“It’s the only chance that you guys have to get this done, and I’m going to do everything in my power to help because I can’t bear to see anybody go to jail for this. If the DA is involved, it’s only a matter of time before they take all of you down, and you too, Lacey, when they find out that you’ve been involved this entire time. I’m not letting that happen, and I need one of you to show me how to best approach this situation, and how to protect myself if I need to,” she said. She’d obviously decided that this was the course of action she needed to take, and I wished I could’ve stopped her, but she’d made up her mind.
“All right, but we’re going to play this extremely safe,” I said. “We’re not letting you go in there without eyes on you at all times, okay? We’re going to teach you everything you need to know, and as soon as you get the information you need, you’re going to get out immediately. I don’t want you lingering around someone like him, especially if he’s truly involved in sex trafficking.” I glanced at both Hawk and Moves, who knew quite well that El Diablo was the kind of man to be involved in something like that.
“That’s the kind of people Las Balas members are,” Hawk said. “They don’t care about who they hurt, or who they have to step on to get their way. They have built their entire gang on sex trafficking and drugs. It’s time that someone did something about it. I just wish that it didn’t have to be you, Mona. I don’t want you walking into the lion’s den without any protection.” Hawk took Mona into his arms and kissed the top of her head protectively.
“You all will follow behind me, keeping an eye on me just like Lacey said,” Mona assured him. “I’m going to be just fine, and I’m going to get what you all need to finally put the criminals behind bars so we can move on. Isn’t that what you want, Hawk? A chance at real happiness and freedom when your friends aren’t struggling to stay away from the police? If we help them now, they’re not going to try to hunt you all down anymore, and that’s going to be the best change the Outlaw Souls could ever see.” Even though there was no guarantee of that, it was certainly a start.
I knew that she was just trying to do the right thing, but I didn’t know how to process my best friend going to entice the very man who had tried to sex traffic her neighbors. It was quite possible that El Diablo knew who she was or that he’d been scoping her out for the very same thing, but we were banking on the fact that he had no idea who she was involved with.
I could see the determination on Mona’s face, the same that I had felt when Moves finally told me the truth and I had made the decision to do everything in my power to help bring the criminals to justice. I needed to see them behind bars; I needed them to pay for all the torment and trouble they’d caused to people who absolutely did not deserve it.
It was only a matter of time before my best friend was going to have to do a little undercover work of her own, and I was just hoping that no harm came to her in the process. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if something bad happened to her, and I knew that Hawk felt the same.
“All right, how exactly are we going to do this? I’m sure you can’t just waltz in there and hope that they accept you,” I said, and Hawk began to explain how things worked with Las Balas.
Every story that left his lips scared Mona even more, but she had to garner as much information as possible, because it was probably the only thing that was going to keep her alive if they ever found out what her true intentions were. I looked over at Moves, who shot me a sympathetic look, like he’d felt the pain I was going through before, and I wondered how many times people he’d cared about had walked into the middle of a situation quite like this one and had never walked back out.
I hope that you’re going to be okay, Mona. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. You’re the only one that’s held me together this far, and I need you. I just wish there was another way, but you’re right. We don’t have any time left, and this may very well be our only option.
Twenty-Seven
Moves
It’s nearly time for me to clue the rest of the Outlaw Souls in on what’s been going on. I know they’re going to be angry with me for keeping secrets, for keeping them out of the loop when I was the one that promised to be honest with them, but I had to be sure of all the facts before I brought them information that didn’t turn out to be true. Now, I know who’s behind this, and I know why Chalupa was arrested under false pretenses. It’s time that justice is served and Las Balas, along with the DA, can finally pay for their involvement in all of this. I know the public isn’t going to take too kindly to this when word gets out, but right now we just need to get that confession.
I knew that Hawk was still on the fence about letting his girl get anywhere near El Diablo, especially because he knew just how dangerous he could really be. I stayed with him for the rest of the afternoon, while he helped get Mona ready for what she was about to experience, but he made sure to let her know that she wasn’t to go off on her own until we gave her the green light.
The last thing we needed was for her to get wrapped up in something she couldn’t handle, and Lacey was still trying to convince herself that she could let Mona go through with this. She was also still trying to figure out how she was going to head back to the office knowing that she would have to look the DA straight in the face and not let him catch onto the fact that she knew exactly how he went about his days when he wasn’t pretending to protect the city of La Playa.
I could only imagine that she was dealing with a lot, and I promised to check in on her right after I called the meeting at the Blue Dog so I could let everyone know what had been going on.
Hawk and I went down there together to find everyone gathered around with drinks in their hand, waiting for the news, and at the forefront of the crowd was Chalupa, who wanted to know more than anyone who was the person behind him getting arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. I was nervous to tell them all that we learned, to let them all know that this was far from over, but I was comforted by the fact that we had a plan.
“You two have been really secretive as of late, and I’ve been telling everyone that it’s been for good reason, but you calling us all here makes me think that you finally found some answers,” Ryder said, and I nodded my head at him.
Every ear in the room perked up at the prospect of us finally being able to end this, and I stood up in front of everyone to fill them in on everything we’d learned. The video was passed around through each and every member of the Outlaw Souls, because I was going to need all of their support, especially if things got ugly.
“You’ve known all this time and you didn’t say anything?” asked Chalupa, and I knew he had every right to be upset, but I had to make him understand that it had really been for the best.
“We couldn’t come outright and tell you until we were sure ourselves, but yes, the DA is working with El Diablo. We have a plan in place to bring them both down, but it’s quite possible that things are going to get ugly in the process. In the event that happens, I need to know that I have the support and cooperation of each and every one of you,” I said, and they all nodded.
“We promised that we were going to get you out of this mess, Chalupa, and we plan to do exactly that,” Hawk said. “You’re not going to have to live another day worrying that you’re going to be spending the rest of your life behind bars because we’re working on getting enough evidence to prove that not only did you not have a thing to do with that stolen car, but that the DA and El Diablo were the ones that set this all up from the very beginning.” I appreciated him stepping up to the plate and taking some of the heat and pressure off of me. I knew that there were the select few that were still upset that I had withheld this information from them, but they were soon going to see that there had been a good reason.
I glanced around the room at every pair of watchful eyes while they all came to terms with the fact we were one step closer to our freedom. We almost had everything we needed to make sure that the LPPD was never going to touch any member of the Outlaw Souls again, and that’s all I ever wanted. I’d been enforcing the rules for a very long time, giving everyone everything they could possibly need to protect themselves, but this was exactly the kind of leadership I’d always wanted to show them all that I was capable of. I wanted them to know that they could trust me, that we were truly all in this together, and I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before this all went down.
Twenty-Eight
Lacey
I hate that I have to return to the office today and pretend that everything’s fine when it certainly isn’t. How am I supposed to look that man in the eyes without letting him know that I’ve come to despise his very existence?
I was so worried that I was going to blow this for myself before I even had the chance of bringing the truth to the surface. I didn’t know how to focus on anything else, and I knew the moment I sat at my desk, I was just going to spend the rest of the day plotting, hoping that Mona heeded our warnings about not doing anything without our go-ahead.
It was bad enough that she was even involved, but I was so worried that she was going to end up getting hurt or worse because of all of this. She had no idea what El Diablo could do if she said the wrong thing, or if he found out that she had been involved with the Outlaw Souls. The way that Hawk and Moves spoke of him it was quite clear that he would probably kill her on the spot from the moment he found out the truth.
I had to make sure that didn’t happen, that we gave her everything she needed to protect herself until we could get the truth out of one of them.
I bid her goodbye that morning, warning her yet again about what she could be getting herself into, but she brushed it off saying that she wasn’t going to try anything stupid without telling one of us first. I left the house feeling like something bad was about to happen, but I brushed it off because I knew that I had every right to feel the uneasiness in my stomach.
