Chapter 44
Iwatch through the window in the rectory as the last car drives away from the church.
“They’re all gone.”
My dad strolls out of the hall and into the living room. “We could be in the back room, but he might want to walk around.”
“If you don’t stay in the house, then you can wait just outside the back door. But the house is old and the floor creaks. He could hear you come and go.”
“Don’t let him search the house,” Javier says. “I’m not gonna risk being outside if he tries to pull anything.”
“Being in the back room won’t be much better. If he shoots me, it’ll be over within a second.”
Javier clenches his jaw and gives me a look. He can’t say what he wants to because my dad is here.
“Okay, then we just fucking ambush him as soon as he walks in,” Dad says. “Grab him, subdue him, and tie him up. Then we can ask all the fucking questions we want.”
Javier nods. “Sounds good to me.”
I don’t particularly like that idea, because I worry it’ll skew what he has to say, but at the same time, I don’t like the idea of being shot either.
“What if I just bring him upstairs with the story that I have something to do in the chapel up there. He’ll be put at ease if I escort him through the house, and I’ll have the doors open. Just past the chapel, there’s a small closet. You’ll have to squeeze, but you can be in there.”
“What if he shoots you the second he walks in?” Javier asks.
“He won’t.”
He keeps trying to send me signs of unhappiness with his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he turns to my dad, hoping he doesn’t agree with this idea either.
“This is your idea,” Dad says. “We’ll do it how you want, but I hope this isn’t a mistake. You got the gun on you?”
I lift the chasuble. “Yes. He’ll never even know I have my hand on it.”
“Okay then,” Dad says.
“I’ll have music on to obscure any sounds. If we end up needing to go back downstairs, just quietly make your way down and hang out in the hall. He wouldn’t have a need to go back that way.”
“When will he be here?” Javi asks.
I look at the clock on the wall. “Soon.”
“If anything seems wrong, shoot and worry about it later,” Dad tells me. “We already know what we need to know.”
“I just want him to tell me why,” I say.
Neither one of them looks happy. I know they’d rather go about it their own way, but he’s coming here thinking I’m giving him the chance to talk, and I want to hear what he has to say. Even if it’s bullshit.
I look out the window again and spot a car making a turn next to the church.
“I think he’s here.” I turn and face the stone-faced men. “Head upstairs.” They both hesitate, watching me. “I’ll be okay.”
Dad walks away first, and Javier turns back and looks at me, his face full of worry. I send him a forced smile and nod.
I turn on the stereo and Christian music blares from the speakers. I turn it down a little, but leave it at a volume where it could hopefully mask any creaks in the floor.
A few minutes later, there’s two quick knocks on the door. I take a deep breath, relax my shoulders, and start walking.
When I pull it open, Johnny stands there with the brim of his hat low over his eyes, and sunglasses on his face.
“Hey,” I say, stepping back and opening the door. “Come in.”
Stepping inside, he removes the glasses and looks me up and down. “Just get off?”
“Yeah. I actually still have a few things to do, so let’s go up to the chapel.”
“Where’s that?” he questions, his voice tense.
“Upstairs.”
“Oh.”
He closes the door and follows me through the living room. I do my best to move with ease, like I don’t have a care in the world. Johnny’s eyes scan every part of the house, his movements chock-full of nervousness.
“So, what’s up?” I ask. “There’s been some abnormal things going on.”
Johnny scoffs. “Your father is a lunatic, that’s what’s going on.”
My back stiffens slightly as I hit the hallway upstairs. “Well, is that new information?” I say.
“He thinks I betrayed him, kid. He’s been secretive for a while—doing things without telling me.”
I get to the chapel and begin putting away the vestments I haphazardly tossed across the altar earlier.
“Again, that sounds like something he’d do. And is in the position to do. I’m confused, Johnny.”
He sighs, looking out the window. “I know you don’t know how stuff works within the family, but I’m telling you, your father has lost it.
He’s doing things he shouldn’t, making enemies with the wrong people, and now he got it in his head that I’m out to get him.
He won’t listen to me, and I’ve heard rumors about what he plans to do. ”
I glance at him. “Like what?”
“Kill me, for one. And honestly, that’s all I’m worried about.”
“So, what’s the message you want me to get to him?”
I walk across the room to grab a broom and begin sweeping the floor just to keep myself busy and moving, that way any sounds they might make in the room next door can be masked.
“I want you to tell him it’s not true. I didn’t do what he thinks I did.”
“What exactly does he think you did?”
Johnny huffs, taking the hat off his head to run a hand through his greasy hair before replacing it.
“Can we go downstairs? All these crosses and Jesus staring at me,” he says, gesturing to the crucifix on the wall. “I can’t even get comfortable in here.”
“Sure,” I say, hoping Javier and my dad heard. “We can go downstairs. I’ll make us something to drink in the kitchen.”
I add the last part so they know where we’ll be. Plus it gets us farther from the hall if they decide to follow.
Leading Johnny back downstairs, we make it to the kitchen where he sits at the dining room table.
“He thinks I told another family about you,” he admits.
My eyes meet his immediately. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been a secret. He doesn’t talk about you, you know?” I nod. “He thinks I told another family about you. To use you against him.”
“Did you?”
Johnny hesitates only briefly. “No, I didn’t.”
“If he doesn’t talk about me, who else would know I exist if not you?”
“I don’t know, kid,” Johnny says, slamming his hand on the table.
I finish pouring a couple glasses of lemonade, and put one in front of him before going back to the fridge to put away the pitcher.
“You told me someone was going to pick me up at my house. What was that about?”
“Your dad told me to have someone pick you up.”
Leaning against the counter, I cock my head, confusion marring my face. “For what reason?”
“I try not to question him too much. He told me to have someone get you. But then you weren’t there. What happened?”
I only hesitate for a second. “I was picked up. I assumed it was by the guy you said you were sending.”
Johnny shakes his head. “Your dad set that up separately. He’s trying to make me look like I had an ulterior motive, but he told me to get you, Carlo.” He leans forward. “What happened? Where did he take you?”
Part of me wonders if there’s even a small chance that he’s telling the truth.
That somehow, all of this is miscommunication or a diabolical plan from my dad.
But then I think about all the other stuff I know.
Johnny’s trying to pull information from me with his questions while also attempting to plant doubt.
“I went to some house,” I say, sticking close to the truth in case he already knows. “The message was that I wasn’t safe in my house that night. I questioned him about what was going on, but I didn’t get much information.”
Johnny rubs the stubble on his chin. “And then you left?”
“The next day. I had a work-related trip out of town and he seemed to be okay with me leaving.” I shrug. “You know he never wanted me to come back here anyway.”
Johnny nods. “Hmm.”
I can tell he’s trying to piece together information, and while I watch him, I hear the slight click of a door.
I bang my knee against the cabinet to cover the noise, then I turn on the sink and wet a sponge.
I keep the water running as I wipe down the counters, hoping to drown out any other creaks or steps.
“Well, I can try to talk to him, Johnny, but you know our relationship has never been great. I don’t know why he’d think you’d sell me out.” I stop and look at him. “You’ve known me my whole life. Not sure why you’d want to see me get killed.”
He locks onto my gaze. “I don’t. I don’t, kid. Just like you said, why would I do that?”
I shrug. “You’ve been friends with my dad for decades. I don’t know why you can’t talk it out.”
“Exactly. Exactly!” he says, his voice rising. “I just want the chance to talk to him without him making any rash decisions.”
I nod. “Makes sense.”
“But listen, I think something’s wrong with Cortez.
I think maybe the pressure of this job, and the fact that he had to go into hiding…
I think it’s getting to him. He’s not as measured as he once was.
His reputation is taking a hit. Hopping from safe house to safe house?
Bringing in some outsider to be his right-hand man when he knows it’s wrong.
” Johnny shakes his head. “I think it may be time for him to take a step back.”
My eyes widen slightly as a lightbulb comes on.
It’s always been about removing my dad from power so he can claim it.
He was stressed when my dad was missing, but not because he was worried about him.
Because he was worried he’d come back. He was in my father’s office, assuming the role of boss because it’s what he’s been coveting this whole time.
He didn’t like that I mentioned it, because if word spread, people would start looking at him a little closer.
If he can’t kill my father, he wants everyone to think he’s incapable of the job. If he’s no longer boss, it’ll be easier to kill him.
“Huh,” I murmur. “Maybe.”
He nods, wanting me to be on his side. “It could be good for your relationship too. Time to reconnect.”
“Mmhmm.” I nod again, seeing where this is going.
“If you can set up a meeting with him and I, you can sit in on it and tell him you think it’s best that he steps down.”