Star Bright (36 page)

“
He would have
killed you if you had stayed then, you know that!”

Maria stepped away and
used her good hand to point at the new additions to her body, “His
intentions haven’t changed mama, the only difference is that they
are more intense.” she turned to face Dave, “He threatened Izzy
too, and I’m not about to risk her life just to see who can play
hide and seek better.”

Dave knew his threat
against his daughter, he’d heard it from the horse’s mouth himself.
But he wasn’t going to tell Maria, that would only give her a
stronger conviction to leave and Ricky would still find
her.

Miguel moved to the door,
he opened it, and yelled out in Spanish before he moved to stand
next to Maria, “I’ll give you some men to escort you, the rest will
track and kill Ricky.” Two men appeared at the door and waited
quietly for their next order.

Maria looked at him, and
then at his goons. They did look scary and she was sure they were
packing heat under their heavy leather jackets. They could protect
them until she knew for sure Ricky was dead, then and only then
would she come back.

“
Now that’s a
plan!” She said, before she ran up the stairs, her mother hot on
her heels.

Dave looked at him,
frustrated, “You are only making things worse by playing his
game.”

“
I’m
protecting my family the best way I know how.”

Maria ran to Michael’s
room, “Mama, please get Izzy ready.” she opened the door and walked
in, “Michael, wake up we are leaving.” her voice died out when she
saw the empty ruffled bed, “Michael! Michael!” She yelled, as she
frantically searched the room for him.

Edna went into Michael’s
room, “Maria, is Izzy here because she’s not...” she stopped when
she saw Maria on her knees checking under the bed, “Please tell me
they are both under there.” she asked worriedly, her heart already
doing a mile a minute.

Maria sat down against
the bed, her hand fisted over her chest, “He took them mama.” she
cried, “he said he was very close to Michael I thought he meant he
was outside watching the house... I didn’t think...” a sob caught
in her throat choking her.

Her mind was already
going crazy, thinking of all the torture her children were going
through, making her chest tighten in pain and anguish.

Edna knelt down beside
her, “Honey, take a deep breath.” she turned her face towards her,
“One at a time, slowly.”

Maria hadn’t noticed she
was hyperventilating. She did as she was told, her eyes glued on
Edna’s as she coached her, rubbing her back gently as she soothed
her.

Dave and Miguel walked
into the room confused by the state Maria was in, “What’s going
on?” Dave asked, moving closer to Maria.

She jumped to her feet
and pointed at the empty bed, her eyes shooting daggers at Dave,
“There is your eventually!” She yelled at him.

Dave swallowed the lump
lodged in his throat. This was going to be a very long night for
him. He didn’t want to ask, he already knew the answer, but he
couldn’t help, but hope “Izzy?”

Edna stood up, “She’s
gone too. I’m so sorry Dave.”

“
Maybe.” he
choked. He paused and took a deep breath before he went on, Maybe
Michael tried to go to the hospital, he did say he would.” He knew
he was lying to himself as the words came out. Ricky worked fast,
faster than he thought.

“
No, Michael
may be a child, but he is mature enough not to leave without
telling me, especially if he was going to take Izzy with
him.”

“
We’ll find
them.” Dave chanted, quietly to himself, “We’ll find
them.”

Maria grabbed and shook
him, “By doing what, calling your men who are apparently tracking
him down, or are you going to shine a bat signal in the sky with a
‘I’m going to throw you in jail if you don’t bring my kids back’
warning!”

Dave rushed out and came
back to the room after a few minutes, with his laptop. He sat on
the bed and opened his laptop.

Maria looked at him,
shocked, “Please tell me you’re not working, now of all
times!”

Dave turned the laptop
around and showed them two beeping lights over a road map, “The
pendants they got for their birthday have a tracking device in
them.”

“
Why didn’t
you tell me?” she was still mad, but a little relieved. She
wouldn’t have believed it if it was anyone else, but with Dave, she
had learned to expect anything.

“
If I told you
that, you would have known there was a reason to know their
whereabouts and have them protected at all times.”

Maria felt like she was
going to blow up with rage, “Will you stop that! You keep hiding
things from me, in the name of protecting me. If you had told me
about Ricky being around, I wouldn’t have ended up in the hospital,
if you had told me he wasn’t dead, our kids would still be in their
beds sleeping and not with that maniac!”

Dave put the laptop on
the bed and stood up, “I know that, riding me about it isn’t going
to change what’s happened.” he stepped away from her, “Miguel lets
go get them.”

“
You aren’t
going anywhere.” Maria yelled, forcefully turning him around to
face him.

“
Why the hell
not?” He asked, looking down at the short now very red
pixy.

“
If Miguel
gets caught he’ll need someone to defend him and Dave you’re the
best.” Edna answered, as she tucked herself under Miguel’s
arm.

Miguel pushed her blond
bangs back and kissed her forehead, “I can get out of any jam
without getting into a court room.”

“
That’s great
Miguel, but the reason why Dave isn’t going anywhere is because
Ricky will shoot him!” Maria felt her body itch with anxiety. She
knew Ricky would do more than just shoot him and it tormented her
just thinking about it.

Come to think
of it.” Miguel looked at Dave thoughtfully, “We need the
distraction and what would be better than the new man in his
mujer
life.”

“
Miguel!” Edna
exclaimed.

“
Papa!” Maria
also exclaimed. She caught herself, shocked by how the title
slipped out of her lips. She looked around the room, at the shocked
faces and knew they were as shocked as she was. The stares made her
feel uncomfortable, like a spot light was been shone on
her.

“
He’s right,
Ricky made his feelings very clear when he paid me a visit today.
Let’s go.” Dave spoke, as he rushed out the room and down the stair
way.

“
You saw him?”
Maria felt her heart had stopped beating out of fear, “Dave, wait,
this isn’t your thing.” rushing behind him.

“
And what is
my thing?” He picked up his keys and pulled on his
jacket.

“
Police,
judges, court rooms, non-violent ways.” she moved closer to him,
“your weapon is not a gun it’s....”

“
His ability
to dial 911 on his cell phone.” Miguel said, sarcastically. Edna
punched him hard in his shoulder, “What? Real men take matters in
their own hands, they don’t hide behind the cops.”

“
Of course,
I’ll further prove my manhood by going on the run or probably spend
my life behind bars.” Dave spoke, irate, “Come on, we’ve wasted
enough time.”

“
Yeah, sure,
go ahead get yourself killed.” Maria spoke, annoyed, “Better yet,
why don’t we put a bull’s eye on your back and make things easier
for Ricky!” Slapping Dave’s back.

Dave cringed at the blow,
then pulled her in front of him, “Maria you are over reacting.” he
hugged her tight then placed a light kiss on her lips, “Everything
is going to turn out fine and in a few hours we’ll have our
children home with us.”

Maria looked up at him,
her eyes full of tears. She could already see it, Ricky killing
Dave before he killed the children, or worse yet, he’d make Dave
watch him kill the kids before he finally killed him. It’s what he
threatened to do to her, why wouldn’t he do it to him?

Maria turned to her
father with pleading eyes, “Papa, take care of him, and don’t let
anything happen to him.”

Miguel felt his heart
warm up again when he heard her refer to him as papa. He never
thought it would happen, not in this life time. He looked at Dave
with amusement, before he turned back to his daughter. The thought
of protecting a man like he was a woman, to him was a sign of
disrespect to the man. But this was a different life than the one
he is used to living. It would also earn him a lot of points taking
care of him.

“
Si
hija.
”

“
Papa.” Maria
began, moving closer to him, “If he dies, if any of them die, you
better kill yourself, because I will kill you.” Her voice was low
and lethal.

“
Maria!” Edna
exclaimed, shocked at her daughter’s threat towards her father. All
the warm emotions she felt hearing her daughter call Miguel papa
completely wiped out.

“
That’s my
daughter!” Miguel yelled, proudly. He walked out the house, Dave
following close behind him. When they drove off in Dave’s car,
several cars parked along the streets followed.

Edna stood outside next
to Maria and watched the cars drive off. She couldn’t understand
how Ricky got into the house with all these bodyguards around. She
kept quiet, she didn’t want to raise that, and make Maria even more
nervous than she was.

Maria rushed into the
house and came back out with her car keys in her hand, “Mama, let’s
go!” she spoke, running for the Prado.

“
Go where?”
Edna asked, going after her.

“
Where else?”
she handed Edna the keys, “You’ll have to drive I don’t want any
more pain than I have to endure.” she handed her the keys and
walked to the passenger’s side and got in, “Hurry up, we’ll lose
them.”

Edna got in, “It’s too
dangerous. You didn’t want Dave to go, but here you are rushing
after them.”

“
Mama how much
time do you want to waste because you know very well I’m going
after them, with or without you.”

Edna started the car,
“Michael is as stubborn as you are, and you are as stubborn as your
father, because you definitely don’t get it from me.”

“
Something
about an apple and a tree?” Maria leaned back into the seat and
tried to stay perfectly still. Her shoulder and her ribs throbbed
so much she wished she had taken a few pain killers before she left
the hospital.

Chapter Twenty
One

“
How did you
get all these people across the border?” Dave asked, stepping out
of the car. The beeping lights had stopped at the dark street they
were now on. It was full of old warehouses that looked abandoned
for years. Miguel’s army had already begun to disperse, holding
their guns high as they disappeared in the dark.

“
With money,
anything is possible.” He held out a gun for Dave. Dave just stared
at it without saying a word, “I promised to take you back safely.”
He pulled his hand and placed the gun in it, “Just take care not to
shoot yourself.”

Miguel turned when he
heard a loud whistle which killed the amusement on his face. Dave
stared at him and knew that it was a signal, “What is it? Did they
find them?” he whispered loudly, but the only response he got was
Miguel running towards one of the warehouses, “I guess that means
yes.” Dave said before he went running after him.

Ricky sipped at his
bottle of beer as he stared at the scared kids squeezed in a
corner. Michael had Izzy securely hidden behind him in the corner,
whispering words to her that Ricky couldn’t clearly make out. He
found it remarkable and funny how over protective his son was to
the little girl. He couldn’t understand his behavior, but he knew
one thing for sure, he didn’t get that particular trait from him.
Ricky was an all for none, and a one for one kind of guy. He also
noticed one other thing he didn’t take after him, his looks, the
boy had his eyes, but everything else was his mother’s.

And yet he was so unlike
his mother, Maria was a coward, but her son was the complete
opposite. Maria always gave in to his abuse, Michael, however,
fought back with everything he had. It didn’t matter how many times
Ricky hit him, he still fought him barricading the closet door
where he had stashed the little blond baby, but once Ricky got his
hands on her, Michael did exactly what he was told.

But Michael didn’t go
quietly, he threatened Ricky, promising to have Dave throw him in
jail for the rest of his life. The threats, and how sure Michael
was that Ricky would get what was coming to him, made Ricky very
curious about this Dave he spoke so highly about. If he wasn’t sure
the boy was his son, he would have thought he belonged to
Dave.

“
You know, you
look just like your mother.” Ricky spoke, pulling his chair closer
to them, which only made Michael move an inch back, tightening the
little space Izzy had. Ricky laughed at Michael’s reaction, “But
you get your ballsy courage from me.”

“
I don’t get
anything from you.” Michael said sternly.