26. Twenty-six

I"ve stayed away from Mateo like he asked me to, following his wishes. Each day it ate me up inside remembering the saddened expression on his face. Him appearing lost and broken sunk my heart in my chest. I drove by his house each night for a while, and I would just sit in my car. I tried to gain the strength to get out, but it never came.

I"ve been locked away in my own house for the last few days, ignoring Carlos"s messages. Not even answering Trey"s phone calls about the favor I asked him for. It no longer matters. Each and every day I lose interest in my revenge, and only care about protecting Mateo.

What happens to Miguel matters to me less and less. Besides, I got what I wanted. Didn't I? Business was falling apart around him, and he was losing his trusted men left and right to his own hand and ignorance. Now he has lost his son, and soon he will lose him forever.

If I"ve gotten everything I"ve set out for, doesn"t that mean I"ve won? Why does it feel like I am the one losing instead?

The wedding was quickly approaching, and the clock is ticking for me to take care of my next hit. The only job I won"t be doing. I"ve been wracking my brain for ways around it. Ways to fake his death. But for some reason, the client wanted Mateo"s body in a box. It was an odd request. Normally people didn"t want anything to do with getting rid of any evidence. That"s why they hired me to begin with. It only further pointed to the person I suspected being behind the hit.

Angel: The message for the hit came from a man named Jesse Gibson.

The name doesn"t sound familiar to me and I can already tell it"s a cover up. Whoever it is had someone else do their dirty work.

Me: Any way to find out who this guy works for?

Angel: Already on it, little brother. Give me a few more minutes.

The next few minutes are torturous. I am leaning back in my chair staring up at the empty white walls, ready to be looking into the eyes of the man who wanted Mateo dead. I want to be the last thing the man sees before I rip the life from his body. My phone buzzes in my hand and I"m hoping this means my wish will come true very soon.

Angel: Turns out the guy works for a very well-known mob boss.

Before Angel could respond with a name, I"m already crushing a nearby beer can in my hand, knowing exactly who it is. A man I"ve wanted dead for a long time. Killing him had never been worth the trouble that would come after. I figured someone else would take care of it eventually.

Angel: The man runs a whorehouse for Santiago Morales. I guess someone wanted to surprise the new groom with a lovely wedding gift.

Me: What does he gain from killing Mateo? Miguel will never allow that.

Angel: Then I guess it makes sense that he recently put a hit on Miguel Juventino as well.

I stand so quickly in my chair, it topples over behind me, crashing hard to the floor. If anyone was going to take down Miguel Juventino, it would be me and on my own terms.

Angel: I should also mention that Mateo Juventino has been reported missing. I sure hope you aren"t involved.

My heart falls in my throat.

Me:No. It wasn't me.

Angel: I guess we better find out who it was then, because it looks like it"s been traced back to you.

I pace back and forth in my living room with my blood running cold. Whoever took Mateo is no doubt working for Santiago. That could only mean one thing. He knows. He probably knew about us for a while. A man like Santiago wouldn"t take any risks of letting anyone ruin his precious plans. I was a huge threat to it and still am.

It made perfect sense for him to fake a kidnapping. To not only get Mateo away from the threat, but to get rid of it for good by pinning it all on me. It won"t be long before Miguel"s men are breaking down my door. I toss some clothes into a bag with the intent of disappearing for a while. The only person I care to hear from is Angel when he locates the place Santiago took Mateo.

My phone goes off again.

Angel: If you are still at your house, you may want to get the fuck out now.

I rush out the door with a few bags of everything I'll need for the next few days in my hands. The streets are empty and quiet. They won"t be for long. When I"m out of my neighborhood, I spot a familiar black car. One I know for sure belongs to one of Miguel"s men. I watch it turn onto my street through my rear view mirror. I don"t slow down. It won"t take long for them to figure out I"m not there. My phone vibrates again with a message.

Carlos: I guess you decided to take matters into your own hands and not stick with the plan.

Me: You and I both know I was never going to.

Carlos: So it"s true? You have Mateo Juventino?

Me: Not yet I don"t. You won"t have to worry about that client of yours, since he will be dead soon.

Carlos: Don"t do anything stupid.

Me: Define stupid.

He doesn"t respond, and I turn into a place I know one of Santiago"s main men likes to go. I don"t bother hiding who I am when I walk into Enchanted, one of Santiago's massage parlors. I point my gun at the woman behind the front counter. "Where is Martin Shaw?"

The woman"s face pales, and she stutters her next words. "In one of the back rooms with one of my girls."

"Take me to him. Is there anyone else around I should worry about?"

She shakes her head. "No, I"m the only one working the front today. The men who usually guard the door left for a cigarette break behind the building. They'll be back soon."

"How many?" I jab the gun into her back as she leads me down a long hallway.

"Two."

"If you"re lying, you will be the first one who gets a bullet in the head. Understand?"

She nods, pointing at the door. I open it quickly and shove her inside the room so hard she falls to the floor. She lands beside the massage table Martin Shaw is spread out on, receiving a blow job from a woman with long blonde hair. She stares up at me with widening eyes, stepping off the table with her hands up. Martin sits up in confusion. "What the hell…"

I cut off his words when I slam my gun into the side of his head. He sways back and forth and I hit him again. This time, hard enough to knock him out. I lift up his limp, heavy body and carry him to the front. The two other men still haven"t come back. I hurry through the front door as fast as I can with the dead weight in my arms slowing me down. Making sure no one is around to witness my actions, I toss him in the trunk of my car.

Loud thuds come from my trunk when I pull in front of an old abandoned building. Martin is finally awake. This is the perfect place to get him to talk. He has to know where Santiago has Mateo.

I open the trunk, pointing my gun at him. "I would stop fighting if I were you and do exactly what you"re told. That"s if you wish to live."

He spits in my direction. "Fuck you."

"Tell me where he is."

"Who?"

"You know who."

He smirks. "Oh, you mean your little play thing? You don"t need to worry about him anymore. If I were you, I would be getting as far away from here as possible. You"re as good as dead standing here talking to me."

"I"m going to ask nicely one more time. Where is he?"

He spits in my direction again. "Fuck you."

I pull him out by his hair and drag his body along the hard gravel. He groans and thrashes against the ground. "I guess we have to do things the hard way, huh?"

I lift him onto his feet, sticking the gun into his lower back. "Walk."

I push him toward the front door of the building, and it isn"t until we get inside that he elbows me in the face trying to dodge out the door. I catch him by his arm, bending it back until I hear the sound of bones popping. "Fuck," he screams and falls to the floor. "You fucking asshole. I won"t tell you shit."

I laugh. "I guess you don"t value your life."

"If I tell you, I"m as good as dead anyway." He holds his arm tightly to his chest, panting heavily. The scents of urine and mold saturate the air.

I bend down so my eyes reach his. "At least this way you"ll get a head start."

He swallows hard. "I just know he took him to a warehouse. I don"t know where."

I pull out a pair of pliers from my back pocket. "How about we make sure? How attached are you to your fingers?"

He widens his eyes in fear. "Please. I"m telling you the truth."

I kick him further to the ground, placing my foot in the center of his chest. "I don"t think you are."

His knee bends, moving toward my other foot and I shoot it. He hollers in pain again. "I wouldn"t do that again if I were you."

I bend down and pick up one of his hands. The cold pliers touching his fingers have him yelping. "Okay, okay. I don"t know which one he was taken to, but I do know it was a warehouse and Santiago only has two."

"Now that wasn"t so hard, was it? Tell me the locations of the warehouses and you"re free to go."

"You"ll really let me live?"

"I am a man of my word."

Thankful for my good memory, I don"t need to write the addresses down. They remain stored in my head. I keep my word and he"s barely hanging on to life by the time I drop him back off at the back of his establishment. I never did say what condition I would leave him in. I only agreed to let him live. I doubt it will be for long. I hurry back into my car while messaging my brother.

Me: I think I found where Santiago is keeping Mateo.

Angel: Please tell me you aren"t going alone.

I toss my phone in the seat and pull up to the first address on the list. I prefer my brother not come after me. I already have a target on my head, he doesn't need one too. The warehouse seems empty with no guards around it and no cars in sight. They wouldn"t leave Mateo unguarded. I know it has to be location two, which requires me to get my hands on a boat last minute. I need to hurry and form a plan. I only have a day or two to come up with one. The longer they have Mateo, the longer I"ll feel like my heart is about to explode. The only comfort I have is knowing they can"t kill him yet. It won"t work well for Santiago"s plans if they do.