Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

Easton

Maverick and I secured our guns, phones, and keys into the provided lockbox. After being notified of Alejandro's death, Maverick called in a few favors and got us a private visit with Alejandro's former cellmate. We were hoping that we could get some answers to several of our questions.

"Is Diego aware we’re meeting him?" I waited as one of the guards checked us over with a wand. Once they were convinced we didn't carry anything that could be used to harm an individual or pass on anything illegal, we were escorted to a private room often used by lawyers to meet with their clients.

"He's aware we want to discuss Alejandro with him. But no, he doesn't know who we are."

It wouldn't matter either way. I was here for one reason and I didn't plan on leaving until I got what I came for.

Diego was being escorted in just as we strolled up. He was a weasel of a man. The guy couldn't be more than five and a half feet tall on a good day. His hundred and fifty pounds looked to be held mostly in the middle area and his shaggy hair covered half of his face. I couldn't imagine how the guy managed to survive prison life so far.

"Hello, Diego." I let Maverick take the lead as we pulled out the chairs across the table from where Diego was just shackled.

"You're not federal agents." Diego's dirty-brown eyes shifted back and forth, first between the two of us and then to the door. The guard who escorted him in was now stationed on the outside with his back facing us. If Diego expected help from him, he was sadly mistaken.

"We never said we were."

The metal shackles clanked against the metal table the more Diego fidgeted. I didn't have to look under the table to know his legs were going a mile a minute; the rustling of the chains was a dead giveaway, as was the bouncing he was doing in his chair.

"Why are you so nervous, Diego?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

Intimidating a man half my size and age wasn't normally something I took pleasure in, but Diego looked awfully guilty and suddenly I wanted to know why.

"I'm not nervous." The quiver in his voice said otherwise but I wasn't about to tell him that. I needed to play nice if I wanted information. Guys like Diego wouldn't give it up for free. They always wanted something in return. It was just a matter of figuring out what that was.

"Let's talk about your cellmate, Alejandro."

"He's not my cellmate no more," Diego was quick to tell us as he looked everywhere in the room but at Maverick and me.

"Well, yeah, because he's dead." I tried to keep the sarcasm out of my voice, but it snuck through. Dealing with idiots wasn't my strong suit.

"I had nothing to do with that. I swear." Diego tried to hold his hands up, but the shackles prevented him from lifting them that far, so the motion was more of a wave. It was ridiculously funny to watch actually. Even more so when Diego looked confused that his hands weren't doing what he wanted them to do.

"I never said you did, and honestly I don't care either way. Alejandro's death isn't why we're here."

Diego visibly relaxed at that. Instead of being hunched over the table and tense, he leaned back as far as the chains allowed and got comfortable, almost cocky.

"So, why you here, then?"

"Did Alejandro ever talk about his family? I'm not talking about Los Cangris, but his personal family?" Maverick resumed his lead in the interrogation.

"Oh, you mean like his son and baby mama? Yeah, Alejandro talked about them all the time. Especially lately."

I stopped myself from snapping that Kati wasn't Alejandro's baby mama. She was the woman he raped and left with a child. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and put both hands under the table. Diego didn't need to see that I was flexing my fingers because I wanted to hit something. I kept my face neutral, but on the inside, I was a burning inferno.

"What exactly did he say about that?" Maverick's voice was calm, but I knew based on the twitch of his jaw that my friend was just as pissed off as I was. It was hard not to be; Kati and Lucien had become family and we protected those in our family.

"Just that now that his son was old enough, it was time to start grooming him to take over the family business. That's what Alejandro liked to call it—the family business." The guy actually used air quotes. "He kept complaining that his baby mama was trying to keep it from happening but he had a plan to deal with her. Once she was gone, then his second-in-command could take guardianship so things could fall into place."

As if Lyla would ever let that happen, or anyone from Willow Creek, for that matter. If something were to ever happen to Kati, I was damn sure the entire town would pull together to help raise Lucien. There wasn't a chance in hell Alejandro or anyone in Los Cangris would ever get their hands on him. Alejandro was fucking delusional for thinking otherwise.

"And Alejandro's second-in-command was okay with this?"

From what we’d learned, that was Manuel Ortega and the one running things while Alejandro was serving a life sentence.

"That's the thing." Diego looked around the room before he leaned in closer and practically whispered. "I don't think Manuel was okay with it. The last time Manuel came to visit, he and Alejandro had a fight. Manuel stormed off. I tried asking Alejandro about it but he told me to mind my own business."

Interesting. So after fourteen years, there was dissention in the ranks.

"Has Alejandro always talked about his family?" I spoke up again.

We knew from what Kati had told us that Alejandro had reached out when Lucien was one but there had been no word from him after that. What suddenly changed to put the boy back on his father's radar?

"Hell no." Diego let out a squeaky laugh. "Just every now and then until recently. See, the thing was, Alejandro was insistent he would never serve his full life sentence. But he lost his last appeal six months ago. Ever since then, he had been thinking about the future of Los Cangris and what he needed to do to keep his legacy alive. That's the first time he mentioned he had a plan for his kid. Before that, it was mostly bitching about his baby mama."

I was back to flexing my fingers under the table. It was too bad Alejandro was already dead. I would've loved nothing more than to put my fist through his face. I would have to settle for whoever was helping him.

"Did he say what his plan was?"

It was a good thing Maverick had come with me. My friend was great under pressure. He handled things in a much calmer manner, where as I would've resorted to violence to get the information I needed. Kati and Lucien seemed to bring that part out in me.

"Nah"—Diego's greasy hair whipped around his face with the force of his headshaking—"he didn't talk to me about those things, but I overheard him talking to a few of the other prisoners. He had a few guys who were strictly loyal to him and not the gang. He was asking them to send a message to his baby mama. I didn't get the details, but this was about a month or so ago."

So Alejandro was behind the attacks on Kati and Lucien. What a piece of shit.

"And you said you don't know who killed Alejandro?"

I had to give Maverick credit for asking, but it was obvious from the way Diego shut down that he wouldn't be talking about that. It made me wonder if Diego did have something to do with it. He reminded me of someone who would do whatever needed to be done in order to survive. That probably included killing Alejandro. It was just a matter of why.

"We appreciate you talking to us, Diego." Maverick tapped his knuckles on the metal table before standing up, and I followed my boss without looking back.

I waited until we were outside the prison walls to ask, "Do you think this means the threats against Kati and Lucien are over, now that Alejandro is dead?"

Maverick stopped at the driver's side door but didn't open it. Instead, he turned around and leaned back against it. His eyes were focused on the building we just walked out of.

"I don't know. I think it depends on who killed Alejandro. My gut’s telling me this isn't over."

I let out an exhausted sigh. I had a feeling he was going to say that.

"Yeah. Mine too."