Page 14 of Corrupted Empire

6

Alexis

I call again, but Clara’s phone doesn’t even ring anymore. It just goes straight to voice mail.

Where is she?

I know deep down that something has happened to her, but I am trying not to acknowledge that thought. If I do, my heart will crack in two. For now, I’m telling myself she just got drunk again, had a little slip down the rabbit hole. Maybe she trashed her apartment and has turned off her phone to cool down for a while. But where would she go?

After the park, I take Harry to the rehab center to check if Clara is there. Joey is smoking out front and says he hasn’t seen her since she made chili for them a few days ago. He offers to help me look for her, but the kid is already caught up in hard drugs—the last thing he needs is for me to introduce him to the world of organized crime.

Clara’s mom’s house is a short walk away from the center, so I decide to try there next. If nothing else, Patricia always likes it when I visit with Harry. And maybe she’ll be able to calm me down a little, as I’m approaching something like hysterics.

My mind whirs. My only slight consolation is that if the Cartel or the Irish took her, she will still be alive. They wouldn’t kill her just yet. No, they will use her suffering to torture me first. Or to lure me to them. My stomach turns, and I cling to the desperate hope that I will find Clara at her mother’s house, drying out after a particularly nasty bender.

Or maybe Gabriel took her. Maybe he knew that his enemies were planning some sort of attack on her, and he took her for her own safety. That would be fine, too, because I know at least that he will take good care of her.

But then why won’t he answer his goddamn phone? He must know how worried I am.

I hug Harry against my hip as I walk down the street. He’s getting heavy. It makes me sad to think there’s going to come a day when I will pick him up for the last time, but we’re still a long way from that. Besides, soon enough, I will have another baby that will need carrying and holding, and I will literally have my arms full. I’m sure by that point, I’ll be more than happy to let Harry toddle around on his own two feet.

Another baby. I’m keenly aware every second of the day that I’m pregnant, but sometimes I forget what that means. It slips my mind that in less than nine months, Harry will have a little brother or sister, and I’ll have one more thing connecting me to Gabriel.

I wish that I could share this pregnancy with him. I want to listen to him talk to the baby, tell it all the things they’re going to do together once it’s born. I want him to rub cocoa butter on my belly and bear with me through whatever moods I’m in, or whatever foods I’m craving.

I was alone for my last pregnancy. Sure, I had Clara, but I spent the nights alone, suffered through the morning sickness alone, and braced myself for a lifetime of being alone. I got pregnant with Harry after a one-night stand with Gabriel, and I never thought I’d see him again. I definitely never thought I’d be pregnant with another of his children, and if I had somehow been able to weave that fantasy in my mind, I wouldn’t have imagined having to go through a second pregnancy as a single mother.

I am so wrapped in my thoughts that I don’t notice the huge man ambling toward me down the sidewalk until he’s only a dozen or so feet away. He’s probably close to seven feet tall, with an olive complexion and a long, hooked nose. His eyes are locked on me, and there is a menacing glint to them.

Adrenaline flushes into my system, and I am on high alert. I turn around, hoping to outpace him, but I can hear his long, loping strides getting closer. I look around frantically for my guards, but I can’t see a single one. Where the hell are they? They usually detain anyone who even looks at me.

The man darts into my path, and I stop suddenly.

“Where are you going,mami?” he asks in a syrupy voice.

“I don’t want any trouble.”

He tilts his head to the side, leering down at me. “From what I hear about you, you’re all kinds of trouble.”

He knows who I am. Never a good sign.

“Please just leave me alone. I have a baby.”

The man snorts. “You act so innocent it’s disgusting. Don’t you know that it’s your fault your little boyfriend was arrested for murder?”

I would love to see how Gabriel would react to someone calling him my ‘little boyfriend.’ In fact, I wish he was here right now to do just that.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I hug Harry tighter to my chest. He looks around, clearly noting my discomfort.

“I bet you thought you were doing the right thing, didn’t you?” The man steps closer, and I step back. “You wanted to save the world. But you had no idea that by publishing that article, you would be violating the terms of our agreement with Gabriel. The terms where he did our dirty work, and we agreed to not provide the evidence that would send him to jail.”

Guilt laces with my terror, but right now is not the time to analyze this man’s claims. I push through the questions floating above my head and focus on an exit strategy. I am nowhere close to my apartment, but I’m only a couple blocks from Clara’s mom’s place. If I turn and run, I might be able to make it there and call for help.

If Gabriel bothers to pick up this time.

The man lurches forward, and I spin on my heel and sprint in the other direction.

“Mommy, what doing?” Harry asks, squirming in my arms.

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