Chapter 16 August 22, 2024 #2
By the time Medusa made the turn into Aire Estates, Nova had pinpointed the men pursuing them.
One was barely a minute behind them. The other two had found a place to make an illegal turn on the highway and were headed back toward the exit they’d taken.
If they were in communication with the third car, it wouldn’t take them long to catch up.
Loki came over the airwaves. “We’ve lost the blue line, but we’ll have to catch up with you later.
There’s no way we can make it to the rendezvous point without holding you up.
I’ll contact Janus and make alternate plans.
In the meantime, we’ll see if we can’t circle back and take care of your hangers-on. ”
“Copy that,” Medusa replied.
A sharp left turn, and Medusa was skidding to a stop in the driveway of a large mansion at the far end of the runway. A plane sat, ready and waiting, the pilot hopping inside as soon as they arrived. Eyes trained on all possible avenues to the airstrip, the men piled out of the vehicle.
“Remember what I said, belleza,” Steel said softly. “Run. Don’t stop. We will protect you.”
“And who protects you, Ildefanso?” she challenged.
“My tribe,” he said simply. “We protect each other, and by extension, those who are important to us.”
The sound of a fast-approaching car hit their ears. He smacked her on the ass. “Go!”
Adrenaline spiked, and as she saw the SUV come into view, she pushed off, heading toward the plane.
Scheherazade was on her heels. Almost immediately, shots rang out, and a quick glance behind showed a man leaning out the passenger window, firing on her and the others.
Everything in her screamed to turn and take a stand, but she also knew she was an open target where she was, stuck in the no-man’s-land between Steel’s friends and the plane. She pushed forward.
Upon reaching the plane, she hopped through the door, then turned, her weapon drawn, hoping to provide cover for the men protecting her.
The passenger dropped his gun, his body hanging loosely out the open window. Someone had managed to hit him.
A different man took his place, this time firing from the rear passenger-side window.
More than a few bullets had hit the oncoming vehicle, but it continued to aim itself at the group of men. From her position in the doorway, her pistol was unlikely to have any accuracy, but…
“Head for the plane,” she yelled.
Without question, the men took off in her direction.
TB was at the rear, trying to provide cover, but his body spun out at one point, and he nearly went down to the ground.
He’d been hit, but it was unclear where.
Managing to right himself, he ran straight for the plane.
When the SUV got closer to the vehicle they had arrived in, she aimed for the fuel tank.
Two shots later, a fireball bloomed, taking out their pursuers as well.
Nemo stood next to her in the doorway, his chest barely heaving from the run. In answer to his look of surprise, all she said was “Oops,” mimicking his comment after he blew up the safe house earlier.
He laughed. Ildefanso was just hauling himself up into the plane when Nemo clapped him on the shoulder. “I like her. Can we keep her?”
She saw the scowl pass across Ildefanso’s face, but he didn’t answer the question. “Strap in,” was all he said.
Medusa went left into the copilot’s seat, while she, Ildefanso, Nemo, Scheherazade, TB, and Demon went right and sat in their seats. It was a crowded flight, especially given TB’s large size, but it was only for an hour or so until they changed planes.
Demon checked TB’s arm and began administering first aid. The shot had gone through the fleshy part of his bicep.
“Flame’s gonna kick your arse,” Demon joked.
“She’ll cry,” the giant admitted, “but then she’ll make a big production of kissing it better.”
“Well, no letting her tie you up for a few days, yeah?”
“That’s my job, dumbass. And I’ll probably have to, or she won’t let me hold the kids. It might cause my arm to fall off.” He rolled his eyes, but there was no heat behind his words. The man clearly loved his other half.
She noticed that the others had put themselves as far away from her and Ildefanso as possible. In a small plane like this, it wasn’t that far, but it was still noticeable, given that the only one in the empty row behind them was the dog.
“Are you okay?” His voice caught in her ear, low and concerned.
“I’m good.” She flashed another look behind them. “These guys. Are they all married?”
He shook his head. “No, none of them are married. They have significant others they’re committed to. TB is probably the closest to married.”
Puzzled, she frowned. “Why is that?”
She recognized the indecision in his eyes before he carefully answered her question. “TB is a Dominant. Flame, his other half, is his submissive. She wears his collar, which is similar to a wedding ring in terms of commitment.”
Her mouth dropped open to an O shape before she caught herself. “Wow. Okay. Guess that tracks.”
“Why is that?”
“Umm… he’s huge. Scary. Grumpy.”
Ildefanso laughed for the first time since they’d reunited. It was short-lived and not full-on, but it was a laugh nonetheless.
“Believe it or not, he’s a huge marshmallow inside.
For her and their kids, at least.” He went quiet for a moment, a look of pain flitting across his features.
“You’re going to get bombarded when we get to Los Angeles, so I should probably warn you what you’re going to run into.
You won’t be expected to remember who they all are, but it might make it less overwhelming.
“So TB and Flame you’ve heard about. He’s our interrogator. Flame is a romance novelist, and they have a son named Axel, who just turned one. They also recently adopted a baby named Paris.
“Demon, our medic, is committed to our handler. Cherry. No kids.
“Nemo used to work for us as our acquisitions specialist. He and his twin, Midas, the guy on the radio, were professional thieves. Anyway, he works for Mythos with his other half, Gem, who was also a professional thief.
“Midas is our computer guy. He’s back home recovering from a bullet to the back. He and his girlfriend, Mouse, adopted two sisters from Syria, named Shakira and Ona, who we rescued earlier this year with Paris and two other little girls.”
“Why are none of them married? It would seem that, statistically, at least one or two of them would be.”
“Technically, we’re all dead. We don’t exist on paper.
We all have graves, families we left behind.
That was a condition we accepted when we came to work for Tribe.
You can’t marry a dead person. Attachments make us vulnerable.
” He took a deep breath, then exhaled, turning to face forward.
“That all sort of fell apart when Waters met Kubrick.
When the guys saw that relationships were possible, they decided not to wait around when they met someone they saw themselves building a life with. Or some semblance of a life.
“Waters, the guy you saw on the cameras, was sent to guard a film director two years ago. She’s Ka-Bar’s sister. We call her Kubrick, and they’re the parents of a pair of twins named Liliana and Catalina, those other two girls we rescued.”
Her heart stung at his words. So all the men he worked with were attached. Maybe not at first, but when they’d started pairing off, it had never occurred to him to come find her. To bring her back to him.
Thoughts like this would get her nowhere. She was a strong, independent woman. She didn’t need a man, especially Ildefanso Colonel, son of a drug kingpin, in her life.
“He left those girls to get captured by a cartel?”
He faced forward. “It’s a much more involved story than what I was able to give you.
This is much bigger than one life, and we felt it was the only way to lure out the man we’re looking for.
He deemed it an acceptable risk, and he’s counting on us to get to him in time to save him.
Once we get you to L.A., we’ll probably head out pretty quickly to try to collect him. ”
“And what will I do in L.A.? It’s not like I have anywhere to stay out there or a means to support myself.”
“You can stay at my apartment. You don’t have to worry.
There are other apartments in our building.
I’ll stay in one of those. I apologize for the sudden detour.
We’d hoped to place you safely in Chicago, but obviously that didn’t work out as planned.
It will take us a little while to come up with new arrangements since Waters will need to be first priority. ”
Place her in Chicago. Not in L.A. Not with him. The other men had women in their lives, even children, but he hadn’t said anything about himself. Did he have a new woman? Was that why he didn’t want her with him?
“And you?” she asked. “Do you have a new woman?”
He recoiled in shock. He actually looked offended at the suggestion. “What? No, Leeza! Technically, we’re still married, and I would never break my vows, even if you believed me dead and gone.”
“Oh.” Heart racing, she couldn’t produce more words.
He looked at her again. “You never dated or remarried.”
“How do you know I never dated?”
“I might have been gone, but I kept an eye on you when I could. The first couple of years, I was… busy.” His jaw twitched, like he was holding himself back from saying something in irritation.
“When I became free of my obligations and came to work for Tribe, I looked in on you and Madre. Made sure she was still safe. Broke into the house a few times, but she didn’t recognize me anymore. ”
He’d come to see his mother. Not her.
“There’s been no one,” she confirmed. “At first, I needed to find a way to make money. Witness protection covered some of the basics, but your mother needed care, and I refused to let the agency put her in a nursing home. I was convinced I could take care of her, but that meant I needed a job where I could work from home. Day care seemed like the easiest solution, and the government allowed me to work for cash. Less of a paper trail for them, I suspect.”
“You were always good with Tobias,” he told her. “You were a natural at being a mother.”
But what about being a wife? Apparently, not so much.
“It was tough at first. Eventually, it made me feel closer to him, even though he was gone.” She pushed back the tears that wanted to fall.
She didn’t cry. The only time she had in her life was the day she’d held her son in her arms as his soul slipped away.
“Between taking care of the children and your mother, that took all of my time. The only men I met were fathers, and they were all married. Even if they hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have had a relationship with a client.
And to be honest, the idea of being with someone else…
it didn’t feel right somehow.” She shrugged.
“Maybe part of me knew deep down that you weren’t really gone. ”
His face took on a pinched look, as if he found that confession too intimate. Too close to an admission that she still loved him. Of guilt.
“You should get some sleep while you can,” he told her. “Not sure exactly where we’re switching planes. I’ll wake you when we get there.”
With that, he leaned back in his seat as best he could and closed his eyes. Within seconds, his breathing evened out in sleep.
She tried to do the same, but sleep wouldn’t come.
He was here. Her Fanso was alive and well, sitting beside her. He’d known she was in danger, and he’d come for her, despite not wanting to.