Page 26 of To Have and To Hold

Dante nodded.

The entire drive back toel Patr?n’shome, my mind was filled with questions about my own father—questions I never imagined entertaining. When he told Dante to ride with him, I almost intervened. Then I recalled what he said about Silas speaking to me privately. I was certain that if I insisted on driving Dante, I’d upset my papá. Instead, I was transporting Piero, a guard I knew. He was Jasmine’s bodyguard before she married Rei. In the back seat were Lorenzo and Adrian. If I’d met the last two before, they hadn’t left a lasting impression. There was, however, an incident with Piero having to do with Jasmine and me in the capo’s theater room that I hoped wouldn’t be spoken of during this trip.

I spoke to Piero, “Silas, Jano’s head of security, texted me. He has beds for the ten of you in the back of Wanderland.”

“Strip club?”

“Private club. Dante explained that you’ll sleep in shifts. The room was renovated when Jano moved the women out of the club to the apartments.” I shrugged. “It’s more of a barracks or dorm when it’s needed.”

“Not used by customers?”

I chuckled. “No. Backup space. You never know when you’ll have to put up soldiers or even women new to the club. Currently, it’s empty. The space has a couple of bathrooms and a kitchen area. I wouldn’t call it the Ritz, but you’ll be comfortable.”

Piero nodded as he watched the passing scenes through the windshield. The closer we came to the ocean, the darker the sky grew, going from a navy blue to a velvet black. Streetlights created circles of illumination, and palm trees swayed in the breeze. The tension built as Piero asked about what went down with Kozlov.

“Why did Volkov take him out?” I asked rhetorically. “We don’t have an answer. Only, we’re damn sure Volkov’s men aren’t getting close to the Roríguez cartel.”

“How do you plan to accomplish that? Someone’s men got to the lastel Patr?n.”

The muscles in my jaw pulled taut. “Mistakes were made. Jorge was left with a skeleton crew of guards.”

He lowered his voice. “I find it difficult to believe that he didn’t have an escape plan.”

“He did. He wasn’t notified in time.”

“Was his body identified?”

With each of his questions, my grip of the steering wheel tightened. “I suggest that neitherel Patr?nnor Rei hear you ask about their father’s execution. It’s something they both live with every minute of every day.”

Piero lifted his palm. “No offense intended. I heard a rumor that Jorge was only identified by partial dental records. His face was gone.”

I’d seen the pictures that Jano only allowed a few people to see. The scene on the Bella was gruesome. The occupants present on the superyacht were made to kneel on the helipad with their hands bound. One by one they were shot in the back of their heads. Jorge’s gold watch was still on his wrist, and his recognizable body with his customary linen shirt and pants was crumpled forward.

We don’t believe the terrorists were there to steal or plunder. Their one mission was assassinating members of the Roríguez cartel. However, that was our theory. To date, neither Jano nor Rei had received any pertinent information regarding what remained on Bella. The government seized it all, from Josefina’s jewelry to the furniture and kitchenware. The number of dinghies remaining was still a mystery. If anyone had made it off the yacht on one of the small dinghies, they hadn’t contacted Jano or Rei.

“Jano and Rei identified their father from the photographs. To think otherwise after six months would be ludicrous.”

Thankfully, Piero dropped the subject as we approached Jano’s home. We were following behind Papá’s car as Silas manually allowed the gate to remain open to allow all four vehicles to enter. As we got out of our cars, Jano and Rei appeared from the front door.

“Thank you, my brother,” Jano said, shaking Dante’s hand. He turned to everyone who had recently arrived. “Es hora de que nos vayamos. Dante will ride with me and Rei to the warehouse. I’ll speak to everyone at once. That way there will be no miscommunication.”

“Gentlemen,” Silas said. “Your vehicles are at the warehouse.Vamos.”

“Who’s protectingel Patr?n’shome with most of his men at the warehouse?” Piero asked.

We watched as Horace, Jose, and Felipe exited vehicles, to be replaced by other soldiers. “Those men are the inside guards. Silas has this property protected layer after layer.”

Piero nodded.

Once through the gate, I headed south, varying my route to avoid appearing like a parade to announce our intent. The closer I came to the warehouse, the more the scenes beyond our windows transformed from palm trees, flowering bushes, and gated homes to cracked streets, concrete walls, and graffiti. The streetlights that worked illuminated sidewalks littered with trash and weeds the size of bushes pushing through the cracks.

The other occupants of my vehicle remained silent as I pulled up to an inconspicuous gate. After entering a code, the gate moved, and I drove us onto the cartel’s grounds. Dust stirred up from the gravel road surrounded the car in a cloud. Finally, I reached the warehouse that seconded as a safe house. The large garage door was open, and the area filled with more cars than had been at Jano’s earlier in the evening. I pulled in, parking beside my papá’s SUV.

The building reverberated with the sound of formidable men climbing the metal steps. Jano, Rei, Dante, and Silas were nearly to the top, followed by other soldiers on their way to the safe house stories above. The door above was guarded but would quickly open forel Patr?n.

By the time my occupants and I made it to the stairs,jefewas inside. More of the famiglia soldiers followed. Once the last man entered the large room at the top, the guard closed the door, proceeded by the clicks as a series of locks engaged. The room was filled with picnic tables. There was enough space for over a hundred men. While not all the seats were filled, when I added the dozens of soldiers standing around the perimeter of the room, the count was close to one hundred, if not over.

The soldiers’ expressions were unreadable as Jano stood to speak. The prelude of his speech was in Spanish, a reassuring gesture to the cartel members that he was responsible for each man here as well as families they have at home. He expounded upon his praises for the Roríguez cartel, our accomplishments, our alliance with the famiglia, and our future. As if a switch was turned, his volume rose, his expression darkened, and his words came faster.

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