Page 52 of El Malo

“You’re mine. Don’t ever forget, manzanita.”

I shove my Desert Eagle into my holster that’s strapped to my chest and pull on a jacket over it. I’m wearing dark jeans and my steel-toed boots. My body thrums with fury.

Michael.

He’s going to die by my hand.

“Does the last name check out?” I ask Arturo as we storm out to Alejandro’s Hummer.

“No, jefe. It’s a fake. Marco Antonio searched the room Michael Brown stayed in, but he’d already vacated the premises by the time he got there.” He holds his fist out to me. “He found these.”

At seeing Rosa’s panties in his grip, a growl rumbles in my chest. I snatch them from his hand and shove them in my pocket. “I want you to find out everything you can about him.”

“And Rosa?” he asks.

I climb into the Hummer and fire up the engine. “I want Michael.”

“Sí,” he answers as he hops in beside me.

Alejandro rode with my father and Marco Antonio to the hotel but turned up nothing. They’ve headed north into the city to expand their hunt. I’ve left Rosa in Tania’s hands. My stepmother may be a party girl, but she’s maternal in nature and was horrified to learn of what happened to Rosa. With my father’s men still at the estate, I feel as though I’ve left her in good hands.

“I want to go to the hotel,” I tell him and point in the direction. “Keep your eyes peeled for a fat fuck, white-ass American prowling the streets. I want you to get the word out. There’s a hefty reward for whoever brings him to me alive. Five million pesos.”

He leans back in his seat and starts texting. Arturo has many contacts all over Mexico and in the United States. I have no doubts in his abilities to dig up information on anyone.

Anyone.

Everyone.

He will find me Michael no matter the cost.

That motherfucking pig will pay and soon.

When we arrive at the hotel, people loiter outside, but once they see me climb out, they run. I pull my Desert Eagle from my holster and stalk into the building. There’s no front desk person when we arrive. Marco Antonio already told me he found the room, so we head straight for it.

Arturo is at my back as we rush down the putrid hallway to the only rented room in the building. I kick the door open, cracking it off its hinges, and stalk inside. It appears as though it’s been hastily packed and vacated. The used condom on the floor near the bed has my blood boiling again. We ransack the place looking for clues, even though I know Marco Antonio did a thorough job, as to where Michael went. When we turn up nothing, I pull a pack of matches from my pocket.

“He won’t be coming back,” I tell Arturo as I pluck out a match and swipe it along the back of the pack to ignite it. Once I toss it on the bed, I wait to make sure it catches fire. As soon as it alights, it moves quickly across the cheap fabric. “Let’s go.”

We exit the room and push through the doors where the Hummer waits. It won’t be long before this shitty-ass hotel burns to the ground. All memories of where that fat fuck raped Rosa will be incinerated.

He’s next.

I climb into the Hummer and turn the engine over. I barely wait for Arturo to get in before I’m peeling out, headed for the shed. Michael’s not there obviously, but I have a plan. Rage blazes within me. I wish I could go back home and hold my sweet Rosa, but vengeance is what fuels me.

Nobody touches what’s fucking mine and lives to tell about it.

We pull up to the shed and I rush inside, eager to fuck someone up. If Velez is still breathing, he won’t be for much longer. I can hear the kid hollering, but Velez is quiet. When I burst through the doors, my lip curls up in disgust.

“Fuck, it stinks in here,” I grumble.

“He’s dead,” Angel moans. “He’s rotting and I can’t feel my leg.” He’s no longer hanging by the ceiling but is chained by his ankle to a bolt in the floor. Vomit is on the floor around him. I’d fucking puke too if I had to smell this shit all day.

“Cut him loose, Arturo,” I bark and motion for Angel.

“W-What? You’re letting me go?” Angel chokes out.

“You want to be El Malo so bad,” I say as I approach Velez. “Now’s your chance to prove yourself.”

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