by Blair Grey
The jarring of the body from the hits would loosen the ropes that held the person to the chair. When Jake – or whoever he got to do the dirty deed – hit me, I would have to stay calm and try to move my hands and legs to see if I could free any of my appendages. All I needed was one to be freed to be able to kick some ass.
“Why are you smiling, Santos?” Jake’s irritating voice met my ears as he came to stand in front of me.
“Didn’t realize that I was.” That was true. My imagination had gone on its own way, and my lips must’ve liked the way it was going. “Why are you frowning? Bad news on the phone?”
“Bad news?” He shook his head. “Excellent news. They’ll be here soon with your family and we can begin the ending of the Santos clan.”
I found that odd that he didn’t know that I was the only one with that last name in my family. The pit of my stomach began to burn as I thought about how afraid my family had to have been. Tommy was most likely the least afraid of them all. He was a tough kid.
As I sat there, trying not to let Jake see me sweat, I thought about how much Tommy was like his father. He was born with courage, it seemed.
He’s going to be okay. They all are.
Wiggling my wrists behind the chair, I found a small nick in the metal and began to slowly rub the rope that bound my hands against it. Moving so slowly that no one would notice what I was doing, I focused on what I would do when my family was brought in.
Even though it seemed hopeless, I couldn’t let myself get down. “Jake, this is the last chance you’re going to get to stop what you’re doing. This won’t fix anything. It won’t fix the past. It won’t fix a damn thing you’ve done. It will only add to your crimes.”
“Yeah, I know that.” He laughed as he walked away. “Tick, tock, Santos. The sands of the hourglass just keep falling.”
I’d really thought the women wouldn’t go get my family. Why would they want to get themselves caught up in this any further than they already were?
We all looked at the door that slowly came open. Jake’s eyes came to me as a smile came over his face. “Looks like they’re here.”
I wasn’t ready yet. I hadn’t gotten my hands free. My mind raced for the answers to what I could do to save my family. “No!” I screamed as I moved violently in the chair.
One shot rang out, echoing off the metal walls, making my ears ring as I fell over on my side. The metal chair broke and I scrambled to get free. Jake’s body fell only inches away from me. One bullet hole oozed blood in a thick line down his face.
Glancing at the door, I still saw no one there, but more shots came as I moved on my belly along the floor until I found myself in a small hallway.
Whoever it was, it wasn’t the women with my family the way Jake had said it was. But the way they were firing shots made me think they were there to kill everyone in the place, including me.
Staying low, I went as fast as I could toward the one place I felt air coming in from. Finding the broken window, I climbed out of it, then ran at full speed in the direction of the hotel.
I had to get to Clyde to get his help. I needed my phone and my car so I could get to my home. My family had to still be there.
Sheila and Pam must’ve decided not to do as Jake had said to. Maybe they even went to the council to get help for me. The one thing I did know was that I didn’t know shit.
That wasn’t entirely true. I did know the one man I’d enticed to fall for me, then leave him high and dry, was the only person I could fully trust at the time.
It had been a five-minute drive from the hotel. Running took longer though. Every second seemed like a lifetime as I ran and ran, trying to make myself believe that my family was sitting at home, completely unaware of what was going on.
Tommy was playing a video game. Mom was cooking something delicious on the stove. Edward was napping on the sofa, as usual. And all of them were blissfully unaware of what I was going through. That is exactly how I wanted it.
As soon as I caught sight of the hotel, my speed tripled. Moving like a shot through the glass doors, I pushed through other people to get to the elevator. “Move! Please,” I decided to add that as I shoved my way to the front. People got off the elevator and I moved in, looking at the stunned faces on the outside of the elevator doors. “Going up?”
All of them shook their heads. I supposed getting into a cramped space with someone who might have a bruise or two on her face, wearing ripped clothing, and panting like a rabid dog seemed like a bad idea to them.
The doors closed and I tried to catch my breath as I went all the way to the top floor. Taking the key-card out of the small pocket of my jeans, I got ready to go into the room.
Crossing my fingers that Clyde would be there, dressed and ready to help me, I looked up. “Please let him be of some help to me.”
The elevator stopped and I hurried out of it, racing to the room then sliding the card and opening the door. Three people sat at the end of the bed, eating pizza and watching television. “You’re here!” Tommy threw the pizza on the bed then ran to me, hugging me tightly. “Tia Tequila! You’re okay!”
Everything felt unreal. “You’re here. All of you are here.” But how?
Edward and Mom came to hug me too. “Thank the good lord,” Mom cried.
“I can’t believe it,” Edward said. “You look like a wreck but you’re alive!”
“How did you guys get here?” I had so many questions for them. “And where is Clyde?”
They let me go and stepped back as Edward answered, “He went to go save you.”
Tommy took over, “He came to save us first. There were these two mean women who came in a white van. They had guns, Tia! They were going to kidnap us. But Clyde got to us first. He’s a hero!”
“How did he know about them coming for you?” I was totally lost.
Mom took my hand. “Come, sit down, mija. You look terrible. Edward, get a wet washcloth so I can clean her up. She’s got swelling around her jaw. Did someone hit you?”
“Yes. But how did Clyde know about things?” I had to know it all. And then I realized that I didn’t know where he was. “Did he find me somehow? Did he see the women leaving? Did he follow them? Did he kill them?”
Tommy shook his head. “No, he didn’t kill them. They came after we left. Be we saw them. And he said that he followed you out of this hotel. Only he couldn’t catch up to you because you were forced to get into a van with the bad people.”
Edward came back, handing me the cold, wet cloth. “Here. He’s got some friends to help him. He said he left them there to try to get inside the place or something like that. But he left there to come save us. He’s not the bad guy we’ve always thought he was.”
“You’ve known him before?” Tommy asked.
All of us stared at him, mouths clamped tightly. Finally, I opened my mouth to say, “We didn’t really know him before. Like, not at all. We formed an opinion of him though. It wasn’t the right one. He’s not the guy we thought he was. And all these years we may have done him a disservice, I think now.”
“How did you know him?” Tommy asked. “Was it when you lived in Baltimore? Because he seemed a little weird when we were talking about my mom.”
“You talked about your mother with him?” I felt panic rising inside of me as I looked at my mother. “Did any of you say her name?”
She jerked her head toward Tommy. “He did. And I think two and two began making four in the man’s head. I am beginning to think like you are, Tequila. We may have done something not very nice.”
“Secrets,” Edward said with a huff. “How I hate them all.”
Mom crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at him with skepticism. “Really? You hate secrets, mijo? So, would you like to tell us a secret you’ve been keeping?”
I felt that now was not the time for that and being in front of Tommy wasn’t the place either. “Let’s save that secret for another day, shall we? For now, I think we should let a co
uple of people know about the one we’ve been keeping for too long now.”
I saw my purse sitting on the floor right where I’d left it and went to get it as my mother put her hands on Tommy’s shoulders. “First, I want you to know that we never did this to hurt anyone.”
“No,” I agreed as I put the purse crossways on me, so I would be ready to go as soon as Tommy heard everything. “But I must admit that I had a rather sinister plan to hurt the man who I thought had hurt your mother and you too, Tommy.”
Edward’s perfect brows arched quizzically. “You had a sinister plan? What were you going to do? And is that why you’ve been seeing that man?”
“Yes.” I wasn’t proud of myself at the moment. “I was going to make him fall for me, then dump him the same way I felt he’d done to our sister. And we all know what road she went down after he left her – the way he did.”
Mom patted Tommy on the shoulders as she looked into his green eyes. “You’ve got your father’s eyes. And I found out something else today too.”
“What’s that?” Tommy asked as he smiled. “Tell me everything. Please. No more secrets. I’m begging you all. This isn’t some novella. This is real life. My real life. I want to know it all. Even the things you all think will hurt me. I’m tough. I’m strong. And I can take whatever the truth is.”
“He is all those things,” I agreed.
Tommy looked at me. “I was only three when my mother died. But I know that she took something that made her die. She didn’t look right or speak right. She wasn’t meant to be here long. To me, she was an angel and angels have to live in Heaven.”
“I agree.” I hugged him as I sighed. “She was an angel. She left you here with us, trusting that we would do what’s best for you. And we always have. So, now, you need to know that your father is here.”
“It’s him, isn’t it?” he asked me with shimmering eyes. “When I looked at him, I saw me in his face. He’s got my eyes.”
Edward laughed. “Technically, he had them first. So, you have his eyes. But yeah, Clyde Thomas is your father. Only he doesn’t know that yet.”
I bit my lower lip. “If he knows that Chrystal Puente is Tommy’s mother, chances are pretty high that he knows he’s his father now. Did you tell him her whole name?”
Tommy nodded. “We did. But he didn’t say anything to me about being my father. Do you think he won’t want me, Tia Tequila?”
God, I sure hope that’s not the case!
Chapter Twenty-One
Clyde
“What do you mean, she’s not in there?” I asked Carl as he shrugged.
“She’s not in there. There’s a broken chair with some remnants of rope where we think she was, but she’s not there anymore. And we don’t know when she was either taken out of the chair or escaped from it,” he let me know.
Five bodies lay on the floor of the main room which resembled a small gymnasium. “Other than the two women who left just before I did, where are the rest of the people who were in here?”
“We saw about eight of them leave through the window in the back,” Axel told me. “But she wasn’t one of them. Garrett made sure to check.”
“Who came in shooting?” I asked as I walked toward the back.
Lucas came up next to me. “No one came in shooting. Once I got the door unlocked, I used it as a shield to stand behind. From there I saw a man standing with a smirk on his face. I figured he might as well be the first to go, so I took him out.”
“If the fool had the audacity to wear a smirk, he deserved it.” Looking back at the man with one shot to the head, I noticed his proximity to the metal chair. “I would venture to bet that he’s Jake Travis.”
Ryder nodded. “His identification proves that. Our guys will be here within the next ten minutes to clean this mess up. But you’re gonna need to find The Keepers president to make sure there are no repercussions for what we helped her out with here.”
“There sure as hell better not be any.” I needed to find Tequila though. “My biggest fear is that there are still some people out there who might want to see her dead. I know she got away. She’s most likely on her way to her place to see if her family is okay.” Heading back out, I needed to find her before anyone else did. “Can I count on you guys to help Garrett with talking to The Keeper’s council to see if we can find out who was with Jake on his rampage to end Tequila’s presidency?”
Carl gave me the nod. “Get out of here. Go, find your girl, Clyde. Love don’t wait, man.”
“Love,” I said with a chuckle. “You guys keep saying that so much that you’re making me think I might really love this woman.”
Ryder walked alongside me as we began exiting the building so other members of our MC could do what they did best – clean up things when shit was done. “You do love her. Trust us. We know love when we see it, bro.”
I reached for the door to leave when it flew open, knocking me on my ass, looking up at the two women who’d gone to get Tequila’s family. Both had their guns drawn and both saw what was left of the group they’d left earlier.
“Get down,” I heard Garrett shout before two shots were fired.
On my stomach, I held my hands over my ears, having moved like lightening. Two thuds came on either side of me.
The others began clapping as I looked to find Garrett had taken both women out. “Holy shit!”
“Let’s get out of here,” Carl said, helping me up. “You’ve got a decision to make. Is he in or is he out?”
Garrett put his gun away as he looked at me with a grin. “So, what’s it gonna be, jarhead?”
“The squid is one of us now. Suit him up, boss.” I wanted to be the first to shake his hand. “Garrett, welcome to the brotherhood of the Iron Cobras. You’ve earned it.”
The smile he wore as he shook my hand was endless. “Damn glad to be able to call you guys my brothers.”
Ryder jammed his fist into the air. “Brotherhood party next weekend!”
“Initiation!” Lucas added. “I’ve gotta write my speech.”
Carl sighed. “I’ll get your jacket ordered.”
Axel pulled Garrett in for a hug. “I’ll get the Executive Viper ready for the initiation party of the decade! The girls are gonna love you.”
“I’m going to really be an Iron Cobra.” The smile wouldn’t leave his face. “I can’t believe this.”
“Come on, we gotta get the hell out of here,” Carl ordered.
Stepping over bodies, we left the place exactly the opposite of how Jake had planned on things going. But I still had to find my girl. “I’ll catch up with you all later. I’m not going to be right until I have her with me.”
Garrett walked along with me as we all headed out. “I’ll take them to The Keepers’ headquarters. I just texted Sandra to set up an emergency meeting. We’ll handle things. Once you find her, sit tight until I contact you. At least you got your way and have met her family. That’s one good thing that came out of all this shit.”
“Yeah.” I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle what I was pretty sure I knew to be the truth. “Some odd things came about while I had her family with me. For starters, I found out that the boy is not Tequila’s son.”
“Oh?” He looked surprised. “Well, that’s good for you. Seems you won’t have to worry about dating a woman with a kid after all.”
“Yeah.” But I had other things to worry about. “I found out that he’s the son of her sister. You know, the one she told us about.”
“The one who committed suicide?” He looked sick when I nodded. “Oh, God. That poor kid. Man, my heart hurts for him.”
“Mine too.” But what bothered me more was the fact that I might have lost years with the boy. “He might be my son.” I was sure he was. “No. I mean, he’s my son. I’m pretty damn sure of it.”
Grabbing my arm, he stopped me. “What the fuck are you talking about? How can that be? You knew Tequila’s sister but not her? I don’t get it.”
“I
didn’t really know her that well.” That was an understatement. “She was younger than me. Better than me in all ways. I was leaving the next day. She lived across the street. I mean – they all did. Tequila and her whole family lived across the street from my house. God, it makes no damn sense. But Crystal and I shared a few hours alone. And I think Tommy came of that time we’d spent together.”
“One time?” All he could do was shake his head. “Are you going to get a DNA test to be sure?”
“For both of our sakes, I will.” I wanted to be sure and I wanted that for Tommy too. “Their word is enough for me. But I want that connection in writing too. The boy deserves that. I’ll make things right with him.”
“You’re a fucking father, you old jarhead!” he shouted. “Hey guys, guess what!” He clapped my back before running off to tell my news. “Loverboy here is probably a father. Can you believe that?”
The four men who’d come to save the day for me and Tequila stared at me with blank faces that broke into smiles as they cheered. Axel shouted, “Double party next weekend!”
“No. Not for my kid. He’s too young. That’s Garrett’s night.” I got into my truck. I needed to go pick up the family that I might very well already be a part of, then go find Tequila. I needed to let them all know that everything was going to be alright. I would make sure of that.
As I drove back to the hotel, my heart ached as I thought about Crystal. She’s gone. Forever.
It had never occurred to me that I might have left her pregnant and alone. I was a stupid kid back then. But even as stupid as I was, I should’ve known enough to have checked on her to make sure she was okay.
I knew she was a virgin. We hadn’t talked about birth control. I had to blame myself for that. It wasn’t like she’d planned on having sex that night.
My actions had turned her into something she never was and probably never would have become if she hadn’t gone with me that day after school. I owed them all so much. But somewhere inside, I knew I could never repay them for what I’d done.