Mystic, p.1
Mystic, page 1
Mystic
erin trejo
Copyright © 2023 by erin trejo
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 1
Mystic
They say the past defines who you are, but what about the future? Doesn’t that define you just as much? After all, your future will eventually become your past. I think a lot about my future. What it looks like, who’s in it. Where do we go from here? What surprises will the future hold for us? Will they be good surprises or bad? Will I be happy? Will we, as a family, be happy? There are so many questions that have no answers. Some questions don’t necessarily need to be answered now, but that doesn’t stop me from asking them. I’ve always been a thinker. Wondering what the future holds for me and my loved ones is something I’ve always done, especially with Yasmine and Jenny in my life. I guess with the work I do and the things I’ve seen; it can’t be helped.
“Where’s your head at?” my wife asks me. I look over at Yasmine and smile. She’s the love of my life. My everything aside from our daughter. My family is complete. Family is what I’ve always wanted, and now I have it.
“Just thinking about life,” I reply, and Yasmine smiles. Her breathtaking smile is one I could get lost in so easily, and I do every once in a while. I find myself just staring at her, lost in the beauty she holds. Not just on the outside either. The woman is a saint if you ask me.
“Always thinking about life. When are you going to live it?”
“Yeah, Dad. When?” Jenny chimes in. I smirk at her and shake my head.
“I’m not living it? You two are sitting in the Bahamas right now, living it up,” I remind the two of them with a smile.
“And you’re working,” Jenny says, indicating my laptop sitting on the table in front of me. She’s right. My job never ends, and that’s the way I like it. I’m making connections and friends along with some enemies.
“Work doesn’t wait,” I remind her.
“So we have to?” Yasmine whines. I smile once more and shake my head, closing down my laptop. I stand from my seat and pull my shirt over my head before tossing it to the side. Then I kick off my sandals and walk toward the girls in the pool before diving in.
I dive until I can touch the bottom before coming back up and breaking the surface. I suck air into my lungs as they squeal from the splash I made.
“Is this better?” I ask the two of them. How could my life be any better? How could I ever have anything more enjoyable than this? I couldn’t. This is the life I’ve always wanted, and I finally have. I’ve worked my ass off for this. I’ve worked hard and made enemies for this.
Once upon a time, I was a Navy Seal. A trained killer, a hunter. I was branded as one of the baddest men in our unit. When my fingers touched their first computer, I realized I could do more damage with information than a bullet. It wasn’t long before the government caught wind of me, and I worked off the books for them.
Time took its toll on me, and I saw my family less and less. Something had to change. Something had to give. Then one night, I met this guy in a bar. He was looking for answers, and I knew how to get them. He offered the money, and things escalated from there. That’s how I got involved with motorcycle clubs. When you cross the right paths, word of mouth is a strong marketing tool, and I made friends. At first, they were easy jobs. Jobs I could do from anywhere in the world, and the reward was far greater than what I was making with the government.
“You look hot,” Yasmine says as she swims closer to me. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me close, pressing her lips to mine. I kiss her back, loving how she feels against me when Jenny gags behind us.
“I get it, you love each other, but this PDA stuff is gross,” she teases as Yasmine pulls away and laughs.
“You think we like seeing you make out with Troy?” she asks Jenny about her boyfriend. I don’t believe she needs a boyfriend at eighteen, but her mother thought otherwise.
“We aren’t that bad,” she defends herself.
“You are that bad. I want to punch him in the fucking throat every time I see it,” I tell her. Jenny laughs, throwing her head back when the little shit comes walking back and sliding into the pool. He swims over and wraps his arms around my little girl, and I have to control the urge to snap his neck.
“What are you talking about?”
“Mom and dad’s PDA. I think it’s gross,” she tells him. Troy shrugs and kisses her cheek. Now it’s my turn to gag.
“I think it’s sweet. Don’t you want to be like that when we’re older?” I won’t lie and say that Troy’s a bad guy. He isn’t. He’s got his head on straight. Graduated high school at the top of his class and is going to college soon. His family isn’t that bad either. I’ve checked into them myself.
“See, he thinks it’s sweet,” Yasmine says as she kisses my cheek.
“Well, glad someone does,” Jenny mumbles. I just smile. I couldn’t ask for more than what I have right now. This is it for me. This is the perfect life I live.
And with all good things, there comes bad. And I know the bad will sneak up on me one day, but I’ll be ready. I’ll be ready when that time comes. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself.
Chapter 2
Kyla
I never thought my life would be like this. I never thought I’d be trapped in this kind of world, yet here I am. My life was never sunshine and roses. No, it was the opposite, one filled with darkness and death. It’s been that way for far too long. And I hate it. Mostly.
I sneak across the faintly lit hallway and around the corner unseen. I know where the light hits the hall and where the shadows will keep me hidden. The darkness is a lot like me. I stay hidden in the depths of whatever despair there is.
I creep across the floor, careful of where I step until I reach the study. One more glance around the hall, and I know I’ve gotten in unseen. No one knows I’m here. No one will think it was us.
I slide my hand behind my back, grabbing my gun to which I’ve already attached the silencer. Then I spin and step into the study where he sits. Mr. Dalamico. My next target.
“Fancy seeing you here,” I say as he lifts his head, eyes wide in shock. He’s about to open his mouth to scream when I shake my head and hold the gun up, aiming directly at him. I walk slowly and carefully across the study floor until I stand directly in front of him.
“What do you want?” he asks, his voice shaking slightly.
“What every girl wants. Diamonds, of course.”
“I don’t have them. Whatever he told you, I don’t have them,” he whines.
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know. Whoever you’ve been talking to. They lied to you.” I tsk at him.
“I don’t think so. They know what happens if I’m lied to. Lives like to be lived, Dalamico.” I watch him squirm in his seat. He has to know this is it. I often wonder what they think when they know the end is near, what they feel, what they sense. Do they know I’m the grim reaper? Do they know that I’m the one who’s going to end their lives, or do they think there’s a way out of this?
“Kyla, please. I don’t know where the diamonds are,” he pleads. I place my gun on my lap just as he reaches under his desk.
“That gun’s gone,” I inform him. Knowing that I was the one to remove it. Then he moves for the other when I speak, “Gone as well.” He sits back in his chair, eyes wide as he looks at me.
“I can give you money.”
“I have money. I want diamonds,” I tell him. “Not just any diamonds will do, Mr. Dalamico. I want my family’s diamonds.”
“I don’t have them, Kyla. I swear to you.”
“Maybe not, but you had a hand in taking them. Of all the families in the world and you chose mine. How ironic for you.”
“I didn’t know they were yours,” he says, sweat dripping down his temples.
“You did. I know you did. We both know you did.” Now he’s making me angry, and no one likes when I’m angry. I lift the gun and aim it at him once more, tired of playing this game. “You will tell me where my diamonds are, or I will take all you have. Every last cent, and I will leave that pretty little wife of yours with your dead body in return,” I warn. He shifts in his seat, knowing damn good and well he isn’t about to tell me anything. He won’t tell me who has them, and I’ll end up doing this all over again with another family. That’s perfectly fine by me.
“I … I don’t know, Kyla. I swear to you.” Rolling my eyes, I’m sick of hearing that. I get tired of hearing them say those things to me. I swear, Kyla. I swear I don’t know. When in reality, they know. They know exactly what it is I want and where to find it.
I st
“Mr. Dalamico. Things could have been a lot easier than this. We could have had so much fun together. We could have been fucking over my diamonds as we speak, but alas, you don’t want to cooperate with me. That’s a problem,” I tell him, running the gun down his neck and over his chest. I press the barrel hard against him, letting him know I’m not playing around. Then I lean in and press my lips to his before pulling the trigger. I sit back and look at what I’ve done before climbing off him and heading for the door. If I have everything timed right, which I’m sure I do, his little wife will come in shortly to ask him to bed.
I slink out of the room and back down the hall, rounding the corner and stalking back to my entry point in record time when I hear her scream. I look down at my watch and smirk. Right on time.
I sneak down the side of the house and out in the darkness where I belong before anyone can figure out what’s happened. I disappear. It’s what I do. I’m gone under the cover of night.
I race through the trees and come out on the other side where I left the car. As soon as I see it, I hop in and tell Jeremy to take off. He presses the gas and takes off as I remove my dark jumpsuit. I toss it into the back before adjusting myself and sitting in the seat.
“I suppose no diamonds were found?” he asks.
“Nope. He didn’t have them.”
“Who do you think it is?”
“I don’t know, honestly. Father isn’t going to be happy.”
“Is he ever?”
“Not usually, but this is worse than usual. If we don’t find the diamonds soon, he’s going to lose it.”
“If he hasn’t lost it already,” Jeremy says. He’s right about that.
Chapter 3
Mystic
I sit back with my laptop while the girls lounge on the beach. They call it sunbathing, but I say they’re getting cancer from the sun. Who the hell am I to ruin their good time? I brought them here to relax and have fun, and that’s what they’ve been doing. It fills my heart with happiness to see them so happy. There were times in my life when I thought this happiness would never happen, but it has, and I don’t plan on letting it go.
I type away at the keyboard, looking for any trace of the man I’ve been hired to find. It didn’t take me long to get the information they wanted. I grab my cell and make the call.
“Mystic, my man. Tell me you have news,” Grave, the president of the Royal Devils, answers on the first ring. I smirk.
“I got news for you, and I think you’re going to like, brother.”
“Yeah? That quick?”
“You know how I roll. I don’t like to make you wait,” I laugh into the phone.
“Let’s hear it,” he says before I ramble off the information I discovered for him. We hang up as soon as I’m finished, and he transfers the money to my account. I hear the ping on my phone and smile. My work is done for the day. Tomorrow there will be another phone call. Tomorrow another ping on my phone. This is what I do now. This is how I live, and I don’t think I’d change it for anything.
“Working hard, baby?” Yasmine asks as she walks over and sits in the chair next to me.
“Just a little. You okay?”
“I’m great. I can’t believe we’re here.”
“Believe it. I told you I wanted this trip to be special.”
“It truly is. I’m so lucky to have you,” she coos as I lean over and press my lips to hers. It’s not enough. I kiss her harder, deeper, shoving my tongue into her mouth. I don’t think I could ever want anyone the way I want Yasmine. When I first met her, I knew she was mine. I knew I had to have her, and that’s what I did. I made my interest known and went after her. It didn’t take much persuasion on my part. She was into me too. And this has been us since that day twenty years ago. I was just a kid back then. Just starting in life. Now, look at us.
“I hate that this is our last night here,” she says, sitting back and grabbing her drink off the table.
“Me too, but we’ll come back.”
“We will?” she asks hopefully. I can see how much my girls have enjoyed their time here, and I want to bring them back to watch it all over again.
“Yeah, we will. I want you two to be happy. Whatever that takes, I’ll do it.”
“We know we don’t need trips to be happy, Jake. We’re happy with you.”
“Good. I’m glad because you’re stuck with me,” I remind her with a smile before dropping another kiss on her lips.
“I wouldn’t want to be stuck with anyone else.”
“Good thing. I’d hate to have to kill him,” I tell her. She smiles at me, and the world fades away. Jenny and Yasmine mean everything to me. They are my world.
“I won’t even sit here and say you wouldn’t dare,” she laughs. She knows me. Yasmine knows what I’d do to anyone who touches or looks at them the wrong way.
“Smart woman.”
“What are you two talking about?” Jenny walks over and asks.
“You. How I’m proud of you.”
“I haven’t done anything, dad.”
“You graduated high school. You have big plans to go to college. That’s doing something, Jen,” I remind her.
“It’s not that much,” she says, blushing a little.
“Yeah, it is. It’s more than a lot of people do, and I’m proud of you for that,” I repeat. She leans down and hugs me around the neck before pulling away and smiling.
“Thank you. For all of this,” Jen says, motioning with her hand.
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re having a good time.” I see Troy walking over and wrapping his arm around Jenny’s waist. He kisses the side of her head, and I smile. As much as I’d hate to shoot a man in the balls, I’d do it for her, but Troy is a good kid.
“What’s the plan for tonight? We are leaving tonight, right?” Troy asks. I know he needs to get back for work which I respect too. Working hard when he’s only nineteen tells me a lot about the boy.
“Yeah. We need to get back. The flight leaves at five, so you have a few hours to do what you want.” He nods his head and pulls Jenny back against him. The move reminds me a lot of Yasmine and me when we were younger. I watch the two of them talk before turning around and heading back toward the water.
“You think they’re going to make it?” Yasmine asks me. I turn my attention to her.
“No one thought we would,” I remind her.
“That’s true. My parents didn’t like you much.”
“They still don’t,” I tell her with a chuckle.
“Yes, they do. It just took time to get to know you,” Yasmine argues.
“I don’t know. I see the way your dad looks at me sometimes. Like he wants to gut me,” I laugh.
“Well, you took his only daughter. What do you expect?”
“I’ve taken good care of his only daughter from what I remember.”
“You sure have. I couldn’t ask for anyone better, Jake. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“But we still have to leave, don’t we?” Yasmine asks with a pout on her lips.
“We still have to leave. You should think about moving here, baby. I told you I could work from anywhere,” I remind her. I’ve made the offer to move, but she’s stubborn and wants to stay close to Jenny.
“I can’t just leave Jenny alone. She needs us. You know that.”
“I know, but it’s an option.”
“And I appreciate that, but I can’t see leaving her alone just yet. She isn’t old enough,” she tells me as I nod my head agreeing. I just want her to know the option is there when she’s ready to take it.
“So we stay in California until she’s older. Hell, they may want to move with us one day.”
