Page 46 of Vapor
“Mucimi.” Logan says sitting. “When he was a baby, he’d put his visions on a board. He showed that in the bunker. The bikers with Raven wanted to just kill them. That’s why Mucimi took them out of the bunker. Raven was showing respect to you by not touching them. He didn’t expect to see Greg and how small he is. It hit him hard. He turned when his boy didn’t qualify for a cancer study and he couldn’t buy the meds. His boy died and wife committed suicide.”
My eyes close and hand is taken under the table. Julius holds on.
I like the way he stays.
~*~*~
Chenoa sits by me with one of her boys. I look but don’t see Teller. “Where’s your other boy?”
“Lili went back to change him. She’ll be here in a couple of minutes. I wanted to talk to you about the kids. The girl you're keeping here has no family looking for her.”
My head tilts. “She knows?”
She nods. “The girl wanted to see a boy at a 4H thing but her dad forbade it then dropped her across the border. She had no ID. Alan looked for her at the school and found her but it looks younger. The thing is, she’s saying a different story but knows she can’t ever go home.”
I look at her thinking this sounds a little more than sensational. “She’s someone’s daughter and she was dropped across the border? They’re deporting kids left and right.”
She nods. “I’m Indian, I know how horrific people treat their kids. Mucimi and Teller say she’s better off here. Her dad would marry her off like her sister if she didn’t get out. He would have but she threatened to run away and tell everyone about her sister. She didn’t want to get married.”
That’s fucking sad. “This is normal here? Not Appalachian backwoods hidden folklore?”
She shakes her head seriously. “It’s real. Look up Mormon news, child marriage is legal in two-thirds of the US, look it up. Under eighteen, your parents call the shots, girls get no say until they’re of legal age. It’s not always religious, I don’tthink it ever was but I’ve never been Mormon. All I’m saying is the girl is safer here. Child marriage is the same as trafficking kids.” What the actual fuck?
“This is what we’re defending?”
She smiles. “You’ve gone for two groups of kids. You’re not defending the law, you’re fighting for the kids.”
I look up at the stars. Suzie was dropped across a border because she wanted to see a boy her own age at a farm show. There is no way I’d have ever enlisted to defend this shit. “Deported parents with revoked citizenship, trafficked American kids, and legally selling your daughters in a country that repealed my autonomy and wants to repeal my right to vote. Tell me what else I’ve been fighting for.” Really, I want to fix the shit I didn’t lift a finger to fight for.
~*~*~
Julius
“Brother.” Bishop puts his arm over my shoulder. He’s not a giant but he’s close.
“Did Marli get her list?” I ask. He’s like Jones and holds the big brother title but he’s more about advice than pranks.
“Yeah, you did good with it. She sent an email thanking you. Falcon has a full Security team. They can work while Vapor’s bikers are in training.”
I nod. “We’ll take them. We need physical presence right away. One will be good.”
“You want to ask?”
I smile. “No. I want the team.”
He laughs. “I’ll let him know.”
He steps back looking past me. I turn before I’m pounded on the back again or grabbed in a bear hug. Cort smiles. “Falcon...”
I nod. “We need the team.”
That stops him. “Did you tell Falcon?”
I shake my head. “Bishop will.”
“Do you want another from Beacon?”
“No, Boss. They have top notch surveillance, crazy amounts and types of drones that we don’t have and a small army of Night Stalker support. The classified team was built on a Delta base and every member has a specialty. Vapor’s is aerial. Moss is IT. They all are Delta Force level tactical.”
