Chapter One
Mckenna
Day One: Friday, May 23, 2055
Mexico City, Sinaloa
7:00 a.m.
Her heartbeat quickened to the point Mckenna Stuart
feared her security detail would begin to notice. This is it. Hold it
together…almost there. She kept her head facing forward staring out
the front window of the unmanned uFree sky link, her nails digging into her
palms, avoiding looking at the menacing security guard she’d never trusted. The
compact pod was illegal in the town proper, but Diego paid the air marshals to
look the other way. Lily, her four-year-old daughter, crowded in next to her.
Lily had been quiet for the thirty-minute air ride from the compound, clutching
her teddy bear to her chest. She reached out a trembling hand and smoothed the
young girl’s bright curls, praying she had made the right decision. The pod
landed in the parking lot behind the hair salon. When the door slid open
automatically, the guard spoke up.
“I’ll be by to pick you up in
one hour. Don’t be late.”
Mckenna cleared her throat.
“Better make it two, I’m getting highlights done.”
Without even turning her head,
she knew the burly man was now staring right at her, calculating, judging.
“It takes time to do well. Not
my fault. And you know how important tonight is. Diego’s expecting me to look
my best.” She detested this man almost as much as her husband, but she feared
her husband more.
He narrowed his eyes. “I’m
thinking I need a trim. Let’s go.”
Mckenna froze. “The owner
won’t like it. They only do women’s hair here. Otherwise, how can we get to
talk female things and not be overheard?”
The only response was a grunt
followed by a garlicky belch. The man was an animal, a brute only kept in
Diego’s employ to frighten those who would dare think of rising up against him.
Diego considered himself king of Sinaloa, a man who had completely pulled the
wool over her eyes when she had met the charming, devilishly handsome playboy.
He had swept her off her feet in Miami where her family had landed after
leaving Alaska, promising to make her his queen. Now she was nothing but his
prisoner as he grew ever more paranoid by the day about someone taking anything
from him. She’d blame the drugs for his behavior, but it went far deeper.
Sometimes, when she glanced into his eyes of late, she had no idea who she was
looking at.
It was a hard life for her,
but it was even worse for Lily with no friends to play with. And after he’d
recently threatened to cut her throat if she even looked at another guy, she
knew it was time. She had one chance at this and now the security guard was
standing in their way.
“What’s the hold up?” a gruff
voice interrupted her thoughts.
Mckenna quickly helped her
tiny, precious daughter out of the seat. Then she picked her up in her arms to
carry her the short distance into the salon.
The guard followed so close
behind her down the hallway she could feel his breath on the back of her neck.
Lily held on tighter to her, a small whimper escaping her lips as she pressed
her small head against her mother’s chest, her small body trembling. No
child should have to live like this. Resentment tightened her resolve,
straightened her spine.
“No men allowed,” a voice
spoke up sternly from inside the larger room. The salon’s owner, Teresa Mendez,
stood there, one hand on her hip and gesturing with cutting shears in the other
for him to leave. She then pointed out a customer in the front area, her face
covered by a white cloth. “I have a special client this morning and her patron
would not appreciate a man anywhere near her. Any man. I assume you know Carlos
Trejo.”
The guard behind her hesitated
and Mckenna used the distraction to quickly walk into the salon. She sat down
on one of the styling chairs and cradled Lily on her lap with her teddy bear.
“Come back in two hours. No
sooner,” Teresa added.
A few seconds of pure terror
for Mckenna. She closed her eyes and prayed the guard would go away as she bent
her head down and kissed the top of her daughter’s head. She breathed in the
fresh scent of strawberry shampoo and felt the love for her daughter fill her
with strength. Then as if God had heard her prayers, the bodyguard turned and
left, his heavy footfalls echoing in her mind until they faded away. When the back
door slammed behind him, she looked up and met Teresa’s eyes in the mirror. She
nodded her teary-eyed thanks.
The woman with the towel over
her face pulled it off to reveal it was Teresa’s assistant Sienna hidden under
it.
“I figured that bastarda would
try something. Come, there’s no time to waste. I have wigs and clothes picked
out for you both.” Teresa led them through the salon and up the steep staircase
that led to the apartment above. On the kitchen table were two head forms, a
child’s size and one considerably larger. Teresa had measured them both weeks
ago, deciding on a medium brown, collar-length bob with thick bangs for Mckenna
and a longer, wavy light brown one for her daughter.
Mckenna twisted her long hair
into a quick knot and pinned it tight to the back of her head. Then Teresa
slipped on a net to hold it in place before pulling the wig down over Mckenna’s
head and arranging it to cover all her bright red-gold hair that hung to her
waist. “I would have cut and done your hair, but there’s no time. Roberto is
waiting to escort you through the tunnel. The bigger head start you get from
him, the better, hermosa.” The stylist then picked up a tube of lipstick. “This
red will transform you as well. You don’t wear much makeup and never anything
bright. It will be unexpected.”
Mckenna gave a small smile at
the term of endearment Teresa always called her as she quickly took the tube
and added a film to her lips. It was nice to be called beautiful after years of
being told she was too fat and needed to lose weight or that her hair wasn’t
perfect or her breasts weren’t large enough. Diego could never be pleased; she
saw that now. His paranoia kept him from enjoying his life and his terrible
need to appear perfect to the world. While all Mckenna wanted for her and Lily
was a life lived without fear of never knowing what the day would bring.
The two women then transformed
Lily, reassuring her she was going to be playing a part in a game, pretending
to be a princess looking to help the Chaneques by going on a journey to find the land of snow and
ice.
“I can help them, Mommy. What
do they want me to do?” Lily asked with wide eyes, her former fear of the
bodyguard fading away. Her slight lisp from the loss of a front baby tooth made
her smile. Her cornflower blue eyes reminded Mckenna of her own. They also
shared the titian hair of her Scots heritage. Something that made them stand
out in Mexico.
“You must tell know no one
about the Chaneques. Not even your daddy. Once we discover this new land,
their handsome prince promises to keep us safe from harm.” Please let Connor
still be there and willing to take them in, if not for her sake, for her
daughter’s. Last word she’d had of him was years ago before she’d left Florida
for Mexico, but she knew him to be attached to his family and couldn’t imagine
him ever leaving Alaska.
“Is Daddy going to be there?”
“For now, sweetheart, he must
stay behind in Mexico.” She didn’t add she prayed with all her might he would
never find them. “But he has many guards to protect him, and he can’t help the Chaneques like we can.”
Lily nodded her head, the new
brown hair making her almost unrecognizable except for her bright blue eyes.
They would both wear sunglasses as much as possible to hide the fact. “Because
we’re girls. That’s why, right? Only girls can help them.”
“Yes, Lilybelle, only girls
can help them. Daddies aren’t even capable of seeing them.” She used Lily’s favorite
nickname, knowing she’d smile or giggle.
“Let’s get you both into the
new clothes. I’ve packed a bag for both of you as well.” Teresa slid the two
newly minted passports across the table. “Keep these safe.”
“I can’t thank you enough for
all you’ve done for me and my daughter, Teresa.” Mckenna’s eyes filled with
tears again she blinked away. She couldn’t risk upsetting Lily.
“I bought you a new IC.”
Teresa handed over the biometric device. The IC or Intelligent Communications
device was nestled in its two-inch-sized lens carrying case that made
everything else before it obsolete as soon as it hit the market. Placed in the
eye, the flexible film allowed easy access to all personal data and made
thought calls or think-speak as it was more commonly called, easily connecting
to internet and computer services with the same thought process.
“Thanks. I’ll let you know as soon
as I’m in the States. We have a short layover in Washington.” Mckenna slid the
compact device into the pocket of the new jeans. Normally she wore dresses, but
she was going to downplay everything today, hoping to slip through the bars of
the prison she’d unintentionally created for herself and her daughter without
being spotted.
***
Diego held Teresa by the throat while his bodyguards
watched dispassionately from the doorway. His fingers squeezed tight until he
saw her eyes start to drift. Then he slapped her hard. Once. Twice. “Tell me
where they went. If you want to live another day, Teresa Sanchez, you will tell
me. Or so help me God, I will send you straight to hell. But not before I make
you suffer until you will wish you’d never been born.”
He’d thought to surprise his beautiful
wife at the salon by bringing in gifts to delight her and the clientele who
would think him a good husband. He’d bought a bouquet of scarlet roses and a
high-end diamond tennis bracelet to show proper remorse for his over the top
reaction the night before. Though she drove him to the edge, still, she was the
mother of his child. Only to find this puta packing up to leave with no Mckenna
or Lily in sight. She’d tried to say they’d left early, taken a uFree sky link home,
but he knew better.
The traitorous bitch had
decided to leave him. And this could not be allowed, not even if he had to
track her to the ends of the earth. He was Diego Lopez. If he let this pass, he
would forever be the goat. Unthinkable. It could not be condoned. Not if he had
to tear out every last fingernail and hair on Teresa’s body.
