Ties That Bind (26 page)

His hand caught Jimmie’s half strike. Quick enough to prevent permanent damage but not soon enough to stop a trickle of blood from sliding down her cheek when his ring made contact. Mitch gave one silent shake of his head and it was enough to pull Jimmie to his senses. He stumbled backwards, ragged breaths causing his body to heave.

“How long have you known?” he finally managed.

“No man deserves that at his side.” Mitch shook his head. “It’s what brought me into your life in the first place.”

“You don’t need power. Clearly you have that. You’ve turned her down at almost every chance so it’s not her bed you’re after. You came out of loyalty to a stranger? That’s what you want me to believe? Not for the money?”

“Believe whatever gets you through the night.” Mitch closed in on him, his voice a low promise. “But when, in either of our entire lives, has it
ever
been about the money?”

“Mitch, Toni’s on line one.”

All three whirled at the interruption. Teddy stood before them, seeming calm but as he surveyed the trio, his hand moved to his revolver. “Everything okay in here?”

Jimmie was the first to recover. He pulled out a handkerchief, pressing it to Ashli’s cheek, his eyes daring her to flinch. “Family squabble. Get some ice for Ashli, would you please?”

“The corporate line?” Mitch asked, trying to collect himself. He pulled out his phone, scrolling through messages and missed calls.

“Yeah. It came through the toll free switchboard. International.”

“Thanks. That ice?”

“Yes, sir.” Teddy nodded before retreating back out of the room.

Mitch took a steadying breath before picking up the phone. “Hey, girl, you lose my number?”  It only took a few seconds before he dropped onto the sofa, his head dropping to rest on his hands. “Breathe, okay?  Just breathe.”

Wordlessly, Jimmie and Ashli took up positions on either side of him.

“He took you where?” Mitch sucked in a breath of his own. “Stay put and I’ll come down.” His eyes lifted to Jimmie’s and mouthed “plane”. Before Jimmie could start dialing, Ashli was already murmuring orders into her phone.

“The plane’s already being loaded. Do you need someone to be there sooner? I can get-” he trailed off. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.” He clicked off, tossing the phone across the room before running his hands through his hair to keep from lashing out.

“I never pictured Toni as the damsel in distress,” Ashli said.

“Jealousy doesn’t look good on you,” Jimmie spat. “Where we going?”

“La Sierrita.”

Jimmie gave a dark chuckle. “Are you fucking kidding me?”  He stared at Mitch waiting for him to say something. Receiving nothing he shook his head. “Of course you aren’t. Fuckin’ La Sierrita. Terenari has officially lost his goddamn mind.”

“I want to help-”

“No,” Mitch and Jimmie answered simultaneously.

“I know you both are angry but it’s Toni,” she argued. “I want to help.”

“Jimmie, give us a minute? Give the staff the all clear to return?”

“Sure. You two just have a little friendly chat while I go raise a fucking army,” Jimmie grumbled.

Mitch took the cell phone out of Jimmie’s hand, keyed in a number, then handed it back. “Call Gino. He’ll answer on the first ring.”

As soon as he was out the door, Ashli was by Mitch’s side. “It’s not jealousy. And it’s not penance or whatever else you are thinking right now. I really do want to help. You were right. I never risk anything. For her, for you, I will.”

Mitch nodded, his anger at her being overshadowed by his fear for Toni. “Not like this. Not for this.”

“But-”

“Will you just stop and listen? For once?”

She nodded and moved to sit on the desk to face him.

“I know you want to help her. I believe that. And I know Jimmie likes to keep you in the dark about everything. He, if anyone, is the one who underestimates you. I, however, am not him.”

“Okay.”

“La Sierrita is a ranch in northern Mexico. Have you ever heard of it?”

“No.”

“It’s a ranch for flower sales.” He dipped his head toward her, waiting for some semblance of recognition. “Auctions really.”

It took her a moment to put the pieces together and he could almost see her sifting through the snippets of memories and gossip she’d accumulated after so many years in this business.

“Human trafficking?” she whispered. “You are talking about selling humans.”

Her shell was dissolving but Mitch couldn’t bring himself to offer her comfort. “Yes.”

“But you and Jimmie, don’t-”

“Of course not.”

“But you’ve been to them?”

Mitch knew she wanted him to deny it but he also knew lying to her would serve no purpose. If she wanted reality, he was going to give it to her. “They hold them captive, torture them into submission and then put them up for the highest bidder. Sometimes it takes months, sometimes years. There really are no words for the conditions of a place like this.”

“And La Sierrita?”

“The most infamous of them all. The largest operation in the western hemisphere.”

“Why haven’t the police stopped them?”

Mitch exhaled. “Heavily guarded, like a military installation. Government red tape, backlash, retaliation...there’s a million excuses really. Truth is, they simply wouldn’t have a chance. It would be a slaughter of American troops.”

“Then you won’t have a chance either.”

“So,” he ignored her, “there are reasons for you to not be involved. Legitimate ones. On this, I am in full agreement with Jimmie.”

“Why would he take her there?”

Jimmie moved from his stance in the doorway to stand beside them. “Because sometimes, a threat is more than enough to make someone submissive.”

“Especially at a place like that.”

“He’s trying to teach her a lesson?” Ashli gasped.

“Makes Jimmie look like a saint, hm?” Mitch chuckled.

“Ashli, why don’t you meet us in Dallas?  Toni might could use another female beside her once we get back to the states.”

“Really?” she glanced from one to the other for confirmation that she was actually being included. When they both nodded, she leaned to kiss each on the cheek before getting up. “I’ll get us all packed. I’ll make this all right. You….you two just do what you need to do.”

Less than an hour later, they were in flight. Leaving Ashli and Teddy in the back of the plane to tie up loose ends from their unexpected departure, Mitch went to join Jimmie.

“Jimmie?”

He glanced up from the aerial photos of La Sierrita that were spread across the plane’s table. “Hm?”

“I have rules for my life. Not many, I admit, but there are a handful.”

Jimmie nodded, pulled out two glasses and filled them with each with whiskey. He motioned for Mitch to take a seat across from him. “You once told me you didn’t technically have a sister. You were referring to Toni, weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“When you were little, you must’ve fought like hell. Throwing dishes, you said, right?”

“Yes, but-”

“Ashli, when she acts like she did, it’s like I’m transported back to childhood. She makes me so blindingly furious that I can’t see straight. I still see her as this little girl and think nothing of pushing, shoving, pulling her hair. But, I never want to hurt her. Not like that.”

“So long as we are clear.” Mitch clinked glasses with him. “It wasn’t actually betrayal. Well, not of you anyway.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Jimmie,” Mitch grew softer. “She’s terrified this life is going to get you killed. Haven’t you realized that yet? It’s the only reason she’s so damn determined to keep me around. I’m expendable to her...you could never be.”

“And therein lies the problem,” Jimmie shook his head. “You don’t want permanence and she is determined you accept it.”

It was a leading statement, Mitch knew. But not one he was even remotely ready to address. “That is far from the only or even the most immediate of problems.” He waved his glass over the papers strewn across the table.

Picking up one of the photos, Jimmie frowned. “Ever been there?”

Mitch nodded. “You?”

“Once. It’s been in my nightmares ever since.”

Mitch gave a knowing nod, accepting the refill Jimmie offered. They sat in silence as they drank, each lost in horrific visuals from their visits to La Sierrita.

When he finally spoke, Jimmie’s voice was only a quiet echo but, as if they were one, Mitch was already anticipating it. “We could do it you know.”

“It’s suicide. Do you know how many governments have tried?  Even the fucking UN.”

“Yeah but they have all those pesky regulations and ethics.”

“We don’t have ethics?”

“My ethics say no human deserves to be treated like that and payback is a bitch. What does yours say?”

Mitch considered, twirling the glass in his hand to let the ice bounce around. Every government had failed and they had long since stopped trying. Did bullying everyone make them have some right to exist?  They believed themselves untouchable...but there
was
one organized foe they had not yet faced. “We’d need an army.”

“We have two,” Jimmie grinned. “Palmese took your call right away. Answered the phone himself. Pissed it was me on the line but he’s offered anything.”

“Terenari-”

“Fuck Terenari.”

“Yeah,” Mitch nodded. “Fuck Terenari.”

“You get Gino’s guys on the move and I’ll get my guys on charters. Markesi’s and Devini’s, too.”

He only hesitated a moment - what they were orchestrating was, in fact, a terroristic act on citizens of a nation friendly to the US. But it did only last a moment. He clinked his glass with Jimmie’s. “Done.”

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Mitch stepped into the tiny bedroom of the church, causing Toni to skitter toward the wall. She was in his arms in seconds, though, her fists tearing into his clothing. Prying her hands loose, he held her at arm’s length, checking her inch by inch for any physical damage.

“I’m fine,” Toni assured him.

“You are most certainly not fine. Sierrita gives me nightmares.”

“Physically unscathed,” she corrected.

“Better,” he accepted and waved her to sit on the cot, tugging off his suit jacket and loosening his tie. Sinking into the bare metal chair opposite her, he clasped his hands together to wait for her story.

It was as he expected. Terenari had brought her down and had his men tour her around the facilities. Cell after cell of beaten women and children and a handful of teen boys. Icy showers, rapes in progress, food taunts to starving victims, a nursery full of unattended children...her descriptions were so vivid he had to fight down the vomit rising within him. Terenari had long since disappeared, leaving her in their hands. She finally managed to get out by buying the men time with some of the girls. When she admitted that, when she said aloud what she’d done, it was she who vomited what little food remained in her stomach.

Knocking on the door, Mitch opened it only a crack to issue some soft spoken orders. When they returned with towels, water, and a fresh set of clothes, Mitch began helping her clean up. Although his instinct was to look away as she changed, he didn’t: he was determined to make certain she really was uninjured.

“Please say something.”

“Drink this,” he handed her the water bottle, shaking it as he passed it her direction.

A soft tap at the door caused her to jump but Mitch opened it without looking, allowing Jimmie to step into the room.

She downed half the bottle as ordered. “Say something else.”

“Nothing you could ever do would deserve a lesson like this. Do you understand that?”

“I-”

“Say it.”

“I didn’t deserve this.”

“You did the right thing by calling me.” Mitch let his palm drift across her cheek, dropping his lips to her forehead. “For the first time in damn near a decade, you did the right thing.”

“I did the right thing,” she nodded in agreement. She wobbled a bit, falling against his chest. “Mitch? The water-”

“Yeah, I drugged it.”

“I hate you.”

“Today. Tomorrow, you’ll thank me.”

“Still hate you.” She tried to struggle against him but he eased her into Jimmie’s arms instead.

“Listen to me,” Jimmie tightened his grip around her waist to keep her from tumbling to the floor. “You have two big brothers now, got it?”

“Then I hate you, too.” But her voice was a whisper, her tears once again falling. Jimmie moved her to the bed but she held tight, refusing to release his arm. Jimmie sank down beside her, rubbing her head.

“Shh, go to sleep or I’ll have to knock you unconscious myself.”

“Screw you.”