Defending Raven (Mountain Mercenaries #7)(48)

“There were many men who thought it was . . . interesting to have sex with a pregnant woman. Del Rio didn’t shuffle me off to another part of the compound until I really started showing and it was obvious I was pregnant. I was kept very busy, and when the time came for me to give birth, del Rio locked me in a room and said that if I was going to have my baby, I’d have to do it by myself.”

Carmen made a harsh noise. “What if there were complications?”

Raven shrugged. “Then we both would’ve died.” She said it without any inflection in her voice. For her, it was what it was, but for Dave, it made his anger toward the monster that was del Rio flame even higher.

“So anyway, I had David, and del Rio kicked me out of the house. I’m still not sure why, considering other women had children and kept working. He brought David to one of his smaller houses and only allowed me to see him three times a week. I was even more confused about why he was allowing me to see my son at all, since he wouldn’t let me leave with him, but I didn’t dare ask. I breastfed him for as long as I could, but eventually he had to be put on formula since I wasn’t there enough to feed him what he needed. I couldn’t tell you about him,” Raven said to her friends sadly. “If del Rio found out, I don’t know what he would’ve done with my son.”

“We understand,” Maria said gently. “Any of us would’ve done the same thing.”

Carmen looked distinctly uncomfortable. Then she blurted, “I heard a baby once.”

Everyone turned to look at her when Zara translated.

“Where?” Dave asked when no one said anything.

“At the compound. I was locked in my room and couldn’t investigate, not that I would’ve anyway, but I was lying on my bed, and I heard what I knew was a baby crying. I was confused because, as Raven said, we hadn’t seen any women who were pregnant.”

Raven looked at Dave, and he could see the agony in her eyes. “How many other babies do you think are out there?” she whispered. “Being raised by del Rio for some horrible purpose?”

Dave didn’t want to even think about it, but he couldn’t lie to his wife. He nodded. “I don’t know. But I’d assume probably several. He’s been trafficking children at least a few years.”

“Where are they?” she asked, more to herself than anyone else. “Are they being kept in the compound? Why didn’t he keep David there too?”

“Maybe he let others take their babies with them.” He didn’t believe that for a second, but said it to hopefully take some of the angst from his woman’s eyes.

“Or maybe they’re being raised in the same way as your son,” Gray said quietly.

“The pictures . . .” Raven whispered.

“What pictures?” Arrow asked.

Raven closed her eyes and shook her head.

Dave answered for her. “Raven said that David told her del Rio had visited him with another man, and he took pictures of them both without any clothes on.”

The words sounded even more obscene when explained to the group.

“Fuck,” Arrow muttered.

The other men in the room also swore under their breaths.

“We can’t wait anymore,” Dave said. “We need to get my son out of that house and back to the States where he’ll be safe.”

“Agreed,” Gray said.

“Absolutely,” Black muttered.

Dave didn’t want to think about del Rio and his plans for David, and possibly other children he had stashed around the city. They’d talked about what they were going to do, and although nothing had been set in stone, he knew time had run out. They couldn’t risk del Rio deciding to do more than take pictures. He’d found his wife, and his son, just in time.

“Can you forgive me?” Raven asked the other women in the room. “I would’ve told you if I could.”

A chorus of sí’s rang out in the room as everyone said yes, of course they forgave her.

“No one should have that much control over a woman’s reproductive system,” Daniela said, and Zara translated. “I see it all the time . . . women whose men refuse to wear condoms, and they have baby after baby. They can’t feed the families they’ve got, and yet they can’t do anything to prevent their families from growing bigger. And then there are the men who beat their women in the hopes they’ll abort. That’s just one of the reasons I’m excited about the clinic . . . I can give women more choices when it comes to family matters. Birth control and prenatal health is lacking here.” She looked at Zara. “Thank you so much, child, for making this possible. My country wasn’t good to you, and you have no reason to want to give back in any way, and yet you are.” Daniela’s eyes filled with tears. “Bless you.”

By now, most of the women in the room had tears in their eyes, but Dave was only concerned about his wife. Raven looked emotional, but not completely devastated, which he could live with. She was either in denial about what del Rio had planned for David, or she was trying not to think about it. He suspected the latter. His wife wasn’t stupid, but she’d been through a hell of a lot, and considering that she couldn’t do anything to help her son, stressing about the situation wouldn’t help.

He wasn’t willing to stand around and let a conversation continue that was freaking Raven out, but because she seemed to be okay, he tried to make himself relax.