Page 35 of Lies in Promises
“What are you doing here? What do you so urgently need help with that you had to come back after all these years?”
My brother’s face falls; I think he’s going to break down.
We’re the same height, but it looks like he shrinks. He looks older in this moment.
He walks to the leather couch in the middle of the room and sits, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees and hanging his head.
“My wife is missing.” His voice is barely audible, but I’m able to make out the words.
“She’s missing?” I ask, my voice just above a whisper.
He nods, his head still hanging, chin almost touching his chest. “Yeah. She’s been missing since yesterday afternoon.”
When he looks up and his eyes meet mine, I see pain and despair swimming in them. Seeing him like this takes me back fourteen years.
Looking at him, it’s as if I feel his pain. “What happened?”
For a minute, Robert doesn’t say anything. He simply moves his eyes away from me and looks up to the ceiling, as if trying to find the words or push down all his emotions.
He somehow collects himself and tells me everything.
How he had a strange feeling during breakfast that continued throughout the day.
How he came home to the kids, but Marisela was nowhere in sight.
How he ran to his father in law’s house and found not only his father-in-law dead but also the man’s son and his son’s wife, but no Marisela.
“Why would someone go after your wife and his family?”
“I can only guess it had something to do with her father,” he states, scrubbing his face.
I should know this information. I should know everything about my brother and his family, but I don’t. Knowing anything about him was cut off.
“Why would that be?”
Robert lets out a sigh, and I watch his shoulders fall. “He’s the governor of Sinaloa. He’s said and done a lot in the last year or two that has put him in danger. I work on his security team.The last few days have been quiet, though, nothing concerning coming his way. That should have been my first sign, but I was naive and thought we would get some silence for a few days. I even encouraged him not to go into the office yesterday and spend time at home, relax, and not worry about anything coming his way. That encouragement got him killed.”
“You don’t know that,” I say.
Right away, he looks up at me, anger in his eyes. “He got killed the day I told him to stay home, Bennett. He had no security with him when he should have, and he got fucking slaughtered.”
“It could have happened at his office. It could have happened while he was driving down the road. It could have happened anywhere.”
He knows I’m right, because his head falls to his chest again.
There are a few seconds of silence before I speak, my voice a bit calmer. “Do you think the people who killed your father-in-law took your wife?”
He nods. “It’s the only logical explanation. She must have gone over there for something while the kids were occupied and saw what was happening. They probably took her so she wouldn’t speak.”
I give him a nod in understanding. “Are their cameras on the property? Did they give you any information?”
“Checked them while we were in Houston waiting for our connection. All of them were disabled right after I left for work yesterday morning. Whoever did this did their homework.”
Fuck.
I can’t imagine what he must be going through, the mental torment.
“What do you need help with?” I ask, willing to do anything in my power to make this all better.
