Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Abundio
Abundio sat at his desk while his tech expert showed him what he’d found on Miranda’s computer. He walked Abundio through everything, and the older man appreciated that his tech wasn’t treating him like he was a senile idiot.
“How much of this information correlates to what was on Manuel’s computer?”
The tech sat next to him, behind his desk, to make this easier. He reached over and pulled up another directory, saved to the desktop, and walked him through that information as well.
Not only did Abundio need to know all of this, he also needed the focus.
Something besides the memory of touching his daughter’s hand one last time before his men zipped her into a body bag and carted her away.
No burial for her, no headstone—nothing.
A private and discreet cremation at a place Abundio had used before, and a doctor who would issue a death certificate with no questions asked and without even looking at the body as long as enough cash crossed his palm.
Natural causes, exacerbated by sleep apnea, but a suspected drug overdose, and he understandably didn’t want the shame of that getting around.
There would be no official inquiry.
He would take the ashes to the cemetery and inter them next to his wife, so at least he would have a place to visit and talk to both of them.
It was fitting that they be together.
Abundio pulled his focus back to the tech’s explanations.
“It would appear she was looking into the same things Manuel was researching.”
“Can you tell when?” Abundio asked.
“As recently as within the past two weeks, sir.”
Abundio sat back, nodding. “Ask Armando for my personal laptop and put all of that information on there, please. And show him where it is to show me.”
“Yes, sir. Did you have any other questions?”
Abundio stared into space for a moment. “Many, but likely none you can answer. Not at this time, anyway.” He offered him a wan smile. “I will have more for you to do in the next several weeks, I’m certain. Thank you, that’s all for now.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.” He closed the laptop, stood, and without being asked returned his chair to its position in front of Abundio’s desk.
Abundio watched as the man absurdly tried to match the position perfectly, obviously looking at the indentations in the rug, finally prompting Abundio to laugh.
“Your respect and attention to detail are both noted, but where you have positioned it is fine.”
Pink rose in the man’s cheeks, and he nodded. “Sorry, sir. Thank you.” He took the laptop with him. Moments later, Abundio heard him talking to Armando out in the other room.
Abundio swiveled his chair to stare out the window.
This is not where he anticipated his life to lead.
A missing nephew and his cartel now rudderless.
A traitorous daughter who only had to let Abundio into her thoughts, and he would’ve supported her research.
Although with him directing it, obviously.
Her meeting with a Russian who not only wasn’t, but who should also be dead.
A man who turned out to be the father of one of his mysteriously missing men, a coincidence that absolutely could not be one.
His life currently devoid of an heir to his empire.
He didn’t want his company to be scavenged among his remaining, distant relatives or purchased by a competitor.
He waited for a while until he heard the computer tech finish and leave. Then he turned and stood, rounding his desk as Armando appeared in the office doorway.
“Sir, I have all the information you requested on your laptop.”
“Good. I like that kid. Make sure to pay him well for this. Cash. Say, twenty thousand.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We can trust him?”
“Yes, sir. He was highly vetted by me when he was hired. There is nothing in his background that leads me to believe he has a secret history.”
“Excellent. We’ll utilize him a lot over the next weeks and months.”
“Sir?”
Abundio smiled. “We might very well be undertaking a snipe hunt, as they call them, but I will have my curiosity sated and will not stop until then.” Abundio headed toward the stairs.
“Also, I want to see Reyes tonight. Here. I don’t care how late it is, and I don’t care if we need to chopper him in.
Make sure to emphasize that he is not in trouble.
Quite the opposite. I am very satisfied with his performance and wish to discuss expanding his role in the cartel.
You may tell him that much, but no more.
Also, he’s not to say where he’s going or who he’s meeting with. ”
“Yes, sir. I will do it.” Armando left.
At least Abundio knew he could trust that man. His wife and son had been tragically killed in an auto accident several years before, and Abundio moved him into the main house.
In all honesty, he’d hoped Miranda would strike up a relationship with him, although he’d never mentioned it to either of them. Had he, he knew Miranda would have resisted simply to be willful.
That won’t be possible now.
He paused, halfway up the stairs, his eyes stinging as he pictured her bouncing down the stairs in her Easter dress at ten, beautiful, the image of her mother.
Angrily brushing the tears away, he continued upstairs.
Why did you force me to do that, Miranda? Why did you have to be so stubborn and sneaky? Why betray me?
It was nearly 2:00 am when Mario Reyes arrived and nervously entered the living room, where Abundio waved at him to sit on the sofa.
“Would you like anything to drink?” Abundio asked.
“No liquor, please, sir. Water or soda is fine. Thank you.”
Abundio nodded at Armando to bring it. “Water for me, please,” he added.
“Yes, sir.”
When they were alone, Abundio smiled at the man. “I’m sorry for the short notice. I told them to assure you that you are not in trouble.”
He nodded, still looking borderline terrified. “It’s all right, sir. And yes, they did.”
“I want to discuss your future. Are you interested in taking over the cartel as my right-hand man?”
His brows lifted. “Your right-hand man, sir?”
“Manuel is dead. I don’t have any proof except a mountain of circumstantial evidence. But I can take care of that for you.”
“Sir?”
“I will stage his ‘death,’ and provide you with evidence that he wished for you to take over. I will also back you. As much as I can while I remain in the shadows, that is. You see, while I will control things, only you can know the truth on your end. I have a couple of other sets of eyes in the organization. I will notify them that you are now in charge, should you accept it. If not, please let me know who you would pick to be in charge, and I will pay you a handsome amount to move yourself and your family anywhere in the world you wish to go.”
His mouth opened and closed, then his Adam’s apple nervously bobbed before he licked his lips again. “I would be honored to take over, sir.”
“Do you feel you can handle it? In all honesty? There is no shame in admitting it if you don’t feel you can.”
“I can, sir. I was already running most of the operations for Manuel. But…”
“Yes?”
“The missing men. There will be many questions.”
Abundio nodded. “Ah. Yes, that is a predicament.” Armando returned with water for both of them, including a pitcher of iced water that he set on the coffee table.
“If I can take care of that for you as well, offer a reasonable explanation for their families, and make sure they are compensated, would you still accept?”
He nodded, slowly growing more confident now that he realized he wasn’t dying tonight. “Yes, sir.”
He looked at Armando. “The laptop, please.”
Abundio moved to sit next to Reyes on the sofa while Armando set up the laptop.
Then Abundio played all the videos of Manuel telling his story of what happened.
Reyes scowled, his brows knit and forehead deeply furrowed as he watched. When the last video ended, Abundio closed the laptop lid and turned to the younger man.
“Manuel was, of course… What is the saying? High on his own supply?”
Reyes let out a harsh laugh. “That is one way of putting it, sir.”
“My daughter discovered the truth of the matter—that he tried to make a major drug deal with a group in Idaho that likely has deep Russian connections, and they handed his ass to him. Literally. And killed all his men. When he attempted to get revenge, taking my two best men with him, they were killed.”
“I-I’m so sorry, sir.”
Abundio waved it away. “Good riddance, as far as I’m concerned.
I want you to get me the video from the night Raul was killed.
I believe the man who killed Raul worked for or with the group.
I wish to learn more about him. And keep that quiet.
I wish for no one to know I’m looking into it, all right? ”
“Yes, sir.” He took notes on his phone as Abundio spoke.
“My daughter, as you know, also tried to worm her way into the organization. Unfortunately, she ran afoul of Russians and recently met a similar fate.”
Reyes froze, looking shocked again. “I-I’m so sorry, sir.”
Abundio also waved that away. “She was an adult. It hurts, but it proves that treachery can prove karmically fatal. Had she looped me into her plans, I could have told her under no circumstances to get involved. But she wanted to try to go her own way. Do you know if Manuel was attempting to do that? Make inroads with the Bratva?”
“He never told me if he was, sir. I never saw any evidence.”
“Good. I want you to notify me if any Russians sniff around, in any context, or if any of your people report that to you. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.” More notes were tapped into his phone.
“Now then. Let’s talk details, shall we? And we shall be here likely well into tomorrow. If you wish to call or text your wife, please feel free, so she doesn’t worry. Does she know anything about your current… occupation?”
“She asks no questions, sir. She enjoys that our children are growing up far better off than either of us did, and that we can take care of our parents.”
“Good. Tell her that I have tapped you to work as an operations manager for a new arm of my business. Mineral scouting. Working with my geologists from overseas. You are a local; you know the land and the people, and you speak the language. I will pay you a regular salary, legally, in addition to what you will be making in cash. But should you run afoul of the law…”
Abundio. didn’t finish, staring at Reyes.
“Everything I did was on my own initiative without any knowledge on your part,” Reyes said.
Abundio nodded. “Excellent. I need a legitimate reason for me to be in constant contact with you. Should something happen. Otherwise, it would look suspicious to have that much contact.”
“Yes, sir.”
When Reyes finally departed close to noon, Abundio was exhausted. He’d had a nap before the man arrived, and now he was ready to sleep.
Armando returned after seeing Reyes out. “Any instructions, sir?”
“Yes. I want someone planted right next to him. One of my people, but I do not want Reyes to know that. He can be listed as working for the ‘geology team’ that Reyes is leading and on the official payroll. I want him to be my direct eyes and ears. If Reyes doesn’t betray us in the first six months, he will likely work out fine, and we’ll arrange for him to completely take over that ‘department’ upon my death so it can safely be divested without connections to me. How is the other thing going?”
The man didn’t miss a beat. “I am working on identifying potential candidates now. I will need time to thoroughly screen any I deem worthy enough to meet you.”
Abundio nodded. “I trust your judgement.” He headed for the stairs. “Please don’t disturb me unless I’m not down before 9:00 tonight. Have the cook leave at their usual time if I’m not down by then. I don’t wish to inconvenience them. They can cook something that can easily be reheated.”
“Yes, sir.”
Abundio trudged up the stairs, feeling every single day of his years weighing heavily on him.
He would need to tackle this in several stages, while keeping them discrete.
Installing Reyes as head of the cartel. Providing “proof” of the men’s demises and arranging money for payment to the families.
Finding a bride who can give him a child.
Tracking down the man who killed Raul.
And tracking down Jake and Carl Peterson and finding out why Jake was playing a fake Russian.
And how they knew to contact Miranda to meet in the first place, or if they’d been working together the entire time.
And if they were working in concert with the man who killed Raul or bore connections to the group in Idaho.
Because he now found it inconceivable to believe that Carl wasn’t alive and well, along with Mateo.
He also strongly suspected both men were responsible for Manuel’s death.
And if he proved that?
Well, then they really would be dead.
And oh, how he would make them wish they’d died long before he got his hands on them.