NAOMI
“Baby girl, he’s all right,” Ink coaxed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
She knew he was right, but …
“What if he has a nightmare and I’m not here when he wakes up?” she rasped, her heart squeezing. It took them hours to get him calmed down, which wasn’t helped when the club’s medic, Doc, poked and prodded at him to make sure he didn’t have a concussion or something worse after his fall.
Thankfully, he’d only ended up with a small bump and cut that stopped bleeding quickly, but she still feared he was hurt worse than any of them thought.
“We have the baby monitor that Royal brought over,” Ink reminded her. “We’ll be able to hear and see him, and we’re only going to be on the other side of the door. We can leave the door open, too, so we’ll hear him before the monitor.”
She couldn’t move, still staring at her son. “I’m terrified that if I walk away he’ll be gone when I come back,” she whispered. Her father and sister were dead, as were the men they brought with them, but that didn’t mean more wouldn’t come.
What if Diego sent someone to finish what her father had started.
“The guys are stationed all over the property, and the Devil’s Predators just arrived to help as well. No one is getting in or out without them knowing, I promise. Savage, Rogue, Ice, Glitch, Simba, and Jag need to talk to us.”
She knew that, but telling her mind wasn’t working. They could wait. Her son needed her. Didn’t he?
Asher took that moment to let out a soft snore.
“Come on, baby,” Ink urged her away from the small bed, and while her feet dragged, she didn’t fight too hard. She knew he was right, but it still felt too soon. When he handed her the baby monitor that sat on the dresser by the door, she clutched it to her chest.
He led her out into the kitchen and living room, where everyone was waiting for them. None of them talked, but the tension in the room was palpable.
Her eyes landed on Jag, and she pushed away from Ink and threw her arms around him. “T-thank you,” she breathed out, and he jolted. “Thank you for saving Asher and Ink.” Then she did the same to Ice, who also jolted.
Both men hugged her back, but neither replied. She stepped back to Ink and looked at the others. “Thank you all too. I … I don’t know what I would have done if none of you were here.”
“No thanks necessary,” Savage assured her. “We have a few things we need to talk to you about. You up for it?”
“Uh, yeah, but I might need to go if Asher needs me.” Ink led her over to the recliner and drew her into his lap. She relaxed into him, appreciating his silent comfort and support.
Everyone took seats around the room, with Simba and Savage seated on the couch directly across from them.
“I just got off the phone with the DA,” Simba began.
“We’ve alerted them that we’ve found your father and sister killed along with some of Diego’s men.
We’ve framed it as another rival group found out they were in hiding and took them out. ”
“And they bought that?” she asked, surprised.
“We’re very good at making sure that’s what they think,” Jag said, with a smirk. “We don’t want them to know where you are, and the information we’ve given them puts you far away. Glitch got that sorted.” He looked at the woman in question, brow arched, who smiled.
“Wasn’t hard. It won’t help their case since they wanted him alive, but they have Diego, so they’ll be content with it. And the others they’ve taken down.”
“I don’t know how they figured out where we were,” Naomi said, shaking her head. “I’ve been so careful.”
“Before she died, I got some information from her,” Ice said.
Naomi looked at him, but she could read between the lines.
He got that information out of her by force, but she couldn’t find it in her to care.
Her sister stopped being her family the day she sided with their father after he sold her to Diego.
She tilted her head, acknowledging that with no judgment.
“They didn’t know where you were until she and your father figured out that you would need to do something for Asher to keep his mind focused.
So they started looking for anyone buying a lot of advanced testing toys and activities for children. ”
Her eyes widened and she gasped. “Oh my God, the girls and Scarlett. I had them looking for things. I never even thought.” Her gaze moved to Rogue. “I’m so sorry, Rogue. I never meant for them to be in danger.”
“Not your fault,” Rogue grunted. “It’s such a fucking obscure thing for someone to look for. And they ordered it through the library.”
“It doesn’t really make sense to me, but I confirmed from their phones and searches that they were looking for specific toys being bought,” Glitch added. “It was the doctor who suggested it to your father.”
Naomi stiffened. “Of course he did. He was obsessed with making sure Asher was a genius like me. He insisted every time I saw him that I wasn’t doing enough to keep his brain active.
Insisting I use specific toys and exercises for hours at a time every day.
He looked at Asher as some kind of science experiment, not a human child.
Even as a newborn he would try experiments to see if he was showing signs of advanced intelligence. ”
“I’ve sent more information I found on him to the DA as well,” Glitch assured her. “If he’s done this to you, he’ll have done the same to others.”
She hoped they’d take it seriously, but she didn’t have much faith in the justice system.
“Right now, the DA is going ahead with the trial, and trying to get it moved up. You’ve been put on notice that they may need you to testify earlier than planned,” Simba warned.
“When that happens, we’re going to have to get you to the court they decide on as quickly as we can and without being detected. ”
“How do we do that?” Naomi asked, frowning. “And where do they think they’re going to have it.”
“They want him to pay, and the fastest way to do that is in a state with a death penalty. I think they’re trying for Texas as the final destination.
Or Florida,” Glitch added. “Either way, he’s sitting in a highly guarded prison, and when the time comes for his trial, there is discussion that he’ll be required to do it virtually to ensure that no one tries to get him out. ”
“You really think that someone would be stupid enough to stage a jailbreak in a room full of cops and judges?” Savage asked.
Naomi gave him a cool stare. “He’s the leader of a cartel faction that earns the big bosses, and himself, a lot of money.
And he has connections that no one else does.
Along with routes into the inner states and all the way to Canada for the other goods they try to get through. Trust me, they want him out.”
“They didn’t even do that shit for El Chapo when he was captured,” Savage pointed out.
“He probably tried but got thwarted. The cartels in Mexico might be alright with one of them sitting behind bars, but not multiple. The more of them the Feds get, the worse it will look,” Jag agreed.
“They won’t want to risk it.” Then he looked at her.
“And they won’t want to risk you. Out of everything, you’re the one they’re going to want to take out the most, Naomi.
And I’m not saying that to scare you,” he added when Ink snarled at him.
“But you have a memory and the knowledge of the entire inner workings of his operation. They do not want you giving that information, and that puts a target on your back.”
“Does that mean I’ll never be free of them? That I’m always going to be looking over my shoulder?” Naomi whispered, her fingers digging into Ink’s side.
He hugged her tighter. “You’re safe, baby girl,” he murmured in her ear. “No matter what, you’ll always be safe with me.”
She wanted to believe him, but the sinking in her gut was hard to ignore.
“We’ve thought of that. You can’t spend your life in hiding,” Simba said, bracing his elbows on his knees and looking at her closely.
“We want to fake your death after the trial is over. Let them think someone took you out, but you’ll be free to live your life.
Then whoever takes over Diego’s territory, you won’t even be a thought on their radar.
You’ll be able to live your life as normal.
The only thing you’ll have to do is change your name. Last name should be sufficient.”
“You want me to pretend that someone killed me?” She gaped. “What, like in the movies, someone comes up to me, shoots me even though I have a bulletproof vest on or something?”
“Pretty much. Sometimes, the simplest is the most effective. You try to go too elaborate and everything becomes too complicated to manage.”
“Hold the fuck up, you want to actually shoot her?” Ink demanded, body rigid. “No fucking way. What the fuck if you miss?”
Jag, Ice, and Simba all glared at him.
“I don’t give a fuck if you are experts,” Ink seethed. “Shit happens and one wrong twitch, one change in the wind and you’ll actually kill her. Not happening.”
“Ink,” Naomi said, turning to cup his face.
“Not happening, Naomi,” he bit out. She could see the fear in his eyes, along with the determination.
“Do you want me to live my life always on the run?” she asked. “Worrying about myself and Asher that someone is going to see and take us out? What about when he starts going to school?”
“They can come up with another way,” Ink gritted out between clenched teeth. “They want to shoot you, Naomi.”
“They want to make it so that we don’t have to worry and we can live how we want,” Naomi said. “Ink, you might not like it, but this is the only way. No one would believe it wouldn’t be a bullet. Anything else isn’t the cartel’s style. And I’m going to be in a bulletproof vest.”
“You’re talking like this is a done deal, Naomi.”