Chapter 29
CHAPTER 29
At the small voice coming from the stairs, chaos broke out when Jace and Catori looked up at the figure coming down the stairs. When they ran towards the young girl, they stopped short when she retreated back from them behind Rameriez and Taz.
“Aiyannei! Oh baby, I’m so sorry. We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Catori cried out, going down to her knees in tears as she looked at her daughter who was different, yet the same.
“They told me you sold me to them,” the young girl said softly.
“What? Mom would never sell you to them. She thought she had been protecting you from them all this time. I wish you had come to me. You know if I had known I would have stepped in,” Jace said loudly, hurt at his sister’s comment.
“Where’s Enola?” she asked again, looking away from Jace.
“Aiyannei, I’m Detective Pratt, and this is Detective Diesel. We work with the women who rescued you recently. Your mom and brother have been looking for you and for Enola. She was kidnapped a couple of last week. Can you tell us what you remember about your kidnapping and what has happened to you?”
The women waited for Aiyannei to take her time in talking to them. They knew the young girl was overwhelmed since she was just informed her baby sister was now missing too.
When she broke down in tears, Rameriez pulled the young girl in her arms and held her as she cried. Both of them slid to the floor with Rameriez’s back against the wall, using it to rock the distraught girl side to side.
“W-when I got off the bus, Citali was waiting for me with another man. A white man. I wasn’t the only one they were hurting on the reservation. They were blackmailing a couple of other women on the reservation as well. The white man with Citali wanted the girl I was friends with. Their dad was demanding they produce an offspring with someone to cement their places on the reservation so that when the child was born, they could take out our grandfather.”
“Did they know that you and your siblings weren’t Iyei’s?” Pratt asked, sitting on the ground with Rameriez and Aiyannei.
“Yes,” she answered softly. “It was why Citali and Anam abused us. They knew that we weren’t Iyei’s.”
“Wait, how would they know that?” Tarilyn “Taz” Cortez asked as she looked around the room.
“Iyei can’t have children. That’s why their father is demanding that Citali or Anam produce a child with myself or Enola.”
The room grew quiet at Aiyannei’s quiet admission as they looked over at Catori who looked at her daughter in confusion. Apparently, that bit of news was not known by Catori either.
“Why do you look confused by that?” Diesel asked Catori, whose eyes were wide in shock.
“B-because one of the women he was cheating on me with said she had a child that he fathered…”
“Aiyannei, who told you that Iyei couldn’t have children?” Taz asked softly.
“Citali and Iyei did. He had an accident when he was a child that caused him damage. It’s why he has to take some kind of pill just to have sex. They were making fun of him a lot when they abused me and Enola. They would say that they were showing Iyei how to handle his women. They said it was also a way to stick it to our real father. They said our real father was Warcloud. Is that true?” Aiyannei looked over at her mother and Hosa Warcloud waiting for them to answer.
“Y-yes. I’m sorry Aiyannei. I didn’t know. I didn’t know any of it. Had I known I would have stepped in and taken you girls, Jace and your mother away from them,” Warcloud squatted down in front of her, tears in his eyes.
“Mom?”
“It’s true, sweetie. I never told him that you guys were his. I thought I was protecting you by staying with Iyei. I never knew what was going on. I thought I was protecting Hosa from your grandfather by staying with Iyei. I’ve failed you all.”
When Catori started crying, Warcloud pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. He kissed her head and murmured to her softly that she was not a failure. The women watched Jace and Aiyannei for their reactions for what they were seeing.
They knew they had bigger problems than just the four in front of them. They now worried that Chief Blackfoot was in danger since Gabe Alberty had a few of the elders in his pocket.
“Jace, were you able to get in touch with your grandfather?” Diesel asked, keeping her eyes on Warcloud and Catori.
“Yes. He’s had his personal guards that he trusts to escort Gabe and Anam off the reservation and they are with him. He has four guards that he trusts with his life. I can vouch for them.”
“Even if they were offered more money than your grandfather can pay them?” Pratt asked, looking over at Jace.
“What are you thinking?” Catori asked, looking up at the two women.
Before either one could answer, York and the others came into the room. York looked around at her teammates giving them a look that let them know everything was taken care of.
“Taz, get Oz on the phone. Have him, if he is able to, check satellite images at the address that was known as Citali Alberty’s hide out. Also, have him check into Chief Blackfoot’s personal bodyguards. While Jace and the others may trust them, I’ve seen people turn for next to nothing.”
“You really think he’s going to go after my father?” Catori asked, moving out of Warcloud’s arms.
“Yes. Alberty’s world is falling apart right now. His plans are out in the open and the cartel is not to be fucked around with. He’s made promises to them, and it all hinged on him getting control of the reservation and the casino. His whole plan is now in disarray. Your father has already kicked him off of the reservation and given strict orders that he is not allowed in the casino. His plan is falling apart faster than he could have planned. He is also now aware that the girls have been found. That’s how they were able to find out about Aiyannei’s return to Montana. We’ve also dealt with his inside contact in California.” Sgt. Brocard explained to Catori.
“So, what do we do now?” Jace asked, looking around the room.
“Once we have confirmation of where the Alberty’s are, and that your grandfather is safe, we go after them. Full frontal assault,” Diesel answered without hesitation.
“What about the white man that was with Citali the day they took Aiyannei?” Taz reminded them as she dialed Oz.
“Have him check into known associates,” Sgt. Brocard ordered. “Aiyannei, can you work with Diesel to describe the white man?”
“Yes.”