North
"Family meeting!" Kota roared down the hall in a booming voice. That can't be a good sign. I'm usually the one using that tone. We all piled into the front room.
"What the fuck has you yelling, Kota?" Gabe asked.
"Is Violet asleep?" he asked.
"Yeah, baby bunny is sleeping. We have monitor," Raven said, holding up the small receiver.
"Good, then first, I need to say, keep your voices down. The last thing we need is her hearing one of you yell. I shouldn't have done it either," Kota said, reprimanding himself. I got a sinking feeling in my gut. "We finally heard from the informant and it isn't good."
Victor placed photos on the coffee table and said hesitantly, "She's definitely at the compound, and so is your former employee, Trish. It looks like she's been on the cartel payroll for a while. She was bugging your offices to try and trap your firm into working for the cartel. Based on what we found out, locating Mattie was accidental initially."
Corey's knuckles turned white as he gripped the photos. "I let this happen," he seethed.
Raven put his arms around him, "Nyet. This is not your fault, it's not anyone's fault, love." Corey nodded, but I could see he really didn't believe it.
"She looks drugged," Axel said, pointing to a photo of her in a short dress.
"Fuck," Marc swore, grabbing the photo. "That's fucking Rico she's sitting next to, he ran with us in the Palmas."
"He's in charge of them now," I told him. "We made a connection shortly after you and Mattie gave us the red run info. His second, Jake, is a real piece of work."
Marc shook his head, "Must be someone that came after us. Is this the last photo of her?"
Victor slid one toward him hesitantly. She was sitting in a garden with another woman with long black hair that obscured her face, but Mattie's back was exposed. Holy fuck, was that?
"That bastard!" Marc sobbed as Brandon pulled him into his arms. All of us gaped at the mark that had been clearly burned into her shoulder. The resolution wasn't great so the details weren't clear.
"He's staked his claim," Vivian said in an eerily calm tone. "That's his way of telling the world she's his."
"Vivian's right. He announced to the entire compound that she was his Princesa, and would become his Reina - his Queen," Kota's tone was pained as he spoke.
"Did your informant give you any news that might help us get her out?" Axel snapped.
Kota lowered his eyes and didn't answer, he didn't have to. When Cardoza branded her that meant all paths to her were cut. She was as untouchable as the man himself now.
"Do you think if we go under with the Palmas it might help?" I asked.
"It might, but there's no way to guarantee you will get an invite to the compound. There's no way he'll let her go anywhere near the States anytime soon," Owen said. "We need to find other ways in."
"Let us try," Silas said. "Worst case scenario, we get more intel for the mission."
Owen nodded, "Talk to Phil and get the clearance and covers set as soon as possible."
Raven
It had been a week since the family meeting, and we were no closer to finding a way to get her out. North and Silas had managed to get in with the Palmas. They'd heard talk of Rico having seen krolik, but he was fairly tight-lipped about her with the crew. Apparently, something had happened at the compound and Cardoza had killed his second, leaving Rico very nervous. Kota and Victor had met with Cardoza's second, Carlos, about a potential deal on cocaine near the Texas border, but no sighting of Mattie. They did get a visual of the black-haired girl that had been in the one photo. I believe Kota described her as a goddess that looked terrified of Carlos. They also noticed she had fresh bruises on her arms and neck.
That had sent all of us, but especially Corey over the edge imagining what might be happening to Mattie. Now, sitting her in our bedroom, I held malen'koye solnyshko as he cried. I know he was blaming himself for Trish's involvement, but there was no way any of us could have known. Although I am going to kill the bitch when I get my hands on her.
"Malen'koye solnyshko, you can't keep going like this," I begged him. "I need you, we all do." I lifted his chin, "Our daughter needs you, love."
His eyes were swollen and red as he looked at me. "I just feel so helpless," he said softly. "I can't face her, knowing I failed them both."
"She doesn't think that, and more to the point, she doesn't understand that. Remember what krolik said? Being a parent comes first. We have to put aside our hurt and fear for her. We're adults, she's little. She needs you, she needs all of us," I told him a bit harshly.
I could see the realization set in his eyes. He straightened a bit and grabbed me in a fierce hug. "Thank you, Raven. I needed to hear that."
"Good, now let's go see, zaychik."
We hadn't even made it down the stairs before she was running to us. "Daddy Corey, Daddy Bunny!" she squealed and launched herself toward us.
Corey caught her in his arms and snuggled her tightly. "Hey sweetheart, how are you today?"
She grinned, "Uncle Luke is teaching me to make chocolate chip cookies while Uncle North is away." I chuckled under my breath as Luke walked into the room.
"Shh, no telling our secrets, little ninja. Can't have grumpy Uncle North finding out," he winked at her as she giggled. She schooled her features into a serious look and gave him a thumbs up. "Now, should we have your Daddies help us?"
"Uh-huh," she nodded her head vigorously. With Violet still in his arms, we followed Luke into the kitchen.
"Good grief, Luke, it looks like the kitchen has exploded," I snorted.
"Pfft, creativity, and cleanliness are not always mutual, just ask Gabe," he replied and swiped some flour off the countertop where Corey placed zaychik who quickly began measuring scoops of various ingredients as she read them off the recipe card. Luke grinned at her, "You're a really good reader, little ninja."
She beamed with pride, "Thank you. My mommy taught me. She says you have to read so that people can't lie to you on papers." I grinned and pushed back my own tears this time.
Author's Notes: Please comment, vote, and follow!