Lightning: Soldiers Of Hades MC, #4

A short time later, Eli told Lightning, “The rest of the brothers are back, they brought some paperwork back with them and they’re going through it now.”

“We’ll be okay right here, for a while,” Nala told them.

Lightning nodded. “I’m sure Cobra and Python will want to speak with you.” He looked over at the man they called Doc.

Doc nodded back. He would watch over them.

Lightning and Eli went back to the main room and found the others sitting at the tables going over the paperwork Cobra and Cotton had brought back from the warehouse before they set the fire.

Cobra looked up and asked, “So who is the girl and the kid you found this morning?”

“Her name is Nala and the kid is her little brother, Paco,” Lightning told them.

“How do they figure in this hot mess?” Cobra asked while looking puzzled.

“Paco’s mom, Monica worked for the cartel. Apparently, according to what Nala just told me, she’s been working for the cartel as a chemist for years. She’s their head designer. She was at the site this morning looking things over and complaining about the fire wiping out years of her work,” Lightning repeated what Nala had told him earlier.

“Aww damn, that’s too fucking bad isn’t it?” Cotton growled.

“What else do you know about this Monica bitch?” Cobra’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Lightning.

“I know she set up her late husband to be her cover, while she was on this side of the border. She worked day and night even after giving birth to her son while he and Nala took care of the house and the kid. Then when she no longer needed him, the cartel stepped in and shot him in front of her and the daughter. Then they faked a kidnapping, so Nala couldn’t go after her. She walked away from her dead husband, her stepdaughter and her own son, to continue making this poison for the cartel.”

“So, how did the girl get hurt this morning?” Cobra wanted to know.

“Nala had been searching for Paco’s mom and this morning, she finally found her. This bitch, Monica was standing in front of the burnt out warehouse with two men when Nala approached her and confronted her. Monica laughed in her face and revealed the truth about what she’d been doing. She told the girl how she had her dad killed so she could be free of him and her son. Then one of the men with her slammed his gun butt against Nala’s head and when the girl woke up, they were gone. Monica didn’t even try to help her or the boy.”

Cobra’s lips tightened at the story. He looked over at his own father and met the glare on Python’s face.

“Would the bitch’s name be Monica Sazar?” Cotton wanted to know.

Lightning shrugged. “I have no idea, why?”

“You might not have heard of her but I’m sure you’ve heard of her work over the last few years,” Cotton claimed. “I found her in the paperwork here. She designed at least two of the street drugs, one is called, E Street and the other is Golden Dragon.” Cotton’s words dripped with venom and he looked totally disgusted.

“Those two drugs have been selling very well on the streets of Texas and the whole of the neighboring states.” Python snorted. “Fuckin hell. Now, we gotta bring in the DEA. We can’t hold this information. I know they been looking into who is responsible for at least one of those drugs.”

“She responsible for more than just those two drugs,” Nala’s voice came from the hallway.

Lightning turned as did most of the brothers.

She was leaning against the wall but she was alone now. Paco must be in the room they just left.

Lightning walked over to her and swung her up into his arms then carried her over to the table. When he sat down, he positioned her in his lap.

She tried to move away from him but Lightning kept his arm around her waist. She turned to glare at him but when he shrugged, she turned back around and ignored him.

“Where is your brother?” Lightning asked her.

“He fell asleep, poor little guy. Apparently, he was scared last night and he stayed awake while I was out. When I left so early, he had stayed awake until I got back too. I was hurt and he left our camp to try and get help.” Shaking her head she added, “Some big sister I am.” Facing Cobra, she stared at him. “My name is Nala Statler, my dad was Jim Statler and Monica is my little brother’s birth mother. I say birth mother, only because she gave birth to him, but she was never any kind of mom to him. She did nothing but lie to me and dad from day one. She told him she was working at a research facility but she was working at the warehouse you guys burned down last night. She’s been working for the cartel for years now. My dad met her in Mexico, some years back. She never loved him though and he knew that all along.”

“How do you know that?” Cobra asked.

She rolled her eyes. “She just used him to get what she needed, an excuse to be in this country. My dad had suspected for a while by then and he told her to clear out. He was so done with her. He told her she was on her own from then on. Then, she left no doubt about what she really was about the day she had him killed. She’d staged it all too well as I found out later. She had her men come to the house early that day. They kicked in the door and ambushed my dad. I was in the kitchen so I missed some of what happened that day. When I heard the gunshots, I came in and saw them dragging her out of the house.” Her breath caught in her lungs and she couldn’t speak for a moment. “One of the men grabbed her and slapped her hard a few times and then they dragged her out of the house and threw her into a van. They took off and I’ve been looking for her since then. It’s been over a year now. Paco still believes in his mom, but I don’t. She killed my dad.” She laid back against Lightning and closed her eyes.

The room went quiet.

“So little girl,” Python spoke breaking the quiet. “What did you do after your dad died?”

Nala opened her eyes and glared at him. “What could I do? I couldn’t believe what she said. I never imagined anyone could be that cruel so I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt but the longer it took me to find her, the more I knew what I’d seen that day was not part of my imagination. I buried him and I had Paco to take care of. He had no part in his mother’s betrayal. He’s my little brother after all and family might not have meant a damn thing to that bitch but it means something to me. My dad had some insurance and after I paid the bills off, we moved to a smaller house, here in Hondo. I just couldn’t stay at the house she shared with us anymore. We lived over near Laredo before and I needed to go where she wouldn’t think to look for us. Then using the information my dad found, I began looking for the cartel. I knew wherever they were, she would be there too. I had found some papers in the house that I knew were hers. I think my dad found them too. He had a habit of stashing important papers in an old safe only he and I knew about. When I opened it, I found the papers. Only I didn’t know what to do with them, not then anyway. But I did know I had to find her. I needed to know the truth.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry to say I dragged Paco all over this part of Texas looking for his mom. I had no idea what I was going to do with her when I found her but I couldn’t give up.”

“What did you do with the papers your dad found?” Python wanted to know.

“I still have them.” She looked over at the men. “The warehouse was only one of the cartel’s outlets for the drugs. They have two others in this area.”

Python crossed his arms over his chest and informed her, “We took out one in Odessa years ago. They hadn’t dared to come back since then.”

She just stared at him.

Python growled. “They came back didn’t they? They’ve been right under our noses the whole fucking time?” He snapped his head around to glare at Cotton, “How the fuck did you miss the fact they were there the whole time?”

Before Cotton could comment, Nala spoke up, “They’ve gotten smarter over the years. Now, they hide under a respectable name and a cover. They are using Macon Distributors as a cover. They store and sell booze on the first floors, while they make the designer drugs in the basements that no one knows they have. They make sure no one finds the basement rooms. I tracked Monica to both places. One is here in Hondo and the other in Odessa. They move in and out by tunnel, so they come and go from various points in the city.”

“Damnit!” Python swore. “My club has an account with Macon. They supply our booze once a month.”

Cobra looked angry. “So do we.”

“Well…” Cotton shuffled the papers around until he found what he was looking for. “We got her recipes for both E Street and Golden Dragon here. If we turn this over to the DEA, we might be able to show them who created it and they can maybe stop it. At the very least, we can set them on the right track to finding her. She’s stayed under the radar so far, because no one knew who she was.”

“Well, they’ll know now,” Python stated.