Gayle’s words warmed her. “I don’t know what to say. Thanks, you have no idea how much it means to hear you say that. Don’t get me wrong, I miss him like wildfire. It’s hard getting to sleep some nights, I ache for this man. But I’m not chasing after him. And everything I did for him, I did because I wanted to, he doesn’t owe me anything.”
Gayle shook her head. “Like I said, you’re a class act, he won’t find any one like you in a long time.” She left the office and closed the door behind her.
Tamara stared at the door for a few minutes. “Forget it, he could at least send a text,” she muttered, pulling out her phone.
With a few keystrokes she typed a message, changed it a few times until it sounded harmless, like she wasn’t mad or pushing for contact. “Hi, how are you and Kevin doing?” She couldn’t make it any more generic than that. The message sounded like something she’d send any of her girlfriends.
Her heart plummeted as she reread the text. Why would she send her man a text that she’d send her girls? That didn’t sit right. She couldn’t swallow it. Why couldn’t she just tell him she missed sleeping in his arms? Or sitting on his lap feeding him snacks late at night? Or just talking during their favorite television game shows? It’d sound like pushing and she couldn’t lay that on him right now.
Tamara erased the text and shoved the phone in her bag. Grabbing her files, she headed for the door.
“You leaving,” Gayle asked as Tamara walked through the reception area.
“Yes, cancel or reschedule my appointments. I’m going home.”
* * * *
After three hours of spontaneous spring cleaning of her three guest bedrooms, Tamara walked into Reclamation and headed for the restaurant. Head aching, she took the first empty seat in the back and rested her forehead on the table. What had she been thinking? It had been years since she pulled some of those boxes from her closet and went through them. Every part of her body hurt from her cleaning frenzy.
“Hi honey, how you doing? I haven’t seen you around in a while. Everything okay?” Beth asked.
Unable or unwilling to raise her head, Tamara mumbled. “Cleaned my house.”
Beth laughed. “House cleaning, it’ll get you every time. You need something strong to drink, something that’ll bring your head off the table.”
Tamara lifted her hand and waved her agreement.
Beth laughed, walked off, and returned much too soon.
“Here you go, Sugga. Crystal made you something special.”
“What?”
“Reclamation Tea. Her own creation. She’d have to tell what all she put in it, but everyone who’s had one left here smiling. Taste it.”
Tamara propped her head with her palm and looked at the straw in the purplish concoction. “This is some kind of tea?”
“Reclamation style. You want a club sandwich or something else?”
“The sandwich is fine.” Tamara took a sip of the fruity drink, appreciating how it played along her taste buds. She took another sip. “Mmm, good.” She straightened in her chair and with a few more sips, finished the glass. “I want another one.” Looking around, she noticed Beth was busy with customers, and decided to go get it from the bar herself.
“Be right back,” she called to Beth, who smiled and nodded. Although crowded, Tamara reached the bar without knocking into anyone. Crystal smiled at her while filling a glass of beer.
“You like the tea?” Crystal asked when she came over.
“Yeah, it tastes like fruit punch, kinda.” Tamara rolled her tongue to identify the flavors and couldn’t. “Anyway, I want another one.”
Crystal nodded as she looked over Tamara’s shoulder. “Tell you what, I’ll bring it to you in the restaurant.”
Tamara frowned at the flash of yellow in the mirror. “No. I want to take it with me.” She noticed Crystal’s gaze followed someone behind her and turned. Three men walked side by side without greeting anyone or being greeted. That struck her as strange. She turned to say something about it to Crystal, but the woman had left the bar. Cody and Mark came alongside her, and the three of them jumped on the men, tackling them to the floor.
Tamara screamed and covered her mouth as patrons moved tables and chairs out the way, and watched in silence. Even though the guy tried to fight, Mark beat him down with a few well placed punches, which came as no surprise. Tamara wasn’t surprised to see Cody pick the guy off the floor and drag him away limp and bleeding. But Crystal shocked her to silence. The small woman's punches landed so hard and fast the guy couldn’t defend himself. When he lay limp and bleeding, Crystal dragged him out just as Cody and Mark had. The whole thing took less than a coupla minutes. Even now, people were moving chairs and tables back in place while talking about how fast Mark, Cody and Crystal were.
No one appeared shocked or fazed that three men just got their asses handed to them and had been drug someplace in the building. That level of brutality shocked her. It didn’t escape her notice she’d been the only person who screamed when the fight started. Neither Beth nor Charlene came to see what was going on.
What the hell kind of place was this? Suddenly sober and energized, Tamara grabbed her purse and headed for her car without looking back.
Chapter Twenty-six
Max got the call from Brock that Mark allowed three men to enter Reclamation and took the club into amber alert. When that light flashed in the main room, everyone knew something was about to happen and staff was on top of it. Red meant get the hell out of there.
Terri and her daughter Mickey were at the house visiting when the call came. Kevin didn’t want Max to leave. Tempted by the frightened look in his son’s eyes begging him to stay, he stooped and picked Kevin up. He was pleased with the steady weight gain and color in his cheeks. He placed a kiss on Kevin’s forehead. His son was slowly returning to the fun-loving boy he’d been before Helen made him a fugitive on the run. “I’ve got to go take care of something, I’ll be back. Aunt Terri and Mickey are going to stay for dinner, show them where we keep everything.” He couldn’t expect his team to administer justice in his absence. He needed to see it through.
“I want to go with you.” Kevin tightened his arms around Max’s neck.
“Not this time, Chipmunk. We’re going to the movies tomorrow, okay.” He patted him on the back and nuzzled his cheek.
Kevin nodded and walked over to his cousin when Max put him down. Terri stood nearby and smiled when Mickey took Kevin’s hand, and they sat in the living area pulling out toys.
“He’s going to be fine, it takes time,” Terri said. “You may need to redecorate his room, but in time he’ll be ready to sleep alone again.”
Every night since his return, Kevin slept with Max and refused to go into his own bedroom. According to the doctors, it would be several weeks before he healed completely, even now he grew tired quickly and would whine as he fought sleep.
Max had pushed everything aside, allowing Brock, Crystal, and Charlene to run the business while he focused on his kid. But there were some things they couldn’t do. Like deal with Baretti. That was a chapter Max alone needed to close, and he’d been waiting months for this chance.
They’d expected some form of retaliation and had kept an eye out as well as kept their loved ones safe. Max specifically chose the guy to ghost Tamara and keep him informed of anything out of the ordinary. Mark kept Charlene near home. Even Adele had been sequestered until the threat from Baretti was over.
Max had to give it to the man, sending his men into Reclamation had been a gutsy move. But it was time to end this dance. Max was certain Baretti watched every move he and Brock made. It would surprise them if Baretti didn’t show up today. He prepared a welcome for the man with a sampling of Uncle Sam’s finest.
“Are you okay?” Terri asked, searching his face.
He moved back a few steps. While he appreciated her help with Kevin, Max had no desire in being anything other than a friend, whereas she’d hinted she was open to mo
re. He wasn’t interested in anyone who shared his ex-girlfriend’s gene pool. When he told Terri in specific terms they’d only be friends, she played it off saying he misunderstood. He hadn’t, but let it go.
One woman occupied his thoughts and he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Now that Kevin was no longer in danger of long-term challenges which had absorbed every second of his day, Max had time to think. He missed Tamara. She must think he’s a total loser after all she’d done to help him. He'd disappeared once he found his son.
It seemed each day he meant to call, to check on her, to hear her voice, but something always came up, and before he knew it the day was over. As excuses went, that one didn’t even rank. Beth told him he was crazy to let Tamara slip through his fingers and that it only took a moment to say hi, or I’m thinking of you. One night, Charlene brought over dinner and would barely speak to him over what she called the mistreatment of her friend.
They were all right, he knew it. Why he couldn’t make the call he didn’t know. He and Tamara had gotten to a point where he needed to make a decision to commit a hundred percent or let go, especially with his son in the picture. He refused to bring just anyone into Kevin’s life, his son had been through enough. So had he for that matter. When he didn’t return her last call until the next day, she’d been politely distant. Tamara hadn’t called, or sent any more messages, or dropped by. She’d left him alone, which surprised him. Most women would’ve pushed or let him know what they thought of his behavior.
Tamara raised the standard for any woman he’d allow in his life. Sexy, smart, independent, and one hundred percent female who stood by her man through good and bad times. So why was he so hesitant to cross that line? To build a future with her? He didn’t know.
“I’ll be back later,” he called over his shoulder while grabbing his keys and walking stick. He was much better but needed a little help sometimes.
“Okay, if you’re not back after dinner, I’ll give him his bath, that way he’ll be ready when you get home.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her no, he’d do it later. But yelling at Terri wouldn’t help. Perhaps she sincerely wanted to help her nephew. Besides she wasn’t the cause of his rotten mood, or twitching dick. He missed his woman. That was his problem. Not seeing or talking to Tamara had gotten under his skin. The thought that she’d moved on had robbed him of sleep the past few nights. He had never been this indecisive and it drove him crazy.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Max walked across the warehouse, nodded at Skinny, and left his walking stick leaning against the wall outside. Straightening, he snatched the door open and strode inside.
“What we got here?” he asked Brock while eyeing the three men lined in a row, each tied to a chair.
“These are the men who decided to visit Reclamation last week. They’ve been our guests while we waited for their boss to come pick them up. Shows just how he feels about them, he never showed. I guess worthless trash is easy to come by these days.” Brock pushed two heads forward from behind. Jace pushed the third head.
“Who’s their boss?” Max asked, walking back and forth in front of them.
“Small time hood, Vincente Baretti.”
“Never heard of him,” Max said. Brock tapped his earphone and Max nodded. “If he’s not coming to pick up his trash, why are they enjoying our hospitality?”
“Just waiting for the final word to erase,” Brock said, staring at Max.
“If their boss thinks they’re worthless, then they’re worthless to me. Erase them.” Max opened the door, grabbed his stick, walked a few steps with Skinny, and stopped at the sound of footsteps.
Max glanced at his watch, he was going to be late getting home tonight.
Hearing a tell-tale click, he fell to the floor and rolled in the opposite direction toward the heavy equipment Brock had strategically placed in the open space. Skinny rolled in the opposite direction and took cover as bullets flew around them. One by one, Baretti’s men fell as the snipers hidden in the rafters took them out.
“You’re a coward, Delgado. You killed an old lady whose only crime was loving that little boy more than you ever could.”
Max held up his hand, stalling the snipers from taking out Baretti. He wanted to hear what the man had to say. As far as he knew, Helen was in jail without bond because she was a flight risk. Although Max suspected the DA kept Helen locked up to save her life. A lot of his associates would slit the old woman’s throat for her misguided actions and not blink.
“You messed over the wrong person and you’ll pay for that,” Baretti yelled.
Max signaled for the guys to find him and bring him in. If the man didn’t have anything useful to say, they could wrap this up.
A few moments later there was some scuffling, a clanging sound as though a gun hit the floor, the sound of flesh hitting flesh, and then nothing. Max stood with his hands behind his back holding his cane. Skinny walked over and they waited.
Baretti was a few years younger than Max, but you couldn’t tell. He had a hard look about him. One that said he’d seen more than he should. Max placed him at six feet, muscular, reddish blond hair and pale blue eyes. He looked more like a Stevens than a Baretti. Blood trickled down his nose as he stood between Sweet and Trapp.
“Bitch,” he snarled at Max. “She loved your kid more than you and that tramp that birthed him ever did. You should be in jail for all the shit you did to that boy, you damn pervert.”
“Release him.”
Baretti rotated his shoulders and rushed him. Skinny stepped aside just as Baretti swung. Max moved to the side, felt the breeze from the missed blow and punched Baretti in the stomach, hearing the wind as it left the man’s mouth. Baretti’s eyes widened as he bent forward. Max swung to clip him beneath the chin. Baretti dropped to the ground before Max’s fist connected, the forward momentum caused him to move closer to Baretti. Before Max could move his leg out the way, Baretti pulled on his ankle, causing him to fall forward.
Max dropped the stick and fell on his fingertips as if doing push-ups and pushed against the floor to roll out the way, and landed next to Baretti who lay sideways trying to breathe. Lifting his elbow, Max power slammed it into the other man’s back, sending his face into the floor again. Leg throbbing, Max reached for his stick.
Baretti grabbed one end.
Max punched him in the side.
“Owww…” Baretti released the stick and tried to curl into a ball.
Brock walked out the room. The three men wore sacks over their heads. Jace, Skinny and Sweet escorted the men to the SUV in the back of the warehouse.
“That him?” Brock asked, bending forward and pulling Baretti up by the back of his shirt and jacket.
“I think so,” Max said holding the stick in his arms. “He never introduced himself.” Max watched Skinny and Jace pick up the bodies and throw them in the back of the SUV. Another team would come in later and clean the place. When they were done, there would be no signs of anything happening here tonight.
“He matches the photo I got from Adele.” Brock shoved a bag over Baretti’s head while Trapp placed the plastic cuffs on his wrists.
“Wait a minute… what the fuck?” Baretti yelled as Trapp pushed him forward. When he fell on the ground, Trapp picked him up and carried him like a sack of potatoes to the SUV. Instead of allowing him to sit next to the other men, Trapp tossed him in the back with the dead. Max shook his head when he heard Baretti scream, and then it stopped. Trapp had the situation under control and waved them off.
Max’s leg ached but he refused to take anything. “Where’s Adele?”
“In the cabin, Asheville. There’s a problem, we may need to look out for her a little longer.”
Max released a long sigh. Jose had to be laughing at them right now. “When is there not a problem with Adele?”
Brock chuckled. “You’re right. But this is serious. She’s pregnant.”
Max closed his eyes and exhaled. “You�
�re shitting me?”
“No, I had it verified. She claims she was making the extra money so she could leave with her kid. Now she doesn’t have enough.”
“Who’s the father? Why can’t he take care of it?”
“She won’t say. She’s being real tight-lipped about that part of it.”
Max rubbed his neck to rid the tension. “I don’t want to deal with Adele. Give her some money and send her away.”
“Will do.” Brock walked with him toward the exit.
“Have the guys get a free meal at the club on me later. I appreciate all their help,” Max said, stepping outside.
“No problem, I’ll pass it on. You headed home?”
Max had thought about stopping by Tamara’s but decided against it. “Yeah. Terri’s there and I need to relieve her.”
Brock nodded. “Okay, Chief. I hope you’ve noticed I’ve stayed out of your personal business, haven’t given my opinion at all. Been real quiet about the things I’m seeing.”
Max exhaled and leaned on his stick. “Whatever you have to say, I’ve already heard it. I’m in this bubble and having a hard time breaking through. Eventually I’ll figure it out, I will.”
Brock slapped him on the shoulder. “Good to know. Hope it’s not too late.” He walked off in the opposite direction, leaving Max standing alone.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Tamara and Gayle stopped by Reclamation to pick up a cake and a few platters of appetizers for a small get-together at her place later that evening. It had been three months since Max had rescued his son and kissed her. The excuses she’d made for him left her cold, so she stopped and accepted reality. He wasn’t into her as much as she’d been into him. Truth hurt, but it also allowed for healing.
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