Page 28 of Ma Belle Marguerite
Would it be creepy to just sit here and watch her sleep? I don’t want to scare her away. Instead, I decide to hang up and send a text, hoping I don't wake her up.
Good morning,Ma Belle. I can’t wait to see you later today. I’ll have D come pick you up and bring you to my office. We can then go over all the details of your new job.
Je'taime,Ma Belle Marguerite.
Some may say it’s too early to say I love her like that. The truth is that I have never stopped loving her. After closing my conversation with Bella, I open my conversation with D. The guys will need to be ready for all the changes having Bella back home will bring.
Hey man, are you up? After we go over everything with Josh, I have a job for you to do today.
Good morning to you, too, boss man. Yes, I’m up. I'm in the kitchen with Josh now, and the coffee is ready.
I'll be down in a minute.
I quickly get dressed and head down to the kitchen for a conversation I'm sure I will not like. It's never easy learning about people who want you or the ones you love dead. Hopefully Josh has some information for me so we can deal with this shit and move on.
I had wanted to run away with Bella all those years ago to get away from all of this, but it looks like we won't have the quiet life we had wished for. I just hope we can keep her kids from becoming a part of this. We never wanted to have children who would end up being a part of the life we grew up with.
Growing up in an illegally geared family is not a great place for children. They grow up way too fast. Not to mention the physicaldanger they are in because of who our families are. I have seen many men lose their lives and their families never fully recover from that loss. Smuggling drugs and guns isn’t as glamorous as the movies make it out to be.
When I walk into the kitchen, I see Josh and D leaning over Josh's laptop, talking quietly. “So, what do you have for me? Also please tell me that the coffee is extra strong. It’s way too early for this shit.” They both jump at the sound of my voice.
“Oh, hey, boss, we were just reviewing a few things I found.” Josh sounds nervous. “I think I found out who ran you off the road. You might want to sit down for this.” He never sounds nervous. What the fuck is going on?
D gets up, pours some coffee into a mug, and hands it to me. “You might want to add some Bailey's to your coffee this morning, boss.” Clearly this is going to be a long ass morning.
This is not how I wanted my morning to go after waking up to Bella's face sleeping beside me, even if it wasn't in person. “Okay, just give it to me. Who do we need to visit today?” I ask as I sit down beside Josh. I want to just rip the bandaid off, so to speak.
Josh turns his laptop towards me. “Since D told me that you remembered someone followed you and they pushed you off the road, I decided to check security cameras. Around the bar area when you left, I saw a girl get in a truck at the same time you got into my car. She pulled out and followed you. The next camera I could get anything from was a security camera on one of our warehouses leaving town. The same truck was still following you.”
Josh plays a few videos for me to watch of what he found from that night. The girl getting in the truck looks familiar.How do I know her again?I feel like I have seen her around but don’t really recognize her. I can’t fully see her face to know for sure.I squint and try to get a closer look, it almost looks like there is someone in the passenger seat.
Thinking back, I don't remember noticing a truck following me for that long. Usually, I would notice something like that before it got to the point that it did. I was just on autopilot heading to the bluff and thinking of Bella, and I let my guard slip. “Did you get a plate or recognize who it was? She does look a bit familiar.” I ask Josh.
Changing programs on his laptop, Josh shows me a picture of Amara Renaud. “She looks familiar because you went to high school with her. I looked up what I could about her, and it seems she grew up in the area and has never left,” Josh tells me while pointing out things on his screen.
From her last listed address it looks like she grew up in the trailer park on the east side of town.
No wonder she looked familiar. She was one of those weird kids in high school who was always lurking in the corner, making you feel awkward while she stared at everybody. “Yeah, I remember her. I've run into her a few times since high school, too. She's tried to ask me out on dates, but I've always turned her down. That would be a pretty shitty reason to try and kill me, no?” I ask.
D looks at the computer. “She's pretty, but she has that crazy look in her eyes. I never know what's going on with girls like that. Keep looking into her, Josh, and see if there are any connections we didn't realize she had with the boss man here.” He slaps Josh on the back before walking over to the coffee maker and pouring himself another coffee in a to-go cup.
Sounding annoyed, Josh says, “I don't take orders from you, man. Step back and drink your damn coffee. Just let me do what I do best, and you can be the muscle while I’m the brain. She really looks like that chick who was drunk at the bar and tried to trick me into taking her home.”
I grunt to get Josh’s attention again, bringing the subject back to what’s most important. “Did you see who was in the passenger seat?”
He shakes his head. “They never got out, and they kept their hat over their face so they couldn’t be seen. It’s like they were smart enough to think about the cameras and wanted only Amara to be seen.”
“Look through the footage better, Josh. With a fine tooth comb, like you do best!” D calls from the counter, stirring his coffee.
I roll my eyes. “Do you two ever stop? You argue like an old married couple. Is there anything you need to tell me, boys? I won't judge. I don't care. You do you.” Laughing, I get up and leave the room before they can answer me.
I hear footsteps approaching behind me and look back to see D following me with two to-go coffee cups in his hands. Definitely going to need the extra caffeine today.
I turn my head back and talk while I walk towards the garage. “I need you to drop me off at the office. Then you will pick up Bella at her place once I get a text from her saying she’s up and ready. Today is the day I convince her to move in here with the kids. So, while she is at the office, I need you and some guys to go start packing up her belongings and bringing them here.”
This won’t be easy, but it will be best in the long run. She needs to be here with me, by my side so I can show her how much she means to me, and that I’m all for including her kids in my life. Being in my home means I can better protect them from whatever is going on too.
“Are you sure that's a good idea, boss? I don't think she'll like having me and a bunch of guys going through her things, especially without her there.” He raises his brow with a, “Are you fucking crazy?” look on his face.
