Thick As Blood - Nestor Oceteva

28. Hopeless

I frowned at the information Sakura had sent me. She had been digging into the notes KJ had left in his notebook. I don't think KJ knew Maria was a relation of mine but we would never know for certain now. It would appear Maria was more than just a sales woman for a jewellers, it actually made more sense that she was involved in something criminally based.

She was a book cooker, an accountant skilled in fudging numbers, making money disappear without a trace. KJ found her through the dark web and used her to hide money from his family and I for almost a decade. It was because of the long secret partnership that he trusted her with Alex. She knew her father was a bastard Galindo but she hadn't realised who Alex was until she saw his American passport. One question answered, a million left unsolved. I moved onto the next, much more important, piece of information Sakura had sent through.

Name: Lincoln Potter
Job: Assistant US Attorney
Relationship: Unwed
Dependants: 1 child
Languages: English, Spanish
Last Known IP: 136.26.161.128
Other recent information: biometric authentication established for access to a building owned by Umbrella Security Services San Diego.

I read through the rest of the pages but everything else was about Potter's history, not his current state of affairs. I emailed Sakura back and told her to look into the security company further including any other properties they or their subsidiaries owned. My gut told me we were on the right path here. I'll see you soon Luisa. I locked my computer and office as I left the room.

My heart skipped a beat in fear when I couldn't find Alex inside until I heard him laugh. I followed the sound to the back lawn and found him and Nestor kicking a football around. I covered my smile as I watched Nestor fake a fall so Alex could dribble the ball past and score a goal set up with their shoes. I cheered for Alex as he pulled his shirt over his head and ran around the grass like one of the greats. I walked over to Nestor who was still laying on the grass watching us.

"You're better than Hugo Sánchez ever was mijo." I said as I sat down beside Nestor.

Alex ran over and plonked myself beside us panting. I still couldn't believe how much he had grown, my big five year old. Most nights I just sat in his room watching him sleep, afraid this was a dream I would be waking up from any moment. I didn't want to leave his side ever again but I knew I would have to to get my sister home.

"Mommy is going to have to go do some work soon. Do you want to stay with Tío Miguel or Maria?" I asked him, giving him the choice.

"Maria. I don't like Tía Emily." He said and I snorted and tried to hide my laugh with a cough.

I felt Nestor nudge me and found him smirking too. I knew I wasn't the only one. I wouldn't force Alex to stay with them if he didn't want to. I made a mental note to get some of Cole's men to watch over him and Maria while we were hunting.

"Can you teach me to shoot?" Alex asked Nestor who glanced at me, his eyes begging me to be the one answering.

"Have you already forgotten?" I asked Alex. Nestor looked shocked that I had let him shoot before. "What? I would rather Alex know how to shoot and never have to than the other way around. Plus, with the amount of guns around, he should know how to be safe with them."

Nestor got up and brushed the grass from him before pulling me up. "Come on then, there's a good spot to practice not far from here."

+++

"Loosen your wrists." I told Alex, "like this."

I placed my hands on his and hit a few keys with his fingers before letting him do it himself. He stopped and started as he tried to read the sheet music and play.