Chapter 51
“Ihope I’m not interrupting anything,” a man with a Spanish accent said as he hovered near the door.
Two armed thugs escorted him.
A woman stood behind the Spanish man. They were all silhouettes.
“You shouldn’t sneak up on people,” Howell said.
“If I was sneaking up on you, you’d be dead.”
“I wasn’t expecting you. What can I do for you?”
“I’m so glad you asked,” the Spanish man said with a smile in his voice.
The other goons flooded into the space and surrounded the officers with fluid movements.
The officers shifted with unease, but the Spanish man somehow commanded their respect. The tension in the room was thick.
“You have two things that I want,” the man said.
“Just name them,” Howell said, trying to be accommodating.
“The man you have in custody has been a thorn in my side. I will handle him.”
Howell glanced at me, then back to the Spanish man. “He’s yours, as long as he’s never heard from again.”
The Spanish man smiled. “I can assure you of that.”
A long, awkward silence filled the room.
“What else can I do for you?”
“There is the matter of a certain shipment that was intercepted.”
“Circumstances beyond my control.”
“But I pay you to control the circumstances.”
“Force Mejure. Act of God. There are still officers on the force who aren’t on the take.”
“Well, that merchandise, or the cash equivalent, needs to find its way back to me.”
“That was a significant amount of product.”
“I’m aware,” the Spanish man said in a subtle but unmistakable tone. He was pissed.
“Look, Mr. Navarro. I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen again. But that product is locked up in evidence, and I don’t have that kind of cash. We’ll make it up on another deal.”
Navarro was silent a moment. “If that’s the best you can offer, then I guess I’ll have to accept it.”
“I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
“I know that you will,” Navarro said, staring him down with those deadly eyes.
Howell shifted with unease.
“You and your men should go,” Navarro said. “This won’t be pretty.”
Howell nodded, then glanced at his boys. They all started for the door. Howell said to Navarro as he passed, “Make him suffer.”
“Oh, I will.”
After Howell and his associates had taken a few steps toward the door, Navarro gave a subtle nod to his compatriots. They sprang into action. The barrels of submachine guns found the officers. Muzzle flash lit up the dark warehouse.
Brass shell casings danced on the concrete.
The wet thump of bullets against flesh echoed.
The officers fell to the ground, writhing and moaning.
Navarro’s thugs finished them off with headshots.
I assumed the officers wore vests.
After the last shell casing pinged the concrete, the deafening cacophony went silent. My ears rang, and my heart punched my chest. Adrenaline surged.
Navarro stepped to me and said, “We finally meet face to face.”
He was a tall man with short, curly dark hair, down-turned brown eyes, and a rugged jaw, lined with stubble. His face was both kind and dangerous. Disarming at first, but underneath the facade was a pure psychopath.
“Howell stole from me. He’s been skimming for a long time. Then he got too brazen. Cost me a considerable amount of money. I don’t like to lose money.”
“Nobody does,” I said.
“I have found in this business, and life in general, that people will walk all over you if you let them. You have to set boundaries and enforce them. Even when it’s unpleasant.” He paused. “I don’t like killing. I take no joy in it. But at times I am left with no choice.”
“We do what we must.”
“Indeed.” He stared me down for a moment.
Something told me that he liked to kill.
“You have been a disruptive element. An element that can’t be bought. I have no choice but to eliminate the threat.”
“Do you really think it’s going to make your life easier if you kill me? It’s just going to bring a shitstorm down on you.”
Diego smiled. “There is no storm I can’t handle. But I worry my daughter doesn’t share the same iron will.” Navarro pulled a stainless steel pistol from his waistband. It glimmered in a shaft of moonlight. He handed it to Catalina, who stepped forward into the pale beam.
Diego continued. “I have come a long way, at great risk, to be here. It is time for my daughter to prove she has the mettle to run this business in my stead.”
With tears in her eyes, Catalina aimed the pistol at me.
I stared at the big silver barrel.
Her manicured finger wrapped around the trigger.