First Chapter of Death Secrets, An Anna Hale PI Thriller

 

Chapter One

 

2004

Lexington, Kentucky

 

Anna Hale cranked up the volume on her headphones, desperate to study for her high school English exam scheduled for the morning, but the hypnotic beat couldn’t mask the loathed voice of her stepfather growing louder by the second.

“You whore! Sneaking around and giving me those pious looks. You don’t think I don’t know better. I should throw you out right now, you and your bitch of a daughter!”

The soft sounds of her mother trying to pacify him were indistinct, impossible for her to hear.

Pass out already, old man.  

She tried forcing her mind on the textbook, but the lines of printing blurred, making it hard to concentrate. If the subject at hand was a math or science quiz, she’d ace both without much effort. And that one computer module they’d had this semester had fascinated her. She yearned for a career in data processing, discovering all the secrets. That was if she got a choice. Her stepfather was threatening to make her leave school early to help bring more money into the household. She rolled her eyes in disgust. The guy just couldn’t hold down a job. Never his fault, like his shitty attitude wasn’t a factor. Or that his breath so often stank of booze, and his body of stale sweat.

The conversation from earlier between her and her mom bothered her like a harbinger of things to come, making it harder to focus. “I’ve made arrangements. If anything happens to me—go next door. Alex and Cindy Pace will look after you. And you get along so well with Josh and the twins.”

Her mom had talked over Anna’s every denial of anything ever happening to her. Anna was going to keep her mom safe. Learn karate or something badass at the gym to give her the upper hand. But her mom had made her promise and she had gone along with it. Anna didn’t want her mom worrying more than she already did, not that she wouldn’t stay and help her if worst came to worst. She’d never desert her mom. They had to stick together, no matter what.

Another loud series of barks drew her attention away from her favorite daydream of getting a high-paying job, of taking her mother far, far away. She’d also warned her to stay out of it, that her stepfather couldn’t help himself having to work at a job he hated, but Anna’s stomach churned with the effort. She wiped her damp palms on her patched jeans, straining to hear, the test long forgotten.

She pressed hard with her fist through her ragged T-shirt, making the talisman she wore around her neck dig deep into her chest. It was just a crude image of a wolf stamped into a cheap metal disk and tied to a bit of cord she’d found lying by the sidewalk, but it meant something to her, something that reminded her of her namesake, her real father. Bartley Wolfe.

A loud crashing sound of something falling erupted downstairs. She dumped the headset and jumped off the bed, then raced down the narrow staircase in her sock feet, her pulse hammering in her ears, her head about to explode. She rounded the sharp corner that composed the L-shaped kitchen and living room, the clean but faded linoleum with most of the square-shaped pattern worn down to gray splotches, slippery beneath her feet. Her disgusting bear of a stepfather stood over her mom, his meaty fists raised like a boxer, his pugnacious face darkened by raw hatred.

The man who liked to fight at the local gym or bar was not in the ring now, but at home, one that his mother had tried very hard to make as nice as possible on a shoestring budget. She could take a few items from the half-bare cupboard and turn them into something good in no time, having a long-acquired knack for stretching things. The food was prepared with love, the essential ingredient she always said would keep them full.

Her mother had fallen to the floor, or more likely been pushed, knocking over a chrome chair with a torn cushion that she had duct-taped to keep the stuffing inside. The dingy fabric was bulging out again like gray matter, the cover torn.

“Mom, are you okay?” She rushed to her side.

She looked so tiny, so worn out, though she’d had her when she was only sixteen. She tried to speak and failed, her mother’s eyes pleading with her. A stream of blood dripped down the side of her face making Anna’s stomach roil with worry.

“Take my hand. We’ll go next door. Get help.” She crouched, put her arms around her, and tried to get her to sit up. Before she could manage it, her stepfather was on her, slamming her hard and knocking her off her feet.

“You got something coming as well, you little bitch.”

A ringing in her ears drowned out any further words, but the blows to her body and face echoed deep inside. She tried to roll over onto her mother, arms flailing to protect her, and she partially succeeded just before the world went dark.

The stench of something burning woke her. It took a few seconds for the haze in her mind to clear, to realize how dim the light in the kitchen was. She began coughing uncontrollably, her lungs trying in vain to force the heavy smoke out. Her heart raced with the effort, eyes streaming tears. Her mother was so still, curled up on her side, her body half over hers.

“Mom, wake up, we gotta get out of here!” She crawled onto her knees and shook her shoulder, but she didn’t move, didn’t respond at all.

The sounds of sirens in the distance. Help was on the way. But she had to do something. Now. She touched her throat, felt a faint pulse under her fingertips.

“It’s going to be okay. I’m going to get you out of here.” She tried to pick her up, but her arms flailed like a rag doll. She was heavier than she thought.

She’d have to pull her mother along the floor. At least the smoke was less dense near the ground. Sweat dripped in her eyes, stinging. She ignored the pain and began tugging her mom toward the back door. It was only a few feet. If she could just get her outside, into the fresh air, she would come around.

But she never did.

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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.