Esther’s eyes began to water, and she started coughing.
Velma spoke up. “Florence, there is no way we’re not going to finish our discussion of Lori’s new book.”
Esther finally caught her breath. “But, Honey, after that, Fifty Shade’s of Gray would be a wonderful pick.”
Chapter Eleven
“That Esther woman is just evil,” Aliana laughed as Hunter opened the door to her hybrid.
Hunter put the two bags of food in the backseat next to Mrs. J. He wasn’t in the mood to laugh. He took out his cell phone and texted Dalton to call him. He’d had enough downtime as far as he was concerned. They needed to find a safe house for the women, stat.
“This isn’t the way home,” Aliana’s grandmother noted.
“Nope, it isn’t. We’re going to a hotel.”
“No, we’re not Hunter Diaz,” she said in an awfully firm voice for such an elderly woman. “We’re going to my house.”
“San Marcos knows where you live. Did you not hear that he wants to take Aliana and ask her questions?”
“I did. But you’re going to protect her. You and your friends have been doing a beautiful job so far. Please continue to do so.”
He’d take them somewhere near Shorinda’s house, that way they could visit Danica. It would be perfect. His phone rang.
“What’s up?” Dalton asked.
“The leader of Los Demonios has upped his game. Apparently, our boy Nicolas has liberated three prostitutes, and San Marcos is laying the blame at Aliana’s feet. He wants the girls back, and he plans to bring her in to question her. I need a hotel to stash her and her grandmother, preferably near Shorinda’s house. Find one.”
“On it.” Dalton hung up.
“Hunter, how bad is this? I mean you can’t take on the entire gang. It was one thing when it was just Mateo, but now it is the leader of one of the biggest Mexican gangs in East L.A.” He heard the tremble in her voice.
He grabbed her hand and rubbed his thumb along her knuckles. “You’re going to be fine.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about.”
“So is your mom and grandmother.”
“You’re not hearing me,” she whispered fiercely. “You came here thinking you could protect me, and maybe help me fight off some lowlife, but this is crazy. You can’t take them on. Nobody can.”
He continued driving, trying to avoid the numerous potholes on the major street that would take them up to Glendale.
“I admit, this has become a bit more of a problem than I anticipated.”
“Exactly. This is a move to a different state problem.”
Hunter laughed. “Cariña, this just requires a small adjustment of plans.”
“Don’t laugh,” she looked over her shoulder at her grandmother. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw that Mrs. J’s eyes were drooping. Aliana glanced back at him. “Take me to the police station right now.”
“And tell them what? That Velma’s beautician’s cousin’s aunt’s podiatrist told her that some prostitutes left town, and now, you’re a target of Los Demonios?”
“Yes,” she hissed.
“Yeah, that’ll go over well. I’m sure they’ll be Johnny on the spot to offer you protection.”
“My house blew up. I still haven’t told them all they wanted to know about that. So, if I’m honest about that, then…” her voice trailed off.
“Then they’ll take Nicolas into custody,” he finished for her.
She grabbed his hand with both of hers. “I’ve got to take Maminka and Babička and move out-of-state.”
“There isn’t a chance in hell you’re moving out-of-state. San Marcos is going down. And so is Mateo,” he said with grim satisfaction.
He thought about the teenager who had been lying on the dance floor last night. Lottie had called them from the hospital this morning to say she and the baby were doing fine. He needed one more player. Preferably someone who had been through the fire and wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He knew just the man.
***
Aliana could hear Nat King Cole singing ‘Rambling Rose’ as they walked up the walkway to Shorinda’s modest house.
“Oh no,” her grandmother said.
Aliana ran to the door and pounded.
“What is it Cariña?” Hunter called from beside her grandmother.
She didn’t hear what Babička told him because Shorinda opened the door, her dark face, stricken.
“Come in, Girlfriend.” She looked over Aliana’s shoulder. “Oh, thank God, she’s been calling for her Maminka for hours. You haven’t been answering your cell phone.”
Sakra, she’d had it on Do Not Disturb. Hunter and Babička came up behind her. She could now hear her mother shouts.
“My baby,” her grandmother said in Czech. She pushed past Shorinda and headed down the hallway.
“What happened?” Aliana asked Shorinda.
“She woke up like this about four hours ago. Unfortunately, her blood pressure is too low to administer a sedative or Valium. I’ve been playing some of her favorite music. There are certain antipsychotics that could be administered, but I didn’t bring any. I’m sorry, I effed up.”
“Has this ever happened back at the facility?” Aliana asked the worried nurse.
“No.”
“Then how could you have predicted it?”
The music stopped, then the yelling stopped, and Aliana heard her grandmother singing. Shorinda sagged with relief. She sat down on the couch.
“Thank you, baby Jesus.”
Aliana smiled slightly when she saw Hunter’s smile.
“Have you eaten today?” Aliana asked Shorinda.
“No, neither has your mom.”
“Well, we certainly have dessert covered,” Hunter said. “Let me bring that in.”
“I’m going to see what you have in the kitchen. I can make us something for lunch.”
“I planned to make fried chicken.”
Aliana laughed at Hunter’s hopeful expression. “Shorinda, you just sit and rest. I’ve got that covered. Hunter why don’t you call Dalton and Zed and see if they want lunch.”
“It depends on how much chicken you have Shorinda because if you don’t have enough, I don’t want to share.”
“In my house, there is always enough. I have a big family who comes over every Sunday. You can be damn sure my kitchen is stocked.”
Aliana was excited at the idea of cooking a meal for Hunter. She needed to get a hold of herself. Shorinda winked at her. Dammit. Was she that obvious?
“There’s the fixins’ for green beans, mashed potatoes, and cornbread. Knock yourself out. I’m going to find something on Netflix. Want to join me, Hunter?”
“I think I’m going to annoy Aliana in the kitchen. I know how to peel potatoes.”
Aliana’s tummy did a flip. “First, I’m going to go check on Maminka.”
She went down the hall and found her grandmother in a rocker beside the rented hospital bed. Her mother was smiling.
“Who are you?” she asked Aliana in Czech.
“I’m Aliana, your daughter.”
She turned and looked at her mother to validate this information. Obviously, she was in one of her regressed states.
“Yes, Láska, Aliana is your daughter.”
“She’s so old,” her mother whispered.
“Do you want me to brush your hair?” she asked her mother.
“Can you braid it?”
Aliana nodded, then went to work. Her grandmother continued to hum. When Danica fell asleep, both women sighed with relief.
“Babička, I’m making lunch. Why don’t you go and take a nap before the food is ready?”
“That might be a good idea.”
Aliana looked at the two women who were her world. They both looked so frail. Her heart broke just a little. She went down the hall and asked Shorinda where her grandmother could lie down.
“Let me show you to the guest room.”
&
nbsp; “This is lovely,” her grandmother smiled when Shorinda opened the door to the bright and pretty guest room.
“I’ll wake you when lunch is ready.”
When they shut the door, Shorinda turned to Aliana. “You know, it might not be a bad idea to have both of them stay with me.”
“Great minds think alike,” Aliana said.
***
“Looks like a pretty boy,” Zed said as he watched the big blonde get out of his Audi.
“Takes one to know one,” Dalton said with a grin.
Hunter gave his mentor an amused look. He hadn’t told him Aiden’s name for a reason. He wanted Zed to stick his foot in his mouth. Aiden O’Malley had a bit of a reputation amongst the SEALs, which is why Hunter had only said he was calling in a friend. They were all outside of Shorinda’s house on the outskirts of Glendale. Inside were Aliana and her family.
“Nice car,” Zed said.
“Thanks,” Aiden said, looking Zed up and down. “And you are?”
“I was just about to ask the same question,” Zed said looking Aiden over.
Hunter gave a tired smile. The last few days had sucked balls except for his moments with Alia, he’d needed this little break, and the ladies brigade. That had been a fucking riot.
“Chief Petty Officer, Aiden O’Malley, Second in Command of Black Dawn, and you?” Aiden drawled.
“Well, shit. Seems to me Hunter might not have been as forthcoming as he could have been when he said a friend was coming to help out.” Zed held out his hand and Aiden slowly shook it. “My name is Dante Zaragoza. I’m with Night Storm out of Virginia.”
“I know you. You’re Zed.”
Well, now that the fun was over, Hunter stepped in.
“Aiden, glad you could make it. We seem to have a bit of a gang problem.”
Aiden’s blue eyes turned navy. Hunter remembered a drunken night where Aiden had told him a bit about the gang he had dealt with in Chicago.
“What do you need?”
“This is off the books,” Hunter said.
“And I repeat myself, what do you need?” Aiden growled.
“I have an old friend who is a target of a major player up here, they’re called Los Demonios.”
“Aliana?” Aiden asked.
Fuck! Just how often had he talked about her?
Dalton clapped him on the shoulder. “You might have mentioned her a time or two over the years.”
“Where is she?” Aiden asked.
“She’s inside with her sick mother and her grandmother,” Hunter answered.
“They need to stay contained. Is this place safe?” Aiden asked.
“Yeah, but it’s too small,” Hunter answered. “Aliana is going to a hotel. Dalton has one picked out. We’re taking her there in the back of an Enterprise van and parking it underground. She’ll take the elevators up to her floor, she’ll only be on the lobby floor for a minute.”
“Sounds good.”
“How are we going to work this?” Aiden asked.
“After we get Aliana safely stowed away, we split up. We have some errands to run. I’m going to check in with an old friend of mine and see if he can give me any information on a lowlife named Mateo,” Hunter explained. “You and Zed are going to track down this asshole’s girlfriend, and Dalton will check out a guy named Rafael.”
Everyone nodded.
***
Hunter was pissed. LL was thirty-six hours past his allotted time to get him information on Mateo, and he fucking wanted the bastard under his boot. He headed over to the auto body shop in the heart of Las Nuevas Espadas territory. It took him a whole thirty seconds to unlock the padlock on the gate. Seriously, they needed to get something that couldn’t be undone with a soda can.
“Tex, all you had to do was knock,” Martin said as Hunter pushed his bike up to the car bay door.
“Wasn’t in the mood.”
“And here I thought we were friends since I took the heat for you and got the little broodmare to the hospital.”
Hunter shoved his bike into the big man, so the front tire hit him right in the crotch, pinning him to the wall of the building. Martin didn’t make a sound. If he wasn’t so pissed, Hunter might have admired it.
“Care to repeat that Tex?”
“I didn’t know she was important to you,” Martin wheezed.
“Let him go, Hunter,” LL said softly. Hunter looked up and saw LL staring at him.
“Thought I was going to get some information LL.”
A kid who looked like LL came running down the stairs holding a gun. LL looked over his shoulder. “Put that thing away, Lorenzo.”
“He’s got Martin. Who is he?”
“He’s a friend,” his father said. “Now put that away. Hunter, pull back the bike. Jesus, I’m surrounded by hotheads.”
Hunter backed up the bike, and Martin fell to the ground.
“Come on upstairs,” LL motioned to Hunter. “Lorenzo, help Martin.”
“What should I do?”
“Take him to the hospital, for God’s sake, what the hell do you think you should do?” LL shook his head and motioned Hunter to follow him up to his office.
“Do you have the information I want?” Hunter asked.
“No, I have the information you need,” LL responded.
“Sit.”
“I’ll stand.” Hunter stood next to the door.
“Suit yourself. Want a drink?” LL asked as he poured himself a scotch.
“Cut the crap and tell me what you think I need to hear.”
“San Marcos has a hard-on for Aliana.”
“Great, thanks for pointing out the obvious, I think I’ll leave now.” Hunter turned to open the door.
“Hold up. It’s not because he thinks she’s extracting his whores. It’s because of how she’s turned his son against him. Hell, he knows his kid did it. He’s just telling his men it’s her.”
Hunter turned back to stare directly at LL. “How do you know this?”
“I have someone on the inside.”
“I thought you said he wasn’t telling his men.”
“Who said my person is a man?” LL grinned. “Look, he knows exactly what his kid is doing, and he’s proud as hell. Thinks he’s showing guts and initiative, he’s just putting his efforts in the wrong direction.”
Hunter turned back to look at LL. “What does he want with Aliana?”
“He’s told his men to pick her up because he wants to know where the bitches are hiding, but that’s not it at all. He intends to use her as a hostage to keep Nicolas in line.”
“That’s crazy. How long does he intend to keep her? Twenty fucking years?”
“His thinking is as soon as Nicolas starts seeing how good life can be side-by-side with his old man, he’ll change his tune, then he can off your girl. The final blow will be to have Nicolas off Aliana. He has big plans for his boy, and she’s fucked them up.”
“The man is insane. Has he met his son?”
“Sure he has,” LL laughed. “He thinks rainbows shoot out of his ass. He wants him to rule beside him.”
“If he thinks so goddamn highly of him, why’d he throw him away, why didn’t he raise him, himself?”
“Nicolas’ mom died in childbirth. San Marcos had her sister raise the kid. Hell, he was fifteen when the kid was born.”
That meant that Ana Garcia was Nicolas’ aunt and Mateo was his cousin. Okay, Hunter could buy this.
“I still don’t get why San Marcos doesn’t just tell Nicolas to stop his shit. Why get Aliana involved?”
“As much as San Marcos thinks his son is God’s gift, he knows his son worships your Aliana. He knows that the only way to get Nicolas to come to heel is to use the bitch as leverage.”
“LL, don’t call her a bitch again, are we clear?” Hunter flavored his tone with ice.
LL held up his hands. “No disrespect.”
“So why did he try to kill her if he had this grand plan to use her as leverage?”<
br />
“You’re still not getting it, are you?” LL asked. “That wasn’t San Marcos that was that dumb shit Mateo. That boy is many bricks shy of a full load.”
“He’s worse than that, LL. He’s a pedophile. He was raping his sister. I don’t know how old she was when it started. He needs to be taken off the board.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” LL slammed down his drink on his desk.
“Where the fuck can I find San Marcos?”
“Shit, Hunter, if I knew that, I would have taken him out years ago. I have your information on Mateo though. He lives with his girlfriend, and I know where she lives.”
“I’ve already got that information.”
“Well, shit.”
Lorenzo and Martin were gone when he got outside. He checked in with Aiden and Zed. They had Mateo’s girlfriend’s place staked out. Dalton said he’d stashed Aliana and now had something cooking. He’d get back to him. So, Hunter had some time on his hands. He knew exactly how he planned to spend it.
Chapter Twelve
When he got to the underground garage, he texted Aliana and got no response. He called her, still nothing. He took the stairs up to her floor three at a time. When he got to her door, he started out with a soft knock. Nothing. Then he pounded.
He heard a muffled ‘Hunter’ before the door was opened, which at least told him she’d used the peephole. She stood there in a towel, her blonde hair billowing around her.
“What’s wrong?” she cried.
“You didn’t answer your phone,” he pushed her inside with his body, then closed the door. Holy hell, she was almost naked. Scratch that, she was naked underneath that towel. Granted, it was a big hotel towel, but it was a towel.
“I was blow drying my hair. It’s loud, and it takes forever. You didn’t tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing.”
“Let me get dressed.”
Not on my account. But he didn’t say it out loud.
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