Chapter Nine
“Yo, you know that woman you brought back speaks three languages?” Bishop asked as he came into Hammer’s office.
“Really?” Hammer glanced over at the SAA, then back to his screens.
He was reviewing what had come up when he input Camila’s name into his systems. It wasn’t much.
He could see a birth certificate and, yes, her father was listed, but his name wasn’t uncommon, and since he wasn’t married to her mother, he must have previously assumed that it wasn’t the same man as the one he was looking for.
He could see that she had the Mexican equivalent of a high school diploma, but he couldn’t find any records of her attending school, either before that or after.
That was telling. Especially with the news that she spoke three languages.
“What’s her third language, do you know?”
“Portuguese.”
Hammer blinked as he slowly turned to look at Bishop.
“You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. She mentioned it to Winter, who sent me a text. I went and talked to her, and she confirmed. Think it will help?”
“We’ll see. We need to be sure we can trust her before we have her do much for us.
” Hammer turned back to the screens. “I’ve only talked to her a little, most of that with Bulldog this morning.
She seems to have no loyalty to her father.
And from the little bits I’ve pulled from what she’s said, I can’t blame her.
It seems he had her trained to be a wife or mistress with thoughts of using her to make some kind of alliance, to tie himself to another group by becoming part of the family.
I can’t know without time, but having someone who can translate the Portuguese would be easier and likely far more accurate than the muddling through I’ve been doing.
” He clenched his teeth, then forced himself to relax.
The last thing he needed right now was to give himself a migraine.
He scrubbed one hand over his face and took a deep breath then turned to the SAA.
“How do we know if we can trust her? How do we know she won’t take everything she learns about us and take it back to her father?”
“I don’t know that there’s a way to test something like that, at least not without a little risk.
” Bishop tilted his head to one side as he watched Hammer, making Hammer feel a little bit like a bug under a microscope.
He ignored the urge to move or fidget and continued to watch Bishop instead. “What’s your gut say?”
Mine! It was what his gut had screamed when he found her curled asleep in her bed in her father’s hacienda.
He’d heard that same scream this morning when he’d woken with her in his arms. Not that he was ready to tell anyone that, not even Bishop or Bulldog.
Hell, he was probably imagining it. He was not ready to risk his club and his brothers on a gut feeling with nothing to back it up.
“I’m not sure,” he turned back to the screens.
He avoided looking at his brother. He didn’t want to chance Bishop seeing on his face what Hammer didn’t know how to express.
He felt the other man’s eyes on him but ignored it.
“You need something?” he asked when Bishop didn’t leave after delivering his news.
“Did you have time to make sure the cameras on the back fence are still working and there are no blind spots?”
“No. I got wrapped up in my rescue mission, and I didn’t even manage to find the girl I was after.” He shook his head and opened a couple of new windows. “But let’s do it now.” He pulled up the feeds. “Want to send one of the prospects out to walk the back fence so we can look for blind spots?”
“Sure.”
Bishop pulled up a chair and sat, he called one of the prospects and they kept him on speaker while they had him move along the back fence to make sure the compound was secure.
They’d just disconnected the call when a knock on the open door to his office made him look up to where Camila stood in the doorway waiting, as if she was waiting for an invitation.
“The food is here. Winter wanted to know if we should bring it in here or if you’d rather join us out there? ”
“What is it?” Hammer asked, then changed his mind.
He hit a couple of keys and locked his computer before standing.
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s go out there.” He hated eating anything messy at his workstation, even stuff like bread that dropped crumbs.
It ended up in his keyboard and then things didn’t work the way they were supposed to.
“I didn’t know you were getting food. Thanks for thinking of me,” he said as he followed her out into the common room.
“Bishop said to get enough for both of you after he suggested we order something,” Camila said.
“Are Winter and Miranda still with you?”
“Yes.” she said without adding to it. He wondered what she was thinking. Did she want him to leave her alone or was she just not sure of her surroundings? She’d been here less than twelve hours. He really needed to give her a little space.
Winter and Miranda had already pulled all the food out and set it out on a table. As he approached, he noticed there were six places. Before he could ask if they were expecting someone else, Ashes came in. That made sense.
“Where do you want me?” Hammer asked as he reached the table.
“There,” Winter said. “Next to your girl.”
Hammer shot her a dark look before he turned to see how Camila took the comment.
She didn’t seem fazed. Like maybe she didn’t know the implications of being his girl.
It took a moment for everyone to get settled and comfortable.
Then they dug in. There wasn’t much talking while they ate.
He hadn’t thought to make sure she had something to eat after they’d talked to Bulldog. He’d have to do better.
When they’d finished eating he looked at Camila, wearing the outfit that he’d borrowed from Winter that morning and remembered the girl needed some clothes of her own. He stood, pulled out a credit card and handed it to Camila.
“Why don’t you girls go get some clothes for you? You won’t be comfortable in borrowed things for long.”
She looked up at him with wide eyes. “I can go do the shopping? I can choose what I wear?”
Hammer blinked and wondered exactly how controlling her father had been.
“Of course you choose what you wear. Get what you need. And I’m not talking about just a couple of outfits. Get all the shit you’ll need. Shampoo, lotions, makeup, whatever.” He turned around and looked at Winter. “Can you help her?”
“Sure. Do you want us going out or to order online?”
“Either is fine. I don’t think her father is aware she’s not at home, at least not yet, so there shouldn’t be anyone looking for her, but you know the rules. A prospect or a brother goes with you.” Hammer headed back to his office.
“You got it,” Winter said.
He was almost to the hall when Winter’s voice called out and stopped him.
“You want us to get her riding gear?”
He paused and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. The thought of Camila on the back of his bike did things to him, things that made him glad he had his back to the women.
“No. Don’t worry about riding gear, not yet.” He didn’t like the idea of the women buying her riding gear. He wanted to be there and help her pick out the right things.
In his office, he unlocked his computer and resumed his research.