She glanced down her mouth falling open as she noticed that Linc was completely naked.
“Shit!” Linc swore, covering himself with his hands. “Why the fuck didn’t you say anything?”
Zander shrugged. “I’m in your home. Figured it was rude to tell you to get dressed.”
“Jesus. Since when do you care about being rude?”
Zander scowled. “Since a certain brat came to live with me. You can follow me in your truck. You got that car seat installed for the pipsqueak yet?”
“So it was you who sent it?” Marisol asked.
Zander gave a nod.
“Thank you,” she told him.
“You’re welcome, pipsqueak. Is it in your truck?” he asked Linc who was busy getting dressed.
“Yes,” Linc snapped back. “Now can you please give us some privacy to get dressed.”
Zander turned. “Sure, but don’t know why you’re so shy now. Not like I haven’t seen it all.”
Linc just growled.
36
Marisol nervously looked out the window at what appeared to be an old, abandoned warehouse. “This is where they’ve been staying?”
Linc peered out as Zander climbed from his truck in front of them. He held a large flashlight. “I guess so.” Linc got out of the truck and came around to get her, pulling her under his arm as they followed Zander into the warehouse. She didn’t even know what this could have been used for, it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.
As he got to the door, he drew it open. The inside was dark and derelict. She shivered.
“You cold?” he asked.
“She shouldn’t be with the amount of clothing you put on her,” Zander said dryly. He moved to the far end then crouched down and shoved aside a few crates, revealing a trapdoor in the floor. He gave three knocks followed by two then stepped back to wait.
The trapdoor opened and to her shock, a woman poked her head out. She wore a headlamp, adding more light to the dark building. “About time, boss.”
Zander shrugged. “They had to get dressed. Linc’s shy.”
“Huh. Got a small one, does he?”
Linc groaned.
“Nah, average,” Zander replied.
Average? She felt herself bristle then to her shock, she saw Zander grin at Linc. Glancing up, she saw Linc shake his head.
“This is Honey. She works for me. We’ve come to see the woman.”
“Webb gagged her after she tried to bite him. Which was actually pretty funny. What about Tiger?”
“We’re going to make a gift out of him, deliver him to Markovich.”
“Fun,” Honey said as she disappeared down the hole. “Want me to get on that?”
“Yep, have Ammo and Webb help you. I called Markovich on the way over. We’ve arranged a meeting place.” He followed Honey into the hole. Marisol gulped as she peered into the darkness. She wasn’t keen on climbing down a ladder she couldn’t see.
Then light flashed up at her, illuminating the way.
“I’ll go first, Mari-girl and guide you down, okay?” Linc soothed.
“Yeah, okay.”
He climbed down a few rungs then made space for her to follow. He moved at a slow pace and it felt like forever until they were at the bottom. Zander was waiting there.
“You are afraid of small spaces? The dark? Ladders?” he asked.
“Maybe all of the above?” she half-joked.
“You won’t do well down here then.”
Right. That was an understatement.
“Let’s get this over with,” Linc said briskly.
“She’s this way.”
Zander led them down a hallway, his flashlight bobbing. Then he knocked on a door. It opened, to reveal a dark-skinned, bald man. This room had more light, thanks to the battery-powered lanterns that had been set up. It held two chairs. Once close to the door, that the bald guy had likely been sitting in. Then another chair across the far side of the room, which her aunt was currently tied to.
As soon as Rosalind saw her, she started to wiggle, making noises behind the gag. She looked terrible, her hair was wild, her clothes dirty and torn in places. Her mascara was smudged down her cheeks. Marisol didn’t like seeing her like this.
“Can we take the gag out please?” she asked. She searched in her bag for some wet wipes, pulling them out as Zander nodded to the guy guarding Rosalind.
He drew out the gag and her aunt scowled up at him. “Coño de tu Madre!”
Marisol jolted in surprise as her aunt spat Spanish at Zander.
“Aunt,” she said quietly.
“You.” Rosalind turned her lethal gaze on Marisol. “Get me out of here. Now.”
Zander snorted.
Marisol looked over at Zander. “Can I wipe her face?” she asked, holding up the packet of wet wipes.
Zander reached out a hand to take them. “I’ll do it.” He moved closer to Rosalind. “Just a warning, you bite me and I’ll bite back.”
Rosalind spat at him. “Fuck you!”
“Aunt!” Marisol said, shocked by her. She was like a wild animal.
Zander calmly drew out a wet wipe and cleaned her face with measured movements. Then he turned away from Rosalind and gave the packet back to Marisol.
“Marisol. Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.”
“I can’t, Aunt.”
“Can’t! After all I’ve fucking done for you! I should have let them send you back to that she-devil in Venezuela. I gave you everything and this is how you repay me? By letting them treat me like this? You owe me, Marisol. Do you think I wanted to take in a whiny brat? I had a life to live and you held me back, dragging me down.”
Marisol flinched, her gaze dropping to the ground. She tightly grasped hold of the pack of wet wipes.
“Why did you take her in?” Linc asked, placing his arm around Marisol’s waist. She leaned into him. Was Rosalind right? Did Marisol owe her?
“Because she was my sister’s daughter. I loved Gaby. And Gaby would have been devastated if her brat got sent back to our bitch mother.”
Marisol took in a shaky breath.
“So it had nothing to do with the money?” Zander asked calmly.
“What money?” Marisol asked.
“How do you know about that?” Rosalind snapped, glaring at Zander.
Zander turned to his man. “Leave us for a moment?”
“Gladly,” the other man replied and slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
“Zander?” Linc asked.
“The money Rosalind’s husband settled on you, pipsqueak, when he divorced her.”
“What?” she whispered. “Harry?”
“Yep. See, I got curious about why someone as selfish as Rosalind would take in a four-year-old kid. So my tech guy did some research. Seems that when he was a teenager, Harry had an accident that left him unable to have children. My guess is that he pressured Rosalind to take custody of you. Or he got wind of you and she didn’t want him to think badly of her, so she took you in.”
“He was such a do-gooder,” Rosalind spat out. “My mistake was introducing you and Gaby to him. I couldn’t hide you from him once she died. He insisted that we take you in. He doted on you. Adored you.”