“You can go and I’ll do everything in my power to protect you.”
She rubbed her arms, knowing that she couldn’t do that. Taking out her father’s illegal business was a long shot. There were always so many customers who wanted to earn off the blood of young fighters. They had been nothing more than a commodity to them. Running a hand down her face, she thought about Ava.
Belle had imagined her running through fields, collecting daisies, or just being happy. Now she just saw the pain, the blood. The bruises that always coated her body after a fight. That was not the life she wanted for her.
I’ll come for you, Ava. I promise.
First, Mommy’s got to take care of something.
“I want to help,” she said. “I need to find Ava, but I also want to stop my father for good.”
“What?”
“More than anything else right now, I want my daughter. But I know the only way for her to have the kind of life I never had is to make sure my father and that seedy as fuck politician are shut down.” She saw him smile. “I take it you’ve got an idea.”
“I’ve got some ideas. You’re not going to like all of it.”
“I don’t have a doubt.” She sighed. “I’m sorry for going off on you there.”
“You’re a mother. You clearly care about your little girl. I get that.”
This did make her smile. Being a good mother was important to her. “She’s all I have. I’m not an idiot. I know my dad never loved me, and I’m not looking for sympathy or anything. I just, I love her. I want the best for her, and the only way to do that is to make things right.” She took a deep breath.
“You’re a good mom.”
She chuckled. “You haven’t even seen me with my girl.”
“You were willing to fight ten times in a row to get her back.” He shrugged. “This isn’t going to be easy.”
She took a deep breath. “Nothing in life is easy. So, what do you want to do?”
“Come on, let’s head to my office.”
She followed him down the long corridor, admiring his home once again. It had been a week since she’d been here, and no matter how often she tried not to like his place, it didn’t seem to stop her from loving it. Her apartment was nothing compared to this. For one, it didn’t have cockroaches as pets, so that was a plus. She’d lose sleep every single night worried that they were crawling all over her daughter. She’d wake up many times, just watching her, making sure she was safe and nothing was harming her.
You can do this.
Just relax.
“We know for sure that most of the fights are kept within the city and kids were always taken within a mile radius, or were purchased from men and women looking to make a quick buck,” Drago said.
There was a large map of the city spread out across his desk.
“Where did you have fights?” he asked. “If anyone knows about your father, it’ll be you.”
She glanced over the map, and started to point at different locations, recalling the traveling she did as a child. The city could take several hours to get around, and then there were some special ones out of the city.
“What is this going to achieve?”
“How do you feel about doing some detective work?” he asked.
“Whatever it takes.”
****
“So, you and the girl, it’s something?” Carlos asked.
“Why do I keep you around?” Drago looked at his best friend with a pointed look. He wanted to say Belle was like a little sister, but that would be a complete lie.
“Because I’m the one that gets all the ladies. Look at you, chiseled jawline, scars, crooked nose, sexy and buff—that’s not what the ladies are after,” Carlos said.
He adored Carlos. When they were younger, when he’d been on the verge of death or at least felt like he was, Carlos had always been there to bring him from the edge, to help him get from one day to the next.
“What are the ladies after?”
“Dad bods. Guys who keep it real.” He tensed his arm. “Look at that, it won’t lift any chicks up, not one, but it’s really the glasses that get them going.”
Drago was trying not to burst out laughing. They were sitting in a police precinct about to talk to a cop Drago vaguely remembered from his childhood. He was an older man, late fifties, early sixties. Went by the name David Vent, and was once known on the streets as a guy people could trust. The women that worked the streets could go to him for help and they’d disappear, not dead, but to a safe place. Then a horrible injury took him out, and he’d been behind a desk since.
Something was off about the whole incident, which was why Drago was sitting with Carlos waiting to see this guy. In the meantime, Belle was back home combing through all the files and documentation that Carlos had acquired that could help them to find Ava and finally put her father out of business.