MC: LaPonte (12 page)

This is our fourth high
security client but I have a bad feeling about this one. I call
Digs and let him know she's in and he can start monitoring. I call
Steve and tell him my thoughts about this client. Her husband is a
cop in Rhode Island. Steve says he shouldn't be able to find her
here in Massachusetts but he'll have someone watching just in
case.

I sit on the couch and
open my laptop when Digs calls me. Someone's on their way. Holy
shit! I've been home maybe ten minutes. I stuff my phone in my
pocket and run out the door.

I hear the bikes before I
see them fly down to the main road. Casper picks me up in his
truck. "Buckle up and call Len. Black suburban, male, six foot,
dark hair, kicked the door in, took the mom. Mary is with the boys,
Tracy is on her way. Dave is in the house with them. No
police."

I call Len and relay the
information. He's heading to the house since the boys know
him.

A Ducati flies by us.
"Shit he's going fast." Casper doesn't comment. We catch up to the
bikers. They let Casper pass and spread out in the lanes behind us.
I turn and watch them slow down. They're not letting the cars
through. Casper speeds up. Holy shit he's pushing a hundred. I
watch in front of us and keep still. There's another group of bikes
up ahead. They let Casper pass but stay with us. We pull alongside
Jared's truck, I see Geek on his computer in the passenger seat.
Casper keeps pace with him. Fuck

"Need you to be calm Kate.
We'll be taking mom to another location." The suburban slows to a
stop but doesn't pull to the side of the road. I guess it doesn't
matter with no traffic behind us. The Ducati stops at the driver’s
door. The guy opens the door and yanks the driver out slamming him
against the door. Casper stops directly behind the SUV and runs to
the passenger door. He lifts my client out and carries her to my
door. I jump out so he can put her in. He reaches under the seat
and hands me a first aid kit. I rummage through hunting for
something to stop the bleeding. Holding gauze to her head I clean
her face and keep talking to her softly. She moans but doesn't open
her eyes. He drives us to the divider and crosses the highway
heading back. Jared and half the bikers follow. Geek isn't with
him.

I look back and see the
husband on the ground. The Ducati driver is climbing on the bike
while Geek is talking to him. "Don't look back Kate. Take care of
our girl." I do what I'm told. Casper drives us to the clinic, Doc
is waiting for us. I jump out so Casper can carry her in. I follow
without looking back at the bikes I hear. While I'm waiting, I call
Len letting him know we have our client back and are at the clinic.
He tells me guys came in and found a tracking device in the
client’s purse. Shit. Fuckin technology. Danny took the boys with a
bodyguard so he's headed back to the office.

I'm in the reception area
when I hear the woman's scream. I run through the door seeing my
client cowering in the corner. "Natalie, it’s me Kate." I walk
slowly toward her. "Your husband had a tracking device in your
purse. Our surveillance team followed and got you back." Bending
down I sit by her. "Your boys are safe. Doc here is a friend." I
move my hand onto her head and move her hair back so she can see
me. "You passed out. Doc just needs to fix you up so we can get you
back with your boys." I see the second she recognizes me. She
starts crying so I pull her to me and hold on. When she calms I
relax my hold on her.

"He stuck me with a needle
Kate. He's going to get my boys; he said I won't pass a drug test.
I can't let my boys go back to him. Please help me." She's
hysterical. Doc moves closer, I hold my hand up stopping
him.

"He can try to get them,
but he won't. He tracked you to a safe house. Drugged you and took
you out leaving your boys behind. No judge is going to see that as
the sign of good father. The house is monitored. Everything is on
video feeds. He blew it big time today Natalie. Let's get you fixed
up so we can collect your boys and get you safe." I stand pulling
her with me. "The tracking device was found. He can't track you
anymore." We get to the table and she willingly sits down on it.
"This is my good friend Doc. Doc's going to come over and check you
out. I'm going to stay right here." I look at Doc and smile at him.
She holds my hand squeezing as he gets closer.

"Hi Natalie, I'm sorry I
scared you. Your head is bleeding. I'm going to see what I'm
dealing with so I can get you fixed up and out of here. We need to
get you back to your boys." He's moving her hair and blotting with
gauze while he talks to her. I hold her hand and stay quiet.
"You'll need some stitches. I'll be right back." He moves to the
drawers against the wall. She loosens her hold on my
hand.

"We'll need pictures for
court. Do you have a camera?" I ask him. He looks at me confused
for a second.

"I don't, you can take
them on your phone." He says as he pulls a tray table over. I get
pictures of her head before the stitches. Doc takes care of her
head, checks the bruise on her face, her split lip and checks her
ribs. I get more pictures. He checks her eyes and pulse trying to
figure what she was given. She tells him she's a little fuzzy but
that's it. "At a guess I'm going to says mild sedative. I wouldn't
be too concerned; you don't seem to have any lasting effects from
it. I'll keep watch. We need to take blood and run tests." She
agrees. She wants to get out of here quickly.

When he deems her fit to
leave Ben walks in. Natalie stands behind me. "Hi Ben, thanks for
getting Natalie back for me. She's anxious to see her boys." I
smile at him. Natalie relaxes her grip on my arm.

"That's good because
they're anxious to see her. Danny has our boys and Natalie's boys
at the ice cream shop. Jared is waiting to escort Natalie and her
boys to a safe house. I just came by to apologize for not keeping
someone in the house with her and her boys."

"You couldn't have known
about the tracking device." Natalie surprises me by speaking, even
if she's not looking at him.

"Then I'll apologize for
you having to be our lesson. It's a lesson we won't have to learn
again." He says gently but determined.

Natalie moves to my side
looking right at him. Good for her. I'm mentally jumping up and
down. "Thank you for caring for my boys and getting me away from
him."

I smile. Ben says, "We
have another house for you and your boys. I refuse to give anyone
but Kate and Jared your location. Are you ok with that?"

She grabs my hand again; I
look her in the eye, "I trust these men with my life. You can too.
They're big and scary looking but they pulled out all stops to get
your boys safe and you away from your husband. They wouldn't have
done that if they were going to hurt you."

Looking over at Ben she
nods, "OK. Can I see my boys now?" I can hear the fear in her voice
but she's going to push through it for her boys. I smile, I'm so
proud of her.

"Absolutely. I'll even
give you a ride." Ben takes us to the ice cream shop. Natalie
laughs when she sees it’s actually a big ice cream cone shaped
building. After she hugs her boys I introduce her to Danny, Jared,
Little Ben and Jessie. The boys play at the playground while Ben
tells us he wants Natalie in my house. It has surveillance all the
way around and it’s furnished. Since my personal things are at
Danny's, I think this is a great idea. Jared will be staying with
her since my house doesn't have cameras in it. I promise to see her
tomorrow and once again wave goodbye. Danny takes me home. What a
freakin day.

Danny

"I'm so fuckin proud of
you K. Casper stopped to tell me you were so calm and never even
flinched going 110 down the highway." I hug her as I'm pulling her
off the seat.

She smiles up at me. "You
should have seen how the club orchestrated that whole rescue, they
were awesome. I just sat in the truck. They saved her life today
Danny. I want to thank them all"

"God I love you." I kiss
her lips. "They feel responsible. They won't be able to accept a
thank you." We just make it into the house and I hear a truck pull
in. I wait at the door for Pres.

Kate freezes whispering,
"Please not again, she won't make it twice."

I hold her to me. "Natalie
ok, Pres?"

"She's just fine Kate." He
smiles at her. Doc pulls in. "I needed to talk to you Kate. Doc is
a fan and wants to share an idea. We won't take long."

I look at my girl; she
relaxes and smiles at them. "Come on in Brothers. I think my girl
could use a drink." I hold the door open and get everyone a beer. K
sits on the right of the couch leaving me room with my blind side
at the wall. Beautiful K.

"Kate you were awesome
today. You're very good at your job. How did you get into this, if
you don't mind my asking?" Doc asks.

She takes a minute.
"Please keep this just between us." Pres and Doc nod. "Jess is five
months older than me. She aged out of the group home before me. The
group homes were brutal back then. They didn't allow us to prepare
for when we aged out. She had nowhere to live, no license and only
sixty dollars. She got a job waitressing and met a guy that
promised her the world. She moved in with him. It was better than
living on the streets and she had food every day." I get up and get
a box of tissues. She wipes her eyes and leans against me. "After a
month he started beating her. She lost her job. She stopped meeting
me. I knew if she could just hold on until I got out we could make
it. Alone she didn't have a chance, she's so small. He knew it too.
She was stuck there for almost a year. He moved and I couldn't find
her. A girl from the home told me she saw her and followed her home
one day. I went to her house and she wasn't Jess anymore. She was
beaten down. After what we lived through and here she was just a
shell of Jess. I was determined to get her back. She was my only
family. I met her every day while he was at work. When he found out
he put her in the hospital. I talked to the hospital social worker,
but there was nothing they could do for her. I finally asked a
professor and found out about a shelter in Newport. We got her away
and got a restraining order. He violated it; luckily he had drugs
on him and was put in jail. It wasn't for long, but it was long
enough for Jess to start becoming Jess again. If we didn't find the
shelter in Newport I would have lost my only family. I changed my
major and started advocating for women. When I saw there were very
few women in the security side of our job I took night classes and
became a security specialist for domestic violence." I hold onto
her. Hearing the story again doesn't make it hurt any
less.

"Thank you baby." I look
up at Doc; he's not hiding his tears. I look away.

Pres clears his throat.
"How did you make it?"

"My birthday is in August.
I only lived on the streets for three weeks. Jess had us registered
in college; we had dorm rooms and even food vouchers. She entered
every contest, wrote stories, got scholarships, she was awesome at
finding ways to pave our way into school. Even then she was a
genius with money. If it weren't for Jess I'm not sure I would have
made it. She got there in the end though and we made it together."
My K gives them a sad smile.

Pres looks at me. "Did you
go through that too?"

"Yes, but not to the
extent that Jess and Kate did. I'm a lot bigger than they are.
Living on the streets, for me, was much safer. Guys have an easier
time finding jobs too. I found the club right before I was
nineteen."

"I read the report on Jess
but it didn't say all that, I didn't realize it was that bad for
her. Seeing it on paper isn't the same as hearing it. She's an
amazing woman and lucky to have an equally amazing sister." Doc
tells her. She nods and thanks him.

"So now that you have my
Kate in tears and my throat closing up what did you want to talk
about?" I need to get them moving on.

Everyone takes a
breath.

Ben looks at Kate. "We
should have done a better job. We know about the technology that's
available. We knew this was a high security case and we were lax. I
promise you, it won't happen again. Steve said you called him with
a bad feeling. Dave didn’t make it there in time. We should have
handled it better, taken your instinct more seriously. I called the
Baxter's to find out about specialized security for these types of
high security cases. They told me we already have an expert that
has all the answers I need. I didn't realize you work for
them."

"I don't. I'm a domestic
abuse counselor, basically a social worker for women. I'm also a
domestic violence security specialist. I work for a nonprofit that
is funded by state grants and private donations. Mitch Baxter set
up a trust to make sure our doors never close, she's has someone at
Baxter's on the board. They're one of our biggest donors; Jess and
Danny are a distant second." She smiles at me. "I teach security
classes to the police departments in this county, other Centers and
private security firms. Baxter's do schedule regular classes for
their security guys but I donate that back to the shelters. The
other classes pay the Center directly. I've been doing it that way
for so long now it’s become part of my job." I'm in awe of my girl.
Everything is matter of fact. She has no clue how amazing she
is.