54. Chapter 54
After setting Mary down at the table, I give her another kiss that ends way too fucking quickly. By the look in her eyes, I can tell she’s dying to find out what happened today, but it’ll need to wait for now. There’s no way I’ll allow the kids to overhear what we found out or what we’ve done.
Straightening, I grin at the excited looks on my kids’ faces.
“Cassie, have fun with the ladies, and when you’re done, if we’re still outside, you can come out and play as well. Isaiah, Ash, are you ready to head outside?”
“Yeah,” they both cry out, dropping the small bricks they were playing with, and I make a mental note to get some for our house.
They run upstairs and I follow after them with Timber on our heels. Right as we are about to head out the sliding door onto the back deck, there’s a knock on the door before it opens up. Tripp steps inside with Jordan and Susie right behind him. I cock an eyebrow at him because I hadn’t known he was going to be here today, but I should have guessed he’d be here. He’s had a thing for Susie for years but was always afraid to make a move since she’s Axe’s little sister.
“Hey, guys. Heard you were getting together and thought I’d give you a hand with the kiddos,” he says as he wipes his boots on the rug and follows behind Jordan, who is waving around what looks to be a new Nerf gun.
“Guys! Look what Uncle Tripp got me!” Jordan cries as he runs out the door and toward Ash and Isaiah who both look at the toy excitedly.
My gaze goes to Susie to see her reaction to Jordan, only to find her watching Tripp’s back as he walks toward us with an almost curious look before she frowns. I wonder if she realizes what she and Jordan mean to Tripp. Or if she’s only starting to realize it now that she’s moved back to Forest Creek and is around the club more.
“Come on!” Ash cries out as he runs toward a plastic box that’s on the deck and nestled against the side of the house and I quickly find out that that’s where Timber stores the other toy guns and darts, as well as some other outside toys. Hell, there are even a few targets in there for the kids to hang up.
Turning, I take in the changes to Timber’s backyard. There are two old, mature trees that are semi close together that he’s built a large treehouse that spans both trees. There’re even bridges from the first two trees out to a nearby third tree that has a platform all around the tree. Thankfully, he installed a net under everything for if the kids somehow end up falling since the treehouse, bridges, and platforms are fairly high off the ground. However, with how Timber did all the railings, there’s no way they’d be able to fit through. Sure, one of the kids could sit and stick their legs through the gap as they looked out toward the house or forest, but they wouldn’t be able to squeeze through them. Though, if they happen to climb on top of the railings or somehow fall over them, I’m glad the net is there as a precaution.
I clap Timber on the shoulder. “Damn, you’ve really gone all out.”
He grins at me. “With having Jordan, Sadie, and Lindsey here, I figured we could watch them sometimes and I could get some practice in before our trio arrives. Then, when Mary and her kids came here, I knew I’d made the right decision to build it, which spurred me to finish it quicker so that they’d have a place to play as well. Hopefully, when my kids get older, they’ll like to play up there, too.”
“I’m sure they will. Especially since they all look like they’re having a blast,” Tripp says and the three of us watch the kids play.
After a few minutes, Timber turns toward me. “How’s Mary adjusting to everything?”
I frown. “She still has some nightmares, but not nearly as many as when she was in the hospital or those first few days here. I can tell she struggles with some things, like always having the house clean before going to bed or expressing herself in certain situations. There’s been a few times where she’s had to stop in the middle of conversations to pause and process things. She still hears his voice in her head about every little thing, but she’s been working really hard at trying to silence it and to enjoy things again.
“The kids are adjusting pretty well, but Ash is having the hardest time letting go and just being a kid.” I pause as this morning’s conversation comes to mind and my hands fist at my side as I tell them what Ash let slip.
Both of their jaws tighten and almost in unison, they look over toward Ash and Isaiah.
“I don’t know how someone could be so cruel to all of them. The kids are so sweet and innocent, and yet, they have that fucker hanging over their heads like an executioner. It amazes me how resilient they are. And at the same time, I can’t wait to get my hands on that fucker for what he’s done to all of them, especially Mary,” Tripp seethes.
Timber walks over to a fridge near the toy chest and comes back with beers for all of us and I tilt my head in thanks before taking a seat.
“How’d Antonio take the news?” Timber asks and my jaw clenches.
“Let’s just say I can’t wait to see what Antonio and his son, Mateo, are going to do to Diego after finding out this new information. He completely went against their family’s beliefs and wishes with what he’s done. However, like Stephan, Diego’s now in the wind. So are a few other family members. Antonio and Mateo have frozen their accounts but doesn’t know if they have any other accounts. Smoke’s helping him look into that.
“Also, Antonio did verify that their accountant found Stephan was on Diego’s secret payroll. Apparently, Diego’s second accountant handles all the books for Diego’s side businesses, so they are going to look into it further to see if they can find any other leads.” I pause as I debate about telling them more, but then decide not to. Mary deserves to hear the rest of the news first since it directly impacts her. In more than one way. “Thor’s going to call for Church tomorrow to fill everyone in and so we can make a plan.”
Both of them give me a chin lift and we sip our beers, watching the kids run around and play while it’s still warm out.
Mary holds a sleepy Cassie in her arms as she hugs and kisses her good night. With all the kids over playing at Mae’s and Timber’s, they asked if they could have a sleepover, and Timber and Mae graciously said they could all stay there for the night. Something that I’m extremely grateful for because I know Mary will be wanting to know what happened today.
After saying good night to all the kids, I push Mary back to our house, and I’m honestly surprised that she doesn’t ask me as soon as the front door closes. We go through our nighttime routine and after verifying that the house is locked up; I lay down next to her in bed and pull her into my arms. Yet, still, she doesn’t ask.
Then it hits me.
Grasping her chin, I tilt her head up so she can see me and I can see the questions running through her mind.
“You can always ask, Mary. At worst, I’ll tell you that I can’t tell you anything, but there’s a lot I can tell you this time.”
She sighs and her body relaxes against me. “I know, but I wasn’t sure if it was something you wanted to talk about tonight or not, so I hesitated.”
Letting her chin go, I lace my fingers through hers and with my other hand, I run it up and down her back. She settles her head back against my chest and her fingers play with my chest hair.
“Like you had said, the four of them worked for Leo, who ultimately worked for X, or Kristoff Davenport. He’s the sick mastermind behind Oasis and the reason why kids, women, and hell, even some men have been going missing across the country.”
“So is Oasis the ‘O’ I’ve heard them talk about occasionally?”
“It is.” I pause and then fill her in on what Brendan had told us, as well as how Stephan had helped them.
By the time I’m done, she’s sitting upright in bed, her body tight, her hand over her mouth in shock, and anger blazing in her eyes. Then her face turns a little green and I bolt out of bed, rushing to the bathroom for a bin and quickly getting back to her side just in time to catch the contents of her stomach as she throws up. I gather her hair in my hands and hold it back out of her face. When she’s done, I get her a tissue and grab the bottle of water off the nightstand for her to rinse her mouth out. Flushing the contents of the bin, I crawl back into bed, sitting against the headboard and pull her back into my arms.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that even though I didn’t want to be, I was married to a man who is even more of a monster than I thought him to be. I had no idea.” She cries as she clutches my arm and sobs against my chest.
“We know, Mary, we know. This is bigger than anything we’ve ever done before, and after we handle Stephan and Diego, we’ll be calling our fed contact and giving him the information on Oasis. They’re stretched all across the US and into Mexico.”
“How many chapters are there for the club?”
“We’ve got twelve chapters spread across six states—Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and of course, Wisconsin. That’s not counting our allies, either.”
“What if X and Oasis try to target the other clubs because of what we’re doing? We should warn them.”
I kiss her forehead, loving that she’s thinking about everyone. “Thor sent out a message today to the Presidents of each chapter. Through Smoke and all of the IT guys, they’ll line up a time for all of them to talk on a secure line so that Thor can bring them up to speed.”
Taking a deep breath, I ready myself to tell her more bad news. “Mary… That night,” I pause as Nikos’ dead body flashes in my mind and I blink, shaking my head to clear the image. “Stephan had plans to sell you and any kids you guys had to Diego and X. Apparently, he paid extra when he found out you were pregnant because it would mean more profit for him later.”
She sighs heavily. “I know. Diego told me that night that I made him extra money since I was pregnant, but it wasn’t until a few years ago when I overheard a conversation between him, Diego, and X where I learned why and what his plans were for the kids. That’s when I started trying even harder to find a way out for us. At first, I couldn’t believe he would sell his own children, but then after I thought about it more, I realized he really didn’t care about them at all. Especially when I heard him say how he was going to cover up us being suddenly gone. He was going to find people who were similar to us and then rig the car I usually used to run off a steep hill and explode on impact. They were going to make sure it burned enough so no one would be able to recognize or identify the bodies inside.”
Mary pauses as a shudder runs through her. “I know what a possible fate would have been if Diego kept me, and my kids’ too. I’d seen the back rooms of Diego’s ‘clubs’ that he runs—I’d become one of his whores that he either sells me off to another horrible person, or he keeps me there to sell my body over and over again. My children would have been sold into slavery to be someone’s sex toy, but not before he’d make me watch as it happened. Whenever he got a mother and child pair, that’s almost always what he did. The mother had to watch her child being sold off to their new owner. I know, because they’ve made me watch a couple of times so that I’d know my fate if I pressed Stephan too far.”
Her body shudders even more and I pull her closer to me, holding her as more of her tears fall onto my chest. I had no idea that she knew the extent of Diego’s dealings, and I wish I could take away those memories for her. After a few minutes, her tears mostly subside and her breathing returns closer to normal.
“I take it Abuelo (Grandpa) now knows about how far Diego’s treachery and betrayal runs?”
Kissing her head, I sigh. “Yeah, he does. To say he was pissed is an understatement.” Pausing, I debate how to say this next part, but then realize no matter how I say it, it’s going to stir up painful memories regardless. And possibly gut her.
“Mary, do you remember your father and Antonio giving you anything after your parents divorced?”
She frowns as she thinks and then slowly nods. “Yeah. When we were packing up Mom’s things to send back to her, πατ?ρα? (dad) came across two of… some sort of knives. Each one was stored in ornate boxes. I don’t know what the knives were really called.
“When we went to visit Abuelo (Grandpa), he said that one of them was supposed to be mine, but seeing as I had never seen them before, he was confused. He said that he didn’t know why Mom never gave mine to me. Knowing what I know now, I don’t think she ever intended to give it to me because she never considered me her part of her family.” Mary pauses as she shakes her head sadly.
“Anyway, that was when he told us that they were reproductions of a family heirloom. Only the head of the family gets to inherit the original, and everyone else in the family receives a reproduction. Keep in mind, this is before we knew Mom’s family was the mafia. Abuelo (Grandpa) asked πατ?ρα? (dad) to keep both of them. He said he was disgraced by what his daughter had done to me and that she would need to earn the heirloom back, and if she did, then he would get in touch with πατ?ρα? (dad) to give it back to her. Since πατ?ρα? (dad) didn’t trust Mom not to try and get them back from us, he put them in a safe deposit box.”
I nod, taking in the new information. “That makes a few things Antonio said make more sense. He had wanted to be the one to tell you this himself, but with everything going on and what we had found out tonight, he said I could share it with you.” I pause when she shifts so that she’s sitting upright and can look at me better. When she’s situated, I take her hand in mine.
“Those knives are actually called eared daggers, which are a type of Spanish knife. The one Antonio has in his possession used to belong to his great-great-great-great-great grandfather. It is a symbol of the Vasquez family and it’s what the family crest is based on. The dagger also has another meaning within the family. You cannot work in any aspect of the family business if you don’t have possession of your dagger. You see, if a family member loses face with the Don, he can order the dagger to be returned until said person has earned their rightful place back in the mafia side of the family. Antonio’s men actually stormed Diego’s and Carlos’ estates and he took back their daggers, which includes Isaac’s since he was still living in his family’s estate. They did that a couple of days after we met Antonio at your old house. Unfortunately, that also tipped his hand that he was onto them, and all three of them are in the wind now, along with Stephan and Eileen.”
Mary’s eyes widen and her jaw drops in surprise. “What about Carmen?”
“Antonio has her down in what he called their cells. She was taken before they breeched the estates so that she couldn’t tip them off.”
She nods and then pauses. “So that’s why Eileen’s mad. She can’t work for the family because I have her dagger.” Then she frowns as she stares down at her free hand as it picks at the edge of the sheet. “However, women aren’t really allowed to work for the family, except for in one of their businesses, so I’m not sure what she was hoping to accomplish. As sexist as it is, Abuelo (Grandpa) said that the mafia is very much still a man’s world. There are a few families that employ women, but they are usually assistants to the women of the house. Though, a few are trained to be assassins or to have the women use their womanly wiles to seduce information from their enemies. Willingly of course.” She rolls her eyes and I shake my head and instead choose to focus on her comment about Eileen.
“Antonio believes the same thing about Eileen—that she was trying to worm her way into either his or Diego’s side of things, but can’t without that dagger. We think that’s another part of why she’s working at Lucia’s company. Antonio, Mateo, and Lorenzo rewatched some security footage and found some conversations where Eileen suspected that Nikos may have given it to Lucia for safekeeping. Though, I’m not sure why it wouldn’t be safest with Antonio. With being the Don, you would think he’d be able to have a secure place to put it.”
Mary frowns. “I don’t know. He could have been worried about someone somehow learning how to access his safes and taking it back. Especially, since she lived there. But what I don’t understand is, why is she going to all of this trouble for it? She’s practically a ghost right now. She could do whatever the hell she wants. Why…” She pauses mid-sentence, a thoughtful look coming over her face. “Do you think she needs it to be married off into another mafia family? I mean, Eileen was never one to put much of an effort into anything other than her appearance, clothes, and shoes. She was always about status, which didn’t make sense because πατ?ρα? was never wealthy. I mean, he had a lot more money after divorcing Mom and when he started rising in Lucia’s company, but he was never rich rich.”
I tilt my head as I think about it. “That could be her motive. Trying to set herself up for a free ride. We’re supposed to talk with Antonio some more tomorrow, so I can ask him to find out.” I squirm as I contemplate the last thing that I need to ask her. “Mary… I need to ask you something. It was posed as a last-ditch effort to get Stephan and Diego. Before I say this, I want you to know that I completely don’t agree with this, and I would much rather you stay behind the compound walls as much as possible while we search for these fuckers—”
She reaches forward, presses a finger against my lips and gives me a sad smile. “If it’s our last option, yes, I’ll be the bait to draw them out. But I really, really don’t want to go anywhere alone. I would prefer it if people were staked out at whatever location we decide on and be ready to wound them enough so you guys can grab them.” She bites her lip as uncertainty flashes in her eyes before it turns to determination. “I don’t like it, same as you, but if it’s what needs to be done to bring them down? Then I’ll do it. However, under no circumstances are my kids being bait.”
Immediately, I shake my head and gather her back into my arms. “Never.” I sigh and kiss her. “We’ll do whatever we can to prevent using you as bait, but I was asked to ask you about your thoughts on it. Even if I hate it with every fiber of my being.”
Mary shifts slightly, laying back down and I do the same. She cuddles into me again and kisses my chest. “I know, and I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. However, this has become home for me and everyone in the club is my family. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt, so if that’s the best course of action, then I’ll do it.”
Fuck, I really hope it doesn’t come down to using her as bait. Reaching over, I turn off the light on the nightstand and wrap my arms around Mary, holding her close. As I lay my head back on my pillow, I do something I haven’t done in years.
Prayed.
Prayed that we’re able to find Stephan, Diego, and the others quickly so that Mary doesn’t ever have to put herself in the line of fire again.