Letting Go (Thatch #1)(94)

Before we could start on another war, Uncle Mason spoke up. “You’ll be just North of San Diego, near your Uncle Eli. He’s already been looking into places for you live, and your parents are working something out with them for a car.”

“Lovely. Sounds like everyone is already completely filled in,” Kira sneered.

Uncle Mason didn’t respond for a long time, just sat there staring at Kira with a somber expression. It was so unlike him. “I don’t want you two to have to do this any more than you do, trust me. Your dad and I know better than anyone what it’s like to pick up and move at a moment’s notice, not being able to have a say in it, so we know what you’re going through.”

Kira mumbled something too low for me to hear, but it was obvious in her expression that she didn’t agree with him.

After a subtle shake of my head, I looked back at Uncle Mason and tapped his leg with my foot to get his attention again. “Okay, so we’ve heard about Juarez’s gang, and what happened with Mom being taken. But here’s what I don’t understand and am having a little bit of trouble with. Why, after so much time has passed, do you think it’s them threatening us? Wouldn’t they be over it by now? I mean, couldn’t it just as easily be someone you’ve arrested recently, and you’re just jumping ahead and thinking its Juarez?”

Uncle Mason was already shaking his head before I even finished asking my questions. “No. It may have been twenty-three years ago, but we haven’t forgotten what happened, and we know for a fact they haven’t and are still holding a grudge because there have been letters delivered to your dad.”

“What did they say?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What did they say?” I asked louder, and Kira leaned toward us in her seat to hear what he would say.

“I said it doesn’t—”

“We deserve to know!” I snapped.

“They said, ‘Can’t wait to meet the rest of your family’, and ‘How are those daughters of yours?’ ” Uncle Mason sighed heavily and looked out the window for a few seconds.

“That’s it?” I asked when he didn’t continue. “I mean, that’s really creepy but it doesn’t really prove much of anything.”

“It does, because at the bottom it had the gang’s symbol. A symbol your dad and I used to have tattooed on us when we were undercover. A symbol they left spray-painted on your parents’ wall after kidnapping your mom.”

“Oh,” I breathed, and Uncle Mason sent me a look.

“Yeah. ‘Oh.’ ”