Loving a Bad Boy (40 page)

“
We…”

“
Shut up, Manuel,” Maria
snapped.

“
Actually, it’ll be hard
for him not to speak or answer my questions. That’s a part of the
poison,” Julio said holding it up to her. “Care to try
some?”

“
No,” Manuel said between
clenched teeth. “I’ll talk, leave her out of it.”

Julio knew Manuel was beyond rationale
thoughts if he believed that, but he waited for the man to talk.
There were still a few loose ends.

“
First off there is no
baby, Maria lost her.” He glanced at his sister with a sad
smile.

Julio released a breath. The idea of leaving
her child to wonder what happened to her mother didn’t sit well
with him.

“
We were devastated. Dad
suspected one of the servants had impregnated her and killed him.
He never… never thought.” Manuel exhaled noisily. “Then he married
her off to Carlos.” Manuel spat in his brother-in-law’s direction.
“Maria hated him, hated father. She wanted to run away. But that
would never work, so she researched the Cartel looking for a way to
break free.” He paused to catch his breath. “She came across
Benito, Constance, the Santiago’s and we set it up to look like her
past had returned to destroy everyone.”

Maria looked at her brother with tears and
sadness in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter, Manuel. None of this
matters any longer.”

“
I…I’m sorry,” he
whispered before his face twisted. He released a yell as he bent
forward.

Julio glanced at Francisco who sat
impassively watching everything. “Put him in a chair,” Julio said
to Miguel. Hog dragged a chair over and pushed Manuel down. Julio
retrieved four leather straps from his briefcase and handed them to
Miguel.

Julio leaned against the table while his men
secured Manuel. “Release Carlos,” he said. His cousin looked up at
him with gratitude before shifting his eyes to the floor. Ramon
moved closer, and touched his wrist. Since Carlos didn’t recoil,
those two might be able to work things out if Francisco allowed
them to live.

“
You release him and not
my brother?” Maria asked incredulously.

Julio glanced at her but said nothing. He’d
grown tired of talking to her. All he wanted was a few more answers
and she could live out eternity with her brother in the
after-life.

“
Un-fucking believable, he
steals money, his lover gives up information, he loses a
half-million dollars in merchandise, and all but tells you to kiss
his ass and he gets mercy?” she said defiantly.

She had a point, but quite simply, Carlos
was family, she was not. His cousin would be dealt with differently
later.

“
One more word out of you,
and you won’t be able to talk.” Julio pointed at Maria as he walked
over to Manuel. He tipped up the other man’s chin. The whites of
Manuel eyes were bloodshot.

“
I have a few more
questions and then you’ll be done with this, okay?”

Manuel closed his eyes and whispered.
“Okay.”

“
Did you talk with Ghost
or someone who represented him?” A frown of incomprehension crossed
Manuel’s face. “Did the person you talked to say he would pass the
message on or did he simply accept the assignment?”

After a few moments, he blinked. “He’d pass
it on.”

Julio looked over his shoulder at Francisco
and met his eyes. Ghost had a similar problem and if they could
capitalize on it, they might be in a better bargaining
position.

Francisco nodded.

“
How’d those guys gain
access to my place, break through my security?” That had been
puzzling him since the break in. “Did they have any
help?”

“
No. When I confirmed your
prison story in Michigan, I got a couple of internet hits from men
who wanted to know if I knew where to find you. They said they…” He
stopped and swallowed hard. Sweat poured down his face. “They had a
score to settle. The one you killed was a security wizard, it took
him three days to finally break your codes.”

“
Did anyone from the
building help?” He hoped Mrs. Ollie wasn’t involved. To date he
hadn’t discovered anything out of the ordinary about her. The
background check came back clean. But he needed to be
sure.

His face scrunched. “No.”

“
Last question. “What were
they looking for when they trashed my place?”

“
Anything we could use
against you to bring you down,” he whispered. His chin hit his
chest. The outlined C glowed purplish-red on his chest. As payment
for breaking his allegiance, Manuel would suffer until the poison
destroyed him.

“
Take him out, he needs to
reflect on what taking an oath to the Cartel means,” Julio said to
Hog in particular and the rest of the group in general. The big guy
nodded as he released the straps, bent down, picked Manuel up and
threw the shaking man over his shoulder.

“
Por favor, for mercy’s
sake, please just kill him. To suffer like this…it’s inhumane. I
have served with honor, for me, please just kill him now,” Maderas
cried out, his eyes glassy looking at his son.

Hog never slowed down.

Julio spoke as the door closed. “Did Benito
Cardena’s ever rescind the order that anyone who messed with his
family would die?” Julio asked Francisco while watching
Maderas.

“
No, that order has never
been rescinded, it still stands,” Francisco answered
promptly.

“
At that time there was
only my mother and his wife. According to Francisco, that rule has
not changed. Any attacks against my mother or my family will be
dealt with swift and deadly precision.”

The men looked toward Francisco who nodded
his agreement. Julio moved toward Maria.

She threw her head back and crossed her arms
when he faced her.

“
What have you placed in
motion for my mother?” he asked softly.

Her face paled. “Nnn…nothing.”

Julio pivoted, walked to the table and
lifted his blade. “You had to make this believable. You violated my
home, shot my second and invaded his nurse’s condo. I find it hard
to believe the Santiago plan would leave my mother, the woman who
killed his brother, alone.” His left hand whipped out, grabbed her
hair, and bent her neck back. “Talk now, last chance.”

****

Julio sipped from the tall glass of water
while waiting for his mother to stop fussing on the other end of
the phone. “The men are on the plane and should be arriving within
the hour. All I ask is that you allow them access to your place.
You won’t even know they’re there.”

“
Oh, I’ll know they’re
there. Don’t forget I grew up with men in the shadows,” his mom
complained.

“
Good, you know what to do
then.”

She snorted.

“
Seriously, mom,” he said
in a sober tone. “According to Maria, they hadn’t’ gotten around to
making any plans about you, seems my trip to Miami short-circuited
their planning.” He looked at Francisco who sat nearby pretending
he wasn’t listening. “But I don’t want to take any chances, not
with you and Pops.”

“
Hmpf, I can’t believe she
fooled me. I thought she was so nice taking care of Roberto,
that…that bitch.”

Julio rolled his eyes. “All that and more.
No worries about her. The men are just an extra layer of protection
in case we missed something,” he said trying to get her to agree.
He and Francisco had some things they needed to work out. Foremost
was his imminent return to Cat Island.

“
I know the drill, Julio,”
she snapped.

He closed his eyes. “Mom, I can’t lose you.
For me, please just til we get things wrapped up.”

Francisco’s phone rang. He answered.

Julio watched his expressions. One way or
the other, he’d know in a few moments if he’d been successful with
the Miami job. Francisco looked at him and nodded.

“
That’s the problem, in
the Cartel, things never get wrapped. There’s always another score
to settle, another battle to be won, or more deals to work out. It
never ends. Ask me how I know,” she said, her voice
gentling.

“
I…I know how you
know.”

“
You’re so much like him.”
She paused. “Tell you what.”

Her voice became upbeat. He knew she was up
to something. “What?”

“
Daddy lived to his
seventies. Lived a full life with family and friends. Promise me
you’ll at least try to do that and we’ll have a deal.”

Pam flashed across his mind. He hadn’t told
her about his lifetime career choice, or his family obligations.
But if there was a woman who’d accept him, warts and all, it’d be
her. He just had to find her.

“
Okay. I
promise.”

“
Whaaat?”

He smiled, pleased he’d surprised her and
continued talking over her blustering. “Now the men will be at the
lodge soon, stay safe and tell Gerald to be on his A game.”

“
Julio Benito Cardenas,
have you met someone? Who is she? Where does she live? When am I
going to meet her?” she fired each question with growing
enthusiasm.

Hopefully Pam would be willing to accept his
mother as her own one day. Damn, he wanted to be with her when she
discovered her mother was deceased.

“
I’ll tell you more later.
Francisco and I have a meeting—”

“
Pfft, there is always a
meeting. This…this is great news.” Her breath hitched. “I am so
happy for you. Bring her to meet me soon, Son.”

“
I will, promise.” Pam
would need a mother’s shoulder after discovering the loss of her
own. For a moment he thought about sharing Pam’s dilemma with his
mother. A glance at Francisco changed his mind. He was going to Cat
Island and needed his mentor in a good mood.

“
Bye, mom,” Julio
disconnected, placed his phone in his pocket and sat across from
Francisco.

“
Your mother, she is
well?”

Julio nodded, his mind on Pam and how soon
he could begin looking for her.

“
And Gerald?”

Julio’s gaze slid to his mentor. “He’s well.
They both are. Thanks for asking.”

Francisco waved it off. “I am not too old to
learn. Benito approved, I approve.” He shrugged as though it was a
light matter. It was not. Benito Cardenas was dead. Francisco
honored him by allowing his rules to remain in place.

“
Nevertheless, thanks.”
Julio knew better than to make a big deal of it.

“
The shipment has been
received and the funds wired into the account. Congratulations, job
well done,” Francisco said.

Elated, Julio smiled. “Great. That was
close.”

“
What moving the shipping
date?”

“
Making sure everyone was
in place three days early, that was close.”

Francisco shrugged. “It is done. Our clients
are pleased.”

“
That’s good.” He allowed
the glow of a successful mission to flood him.

“
What would you do with
Carlos? Ramon?” Francisco asked, pouring cold water on Julio’s
mood. “Those two, they present a problem. Ramon was a part of the
conspiracy. Carlos knew his lover was taking money.”

“
Carlos was married to a
bitch and lived in his father’s shadow.” Julio tugged his earlobe
understanding how his cousin could get sidetracked. “Let’s assume
he’d been court-martialed, and lost. Bust him down to a private. He
re-starts at the lowest rung on the ladder and has to redeem
himself.”

Francisco nodded. “He has not broken his
oath toward the organization and was implicit in capturing those
who betrayed us.”

“
Actually, it was Ramon’s
role in the whole mess that pointed to Manuel. There was not enough
money taken for those types of sex-change surgeries.”

“
That meant the money had
to come from elsewhere,” Francisco said, nodding. “I see where you
are going with this. We have known about the little affair and was
using it as bait to catch the bigger fish. I like it.”

“
Send Carlos to Columbia.
I can send Ramon to Michigan to work in the office there. He’d
never survive here on his own now that his relationship with Carlos
is out.” Julio crossed his leg and took another sip of water.
“Maderas?” The older man had been with the Cartel all his life, as
had his father. Both of his children were dead and he was broken.
That could become a problem later.

Francisco shoulders dropped as he sighed. It
was obvious the matter pained him. He and Maderas went way back. “I
will offer him a choice. Either he pulls the trigger or I will have
another do it. But I am sure, he will self-terminate. There is
nothing for him now.” He shook his head sorrowfully. “It is hard to
believe they planned this beneath our noses.”

Julio knew Roberto was up next on the
chopping block.

“
Roberto did not know of
his son’s lover until you discovered it. That is sloppy. His
daughter-in-law sabotaged a deal he was responsible for and he was
clueless. Information was stolen from his office, papers taken,
names, contact information, all compromised because he was lax in
his responsibilities.” Frustrated, Francisco continued his rant.
“His entire house was in disarray and he did nothing. In fact he
tried to cover for his son once he became aware. I don’t trust him
to oversee an ass-washing let alone a territory. He will lose
that.”

“
Okay.” It was either that
or kill his mom’s favorite relative and he’d like to avoid that if
possible.