Page 38 of In My Blood
“I appreciate that. I think she needs people around her right now. From what she’s said, she’s been alone since the day I let her go. I don’t want her to feel that way, not now that we’ve got her home,” Rafe explained.
“She won’t. She’s home now. We’ll just have to prove that to her,” Dario agreed.
“Good,” Rafe nodded. “Now tell me what’s going on here. The Russians didn’t react well to our warning about what they bring through my ports, I assume?”
“Ye assume right,” Arran nodded. “We had a sit down wi’ Kozlov. He swore blind that the murdered girl hadnae a thing to do wi’ him, of course, but the police are all over him too. They’ve linked the murdered lass to him somehow.”
“We cut off his routes for now, told him he was attracting too much attention for our liking, and until the police cleared him, and he proves to us that he’s not trafficking people through our ports, we’re not doing business with him,” I added.
“So he threw his toys from the pram?” Rafe asked with a deep sigh.
“Aye. Blew up one of Darian’s containers down at the docks. Luckily, it didnae attract the attention of the police, and we got it cleared up pretty fast, but we might no’ be so lucky next time.”
“We also caught two of his guys trying to break into our offices two nights ago. The silent alarms were triggered and Joey managed to grab one of them. The other got away. No idea what they planned to do there, but they both had guns on them,” I told Rafe, hating to pile it all on his shoulders when he was obviously knackered already. If I had my way, I’d have just gone in anderadicated Kozlov and all of his men. Problem solved. But Rafe liked to handle things a little more diplomatically than me.
“You didn’t get anything from the guy you caught?”
“No’ yet, but he’s in the basement. We’ll get back to questioning him later on,” Arran answered with way too much delight in his face. While I didn’t mind the bloody part our jobs sometimes required us to play, Arran seemed to bask in them. That was why I was leaving the ‘questioning’ of the man we had caught trying to break into our office building in the city, up to him for now.
“I want to know the second you have something I can use. Have we got men on Gia and Cal at college?”
“Yeah. Jase and Poll have been with Gia, and Ash and Tony have been switching out to stay with Cal. They’re both covered,” I assured him. I knew why he was worried, but Gia and Callan were both smart kids. They had been taught to watch their backs from a young age, and Cal was almost as good a fighter as his brother. They understood the dangerous life they lived in. They had to. They had no other choice.
“I need to have a sit down with Kozlov, but I want to see what you can gleam from our guest in the basement first, so I’ll hold off a day or two. Make sure this place is locked up fucking tight. I don’t want anything happening near Cara right now. She’s been through enough.”
“I’ve already been over the security on all our buildings this afternoon, Rafe. It’s tight. We’re covered for now,” Dario confirmed.
“He’s right. You should get some rest while you can. There is a whole lot of work to catch up on waiting for you when you getback to the office. Arran and I have handled what we could, but it’s been a tough week with Kozlov’s bullshit too,” I explained.
“I’ll head into the office first thing in the morning and see what I can get squared away before my flight back to Chicago in the afternoon,” Dario offered.
“Thanks. I think it’s important I work from home at least for a few days, until Cara gets settled in.” Rafe looked between us and we all nodded, agreeing with him easily. We could all handle what needed to be dealt with on the business end, both sides of it. Cara needed someone she trusted right now, and that seemed to be her brother. For now. Soon I intended to make sure it was me though.
“I’m sure Dante and Arran can help you juggle the workload while I’m away,” Dario added, and again I agreed. I’d do anything to help Rafe, and Dario too. They’d been there for me when I thought I’d lost everything. They were the reason I was still breathing. Rafe always told me that I’d saved his life the night I came back, but I don’t think he realised that he had saved mine too.
CARA
“Mum?” I’m calling as I walk inside my apartment, and reach for the light switch. I press it and nothing happens. I press it up and down several times before I realise the lights are not going to come on. An overwhelming feeling of foreboding fills me, almost stopping me from going forward, but I push past it, dismissing it as foolish.
“It’s just me. Did you take the light bulb out again?” I call as I walk in and close the door behind me. I’m left in utter pitch darkness, the windows covered and no lights on in the wholeplace it seems. That feeling within me grows stronger and I actually have to reach up and rub at my chest because of the pain I feel there. Something is pleading with me to stop, but I ignore it.
“Mum?” I call again when nothing but silence and darkness greet me.
I move into the apartment, well versed on the layout, headed for the closest lamp, so I can get some light, sure I’ll find my Mum hiding in a corner from the men who are constantly coming for her, in her mind anyway.
I reach for the lamp, but stumble over something on the floor that shouldn’t be there. I reach out to catch myself as my heart starts to pound way too fast in my chest. That feeling inside of me reaches a level that has me gasping for breath through the panic it’s building within me. Why? What is that?
I reach out to try and catch myself as I start to fall, but I end up on my ass on the floor, my heart pounding, my breaths ragged. Deja vu consumes me and I know I’ve been here before.
Still, I reach up behind myself, almost as if I’m on autopilot and flick on the lamp. I look down to see what the wetness I had landed in on the floor is, and I see red. So much red. Blood. It’s blood. I feel sick to my stomach as I forced myself to lift my head, even though I know I shouldn’t. I already know deep down what awaits me if I look, but I can’t seem to stop my head from lifting and looking all around me.
No scream rips from me this time either as I stare around in horror at all of the butchered parts of the woman who gave birth to me. I see her head opposite me, sitting on the floor, eyes open, and staring right at me, just like before. Blamingme, Asking me why I never stopped to even try and believe her when she foretold this was all going to happen.
I opened my eyes and looked all around me frantically. It was the third nightmare I’d woken from since I fell asleep and I couldn’t handle much more. Thankfully, I hadn’t woken Gia this time at least with my gasping panic. She’d been terrified the first time. The second she just hugged me and we held each other until I fell asleep again. This time I guessed she was too exhausted to have heard me, which was a relief. She was laid under the duvet beside me, sleeping silently with a peaceful look on her face, just as she should be.
I sat up a little, wincing at the pain in my aching body. I would have liked to take more pain meds, but of course Rafe had taken them with him. I was pretty sure if I searched I wouldn’t find a single drug anywhere in my vicinity.
I managed to swing my legs out of the bed so I was sat on the edge. I buried my face in my hands and tried to calm down my breathing and the fear racing through me. The image of my Mum’s dead eyes staring at me still seemed to be imprinted in my every thought, and she was all I could see. I could feel her blood drying on my skin and soaking into my clothes, smell it’s coppery tang in the air.
