Chapter 13

Just a warning, this chapter is going to be the worst one in terms of gore and blood and some nudity.

    Miguel was sitting down deep in thought when he received a call on his cell. He snapped open his phone and practically growled, “What?” A muffled voice through on the other line, “Sir, the package is ready for delivery.” Miguel smirked darkly, “Alright well my end is almost complete. Isabella is due any day. Soon you’ll have what you want.” After they ended the call Miguel’s wife approached him meekly.  “If you wouldn’t mind, Mig-…I mean….Sir, can I skip dinner tonight and take an extra hour to sleep? The baby is kicking up a storm these days and I have not been sleeping well.” Miguel put his hand on the back of her head, “Of course, mi amor, just remember something…” Isabella dared a glance at his face, “What?” Miguel chuckled darkly, “Do not get attached to this baby. If it is a girl, you know what we must do.” Isabella had tears running down her cheeks, “But Miguel, I do not want our daughter to become someone’s child bride.” Miguel swung the back of his hand across her cheeks, “You think I’m stupid? I know you don’t want to, but if we are going to be in business with this man, it’s important that he gets what he wants.” Isabella held her face in her hands, “What is so important about this man?” Miguel grabbed a fistful of her hair and put his face right in front of hers, “You wouldn’t understand.”   Miguel backed up and helped Isabella to her feet, his eyes resting on her belly. Any day now she was going to give birth. He helped her lie down and treated her like a queen until she fell asleep. Miguel entertained his newly acquired son, pushing away the thoughts that haunted him. His near death experience. A few days after his son was born, Miguel had gotten in too deep with his gambling debt. The main man of the underground ring had paid him a visit, only to later have his scarier friend join them. Together they beat and tortured Miguel until he agreed to relinquish whatever money he had. When they were done with him, they threw him in a pre-dug grave and tried to bury him alive. What they didn’t account for is Miguel still having cell service while he was six feet under. So with the help of a few buddies and one heck of a tracking app, Miguel was alive and hiding in the middle of the Bridgeport Briar Forest.     The light knock on the door, hurried Miguel out his thoughts. He opened the door and smiled wide at his two teenage sons. Carlos strode in, demanding answers, while Nico stood coolly in the distance. ( Carlos has the mustache.) “Dad, where have you been for the last year and a half, huh? You and mom just took off and left. We came here the minute we got your message. How are you going to explain this, eh?” Miguel put his hand on Carlos’ shoulders,”Listen, mijo, there are many men out there who want me dead. Your mom and I are hiding out here until it is safe for us to depart from this wretched city. We were so sorry to leave you, but Bianca knew what was going on and she vowed to take care of you.” At the mention of Bianca, Carlos snorted huffily,” Yeah, a fine job she did.” Miguel arched an eyebrow and waited for Carlos to elaborate, “Oh, you didn’t know? Oh, well, she has made a killing as a stripper in that new club, Planet something or other. She makes great tips.” Miguel had to keep himself from wrapping his hands around his son’s neck. He realized how his leaving had forced Bianca to grow up in more ways than one. He motioned to the corner of the room, where Isabella slept, “Go on boys. Say hi to your mother.”
 The boys stood at the foot of the bed, waiting, for what though, they weren’t sure. Miguel nudged them closer and finally, it was Nico who made the first move. He went to the side of Isabella’s bed and put his hand gently on her shoulder, “Mami, it’s me Nico.” He nearly gasped out loud at the bruise on the side of her cheek when she rolled over,” Mmmph, my stomach hurts,” she said sleepily before opening her eyes all of the way. She blinked owlishly at Nico until she realized who he was. She nearly jumped out of bed and wrapped her arms around him, “Nico, my baby, you have grown up so much.”  Nico let his mom hug him, trying not to cry.
 Isabelle waddled over to Carlos and gave him a big bear hug. He laughed awkwardly but didn’t stop her. Miguel pulled the two of them apart, “Okay break it up. I have some business to discuss with Carlos.” Isabella went back towards Nico and tried to reconcile the image of the little boy he used to be, with the near-adult he was now.”  “I’m going to need you to come with me tonight when I drop off a package. I need an extra pair of eyes on me and my surroundings.” Carlos nodded respectfully, his heart just as dark as his father’s. Miguel motioned towards Nico who had yet to speak a word to him,

“Son, you stay here and protect your mom and brother.” Nico scoffed, “Pah! That guero  is no brother of mine.” Miguel sent an angry hand flying across Nico’s jaw, “You’ll obey and respect me, boy!” Nico looked up at Miguel spitefully, “Is this what you do to Mami when she doesn’t respect and obey you?” Miguel held himself in check while he replied coolly, “It is what I do to anybody who disrespects and disobeys me. You will keep an eye on your mother and the boy.”  Miguel turned an angry eye toward Carlos who looked caught in the middle of them, “Come, son, let’s go get this deal over with.”  Carlos sent an apologetic glance towards his twin and followed his father out of the door.   Nico looked at the kid and didn’t know what to do with him, “I guess you’re my brother, but we sure as heck don’t share a mother.” The curly-haired tot giggled shyly and poked Nico’s cheek. Nico moved to put him on the ground, only to have the toddler cry and fuss.  He scooped him back up and began to tickle him and make funny faces at him. The kid smiled shyly. The only time he got a giggle out of the toddler was when he made silly faces and voices, “Well, hello thar’ ya lil’ young’n. ” Nico continued to do this until his mother groaned, “Is everything okay, Mami?”
 Isabella grimaced and rubbed her head, “Oh nothing honey, just a little headache, I think I’m going to walk around and get some fresh air.” Nico glanced nervously around, “Are you sure it’s safe?” Isabella laughed nervously, “It’s only your father who’s in great danger. I’ll be fine.” Nico stopped his mom by putting his hand on her shoulder, “Mami, why does he treat you so awful? Why do you stick around?” Isabella’s eyes filled with tears before whispering, “He’ll kill you if I don’t.”

 ~Meanwhile~ 

Karly heard a knock on the door and mentally groaned. Who knows the last time she showered, let alone put on new clothes. She pulled her oily hair back and called out, “Just a sec!”  She threw on one of Seth’s old shirts that he had left here before they broke up.

 She was now somewhat presentable. She opened the door, only to come face to face with the officer that was there when she came to the morning that Leo had gone missing. She stood back to let him in, all the while, hoping against hope that he had come with some good news. “Hello,Officer. How can I help you?”

Officer Crewe took in the sight of this frail disheveled woman who had opened the door. She looked like a complete wreck since the last time he had seen her, and she wasn’t in too good of a shape then either. He glanced at her wrists and guessed that she had lost 10-15 pounds and by the way her makeup was smudged, she had been crying recently. Not that she didn’t have a reason to. She smiled thinly and he watched as was almost bursting at the seams with unanswered questions.  “I’m sorry for the interruption, Miss Starch. I don’t have any news on your son-“

Before he could finish his sentence, Karly burst into tears in front of him. He looked down at his feet, unsure of what to do.
 Before thinking about what he was doing, he pulled her into a friendly hug and let her cry against his shoulder. She cried for a few more seconds and then wiped her cheeks and apologized profusely. “Oh my. I’m so sorry. I just had hoped- I mean, I haven’t heard- I’m so sorry.” He shook his hand and waved off her attempts to wipe his shoulder clean. He took a deep breath, “As I was saying, there has been some underground chatter about a man named, Miguel Drake. Does that mean anything to you?” Karly jumped up excitedly, “Yes! That man is Leo’s father, er sperm donor more like it. He hasn’t seen him since the day he was born.” The officer shrugged his shoulders, “Well we got a tip that he was staying somewhere in the Bridgeport Briar Forest. I’m not technically on duty and I could always use a fresh pair of eyes. Would you be up-” Karly smiled the ghost of a smile and almost screamed “Yes! Anything is better than being in an empty home and wrestling with your heart over whether you think there’s any hope of seeing Leo again.”  Before Karly knew it, they were riding out of Bridgeport city and heading into the more rural parts of the town. She tried to keep up the light conversation but ended up staring wistfully out the window. Hoping beyond hope that today would be the day she saw her little boy. They made it to the forest in no time. At first, Karly was unsure of what they were looking for, but Officer Crewe assured her that they weren’t looking for anything specific but just anything out of the ordinary.   What Karly wasn’t prepared for was the two bodies they found ripped open in a field. She shuddered and gasped, and then promptly lost her lunch. Officer Crewe radioed his squad members, “Calling squad B, Bridgeport Briar Forest, 2 dead vics. Seems to be mutilation and maybe a GSW to the head.” Karly sat down against a tree in the distance. Drawing deep breaths, she tried to get the picture out of her head. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Officer Crewe sat down next to her, “I’m sorry you had to see that.” She nodded politely, “Do you think it was Miguel?” The officer shrugged, “It’s hard to know at this point. Once CSU has combed through the field, we’ll know for sure.” He looked around nervously, “My gut feeling is that he is the one behind this.”

Before either of them could speak, a piercing scream filled the air. Karly shivered nervously. Officer Crewe went to check it out, but came back only moments later. “There is a woman in labor. she is refusing my help. I think it might be because of my uniform. Do you think you can go help her?” Karly looked past the officer uncertainly before nodding her head. The last person she expected to see was Isabella Drake, in a crouched position, moaning and crying.

Isabella looked up to the approaching footsteps, praying it wasn’t Miguel. To her surprise it was the little boy’s mother. The other woman, she thought. Sweat dripped down her forehead as she worked through the contraction.   When Karly knelt down in front of her, Isabella pretended to ignore her and sent her hateful glances. Karly looked at her cautiously, “I know that I am probably the last person you want to see right now. I know that you probably hate me right now, but whether you like it or not, your baby is coming. I can help if you’d like.” Isabella relented and straightened up on her bottom, “You can’t help me.” she whispered nervously. Karly cocked her head to the side, questioningly. Isabella elaborated, “Miguel. He’ll kill my boy, Nico, and your boy too.” Karly didn’t know whether to cry or to scream, “M-my boy? Leo? He’s alive?” Isabella nodded but a contraction put a stop to this conversation.

 “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!” Isabella cried out, “Screw Miguel, I need your help!”   Karly helped Isabella get her pants and underwear off without a hassle. It was so warm out that Karly convinced Isabella she’d feel better without her thick top on. She called out to Officer Crewe and told him to get ahold of an ambulance but Isabella refused and refused until Karly gave in. Officer Crewe went back to the field with the bodies, while the women prepared to have a baby. Isabella cried out and arched her back as a contraction tore through her, “Ohhhhhhhh nooo, I can’t do this.” She began sobbing hysterically and clutching her stomach. Karly looked around and racked her brain for words of comfort. She tried her hardest to focus on Isabella but her mind kept straying back to Leo.  A sharp cry from Isabella brought her back to the present.    She was about to check on the baby’s progress when she began to doubt her abilities. Who am I to deliver this baby? How am I going to deliver this baby? She shook her head and pushed through her fears while checking the baby’s position. “Okay, Isabella, I see the baby’s head. It’s a beautiful curly head. On this next contraction let’s give it a go and push, ok?” Isabella shook her head slowly, with tears streaming down her face, “I can’t…..I can’t bring this baby into the world. I just can’t do it.” Karly put her hand on Isabella’s shoulders, “As unlikely as it seems, I am here to help you. Whatever you’re afraid of, we’ll fight it. We’re in this together. You and I.” Isabella nodded her head determinedly. When the next wave of contractions came, Isabella bore down and pushed. Within the hour, Karly was holding a wrinkly, brown beautiful baby girl. She wrapped up the baby with her jacket and handed her to Isabella, who refused to even look at the baby. Karly took a deep breath, “Isabella? What’s wrong? Your baby girl is beautiful and healthy as can be.” Isabella broke down into tears, “He’s going to take my baby. She’s going to be some pervert’s personal child slave. I can’t let that happen to my baby. Karly can you help me? I promise, I’ll show you where your son is if you help me flee the city.” Karly bit her lip before making a decision, “Okay. Let’s do it.”