Chapter 7
I drive through the city, sticking to the speed limit, hoping nobody saw me swing Lena’s car around to my hideout two streets over or saw her get into my car. Somebody probably saw the commotion on the street. I may have to change my plates or use my contacts.
I could’ve given her some answers, but that would mean revealing what I did to her mom, Simone. I’m not sure it’s fair to think of it like that—in terms of what I didtoher. We did it together, but I knew better. I was the one with all the power.
In the elevator, I couldn’t control myself. It was the worst setting, inappropriate as hell, but I couldn’t stop it. My manhood flooded and lust filled me up, making it difficult even to think. I was bursting from the base of my shaft, seed trying to reach her.
I could’ve held those hips again, squeezed tighter this time. It took everything I had not to pull her sweater up and sink my teeth into her hips, her curvaceous fullness. She’s thick in the best possible way.
“Focus, kid,”Imaginary Luka says, staring at me with his grizzled grey beard and scarred bald head.“Save her mother first. You can romance her later.”
That’s precisely how Luka would phrase it:courtingorromancinga lady. Those are civilized terms. There’s nothing civilized about what I want to do to her. It’s pure animal impulse. It’s hunger. It’s the urge to tear her clothes off and bend her over, spank her big juicy ass to show her I own it, ownher, then slip my shaft between—
A car honks behind me. I’m blocking traffic. I really need to focus. I drive to the edge of the city, the cartel basement bar. A cartel man is sitting out front on a stool. He’s wearing a leather jacket over a white tank, covered in tattoos, music playing from some speakers on an upturned crate. It’s a rap song in Spanish. When I walk across the street, the music gets louder, the lyrics clearer. The artist is rapping about killing somebody at midday and burying them at midnight. It doesn’t seem practical to me.
In Spanish, I say, “I’m here to see Albert. I have an appointment for my hair.”
The man, a little older than me, sits up, suddenly on full alert. The hair appointment is a code that means he has to take me straight to his boss, Albert, a low-level cartel member controlling this sad corner of the city. The man stands and gestures to the basement. I didn’t bring any guns. They wouldn’t let me in here with any.
But I’m walking out of here alive. Before, when I’d think that, it was just a matter of basic survival. Now, I have the motivation—to see my woman again.
Albert is a short man, always sweating. He dabs at his balding forehead with a handkerchief, his gold watch flashing on his wrist. He’s let his hair grow long down the sides.
“You said we were done.”
“We were,” I say, keeping my voice low despite the music Albert switched on when he saw me. He doesn’t want anybody to know he’s worked with… with what? What am I? Not a cop. Not a hitman. Not an angel. Not a devil. “But things change. This is about the Mendez family’s cryptocurrency wallet. I’m sure you’ve heard some whispers about it.”
Albert is already shaking his head, but his eyes give him away. His eagerness to pretend he doesn’t know what I’m talking about tells a lot, too.
“I don’t need anything from you,” I say, leaning forward slightly. Just enough to remind him I’m twice his size. Just enough to remind him that the last time he saw me, I had just finished killing one of his cartel buddies who liked to hurt little kids. He helped me. Against his will, but he helped, and they can’t ever learn that. “Except for a name. You’ve heard about that old cryptocurrency wallet. You know it was stolen. Who’s making a play for it?”
“Is this about the woman?” Albert says, reaching into his top drawer and taking out a small table for chopping lines. There’s already some powder on it.
I slap it off the table. It crashes into the wall, powder lacing the air. I slam my fist close to Albert’s hand, causing him to leap into his chair. “A name. Now. Or you can call your men in here. Have me killed. Try to, at least.”
His mouth opens and closes like a fish searching for water. He’s only in this position because of family connections. He’d be eaten alive by the real cartel down south.
“Better start talking, Albert.”
“You don’t understand. They’ll kill me if they ever find out.”
“They’ll kill you if they find out what you did last year. You took me to his house, Albert.”
“You had a gun to my head.”
I laugh, but it’s for show. I don’t enjoy bullying men like this. Weak and pathetic and defenseless. Even when they deserve it, it leaves a bad taste. “Do you think that will make any difference to them?”
He leans forward, lowers his voice, then gives me a name. Diego Díaz.
“I don’t recognize it,” I tell him.
“Up-and-comer,” Albert says, “but he’s been bragging all over town. He’s going to find the famous crypto wallet and give it to the Mendez family as a sign of his loyalty. Word is he’s holding some woman for ransom.”
“Very talkative for a narco.”
“Like I said, an up-and-comer. He will be gone soon.”
“You might be right, Diego,” I reply. “You said he’s been braggingaround town. Where, exactly?”
“Listen, man—”
“Where?”
He swallows and gives me another name, this one of a bar.
I stand and turn, popping my neck from side to side. There’s a violent feeling gripping me, slowly seeping over my body, into my bones, like a call to war—a call to do whatever it takes to make this right. I can’t let them hurt Susan. Her daughter would never want me then—couldnever want me if I let her mom die.
Leaving the bar, I get into my car and drive for roughly ten minutes, taking the quieter roads until I come to another cartel bar. I don’t even know what Diego Díaz looks like, dammit. I need to do some prep. Get his appearance.
Yep, I’m a jackass. I was so damn concerned with my hard-on when I left Lena in the apartment and eager to get away from her, I didn’t bring my laptop, which is my lifeline with all the governmental databases a man could need.
I can’t just walk in there and hope I run into him. Dropping his name might work over a sting, with some time, but it will look too obvious. Plus, there’s the obvious fact I’m visibly not a cartel member.
I’ll have to drive home and return here. If I could avoid wasting that time, I would. If only there were somebody back in my apartment who could… She’s motivated, clearly, and it’s not like it would be complicated. I could use the voice password so she won’t be able to reaccess the laptop.
I sigh and take out my cell phone.