Healed (The Found Book 3) (26 page)

“So this is really about us. Or more accurately, about me.” You’d think he had the power to compel the truth. It was the hazel eyes. She nodded. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Noah and Kali got up and left the apartment.

“Angel, help me to understand what’s going on. How do you think this changes things between us?” Nate waited and Sarah finally told him what was going to ruin everything.

“I can actually control you with my mind.”

He looked at her, his expression searching, and finally he said, “I understand that. I just don’t understand how you think It changes things between us.”

“I could compel you to do things, doesn’t that scare you?” She watched him carefully.

“Hell Sarah, you’re scared enough for the both of us. Tell me something, would you ever do it? Even if you thought it was in my best interest, would you do it?”

“God no. it would be taking away your freedom of choice. it would be wrong. No, it would be beyond wrong. It would be evil.” He laughed.

“I’m not sure evil is the word for it. But yeah, it would be wrong.”

“How can you trust me? How could you want to spend your life with someone with that kind of power over you?” His answer had the power to break her heart.

“How about marrying a cop who could have me arrested? How about marrying a woman who could manipulate me with sex? How about marrying someone who could lie to me? Be unfaithful to me? Geez Sarah, there are so many things that could go on. How about from your point of view? How about marrying a man who outweighs you by a hundred pounds and could easily hurt you if he got mad?” He said everything so calmly, so logically.

“You would never hurt me.”

“You would never betray my trust.” A boulder rolled off of her chest. He was right, she wouldn’t. He knew it. He knew her. He dipped in for a kiss, and she pulled away.

“Kleenex first.” He lifted up the bottom of his T-shirt and wiped her face, and then parted her lips with his. It was a tender kiss that spoke of compassion and understanding, but as always flamed out of control. She pulled his shirt up further and gloried in his sculpted abdomen, just one more aspect of Nate’s body that shot her desire higher.

“I was so afraid of losing you,” she said in a wobbly voice.

“Angel, haven’t you figured it out, you can’t get rid of me. I know your heart and your soul, I know how blessed I am to have found you, and I intend to keep you in my arms forever.” He pulled her close.

“Don’t make me start crying again.”

“I won’t. Because we’re going over to my apartment, not yours, I want to see you in my bed. Soon we’re going to have this Rixitron mess behind us, and then we’re going to have a permanent home, and it’s going to be
our
bed.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Chapter Seventeen

“We think we’ve found her mother,” Kota said.

“What about her brother?” Nate whispered into the phone. He looked at Sarah who was still asleep. He slipped out of bed and went into his living room.

“Long gone. It’s not good Nate. She’s working as a housekeeper at a motel here in McAllen. I don’t know how she’s managing. Her right leg is so badly damaged from being thrown off the truck it’s a wonder she can walk, let alone work.”

“Are you sure it’s her?” Nate didn’t want Maricel to get her hopes up and then be disappointed, she’d been hurt too often in her young life.

“Yep. Gabriella met her when she checked up on Maricel six years ago.”

“Okay, when are you bringing her back here?”

“That’s the rub. She doesn’t believe us when we told her about Maricel.” Kota’s frustration came through the phone loud and clear.

“Kota, that doesn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t she believe you?”

“It’s her son, Leon.” Nate heard the disgust in Kota’s voice. “He’s been back multiple times for money, saying he had found Maricel and she needed money to get to McAllen. He’s a drug addict. Now she believes Maricel is dead.”

“Even with Gabriella telling her differently?”

“Nate, you would have to meet the woman, I don’t think I’ve ever seen somebody so disillusioned. We have to get Maricel out here.”

“That’s a big negative. It’s not safe.” Nate was sick of seeing the
found
women put at risk.

“We really don’t have a choice.”

“Dammit.” He heard Sarah coming out of the bedroom, and smiled at her warm body sliding against his back. “Okay, let me see what I can figure out.”

“Try to make it quick, okay? I want to get this woman out of this pit as quickly as possible.”

“Got it.” Nate pulled Sarah’s wandering hands up to his lips and kissed her palms.

“What’s going on?” He explained as they got dressed.

“Shit. It’s really not safe for her to be back in Texas. Couldn’t we arrange a Skype session or something?”

“From what Kota was saying, she is intractable, and after everything she’s been through we don’t want to take her against her will.”

“I hate Stovers with every fiber of my being.” They got to Maricel’s apartment and knocked on the door.

****

Kota and Gabriella were waiting at the McAllen International Airport. Ellie had been acting like a typical woman for the last five days, making up problems where there were none. A man with a large cart with cardboard boxes taller than he was headed straight for Ellie, Kota grasped her elbow and pulled her out of the way. She gave him a strained smile and shook off his hand.

“Stop this. Think of Maricel, things are going to be stressful enough for her, without you acting like a cat on a hot tin roof.” Kota didn’t show his frustration, because he knew he had to gentle her, she was like a skittish colt.

“I am not acting like a cat. I just want my own space.”

“Hell, you’re barely talking to me.”

“I am not your Ellie, there would be too many problems. I am Gabriella.”

“Ellie,” he said with emphasis, “you are making a mountain out of a molehill.”

“I don’t understand all of your American idioms. Stop talking about cats and moles. If you have something to say, just say it.”

“All right. You’re acting as if being
found
and having gifts makes having a relationship impossible.”

“No, what makes a relationship impossible is the fact I’m not attracted to you.” Kota choked out a laugh. God, she was sexy. He watched as her face reddened.

“You want to try that again?”

“I’m not interested in a relationship. I have responsibilities. There is no time for a man in my life, and if there were, it wouldn’t be you.” Her eyes skated away from his. He decided to try something.

“Are you attracted to me?” He snapped out the question.

“I – I…”

“Answer the question,” he fired out.

“Yes,” was her knee jerk response. He smiled. Her eyes widened, the whites showing around the rich brown, making her look like an anime character.

“How?” she asked softly.

“I don’t know, baby. I was mimicking you. It must have rubbed off.” He turned towards the area where the passengers would be coming out. Nate was easy to spot. He pointed. She didn’t look up, instead she continued to stare at him.

“Kota, I don’t understand.”

“It’s simple, you’re attracted to me.” He was careful not to sound smug.

“If you were
found
, I could understand how you did that.”

“Baby, you know it isn’t just the
found
who have gifts. You know that. Now there’s Maricel, go say hello. She needs you.” He gently guided her forward with his hand at the base of her back.

He watched the beautiful woman as she moved forward to hug Maricel. Nate nodded, as he kept his arm around Sarah. They looked good together. It was nice to see after all this time they’d gotten their shit ironed out.

The four of them walked back to Kota as he scanned the crowd. He got them hustled out to the parking lot in record time.

“Are we going to see my mama now?”

“Yes, we’re going to her apartment,” Gabriella smiled. Kota grimaced. The hellhole Gabriella was referring to as an apartment was not something he really wanted Maricel to see, but her mother wasn’t working at the moment. They headed over to Mission, and went to the absolute worst part of town. The talking going on between the three women had quickly subsided the closer they got to Maricel’s mom’s home.

“Damn,” Nate said under his breath.

“It only gets worse,” Kota breathed back. He pulled in front of a two story building that was baby puke yellow with broken windows and screens falling out. There were four cars in the potholed parking lot, two of them up on blocks.

“Let me go get her,” Kota commanded.

“You know it won’t work,” Gabriella protested. “She doesn’t believe us. You’ll have to take Maricel to the door, and if she is going, I am going.” Kota rubbed his hand through his hair.

“Fine.” He glared at Nate when he made a move.

“You’re right, Sarah and I’ll stay in the car.” Kota and Gabriella had already been there once before, they knew the lay of the land. He felt confident he wouldn’t need Nate the little distance they’d be away from the car, especially since he was armed. He motioned towards the center console in the SUV for Nate who tilted his chin in acknowledgement. Now both of them would be able to protect the women.

As he led the ladies up the stairs to Mrs. Lopez he wished, once again, he wasn’t taking Maricel to such an ugly place to meet her mother. He noted how Maricel gripped Gabriella’s hand tighter with each step they took up the dilapidated staircase.

Kota had the two women stand behind him as he knocked on the door. After some shuffling easily heard through the paper thin door, it opened a crack. The security chain hung uselessly above the small woman’s head.

“Si?”

“Mama!” There was no stopping Maricel, she pushed past him and Gabriella, and Mrs. Lopez opened the door with a scream. They hugged each other until they both melted onto the floor. Kota easily helped them up and guided them to the couch was covered with a sheet. Even though he was raised speaking Spanish, trying to decipher what these two women were saying between the sobs was impossible. He looked at Ellie who shrugged.

He finally crouched down and said in Spanish. “We need to leave. Maricel, you need to explain to your mom it isn’t safe here, and we need her to come with us.”

Again he listened in to a torrent of Spanish damn near impossible for him to keep up with, but finally Mrs. Lopez got up and tried to engulf him in a hug, which was impossible. He bent low and patted her back.

“Thank you for caring for my daughter and rescuing her and my granddaughter.” The older woman said with quiet dignity.

“They are both very special to us Mrs. Lopez.”

“Call me Alma, please.”

“Alma. I think Maricel has explained how she and her daughter have been in danger and we now worry for your safety as well. We want to take care of you. You must come with us at once.”

Then came the torrent of Spanish again, and Kota had no chance of winning this argument. Even though there was no blood relation between Maricel and her adopted mother, they certainly had the same level of stubborn. Once again he found himself looking at Gabriella for support.

“Alma, the sooner we get you to California, the sooner Maricel will be safe.”

“No, I must give notice, and say good bye to my friends. But most important, I have my duties at the senior center that must be divided out to other volunteers.” Here was a woman who was having trouble walking, doing menial labor who had also taken on volunteer duties? Kota was amazed. He also had enough.

“Dona Alma, I’m sure they’ll figure it out when you say you’re leaving town to stay with your daughter. They’ll understand.” He was beginning to feel like nothing was in his control.

“I said no. This will take a week to be properly done. Some of the older residents do not take change easily.”

“But…”

“Dakota, you heard the woman.” What Kota heard and saw was three against one. He wished he hadn’t made Nate stay in the car.

****

Kota and Maricel stayed behind with Maricel’s mom. Maricel was sure she could convince her mom to come to California sooner if she stayed behind. Sarah, Nate and Gabriella headed to Nevada to question Kathy Simms. Nate tried to talk Sarah out of going, he really didn’t want her to have to confront the bitch again. She’d suffered enough at her hands. But Sarah was right, they needed her to decipher the medical speak.

“You’ve got a half hour before Simms needs to meet with her lawyer,” Cyrus said before he left them in the prison yard.

“I told them I wasn’t going to talk to you without my lawyer present, is he stupid?”

“I see your bedside manner hasn’t improved since you started dressing in orange,” Sarah said calmly.

“You think you’re so much better than everybody else, when you’re nothing more than a sideshow freak.” Nate could smell the anger and desperation emanating from the woman.

“Lady, if you want to avoid solitary confinement, you better watch your tongue,” Nate said as he leaned across the table.

“Nate…”

“Enough,” Gabriella cut in. “You vicious bitch, will answer my questions.”

“I will do nothing.”

“Alma, what kinds of tests did you run on her?” Gabriella shot out the question.

Nate watched as she shook her head, flyaway blonde strands of hair escaped her ponytail, her green eyes looking at him for an explanation.

“You look at me,” Gabriella commanded. “What kinds of tests did you run on the baby?” Gabriella enunciated each word slowly.

“Too many. We needed to find out why her core body temperature ran so hot.”

“Bah! I don’t care about that. I want to know what kind of tests you ran on her after you found out she could harm people.” Simms gripped the edge of the plastic picnic table until her knuckles turned white. Sarah leaned forward, all of her concentration on the woman. Nate realized that she was likely combining her energy with Gabriella. Simms didn’t stand a chance.