What They Don't See

Chapter 23 - Mommy Issues

Later that night, Kate sat on the bed she and Logan would share while they were here, staring at the pale yellow wall across the room, deep in thought. In the background, she could hear the sound of the shower going. Logan had been in there for the past few minutes.

Logan told her that the room had been his while he was growing up, but when he moved out and established his career, his parents repainted it and turned it into a second guest room for the house. 

While the room was lovely, it did nothing to distract her from her current turmoil of thoughts. Her mind replayed the image of Max's tattoo over and over again. While she had been raised in a mafia household with other mafia affiliations, her education about the other world forces had not been limited to other mafia's alone. She had also been educated about gangs, big and small. She had been taught to be aware of all of them because their dealings had the potential to affect her businesses. When a new one would come up, she would be aware of its existence from as early on as possible. However, there were others that had been around for years, and Hellfire was one of them. While many gangs tried to be discreet in their dealings, Hellfire did not. They were one of the loudest gangs Kate had ever seen, and most members would be arrested or shot on sight by the police because of existing arrest warrants. Though not all members had records, their membership in the gang meant that they would eventually create their own repertoire. 

Hellfire did a variety of things, but they specialized in human trafficking and drug dealings. Girls in neighboring towns where Hellfire existed would often disappear and would rarely be seen again. Kate knew where those girls would end up and it made her skin crawl just thinking about it. Her team had interfered with many of those deals over the years, and she had seen things that would be burned into her memory for years to come.

So what was someone like Max doing working for them? Kate asked herself. As far as she had seen, he didn't fit the profile of the usual gang member, let alone a member of Hellfire. She considered asking Logan but wondered if he even knew. Membership was something that was kept top secret, and usually, only other members knew one another. This would be something that would require direct confrontation first. 

The silence of the shower stopping filled the room, and a moment later, Logan stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. As he walked across the room to his suitcase, Kate took a second away from her thoughts to admire his body. As her eyes roamed the muscled expanse of his back, Kate noted that he didn't have any tattoos besides the words scribbled across his left bicep. Before Kate's mind could wander too far, Logan spoke.

"My mum thinks you hate her." Kate was startled by this announcement.

"What? Why?" she asked, thinking back over the whole evening.

When she and Logan arrived a few hours ago, they received a warm welcome. Logan's dad, Tom, was a tall man with gray hair and a salt-and-pepper beard. Despite his intimidating stature, Kate liked him right away. He loved talking about his horses, and after dinner, he told Kate several stories of his young life as a horse trainer. He was very excited when he heard of Kate's love for travel.

"I traveled a lot when I was your age too. I had seen all 50 states by the time I was 20, and I went on to see most of South America and the Pacific and Central Islands before I met the boys' mom. I was coming home to take care of some affairs with the ranch when I met the newest family in town and their oldest daughter, fresh out of college. We got married a year later and that was the end of my travelling. My baby needed me here and that was more important to me. Although we went on a few trips together here and there over the years. Of course, back then traveling wasn't as easy as it is now. But I loved visiting all the different countries and experiencing their cultures," he had told her as they sat on the front porch sipping beer after dinner.