Jobe: Alvarez Security Series (26 page)

Jobe, Vinny, Gabe,
and Terrence were out once again securing cameras in some of the areas noted by the Richland Police as heavy with active gangs. Wearing utility uniforms, they worked on installing cameras near traffic lights and, slipping inside several older buildings, they managed to locate some of them on rooftops. Working seamlessly, they made quick work of the task and were heading back to headquarters by the end of the day.

Tony had called a staff meeting as soon as they returned, so Jobe phoned Mackenna on his cell as Gabe drove. “Hey doll, are you home yet?” Receiving an affirmative, he told her that he would be a little late.

Gabe asked, “How’s she feeling?”

Jobe, unlike Mackenna, told everyone that she was pregnant immediately. Rounds of congratulations, back-slapping, and “join the club of little sleep” rang out at Alvarez Security. Smiling, he looked over at his friend and said, “She’s great. So far no morning sickness, just a little nausea at night.”

Jobe’s good feelings continued until they reached their destination. Striding into the conference room, the group saw that Tony was standing with Matt, Shane, and…much to his surprise, Jack Bryant. Jack, a former member of their Special Forces squad had retired and started his own protection and investigative services and had recently assisted them when Vinny and Annalissa needed help.

None of the men had happy expressions on their faces. Everyone quickly settled around the table, all eyes on Tony.

“Matt called me today to tell me that they had more news and about the same time, called to let me know that he had gotten a request from the Governor. Jack gave me enough info that I surmised that both he and Matt had some of the same concerns. So I brought us all here together to find out what’s going on and what we can do to assist.” With a nod toward Shane, he turned it over to them.

“The Sixers are different from some of the local punk-ass gangs. A bunch of the others are just teenagers breaking into houses, selling pot, or petty crimes likes smashing car windows, vagrancy, etc. But Tito Montalvo’s got a real eye for making a name for himself. He’s smart and has figured out a way to move into the big time.

“We knew he ran drugs and puss—um,” Shane glanced apologetically at Lily, “girls. But as we’ve been tracking them, we now know that they’ve moved into guns. And not just stealing guns from houses, but running stolen military guns.”

Matt continued, “We’ve got inside information that they made a deal with the River Street Kings to use some of their river front property to bring the guns in by the water and they give the Kings a cut of the profits. The Kings are more punk-ass, but control a decent spread right on the river, so this is a win for them. They align with the Sixers, they get some guns and money, and the Sixers get a place to run.”

Alvarez’s men listened intently, eyes occasionally moving to the screen on the wall where Lily projected some aerial views of the river’s old wharf area.

Shane added, “All this adds up to the Sixers becoming the most powerful and dangerous gang in Richland. The mayor is concerned; an election year is coming up and there are rumblings in the Richland Times about gangs in the area and how politicians have turned a blind eye to the problem for years. To combat that, he’s having the Richland Times do a huge article on Mackenna’s New Beginnings program.”

All eyes moved to Jobe, as he nodded slowly. “Yeah, she said she was interviewed yesterday for the newspaper and it’ll run tomorrow. She was excited because she’s wanting to move the location to a safer place and said the publicity will be great for donations.”

Shane added, “Yeah, but it puts her right on the front page with a powerful gang’s pregnant girlfriend hiding there.”

The sick feeling that started in Jobe’s gut when a mission was not going as planned began to creep over him and while no one else would notice, his brothers knew immediately what he was experiencing.

“Before you ask, no, we can’t get the article pulled,” Matt said. “The mayor’s too involved now. ’Course he said that the police’ll make sure the center is safe.” Looking sharply at Jobe, he added quickly, “and, we will, but you gotta know there’s no way it’ll get twenty-four hour police protection.”

The group was quiet a moment while BJ took over the technology side and projected pictures of Tito Montalvo on the screen.

At this point, Tony looked over at Jack and gave him a nod as well. Jack opened up a file that was in front of him and after glancing around the table, focused on Jobe and began.

“The governor’s now gotten involved. He had a state drug task force, which one of my men served on. The guy’s got a background in undercover work with gangs. It seems the state has a bigger problem. One of the larger LA based gangs that have national ties is the Florence 10. They’re about as badass as the Crips, Bloods, or MS-13. They go by F10, an old throwback to the Air Force fighter jets known by that name.”

The feeling that had been growing in Jobe became sharper, more pronounced. His mind flashed back to the multitude of times that he had sat around a conference table being briefed before a mission. In the Army, with his squad, and here at Alvarez Security.
This feels different. This is personal.
Giving himself a mental shake, he knew he needed to focus. Mackenna’s safety depended on him knowing all of the intel he could gather.

Jack’s gaze landed on Jobe as he continued, “They’re on the FBI’s top-ten list of most dangerous gangs. And now the F10s have been making inroads into Virginia. They checked out DC but have settled on Richland being their new place of business. The river, the I95 corridor of drug traffic between Florida to DC to New York is too lucrative for them to pass up.” He paused for just a moment before dropping the news that he knew would most upset the group.

“And now they’ve made contact with the Sixers here in Richland.”

The rumbling and cursing around the table grew louder, both with indignation that their city was being overrun and infiltrated but also for the knowledge that by her vocation, Mackenna could find herself in the crosshairs.

Shane shook his head, saying, “Jesus, fuck, as though we didn’t have enough to deal with. If the Sixers have gained national attention to get someone as big as the F10s to be interested in dealing, that’s going to spread our police force even thinner.”

Jack nodded and added, “That’s why the governor has contacted me. He’s got a job for us.” He said no more, but the group expected that. Jack’s business took on the hard assignments…the ones that no one else would take. And he flew under the radar, not following anyone’s orders or protocol other than his own. And from what they knew, his employees operated the same.

“What does this mean for us?” Tony inquired.

“The Richland police are stepping up their surveillance, presence in the gang infested communities, even some that are undercover, trying to get information. Tito’s smart but not infallible. He’ll make a mistake and we want to be there when he does. We’re hoping to put more pressure on the Kings as well, to maybe discourage them from doing as much business with the Sixers,” Matt said.

“But that money is a big pull,” Shane admitted. He looked around the table at Tony’s group, his gaze landing on Jobe. “Gotta tell you, the center that Mackenna runs is a concern. And she’s not the only one. There are at least four other centers in the city that need someone to keep an extra eye on because they offer gang alternative places to be.”

“We just got the last of the security cameras up on those locations that you gave us,” Gabe announced. “That’s what we did today.”

Matt nodded, “Appreciate it, man.”

Jobe’s jaw ached with the pressure of clenching his teeth and with each comment he could feel his anger ratcheting up. Finally he said, “You gotta know this shit’s killing me.”

Vinny, sitting next to him, clapped him on the shoulder, promising, “Nothing’s gonna happen to her. We got this. We got her.”

Jobe turned on his friend and growled, “No disrespect, bro, what about Annalissa? We thought we had her too and your fiancé almost died before you could get to her.” His eyes moved to the others, including Lily. “I could keep going, but you know what I’m saying.” Immediately, understanding passed over every one of their faces. Most all of them had been in the same situation—trying to protect the woman they loved…and almost failing.

“Any chance she’ll stop working?” Shane asked.

Hanging his head, Jobe asked back, “For how long?” There was no response. “I mean, drugs and gun running and gangs have been around for a fucking long time. You think this mess with Tito is going to just go away because we’re all watching them? I don’t see that happening. This scares the shit outta me, but my girl’s got a career where she’s trying to help. Trying to fight for other women who don’t feel like they’ve got anyone in their corner. You think she’s gonna just walk away from that?” He hung his head, emotions flying through him as his hands balled into fists on the table.

Sucking in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, he lifted his gaze to his friends and said in a calmer voice, “I want to march home right now and order her to quit. The idea of losing her or the baby is unthinkable to me.” Swallowing loudly, he continued, “But I gotta work with this. Through this. I…I…just don’t have a fucking clue how.”

Tony, taking charge as always, said, “Not this time, bro. We got this.” Looking at Shane and Matt, he said, “You know we’ll help the chief as much as we can, but we’ve got the surveillance cameras in place on some of the gang hangouts for the police to monitor, and,” he looked over at Jack, “you’ve got the task from the Governor to try to take them on. But for us,” he returned his gaze back to Jobe, “our primary job is to ensure the safety of New Beginnings and Mackenna.” Then looking around the table at the rest of his crew, he reiterated, “That is the mission of Alvarez Security in this matter.”

Jobe felt the sting of tears hit the back of his eyes, and he swallowed several times to bring himself under control.
Under control. Fuck, that was the whole reason I broke up with her in the first place…feeling out of control.
Taking a shaky breath, he knew the friends around the table knew what this meant to him, and he nodded to each of them as the meeting dispersed.

Driving home, anxious to pull her in close, the words of Tony rang over and over in his ears. “We got this.”
Yeah
he thought,
I got this.

W
alking into their
apartment, Jobe once again saw Mackenna in the kitchen pulling out plates. She smiled at him as he tossed his keys and some bags onto the breakfast bar and made his way around toward her. Her long hair fell softly down her back and he wanted to run his fingers through it. His gaze did a body scan, from her old, faded, tight t-shirt to her form-fitting yoga pants, down to her pink painted toenails. As his eyes made their way back up, they rested on her flat stomach.

“How ya doing, doll?” he asked gently as he closed the distance between them, taking her in his arms.

“I’m great,” she replied, her smile touching his heart as he tucked her head against his chest. She leaned way back to stare at him, her eyes twinkling as she said, “I’m glad you called to say you were bringing Chinese. I’m starved and hated the idea of cooking tonight.”

He leaned down to kiss her nose, saying, “Anytime either of us doesn’t want to cook, we order out. Simple as that.”

“I did put plates out so that it’ll seem more like dinner.”

He chuckled as he let her go so that he could grab the takeout food and they sat at the table to eat. He wondered how to bring up his concerns, afraid that she would feel as though he were trying to run her life.
But dammit, we’ve got a baby to consider
.

As she grabbed their plates to take to the sink, she stared at him. “Are you going to tell me what’s on your mind or are you just going to scowl all night?”

Caught off guard, he looked up in surprise, a guilty expression on his face. Laughing as he stood, he grabbed her hand and gently tugged her into the living room. Sitting down on the sofa, he settled her on his lap, her back against the arm and her legs draped along the pillows.

“I was just wondering about…you know…plans. Your plans. Well, I mean our plans.”

“Plans? Honey, what kind of plans?”

Looking around evasively, he said, “Well, like this place? Do you want to stay here or find a house? Do you still want to tell our parents together this weekend? I want us to get married as soon as we can, so have you thought about that anymore? Have you thought about a replacement for when you’re on maternity leave? In fact, have you thought about quitting once you have the baby? Or maybe before?”

The smile that had been growing as she listened to his questions slowly fell from her face. “Jobe, I’m not quitting my job! What on earth made you think of that?”

“Because you’re in danger. The whole fucking place is in danger and I’m not going to go through what all my friends did.”

She pushed against his chest in an effort to move back, but his arms held firm. Huffing, she glared as he continued.

“I wasn’t willing to take a chance with just you and I’m sure as hell not going to now that you’re carrying my baby.”

“Well, my quitting isn’t going to happen, so you can get that idea out of your head.”

“Mackenna, you’re being unreasonable,” he growled.

“Me? Me? I’m being unreasonable? Jobe, you’re asking me to quit my job. This isn’t how a relationship works. You can’t just pull the macho, ‘I’m the man so we’ll do it my way’ act.”

Sucking in a deep breath, his jaw tight with frustration, he said, “I’m not trying to argue or take over. I had a bunch of concerns and you jumped on this one.”

“Okay, fine. Let’s talk about the others. No, I don’t think we need to move right now. A baby can have everything they require right here and doesn’t need a house yet. My mom’s downstairs and we can turn the study into a nursery for now. Down the road, we can move.” She glared then said, “There. Does that make you happier?”

Hell, I went about this all wrong. How the fuck do I make this right?
he wondered. The silence poured over them, each stewing in their own frustration.