Chapter 20 Lexi
TWENTY
LEXI
"Come here,” a woman said as she extended her arm into the kitchen, “let’s get you something to drink while you wait.”
I shook my head mindlessly. “I don’t know if I can put anything in my stomach at a time like this.”
A bubbly young woman with rich skin and thick hair smiled as she bounded toward the kitchen table. “Come on, Hayley might be pregnant, but she makes a mean smoothie. Can I have one of those banana matcha mocha ones you make?”
Hayley giggled as she kept staring at me. “That’s Ruby, by the way.”
I nodded mindlessly. “Lexi.”
Hayley reached for my hand. “Then, at least come sit down. Maybe the smell of me making some smoothies will turn your stomach for the better.”
As I mindlessly sat down at the table, I watched as Hayley started pulling out all sorts of ingredients from the cabinets and the fridge.
Other women came out of all orifices of the spaces that surrounded us, and I realized that Dean wasn’t kidding.
There were a lot of women, and even a few children, at the warehouse.
And as I leaned back, I dug the heels of my hands into my eyes.
Before a drink touched down in front of me.
“There,” Hayley said as she rubbed her very pregnant stomach, “just try that for me. If you don’t like it, I can make you something else.”
I reached for the drink and took a small sip. “Holy fuck, mm-mm-mm. This is amazing. What is it?”
Hayley smiled as she turned back toward the blender on the kitchen counter. “I’ve gotten very good at smoothies during this pregnancy. My morning sickness didn’t stop after my first trimester, so I’ve had to find ways around my apparent disgust for solid food.”
I snickered as I pulled out my cell phone to check and see if the dot had moved at all. “Girl, preaching to the choir. I think I was sick just about every day with Natty until I hit thirty weeks.”
She turned around and held out her fist for me to pump. “Pregnancy champions, for the win.”
I bumped her fist with my own. “Here, here. But I still want the recipe for this drink.”
“Honestly?” she asked as we stopped in front of a door.
“It’s pretty simple: I put yogurt in the freezer to freeze it up and give it the consistency of ice cream.
Then, I scoop some of that into a blender with cubes of ice, half of a banana, some dark chocolate chunks, the matcha blend, and the smallest hint of dragon fruit to offset the bitterness of that chocolate. ”
“Ugh,” I said as I took another pull, “no wonder this drink is heaven. Dragon fruit is my absolute favorite.”
She gasped. “No. It’s my favorite thing in the whole world. I have a basket of them in my room just to snack on.”
I leaned closer toward her. “What would a girl have to do to snag one of those?”
She grinned as she handed out drinks to the other women. “I haven’t had a movie marathon in ages. Everyone here is so stressed that they don’t want to watch them, but that’s how I wind down.”
“You got any Disney?”
She scoffed. “What kind of question is that? Of course, I’ve got Disney.”
I smiled as I leaned back in my chair, checking my phone once more. “Then, count me, my daughter, and my best friend--Chloe--in. You know, once they get back and all.”
I kept refreshing the screen aimlessly, but every time I did the dot only seemed to get further away instead of closer to me.
My stomach sank. I only drank half of my smoothie while the girls picked up theirs and cleared out, leaving me and Hayley alone as she eased herself into the chair in front of me.
And as she gulped away, I forced myself to put my phone down.
“Frost is a good man. I’ve known him for many years now. And if he says he’s bringing your little girl back, then that’s what he’s doing,” she said softly.
I closed my eyes. “I know.”
She scooted her chair around the edge of the table until she sat next to me. “Would you like some company while you watch that little dot on the screen?”
Relief washed through me as I quickly turned my phone over. “Thank fuck you’re not going to try and make me put this shit up.”
Hayley swatted me playfully. “Girl, I’m a mom. I know better than to do that. But, drink that smoothie for me. We’ll watch this like we watch any other movie, okay?”
I reached for my drink. “Deal.”
While the two of us sucked on our straws, I watched aimlessly as the little dot stopped moving.
I zoomed in on the picture and panic dripped my gut as I realized that Natty’s phone was somewhere in the woods.
Jesus, she had to have her phone on her.
The woods were her hiding place all the time when she was a child.
Even now, she always wanted me to take her camping or to the beach.
Her peaceful place had always been outside, in the middle of nature, and I gulped down my smoothie as I watched the blinking dot move.
Then, ever so slowly, it started moving in the opposite direction.
“What’s that?” I asked as I stood to my feet.
Hayley stood with me as she hovered over the table. “It’s moving.”
My eyes widened. “It’s moving toward us!”
“Ruby!” Hayley exclaimed.
A clamor happened in the hallway before the tanned woman poked her head around the corner. “What’s up?”
I picked up the phone and whipped around. “The dot is moving toward us!”
Ruby’s eyes widened. “I’ll call Diego. I’m sure he’ll have information for us.”
Hayley pulled her phone out of her back pocket. “I’m calling Stone now. He doesn’t ever not pick up unless they’re in the middle of a firefight.”
I blinked. “Wait, a what now?”
Hayley shook her head. “We’ll talk about it later. Right now, we need information. Is that dot still moving toward us?”
“Diego!” Ruby yelped as she pointed to her phone.
I rushed over to her. “Put it on speaker. Please?”
She quickly did as I asked. “Diego? You there?”
The man chuckled. “Hey there, sweetheart. Is everything okay?”
I cleared my throat. “The dot is moving. It’s moving toward us. Does that mean that you guys found my daughter? And Chloe?”
“Here,” Diego said, “why don’t you ask the man of the hour? Hey! Frost!”
My heart leapt into my throat as phones started shuffling around. But, the second I heard his clear-cut voice, tears wafted down my cheeks.
“Hey there, beautiful,” he said.
I sniffled. “Please tell me you have Natty.”
“I do. I found her. She was in the woods trying to run away.”
I let out a soft sob. “Jesus Christ, thank God.”
“What about the other woman?” Hayley asked over my shoulder.
I blinked as my mind snapped back into gear. “Yes, where’s Chloe? Did you find her?”
And when Dean sighed, I knew it wasn’t good. “Natty said that they were ambushed. We’re still looking for West, but Natty was insistent on the fact that some guys took her. I don’t think we’re going to find her out here.”
“Oh, no,” Ruby murmured.
“Chloe,” I whispered.
Hayley started rubbing my back. “Can we talk to the little girl? I think it would help to hear her voice right now.”
And without another word spoken, my daughter’s voice filtered through the phone. “Mommy?”
I swallowed down my crying. “Hey—hey there, princess. How are you? You doing okay for me?”
The sound of her voice was so broken, and it shattered my heart. “They took Auntie Chloe, Mommy. Why did they take her? I don’t understand.”
Another tear escaped down my neck as I tried to process the fact that the cartel had my best friend.
“I love you, honey. The men you’re with?
They’re going to bring you safely back to me, okay?
I want you to do what they say and hang on to the man that found you very, very tightly. Can you do that for me?”
She drew in a broken breath. “Uh-huh.”
“Good. That’s good. And when you get here? I’ll have a new friend of mine, Hayley, make you the best smoothie you’ve ever had.”
She patted my back softly. “On it. What are your favorite flavors?”
Natty sniffled. “Mango and pineapple?”
I peeked over my shoulder. “Did you get that?”
Hayley giggled as she started pulling everything out. “Loud and clear. One mango pineapple smoothie coming up for the very big, very brave girl.”
And as my daughter’s voice faded away, Dean’s came back to my ear. “We’re headed back to the warehouse. We’re maybe fifteen minutes out. We’ll see you soon, okay?”
I swallowed hard. “We’re going to find Chloe, right? Tell me we’re going to find her.”
“You have my word on everything that I am that we’re going to find her.”
I drew in a deep, stable breath, because I knew I’d have to be strong for Natty once they got back. “Get back here with our daughter. I want to hug her neck.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Then, reluctantly, I handed the phone back to Ruby.
Before I stumbled into my chair at the kitchen table and waited.