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“I noticed the gate was open when we drove by. That seemed odd enough. Right after that, I saw the car.”
At my quizzical face, Ben explained, in clear discomfort, “Mia saw him a few months ago—”
“My soon-to-be ex-wife was cheating on me with that man. He’s a member of a dangerous drug cartel. Now I’m hating myself for not dumping that piece of work sooner.” Danny’s hatred was clear. So was his worry.
“You’re doing it now, that’s all that matters.”
“She put my baby in danger, Mia. Andrea put Sofia and all of us in danger.”
“I don’t think he attacked us because of her.” She raised a hand to placate him. “She can surely make it easier for him, I give you that. But there are a lot of other things involved. Now your baby can be safe. You’re divorcing that...lady.” She gritted her teeth to stop herself from saying something else. “So you can move on with your life, knowing your baby is being properly cared for.”
He grumbled in half-agreement, not convinced.
“About the truck. The one that crashed you.” Aaron sat down on the loveseat and placed one shin over his knee. “What can you say about it?”
“It came out of nowhere,” I answered. “He crossed the road right into the car. There was only time to scream.”
“You couldn’t see it?”
I shook my head, and Mia explained, “It was an arboreal stretch on both sides of the road. To our right, there was an entrance to a dirt path. The road was narrow and curvy at that point, so I planned on using that entrance to make the turn and go back toward the clinic to get rid of the tailing car.” She explained the dynamics using her hands. “Before I could do it, the truck came from the other side of the road, my left side, and drove directly against the car.”
“Did the driver honk?”
“No. And despite there being a ‘daylight headlight section’ close by, his lights were off. He left from between the trees and advanced. No warning. No lights. Nothing.” My insides coiled as she told them. Remembering that moment made everything real again.
“So it was deliberate,” Ben concluded.
“It appears so,” Aaron agreed. “Besides, I checked the blocks along the road. All bogus. They closed all your ways of getting away.”
More curses surrounded us, including mine. We stayed in heavy silence until I voiced a question that was nagging at me. “They knew where we were because they planned it. They knew the roads we’d take, and even that I had an appointment. They must’ve been keeping tabs on us and probably knew how far along I was in pregnancy and that I wasn’t driving anymore. Why didn’t they just crash us from my side of the car? If they wanted to endanger me and my baby, why not attackme? Or why didn’t they try to get to me when I was alone?”
Silence descended heavily on us. Mia took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes in defeat and exhaustion.
Aaron was the one to answer me. “Because you were the bonus. Not the target.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re hardly ever alone, so that could be an answer for them not getting to you sooner. But what you brought up makes sense. If they wanted you out, they’d find a way to get toyou. The thing is, they didn’t want you alone, or just you and your baby. Having you out is a victory for Michael. Yes, I know about him,” Aaron informed me when he saw my surprised face. “But getting her out of the way,” he pointed at Mia, “was his main goal. You’re the afterthought.”
My eyes snapped at her, and I saw her rubbing her forehead in worry and discomfort.
“I believe they waited for the moment you were both on the outskirts of town, with Ben being gone, to decrease your chances of getting help. If he attacked here, at her place, or even at your cafeteria, with this being a small town, help would be there in a second.”
“Mia’s been working more locally for the last couple of weeks,” Danny uttered, pressing my baby closer to his chest, as if in protection.
“Which can explain why they waited until just now to try something.” At Aaron’s perception, Zach and Ben cursed.
“So do you think Michael is involved?” Ben’s pained question saddened me. To consider his father would try to kill his best friend—again—and his woman and kid must’ve been crushing.
“I do. I ran his license plates from when he approached Mia and Isabella and went back a few months, following his whereabouts. From the investigation I’ve been running on that front, and from what you’ve gathered so far—thank you, Danny, for the files—I think he’s indebted to theAlacráns. That’s why he was involved in Santiago Cruz’s murder.” He hesitated for a while, and I felt my skin getting clammy and cold.
“What else?” Ben’s clipped voice exposed his alarm.
He rubbed his hand over his mouth. “I have reasons to believe he’s also afterThe Bryant Prodigyon behalf of the cartel. It might be a way for him to solve his debt.”
Ben thrust his hand into his hair in distress. Danny let out a chain of Spanish curses. Mia’s eyebrows were raised, and her eyes were a little bigger, but not in fear, more like in contemplation. Zach stood up from his seat, pacing the room like a beast. He strode out the front door, and all we heard was his shout and punch on something hard. Our wall, maybe.
I didn’t know what being “after The Bryant Prodigy” meant. From Zach’s outburst, which was so out of character for him, I figured we should be worried.
