“I know he’s my kid, I’ve always known.” The expression on my dad’s face tells me he was somehow expecting this. The rest of the people are all rather shocked by the news.
“Luke is your son?” Logan gasps. Garcia bobs his head.
“As soon as I found out Sophia was pregnant, I let her go back to you, knowing you would look after the baby. I didn’t, and still don’t, want anybody to know that I have a son, it’s too dangerous and I want him to be a normal kid in a normal family.” There are tears in Garcia’s eyes while he looks at my dad.
My father nods at him.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Alberto says and then continues: “We should not underestimate this Harry guy … he’s got friends in very high places … and he’s anything but stupid. He’s been planning this takeover for quite a long time.”
“He took over one of the gangs in the upper north side under a false name years ago. I knew about it … but he doesn’t know I know. He always sent his second in command to the meetings.” We stay silent, waiting for him to continue.
“But, he tried to recruit the wrong gang on the South side. Their leader is …” he looks at Uncle John, “Eh … family. He informed me and we came up with a plan.” He’s got my attention. Any plan right now sounds good to me.
“Okay, so now we know why he took Luke … what about Kiara?” Logan wants to know.
“He’s blackmailing her father to kill some dude who’s in the same jail as him. I spoke to William, her dad. He’s waiting for my call … else he will handle it tomorrow. As for Jackson … well, seems they got the twins mixed up again.”
“You would swear we are identical,” Enrique snorts.
“You kinda are,” Axel rips. But we know what he means. If you know the twins like we do, you would never confuse the two, not even when they close their eyes. There are a lot of small differences between them, and I’m not talking only personality-wise.
“Can’t you think why this girl might be this angry with you?” Ilkay chokes out in shock. “It can’t be just because you ignored and teased her when she was young.”
“I racked my brain,” Enrique says sternly. “I got nothing. But since I don’t know what she looks like now … maybe I slept with her … I can’t say.”
“What’s the plan?” I ask grimly. We need to do something … I need to do something to save Mel and the others.
“Surprise,” Garcia says. I frown. That’s his plan? “There are a few things Harry does not know. Things that give us the upper hand.” Okay, it’s getting a little better. We wait in silence for him to explain.
“Firstly … I told you about the southern gang he tried to recruit … well, we let him … but he doesn’t know that their leader is spying for us.”
“Can we trust him?” Ilkay ask. We don’t know the man. Garcia stares at Uncle John who nods.
“Yes, like I said … Alex is family …” he says looking at Ilkay, “He’s your uncle and my nephew.”
“Uncle?” Logan and Ilkay stutter at the same time. It’s obvious, the brothers didn’t know about this.
“Yeah, I have a younger half-brother,” Uncle John explains, “And his mom is Garcia’s sister. It’s a long sad story … not meant for now.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Ilkay moans.
“Because he’s secretly been working with Garcia and Xander for years. They could not jeopardize his cover,” Uncle John explains. “I’ll tell you all about it later. Just focus on what’s important now.” The brothers look shocked and pissed, but they nod silently, knowing what’s at stake.
“There’s also something else.”
Garcia motions to one of his guards and the man places a beautiful pink flower on the table.
“It’s a Protea,” Alejandro comments.
“Yes, it’s the sign of the -”
“Old Man.” My brother interrupts Garcia. He looks wearily surprised at Alejandro.
“Well, technically it’s the sign of the Lamorte family. But yes … it’s the Old Man,” Garcia concludes.
“Isn’t he part of The Circle?” Now my brother is getting a stern stare before he continues.
“He was. He’s retired. I’ve pulled in a favor the family owes me.”
“And you trust this dude?” I don’t want to put Mel’s safety in the hands of some grandpa my brother seems to dislike.
“Yes.” Alberto sounds pretty sure of himself. “The Lamortes are old school … they never break a promise. And like I said … they owe me big time.”
“So what’s the plan?” my father asks, looking at his watch. Time is running out.
“We know that the last thing ever registered to Harry’s name is the old ghost house at the south side of the Sea Cliff area. It’s the house where everything took place.” What kind of sick-fate type of coincidence is the universe playing here?
First my sister, now Mel and Luke … is this a joke?
“I think the hostages might be there.”
I jump up. “I’ll go take a look at the house.”
“NO!” My father blocks my way. “You’re going to stay here until Darren contacts you. Alejandro will go to the house.” I bite my teeth. I’m not happy with this. Not that I don’t trust my big brother, but I need to go get Mel.
Alejandro puts a hand on my shoulder and silently squeezes it softly. He has that dead look in his eyes. He changed his clothes – dressed in a black SWAT combat suit, complete with a bulletproof vest and all.
He takes a case that Uncle John holds out and the keys to one of the new Reaper bikes.
“Stay,” he orders little Jinx, who immediately sits down on his butt.
“What’s in the box?” Logan asks as my brother leaves.
“A sniper gun. Alejandro is one of the best snipers out there,” Uncle John answers. Fuck, I didn’t know that. Seems I need to get to know my brother a little better.
“Maybe we should get dressed as well,” Enrique says.
“Wait, there’s more … ” Uncle John pulls a little box from his pocket. “This was delivered to me just before I left. The same guy as the other night.”