Angel

Chapter 27

Axel

An uneasy silence had fallen over the house. Even Violet had noticed and fell asleep early. We needed help, and we needed it now. The line rang only twice before Owen picked up.

"Axel? What has you calling so late?" he asked.

"We have an emergency and need help...Academy help," I said.

"Have Corey set up a secure connection with Victor. I'll get Phil on the line as well," he said without asking anything further. "It will be up in ten," he said, then hung up.

I walked into the front room, "Set it up, Corey. Family meeting. Mrs. Theriot, I think you need to stay for this as well," I told the elderly woman. She gave a curt nod and sat next to Dove.

The big screen TV came to life with small windows that made me think of the introduction to that old Muppets show. "Vivian?" I heard Phil gasp.

"Hello, Phillip. It's been a while," Mattie's grandma replied.

"Wait a fuckin minute, her grandma knows Phil?" Gabe sputtered.

Phil laughed, "I take it the Tomas know, but not the Blackbournes?"

"That about sums it up," she said. "Nice to meet all of you, I'm Mattie's MawMaw, Vivian Theriot, well in my Academy days it was Vivian Abbot. Cher and her beaus just recently learned about my history, but that's not the matter right now. Cardoz knows Phil."

"Fuck," he muttered, running his hands through his hair. "Report."

"Mattie was helping with a land sale and contracts at the law firm. Despite pulling her from the matter, she encountered the attorney Mr. Ramoz and his associate today. Based on their comments, they realized the guys knew about the cartel and so did she. They also realized she could understand their conversation despite being in Spanish," I explained and then nodded to Raven.

"I escorted them from the building and recorded their conversation as best I could. We haven't listened to it yet. We needed to wait until baby bunny was asleep," he said.

Phil gave a confused look, "Baby bunny?"

"Mine and Mattie's daughter," Marc chuckled and pointed to Mattie, "She's Angel, Phil. This is who I was trying to get out with me. I didn't know she was pregnant, and I guess the dots never connected when you helped her grandma get her away."

"Well son of a bitch," he gaped. "What the hell are the odds, Vivian?"

She smirked, "More than I care to calculate at the moment, Cher." I saw Mattie give her an odd glance at the nickname but didn't comment.

"Have you had any more luck with the info Marc and Mattie decoded?" Corey asked the Blackbournes.

"We've made some connections as buyers," Kota said. "There's a gala in a couple of months that we're supposed to attend."

"Who is 'we'," I asked.

"Victor and I," he answered. "We've had a couple of face-to-face meets in California and Texas, but this one will be in Mexico.  However, we still haven't laid eyes on Cardoza.  The man keeps his real identity under tight wraps."

"Let's listen to the tape. Nathan, you and Mattie have us stop when you need to help translate," Owen said. I noticed Nate had a notepad in front of him and Marc had handed one to Mattie.

Raven nodded and pushed play.

(They are hearing the conversation in Spanish...the following is the translation that only Mattie and Nate understand at first.)

Ramoz: I want to know how the fuck they figured it out!

Other: Do you think the woman told them?

Ramoz: Little mouse knows something, but I can't tell how much other than Spanish, but if they told her who was buying the property, then...

Other: Do you think they realize who she is? We can get a crew here before midnight.

Ramoz: Not yet. We need to make sure it's her, then we bring her back.

The remainder of the recording was garbled with only a few words standing out - princesa, Cardoza, Angel...

"Mattie!" Marc yelled as her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed. The room erupted in chaos. Her grandmother was holding her hands, trying to rouse her while Brandon and I went for a washcloth and water.

"Kakogo khrena!" Raven swore, tears running down his face.

Corey turned back to the screen full of worried faces, "Nate?"

His face was pale, "She was right. They know, and they think she's someone important, man. They mentioned bringing her back, but back where?"

Vivian's tear-filled eyes looked up. "Cardoza. He wants her...always has, and if he gets her..." She didn't finish her sentence, but we all understood the implications.

Marc gently picked her up and headed toward our room with Brandon following him. I wanted so badly to go with them, but I needed to stay here and figure out how we were going to keep her safe.

****

We had spent hours coming up with different ideas after Vivian and Phil filled us in on all the events surrounding Mattie coming to New Orleans. I noticed neither of them gave very many details about Mattie's parents, and I could tell Corey picked up on it too. There had to be more to that story.

As of tomorrow, Raven and I were going to Mattie's home to get everything we think they might need - all three of them, and then we would be packing everything to send to Charleston. Corey would get files from the law firm, then we would all be on a flight to Charleston together. The hope was to disappear under the radar and get help from the Academy to keep her safe while Cardoza was dealt with. I would be helping infiltrate the cartel with the Blackbournes since I'm the only family member they haven't had contact with. We all agreed Marc needed to stay away. The risk of someone remembering him from his days with the Palmas was too high. His beautiful eyes were fairly difficult to forget.

Brandon

I heard Axel slip into the room and get undressed. "How is she," he whispered in my ear as he climbed into the bed.

"She woke up for a bit in a full-blown panic attack. Marc and I managed to get her to calm down some. Then she told us what she heard and I had to fight my own panic attack honestly. How the fuck do we fight this, Ax?" I asked, my voice shaking.

He stroked my shoulder, placing soft kisses, "Hey, we've got this. Raven and I are gonna pack up their house tomorrow and we're all heading out to Charleston for a bit. Safety in numbers," he chuckled.

"Are we staying at the apartments?" I asked.

"No, we'll stay with the Blackbournes at first, then go from there. While it would be a long shot, the cartel might be able to make a connection between you three and the Sergeant Jasper. I doubt we'll stay in South Carolina for long. Just enough to get a plan and some protection set up." He chuckled and turned my face toward him, "Guess we get to do some traveling a bit sooner than we anticipated."

I gave a small laugh then leaned back, kissing him softly before laying back down with his arms wrapped around me.

Author's Notes:  Okay, they have a plan...but will it be enough?

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