Page 129 of Vows In Corruption

“Is this woman,” she stops, as if she wants rephrase what she’s about to say, “is Marisela a bad person? You two have been in this room for hours trying to figure out her next move and I guess I’m just confused as to why. Why is her being here such a big deal? Apart from you thinking she was possibly dead.”

It’s times like these that I remember that Ella still doesn’t know all of the Lane family history. That she is still very much new to all of this and doesn’t know all the details.

Part of me knew the day she found everything out was going to come, but I wanted to be believe that I could keep all the dirty secrets away from her. That my past would be just that, the past, but of course nothing ever stays there.

Letting out a sigh, I tell her everything that I know.

“When the kids first came to live with me, he said that something was going on back where they lived in Mexico. His father-in-law was stepping further into the political game and because of some of his policies, his family became a target of threats. The day that he flew into Chicago, Marisela ended up going missing. From what I know, he flew back to go find her and to make sure that her father and the rest of her family were safe.”

I still remember seeing the fear in Robert’s face that day. It was bone chilling. I begged him not to go. To stay here where he was safe. To stay here with his kids. To stay here for me, but there things were important.

Now that I’m married, I understand him leaving. If it were Ella, I would do the same, but that doesn’t stop me from getting angry every time I think go it. My brother abandoned me twice in my life and both times he promised to come back and neither time has that promise been held.

“How was he going to find her or protect her family?” Ella asks, taking me out of the depressive state my mind was heading in.

“My brother enlisted in the military when he was eighteen, from what his records tell me. And when he was discharged, he moved to Mexico with Marisela and worked with the armed forces there to an extent.”

Ella nods as she is trying to take in all the information. “I’m guessing since Marisela is here now, he found her?”

If only it were that fucking easy.

“As far as I know, he never found her. If he is still out there, there’s a chance he doesn’t even know that she is alive.”

“Is this the first time she had popped up?” She ask, her eyes bouncing between me and Dante.

I shake my head. “No, we found out that she was alive about six years ago before she went under again.”

“How did you find out?”

Her question is simple but the answer not so much. Because it touches things that I’m sure Ella never thought she would ever have a direct line to.

Dante looks over at me as if to silently ask just how much are we going to tell her. With a simple nod, I answer him.

We’re going to tell him everything.

“Have you heard of the Muertos Cartel?” Dante asks once he sees that it’s taking me a bit to form a response.

Ella looks over at with wide eyes. “Yeah, but I don’t know much about them.”

Dante gives her a nod of understanding. “Six years ago, there was this big news story circulating about how the wife of the head of the cartel was killed.”

A small chunk of realization hits Ella. “I think I remember that. She was shot coming out of a store or something, right?”

My friend gives her a tight smile for getting it correct. “That’s right. For years there have been a few rumors flying around as to why she was killed, but as of today, nothing has been confirmed. Some say that it was a rival cartel that fired the shot, to send a message. Others say that Ronaldo, the cartel head, had a mistress and promised said mistress everything. That he would leave his wife for her, but that when she saw that he wasn’t holding up the promise, she took matters into her own hands. Rumors say that either the mistress fired the shot, or someone close to her did.”

I watch Ella as she takes in everything that Dante is saying, but I could see questions moving around in her eyes.

“And who do people say the mistress was?”

Dante looks over at me to answer.

“Marisela.”

When I first heard the rumors, I didn’t want to believe them. I didn’t want to believe that my brother’s wife would fake her own deathly to pop up as the mistress to a cartel head while her husband looked for her and I took care of her kids but the more I learned about her, the more my perspective shifted.

“And you believe it?”

I give my wife a nod. “I do. Marisela had to be in something dark if nobody had heard or seen her for four years. And her being intertwined with the cartel makes sense.”

---