Defending Raven (Mountain Mercenaries #7)(47)
That all sounded amazing to Mags. “Are we going out?”
“Nope. We’re all stuffing ourselves into Gray’s room. The food’s supposed to be delivered around six, and we need to go to the barrio and get the girls. Zara will bring Daniela with her.”
“Everyone will be there?”
“Yup. Which is why I said we’re stuffing ourselves into Gray’s room,” Dave said with a laugh. “We thought about going out, but the logistics of keeping you all safe would be difficult. So we’re getting a shitload of food, and we’ll sit and chat and laugh like one big happy family. Think anyone will mind?”
“Mind? Absolutely not. Honestly, we’re all used to hunkering down and crowding together in a small space,” Mags said.
“Good.”
As they walked together toward the vehicle, Dave’s head was on a constant swivel, making sure she was safe. Every now and then his thumb would brush over the ring he’d placed on her finger, and Mags could see the edge of David’s birth certificate sticking out of the pocket of his shirt where he’d stashed it. Her life had done such a drastic one-eighty in only two short weeks, and Mags could hardly believe it.
But she hesitated to fully embrace it, because of the life she’d been leading for so long. If there was one thing she knew above anything else, it was that just when you thought life was going along perfectly, a curveball might be thrown at you, messing everything up.
Mags hoped and prayed that she was wrong this time. Both she and Dave, and also little David, had been through enough.
Later that night, Dave sat on the floor next to Mags in Gray’s motel room and tried to memorize the moment.
Before this trip to Peru, he’d been worried what his friends would think when they found out the bartender who served them at The Pit was actually their handler, Rex. He hadn’t really meant to keep it a secret for as long as he did, but once things got started, it just seemed easier to keep the status quo.
Luckily, everything between them so far had been pretty good. There was a bit of tension as his men disagreed with the best way to go about getting David out from under del Rio’s thumb and back to the States, but other than that, Dave couldn’t sense any kind of hesitation or distrust. They didn’t seem to care that he hadn’t been in the military. Apparently, he’d proved himself enough in the past, which was a relief.
Zara was sitting on Meat’s lap on one of the beds, translating as they chatted with Teresa, Bonita, and Carmen. Ro and Gray were sitting near Gabriella and teaching her some English, while she taught them basic Spanish words. Arrow had left about five minutes ago to call his wife and make sure she and baby Calinda were all right. Black and Ball were sitting near Dave and Mags, who was translating for Maria and Daniela.
Empty containers of food were stacked up near the trash can, and the leftovers had already been packaged up for the women to take with them when they left.
Dave hadn’t let go of Raven’s hand and was simply enjoying soaking in the relaxed vibe of the room, which he knew was a gift. He also couldn’t take his eyes from the ring he’d put on her finger earlier. He’d missed seeing his ring there.
When he felt Raven stiffen next to him, Dave realized that he hadn’t been paying attention. Mentally berating himself, he sat up straight and looked around to see what had distressed his wife.
He realized that the room had gone mostly silent, and everyone was looking at Raven. “What?” he said a little too harshly.
“It’s okay,” Raven said, squeezing his hand. “Maria just asked why I never told them I’d had a child.”
“It’s not their business,” he said.
Raven shook her head. “Actually, it is. They’re my friends. I should’ve confided in them.”
She turned to Maria and the others and began to explain in Spanish, while Zara translated quietly for the men.
“When del Rio kicked me out of his compound, I was both relieved and terrified. He hadn’t let me take David with me, and even though I was happy to be retired from the life he’d forced on me, I didn’t want to leave without my baby. But he didn’t give me a choice. He told me that he’d be watching me, and if I did anything to try to take the boy from him, I’d regret it.”
“We all know del Rio’s an asshole of the highest order, someone who had no problem kidnapping children, but why would he want to hold on to David so badly, especially in a house basically just for him?” Arrow asked. He’d returned from making his phone call and was leaning against one of the walls.
Raven sighed. “I never saw another pregnant woman in the compound, or any babies, but there were occasionally children around. When a woman disappeared for months, then suddenly came back, rumors were that del Rio stashed them away until they had their babies. Some returned, but never said a word about where they’d been or what they’d been through. None of us wanted to ask them because it was obvious they were traumatized.
“When I got pregnant, at first he was pissed. I know he was making good money off me. He told me a doctor would come to the compound to ‘take care of the problem.’ I cried and begged him to let me keep my baby. I made a deal with him that I’d do whatever the customers wanted, as many times a day as he wanted, if del Rio would only let me keep him.”
Raven swallowed hard, and when the four other women who’d been used by del Rio gathered around her, Dave stood and gave them some room. Everyone laid a hand on his wife in support, and it seemed to give all of them strength as she continued telling her story.