Page 30 of Mace

At some point I woke up in the middle of the night and found Mace sound asleep beside me. I almost turned over and went back to sleep, but I realized that I needed to call my handler back. The US Marshall Service was not known for being patient. Therefore, I slipped out of bed and headed to the bathroom with my phone in hand.

When I turned it back on, I was terrified to discover that it wasn’t my handler who had called. It was my father. He didn’t have this number—only my mom and my handler did. My blood ran cold when I saw that he’d left me a video message. My hands were trembling when I played it.

I was correct about him going back to Mexico because I could see our farm in the background. He was also extremely angry. The only way he could have gotten my number was from my mom and she would never give it to him… unless…

What had he done to her?

“Alicia, Alicia, Alicia. What am going to do with you? You refused Alejandro and ran off with some dirty biker. I don’t know what this man has told you, but it’s all lies.”

Stopping to glare at someone out of frame for a moment, he looked back at the screen and continued. “Your mama and I will be returning to Griffinsford in two weeks. We leave for the US soon. You will meet us at the county line and come to our new property. This one will be located far from the watchful eyes of those bikers.”

I was already shaking my head no before he finished talking, even though I knew he couldn’t see me. There was nothing he could say to persuade me to return to the life he’d chosen for me. For me, there was no other option than to avoidhim at all costs. But it was his next words that chilled me to the bone.

“You will obey me in all things and most especially on the issue of who you will marry. This is not a decision I made lightly, nor will I tolerate your refusal. I will slowly destroy the one thing you care most about if you do not do as I say. Do not even think of double-crossing me with those bikers.”

He reached out and jerked my mother into the frame. She had a black eye that was almost swollen shut. “Your mother paid for your decision to run away. She will pay for every bad decision you make.”

I heard her say, “No, Alicia. Don’t listen to him, stay where you are.”

He backhanded her across her face and turned back to the camera. “And just so you know, you will be punished for her bad decisions. Understand me when I say that you cannot win this battle you have chosen to wage against my authority. I will contact you when we arrive.”

The message ended and for the first time I knew true terror. He had always hit her, but never in such a cold calculating manner. Her eye looked like it needed medical attention. I knew it was wrong to hate a parent, but I hated my father with the fire of a thousand suns.

What’s worse was that although I trusted Mace and his MC to protect me, there was no way for them to protect my mom. My father had me between a rock and hard place. If I did anything except exactly what he asked, then it was lights out for my mother. I’d seen my father beat a man to death before. It wasgruesome. I couldn’t let that happen to my mother. Not now. Not ever.

I sat down on the side of the bathtub and turned this situation over in my brain. I was trapped and so was my mom. My father certainly was a vicious, deceitful man who didn’t mind using family against family to get what he wanted. And it was becoming increasingly clear that none of us were safe as long as he still existed in his world.

I ran myself a bath and quietly got into the tub to soak all my stress away. I slid my entire body under the water and stared up at the ceiling for as long as I could before sitting back up again.

That’s when the bathroom door opened, and Mace slipped into the room. Without saying a word, he climbed into the bathtub behind me and pulled me back until I was lying against his chest. “Everything’s gonna be okay, sweetheart. No matter what’s bothering you, we can fix it if we stick together.”

I nodded and turned sideways so he could wrap me up in his big arms.

“Wanna tell me what’s up? This isn’t about what we did, is it?” He asked.

I shook my head. Not daring to tell him about the video message from my father, I told him a white lie. “I’m just worried about leaving my mother behind. She doesn’t do very well by herself. I just miss her.”

“Do you want me to go to Mexico and pick her up for you or send her a plane ticket?”

I closed my eyes to keep from crying at how sweet he was to volunteer to do that. However, the last thing in the world I needed was for him to end up south of the border where the cartels ruled, and everyday people were left to their heartless whims. No, there was nothing he could do because even now my mother was in my father’s clutches. So, I lied again to the man I was falling in love with.

“No thank you, babe. I don’t think she would leave Mexico. It’s her home after all.”

“Alright,” he replied in an odd tone of voice. “If you change your mind, let me know.”

We stayed in the water until it started to get cold and then Mace lifted me out of the tub and sat on the edge of the bed and dried me off with a towel, before pulling the blanket over us and holding me as we fell asleep for the second time tonight. Mace was among the best of men. I knew that come what may, I could count on his help when the time came.

I just needed to come up with some kind of plan, one that involved rescuing my mom and getting us both to safety before my father realized what was happening.

Chapter 12

Mace

It had been six glorious days since Alicia and I started sleeping together. She was as sweet as she ever was to me, and thankfully always eager for my touch. However, I sensed something was on her mind. My gut told me it was more than just being worried about her mother because she’d been getting calls from her aunt who was taking care of her mother. Their conversations were private of course, but besides talking in hushed whispers, Alicia didn’t seem particularly upset by the conversations.

It was at other times, when I had to leave her to attend church or to meet with my tribal elders, that she fell apart. Rosie told me that Alicia got tearful a couple of times for no apparent reason when they were spending time together at the bar. And I found her crying in our room when I came home yesterday. She didn’t really have any explanation, so I let it go.

My worry was that she was homesick and wanted to return to Mexico. If that was the case, it might be the end of whatever relationship we were beginning to build together here in the States. Losing her would hurt, but I’m not sure I could give up my tribe, my family, and my club to follow her to a foreign country. Here in Griffinsford, I earned with my club working in the garage. I belonged here.

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