Page 25 of Punished

She sends a Ted Bundy gif, and I can’t help but laugh before I throw my phone in my pocket when Ricky pulls up. Patricio lives an hour from the hotel, and his property expands over twenty acres. On the property sits Don Vicente’s house, Patricio’s house, and active construction on two other homes, each at opposite ends of the estate. I’m not sure why Patricio never remarried or had kids, but I can only assume the additional houses are for the family he plans to have one day.Hopefully not with my mother.

To the far back of the property, closer to south-end, is the building everyone calls El Cuadrilatero, or El Cuadri, for short. Inside, there is a boxing ring, gym equipment,and an indoor shooting range. That’s where I got the wound Mireya attended to, after Ricky and I went blow for blow, releasing pent-up energy.

I may have lied when I said Ricky looked worse than me. This fool didn’t have a scratch on him afterward. The fucker could fight, and he loved violence. We all do, but I saw Ricky’s eyes the night we found my mom. He was slaughtering every man on sight with a manic smile, like he was possessed. We get to Patricio’s estate, and Ricky drops me off at Patricio’s house, located in the center. The house is big, taking up at least ten acres of his property. It was a luxurious replica of the homes found in Mexico, with a modern hacienda design.

“I got some shit I got to do, but I’ll be back tonight for you.”

An older woman answers the door and leads me to Patricio’s home office, where he and Conejo are waiting for me. There is a bottle of Don Julio 1942 on his desk, and they are both already sipping on the tequila.

“Adriano,” Conejo says, relaxing on the green sofa. I move to sit on the opposite side of him as Patricio fills a glass and hands it to me. I haven’t spoken to him since he took my mom to rehab.

“There’s been a new discovery with Soledad.” He looks at me briefly before looking away, but I keep my eyes onhim as he continues. “They’ve found that she responds well with hypnotherapy. Every week, I have them record the session and forward it to me.” He moves to turn on a big television that sits in front of us. I’d question HIPAA law, but this is the cartel’s top financial advisor. Privacy is nonexistent.

When the video appears, and he presses play, I see my mom. It’s been a few weeks since I last saw her, but already I can see the life and color that’s returned to her face. I shift uncomfortably in my seat as I think about our last conversation. The hypnotherapist is counting her down into a state of calm.

“4, 3, 2, 1… and breathe. I am here if you need me. You are in a safe place,” she says. I remember Mireya saying something similar to her. I smile, wondering if she’s like that with all her patients. My smile fades. Hopefully not with the ones who have a penis attached to them. I look back up to the screen. The hypnotherapist is taking my mother back to the first time she used heroin–a memory to help with her recovery.

“Where are you, Soledad?” she asks.

“I’m… I’m in my house…”

“Good. What else do you see?”

“I… I just dropped Adrian off at school, and I am… I am waiting for someone,” she says and looks confused.Her breathing has picked up and her legs shake. The hypnotherapist comforts her, repeating the safety mantra to ground her.

“You are safe, Soledad. This is just a memory, and you are in control of it. Who are you waiting for?”

“I’m… I’m waiting for… for Constance.”

“Who is Constance?”

“She is my drug dealer.” Patricio watches as Conejo and I glance at each other. My mother goes on to explain that Constance was the first person to show her how to use it, to supply everything she needed, hotels to stay in, and money to loan her. My blood is boiling. I am going to kill this bitch. I stand suddenly.

“Adrian,” Patricio says, snapping me back to reality, if only for a second. How can he be so calm?

“What’s the plan, Jefe?” Conejo asks.

“The plan is, we kill this fucking bitch.” I stare at Patricio. “I kill this fucking bitch.”

“People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing,” Conejo says as he sips his drink.

“I don’t give a fuck.” I will take both of them on when it comes to this. What did my mother ever do to Constance that she would want her to become addicted to drugs? That she would go so far as to supply her money. She couldn’t have hated me that much. Patricio runs a handthrough his hair. He knows what I’m capable of when I’m angry. That wild beast in me fights to break free. The murderous one that sees nothing but the power needed to rise to the top. The one who helped me make it through prison.

“It doesn’t make sense. Constance has to be working for someone else. We need to string her along. Figure out what we can. I have my private investigator following her right now, and I have some friends at the Bureau pulling up her past to see if there are any convictions or connections. I wanted to let you know what was going on right away, but you can’t act right now, Adrian.”

I scoff. “You keep forgetting you’re not my father. He’s six feet under, and Constance will be joining him.”

“I’m not trying to be your dad, Adrian. Do you want to run an operation like this? Do you truly want that revenge? Then take it from me: you have to buy time. Everything has to be set in place, and then once we know it’s safe, we will strike hard and quick.” His eyes burn through me. I know he’s not wrong, but it still pisses me off.

“I’ll call Adan and see if he can break through to her phone to track her movements,” Conejo says.

“There’s more we need to discuss.” I pace, trying to get my rage under control as Patricio’s voice carries over from the opposite end of the room. “One of the girls werescued from that house the night we found your mother is a Russian mafia princess. The sister of Kostya Pashokov. He is the head of the New York bratva. She was kidnapped, and he is still concerned for her safety.”Fuck, I hope this isn’t another offer for a wife.

“She is going to stay with Adriana in California, and in exchange, Kostya wants us to take over his gun operation.”

“Who was running it before?” Conejo asks.

“They were working with Los Hermanos Bandoleros, but Kostya thinks they may have been behind his sister’s kidnapping.”

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