Deadly Mafia Bonds

Chapter 2 - A desperate plea

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Miranda

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“Mom!” I hear Carter calling out to me, rushing inside, and I stop and turn around. “Did you find something?” I ask, walking up to him.

“Yeah, a man sleeping in the park saw a girl fitting her description get into a white SUV, and he overheard the people in the car saying they were going downtown. He said they looked like they were off to a party or something. They might have been going to the club because when I looked into events happening downtown, I found out there’s an event happening at the Ace of Spades tonight. I think they might have been heading over there.” Carter hurriedly explains and tries to rush past me, but I catch hold of his arm, stopping him.

“Who else knows about this?” I quickly scan our surroundings to ensure we aren’t being listened to as I inquire, “Who else is aware of this?” I add and he frowns confused.

“Just the guy I was with. Why?” he asks, and I step closer to him and firmly grab his shoulders. “Because you can’t tell anyone else about this,” I tell him, keeping my voice down, and he looks at me even more confused by my words, so I elaborate.

“Don’t you see? This solves our problem! With her out of the picture, it’ll be easier for us to get rid of Clinton. Even better if she turns up dead somewhere,” I explain, not saying the last part out loud, and Carter's face slowly tugs into a smile, finally seeing the bigger picture. I don’t know when this child is going to learn.

“You need to get with the program, Carter; I won’t always be here to hold your hand,” I add, releasing him and stepping back.

“What about Felix? He heard everything.”

“Don’t worry about that; I’ll take care of it,” I whisper, and just then, his phone rings, and he takes it out and looks at it, frowning. “It’s Oliver; I need to take it.”

“Go ahead; I too have a phone call to make.” I proceed to the terrace and dial Declan’s number. “Listen, we might have a problem. Someone gave Carter a lead in front of your friend. Do whatever it takes to guarantee his silence on what he heard. And see that nobody searches downtown—not until you can make sure she won’t be found there. Any information anyone finds must come to you first. You need to up your game, Declan; this is the break we’ve been looking for," I say to Declan and he says he understands. But just then, I catch some movement out of the corner of my eye and quickly change my tune. “Listen, Declan; we pay you good money to keep this family safe. I don’t want to hear anything from you besides, ‘We’ve found her.’ Do you understand me?” My voice is loud, saying the last part and with that, I end the call and walk over to Clint, who’s now standing just a short distance away from me.

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Caitlin

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“He must be hungry; here, cover yourself, so you can feed him.” The girl who introduced herself, as Tamera says, giving me her jacket to cover myself so I can feed Alaric and I take it. “Thank you,” I mutter, putting the jacket over Alric and me, grateful for Tamera's thoughtfulness. But I jump startled as she suddenly yells.

“You i***t! Are you seriously going to light a cigarette while there’s a baby in the car? Do you have crap for brains?!” She says to the guy in the back seat, and I peek as she reaches over and snatches the cigarette out of his hand. “Geez! I’m sorry, alright? I forgot!” the guy says with an annoyed tone and she glares at him.

“You’re so f*****g stupid," she mutters, turning her attention back to me again, her face softening as she does. “What’s his name?” She asks, her voice sweet again like she wasn’t screaming just a second ago.

“Alaric.”

“It’s a beautiful name.”

“Thank you,” I reply, but my voice quavers with frustration as he starts crying again. I try to get him to suckle, but he won’t do it and the more I try, the more he cries. Soon a sob escapes me before tears start running down my face, frustrated. I don’t know how to do this. How am I going to feed him?

“What’s wrong?” Tamera asks with a concerned look and I confess that I don't know how to feed Alaric.

“I don’t know how to do it. He won’t drink,” I tell her, feeling hopeless and scared. What if I took my baby away only to kill him? How is he going to survive on a hungry stomach?

“Is it your first time feeding him?” she asks and I stammer out a yes.

“Okay, relax. Breathe. What you’re experiencing is perfectly normal. Don’t stress, because you’re stressing him out too now. A baby can feel a mother’s emotions, you know. I will help you; you can do it,” she says, taking a sip of her cider before handing it to one guy to hold. I nod at her, looking at my baby as I wipe the tear that fell on his forehead.

Tamera helps coach me, and after a couple of minutes, he finally starts drinking and settles down. “Do you have a child?” I ask, seeing how experienced she seems and she shakes her head.

“No, but I’m an aunt. My older sister has three, and she also struggled to feed her firstborn. I was there, so I saw what they did," she says with a warm smile on her face as she talks about her family and I nod.

“Thank you; I don’t know what I would have done,” I tell her, but her face turns into a frown causing me to keep my gaze on her.

“Caitlin?” She calls me with a serious look in her eyes, and I hum in response.

“Why are you by yourself? How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“Where’s the father of this baby? Where are your parents? Why are you out here in the middle of the night with a baby?”

She bombards me with questions, not even waiting for me to answer. I knew these questions would come eventually, but I still don’t know what to tell her.

“My parents are away on business and will arrive tomorrow morning. I wasn’t supposed to deliver so soon.” I reply struggling to look her in the eye. I know my excuses are lame, but I don’t know what else to say. She looks at me silently for a moment and I can tell she knows I’m lying, but she doesn’t call me out. Instead, her face softens, and she reaches for her purse. She takes out a R100.00 note and something wrapped in tinfoil.

“Here, take this,” she says, folding the money into my hand and I look at her confused. I ask what it's for and she says I can use the money to get whatever I need.

“Thank you,” I whisper, keeping the money in the hand I’m using to hold Alaric, emotional at her kind gesture.

“Give him to me and take this,” she says, adding that she will hold Alaric while I eat. “Come on, you need to eat something so you can keep your strength up. You look pale," she adds seeing me hesitate and I glance down at him to find him sleeping before carefully handing him over to her.

My stomach grumbles as if on cue as I unwrap the sandwich, reminding me that I've had nothing to eat since yesterday morning. When I finish the sandwich, she hands me a soda, and I gulp it down, only realizing now how thirsty I am. She tells me she’ll hold on to Alaric for a moment, and I must try to rest a little and I thank her again.

I recline and it's not long before I begin to feel drowsy. I try to stay awake, but it’s hard. It’s nice and warm inside the car, and they have turned off the music. The guys are still talking aloud at the back, but it’s like a lullaby, humming me to sleep. Now that my body has calmed down, I feel sore all over. I decide to close my eyes for just five minutes as I struggle to keep them open, hoping to take the edge off.

“Caitlin!” I hear Tamera’s voice from a distance, and I open my eyes to find her shaking me. I jump upright, realizing I must have slept longer than I intended and she says we've arrived.

“We are here. Which side are you staying at?” she asks while I blink away the remnants of sleep, but I haven’t had time to think that far yet. So I say the first thing that comes to mind.

“Behind the club... my house is just behind the club.” I stutter, not even recalling what she said the name of the club was.

“Oh, okay, then we’re almost there. We’ll get to the club in 30 minutes," she says and I ask how I was sleep for, gesturing for her to give me Alaric, and she does.

“Plus-minus, two hours," she says and my eyes widen. It didn't feel that long and the thought that I was out for that long has my heart accelerating. She seems nice and has helped me but I don't know them.

After that, her phone rings, and she talks on it for a while. It sounds like she’s speaking to her boyfriend. She glances over at me and gives me a sweet smile while still talking on the phone, and I return it, feeling like a creep for staring at her, but my smile soon falters as I gulp upon hearing her boyfriend’s name. Although it’s not the same person, I’d prefer not to hear that name. He’s probably hunting me down right now.

Soon the club comes into our view, and they stop the car and ask me for directions to my house. “It’s okay; you can drop me here. I’ll walk," I say getting ready to get up but the driver says no.

“We’ll take you to your house," he adds, looking at me and I swallow hard, quickly thinking of what to say.

“It’s that one over there; don’t worry; I’ll be safe now.” I politely decline, pointing to the first building I see. “Thank you for everything, guys. I’ll be fine now. Don’t worry.” I add, securing Alaric, and hastily exit the vehicle without waiting for their response.

“Are you sure?” I hear Tamera asking as I walk away. “Yes. Thanks for everything,” I reply, not looking at them and continuing to walk forward. They suspect that I’m lying. I can feel it, so I don’t want to look into their faces. I don’t want them to know for sure that I am because they might call the police or something, and I don’t want that. It would be the same as taking me back to my father. His people are probably tearing this place upside down, looking for me.

“My father,” I whisper, tears pooling in my eyes at the thought of how distraught and angry he must be. How I wish he had accepted my baby; how I wish Alaric and I were home and safe. I look back to see Tamera and the guys walking to the club’s entrance and Tamera stands for a bit and looks in my direction, but she won’t see me as I’m now standing in the shadows.

I look around, trying to figure out where to go from here, but nothing comes to mind. There’s a chilly wind now, and it’s blowing at my robe, leaving my legs bare. Alaric stirs too, and I try to ensure he’s nicely secured by the towel, being careful not to suffocate him.

However, I’m still looking down at him when I hear voices coming from the south of my position. I look up and see three guys coming my way, and I recognize the one in the middle. It’s Declan, my father’s head of security and my eyes widen.

I panic and glance around for a place to hide and I see what looks like an alley on my right and duck into it without even thinking about it. The thought of him almost catching me sends me into panic mode and I try to walk as fast as I can.

I come across a small gate, but it’s not locked, and I open it, careful not to rattle the chain that hangs loose on it. The further down I go, the darker it gets, but it’s at least warm since the wind is not coming through. But that bit of relief is cut short as I stumble on something hard, almost falling. A sharp startled scream involuntary tears through my throat and I quickly turn to look back, wondering if they heard me, but it doesn’t look like they did.

My slipper slipped off when I stumbled, and I try to feel for it with my foot, but I can't find it. The hair at the back of my neck stands as I take in my surroundings, realizing how creepy this place is.

A part of me hesitates about whether to proceed, but I can’t take any chances. Who knows how many of my father's men are out here? How did they even think of coming here in the first place? Did someone see me?

I can’t see a thing in front of me with how dark it is, but I can make out that there’s filth everywhere. It’s like a dump site, and there’s a horrible smell.

Where are you? I whisper, still trying to feel for my slipper when I hear something move on my right, and I freeze. I turn in the direction of the sound again and just then it moves again, sounding like it's coming in my direction and a whimper escapes my lips.

I leave the slipper and stumble forward with just the one, holding Alaric tighter as I realize the need to get out of here. I put my arm in front to ensure I don’t bump into anything since I can’t see where I’m going and my skin crawls, my blood cold as I step on all sorts of unimaginable things with my barefoot.

With rugged breaths caused by my quiet sobs, I take careful steps and steadily follow the alleyway, occasionally stumbling on something, and at last, after what feels like forever, I finally start seeing some light, causing a bit of relief.

I reach the end and walk up to the small gate, but unlike the first one, this one is locked. “No, no, no," I whisper in horror, desperately pulling on the chain as despair washes over me.

Seeing it doesn't budge, I look around for an alternative way out but I don't see it and this makes me panic more and cry. However, just then, I feel a sting as something cuts my leg and my breath catches in my throat, the pain becoming the last thing as I spot a hole in the gate. I pull on the wire to see if I can fit through the broken bottom and my tears of sorrow become tears of relief, seeing that I can.

I get on my knees and crawl out of it, ensuring my baby doesn’t get hurt and I find myself at the back of the street. But as soon as I stand up, I stagger, feeling weak suddenly. My knees buckle and I feel my body’s strength draining away while my vision blurs, causing panic to grip me again. Leaning on the building wall, I use it for support as black dots cloud my vision and a feeling of dread washes over me. “God, please help us.” I make a breathless, desperate plea, feeling my body slide down the wall while I desperately try to hold on to my baby and darkness takes over.