Chapter Two-Hundred and Forty-Eight

Chapter Two-Hundred and Forty-Eight
London shook her head at Rosabel’s statements as she giggled, then swiped at her tears. “I hear ya, I really do. He just put the nail in his own coffin. Admitting that he took money from Ronnie and was going to turn me over to a man like him? I lost any respect I ever had for him. He’s no longer my dad, you know?”

Rosabel nodded. “Yeah girl, I know. I think I lost respect for my dad long before I left home. It's hard to respect a man when you see him doing wrong and he doesn’t even know it's wrong.” She gazed into London's eyes and said, “And I mean what I say. If Ronnie or his friends come here looking for you, I will shoot them full of birdshot. I’m told it hurts like hell.”

London smiled and gave her a hug. “Thank you for believing in me.”

The women sitting there all nodded as they smiled. Roseabel was a mom to them all. 

Rosabel patted her arm. “When you’ve watched people for as long as I have, you learn to pick out the good people and the not-so-good people. You are good people. Your dad, however, is not a good person, but I have a feeling karma's gonna let him know that. And very soon. But he made his bed and now he has to lay in it. He lost the most important thing a man can lose… his family and that’s on his shoulders.”

London’s phone rang again and when she checked it she declined the call. Looking up she said, “It was my dad and I don’t think we have anything more to talk about.” When it rang again, she pressed that red button. This one went to voicemail. 

Jenson left her a hate-filled message. When they all listened to it, they heard the sneer in his voice, “Answer your phone, you little bitch. You better bring Chris back or you’ll have the police on your ass. I know some cops that would love to arrest you, girl. I know of one that would gladly turn you over to Ronnie. Hell, he might even stick around and watch. Next time I call, you’d better answer, or hell will rain down on you. Then you’ll still have to deal with Ronnie and he won’t be happy.”

London paled then shook her head. 

Hawkins looked angry now as he growled, “How ‘bout we turn the tables on that bastard?”

“How are we gonna do that without giving the game away?” Kota asked his father.

“Didn’t I hear somewhere along the line that these guys work for the Brazo Cartel?” Hawkins inquired.

Kota and Titan nodded.

“Well, let’s find out what ole Hondo knows about them,” Hawkins proposed. “Maybe he knows more about them than we do.” He reached for his phone as he walked over to get some coffee. He called his neighbor at the Malverde Ranch. They spoke for a few minutes as he filled his mug up and sipped at his coffee.

London sat at the table next to Chris and Boots… waiting.

Boots reached over and patted her hand.

Looking up in surprise, she smiled at him.

“It will be okay, London,” he whispered. “The Rogues are more than just a club, we are a family. We have all been through worse and we made it through.”

She stared at him and asked, “Worse? How could anything be worse?”

He sighed. “Well, I cannot think of anything worse than child abuse, but we had some dangerous things to face for a while there. Maybe I’ll tell you the story sometime.”

Chris watched them both as he seemed to read their lips. Reaching over, he patted Boot’s arm and gave him a nod.

London took note of this action and commented, “He really trusts you.”

Boots simply smiled at her.

After several minutes, Hawkins ended the call. Coming back over to the main table, he looked around the room and announced, “Hondo seemed to be very interested in the fact that the Brazo Cartel is this far north. He said he would check on some things and let us know what he finds out. He couldn’t believe they’ve been here for seven years already and no one ever knew about it.”

“What does that mean?” Wren asked.

“Heaven only knows,” Kota told her. “But don’t underestimate Hondo’s reach. He knows all kinds of people, some good, some not so good. I’m almost afraid to hear what he comes up with in the end.”

London paused to ask, “What do you mean? Comes up with?”

“He’s my grandfather and he knows a lot of people, that’s all,” Wren explained briefly.

Hawkins glanced over at her. 

She shook her head slightly. 

Hawkins and Kota both pursed their lips but they didn’t say anything. 

Hondo Meran was so much more than just Wren’s grandfather. Yet, Wren felt like London didn’t need to know all about him. Hawkins hated keeping secrets but he guessed that since London had worked at the police station...maybe he and the Rogues should keep this one.

London gazed around and saw there was more to the story than they were telling her. She then looked over at Wren. “If your grandfather is Hondo Meran then I know why you're trying to hide information about him from me but you don’t have to. As soon as he moved here, I checked him out. His files came back clean. But I do think you should know that I wasn’t the only one who checked him out. Hal did too. I think he was doing that for Ronnie, seeing as Meran brought trouble here a while back when his own guys came here to kill him. Mark Carter checked him out as well but there was nothing for any of us to find, really. Your grandfather may have worked for the cartel in New York but he kept his hands clean all that time as well. I would be more worried about Hal checking him out and Ronnie knowing that he was here than worry about me knowing.” 

“What does that mean?” Hawkins asked her.

“I wouldn’t put anything past Ronnie. He might need a distraction soon and what better way than to set up an innocent man for something he didn’t do?” London suggested. “I overheard his name spoken by Ronnie to my dad. So I have a feeling something big is about to happen around here and it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if Ronnie set it all up. The fact that Hondo Meran is in the area would suit his purpose really well. If you know what I mean.”

When she heard this, Wren stood from her chair and stated, “My grandfather retired from the cartel, he’s done with that. Now he’s here living the good life. Plus, he kept his nose clean even when he did work for the cartel.”

London nodded. “Yes, he did and so did his sons. But while you and I know that you can bet Ronnie won’t care. He’ll make it look like Hondo did something so egregious that it will make him look very guilty.”