26. Chapter 26
I grip the sheet of paper and pen in my hands as I stare at the door. The door that Sam had left slightly ajar. Παππο?? (Grandpa) steps closer to the door with his phone in his hand and I realize what’s happening.
He’s recording what they are saying. Hell, he probably has video going too.
Knowing enough about the law, I know he’ll also ask Curtis for the official video of this fiasco, but παππο?? (grandpa) will use his copy for his notes in the time being. And probably as a back-up.
Tears prick my eyes when I hear Brady saying that Stephan had claimed my children had all died and collected insurance money on them. Is that all he saw them for? A paycheck? And how long ago had he done it? Was he planning to do the same to me?
I’m not sure how long I’ve been lost in my thoughts when I hear my grandfather’s voice and dread fills me. Luke leans forward, kisses my temple, and then he’s out the door.
I frown as I take in my grandfather’s words. He sounds sincere, but the two images I have of my grandfather are making it hard to determine which one is right—one from when I was younger and another from hearing about his orders for the past nine years. My gut churns with what I’m about to propose, but I don’t want everyone and their dog to hear about my messed-up life.
Clearing my throat, I make sure to speak loud enough that the guys can hear me in the hallway. “Luke, let him in. There’s only one way to settle this, and I’d rather it be in the privacy of a room rather than shouted in a public hospital ER.”
Moments later, Luke comes back in followed by my grandfather, Brady, Sam, and Thor. I’m surprised when another man steps in, in a black suit much like Grandfather’s, and my eyes widen when I realize it’s my uncle, Lorenzo. A third man, also dressed in a black suit and looking rather intimidating, attempts to follow them in, but Grandfather shakes his head. A conversation seems to happen without words, and the third man ducks his head in acknowledgement before closing the door.
Alli stands and gives me a hug. “I hate to do this, Mary, but I have to go. Theresa needs me for a patient.”
“Thank you for being here for me.” I squeeze her tight as best as I can, trying to express exactly how much her presence has helped me. And it has. Being surrounded by my best friends again has given me a much-needed boost of confidence.
“Anything for you, girl. I’ll be in later to check on you,” she replies and then slips out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Grandfather turns, looking at me for the first time, and my chest aches at seeing the shocked and empathetic look on his face.
Luke steps forward, pressing a kiss to my temple and stands by my side. Hoping to help calm him, I reach up, slipping my hand in his. He squeezes back but doesn’t take his eyes off Grandfather and Uncle Lorenzo. Movements and actions neither of them misses.
“ Mi precioso capullo de rosa (My precious rosebud), who did this to you? And who is this man?” he asks, his voice rough and gravely, just like I remember, while gesturing to Luke.
Instead of answering him, I ask him a question of my own. “What do you know about what happened the night of April 11 th , 2014? Did you make any edicts when I turned eighteen?”
My chest tightens as memories of that night bombard me again, but I push them aside. I need answers.
Grandfather frowns. “No, I never made any edicts regarding you. Though, I did ask Nikos if he needed help paying for your college. He told me he had saved quite a bit over the years for your tuition, but that if he got in a bind, he would let me know. As for that night, someone broke into your house, killed poor Nikos, but you were nowhere to be seen. We tried looking for you, but we came up empty-handed at every turn. I’d later learned that you had left not too long afterward and had eloped with a man you loved, Stephan, but due to the nature of the cases he was taking on, you had to cut ties with your family and friends for safety’s sake and had assumed different identities.”
A dry, humorless laugh escapes me as my chest aches even more. “And you believed that? Even though we rarely saw each other after my parents divorced, you still believed that I would do such a thing? You didn’t know me better than that?”
Even I can hear the pain and disappointment in my voice, but I’m once again surprised when both Grandfather and Uncle Lorenzo sadly shake their heads.
“No and despite what I said out in the hallway, because it was in public, we never believed that. Not for a second. However, the fact that you think we would have believed that bullshit means that we’ve also failed you. No matter how much we tried looking for you, we couldn’t find you, but we never stopped looking.
“Carmen swore you were fine and happy. Diego, Carlos, and Isaac also spoke up about you, and when we questioned as to why they knew about you and no one else, we were told that they were talking to Carmen when she had received a phone call from you. She told us that the life you chose was the life you wanted, but again, the rest of us never believed it. Family is extremely important to you, and if it was your choice, you’d never have cut us out like you had.”
Tears sting my eyes and I swallow thickly. “That’s because they were all in on it, is my guess. I know Stephan’s working for Diego and Isaac. Occasionally Carlos would be with them, but I don’t know how involved he was with everything. I shouldn’t be surprised about Carmen since she’s always hated me.”
Grandfather frowns and shakes his head. “That’s not true, mi precioso capullo de rosa (my precious rosebud).”
I huff and shake my head in return. “No, you don’t understand, Grandfather. I’ve heard what Carmen has said about me for years as a child and it got even worse when I was a teenager. Everything was either straight from her mouth or when she would talk to Eileen about me on the phone. When we would meet up at your house after the divorce, Carmen made sure to find me whenever I was alone to reiterate that I wasn’t wanted there. That I was an embarrassment to the family because I put my own ‘selfish’ needs before others. That I refused to be the daughter her daughter needed. That I didn’t love Eileen enough to consider her needs over mine. The last time I was there was not too long after my sixteenth birthday. Carmen told me I was to never come back or she’d make sure πατ?ρα? (dad) wouldn’t live another day. That was the last time I ever stepped foot in your house and why I refused your later invitations. I would never have jeopardized πατ?ρα (dads) life. I loved him too much.”
Stunned silence descends on the room, but I can see the fires of anger burning in every single set of eyes in the room. Though, what is surprising is that the level of intensity in their eyes burns the same between Grandfather, Uncle Lorenzo, Luke, and Thor. Even more so than παππο? (grandpas).
Both Grandfather and Uncle Lorenzo share a look before refocusing back on me.
“Mary, did these conversations happen in our house?” Uncle Lorenzo asks.
“For the in-person ones, yes. I don’t know if the conversations she had with Eileen on the phone were all from inside your house or not.
Uncle Lorenzo pulls out his phone and texts someone.
Grandfather’s fingers drum against the foot of my bed and my gaze moves to him. “Who did this to you, mi precioso capullo de rosa (my precious rosebud)?”
“To answer that, I think I should fill you in on the past nine years.”
“Do you think that’s wise, Siren? How do we know we can trust them? That they aren’t in on everything with Diego, Isaac, and Stephan?” Luke looks at me, concern evident on his face.
A sliver of unease runs through me, but in the past, neither of them had ever given me suspicion. I have a feeling that if they were to have been at the party where Isaac had broken my arm, they both would have stood up for me. However, due to some meeting, they and a few other of my uncles hadn’t arrived until after I had already left to go to the ER. Uncle Mateo was the only other person who had seen it. My other aunts and uncles that were at the party weren’t sure what to make of what had happened or who to believe. Though I think the murderous glares Diego and Carlos were giving them probably helped them stay silent.
My gaze cuts to Sam and he gives me a slight nod of his head, giving me the approval to share if I should so choose. If he’s doing that, then he must not have any reason to believe that they are in on it. Or he wants Grandfather’s side of the story to flesh out if he really was behind Diego’s orders to Stephan or not.
Refocusing back on Grandfather and Uncle Lorenzo, I look for any sign of deception or deceit, but I only find sincerity. Squeezing his hand, I look over at Luke.
“I think they’re telling the truth,” I pause, but then turn toward the men in question. “However, if I find out that either of you or the others were in on this clusterfuck, heads will roll, and I won’t stop anyone from putting a bullet in any of you. Do you understand?”
Once again, I’m surprised when both of them smirk as they share a quick glance and then they nod in unison. Then again, I know who they really are and have a pretty good idea about how bloody their hands are.
“Guess you do have a bit of Vasquez in you, mi precioso capullo de rosa (my precious rosebud).”
Choosing to ignore the comment, I start from the beginning.
“The night of April 11 th , 2014, I had just found out I was pregnant with Luke’s baby. Luke, who is actually the man I’ve always loved, not Stephan, whom I despise with every fiber of my being. The only things I’m grateful for from my time with Stephan are Isaiah and Cassie.”
At the part where I say I’ve always loved him, Luke leans over and kisses my temple again as he gently cups my cheek, lingering for a few moments before sitting down and weaving his fingers through mine. While the lies Stephan told me were extremely painful at the time and seeing Luke intimate with other women almost killed me, I never stopped loving him. I couldn’t. It’s like loving Luke is woven into my very core. I’m not sure if I can ever stop loving him. In all honesty, the day I stop loving Luke will most likely be the day I draw my last breath.
It takes a while, but I finally recap the events of the last nine years and draw on Luke’s strength through the really bad parts. God, I hope that this will be the last time I have to recount all of that. I also give them, Sam, and Brady, all of the aliases we’ve used over the years. Well, at least the ones that I knew about. I’m not sure if Stephan had more. I had debated about giving that information to Grandfather and Uncle Lorenzo, but then I remembered that they mentioned that their accountant, Emilio, was going to check to see if Stephan ever worked for Diego. And I definitely want to know what they find out. I also give Sam back the roster list, noting which policemen are dirty and which are being pressured by Stephan and the others to join them per Diego’s orders. On top of that, I give them a list of the crooked judges I know.
When I’m done, silence meets my words and I chance a look up at Grandfather and Uncle Lorenzo. Grief mars both of their faces, but under that is the same undercurrent of anger that I’d seen on Luke and the others earlier this morning.
“I swear to you, mi precioso capullo de rosa , on the grave of my true love, Esmeralda, that we had no idea. Or that your relationship with Eileen, and later Stephan, was so abusive and toxic,” Grandfather tells me before turning to Lorenzo. “Did you ask Emilio?”
My brain stutters at Grandfather’s words. What did he just say?
“Yes, and there is no Stephan Hayes, or any of his aliases, on any of our payrolls. Emilio’s going to try and dig into Diego’s accounts, but he has a separate accountant for some of his books, which I didn’t know about until now. He’s going to try not to tip off Diego or the accountant in the process. Hopefully, Diego doesn’t have a lot of security measures in place. We’ll have to wait and see if Stephan is on his payroll or not.”
Grandfather frowns, and when neither of them says anything for a moment, I finally find a voice for my question. “Grandfather, what do you mean, true love? Who is Esmeralda?”
His frown turns into a scowl. “Why am I not surprised that Eileen lied to me? Especially now knowing what else she’s done to you.” He pauses as he shakes his head. “Eileen told me that she’d told you about Esmeralda, so I hadn’t talked to you about her.” He pauses again, a look of grief overcoming him and he clears his throat a couple of times before continuing.
“I was in love with Esmeralda for years before we finally got together in college. We’d known each other growing up, but I was afraid to date her in high school for worry of ruining our friendship if we didn’t work out. I was at a Christmas party my sophomore year in college when Father had asked me why I never had a date with me. In years past, I had always brushed off those questions, but something had me wanting to talk to him. I finally caved, telling him that there was someone special, but that I was worried about ruining our friendship if we ended up breaking up. He gave me the courage to finally ask her out and I couldn’t have been more relieved when Esmeralda said yes.”
A look of happiness comes over him, similar to the one I’d only seen when he’d looked at his children. Well, most of them.
“After college, we were wed and I thought I couldn’t have been happier. That is, until she told me she was pregnant. Not too long later, Mateo and Diego came into the world. Then she blessed me with six more beautiful children—Lorenzo, Anita and Azura, Marco and Miguel and finally Luiza, over the years.
“When Luiza was ten years old, Esmeralda started getting violently sick. I still don’t know exactly how it happened, or who did it, but I found out through her autopsy report that she was poisoned over time until her body could no longer fight it and she succumbed to the poison.” Grandfather pauses again, the grief surrounding him almost palatable. I blink rapidly to keep my tears from falling.
He clears his throat before continuing. “Five years later, I started seeing Carmen. A few years into our relationship, we were married, and she gave me Carlos and Eileen. Carmen hates when I talk about Esmeralda because she knows that I’ll never love her as much as I loved Esmeralda. Looking at things now, I’m not sure how I didn’t see it before. Except for Diego, she’s never once shown my other children as much love or support as she has for Carlos and Eileen.”
Luke huffs and shakes his head. “No wonder the three of them turned out rotten to the core.”
Grandfather nods sadly and then tilts his head toward me. “It wasn’t until the whole mess with your parents getting a divorce that I started to see their true colors emerging. Carmen and I fought more, and I thought for sure we were heading toward separation since we do not divorce in my family. I was having more fights with Carlos, Eileen and even Diego at the time as well.” He pauses, almost as if he wants to say more, but with a brief glance toward Sam and Brady, I can see him deciding not to say what he was going to.
He sighs and shakes his head. “Then, suddenly, they all changed. Especially Carmen. Knowing what I know now, it was around the time of your kidnapping. Maybe a month or so beforehand. Once again, she was the dutiful wife and things between us got better. My relationships with my children improved as well. That is, until earlier this year, when things became strained again. Not as bad as before, but noticeable. It was around the time I heard that you and Stephan had moved back to Forest Creek.”
Uncle Lorenzo crosses his arms across his chest, a thoughtful look on his face. “You may be on to something. I’ve noticed them acting weirder than usual, too, but I’ve noticed it in Diego more so than the others. Thinking back, it was around mid-February when it started. Usually, Diego has an air of arrogance around him. That he’s untouchable. Since February, he’s been more on edge. More cautious. Almost afraid, though of what, I don’t know.”
A dry, humorless chuckle escapes me, but before I can say anything, Grandfather beats me to it, his eyes lighting up with understanding.
“This is because of the human trafficking ring along the Great Lakes, isn’t it? Even though he swears to me that he isn’t involved, I know he has to be involved to some extent. That many people trying to tie him to it can’t be a coincidence.”
My gaze cuts to Sam. I’m not sure how much I should be sharing about what I had uncovered of Stephan’s meetings, the paper documents and the contents of the scan drive and the cloud account, since I know it’s for ongoing cases the cops have built up against Stephan and Diego. Hell, it might even help with other cases they have. Now that I think about it, I have no idea if the FBI is involved, so I should probably tread carefully here. Thankfully, Sam speaks up for me.
“I’m sorry, but that matter is an ongoing investigation. The only thing I can tell you, since you are Diego’s parent, is that he is being investigated. I’m sure at some point, we’ll need to question you, but seeing as Mary just finished giving her last statement moments before Stephan showed up here, we need to get everything documented in our system and go from there.”
That and probably to finish reading through everything I’d gathered for them. There’s a shit ton of information on the scan drive and the cloud account.
A solemn look comes over Grandfather, but then he nods as he sits straighter, determination and sincerity shining through his eyes. “Whenever you are ready for our statements, let me know and I’ll make sure to clear my calendar. Same for my family, since I assume you’ll need to question all of them.”
“Yes, you are right. We will need to question everyone. Your cooperation in the matter is appreciated.”
We’re all silent for a few moments when Uncle Lorenzo clears his throat.
“Mary, may I ask you something?”
I turn my attention toward him and nod, though I am hesitant about what he could be asking and if I’ll even be able to answer him. Surprisingly, his cheeks heat slightly. Almost as if he’s a little embarrassed by what he’s about to ask.
“Why do you always say ‘Grandfather’ and ‘Grandmother’? And just a bit ago, you were calling Carmen by her name. You know your other cousins aren’t that formal. So why are you?”
I chuckle even though my chest tightens painfully at the memories. “Carmen and Eileen. It’s all because of Carmen and Eileen,” I reply with a heavy sigh and it doesn’t escape me that they frown at me not calling them ‘Grandmother’ and ‘Mom’.
“Eileen always wanted me to call you ‘Grandfather’ and to call Carmen ‘Grandmother’. She absolutely hated when I spoke informally about both of you. So much so that she’d spank or slap me when I misspoke. It didn’t take long to learn to go along with what she wanted. Even though the words seemed to create some sort of barrier between us. It never made sense to me why I had to address you so formally and I hated it.
“Then, when I was five, I noticed my cousins never addressing you the same way, so I switched and started calling you the same as them. I wanted to feel closer to you both, well, more so you than Carmen, and had hoped that changing that might be the first step toward becoming closer to you. To have a relationship with you like my cousins have.
“However, for the first half-dozen times or so that I called you ‘Grandpa’ or ‘ Abuelo (Grandpa)’ and Carmen ‘Grandma’ when I visited, I was royally chastised by Carmen. She told me that I had to learn my place in life and address them accordingly. I didn’t understand it at the time, and asked why I was the only one that had to address them that way. Or why none of my other cousins had to do the same. Those questions earned me a backhand and a beating across my ass with a cane that was nearby. I wasn’t able to sit properly for two weeks after that. I’m not sure if πατ?ρα? (dad) ever knew about that or not. Mom told me my punishment would be tenfold if I ever told him.
“On the times that you would ask me to call you ‘Grandpa’ or ‘ Abuelo (Grandpa)’, Carmen would give me a severe look that promised retribution. Fearing what she’d do, I lied to you and said I preferred to call you Grandfather.”
Dark looks come over both Grandfather and Uncle Lorenzo’s faces, and I’m wondering what’s in store for Carmen when they return home. I’m way past caring what happens to her after dealing with her verbal and physical abuse over the years. Honestly, I kind of hope she gets a dose of her own medicine.
Grandfather glances around the room before his gaze settles on me again. “Can I please speak to my granddaughter alone?”