Max shrugged. “We don’t know why. Adele’s in and out of consciousness, so it’s hard to get answers. The rape happened thirteen years ago.” He stared at the man’s stricken expression and frowned. Could someone from Sergei’s past be after Adele? How’d they know the child was his? Too many questions.
Sergei nodded. “She acquaints that attack with this recent one.” He paused. “Have you found the man who touched her?”
“Not yet.”
“I want him,” Sergei said.
Max nodded at the simple request.
“We found this.” Brock showed him a picture of the pin. “Have you seen this before?”
Sergei shook his head. “No, but I will be aware from now on.” He met Max’s gaze. “How is she?”
“Disoriented, the baby is growing and she cannot get comfortable. Plus her pain meds are limited, which she complains about. In the hospital, she had a pump that she used for pain. The doctor said it was the highest level of pain relief they could give her without affecting the baby. Sometimes, that wasn’t enough.”
“May I see your files for the attack?” He asked Brock.
“Yes. Stop by my office and I’ll let you see what I have. To be safe, we need to check out anyone holding a grudge against you. Make a list and we’ll check them out.”
Sergei nodded. “I would like to see her.”
“Okay. Adele is almost five months, what are the chances you’re the father of her child?”
“Good.” He returned Max’s gaze and didn’t say more.
“If you’re the father, any reason why someone wouldn’t want your child to live?”
“None that comes to mind. I have enemies, but most are not among the living.”
“The note threatened her life if she gave birth to the child… any ideas on that?” Max asked.
“No. I would like to see her now.”
After a moment Max nodded. “Follow me.” He looked at Brock. “I’ll see you in the morning.” Tomorrow he planned to talk to Maria again. If anyone knew the father’s name of Adele’s child, her only friend would. The challenge would be getting the woman to talk to them. Brock felt Pascale could help.
On the way to the safe house, Max called Tamara to check in. After making sure Adele was good for the evening, he planned to stop by the club and then go home.
“Hi baby,” Max said happy to hear her voice.
“Hi. This is your daddy on the phone, I need to say hi to him and then I’ll come right back,” she yelled.
Max smiled, glad she and Kevin got along so well. Since she picked Kevin up that first time, his son asked for her to get him every day. Tamara didn’t seem to mind and the two of them were home when he got there, which made his day.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, we ate early and are playing some game. I’m losing by the way.”
He chuckled at her matter-of-fact tone. “He plays all the time. How was your day?”
“Good, a few bumps, lost a couple clients, but that’s the way it happens sometimes. How’s Adele? Did you get her settled?”
“Yeah, this morning, she’s at a secure location. Soon as I check on everything one last time, I’ll be headed home. I miss you.”
“I miss you too, although I need to warn you I’ve got some work to do when you get here.”
Disappointed, he wouldn’t be able to ravish her right away, he kept his tone even. “Okay, no problem. I’ll eat and get Kevin ready for bed so you have some quiet time.”
“Sounds like a plan, be careful and hurry home.”
He clicked off and contacted Brock. “Sleepers? Tell me what you know.”
An hour later, Max pulled onto the dirt road leading to the safe house. Two miles from the paved road, he pulled into a drive way sheltered by trees. Since he’d called ahead to inform Skinny and the others of Sergei’s visit, he wasn’t surprised to see the garage door opened and waved the man inside. Max walked into the garage after Sergei parked and together they entered the house.
Skinny nodded at them both and closed the garage door.
“How’s she doing?” Max asked.
“Charlene had all kinds of food here, so she ate a bit and lay down. Got up to go to the bathroom a couple times, but otherwise stayed in her room, resting I suppose,” Skinny said and continued reading some gun magazine.
Sergei looked around.
Max pointed to the hall. “This way.” He led the way to her room, tapped on the door. “Adele?”
“Max?”
“Yes, can I come in for a minute?”
“Okay.”
He waited a few seconds and then opened the door into the dim room. She lay beneath the covers and turned to look at him. “Is everything alright?”
“I was resting,” she said.
He nodded and looked over his shoulder. “Sergei is here, he’ll be staying to help with your security.”
Her eyes opened and then the lids drooped halfway. “Sergei? He’s back? When? He didn’t call or come to see me. Are you sure?”
Max stepped out of the way, Sergei stepped into the room.
“I’m here, Adele.”
She gasped and reached for him.
Max closed the door.
Chapter 18.
“Max, I’ve been trying to reach you,” Terri said on the phone. He looked at Tamara across from the breakfast table and frowned. It was too early to deal with Terri’s drama. Since he took her name off the contact list at Kevin’s school, she had been pissy with him.
“I’ve been busy. What’s up?”
“Tamara tore up the contract, I lost a sale because of her. Now I’m stuck in this house...” Max placed the phone next to Tamara’s ear so she could listen. He didn’t want to hear it. When his lady’s jaw tightened, and her eyes squinted, he knew Terri crossed several lines.
He waited for the explosion, fully prepared to back Tamara in every way. Although he hadn’t heard anything about a contract, he knew his woman operated professionally.
“You lying, whining bitch. Max has more important things to do than listen to your lies. I’ll be blocking this number.” She clicked off and handed him the phone.
Max noticed her hand shook and her pinched mouth. “Baby, don’t let her get to you.”
“She called to what? Tell on me… like I’m Kevin or something… what kind of…” She waved it down. “You know what? I’m not going there.” She told him what happened yesterday.
“Whacko, runs in the damn family. Except for Beth,” he said.
“I’m done with them, Max. Do not include me in any plans with Terri. I mean it,” she said through clinched teeth.
“Done. I’m with you. Our family, you, me and Kev. We’re good, right?” He looked in her eyes, smiling. “Come on, baby, give your man a smile.” He kept teasing until she released her fist and jaw, favoring him with a smile.
“Gayle thinks I’m too soft.”
“You’re not. Be you, not someone’s image of you. I’m in love with that woman.” He leaned across the table and placed a kiss on her mouth.
“Mmmm, jelly?” he licked his lips.
Tamara laughed. “Get Kevin, I’ve got to get to the office. Bernard Wilson is coming by.”
“Who?”
“Viola’s brother-in-law, they contacted me yesterday, she’s back in town and wanted to talk with you. You were busy when I called. She seemed a bit pissed, but he shrugged and escorted her out the building.”
“So why’s he coming to your office?” Max took a bite of muffin and waited.
“Not sure. He asked me to dinner the other night, I said no, told him about you and that we don’t date other people.” She winked at him.
“You still haven’t told me why he’s coming to your office.” He didn’t like the idea at all.
“Something about a house.” She grabbed her bag and stood. “Baby, I’m spoken for, and the way I’m walking this morning screams it loud and clear.”
He watched her swing
her hips and grinned thinking of last night in bed. They’d had a wild time. Damn, he was lucky.
His phone beeped.
“Brock?” He stood and headed toward Kevin’s room. They needed to get moving.
“I’ve been looking over the names Sergei texted me this morning. Like he said most are dead but there are a few with long memories and large nets. I could see two of these men holding a grudge and going after Sergei, but that would mean they’d been watching him and Adele for months, waited for him to leave town and sent the note. Plus, why threaten the baby and not the woman, or just go after him?”
“Maybe an eye for an eye thing, who knows? Lots of psychos out there. We need to check them out to eliminate them.”
“So Serge’s a possibility?”
“Not sure yet. What do you think?”
“Feels off. They’ve got something going on, she trusts him and he’ll protect her with his life, but I don’t see his enemies coming after her kid. Doesn’t ring true.”
Max pulled his son out of bed and herded him into the bathroom. “Maybe not, but get Skinny on those names. “We meet with Jace at the office in one hour to go over the information he found about the pins.”
“It’s not much. Just like I haven’t been able to find much on the sleepers. Total silence, which means there’s something we’re not supposed to know. Right now, we may have better luck with Sergei’s enemies.”
“We can tap Pascale again. The more we learn, the more I think someone is feeding us information and leading us away from the truth.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I’ve got to get Kevin in school, I’ll tell you at the office. We need to rethink a few things.” He disconnected, dressed his son quickly, grabbed his keys and left. Breakfast was served at the daycare for another hour, and Kevin preferred to eat with his friends.
Max strode into Reclamation and headed for his office. Quiet, the place allowed a man a chance to think. He looked out the window onto the empty parking lot and Feeder Road beyond, corralling his thoughts. They missed something. Something important, but what?
A few minutes later he sat at his desk, went over his notes and everything he recalled about the break-in. No matter how he sliced things, everything centered on the note threatening her life. Jace arrived thirty minutes later and Brock followed shortly.
After quick nods of greetings, Max pointed. “Tell me about the pins.” He looked at Jace.
“Like I said on the phone, Sir. I think these pins belong to a special group of military men, different branches. Haven’t been able to get that confirmed, no one’s talking. I have a friend of mine who’s a collector looking into it, should hear something back soon.”
Max nodded. He turned to Brock. “Sergei’s enemies?”
“Vicious, they would’ve killed her and not sent the note. I don’t see them playing this type game.”
Max steepled his fingers beneath his chin. “So… four days after the assault of our brother’s wife, we have what? Nothing? A pin we cannot trace, sleepers with guns and no idea why they shot at my car, a woman with no memory of who impregnated her and the police investigation? What do they have?” He looked at Brock.
“Not much more, no prints, no material from his clothes. There was some skin beneath her nails from where she scratched him but no suspects to match. Nothing else. They’re stumped as well.”
Max waved away Brock’s comments. “That’s normal for the cops. We missed something. Get comfortable. Let’s start from the beginning.” He looked at each man as they sat forward in their chairs.
“With Charlene’s visit?” Jace asked.
“No… no we start with the first safe house. Adele was afraid of Baretti, we offered protection, that’s when she admitted to being with child, correct?” Max looked to Brock for confirmation.
“Correct. She claimed earning extra money to leave town was the reason she worked for him. But the other day she said he was her friend. The wife said Barretti brought Adele to live with them after the rape thirteen years ago. Why would she be afraid of him if they were such good friends?” Brock asked.
“Good question. What if she’s pregnant by someone in their organization? What lengths would they go through to keep the affair quiet?” Max asked.
“Again, they’d just kill her and be done with it, not send notes to threaten her. The notes make it personal, like someone who doesn’t want to hurt her, but will if she pushes. Franks said they were supposed to take her, not kill her. The people Barretti worked for and Sergei’s enemies wouldn’t be that lenient,” Brock said.
“I agree,” Jace said. “Why send a note? Why not just cause an accident? She wasn’t in the safe house that long. Why wait until she’s so far along to get rid of the child?”
“Maybe like us, they just found out. To me, Adele’s baby bump appeared overnight. I didn’t know about the pregnancy until Brock told me,” Max said warming to the ideas running through his head. “So whoever threatened her discovered the pregnancy recently and then scrambled to do something. They had to know it was too late to abort, so are they now willing to kill her?” He looked at each man.
“Could be waiting in the wings to get another chance,” Jace said.
Max snorted, remembering the glint of retaliation in Sergei’s eyes. “They’ll have a nasty surprise waiting for them if they do. Serge’s not going to allow anyone close to her. Puts my mind at ease a bit knowing he’s there.”
“Adele asked for protection when she told on Baretti, she never mentioned a threatening note… or did she? Who would she have told? Baretti? His wife? Pascale? Who?” Max looked through his notes. “If anyone knew it would’ve been them.”
“Okay, she tells them someone threatened her life. How does that tie into anything? Baretti’s not orchestrating revenge on her behalf,” Jace said.
“I don’t recall the wife saying she knew about the note, do you?” Brock said looking at his Smartphone.
“No, I don’t. Okay, scratch that. Assuming she told the truth, and was afraid of Baretti, are there any records of domestic violence on him? Maria doesn’t look like the kind of woman who’d take a beating, but look anyway.”
“Will do,” Brock said booting up his laptop.
“So… someone, the father of the child perhaps, sends a note telling her to abort, then sends someone to assault her, but they were careful not to hit the stomach area. Why not?” Max looked at Jace.
“Either they didn’t want trauma to the child or they didn’t want to kill her, just rough her up some,” Jace said.
“Right, it doesn’t fit the cold blooded killers who’d be after Sergei or Baretti for that matter,” Max grumbled. There had to be a reason for the attacks, the dots had to connect, but how?
“I’m assuming since you left Sergei with her, he’s no longer a suspect,” Jace said into the silence.
“Never considered him as a suspect, he’s been out the country, just returned. Plus the types who’d come after him would’ve taken Adele not threatened her. Brock’s right about that,” Max said.
“Well, here’s something interesting. Seems Baretti’s wife called the cops on him twice, domestic violence. Granted, the last time was two years past, but it proves Adele had good reason to fear him. Perhaps the man was bi-polar or something. A good friend one day and someone who flew off the next,” Brock said.
Max stared at his desk thinking over the possibilities. Adele and Barretti. Adele and Sergei. Could be either one. Given Sergei’s absence, Baretti seemed the rational choice. Maybe he didn’t want to kill her because of their past friendship, and gave her a chance to fix things.
“Wait, Pascale said she got the note before Vincente went missing, and then we had her in hiding,” Brock said. “Which means they knew about the baby before Barretti disappeared… not after. He could’ve been the father, and tried to clean it up.”
Max shook his head as the conversation with Pascale came back to him. “You’re right, damn. But the sleepers? The
y wouldn’t work for Baretti.”
“Maybe he had a partner. His men stepped into Reclamation as if they owned it that day. Plus, he stayed two steps ahead of us during our investigations, it’s possible he had some help from our side,” Jace said in a somber tone.
“Not our side,” Max snapped. “Whoever helped that son-of-a-bitch had nothing to do with my family or friends.”
“Of course, Sir. I meant there could be other parties that we haven’t thought of, that’s all.”
“You’re right, Jace.” Max slapped his desk and stood. “Attacking pregnant women, hiding in the dark, no honor, no dignity, those bastards are scum.”
“True,” Brock said standing. “But for now, let’s have another conversation with Pascale. If you recall, our last conversation was interrupted and he never answered many of our questions.”
Max grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. “How right you are. Let’s talk to the bastard.”
Chapter 19.
“Two visits in one week and here I thought you didn’t like me,” Pascale said as Max and Brock took a seat at the table in the same restaurant they met the day before.
“For the record, I don’t like you,” Max said, as he leaned back in his seat while identifying the man’s bodyguards. Jace remained with the car in case things got testy and they needed to leave in a hurry.
“For the record, we have that in common. Why are you here?” Pascale’s voice hardened.
“Adele, need some information on a mutual concern,” Brock said.
Pascale snorted. “Mutual my ass. You don’t give a damn about her, she told me how she cleaned toilets and stood in the cold waiting to talk to you… Mr. High and Mighty. Your hypocrisy smells like the bullshit it is.” He crossed his leg and eyed Max.
“Hypocrisy?” Max chuckled. Although the words spoken stung, he knew better than to let on they hit the mark. “Adele worked for her lover, spied on me for him. When I confronted her about it, she lied and begged for a job, any job to make ends meet. What do you do to people who betray you in your business, Pascale? Huh?”
They stared at each other for a few moments and then Pascale waved the comment away. “She wanted the money Vincente owed her to leave town. Claimed she received a note threatening her if she had the child. I told you this.”
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