Page 31 of Mace

The whole situation worried me. I cared about Alicia, and I wanted her to be happy, even if that meant returning to Mexico and leaving me. What scared me was that her father might bethere, waiting for her. I had no doubt he’d still want to press her into marriage with the man who threatened to rape her.

Going back home or staying with me had to be her choice, and her choice alone. I couldn’t stop her from leaving, but if she went, I wouldn’t be there to protect her.

This morning, I woke up before the crack of dawn. Laying here with Alicia cuddled up on my chest was the only place I want to be. So, when my phone vibrated, I was pissed that I had to get up and answer it. I didn’t hesitate though, because I had a lot of things going on in my life right now and I couldn’t risk anything falling into the cracks. Worry niggled at the back of my mind that someone in my family got seriously injured or died, that was the only reason we called each other at such an ungodly hour.

After I got out of bed and pulled the blankets up around Alicia, I stepped out of the bedroom to see who had called. I was confused to discover it was Storm. He left a text.

Storm: Come downstairs to my office. Hacker and I want to have a word with you.

I texted him back.

Me: On my way now.

After pulling on a fresh pair of jeans and a t-shirt and shoving my feet into my boots I went downstairs to see what was so urgent that my club president was calling me to a meeting so early in morning and found the door to his office open. Hacker and Grit were sitting around, drinking coffee and chatting, when Storm noticed me at the door and motioned me into his office.

I slid into the only empty chair. “What’s so important that it has three club officers up so early?” Technically, Hacker wasn’t a club officer, but he was always present when the officers met, so I counted him as one in my mind.

Storm frowned at me. “We have a bone to pick with you, Mace.”

“What’s the problem?” I asked. Yesterday my prez was all smiles and congratulating me for a job well done, I wondered what the fuck had happened. “Whatever it is, I’ll answer honestly. You gotta know I have nothing to hide.”

“It’s not you we’re worried about. It’s that woman of yours.”

Shock roiled through my gut. “Alicia? What’s she done? She’s the sweetest woman I’ve ever met.”

Storm shot back, “She’s also working as an informant for the US Marshals service.”

My mouth dropped open in pure shock. “What? Are you sure my Alicia is working for the feds?” I made a disbelieving face. “That doesn’t sound like something she would do.”

Hacker spoke up from his wheelchair, his voice rough and edged with anger. “Yeah, I’m sure. I hacked her phone and found messages between her and an agent from the US Marshals service.”

I flung back, “You should have come to me directly if you had any suspicions.”

Storm interjected, “Just calm the hell down for just a minute, Mace, and hear what we have to say.”

Turning to pin him with an angry glare, I said roughly, “I’m not calming the hell down. How would you like it if I hacked your old lady’s phone? That would piss you off, right? Turning back to Hacker, I demanded, “How about you? How would you feel if I started messing with your old lady? You wouldn’t like that very fucking much, would you? What I want to know is who in the hell gave Hacker permission to intrude on Alicia’s privacy that way?”

Storm raised his voice, “I did. We do it to everyone who comes here to stay, unless they’re a patched member of the club.”

My eyebrows shot up, “You do it to everyone? Visitors, prospects, club girls? Everyone? Is that what I’m hearing you say?”

Storm froze for a brief second as if he were just now understanding the full implications of his actions. He took a moment to order his thoughts before speaking. “Look, this is a private club. Our women and children come to the clubhouse. We have a fucking right to vet the people who are staying here.”

Although I didn’t like this secret policy the club officers had put in place, I wasn’t stupid enough not to grasp the benefits of double-checking who we allowed to walk among us. “Okay, yeah, I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. I just can’t imagine why Alicia would rat out her own father. He might be a sick twisted fucker but he’s still her old man. I don’t believe she’d do something like that.”

“Of course she fucking would. The feds clearly want to get their hands on that drug running son of a bitch. He’s working for the cartels, and they’ve made stemming the flow of drugs over the border a priority over the last few years.”

“You know she’s an illegal, don’t you?” Hacker said.

I was silent for a moment, truthfully it hadn’t crossed my mind. She told me her mom was American, so I guess I’d assumed she’d come over the border legally, even if her father was up to no good, “No, though I never really asked,” I admitted.

“From the gist of the text messages, it looks like that’s what they’re using as leverage. She was born in the US, her mom is a US citizen, so in her case citizenship should be automatic. But thanks to her father taking them both out of the country when she was a baby, she’s undocumented,” Hacker’s expression is severe as he said this.

“So she could seek legal advice? There are attorneys who deal with this kind of stuff all the time, right?”

“I’m guessing that time is something she doesn’t have much of. The feds are wanting her to get back in with her father, but she’s refusing.”

I leveled a cold stare at Hacker. “I have no doubts that the feds would love to bust anyone with links to the cartels operating on American soil. What I don’t understand is what my woman would get out of putting herself in that kind of danger.”

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