CHAPTER TWO
The bastards tried to kidnap my baby sister. Just thinking about it filled Eddie Calabretta with a combustible combination of concern and rage. Since his sister was now safe, that left him with mostly rage.
He checked his watch again. Seven hours and thirteen minutes—that’s how long it had been since he’d gotten the call.
Someone tried to snatch twelve-year-old Violetta, his youngest sister, from right in front of his mamita’s house. The home he’d help build for her after his papi died. The place where his family gathered to celebrate and reminisce.
His day had started like most others. He was in the locker room talking smack to his teammate, Boone Langston.
They were about to set off on a morning training run with the rest of their team when Eddie’s phone rang in his locker.
Before he’d even ended the call, he was already running to his boss’s office.
He’d explained the situation to Cole Lambert, who was not only his boss at the Dark Ops division of O’Halleran Security International but an old friend from their days working deep undercover at the National Security Agency, the NSA.
Cole and Luna Pannikos, their incredible ops center specialist, immediately went to work to get Eddie to South Texas as soon as possible.
Normally, they would fly him in the corporate jet.
Unfortunately, it was currently at OSI’s location in San Francisco, and it would take too long to get to the Dark Ops airstrip in Virginia.
Instead, Luna got him on a commercial flight into Valley International Airport. From there, it would be an easy fifteen-minute drive to his mom’s house.
Eddie stared out the plane window at the flat landscape, made up of a patchwork of fields in varying shades of brown, tan, and green. They came closer and closer until he jostled in his seat when the plane touched down on the tarmac.
They taxied to the gate and rolled to a stop.
The pilot’s deep voice came over the PA. “Ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated.”
The pilot, first officer, and flight attendants had all been given a heads-up regarding the urgency of Eddie’s trip and agreed to let him get off the plane first.
He unclipped his seat belt, grabbed his duffle from the overhead compartment, and hiked the strap onto his shoulder. He made his way to the front and waited until the lead attendant stood and unlocked the door.
“Thank you, and please pass my thanks on to the rest of the crew.”
“You’re welcome.” She swung the door open. “Good luck.”
He nodded, took off down the jetway, and flew past the gate agents. He maneuvered his way through the mass of humanity lined up and waiting to board the next flight, ran past the multi-tiered fountain in the middle of the main terminal, and didn’t stop until he arrived at the rental car lot.
Luna had arranged to have his car waiting up front so he wouldn’t have to waste time zigzagging the lot trying to find the right one. The employee went through his spiel, handed Eddie the key fob, and told him to have a good day.
He thanked him, tossed his duffle bag onto the back seat, and climbed in behind the wheel of the SUV. He fixed the mirrors, fired up the engine, and left the lot as quickly as possible.
There was no need for a GPS—he knew this area like the back of his hand. For a year, almost every weekend, he’d made a two-plus-hour trip that took him right past the airport.
Memories of shuttling back and forth, making that long drive just to see Lucia at college, were bittersweet. They’d been so fuckin’ in love until—
Eddie tightened his grip on the steering wheel, reminded himself why he was there, and shoved away the painful memory. A few minutes later, he turned onto the highway ramp that would take him to his mom’s house.
Fifteen minutes later, he pulled up to the curb in front of her place and cut the engine.
He checked up and down the street before getting out of the car.
In his rearview mirror, parked by the curb three houses down, he noticed a dark green, four-door pickup with lights on the roof and a gold badge emblem on the door.
He reached to the back, yanked his duffle over the seat, and climbed out of the SUV.
Eddie made eye contact with the deputy, who gave him a slight head nod, letting him know he’d been anticipating his arrival.
He made his way up the paved walkway to ring the doorbell. He had a key, but since he’d never actually lived in this house, it felt weird just walking in like he did at their old house when he was a kid coming home from school or from playing outside.
She would say he was being silly, but whatever.
The door swung open, and Mamita stood there, arms wide, a big smile on her face.
“Eduardo!” Blanca Calabretta stepped out and wrapped her arms around his body. “It is so good to have you home.”
“Hi, Mamita.” He held her close and, since she was smaller than he, her face only came to the middle of his chest. “I got here as fast as I could.”
“So many times I have told you to just let yourself in, you silly boy.” She squeezed him good and tight.
“How is Violetta?” He held her at arm’s length and bent his legs to bring him to her eye level. “And be honest with me, Mamita.”
“She is a little shaken up, but you know our little Violetta. She is so strong-willed.” She patted his chest, and there was a proud twinkle in her eyes when she spoke of her youngest child.
Who was he kidding? She had the same twinkle no matter which child or grandchild she happened to be speaking about.
His mom and dad always referred to Violetta as their happy surprise, since she came much later than their other children. Eddie was twenty and already in the Marine Corps when she was born. And there were thirteen years between Violetta and their next-oldest sister, Fernanda.
When she was a baby, all of his sisters treated her like their own personal baby doll. Eddie doted on her, too. To say she was spoiled would be an understatement, and still, she was such a sweet kid with a huge heart. But she was no pushover, either.
“Come in. Come in.” She gave the deputy a little wave, closed the door behind Eddie, and locked it.
“Where is she?” He looked around the front room and toward the hall leading to the bedrooms.
“She is at Fernanda’s house, helping her with the baby.” Fernanda was one of his sisters, and she’d just had a baby about six months ago. “We thought the distraction would be good for her.”
Eddie was the oldest of eight children and the only boy. In age order, his sisters were Reina, thirty-one; Olive, thirty; the twins, Teresa and Elena, twenty-eight; Paloma, twenty-six; and Fernanda, who was twenty-five. Then finally came Violetta, who just turned twelve a few months ago.
His folks had been very busy for a very long time.
Growing up, their house was always crowded and full of noise and loads of female drama.
For the most part, Eddie had done his own thing and didn’t give it much thought.
Except when their menstrual cycles all seemed to sync up at the same time.
That hadn’t been so easy to ignore. He likened it to being caught up in a violent sea of crashing emotions.
His father had definitely been the head of the family in all of the right ways.
And man, did he love his wife. Ergo, their eight children.
He used to stress to Eddie that when he was gone, his only son would become the head of the family.
After his dad died suddenly from a massive heart attack a few years ago, Eddie stepped up to do his best to fill the very large shoes his papi left behind.
Since Violetta was the only child still living at home, his mom decided to sell the house they all grew up in to her oldest daughter, Reina, and her husband.
Eddie had helped build the house his mom lived in now.
It was slightly smaller, had only one story, and all of his sisters lived within five miles of her front door.
After he left to join the Marine Corps when he was nineteen, he never moved back. Then he’d gone to work for the NSA and basically disappeared from their life for three years. Now, his job required him to live in Virginia and to be gone a lot to parts of the world no one could ever know about.
He missed seeing his family regularly and enjoying their big gatherings, but he loved his job with the Dark Ops too much to make a change.
“Come in. Come in.” His mom took his hand and tugged him farther inside. “You must be hungry. Let’s get you something to eat.”
“Mom, you don’t always have to feed me, ya know,” Eddie said.
“Did you hear that, Daniel?” Her hand dramatically went to her chest, and she looked up at the sky. “Your son, your only son, no longer enjoys my cooking.”
“Seriously?” Eddie rolled his eyes. “You’re tattling to Papi?”
“Hey, whatever it takes.” His mom winked and headed toward the kitchen. “I just made a batch of tamales and was about to take some enchiladas out of the oven.”
“You started cooking as soon as I said I was coming, didn’t you?” He stepped into the giant kitchen, built exactly to her specifications. And there had been many, because she was happiest in the kitchen when surrounded by her family and friends.
“Oh, you … hush up and wash your hands.” She pointed toward the sink, grabbed a couple of hot pads from a drawer, and opened the oven. “Ah, perfect, if I do say so myself.” She lifted out the same roasting dish she’d used for years and set it on a trivet on the large island.
Cheese and sauce bubbled, and the aroma of home cooking filled the room.
She lifted the lid off the slow cooker, and steam rose from the tamales.
“Oh, man, that smells amazing.” Eddie closed his eyes and filled his nose with the incredible aromas that reminded him of his childhood. His mouth began to water in anticipation of that first bite, and he hurried over to the sink and washed and dried his hands.