Page 117 of Mouse Trapped

“I’ll volunteer,” Beef steps up. “Let me know when, Blade.”

“Now that’s sorted, I’ve got one thing I need to bring up.” Prez tugs at his beard. When his eyes land on me, I brace myself for trouble. “Fuckin’ glad the way things worked out with your ol’ lady, Mouse.”

“You givin’ her a property patch now?”

Prez glares at Blade for interrupting him, but a grin comes to my face. Thought it would be tempting fate to give her one before. But now it’s confirmed she’s here to stay, yeah, that’s next on my agenda. “Sure am.”

“If I can finish?” It’s that voice that makes you want to slide under the table. Even Blade shuts up. Instead he opens a pack of cigarettes, gets one out, and lights it.

“Devil’s been in touch.”

That name never carries anything good with it.

“They picked up the trail ofEl Procurador. Tracked him to Mexico. He went into a house in a town near the border. He never came out. Thought it was an ideal opportunity to take him, so they raided it.” Drummer pauses. “Tore the place to shreds, found a tunnel starting under a bed. It led to a derelict building this side of the border.”

My mind whirls with the information. The implications hitting me fast. “He’s in the US?”

“Either that, or he’s disappeared into thin air,” Prez confirms.

“He’s coming for Drew.”And for Mariana.

“Mouse, he’s not going to get him or your ol’ lady,” Peg peers around Heart and reassures me. His words are echoed and come at me from every chair.

“Drew goes nowhere alone. And Mariana’s not going off the compound.”Fuck. Can I take him out of school?Just when I thought everything was rosy, this shit happens.

“Feds are on the lookout for him. Hopefully it’s only a matter of time until he’s caught.”

“He’ll want to make a move quickly. He’ll be feeling like a fish out of water here,” I suggest. “I’ll keep Drew and Mariana on lockdown.” And make sure those security cameras are monitored day and night.

“Doubt he knows where they are,” Blade puts in.

That’s true.El Procuradorknows nothing to link either of them to us.

“You need help, Mouse? We’ve got your back.”

“I’m going to try to find him,” I tell them. “Use my contacts. He must be hiding somewhere. I’d like to flush him out. He needs to pay for what he did to Mariana and her mother.”

Again, Drummer’s eyes watch the reactions of my brothers, then he sums up. “You do that, Mouse? Think you’ll have a full house of volunteers to help you.”

Blade’s eyes light up. “Got plans to scalp him, Chief?”

I roll my eyes.

“Still think we ought to change your handle,” Shooter suggests.

I push down my anger, knowing they don’t understand. Perhaps it’s time to put them right. “Using the title Chief is disrespectful. It’s a name Anglos throw around and Natives hate it. Unless they are a chief, of course. I played a part to get a reaction, it was no more than that. As I’ve never been, or will be a chief, I’d be happy never to hear that handle again in my life.”

Blade looks at me thoughtfully, his knife spinning in his hands. Suddenly he nods. “I didn’t understand that.”

“I know you didn’t, Brother.”

Drummer’s glare lands on each man around the table. “That’s the last time we’re going to hear it, then. Mouse stays Mouse.”

Chapter 42

Mariana

I thought once everything was over, I’d be able to go back to school and resume my training. But no such luck. At first the threat ofEl Procuradorbeing in the country was enough to persuade me that both myself and Drew were safest not setting foot off the compound. But as the days pass and Tse can’t pick up any chatter about where he might be, I begin to think even Devil’s not infallible, and that he must have been mistaken. My father may not be in the country at all.

---