eyes I felt as if things would work out in the end.
I really hoped my gut was right.
Chapter 4
Jace
As I listened to her speak, I realized that the situation she was in was bad. Very bad. As far as cartel situations went, she was in one of the worst. But now that I had gotten her story and earned her trust, I now needed to know how the fuck the cartel was smuggling drugs into our part of the country. Because Dean--our President--and the guys had worked very hard a few years back to get some street gangs out of the area who were selling drugs to all the high school kids, we watched over.
He was going to be pissed when he heard about this.
“Are you up for answering a few questions?” I asked.
“Yeah. Sure,” Leti said as she dabbed at her eyes.
“How is the cartel making you smuggle drugs across the border?”
“They have a few ways, but the current operation I was participating in had me acting as a makeup artist and traveling with the drugs in my suitcase stored in empty makeup containers in specialized makeup bags.”
“Were they your suitcases or makeup containers?”
“No. They were suitcases, and the makeup was all provided for me. Once I was in Mexico, everything was dropped off at my hotel room, and I packed everything into the bag. Everything looked completely real. You could even open up the makeup cases, and you wouldn’t know the difference. I’d travel across the border with the entire thing, and once I stepped out of the airport in the U.S., there was a meeting place I would head to. This time, was the first time they had my fly with the drugs. Normally I would be driving across the border.”
“How did you get past security and customs at the airport?”
“Sebastian told me that they handled it. They had me to go specific lines.”
“In both Mexico and the States?”
I nodded slowly.
“Shit,” Jace said shaking his head. “Same thing when you drove across the border?”
“Yes. I was also told to go to specific lines when crossing.”
“What were you supposed to do once you got here?”
“I was told to wait until someone contacted me. That would usually happen within fifteen minutes of arriving in the States. I would be told a drop off point, and I would leave the suitcase in a motel room, or a park bench, or something like that. Then I would stay in the States for a week or two and then get on a plane back to Mexico and repeat the process.”
“What do you mean, ‘ the process’?” I asked.
“They’d put me back up in a hotel with a little bit of money, and I was expected to go shopping for another outfit. I’d wait about a week, then another suitcase and more drugs would come, and the process would repeat itself.”
“So, you never went back to your hometown after they were done.”
“No. They never let me go back home. I was always put up in a hotel where they could find me easily. They gave me enough money for one meal a day and another set of professional clothing to wear. It was essentially a sit-and-wait process.”
That wasn’t good. None of this was good. She wasn’t just a smuggler. She was a mule. And with the cartel, that meant they had no intentions of releasing her from their grasp anytime soon. Which meant we had to find her brother quickly because the odds of him still being alive at this point were slim. It was possible. Anything was possible with the fucking cartel. But the longer he stayed in captivity, the more of a chance he had to succumb to things like starvation, dehydration, and disease from tainted foods they fed their prisoners.
“Do you know what happens with the drugs after you turn them over?” I asked.
“No. Not a clue. And I made sure to keep my head down and keep it that way,” Leti said.
“You look very dressed up right now. Did you just come from a drop-off?”
I watched her cheeks redden before her eyes fell to her hands.
“I saw you guys driving down the road when I got into Redding. I landed in Sacramento and was told to come up here, head to the drop off point and wait. I left the suitcase under a bench at the drop-off point, then got a taxi and told it to follow you guys.”
I quirked an eyebrow as she drew in a deep breath.
“Do they know that you left?”
“Yes. I texted Sebastian that I left it there and that I felt sick so I had to leave. He never responded. I have left shipments at drop points before, so this wasn’t something that was going against their normal
plan.”
The fact that she left the drugs unattended underneath a park bench had me slightly on edge. I would need to talk to Dean and the guys to find out what we should do about the drugs, but one thing was for sure, I wasn’t going to let Leti out of my sight.
“I thought maybe you guys were like the Aztecs back in Oaxaca. You know, before they were chased out after the cartel overran the town. They always protected their own. Watched over the children. Frequently dealt with the cartel in order to keep their town safe. I thought if there was even the smallest chance that you guys were similar…”
She dabbed at her eyes again before grabbing her water and finishing off the third cup she had drank down since she entered our establishment. I gave her a second to catch her breath, especially after spewing such an emotionally-telling story. My club had rules. And we never strayed from those rules. The Black Hornets never messed with women, we never messed with children, and we never messed with drugs. We never dipped our hands into the prostitution department, we never ran sex trafficking rings, and we sure as hell didn’t peddle drugs to the people we had sworn to ourselves we’d protect. And in my own personal experience, nothing was ever good when a club got involved in the drug trade.
I learned that lesson during my two years as a paramedic.
That was why The Black Hornets had sequestered their place in the asset protection business. It didn’t harm women and children, it didn’t dabble in drugs, and it lined our pockets with lump sums of money we couldn’t get anywhere else. And asset protection covered a lot. From personal security detail to hired muscle for other clubs and businesses to hired mercenaries all the way down to getting people out of sticky situations.
Situations like the one Leti had found herself in.
I studied her, watching as she composed herself on her seat. I stood close to her, cloaking her from the crowd while they stared on and listened. The way she had clung to me and pulled me close… it fueled my protective instincts. It fueled my want to wrap my arms around her and keep her safe. And the more I listened and watched her, the more I wondered how the hell a beautiful woman like herself had gotten wrapped up into such shit. I wanted to protect her and keep her away from all of that. I wanted to let her know that things were going to be okay from now on. So long as she had me at my side, she could never go wrong.
The need to protect her was instantaneous, and even I couldn’t explain it.
“Okay, I want you to listen to me. Can you hear me?” I asked.
She nodded her head before she drew in a ragged breath.
“I’m going to talk to Dean. He’s our President. But I have no doubt in my mind that he’s going to want to help.”
She whipped her head up at that statement, and her eyes sparkled with wonder. They yanked me into her orbit, and everything came alive all at once. I was aware of her smell. Of the lavender scent flowing from her body. I was aware of the twitch just underneath her eye, probably from crying so much. I was aware of the way her nostrils flared as her smile grew across her cheeks. I was aware of the two dimples that sat upon her face the bigger her smile grew, and I found myself wanting to touch them.
Wanting to caress them with my thumb.
“You really think he’ll help?” she asked.
“I know he will. Our club has three rules: we don’t condone anything that harms women, we don’t condone anything that harms children, and we don’t condone drugs. Period. Back a few years ago, Dean worked very hard to rid this area of some street gangs selling drugs to some of the local high school kids around here. Once he catches wind that they’re being funneled back into the area, he’ll want to put a stop to it.”
“Will you be able to help my brother?”
The desperation in her eyes was too much, and I knew then, and there I’d do whatever it took to get her brother back. I nodded my head, and she threw her arms around me, pulling me into the first real hug I’d experienced in years. It took me back, at first. I wasn’t one to get physical unless that physicality was leading to a place where I could relieve some stress off my groin. But feeling her warm arms around my neck and against my skin weakened me to her.
I slipped an arm around her waist and stepped closer to her, feeling the way she pressed against my body.
“Thank you so much,” she whispered.
I felt another tear rumble off her cheek and fall to my shoulder.
She released me, and I didn’t want her to let go. But I forced myself to step back and away from the seduction of her curves. Just feeling the way my arm fell perfectly into the crook of her waist tugged at a part of me I’d never entertained before. I’d heard some of the guys talk about it before. About their high school sweethearts or the women they left behind and how time stopped when they looked at them or some bullshit. And I used to always tease them about it. Rag on them about being a pussy when it came to certain women. But gazing into Leti’s eyes gave me a first-hand encounter of what the hell they were talking about.
“How do we get my brother back?” she asked.
Her sweet, sultry voice ripped me from my trance, and I drew in a deep breath.
“I’m not sure how just yet. It’ll be a plan my club, and I lay out as time goes on. But I promise you, Leti, we’ll find a way to get your brother back.”
The light in her eyes returned, but I felt a sinking feeling filled the pit of my gut. I wanted to keep my hopes up, and I tried to keep my promise. So, what I didn’t tell her was that we’d find him, dead or alive. Her not hearing his voice or seeing his face for the last two or so months wasn’t a good sign. Anyone could tell her that. I rose my hand and signaled for the bartender to get her another glass of water, then I leaned over and whispered for him to get her a sandwich from the back. We weren’t a food establishment, though some of the guys kept food in the fridge out back in case they wanted some shit with their drinks.
I figured they wouldn’t miss a sandwich.
Leti ate it faster than I assumed she would, so I motioned for the bartender to get her another. And after eating three of them, she finally slowed down. My eyes kept flickering back up to my club, and they looked back at me from over her shoulder. All of them were focused on me. Concentrate on the interview, I was doing. And I knew the second I gave them the sign, they wouldn’t be happy.
That was how we conducted things. Very quiet. Very discreet. Very to-the-point. Interviews like this fell into four distinct categories: personal protection, business protection, mercenary-for-hire, and life-or-death. Rarely did we ever get life-or-death situations. It just didn’t happen around here. Not after the cleaning spree, we went on years back to rid our hometown of the disgusting individuals that had set up shop in the area. And it especially didn’t happen after we teamed up with the Dead Souls MC to get rid of Rex and the Black Saddles.
But when we did, it was always a sticky situation.
With those four categories came four signals: a tug on the ear for personal protection; a pat on the chest for business protection; snapping of the fingers for mercenary-for-hire, and a head nod with eye contact for life-or-death.
So, when I nodded my head and connected my eyes with all of them, they strode for the front door. Dean stayed behind outside, brandishing his weapon and keeping watch while Maverick, Duke, and Colt got onto their bikes and rode off into the distance. And I knew exactly where they were headed. After one of us conducted an interview and decided on whether or not to take up the work, the rest of the guys hauled ass back to the lodge to draw up basic plans.
“Is everything okay?” Leti asked.
My eyes came back to hers, and I saw her looking towards the front door.
“We’re officially on the clock,” I said.
Her eyes panned back to me, and I couldn’t contain myself. I rose my hand to cup her cheek and quickly smoothed my thumb over the place where her dimple would have been. Then I dropped my hand, wrapped my arm back around her, and pulled her in to provide her a little more comfort.
“Y
ou’re safe with us. And I promise you, no matter what, we will get your brother back.”
Dead or alive.
Chapter 5
Leti
His comforting words slammed to the forefront of my mind. And at that moment, I felt happier than I’d felt in months. Years, even. I had no one else to turn to, and now Jace--this complete stranger--was telling me he could help me. That he could help me find my brother. That things would finally be okay in my world. I felt like my life was finally coming together. I felt like I had put my trust in the right people. And suddenly, my fears of leaving behind that suitcase of drugs at the drop off point was the right thing to do. This was how I was going to save my brother. This was how I was going to save myself.
All I had to do was listen to these men that had apparently taken me in.
“What do we do from here?” I asked.
The warmth of his chest brought a wave of peace over my body I hadn’t experienced since before my father had died. Jace’s hand had been soft against my cheek. The way he brushed his thumb against my skin sent electricity surging throughout my body. Everything about all of this felt so right, and I knew I could trust his words. His efforts. His presence and his countenance.
He gripped my shoulders and pulled me away from him, and for some reason, I wanted to clamor back into his body. Bury myself against the toned strength of his torso.
“There isn’t much we can do right this second, but I promise you things are already in the works. Once the guys and I get together to go over plans, we can sit down with you and talk you through what happens from there. But for right now, Dean’s keeping watch at the bar while the guys are back at the lodge drawing up potential avenues to keep you safe while we handle this.”
Jace (The Black Hornets MC Book 1) Page 3
