Ace (Book 1)

Epilogue: Betrayal

Seven months went by without any incidents. Ace bought a house just across the street from my father's place. I spent more time at Ace's home than at Dad's place. Ace and I found out that we were having a boy, but we hadn't picked a name for him. I was only two weeks away from turning eighteen, and the baby was due in three weeks. The summer had come and passed quickly. It was already August.

Ace went out with the boys to deal some guns to the Russians. Mom and Dad did get married, and Mom was about four weeks pregnant. Everything was pretty much back to normal.

The sky was dark. I was beginning to worry about Ace. Dealing guns was usually a quick job.

I stared at my phone that was on the nightstand beside the bed. I started to reach for it but stopped. The phone rang. That's odd–I thought to myself.

The caller ID said it was Ace. I breathed a sigh of relief and answered the call.

"Hey, babe. I was starting to worry," I said.

"Bebita, I'm sorry. I should have called. I've spent the last two hours searching for your father. We can't find him anywhere. Your mother said that he went down to the bar to meet up with someone, but he didn't say who. She said she figured it was just an old friend from the way he talked," Ace said.

"You're kidding?" I asked. I sat up on the bed. "I'll call him."

"Okay," Ace said.

I hung the phone up and dialed my father's number. His phone went straight to voicemail.

"Dad, all of the boys are out looking for you. Call me as soon as you get this, so we know that you are okay," I said. I hung the phone up and called Ace back.

"Hello?" Ace answered.

"It went straight to voicemail. I'll go out and start looking too," I said. I climbed off of the bed.

"I'm almost to the house. You can help me look. The only places we haven't checked are the warehouses, but I doubt your father would be there at this time of night," Ace said.

"It's worth a shot. I'll be down in a minute," I said.

We hung up. I slipped my feet into a pair of sneakers. I shuffled down the hallway. It wasn't as easy to get around at eight months pregnant. I felt huge.

Just as I opened the door, the Expedition pulled into the driveway. The headlights flashed across the yard and the house. I waddled across the yard and crawled into the passenger seat of the truck.

"Where are the boys?" I asked.

The backseat of the truck was empty.

"They took their cars so we could cover more ground. I have a bad feeling about this, bebita," Ace said.

"This isn't like him," I agreed.

We backed out into the street and headed to the southside warehouse. It was the warehouse that had been blown up, but it was rebuilt and restocked. It was the closest warehouse to us.

There were no vehicles around the warehouse, but we thought it would be best to check it out anyway. We climbed out of the truck and walked to the door.

Ace unlocked it, stepped inside, and disarmed the alarm that was beside the door. The alarm was built to go off if you didn't know the code for it.