by Faith Gibson
“They can. But what if sweet Sadie changed into something worse?” Spyder held up his hand. “Again, playing devil’s advocate. We all know people do things they don’t want to in order to survive. What if she went along with Alvarez in the beginning because she had no other choice, only to find she didn’t care what they did or who they hurt as long as she and her son were safe? If I ever have a child, I’ll move heaven and earth to ensure he or she is safe.”
Hayden pushed his chair back and stood. “And I’m saying the look she gave me wasn’t one of a woman content. She didn’t look at me like she knew I was one of the many men in the club who wanted to be her husband. Who wanted to be the one with a beauty like her on their arm. She wasn’t smiling or smirking. Mercedes Alvarez wasn’t happy.”
“And you got that from a two-second glance?” Spyder asked.
“Yes, I did. You know as well as I do that Gryphons have a sixth sense about others, and mine was telling me to grab her and run. And that was before I noticed the mole. Before it dawned on me she was possibly Sadie Rodriguez.”
“Let’s take a step back.” Jericho pulled both sheets of paper across the table and studied them. “Let’s assume Mercedes is Sadie and she’s innocent. What would your handler want you to do in this situation?”
“She would want us to get Sadie and her son somewhere safe before taking out Juan Carlos.” Hayden stretched his head side to side, popping his neck.
“And if we find out she isn’t innocent? Would your handler be okay with you letting her live?”
Hayden couldn’t answer that. He had never met Quinn Shepherd. Ryker was in charge of the mercenary jobs they took, and he was the only one who’d ever met Quinn and her father. “I honestly don’t know. I doubt she would get paid for the job if we didn’t follow through, but we also don’t know who put the hit out on Alvarez or why. If it’s a rival drug lord, he or she wouldn’t care if Sadie is innocent.”
Jericho turned sideways in his seat so he could see Hayden where he stood by the window. “If it’s a rival drug lord, they’d probably do the job themselves. Alvarez did that very thing with Ramirez, and now he’s living in the other man’s home. I can’t help but wonder what happened to Ramirez’s family. Did Alvarez off them too? Or did he pay them to disappear?”
“Let’s hope it’s the latter.” Hayden had never given much thought to the workings of a drug cartel. Most of his family’s dealing had been with the cults. “If it isn’t a rival who put the hit out, then who? Spyder, did you get anything from Antonia while the two of you were cozied up on the dance floor?”
“Other than a hard-on? No.” When Hayden growled at the male, Spyder laced his fingers behind his head, grinning. “What? She’s a gorgeous female who was rubbing all over me. But no. She wasn’t interested in making small talk. I was hoping to do a little interrogation when she dragged me to the back of the club, but before I could start asking questions, one of Alvarez’s guards showed up, so I made a hasty retreat.”
“Yeah, I overheard part of that conversation. It was intense. He said Antonia was there to do a job, not swap spit with some gringo.”
“I have been called worse, but we never got to the swapping of spit. As for the job, I would say she’s responsible for watching Mercedes. The whole time we were dancing, she rarely took her eyes off the other woman.”
“Maybe she was watching Juan,” Jericho said.
Spyder waved a hand down his body. “Why would she have her eyes on that old man when she could look at me instead?”
Hayden always enjoyed Spyder’s playfulness, but in that moment, he ignored the question and returned to the table, leaning his forearms on the back of a chair. “When Antonia and the guard were arguing, she said she was going to tell her brother about the way the guard was talking to her, and the guard said Mr. Alvarez was the one who sent the guard after her. There was nothing in the information Quinn sent about Juan Carlos having a sibling.” Hayden’s phone pinged with a text. When he opened the message, it was from Henry. The male had managed to do the age progression photo. “I was right.” Hayden turned the phone around so the other two males could see it. The drawing he’d done earlier was almost identical to the image on his screen.
Jericho turned and propped his arms on the table. “I still think you should tell Dominic his sister’s alive. He has a right to know.”
“You think he’s going to be happy when we tell him how we found her and why?”
Hayden knew what Spyder was getting at, but he also knew in his gut the woman wasn’t like her husband. “No, and I doubt he’s going to be happy to find out his sister’s married to Juan Carlos Alvarez and they have a son together. I say we get the proof we need she’s innocent, then tell him.”
“And how do we do that? I’ve never gone up against someone like Alvarez. I’m used to going after the crazies in the Ministry. They aren’t heavily guarded,” Jericho asked.
“Some of them are. The compound Ryker’s mate escaped from was being supplied with enough rifles to start a small army, thus the need for Spyder to hunker down with his waitress.”
“Not my waitress.” Spyder stood and stretched his arms over his head, then twisted at his waist. “I say we figure out how to take down Alvarez, then when the smoke clears, we talk to Mercedes and use our Gryphon voice on her to get the truth. It’s the only way to know for certain she’s honest about her part in her husband’s dealings.”
“It helps that he’s moved to New Laredo. Crossing over the border to get to him was going to be a hassle. How about if we use our Eagles to watch the estate and establish patterns of both Alvarez as well as the guards. I don’t want to try and take him out in a club or somewhere equally as crowded. If Maveryck can take out Natalia’s mob family, I don’t see why we can’t do the same thing here.”
“Natalia’s cousin didn’t have as many guards as Alvarez does, but I agree we should attempt to go after him at home. You want to go do a flyover tonight?”
Hayden pushed away from the chair. “Absolutely. My Gryphon is antsy anyway. Jericho, you coming with?”
“Like you even have to ask. Let me grab my pouch.” Hayden and Spyder had left their bags in the SUV. Being able to carry their clothes while in Eagle form was much better than worrying about being left naked should they needed to shift quickly. Jericho returned from his bedroom, and the three males piled into the SUV.
The estate Alvarez had seized from Ramirez sat on approximately five acres with a Spanish-style house nestled in the middle. From the air, Hayden counted six guards stationed around the perimeter. The home was a sprawling single-story structure with a courtyard in the front and a large pool in the back. There was a massive patio separating the pool from the house. The half of the patio closest to the building was covered and contained sofas and chairs surrounding what appeared to be a gas firepit. The open area was lined with chaise lounges and a couple tables with four chairs each. Umbrellas in bright colors were currently closed. Hayden could imagine Sadie resting on one of the chaises while her son splashed in the water.
No thinking of a bikini-clad female. Focus.
Shit, his Gryphon was right. He had to first figure out how to get inside the house and take down Alvarez and rescue Sadie. Then he could think about other things. Things he shouldn’t be considering since he didn’t know what kind of woman Mercedes Alvarez was deep down.
Being in their Eagles gave the males plenty of time to scope the house, but after an hour, Spyder got their attention, and the three of them retreated to where they’d parked. After shifting back, they got dressed.
“With the house being one story, it’s going to be hard to get inside without being seen.” Spyder shook his long hair out before securing it in a low ponytail. “Not impossible, but we need to watch during the day as well. I can’t imagine those six males remain in one place more than a few hours at a time. They have to take breaks, so we need to figure out their schedule.”
Jericho bent down to tie his boots. “We also
don’t know how many are inside. We do know that Alvarez leaves the house often at night since my guys have seen him at the clubs more than a few nights over the past couple weeks. As far as I know, this was the first time he took Mercedes with him. If we can catch him gone, it’s possible we could get Mercedes and the boy out of the house first.”
Hayden liked that plan. “That’ll piss him off, and a pissed-off male is liable to make mistakes. We’re going to need somewhere safe to take her if we manage to rescue her, though.”
“Rescue?” Spyder narrowed his eyes. “Careful, Havyk. I know your gut is telling you she’s innocent, but we don’t know that. I don’t want you getting your hopes up or letting your guard down where she’s concerned. We have to play this smart as well as safe.”
Hayden knew Spyder was right, but that didn’t mean he would treat the female harshly if or when they got her away from Alvarez. Nor would he allow Spyder to treat her that way either. Instead of arguing, he settled on a partial truth. “I’ll be careful, but until we have proof she’s guilty, I’m going to assume she’s innocent. I hope you’ll do the same.”
Chapter Eight
Mercedes
The temptation to hide out in her suite was great, but Juan insisted Mercedes and Mateo join him for breakfast. That wasn’t unusual. What was odd was the fact that Antonia wasn’t present. The female rarely left them alone, and Mercedes wondered if it had to do with the argument from the night before. If Juan was pissed, he didn’t show it. Her husband was more chipper than usual.
“I have some calls to make, so give me an hour, then I’ll join you two by the pool.”
“We’ll be waiting.” Mercedes had hoped to swim alone with Mateo, so she didn’t rush away from the table. She had long ago gotten used to leaving the dirty plates for someone else to clean up. When she first came to live with Juan, she’d tried to help out, but he informed her that wasn’t necessary. She was there as his “guest”, not to work. She didn’t want Mateo to grow up never learning responsibility, so she at least had him put his toys away in his room every night.
Mercedes and Mateo had been outside over an hour when Juan finally joined them. Instead of sitting next to Mercedes, Juan joined their son in the pool. He might be a bad man, but he did love his child. Mateo loved his father too. That was one thing that made Mercedes miserable. Knowing if she ever got the opportunity, she would be taking Mateo from a parent he adored. But the boy was too young to understand the kind of father he had. The things his papa did to make money.
She kept hoping work would call Juan away, but he continued to play with their son. Since she didn’t have to keep an eye on Mateo while he was swimming, Mercedes flipped over to her stomach so she could get some sun on her back. It was also so she didn’t have to look at her husband. Before she closed her eyes, Mercedes noticed Antonia standing inside the door, watching. The other woman’s eyes were trained on Juan and Mateo. Sure, she was a guard, but Mercedes thought it odd just how closely she watched her brother. Juan’s words from the night before came back to her. “Just because I took you in doesn’t mean I have to keep you around.”
Mercedes knew nothing about Juan’s family other than both parents were deceased. With her being married to the man under the circumstances she’d come to be with him, Mateo would never know grandparents. Her mother had no idea she was a grandmother. Hell, she didn’t know Mercedes was alive and well. Dominic had no idea she was living practically down the road. If he was still in the area. She had no doubt he would take her in if she were to get away from Juan because that’s what family did. Or should do. Was Antonia grateful to her own brother for getting her out of a bad situation? Was it gratitude which made her watch him so closely? And why did she dislike Mercedes so much? Mercedes had been a kid when Juan kidnapped her. The other woman hadn’t been so blatant in her hatred until Juan married Mercedes. And when Mateo came along? It was as though Antonia thought Mercedes got pregnant on purpose.
If Mercedes thought telling her sister-in-law the truth would help, she would. But Mercedes would never utter a harsh word about Juan to the woman because she had no doubt Antonia would turn around and tell Juan. That would accomplish nothing good. Not for Mercedes anyway.
Instead of thinking about things she couldn’t change, Mercedes let her mind wander to the stranger from the club. She had often allowed herself fantasies of being rescued by a handsome, faceless man, but now she had a face to go with her fantasies. Eyes the color of a cloudless sky filled her daydreams. She hadn’t been able to check him out thoroughly, but in her fantasy, the man had a hot body under his tight pants. She had caught a glimpse of ink on his chest. Mercedes imagined tracing tattoos with her fingertips. Or her tongue. She let herself believe sex with someone like him would be enjoyable. That he would take his time making love to her instead of using her for his own pleasure, which with Juan was more often than not rough.
Mercedes really should stop reading articles in her magazines. The words of other women made her wish for things she couldn’t have. Gave her ideas of having a life completely different than the one she was living. Sure, she had all the things money could buy, but those weren’t the things she craved. Mercedes wanted love. Friendship. Freedom. Things she would probably never have.
A shadow fell across her body taking the sun’s heat. She opened her eyes and turned her head to find Juan standing beside her chair. He was drying off. Mercedes flipped over, not wanting to be in such a defenseless position. Not that she could defend herself from her husband, but she liked to be able to see his face. To gauge his moods. In that moment, he appeared as happy as she’d ever seen. When he took the chair next to hers, he waved his hand in the air. One of the guards approached with a tray of drinks. Whiskey for him and agua de fresa for her and Mateo. The strawberry-flavored water was Mateo’s favorite, and Mercedes drank it without fuss. She’d rather have a soda, but those weren’t allowed in the house.
“Mateo, ven a tomar algo.” Juan held up the plastic cup. He offered the boy a dry towel when Mateo approached his father’s chair. Mateo didn’t have to be told what to do. He wrapped the smaller towel around his body before taking the drink. Mateo had his own smaller lounge chair, and he carefully climbed onto it so he didn’t spill his juice. Mercedes accepted the glass her husband had filled for her.
“Gracias.” She removed her plastic sunglasses from atop her head and put them on. She didn’t wear the expensive shades at the pool since the metal nosepieces tended to get caught in her hair.
“I have business to attend, so I will be away a few days.” Juan swirled the ice in his glass before taking a sip. Mercedes turned her head his direction, giving him her full attention. This wasn’t anything new. He often went away for days at a time.
“Te voy a extrañar,” Mercedes lied with a smile. She never missed him while he was gone. Those were the days she looked forward to most.
Juan reached out his free hand, and she took it. As much as she disliked her husband, Mercedes cherished the moments he was gentle with her because they were few and far between. She hated the man, but she was starved for affection. Blue eyes flashed in her mind, and Mercedes smiled for real. If Juan thought the gesture was for him, all the better.
“Yo tam in te voy a extrañar, Papá.” Mateo would miss his father, and that hurt Mercedes in ways she tried not to think about too often. The boy loved the man he thought his father was. Then again, Juan had never been anything but wonderful to Mateo. Mercedes didn’t understand how one man could have two faces. Be two different types of man. The loving father who sold drugs to other people’s children. Did he not care that someone else’s child was getting hooked on the product Juan was selling? That he was enabling others to ruin their lives? All so he could live in a lavish home, drive expensive cars, wear thousand-dollar suits? Then she thought back to her own father. The man who raised her had given her away to pay a debt. He had never doted on her the way Juan did Mateo, but never in a million years would Mercedes have thought him capable
of trading her to save his own hide.
“Y yo te voy a extrañar, mijo. A ti y a tu Mamá.”
Mercedes didn’t think Juan would truly miss her. Mateo? Yes. But her? Juan didn’t spend much time with Mercedes when he was home, so his words didn’t ring true. She figured he was paying lip service so their son wouldn’t know his papá didn’t love his mamá.
One of the guards approached, staying several feet away. “Sorry to interrupt, Sir, but there’s a phone call for you.”
Juan released her hand and stood. His phone calls always took precedence over family time. Juan wrapped his towel around his neck. He ruffled Mateo’s hair and told the boy to be good while Juan was gone. Mateo smiled up at his father and promised he would. Without a word to Mercedes, Juan strode into the house with the guard following. Mercedes let out a sigh and leaned her head back, turning it to look at her little boy. Her innocent child who had no idea the world he lived in.
One day, Mijo. One day, I’m taking you away from here so you can live a normal life. One with friends. With family not likely to get you killed someday.
Hayden
“Alvarez is on the move,” Jericho said after disconnecting his phone. “He, along with several guards, left the estate and drove to a small airfield where he boarded a jet. If you want to grab Mercedes, I’d say now is the best time. She and the boy are out by the pool.” Jericho had called some of his cousins who were part of the Hounds of Zeus MC Laredo chapter to watch the house overnight.
Hayden knew Jericho was right, but they didn’t have a solid plan. “We don’t know how many guards Alvarez left behind. We need some sort of distraction to get them out of the house. And then we still won’t know if Mercedes is alone.”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” Spyder pulled a T-shirt over his head as he walked into the living room barefoot. “We need to purchase some guns.”