About one o'clock she looked up at him suddenly, and then blushed. "We forgot about the guys outside. Shouldn't we get them something to eat or… something?"
"I think they could probably do with a meal by now. That's very thoughtful of you."
"Well, I am the woman of the house, it's kind of my job, isn't it?" she asked, with a grin. "Come on, let’s get dressed and invite them in. They can't just stand out there, can they?"
"Well, that's kind of their job, baby." He smiled.
"Oh, but, they can have lunch, can't they?"
"Yes Chelsea. You're right. Let's go take care of the boys so they can take care of us," he agreed, amused at her worrying about men who were trained to stand guard duty in the desert.
The men that were known in the club as "the Guard" made their living as bouncers and body guards. All of them were ex-military, and some of them had even done time as mercenaries. They were tough, strong, and well-trained.
Chelsea slipped into a baby-doll t-shirt and a pair of Daisy Duke shorts, and then skipped out into the house saying something about ordering pizza. Elias watched her bounce away with a long exhale of relief. She seemed to be coming back to him, and a huge weight of worry fell from his shoulders.
The way she was acting this morning, almost childlike with her fears and trembling, had Doc's warnings about her condition pounding in his brain. He was a strong man, and strong-willed, but he didn't know if he could take losing her like that, or watching as her demons ate her alive from inside.
He lingered in the bedroom for a while, getting dressed slowly, and offering whatever god was looking out for his Chelsea prayers of thanks. Then he put on his shoulder holster, checked his gun, and walked out into the living room. There he found Chelsea with five men, all of them looking awkward and unsure about allowing themselves to be pulled inside by her. They looked to him, and he nodded his head, letting them know it was alright. They seemed to accept that and relaxed a little. Two of them remained standing, keeping near the front windows and the back door, but the other three relaxed into the available chairs.
"I ordered three pizzas, and four liters of coke," Chelsea told him. "That's enough, right?"
"I'm sure that will hold us for now," he agreed.
She talked easily with the men, and even playfully flirted with them after a while, until the pizza arrived. Then she paid the delivery boy, who couldn't take his eyes off her until Jeff, a six-six bouncer for a local strip club, closed the door in his face.
Chelsea served the pizza and drinks, talking about the ride yesterday and asking them about Sporsters and what she should know about the model, because she was buying one. Tom and Jeff shared a few tips, and Hank told her that she rode well enough that she might consider a Softail instead. She listened and asked some astute questions. All of which had Elias feeling better as time went on.
"You know," she said suddenly, as she refilled Jeff's glass of coke, "He's not just going to walk up to the door and start shooting. He won't come here."
All of the men, Elias with them, gave her their full attention.
"What makes you say that Chelsea?" he asked, trying to sound casual.
"Well, that would be stupid. Everyone would know it was him then, and even his cop buddies wouldn't back a play like that. He'll try something away from here. He'll stalk, and hire guys to watch the house, and do drive-bys. He'll find out where I go, and who I go with. Then he'll try bribes and coercion, or try to catch one of you guys with a warrant or simply have you arrested while I'm out with you, leaving me alone. Then he'll make his move."
She sat down next to Elias and looked at him. "He doesn't want me back Elias. He wants me dead."
Elias scanned his men, who were all taking this in, and then told her, "I came to the same conclusion last night. You said some things when you had your… Well, basically it was a meltdown, baby."
"I did? What did I say?" she asked a little softly.
"You talked about him killing someone. A woman," he offered.
"Mary," she sighed, and was suddenly very sad.
"Can you talk about that? Or would you rather talk to me alone?"
She looked at the men around her, and then back to Elias. "These guys are risking their lives for me, I think they should know the kind of man they are up against, don't you?"
"That's true, but I don't want you to hurt yourself again," he told her.
"I know, but I think I can do this," she replied. "Mary was like me. A drug mule for Tomas. He used her like me as well, you know, the sex stuff. I was only with him for a few weeks when he took both of us to a place, a house, down in South Houston. There he told Mary to suck him off. And she started to. Then he pulled out a gun while she was sucking on him, and shot her in the head."
Chelsea took a deep breath, and then said, "After that, he told me she wasn't doing it right, and that she was useless, and told me to finish him off. I was so scared that he was going to shoot me too that I nearly wet myself. But I did what he told me. After, he said that if I ever tried to leave him, he'd kill me. I believed him. I still believe him."
The silence in the room was close to deafening. Jeff was the first to move, getting up and going back to the front window to look outside. Elias could see the big man was trembling with rage. Then he noticed his own hand shaking as well.
Tom was the first to speak. "Chelsea, you said you were a mule. You were running drugs for him?"
Chelsea nodded her head, "But not across the border or anything like that. He would raid drug dealers here in the city, take their dope, and then resell it to his partners. He uses the department to find out good raiding marks. From what I heard, these guys were normally nubbies. New dealers, who just started. Sometimes they were competitors for his own partners. He would raid them with his cop friends sometimes. If he did that, most of the time the dealers would only be arrested. If he did it with his other partners, then they would be killed during the raid. They have fake uniforms, and badges, and that kind of stuff. Lots of it, and lots of guns. But the big deals were the cash raids. That's what Tomas considered prime targets. He would set up a buyer, and take their money. That way he didn't have to share with his other partners."
"How much are we talking here?" Dave asked, coming in from the back door.
"Hundreds of thousands sometimes. He didn't bother with anything less than fifty grand, coke or cash," Chelsea told him.
Elias could see the wheels turning in his men's heads. The same wheels were turning in his own. The man they were up against was connected, well-informed, ruthless, and had large amounts of cash resources. All of this was currently focused on one goal—ending Chelsea's life.
"Can you prove any of this?" Jeff asked from the front window.
"I can prove some of it," she replied. "I know names, and places, and stash locations. I know the partners, and some of the dealers who were killed."
Dave whistled under his breath, echoing everyone else's thoughts regarding just how motivated Tomas might be in getting rid of Chelsea. The general conclusion was—very.
Jeff looked over at Elias, "We're going to need a new game plan, boss."
Elias met his eyes and then nodded. "I agree." Then he turned back to Chelsea. "Can you write down this information for me? The names, partners, and victims you mentioned? Stash locations could be good as well if you can do that."
"Sure, I'll go get my laptop."
"Chelsea?" Dave asked before she could leave the room. "How much did you take when you left?"
She looked back at him. "Fifty grand out of the closet."
"How much was in the closet?" Dave pressed.
"Eight hundred," she told him, and then continued back into their room.
"Shit, boss, this guy is a big fish," Dave said.
"Kind of makes Larry's efforts seem a little foolish," Jeff agreed.
"No, not foolish," Elias told him. "We never believed that anything would stick or slow him down. The idea was to gather some resources of our own. Attract the attention of the cops, shed some light on the matter, and I believe in that respect we succeeded fairly well. Larry told me last night that he was suspended until his hearing tomorrow. That means Internal Affairs is probably looking at him a lot closer if they weren't already."
Elias got up and paced the room. "Look at it like this: Houston is a big city, but not so big you can pull shit like this on a regular basis and not attract attention. Someone has noticed him. Someone is already looking into him. What we need to do is find out who that someone is, and help them."
Dave looked over at him. "You mean, shift Tomas' focus off of Chelsea. Make her obsolete."
"Exactly," Elias agreed. "If we can get enough dogs on his trail, maybe one of them will take him down."
"Some of those victims might have friends as well," Jeff offered.
"That's a good thought too," Elias agreed. "You don't get to that size—not the size that Tomas would be interested in—without having resources of your own. That's very good. Two good fronts to come at him with. I like that."
"It would be nice to find out that he stepped on some heavy-hitting toes," Dave agreed. "I've got a few connections I can help with discovery on that angle."
"Larry is working on backgrounding Tomas now. I should give him a call and see where he is at with that, and then I should give John and Wild Bill an update. You guys get back to your posts. Chelsea is probably right, but let's not overestimate this guy. Sometimes simple is better. He might not care about who knows who got to her."
The five of them nodded and left to get back to their jobs. Elias went to his office and started making calls. After a bit Chelsea came in and sat on his lap, listening to him talk with Larry.
Once he hung up, she told him, "I'll get this all together for you. Do you think it will really help? I mean, getting a conviction probably won't happen with what I have."
"We aren't looking for a conviction, baby, just an edge," he told her.
"Alright, I'll get as much as I can down for you then," she said.
He gave her a kiss. "Thank you. You've helped us out a great deal today."
"Did I?"
"Yes. You really did."
"Good. Because I don't want you to die, Elias. I love you."
"I don't plan on dying, baby, and I love you too."
She smiled and kissed his lips. "I was hoping you would say that."
Chelsea kissed him deeply this time and then gave him a radiant smile before sliding back out of his lap and skipping out into the living room with a laugh. Elias watched her go over his shoulder, and then picked back up his phone to call John with the update.