Page 37 of Rage & Paradise
Do they all know what’s going on behind these walls?
Have they just been waiting for someone to come and help them?
Vado pushes the door open and I see AZ reaching for his gun, ready to pull it out.
“Wait, there may be kids in there,” I say out loud, making sure everyone knows that this needs to be handled with care.
“Everyone move carefully,” Vado orders.
Slowly, we all move into the house.
It looks like a fucking sorority house. Women are lounging around, most of them in bra and panties. A few in more expensive lingerie.
None of them seem surprised that a bunch of leather-clad men just walked in on them.
“¿Dónde está Sina?” Vado questions, but no one answers him. They look among themselves, but it’s like they don’t understand. Vado tries again, this time in English. “Where’s Sina? We don’t want any trouble with you, but we need her.”
“I don’t know who you’re looking for, but I’m sure I can help you.” One of the women gets up from where she is sitting and sexily walks over to Vado.
He rolls his eyes and shoves her away gently. “Sorry, unless you’re Sina, I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
“Oh, don’t be like that.”
Vado reaches down for his weapon, pulling it out but keeping it pointed to the ground. “How about we do it this way then, either someone goes and gets Sina or there’s going to be a lot of blood to clean up later.”
The woman doesn’t stop smiling, but I can see in her eyes that she’s taking the threat seriously.
“You all have something to say?” A man appears at the end of the hall.
Finally, someone for me to take my anger out on. The group of us rush in his direction. We don’t beat on women, but this asshole we’d have no problem beating the shit out of.
“Where the fuck is Sina?” I growl as we get closer to him.
He doesn’t back up, doesn’t go for a weapon. It’s almost like he’s not worried about any danger coming from us.
“She’s not here.”
“Where the hell is she then?” Lobo questions.
“I don’t know. She’s a busy woman. I can tell her that you showed up, though.”
“Fuck that, tell us where you’re keeping the kids,” I spit out.
“Kids? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The man seems completely unfazed by our line of questions. It’s pissing me off.
“Keep on acting stupid, see what it gets you.” AZ moves forward, ready to deliver on any implied threat.
“I’m not acting anything. I don’t know where she is. She could be in the next house over. Next town. She could be in Florida. I have no idea. Whatever you came here to do, you’re not going to find your answers here.” The man is deliberately trying to be obtuse.
He’s playing games with us. This is going to get us nowhere.
“Fine, we’ll find her a different way,” Vado growls before he grabs hold of the man’s collar and all but lifts him off the ground. “But know this, if we even hear about you or anyone in Sina’s little crew fucking with the children around here or setting innocent people up to take a fall, we’ll be back and we won’t be talking.”
This finally gets a reaction out of the man. The phony smile he’s been wearing drops off and he glares back at Vado. “Little crew.” He turns his head slightly to show a tattoo there on his neck.
“Fuck, mira, he’s one of them. He’s a fucking Cano,” Lobo says what’s on all of our minds.
“You can’t really think you got all of us. Even if you kill me right now, you won’t get the rest,” the man speaks through clenched teeth.
