Chapter 68: Second Thoughts?
Zander
We went ahead and told Brady about the baby. He looked genuinely happy for us as he hugged Liz, but I could see a bit of something else. I don’t know what it is, but I am not sure if I care
anymore.
It’s the evening before the supposed planned attack, and I am in my home office. Rebel let me know that they plan on attacking the house tomorrow at about 6pm. I have a dinner meeting with a client and Liz will be home. At least that’s the lie we fed Brady. I just want this over and
done with.
It seems our lives are only worth 1 million dollars to Martha. That’s how much she is paying Rebel’s gang to get us. I said he could keep the money. They are working for it after all. She has already paid them half, so if they don’t get the rest, they are still 500K ahead.
He also confirmed that Martha would definitely be present. He hadn’t seen her, they only spoke on the phone. According to Rebel, she is one ‘mujer loca‘ [crazy woman], because she explained in detail what she wants to do to us, and she wants to do it in my parents‘ home. She wants to be the one to kill me and Liz, so we are off limits to them. They are just meant to
capture and detain.
Apparently, she will also be sending men to free her brothers. She knows they probably won’t
succeed, but it’s more of a diversion to keep the FBI busy. Then there are men that are supposed to hijack me on my way back home. We also discovered that she put out a hit on agent Perez. Tim found the ad on the dark web. Martha really is crazy.
Liz knocks on my office door, before she comes in with a bowl of ice–cream and hands it to me. I thought you might need some comfort food,” she says, sitting down on my lap. “Thank you my Liz. But all I really need is you,” I said and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss. She is
all the distraction I need.
There is another knock on the door, and I break the kiss and frown. Who has such shitty
timing? I yell for them to enter, and Brady peeks his head in. He looks at us but doesn’t come
- in. “I am sorry, I can come back. I didn’t mean to bother you,” he says.
“No, it’s fine, come in,” I say, and he nods and comes in with a gift bag and closes the door. “I
bought this for the baby. I hope you don’t mind. I know you don’t want the word to spread just
yet, but I couldn’t resist,” he says and puts the bag on the desk. “Thank you, Brady, can I open
it?” Liz asks and he smiles and nods.
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Chapter 68: Second Thoughts?
She takes the bag and opens it and reaches inside. She takes out two little baby vests and
opens them and starts laughing. She gets up and goes to hug him and I clench my fists. I
always worry when she is so close to him. “Thank you, Brady, I love it,” she says, and he smiles
as he hugs her. I can see his face and his smile looks like it’s a sad one.
I took the vests and opened them to see what had her laughing. The one vest has a slogan on
it that says, ‘Don’t drop me, my mommy and daddy are lawyers‘, and the second one says, ‘ Sleep? I object,’ with a picture of a judge’s gavel. It really is cute and very thoughtful, and I can’t
help but smile.
Why did he have to be a traitor? I hold the vests in my hand and look at him. “Thank you man,
this is really special,” I say, and swallow the hurt and betrayal I feel. Liz comes over and puts
her hand around my waist. I know it’s a gesture to soothe me, and it’s working. Just having her
close is enough to calm me.
“You are welcome, man. Listen, I just want you to know that whatever happens, I am really
happy for both you and Liz. You are good people, and you don’t deserve the hand you were
dealt. I am truly sorry all these bad things are happening to you. I hope the baby brings you
endless joy,” he says with a very somber expression.
“Thank you, but is there something you want to tell me? I get the feeling there is more you
want to say,” I say, trying to give him one last chance to tell me the truth. “It’s nothing Zander, I will speak to you tomorrow. It’s late, sleep well guys,” he says and leaves the room. Liz looks
at me in confusion and I just shrug.
“Why do I feel like he wanted to tell us?” she whispers. “I have the same feeling. That’s why I
gave him that last lifeline.” “Maybe you should try again, or maybe I should,” Liz says, but I
don’t know if I want to put her at risk. “We will see what he does tomorrow. I don’t want you
alone with him.” I answer and she nods.
“I really don’t think he will hurt me or the baby, Zander. He looked really confused and
undecided.” “I saw that. Okay, I will go speak to him. Why don’t you go relax in a nice warm
bath? It’s getting late, we should go to bed,” I say and kiss her forehead. She takes the gift bag
and smiles at the vests, before she puts it back.
She leaves the office and I make my choice. I am going to speak to him, and try one last time.
I took a bottle of bourbon from my bar and two glasses and walked to his room. I know he
loves bourbon, he can never resist. I knock on his door and he answers immediately.
“Have a glass with me to celebrate the baby?” I asked, showing him the bottle. He smiles and
opens the door wider for me to come in. I see his balcony window is open, so he must’ve been
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out there. I walked out on the balcony and put the bottle on the little table outside.
I pour us each a glass before I sit down and look out over the lake. It really is beautiful at this
time. The moon is high and bright, and the reflection on the lake is picture–perfect. “Something
is bothering you, please tell me, so I can help you.” I say after we both take our first sip.
“Drama with my dad and his family,” he says. I stayed quiet and took another sip of my drink,
and waited for him to speak. “Have you ever done something you wish you could undo? But
even if you do make things right, you know the damage can never be undone?” he asks me looking into my eyes. “What are we talking about? It would help if I knew the scale of the damage,” I said, hoping he would just come clean.
“It’s big, Zander, like life–changing damage. I could lose my family,” he says, looking out over
the lake. “I don’t know what you did, but your family wouldn’t abandon you over a mistake you
are trying to fix.” I answer. “They aren’t my blood Zander, maybe they just tolerate me because
they are forced to,” he answers without looking at me and empties his glass.
“Family doesn’t just mean blood, Brady. Look at us, you, me, Liz, Ricardo, Robyn, Chris, Toby,
Rosa, Dom and Wayne. We are a family of our own making even though we share no blood. All
of you are the family I chose. If it were me, I would find a way to forgive you. If your dad and
his family care half as much as we do, they will do the same.” I say, really meaning it, even
though my heart hurts.
He turns and looks at me and I can see the emotion in his eyes as he swallows hard. He puts his glass down and comes over and pulls me into a hug. “Thank you Zander, I think I have my answer. I know what to do.” is all he says as he walks back into the room. “Where are you
going?” I ask. He turns back and gives me a sad smile.
“To fix my mistake. Keep Liz safe, I will be back soon,” he says and leaves his room. I took my phone and called Ricardo. “Brady just left. He said he was going to fix his mistake and then he left. Can we get someone to follow him? I am worried,” I say when Riardo answers. “What happened?” he asks.
I fill him in and by the time I am done, he is walking into Brady’s room. “f**k, I hope he isn’t going to make things worse.” Ricardo says and I nod. I hope I didn’t make things worse. “I can track his car. I will send someone to tail him and intercept him if we have to.” he says and
makes a call. I am about to call Chris, when Rebel calls me.
“What the f**k, Zander? That estupido [asshole], just called now to tell me to cancel the job. I
told him I would call him back. What should I do?” he asked me. “f**k, tell him you can’t pull
out now because you already used the money. Tell him you can’t risk being on the cartel’s bad
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side. You will only follow Martha’s instructions,” I say, and he agrees and hangs up.
“f**k!” I yelled and looked at Ricardo, who seemed to have been listening to my call. “It can still work, Zander. Have faith in Rebel,” he says, and I run my fingers through my hair, but nod
my agreement. Ricardo’s phone rings and he answers immediately. “What? Are
f**k, try his phone.” Ricardo says and hangs up.
you sure?”
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“He turned the tracker in his car off. We have no idea where the f**k he went,” Ricardo says.
called Chris and we both fill him in. “I will call Tim and see what we can do. In the meanwhile,
don’t let Liz out of your sight. If you have to sleep in the panic room tonight, you do that,” Chris
says and I sigh.
“I agree, it’s the best course of action. We don’t know what Brady just set into motion. They could change their plans and come earlier. Too many unknowns and what ifs. Our main priority is you and Liz. I will take the staff and Robyn to the other house to keep them safe,”
Ricardo says with a somber look.
“Did I f**k everything up by speaking to him?” I asked. “No, you gave him a lifeline, and he made his choice. All we can do is wait and see,” Chris says. I hang up and go in search of Liz, while Ricardo goes to gather the staff and Robyn, to take them back to my house.
I nearly freak out when I don’t see Liz in the room, but I find her in the bath, relaxing. I smile when I see her. Somehow my paranoid mind told me that someone could have taken her.
Nats
#Vote# I wanted to give you a double update because the proverbial sh!t is going to hit the fan with the next chapters. I hope you are still enjoying.
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