by Kara Parker
“How do they prevent it? And why haven’t you gone to the police with this?” Rose exclaims. “Tim is just an innocent bystander in all of this!”
“Because… it would destroy Joseph and the Nines. He told me Tim would have justice. I believe him... and I trust Joseph’s justice far more than the courts’. They know the difference between right and wrong. That’s why they don’t allow the sale of drugs to minors. If they find out that is going on, they freeze you out. If you don’t have the supply, you can’t sell to minors. It took a while, but word got around.”
“How do you know all this?” Rose asks quietly.
“Tim and I were Joseph’s… conscious? He would talk to us, get our take on situations. I think he worries about losing his way. Especially early on, when he was cleaning out the organization. He had to make some hard decisions. But once it became clear which way the winds were blowing, those that couldn’t live by his rules were… replaced.”
“Did he… kill anyone?”
“I don’t know. He has never said. I suspect he is capable, but I know he wouldn’t kill without justification. Not over money, for example.”
Rose looks into Melina’s eyes. Melina no longer looks like the heartbroken widow, but a woman not to be trifled with. Then she softens, the old Melina is back once again. “Joseph has made it clear to the cartel that supplies them that if they find out who the shooter is, or who gave the order, they are dead men. That no place would be safe. Do you think the cops would, or could, do the same?”
Rose swallows hard. “Aren’t you worried about your kids?”
“No. No more so than I would any other time. We’re probably being watched right now. Joseph gave me his word that he would keep us safe.”
“I haven’t seen anyone.”
“They wouldn’t be very effective if you had, now would they?” Melina points out.
It is all moving too fast for Rose to cope. Not only is Joseph a drug dealer, but he may be a killer as well. But Melina… her reaction to all of this puzzles her. She seems so calm about it. Joseph could be selling candy bars for all the concern that she shows. “Melina… I can’t… live like this! It’s too much!”
“I understand,” Melina says softly. “I know all this has come as a shock and you are still trying to come to terms with it. But let me leave you with one last thought. The same thing that Joseph told me. He told me that justice is a universal concept. It doesn’t come from the police or the courts. Back when they began to settle the west, people took care of themselves. They didn’t depend on government to tell them what was right and wrong. If you kill a member of my family, you were hunted down and hanged. You attempt to destroy my livelihood and you were met with resistance, sometimes violently. It was accepted and understood. But that didn’t make the settlers bad people. This is the code that Joseph and the Nines live by. They’re not bad people, Rose. They’re free, and will fight to protect that freedom at all costs.”
“It sounds like you admire them.”
“I do. If it weren’t for Michael and Kimberly, I would be a member of the Nines. Tim and I both would. As it is, we’re sort of honorary members. Mascots, maybe.”
Rose sits, looking into Melina’s eyes. “There is a lot more to you than meets the eyes. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
Melina smiles. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Joseph. I should have, but I just…”
“I know, Melina. I understand. That last thing you were thinking about was some chick that needed an itch scratched. I’m sorry to be dumping on you about this now.”
“Hey… what are friends for? Believe it or not, it actually helps a little. It gives me something to think about other than myself.”
Rose takes her hand. “Maybe you and Joseph…?”
“Rose… he doesn’t want me. He wants you. Besides, I don’t love him. You do.”
“Yeah,” Rose sighs. “It would be easier if I didn’t.”
“Yeah. Isn’t life a bitch when you have someone that is hopelessly in love with you? And you them,” Melina teases.
Rose smiles. “Yeah. Okay. I need to hit the road. But thanks for talking to me.”
“When will you be back? You are coming back, aren’t you?”
Rose smiles. “I’ll be back. I’ll only be gone a couple of days. I want to give my guys another day off, plus I need to pay some bills, kick some asses, et cetera. So I will probably come back Sunday.”
The trip to Vegas is uneventful. Rose could have really used another day to catch up, but her assistant managers had done a good job keeping the lights on at Aguilar’s. She talks to her chef about the crab-infused potatoes she tried at a restaurant in Carson City, pays the bills, and verifies that the tip amounts are properly paid. Having worked as a waitress herself, that is one thing she is diligent about: making sure every penny of tips is correctly paid.
Satisfied that Aguilar’s is set for another two weeks, she returns Eagle Valley. The twelve hours she has spent in the car have given her plenty of time to think. She has changed her mind about what she is going to do at least fifty times on the way to Vegas and back, until now, two hours from Eagle Valley, she finally decides that she can’t let him go and spends the rest of the drive racking her brain trying to find another source of income for him. Something legal, or at the very least, not so illegal. No matter what she comes up with it is either just as bad as drugs, or worse, or it would require him to change how he lives… and she won’t ask that of him.
Turning into Melina’s drive, she parks well in the back, the drive leading to the garage full of bikes, one of which she recognizes as Joseph’s. She walks up to the front door, and though in the past she has been just walking in, this time she raps before inserting her key and opening the door.
As she steps into the room every eye is looking at her—not in hostility as much as in anticipation, probably wondering if she is with them or not. After giving Michael a hug from his “aunt Rose,” she moves purposely toward Joseph.
Joseph stands as Rose approaches, unable to fully read her. She doesn’t look upset, but that could mean anything. As she slows to a stop in front of him, she smiles, reaching up, and pulling his lips to hers. The kiss isn’t as long or messy as it could be, but it is still plenty deep and passionate.
As she pulls back from the kiss, she hugs him, placing her lips near his ear. “I missed you,” she whispers.
At her words his arms tighten, almost involuntarily, wanting to hold her and never let her go. “I missed you too,” he replies in kind.
“Sorry, don’t let me interrupt,” she says, reluctantly backing away from his embrace.
“Actually, this concerns you too. We have a problem.”
Rose feels her blood run cold. “What kind of problem?”
“The Matos Cartel, the group that supplies us, is trying to cut us out of the loop. They want to put someone else in as the supplier to local distribution.”
“Okay. How does that affect me?”
“It puts anyone in contact with us in danger. Tim was killed as a warning. We are trying to convince Melina to pack up and leave for a while.”
“And I told you, I’m not going anywhere!” Melina shouts from beside him.
“I would like you and her to go back to Vegas,” Joseph says without pause.
Rose looks at Melina. “Maybe we…”
“I’m not leaving!” Melina states firmly.
“She’s not leaving,” Rose repeats to Joseph with a lopsided grin.
“Yeah. That’s what she told me too. Melina, be reasonable…”
“I am being reasonable. They took Tim from me… they aren’t taking my home, too. Michael and Kimberly can stay with mom until this is settled, but I’m not leaving.”
Joseph sighs. “But you will go, right?” he asks Rose.
“Maybe. We will talk about it. So what are you going to do?”
“We’re driving to El Paso. We’ve set up a meeting to try to work this out.”
&n
bsp; “Can’t you, I don’t know, share?”
Joseph smiles as the rest of the Nines rumble in laughter, Kimberly adding her shriek as one of the Nines makes faces at her. “This isn’t the restaurant business, Rose. They want it all and they will stop at nothing until they get what they want. So far our distributors have hung tough with us, and that is making it hard for them to muscle us out. Our guys remember the bad old days, with all the violence and backstabbing, and are refusing to play ball with them. But it’s coming to a head. Tom’s murder is evidence of the fact. We’re trying to head this off before it becomes a war.”
“But how? Aren’t cartels supposed to be super rich and powerful? How can you fight that?”
“By being smarter. If they push us, they will find out we have teeth of our own.”
“But…”
“Rose, don’t worry about us,” Joseph assures her. “Help me to not worry about you.”
“How?”
“By taking Melina and going away somewhere until this is settled.”
“Are we talking about the same Melina? Melina Scholly? I can’t convince her to do a damn thing she doesn’t want to do. If you can change her mind, I will take her with me. But otherwise…” she says, ending with a shrug.
“Yeah. So I have been reminded.” They both look at Melina, who looks back with a smug expression. “What about you? Will you go back to Vegas?” he asks.
“I can’t leave Melina. If it gets bad, I will. But for now, I want to stay.”
Joseph surveys her. “Okay. But promise me if I say go, you will go.”
“I promise.”
“I will have Touch and Guy keep an eye on you both.”
“Touch?”
Joseph looks to a grinning man that could pass for a school teacher. The man busy bouncing Kimberly on his foot, making her giggle in delight. “Touch. As in ‘reach out and touch someone,’” the man in question explains.
“Ex-army. Sniper,” Joseph explains.
“What about you?”
“There will be four of us going. Don’t worry. We can handle ourselves.”
“I don’t like this, Joseph. I don’t like it all.”
“We don’t either. But it is something we have to do or a lot of people are going to get killed.”
Rose can feel the cold hand of doom gripping her heart, but she tries not to show how scared she is. “When do you leave?”
“We’ll leave tomorrow. Drive down tomorrow, meet on Tuesday, and then come back Tuesday or Wednesday.”
“Drive? Why don’t you fly?” Rose asks.
“Why do you think?”
“Can’t you pay with cash?”
“That’s not it.”
“When what?”
“I have a fake driver’s license. Too much risk.”
“What? Why? Oh, never mind,” Rose says before Joseph can answer, realizing why. “I guess I never thought about what being ‘off the grid’ really means. But what happens if you get stopped for driving with a fake license?”
“Then I will go to jail,” he says with a shrug. “I’ve been stopped before. It’ll probably happen again. It’s good enough for a casual check by a cop. But if they dig too much they are going to find out its fake. Better to keep it in my wallet as much as possible.”
“Can’t you just let this go?”
“No, Rose. This is our livelihood. We need this to live. Would you be willing to just walk away from Aguilar’s if someone were to try to put you out of business? Or would you stand and fight?”
“That’s not the same. A competitor won’t try to kill me. I had to ask.”
“It will be fine. Don’t worry. We’re just going to talk.”
“Okay. Just be careful. All of you,” she says as she looks around the room.
“Is that a hint of concern I hear? Concern for a bunch of drug dealers?” Joseph teases.
“I can’t say I approve of what you do, but if I am honest with myself, it is hard to argue that cigarettes and alcohol should be legal when some of these other drugs are not.”
Joseph’s tender smile warms her like a ray of sunshine. “I don’t approve of drug use either. But I approve even less of imposing my views on someone else. Are you sure I can’t convince you to go to Vegas with Rose?” Joseph asks Melina one more time.
“No. This is my home. I will stay here and fight for it, just as you are. I’m not leaving until I don’t have any choice.”
Joseph looks at her, then sighs. “Fine,” he says before turning to Touch. “Keep her safe. Both of them.”
“You got it,” he says, once again making faces at Kimberly.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“Can I talk to you?” Rose asks as the meeting begins to break up. For the past hour, plans had been put in place to make sure that Rose in particular would be safe as she moves back and forth between Melina’s home and the Goose.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“Once this is over, can we talk about us? Our future together.”
“Uh-oh. I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I have decided that I don’t want to lose you. But… this drug thing really bothers me. I want to see what options we might have.”
He leans down and briefly touches his lips to hers. “Okay. Let’s see what we can work out.”
“Thank you, Joseph. I know how important your privacy and independence is to you, and I won’t ask you to give it up, but I have to at least try to find another way.”
“I understand. We’ll talk when I get back.”
“Stay with me tonight?” she asks.
“If you like. But I will be leaving about four in the morning.”
“Perfect,” she coos. “I haven’t been working the morning shift. It gives me a chance to check in.”
Joseph smiles. “Okay. But you do understand I have to sleep some tonight?”
“We’ll go to bed early.”
“Okay. What would you like for dinner?”
“Surprise me. I need to talk to Melina, then I will be over. Is that okay?”
He tastes her lips once again. “Don’t talk too long.”
As the heavy rumble of the bikes in the drive begins, Melina touches her shoulder, causing her to turn from the door. She looks as if she might cry. “What’s wrong?” Rose asks softly.
“I’m so happy for you, Rose.”
“Then why so sad?”
“I don’t know. Just missing Tim, I guess.”
“I know. But you are doing so much better.”
“But it is still hard sometimes.”
“I’m sure. You want me to tell you a secret?” Rose offers, trying to cheer her up.
“Sure. What?”
“Did you notice Touch?”
“Other than playing with Kimberly, no, not really. What was he doing?”
“Nothing. I just noticed how he takes to the kids. And the kids to him.”
“He’s a good guy.”
“Known him long?” Rose asks.
“Just since he came up with the Nines. He’s the Nines’ Sergeant at Arms. Why?”
“No reason.”
“Oh no. You have to tell me. What is it?” Melina asks, a faint smile playing across her lips.
“I was just noticing how he looks at you, that’s all.”
“What do you mean?”
“How old would you say Touch is? Early thirties?”
“I guess. What are you getting at, Rose?”
“I think that Touch likes to you.”
“Okay. So? I like him too.”
“No… I mean he likes you.”
“You’re crazy!” Melina scoffs.
“I’m not crazy. He’s being very polite, giving you plenty of room. But every time I looked at him, he was looking at you. Every single time.”
Melina blushes furiously. “Well… even if he does, I’m not ready.”
“I know that. I suspect he does too. But I think he is definitely interested in you. Cute too.”
Rose watches as Melina’s face scrunches up. “Rose, I can’t! I miss Tim so much!”