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FAMILY REUNION

Chapter Nine

As Molly seated herself in the chair on Will's right, she set her hand on his, trying with some futile effort to comfort the boy. He jerked his hand away angrily and turned away. Molly looked up at Bobbie behind her and tried to read what she thought. She could tell Bobbie wasn't entirely confident about the boy opening up. But as Molly returned her gaze to the frightened teen, she knew she had to try to get through to him.

"Will?" Molly began in little more than a whisper. "William?" She spoke up a little louder. He didn't budge. "Will, I came to talk to as your friend. It's no different than before at the center when we would talk. What's changed?"

"Everything's changed," Will spoke, almost begrudgingly through a nearly closed mouth. "And don't call me your friend. You're the reason I'm here."

"What?" Molly questioned him, absolutely stunned at what Will had just said. How could he blame her after the bond they had established? "How could you blame me? What did I do?"

"You told them I was at Miss Amy's house!"

"I didn't, Will. I swear. I didn't even know you were there. In fact, since you mentioned it, I came to ask you why you were there. Will, honey, these people think you had something to do with Amy and Leon's house burning. They could have killed. And you're the only suspect they have. Why were you plundering through the rubble?!"

"I wasn't plundering!" Will fired back. "I was trying to help."

"Help who?"

"Miss Amy. I figured if I could find the evidence…"

"We found the source of the fire, Will," Bobbie inserted. "No way to trace it back to the person who set the fire in the first place."

Will seemed dejected. Now he was sure they would never believe him.

"Will," Molly tried again to take him by the hand. He seemed to give in this time as she continued to speak. "Tell us what you know. I know you know something. Please. If you're telling the truth that you want to help Amy, then you need to be honest with us. Maybe you can help Ranger Hunt and the others find the culprits. It's up to you, Will. You can't blame anyone else any more unless you tell the truth."

The trio sat in silence for what seemed like a long time before Will took a deep breath. Molly hoped it was a sign he was about to speak. But she was wrong. Again they waited. No more words were needed to convince him. It was Will's decision now to make.

"I—I," Will stuttered, suddenly igniting some level of hope in the two women. "It—It's the Trey Sevens. They've been trying to get me to join their gang. I told them no. But my uncle didn't believe me. We had a big fight about it. I ran away as fast as I could. Didn't even have time to say sorry to the woman I spilled coffee all over."

So that's who the culprit was, Molly thought to herself silently, recalling the dejection on her best friend's face the day she and Carlos left for their trip. At least she knew William wasn't lying to her. His story checked out. "Will, I believe you. But you have to help us out. The Rangers can't arrest an entire gang with little evidence. Do you remember any names?"

Will nodded lamely and took a shallow breath. "They call him the boss. I think his name is Ruiz. I couldn't say for sure. But he's the one who's leading the gang now. I've never met him. But the guys who tried to recruit me kept mentioning his name."

Molly gave Bobbie and nod, and Ranger Hunt turned to leave. Perhaps they had an active file on this Ruiz. If he was a new gang leader, it would be difficult to determine exactly what crimes he may have committed in the past. But it was a start. Maybe they'd get lucky.

"Will," Molly spoke as softly as she was able, reaching out a hand to touch the boy's hand again. "Everything is going to be okay. No one is going to kill you. The Trey Sevens may be a powerful gang, but we'll protect you. I promise. Trent Malloy and I will see to it."

William finally raised his head to reveal tears streaming down his cheeks. "It—it's not the gang I'm afraid of. It's my uncle. I hate living with him."

"Oh," Molly cried, stood and wrapped the young man in an embrace, giving the kid the freedom he needed to cry it out. "It's all going to be okay, William. Don't worry. It's all over now." But it was far from truly being over.

Katheryn wasn't sure why Carlos was so insistent upon talking to her privately. But she agreed and quickly found her shoes to follow him outside. As they walked for a while in silence, she could see he was thinking deeply by the creases in his forehead and most notably his silence. It wasn't like him. She was worried. It never seemed to fail no matter how much they had gone through that each time he got like this it scared her just a little.

By the time they made it to the secluded alley they have gladly left behind the night before, Carlos opened that stubborn gate to let Kath into the little meadow before he too followed behind her. But this time he was careful to leave the gate slightly ajar.

Katheryn ambled around for a brief moment before she finally spun around and gave Carlos a narrowed look. "Carlos, what's the matter? You're too quiet."

A smile tempted Carlos as he gathered his words before speaking. "I have a plan. A dangerous plan. And I need you to help me out with it."

Kath's eyes widened. "Now you're worrying me even more. You're not thinking about taking on those drug dealers alone are you?"

Carlos shook his head. "But that is tempting. No, I need you to buy the house."

Her eyes grew even wider. "Are—are kidding me?! You do realize I'm not very rich?"

"Yes, I know. But the drug dealers don't have to know that."

Katheryn continued to stare at him in shock. She wasn't sure if she could believe what she was hearing. The few clues she tossed around in her mind wasn't enough to help her makes odds or ends of any of this.

"As long as one of us members of the family owns it, they'll still want to take over. But if an outsider were to buy into the neighborhood, they'd back off for a while. They'd feel like someone was invading territory," Carlos explained.

"But wouldn't they come after me if I bought the home?"

Carlos nodded cautiously. "It's a possibility. But I'd like to think they wouldn't think they stood a chance against a big time developer."

"What?" Katheryn's mouth gaped open. "Now I'm a massive CEO?!"

"Yeah," Carlos chuckled. "You have a problem with that?!"

"I do! Especially since it's a lie. What happens when we go back home and Rosa and Miguel are still living here? They'll figure it out and hurt them for sure."

"Not if we say you let them continue to live there."

Katheryn sighed sharply and crossed her arms against her chest, pacing away from Carlos with her back to him. "Carlos, this is crazy. You know I love crazy ideas. But this is not what I usually have in mind. It's way too dangerous. This isn't just you and me undercover in some warehouse with only a couple protein bars and a broken lamp from 1950." Katheryn paused, turning around with a pleading look in her eyes. "This is your family, Carlos. If you choose to do something that risky, you're entire family is at stake. It's not just you and me here."

"I know," Carlos sighed then perked up with seemingly another idea. "Hey, I think I'm going to go make a phone call. Are you okay by yourself?"

Katheryn nearly rolled her eyes amidst the glare she gave him in response. At that, Carlos left the premises before he had another chance to stick his foot in his mouth.

Carlos was back in less than ten minutes Katheryn estimated. She had passed the time by picking flowers. It seemed like the only sensible thing to do in a little meadow. Once Carlos had returned, she noticed he was happier and less dejected. His mouth curled up into a smile and his eyebrows were raised as he spoke.

"Let's get going," Carlos greeted her by saying to which Katheryn tugged at his sleeve, preventing him from running off. "What? What's the matter?"

Katheryn chuckled. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To the police station."

"That's thirty minutes away," Katheryn reasoned.

"I know. But that's where our answers are. Let's go! I called a cab. It'll be here any second now. Come on!"

Katheryn finally succumbed to Carlos' urgency and hurried alongside him to the edge of the street. Just as she had predicted, there was no cab waiting for them yet. After making small talk with an eager Jesse as they waited, the cab finally arrived. Carlos let Katheryn get into the back of the cab before he too followed and waved a goodbye at Jesse on the side of the street. Katheryn watched from the rearview mirror by the driver's head as Jesse figure became smaller and then nothing until they were on the main road that would take them back to the city. She only hoped whatever it was Carlos had up his sleeve would work. As much as she enjoyed Mexico and the Sandoval clan, she was starting to feel a little homesick. Thankfully having Carlos with her all the time helped keep that pesky feeling at bay for most of the time.

The gentle stream of twilight sunlight pouring over the floor at Molly's feet wasn't enough to shake her blues the following day. All of the activity inside C.D.'s bar was nearly completely zoned out from her mind. In its place was regret. Will had been living right under her nose and was nowhere near happy. All this time working with him at the center had failed to reveal this to her. She could have done something to help him. But it was too late. Thankfully, Will was released into her custody pending the outcome of a brief investigation into the supposed evidence Will had shared. That, and the judge would be reopening William's custody case. The boy seemed to have plenty of emotion and even physical evidence that this was necessary. And for this Molly was thankful.

Now, sitting across from Trent in the booth in the corner of the country bar, Molly wondered what was next.

Trent steadily sipped on his coffee, watching Molly's mind reel with thoughts. He sensed she was so far away from him and reached a hand to touch her. She jumped slightly beneath his touch but flashed a smile to hide the fact. "Molly, are you okay?"

Molly nodded lamely. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just don't know what to expect now. Bobbie and Detective Ochoa are looking into the evidence Will shared. Hopefully they call with some news soon."

"You know, I'm glad those two are getting along better these days," Trent commented.

"Yeah. They seem to be working together nicely now that they have a common goal."

"Speaking of common goals," Trent posed. "How did those photos turn out?"

Molly's smile lagged. "I haven't had a chance to get them developed."

"You need some help?"

Molly shook her head. "No. I highly doubt they'll be needed soon anyways."

"What makes you say that?"

"Kath called last night after you took me home."

"Oh?"

"There's been a little trouble." Trent's eyes seemed to urge her to explain further. "First of all, they're in Mexico."

"Mexico?!" Trent's eyes shot open in shock. "What the heck are they doing down there?"

"Carlos wanted to surprise Katheryn with a visit to see his family…and his mom."

Trent flashed a grin. "Oh, I see. Makes sense. If that's the case you better put a rush on those photos. Carlos will be needing them sooner."

"Maybe you're right," Molly replied, her voice inflecting higher with the revelation of the matter. But her smile faded fast. "I still don't think it's as important as what they're dealing with."

"What's up?"

"Drug dealers and what not. Carlos' older sister Rosa has been living in the family home that used to belong to their mother. Gangs are moving in and threatening residents to the point of being afraid to stay there. Carlos and Kath are currently hatching a plan to convince the criminals otherwise."

"Well, I hope they know what they're doing."

"Trent, Carlos and Kath are two of the most capable people out there. You know that."

"Yeah, I know. But it's one thing when they're handling a case on their own here. It's another when they're in another country entirely."

Molly's frowned signaled her agreement. Now she was a bit more concerned for them then when she had previously spoken to Kath. Silently, she let out a prayer for them and then took a sip of her stagnant coffee. Cringing, Molly pushed the cup away and stood. "I think I'll head on home now."

Trent stifled a laugh. "Is it the coffee? I can get you a fresh cup."

"No," Molly grinned. "I just think I'd like to go home. I'm tired."

"Sure thing."

Trent then insisted he be the one to drive Molly home. But she turned him down gently with a kiss and promise to call when she was home. Trent reluctantly surrendered and parted ways with Molly at the entrance of their favorite dive, him taking his Stingray while Molly made a trail to her own car. She knew Trent would watch her subtly until she had driven safely away and was sure to give him a smile as she drove past him and away from the stockyards.

Once Molly arrived at her and Kath's shared apartment, she locked her car and headed inside thankfully the air conditioning in the building had been fixed, Molly noted by the chills that surged onto her arm as she found the elevator and boarded it. The doors closed and the device began lifting; but it stopped on the second floor. As the doors opened, a middle-aged man donned a smile and entered, settling in for the ride next to Molly. Both of their eyes stayed fastened on the doors as they closed.

Before the number had a chance to change, the man lunged forward and activated the emergency shutdown. Molly screamed as the entire cage went black, a small flicker of emergency lighting flashing on in time for her to see the man coming for her. He grabbed her by the arm and slapped his hand around her face. Molly couldn't see nor scream but resisted as hard as she could. But it was no use. Calming down, she could hear her heart beating in her chest at record speed, the man's hot breath beating against her cheek with threats for her to calm down or he would see to it that she never was able to scream for help again.

The man proceeded to tie her hands behind her back with some cheap rope and taped her mouth over with duct tape before he reactivated the elevator and it began rising once again. But he didn't let it stay at the third floor and quickly pressed the number two quickly followed by the closing doors. He then scanned the short hall before jerking Molly along with him onto the floor and nearly dragging her to what she assumed was his room.

Once inside, the vicious mystery man tied her even further to a kitchen chair that had already been placed in the middle of the rather bare living room. It seemed as if he had been prepared. The windows were drawn. Few lights were on except those nearest the chair. Another chair was nearby and seemed like some sort of interrogation set up. Molly only prayed it didn't double as a torture area either.

After retreating to another room briefly, the man returned and straddled the chair next to Molly, his legs close enough that he brushed up against her as he sat down. The newly-present Smith and Wesson in his hand didn't make matters any better. In fact, it made Molly's skin crawl. What did he have planned? Was his plan to kill her? But why? She didn't even know who the man was!

"So," the man spoke, his voice full of charge and a flair of anger. "You're planning to take him away from me, huh? My own flesh and blood!"

Molly groaned and grunted, the tape over her mouth preventing her from being able to defend herself.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man retorted sarcastically and reached to strip the piece from Molly's face. She cried out in pain and then fell quiet, looking away to gather her own composure. "Now where were we? Oh, yes! My nephew. What have you done to him?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

The man sprung from his chair and grabbed Molly's face by her chin, shoving her head back. "Yes, you know everything!"

Molly's cries barely escaped her mouth, tears streaming down her face when they could.

"Now," he continued in a vicious whisper. "What do you know?"

"Please," she pleaded. "Please don't hurt me."

His grip loosened. "Then tell me what I want to know. Will. What have you done to him?"

Molly took a deep breath, trying her best not to cry anymore. "He's safe…now that he's away from you." Her face seared with pain as the back of a hand struck against the delicate skin of her cheek. She shriveled up inside with fear, hoping that was the worst of what she would have to experience here.

It was all beginning to make sense now. Will's fear. The secrecy about where he lived. The reason why Molly never knew he lived here. Frankly, if Molly had been in Will's shoes, she would have done the same thing. But thankfully, Will had found a way out. And Molly wasn't going to jeopardize him any longer…no matter what she had to endure to keep him safe.