Page 50 of Mace
Storm spoke up, “Alright, everyone quiet down and let Hacker concentrate.”
I stared at the one and only building still standing on the old farm. It was a huge barn where chickens were once housed. Without saying a word, I pulled my binoculars off my utility belt and focused in on the building. From this distance I could barely see shadows moving around in the windows. I wanted to get up close so I could hear what was going on properly, but I knew we had to hold back, which went against every instinct of mine that was screaming at me to save my woman.
After about ten minutes, which seemed more like ten hours, Hacker finally announced, “Done it! Let’s see if we’re able to pick up anything.”
We all gathered around. I shoved a few people out of the way, and they good-naturedly allowed it because my old lady was in danger.
Hacker looked at us irritably. “You can pull up the group chat and see the video feed for yourselves. There’s no need to crowd the fuck outta me.”
My other club brothers broke away and pulled out their phones. Me and Benny stayed in place and watched over Hacker’s shoulder. He had his laptop open, and it gave a betterview. What I saw and heard made me hate her father even more than I did before.
Alicia was standing near the window of the barn. Her arms were folded over her chest and her body language was tense.
“You said Mom would be here,” she stated in an oddly flat voice. “You lied. You’ve been lying to me since I was a little kid. Where is she?”
The older man just stared at her for a long hard moment before dropping the bombshell of a lifetime on her. “I never lied to you until you were three, because that’s when you and your mama became mine.”
Alicia’s arms dropped to her side, and she turned around, closing her eyes. Her lips were moving but we couldn’t seem to pick up on what she was saying. It was Storm who figured it out first. “She’s fucking counting to ten. Must be fed up with the fucker already, because I only do that when I’m so frustrated I’m about to punch someone.”
Storm was right, I could see it now.
Finally, she spun around and stated angrily at him. “You’re lying. Mom would never have lied to me, allowed me to believe you were my father if you weren’t.”
“She welcomed me with open arms,” he said as he flung both his arms open wide. “And welcomed me into her bed with open legs.”
She threw her cell phone at his face, and he casually batted it out of the way. “Liar! Why would she want a man like you?”
“Who knows what is in a woman’s heart? All I know is that she wanted me enough to let you believe the man who came to her bed at night was your papa.”
“None of that’s true, Mom said you were a good man, but then you changed,” she insisted.
“She was lying to you, she didn’t want you to know the truth.”
“That’s not true,” Alicia said.
“She wanted me and didn’t want you growing up to hate her for taking your father’s brother to her bed.”
Okay, listening to their conversation was confusing.
“No,” Alicia insisted. “My mother hated you with the passion of a thousand suns. She would have never voluntarily stayed with you if she had another choice,” she paused, and I could see the realization dawning. “What do you mean, your brother?”
“You both belong to me. When my brother died, I inherited everything he owned, including your mother and by extension you.”
“If this is true, and you aren’t my father, tell me why he took me and my mom from the US?”
“He didn’t take you, I did,” Ramirez said. Alicia’s face was a picture of confusion. “He thought he was better than us, he didn’t want to follow in our father’s footsteps, so I had to save the family’s honor. I took you both and claimed you as my own.”
Alicia was shaking her head from side to side, “No, no, this can’t be true. Why did my mom never say anything?”
“Because after your father died trying to get you both back, she realized that she had to accept her new reality. If she didn’t, then I would have killed you.”
I got the distinct feeling that all the puzzle pieces of her life have just fallen into place for her.
Alicia just shook her head, her voice sounding more despondent than angry, “She traded her body for my safety. That’s what you meant to say.”
“No. You’ve got it all wrong. I promised my brother on his deathbed that I would do my best to care for you and your mother. You were the apple of his eye. He loved you and your mother above all things. You know that, right?”
“How did my father die?” Alicia’s voice was flat.