“I had a nightmare in the middle of the night that kept me from falling back asleep,” I tell her. My eyes are swollen and my head is pounding.
“Let’s get you freshened up and fed.” She helps me out of bed, shooing me into the bathroom.
I go through my morning routine and go back into the room. Maria made my bed and laid clothes out for me.
“Get changed and I’ll be waiting in the hall for you,” she tells me.
I nod my head and she walks out. I change into the clothes she left for me. They fit perfect. I follow Maria into the hall. Without a word, she walks downstairs with me right behind her. This house is so cold. There’s nothing here that makes this place a home. Everything is plain, the bare minimal.
Walking into the kitchen, my nose is assaulted with all the amazing breakfast foods and coffee. Maria motions for me to sit, I comply and watch her move around the kitchen, making two plates of food, bringing them to the table and setting one in front of me. Then she makes two cups of coffee and sits at the table with me.
“Eat up,” she tells me.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, niña, go ahead.” She takes a sip of her coffee.
“Why am I so important to Rodrigo?”
She pauses. “You remind him of someone.”
“My mother? Did he have anything to do with her death?” I pepper her with questions.
“That’s all I can say. Now, eat your breakfast,” she says.
As I’m eating, Paula comes into the kitchen. She eyes me with daggers.
“Why is the prisoner eating in the kitchen? And such a nice meal?” Paula hisses out. Maria responds to her in Spanish and Paula rears her had back as if Maria slapped her.
“I can’t wait until I can have some fun with you,” Paula says to me.
“Paula!” Eduardo walks into the kitchen. “She’s not yours to play with. You don’t touch her unless Rodrigo gives you orders.”
“Yes, mi amor. I’m sorry.” Paula leaves the kitchen, hanging her head low.
“I’m sorry about that, Preciosa. She’s a bit jealous.” Eduardo grins at me, giving me an uneasy feeling. “Rodrigo had me put a TV in your room, so you have something to do in your room. After you finish your breakfast, you’ll go straight to your room.”
I finish my breakfast in silence, eager to get back to my room and away from him. I can’t help but wonder what they have planned for me. Though, I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.
34
Rascal
The next day, we’re back in Church. This time, Niko joins us from the beginning. Everyone has been working their asses off trying to get information on Rodrigo Sanchez and where he could be keeping Marley.
“To start us off, Ranger and I had a meeting with Andrei and Niko. Andrei is letting Niko handle the Bratva side of this, but told us to let him know if we run into any issues,” Prez tells the room. “Thor, did any of our contacts have information for us?”
“Believe it or not, the Murphy brothers were able to help. Finn and Lochlan are still in New Mexico and they’ve heard quite a bit of chatter,” Thor explains. “From the sound of it, Torres set Rodrigo up with a pretty elaborate set up East of Santa Fe on something like twenty acres of land.”
“Did they say anything about how many men they have,” Prez questions.
“They heard he doubled up but didn’t know an exact number,” Thor replies.
“Tech, see what you can find out about that property,” Prez instructs.
“Already on it, Prez.” Tech is typing away at his computer. That fucker does some amazing things with technology.
“Buster, are the Phoenix Riders up for a fight?” Prez moves right along.
“Yes, sir. Who ever you need will be ready to go at your word,” Buster says.
Prez nods his head.
“Got it,” Tech shouts. “Found his location and hacked his security feed.”
“What’s it look like,” Prez asks.
“The house itself is surrounded by trees, which will give us plenty of cover,” Tech tells him.
“Can you make out how many men there are?”
“There seems to be about six walking the perimeter. Rodrigo is in his office with two men standing outside his door. Another outside a room I would assume is where they’re keeping Marley. Then four more throughout the house,” Tech explains. “Fourteen in total.”
“We’ll take twenty-four. Ranger, Sketch and Buster, y’all will stay here with Mouse, Knuckles and the women. We’ll have Maverick and Tank meet us in Santa Fe. That’s seventeen of our own,” Prez states. “Niko, that leaves you and six of your men. That work for you?”
“It sure does. I have my Brigadier, Dmitry and his boyeviks, his soldiers,” Niko says.
“Tech, how far is Rodrigo’s from here,” Prez asks.
“Eleven hours, give or take,” Tech tells him.
“We’ll leave in two hours. Load up on guns and ammo. No bikes, we don’t want to draw attention,” Prez announces. He dismisses us from Church and I head straight to my room to pack. I grab some gummies for Marley in case she needs them. Knowing that something happened to her when she was Rodrigo’s prisoner before, who knows what state she’ll be in when we get to her.
Once I’m done, I head out to the main room to wait for everyone else. The prospects are preparing the SUVs for us and making sure we have everything we’ll need.
“Has anyone seen Tink?” Diesel glances around the room.
“I think she’s in her room,” Minx tells him.
He looks to Hollywood. “You gonna talk to her before we leave?”
“Nah, not this time. You go ahead,” Hollywood says. Diesel shakes his head and walks away.
“Yo, Hollywood, everything alright,” I ask.
“Yeah, everything’s good.”
Something about his response tells me everything isn’t good, but I leave it alone. I head outside to get some fresh air before we’ll be cooped up in the car for half a fucking day. Some of the guys are already out here.
“You doin’ okay,” Ratchet asks.
“As okay as I can be,” I tell him honestly. I’ve been trying not to think too much about what we’re heading into. Usually, shit like this doesn’t even phase me. I’m always up for going after anyone who fucks with the Savage Menaces. But this is different. We’re going after a man who is holding my Ol’ Lady prisoner for only God knows why. “I can’t help but feel like I failed her.”
“I can understand that. We didn’t truly know who we were up against or what they were capable of,” Ratchet says. “We’re gonna get her back and we’ll make that asshole pay.”
Two hours later, we have our vehicles packed and we’re headed to New Mexico. We have six vehicles in total with four of us riding in each one. We’re staying in pairs so we can stay inconspicuous.
When we get to New Mexico, we’ll be staying at Finn and Lochlan’s house. It’s one of the many they have across the United States and it’s a fairly big house. They help save women who have been kidnapped and thrown into the human trafficking rings. They’re currently somewhere on the East Coast, so the house we’ll be staying at is empty.