Page 13

Code Names: Activated

M eredith

Sabre cleared his throat, preparing to take charge, but even he looked a little perturbed. Emily was the first one on the chopping block as he slid sideways on the table to sit in front of her.

“This isn’t your fight, but I’m afraid the cartel is going to get desperate at some point, making you a target. If you want to head back to New York until this is over, I will understand.”

I held Emily’s hand, but I watched her face for some sort of reaction. I didn’t know her well enough, but her cheeks turned red in anger, and she squeezed my hand hard.

“Never ask me to leave again.” Her tone left no question where her loyalty lay.

Sabre smiled at her, trying to soften the blow he’d just delivered. “I didn’t think you would. For now, Zook and How will handle your security, but it shouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience for you.”

“No, it won’t, but there’s something I need to say to you.” She squeezed my hand again, this time a little lighter, as the anger dissipated. “If there comes a time when you need me to leave, I will. I can get a hotel room for as long as it takes, but I won’t go far.”

My eyes shifted to Sabre as he frowned, trying to piece together the broken message.

He wasn’t the only one. When I looked up at Grizz, he had the same frown on his face.

It was easy to see Emily had left holes in her statement for their security, but filling in the blanks wasn’t as easy as it should have been.

“You can ask me for hypothetical advice in very broad terms, but that’s it. I can still assist in a legal matter, but without a valid license in this state, you don’t have client immunity. Besides, I’ll sleep better at night living in my own little bubble.”

The lightbulb clicked on for everyone in the room. It wasn’t a matter of if but when the club committed illegal activities, and Emily couldn’t be anywhere near. Sabre thanked her and told her that if it came down to that, they’d figure it out.

He gave her one last nod and then slid past me to stop in front of my aunt. “You’ve been in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

My aunt shrugged. There really wasn’t anything else to say when it was true.

“Your doctors are on a list the cartel has to sit on, but I think it’s about Grace taking you to your appointments more than anything else.

I’ve asked Thunder to continue taking you.

He’ll grab a prospect when you go, and that should be enough to keep you safe.

I want nothing to jeopardize the progress you’re making, but I am going to ask that you go straight there and come straight back.

No lunch, but if you want, I’ll buy you some new board games. ”

Aunt E smiled at him. “I…win.”

Sabre smiled back at her, but when his eyes found Grace, he frowned. “This is going to be the hardest part to hear, and trust me, I don’t like it either, mama. Do you remember Diego Lopez?”

I leaned forward so that I could watch Grace’s face for any sign of recognition. I didn’t have a clue who they were speaking of.

“Damn taco bar,” she muttered, briefly closing her eyes before reopening them. “Isn’t he the one that I introduced myself to in the restaurant? I wanted to make them uncomfortable since Clara was at the table pretending to be Matt’s wife. It worked. His face was green.”

“That’s him. His brother is the head of the Lopez Cartel, but Diego is the number one boss here in the states.” Sabre’s eyes clouded over, watching JR try to lift his own foot.

“What are you not saying?” Grace pressed, tightening her arm around JR.

Sabre shook his head, raising his eyes back to Grace’s. “Diego’s out for blood.”

“What does that mean?” Grace pushed, the hysteria clearly rising in her voice.

“There’s a reward if his men bring you, JR, or Meredith in. They’ve been circling the places that you normally frequent, and today they got lucky.” Sabre ran a hand through his hair.

JR tried to grab for his foot again, but when he couldn’t reach, he whimpered. Grace normally would have eased her hold, but she leaned forward and matched my gaze.

“You were right, Mer. It would have been easier for them to take us if we’d stood together.”

“You just said I was right in a room full of witnesses.” I stuck my tongue out at her for good measure. Catching Grizz’s eye, I saw him smirk as he leaned against the wall.

Our antics didn’t amuse Sabre. “You two need to get serious about this. There’s a bounty on each of your heads, and if those soldiers had been successful, you’d be dead or wishing you were tonight. There’s only so much the Red Shadow can shield you from.”

Fuck you, Sabre. I smacked my lips, making sure my thought hadn’t slipped out loud. It wouldn’t have been well-received, and today, I cared. Tomorrow might be different.

“Alex?” Aunt E said, opening and closing her mouth several times. Her body shook, and I wasn’t sure if it was from adrenaline or fear. There had been enough of both today, and I let go of her hand and wrapped my arm around her.

Sabre turned towards my aunt. “We’re only hearing about this now because he has an order of protection on your nieces, and I suspect it’s because of you. I’ve had Cyph try to reach out to him, but he’s ignoring us. Is there a way you can contact him?”

“I have a phone number, but I doubt it’s a direct line. When I call, it goes straight to voicemail, and then I normally receive an email response,” Grace chimed in. “Did you try email?”

“Yup,” Cyph said, popping the P sound. “I don’t like being ignored.”

Aunt E opened her mouth, and a sound inched out. She closed her lips and tried again to speak, but whatever she wanted to say wouldn’t pass. She tried a couple more times, but the results were the same.

I let go of Emily’s hand and uncrossed my legs, focusing on my aunt. “Auntie, do you want to say something?” I tried to get her to focus on one thing as I put some sweetness into my tone.

“I…hel…p.”

She had been making progress, to where she could speak full words with brief pauses in between. This was going to be a setback. Thunder stood in my peripheral vision, his arms crossed over his chest, feet shoulder width apart. Anger steamed from his beard.

“I know, Auntie. One step at a time.” I held her against me. “Do you still speak to Alex?” Knowing he was Pulse’s sperm donor made me vomit a little in my mouth.

“N…o.” She tried to say more, but the words wouldn’t form.

“Okay, Auntie. How about you nod your head for yes?” I tried to guide her, hoping the basics would help settle her emotional state.

She nodded, her eyes as wide as saucers.

“Do you know how to reach…Alex?” Calling him by his name killed me.

She nodded, trying to speak again. “Call…my…house.”

“Does she have a landline?” Cyph asked me, the wheels clearly turning behind his glasses.

“Is this why you never got rid of it?” Grace and I had constantly poked fun at the phone hanging off the wall when Auntie had always used her cell phone. It made sense now why she would have kept it.

Aunt E nodded her head. “Peter,” she whispered. It hadn’t been her lost lover she’d kept it for, but her demon spawn. “Ring…office.” She took a deep breath, and one last word slipped out. “Direct.”

“Are you telling us the landline in your kitchen calls Alex’s office phone?” This was getting weirder by the second, and I took a peek at Grizz underneath my eyelashes. He winked at me again, and even though it was out of place, it made me feel better.

She nodded. “Never…used. Peter. Only.”

“If you know what the number is, I can mask it and reach out again.” Cyph reached for his cell phone, and I gave him the number to the landline.

“If anything happens with that, let me know,” Sabre directed at Cyph.

Facing us again, he said, “The only place I can protect the three of you is here. You’ll be on lockdown until the threat has passed.

Stay in the clubhouse, and avoid being seen from the main road.

If you need to get fresh air, go out the back door and sit on the patio.

” He turned towards Grace and waited until she nodded her head.

“Does this mean we’re moving in upstairs?” Grace asked.

“Yeah, mama. In a bit, I want you to head to JR’s room and make me a list of supplies you need from the house.”

“You’ll also have to grab the groceries from the refrigerator and throw out whatever will spoil.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He took JR from her arms and held the baby to his chest. Reaching for Grace’s hand, he interlocked their fingers. “I will give my last breath to protect the two of you. Lockdown won’t be fun, and I fully expect a few fights, but it’s just a speed—”

“Don’t say it.” I couldn’t hold it back, not knowing why that phrase bothered me so much. Grace didn’t seem to mind, but it drove me nuts, even though I wasn’t involved.

Grizz bent over and grabbed his knees, trying to hold his laughter in. His back bounced with the movement. It wasn’t that funny, but I could hear the brothers shift throughout the room. They were trying to hide their amusement.

Sabre’s eyes found mine. “You’re on lockdown too, in case you didn’t catch that.”

“I don’t leave the clubhouse on a good day.”

“Let’s keep it that way. You’ll each have a bodyguard, and they need to know where you are every minute of the day. Dead volunteered to be yours,” he directed at me.

“Animal channel?” I directed behind me, only to hear a grunt in response.

“Since Thunder is with Aunt E, Chef is on double duty with you and JR,” he said to Grace.

“How is he going to do that with the diner? This won’t be a one-day thing.”

“I’ll take the early morning shift. As long as I can get the paperwork done and set them up for the day, they can run on auto until the next morning. I don’t mind,” Chef chimed in from somewhere on the left side of the room.

“I’ll make sure not to leave the clubhouse, unless I know Chef is here.” Sabre took a deep breath. “There’s one more thing I need help with. The soldiers mentioned another woman that owes the cartel, but we’re not sure who it is. It’s not Aunt E.”

“Huh?” I let the sound slip through my lips.

“They said that there’s another woman Diego wants to make pay. She had a baby and there was something about making a deal that she didn’t follow through on.”

I needed to see my sister. She must have felt the same way because our eyes met over Aunt E’s head.

“You don’t think?” she asked me.

“Oh yeah, I think.”

“When was the last time you talked to her?” Grace’s eyes never left my face.

I wasn’t sure how Grace was feeling, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea. If we were right, shit had just hit the fan. “I haven’t talked to her since the wedding.”

“You don’t think?” she asked me again, dumbfounded.

“I don’t know, but who else could it be?”

“Would the two of you like to clue the rest of us in?” Sabre asked, his agitation showing. He could go fuck off for all I cared.

“Clara,” I said. “She has to be the third.”

“She is the third, but when did she have a baby? JR’s conception occurred the night of the taco bar, and they had already made the plan with the cartel.” Grace laid her head back against the couch.

“Clara might’ve been in her first trimester—or maybe not even pregnant—at my wedding,” I added, guessing out loud.

“No, she would have been showing when I saw them at the restaurant. I don’t think she was, or I missed it. They were sitting down.”

“If she was, how old is the baby?” I tried to work the math backwards, counting on my fingers.

“That doesn’t add up. Cyph said she was still dancing in mid-June. If she’d been pregnant, someone would’ve talked,” Count said, frowning like he didn’t quite buy his own logic. “The girls at the show would have made sure it got back to us. Unless it was something else Jig buried.”

“Maybe.” Sabre shrugged, no closer to figuring any of this out.

“Trust me, I spend enough time with them to know. They squeal if a lipstick goes missing. If there was a pregnant dancer, we would have known.”

“She had to have been newly pregnant when JR was born in July. If that’s the case, she’s just delivered.” Grace bent at the waist, putting her head between her legs. “What if Matt’s the father?”