The Sinful 7 of Delite, Texas 3: Her Double Delite Warriors (3 page)

“Oh please, like none of the women in this store are interested in a ménage with two sexy Delite cowboys? I think not.”

“Oh brother.” Alexa walked away from her sister and toward the section with jackets. She eyed a nice leather one with fur inside and fur surrounding the hood. Glancing at the price tag, she figured it was an investment in some cold weather attire. It was kind of flashy and sophisticated looking.

“You need to go for it. You need to look at some shorter skirts and sexier tops, Alexa, and stop hiding behind baggy clothes and books.”

“Hey, I love my books and I like long skirts.”

She moved closer to her and whispered.

“There’s no bruises to hide anymore, Alexa. We’re past that now.”

Alexa felt the tears sting her eyes. She shuddered at the thought of what they had gone through.

“It’s okay. We don’t have to live with that type of fear anymore. We’re not doing anything wrong by wearing shorter skirts and showing a little skin. That was their hang-up and control, and they’re no longer controlling us.”

Alexa was quiet a moment.

“How can you just snap out of being fearful? I can’t. I remember their threats, their anger and control.”

Sally placed her arm around her sister’s waist and pulled her closer. Their heads were together.

“It’s time to move on. People don’t have to see you as weak or so shy that they can’t converse with you. It will only open you up to danger and the wrong kind of men.”

Her sister’s words sank in. Was that what Sally was doing? Was she playing a role of acting strong and socializing with everyone when really she was just as scared and timid as Alexa?

“Now I think you should shorten up those skirts of yours and start chatting with Michael and Chad more often. They’re great guys and I know you like them both.”

Sally let go and began to pull out some questionable skirts and tops for Alexa to try on. She started doing a runway walk with the clothing in front of her as she pranced up and down the aisle. Alexa laughed.

Could she really come out of hiding? That wasn’t an overnight decision to make.

“Will you cut it out, Sally? You’re so crazy.” Alexa looked back at some of the longer skirts on the rack.

Sally grabbed her arm and practically dragged her to the dressing room.

Sally reached for more items as she led Alexa to a changing room. Alexa giggled then shook her head. This was going to be a long afternoon.

Chad walked down the hallway and noticed that the office door was closed. He wondered if Michael was looking up some information on Solandro Cruz. Chad had heard that name before, and even as he completed his last mission in Cartagena, he had still come up with nothing on this man. None of his sources had anything definite. Not a description, not a location of residence, and not even whether the man existed. There seemed to be no legal records on Cruz, yet one file came up red flagged on his flight home from Columbia. Since then, he had received three separate calls from his superiors. Both Michael and Chad were concerned for Mason. He just left for a similar gig in Columbia. Before Chad had left Cartagena, he had a feeling that some of his higher-ups had ruffled a few feathers on their previous visits. The Columbians were looking to cut ties with the United States and were leaning toward accepting offers from notorious drug lords. He was afraid it was going to come down to bombing some towns and issuing a strong arm to get the locals to cooperate. They didn’t need them handing over information to large drug operations like Francisco Santos.

It was becoming hostile territory over there, and Chad hadn’t liked the feelings he had after this last trip.

He knocked on the office door using their secret knock so that Michael would know it was Chad.

The automatic lock unlocked, and Chad walked into the room. Sure enough there was Michael deeply enthralled in information on the screen in front of him as he glanced up toward the other screens that faced his seat in a semicircle.

“What’s going on?” Chad asked.

“We’ve got a potential situation. It’s Nate. He’s missing,” Michael stated, and Chad took the seat next to him and in front of another computer screen.

“What do you mean missing? I know headquarters hasn’t heard from him in a few days, but still, that’s not uncommon when you’re a sniper and about to take someone of importance out.”

“It’s more than that, Chad. His last update came through two hours ago. He was working under cover with Maria. She got him into the party on the Santos estate. The command called me to ask me about any other locations he could be holding out in.”

“What? How the hell did she do that and why would he go? Why is command concerned and telling you all this?”

“The command came from up top. It was believed that someone of importance was going to be there. Someone the agency has been searching for. Plus, Nate must have come across some useful information. Nate sent out a distress signal. He was on his way out.”

“Oh shit. That isn’t good at all. He knew his cover was blown. Who the hell could the special guest be? I mean it must be someone other than Francisco Santos himself? He’s been hiding for so long and no one can get into his estate or property.”

“Well Maria somehow had made a connection. She’s been working for the US for years, so she’s a reliable snitch.”

Chad thought about Maria, the older Columbian woman. Maria was a cousin of Santos’s. She had fallen in love with a government official who was being strong-armed by Santos. The official was trying to clean up some of the drug problems and illegal activity out of the city when Santos murdered him. Maria sought revenge on Santos and his entire operation.

“Well did you find out who the surprise guest of honor is?”

“Was. The event took place two nights ago.”

“Fuck. Where is Nate?”

“I hope on a fucking plane out of Columbia, but the feds don’t have shit yet. But, bro, get this, the guest of honor has the initials S.C. Who have we been looking for the last two missions?”

“Solandro Cruz?”

“It has to be, and by the radio chatter and the amount of buzz on the forefront, I’d say we weren’t the only party interested in meeting Mr. Cruz.”

Chad glanced at the screens and some satellite images of where Nate was last seen. He hoped that their friend and fellow Marine was okay. That was the problem with these secret missions. They were extremely dangerous. If anyone was caught, he was on his own, and the government denied knowing him and claimed to have no idea why he was there. His chances of survival after being captured were slim.

“Are the commanders asking for volunteers?”

Michael took his eyes off the screen to look at his brother.

He shook his head.

Chad ran his fingers through his crew cut hair. The feel of the scars along the scalp were deep. He had many battle wounds just like Michael.

“So we fucking leave him there and assume he’s dead? What about Mason? He’s heading out there next.”

“You know the deal as well as I do, Chad. It’s the path we’ve chosen. We’ve cut back a lot this past year. We discussed getting out of this shit sooner than later. Maybe the time has come. As far as Mason is concerned, I think his mission is placed on hold until we locate Nate.”

Chad inhaled then turned around in the seat he was in and looked at Michael. Michael was older than him by a matter of twelve months. They had each seen a lot of shit in their military careers. Each had secrets and actions they never talked about or admitted to being part of. But now things were changing. They were being hired out to go in blind, with very little information, and over what appeared to be personal issues or government power plays. He was starting to feel uninspired and ready for a change.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking about making this last mission I took my last one. I’m lucky I got out of there alive,” Chad admitted, and Michael raised one eyebrow at him.

“Seriously? It was that bad?” Michael asked then looked back toward the computer. Chad wondered why he felt like his brother was disappointed in his statement? If he wanted to be finished, then he would quit and start helping Monte with his security business. He asked him a dozen times and told him when Chad was ready to just say the word.

“Why are you giving me shit over this? As I recall you cut back and only took the recent mission because of Maria.”

Michael immediately turned toward him. Chad wondered if Michael had a thing for Maria. Now was as good a time as any to bring this question up.

“Fuck you, Chad. How many times do I have to tell you that I never slept with her. She’s an informant. Her family finds out she’s helping the US government and she’s dead.”

“Hey, it’s been a question for months. You took a special interest in her.”

“I felt bad for the abuse she went through and for the fact that her cousin killed her lover. Last mission when I arrived a few days earlier than expected, I couldn’t reach out to her. She wasn’t responding and I had a bad feeling. I was concerned for her. She started seeing someone from town. A nice man she said owned a local storefront. My gut told me something was up, and when I finally located her and snuck into her home, I found her in bed, eyes swollen closed and ribs broken. I asked her if it was Santos or his men and she denied it. She said there was a new guy. Some shithead from Santa Catalina.”

Chad thought about that a moment.

“Solandro?” Chad asked.

“Could very well be him. That’s why I’m worried about Nate. All we have is a name, yet no one can give us a face, a description, or anything concrete on him. It’s like he really doesn’t exist.”

Chad thought about that a moment.

“You know on my last two assignments I was in Panama.”

“Bro, you’re not supposed to give out information like that.”

“Michael, you’re my fucking brother. If I can’t trust you, then I’ve got no one, nothing. Just fucking listen to me, will ya? I was in…South America.” Chad began to say then paused and looked at his brother waiting for his acceptance at the less exact location.

“Go on, wiseass.”

Chad chuckled. “I remember the way I felt about the business dealings and watching the leaders and their men prepare for something. At first I thought it was some sort of celebration. You know those guys like to party, but this was different. Someone of importance was coming, and it was scheduled for during the night. Since it had nothing to do with my mission or why I was there, I didn’t return to watch. The same thing occurred while I was in the last place, near the first place. This has been building and building for over a year. Whoever that guest was, they very well could be the new power player in South America.”

“It makes sense, Chad. The missions I went on went a little deeper into the field if you know what I mean. My informants say that Santos wants greater power and dealings in the United States. They claim he needs pull, power, and connections. I think that is why Nate was called into the field. He’s been dealing with things in New York and around Dallas. Mason has been doing a bunch of operations with a group of men in LA and Chicago. I have a feeling it may all be connected to Santos and this guy Solandro.”

“I guess we need to decide if we go to the commanders with this guess of ours or we sit tight and wait for more concrete evidence.”

“I just don’t want that concrete evidence to be a captive or dead US soldier.”

Alexa stared at herself in the mirror in her bedroom. The room was beautiful and it was all hers. She didn’t have to share with Sally or anyone else. That gave her privacy and alone time she looked forward to and embraced. However, times like these, when the wind was blowing outside and the threat of a passing thunderstorm in the night slowly approached, she felt the trepidation deep within her. No subconscious pep talk would help her get through it. She shivered now, just thinking about the fear that would overtake her later in the night. Sally’s words today at Stella’s Boutique stuck with her. So, Sally was putting on a front of confidence and happiness when really she was scared and on guard?

Why can’t I be like that? Alexa wondered as she ran the brush through her wavy, long dirty-blonde hair. With the fall and winter months coming, her hair would get darker. Not quite brown, but not that sun-kissed, summer look she always had. She put down the brush and lifted her hair slightly off her shoulders, turning side to side slowly as she wondered what she might look like with a new hairstyle.

Back in Georgia, she had Sally help her cut it to shoulder length, hoping she would appear less appealing to the workers and her uncles. It also stopped them from grabbing a handful of her long locks before shoving her into a wall or down a flight of stairs.

She squeezed her eyes tight and released her hair. Shaking her head she tried to think of better things. She had learned a lot about the drug dealing business. Not that she wanted to go that route, but there were certain aspects to take from what she observed.

The uncles were ruthless and always knew their men’s and their business associates’ weaknesses. Everyone had one and some had more.

Like Conseco’s fear of snakes. When the uncles found out that Conseco, a drug dealer and operator from the Dominican Republic, was double-crossing them by asking dealers for a higher percentage of interest on loans that the uncles were supplying in both drugs and money, he suffered the consequences of ripping them off. Conseco had a fear of snakes. When his men found him, he was covered with hundreds of poisonous rattlesnakes and the uncles’ message was clear.