Chapter 31 #2
She takes the phone and brings it closer then further from her eyes, analyzing the picture on it. “No, I don’t think so,” she explains, giving me the phone back. “Mr. Becker has his office computer and tablets. No laptops.”
Fucking hell, we really need to find this computer.
“Can you give me a minute?” I ask her, eager to talk to Lex and catch him up on everything.
He’s being remarkably patient with all this, but I know he’s dying to hear what Paola and I have been talking about.
When she offers me a dry nod, I climb over the seat in front of me and sit down next to Lex.
“So? Is it going well?” he asks eagerly.
“Yeah.”
“Has she told you anything we can use?”
“Yes and no.”
I do my best to catch him up on everything, being as detailed as I can. Once he’s all caught up, I wait for him to process it and think of what else we should ask. “Have you asked about those evenings every month where everything goes dark?”
“Oh, good idea.”
When I turn around, I find Paola counting her money. “We’ve noticed that every few weeks, Becker has the cameras turned off,” I explain to her in Spanish. “Do you have any idea what that’s about?”
“Do you mean his special parties?” she wonders, perplexed.
“Special parties?”
“Mr. Becker has these parties now and then. We have to scrub everything from floor to ceiling, then we leave early and arrive late the next day. No one stays.”
“Do you know what that’s about?”
When she makes a motion with her hand, I hold back from rolling my eyes and give her the money. “We think it’s a sex thing.”
“Like, an orgy?”
Paola shrugs. “Maybe. Rich people get bored and need excitement in their lives. His wife never stays. That’s why we think it’s a sex thing.”
We’ve learned through Lorelei that Becker was a deviant, a violent one. Could this be the secret behind the CCTV lapses? Orgies with and for the elite?
“She thinks it’s a sex thing,” I tell Lex.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.”
“It’s not as damning as we hoped for, but depending on who attends those parties, it could still be enough to take him down.”
“You want to take him down?”
I whip around to look at Paola, surprised to hear her speak. “You speak English?!”
“I’ve been in this country for ten years. Of course I speak English. But I pretend not to, so I can keep my job. You said you want to take Mr. Becker down?”
Fuck. How will she take that information? She needs her job, and we’re going after her employer. Will she ruin all this out of some sense of loyalty? She’s worked there for four years. She might fuck this up for us.
“We are,” Lex answers before I can think of an out.
I hold my breath, waiting for her reaction. Five seconds go by, and she decides, “Good.”
Phew …
“He’s not a good man,” she continues. “I’ve seen the news. I know people who have debt because of him.”
“Are you okay with maybe losing your job?” I ask.
She shrugs. “My tia can help me get a new one at the hotel where she works. I will be fine.”
“Hopefully, this will make up for it,” I say, handing her what’s left of the money.
Her hand trembles slightly as she takes it, probably having never held this much money before. I get it, it was the same for me until this morning, when Lex secured the cash.
“Do you have more questions?” she asks, looking up from the wads.
“We might. Would it be okay if we called you?”
She doesn’t hesitate long before agreeing. “Yes. I’ll give you my number.”
I take my phone out, save her number in my contacts, and send her a text. “If you come across that computer I showed you, or if you find the safe in his office, can you let us know?”
Once more, she nods. “I work tomorrow. I’ll look and let you know.”
“Thank you.”
When she returns her attention to the money in her hands, I face forward again. My eyes follow the players on the field, but my mind doesn’t. This went better than I expected, but we got fewer answers than we’d hoped for. Is there a safe in Becker’s office or not?
“We should go,” Lex suggests after several minutes have passed. “No need to stay exposed for longer than we need to.”
“Right. Let’s head back.”
Aweek goes by before Paola calls us. She’s worked in Becker’s office three times, has looked everywhere for a safe, but hasn’t found anything. Just like that, we’re three steps behind again.
“We need what’s on that laptop,” I say in a soft voice as we lie in bed together, defeated.
“I know that as much as you do, Andrea.”
The crazy idea that’s been on my mind for a few days resurfaces. It’s not that I don’t trust Paola, but we’ve seen Becker bring his secret laptop to the hallway that leads to his home office. There has to be something there.
“There’s another solution,” I impulsively say.
“Don’t even say it.” His tone is harsh, imperious, and just like that, I know he thought about it too.
“Lex, we need to consider it. If you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself.”
His head turns toward me, and despite the darkness, I know he’s giving me a warning glance. “We’re not doing that, Andrea.”
“Let’s at least talk about it. I look the part, I speak the part … Maybe Paola can help get me hired to Becker’s penthouse along with her, and then I can—”
“I said no!” he snaps. “Forget about it. Rip this idea out of your head and let it go.”
“Then what else can we do? We need that fucking laptop.”
“I’d rather live a pretend life with you, hiding somewhere remote, than take that risk.”
He says nothing, but I can feel his temper permeating the air around us.
He’s angry that I’m even suggesting this, but he’s also scared of what might happen to me if he gives in.
I roll to the side and come closer to him, draping a leg over his hips and resting a hand over his chest as my temple comes to his shoulder.
“There are a dozen maids working there. And they’re not allowed to stay in a room with the family or him. I’d blend in among them, and he’d never even know I was there.”
“You’ve heard what Paola said about her Colombian friend. It isn’t safe.”
“Oh, come on. We’re not even sure what happened to her friend yet. And I’d only stay for a few days, just enough time to find the safe. We could make it happen by next week, when he and his family are in Palm Beach.”
“It’s still too dangerous. We’ll find something else.”
“I’m not sure we’ll come up with a better idea,” I counter.
“Well, it couldn’t be worse.”
“We’ve been trying to think of one for weeks, baby.”
“Give us more time. We’re safe, and so are our families. We’re not in a rush to get this done.”
I understand what he means, but fuck, I’m so done with all this shit.
Since January, so for over seven months straight, I’ve not been able to catch a fucking break.
First, his arrest, then getting him out, then getting shot, then recovering, and now New York …
I’m really, really desperate to return to some semblance of normalcy.
But I swallow back my retort and stare into the darkness, listening to the lulling sound of his heartbeat. I need all this to be over with. The sooner, the better.
Days go by, and anytime I mention my plan, Lex shuts me down before I can get three words out.
It’s straining our relationship a little, and silence has become a sad reality of our lives.
We can’t think of anything else that might get us closer to Becker’s laptop, and I’m starting to wonder if we ever will.
Maybe Becker was right in the end. Maybe he’s as untouchable as he believes himself to be.
Thank God I still have my family to talk to and not go completely mad, locked in this golden cage. I’ve been talking to my mom almost every day, and while I don’t want to lay my problems and worries on her, it’s still good to hear her voice.
I’m out on the terrace, watching the sun setting along the skyline, when she calls.
“?Hola, mamá!”
“Andrea, I just saw him!” she practically shouts, her tone fearful and hurried. My original enthusiasm fades at once.
“What? Who?”
“The man with the snake on his face!” Concern turns into panic, and I sit up on the chaise lounge, my heart dropping low in my chest.
“Where?”
“I was grading tests for the summer program, and when I walked to the teacher’s lounge to get coffee, he was right there, sitting on a chair! He had a snake tattooed on his face, going around his skull and everything!”
Fuck. “What did he do?”
“Nothing. He stared at me with a smirk, and I ran away before he could say anything.”
“What about the men Lex hired? Wasn’t one of them with you?!”
“They’re not allowed on the school grounds, so they wait outside. I rushed to get him, but by the time we came back, that man was gone.”
Jesus fucking Christ. Zane Horvat, that fucking asshole, is a dead man. No one comes after my mom like this. No one.
“Are you okay?” I ask, still in shock.
“Hija, I’ve never been this scared in my life. I just got home, and I haven’t even told anyone else.”
My heart is in my throat. Was that Horvat’s sick way of showing us that a security detail isn’t enough to keep him away?
Or maybe he was telling us he’ll come after my mother next?
Rage, pure and unaltered rage, overtakes any other feelings.
Nobody fucking touches my mamá. I’ll fucking eviscerate him myself if he does.
Glimpsing through the patio door, I force myself to contain my temper.
If Lex notices something is wrong, he’ll come out to see what this is about.
And I don’t want him near me right now. We’ve been wasting time here, using up days we don’t have for a solution we won’t find.
While we’ve been sitting with our thumbs in our asses, Becker still moves on us.
There’s no way in hell I’ll stay idle while my mom’s life is being threatened.
Lex needs to wake the fuck up. And I’ll help him open his eyes as best I can.
“Todo estará bien, mamá,” I say with determination.
“Lo prometes?”
“Si, mamá. Lo prometo.”
I stay a little longer on the phone with her, pacing the concrete slab to soothe my nerves.
By the time I hang up, I have a plan. If it all goes as I’m envisioning, then Lex will have to admit my idea isn’t as bad as he pretends.
I can get into that penthouse, and I can get the access and information we so desperately need.
He always, always, has the best intentions at heart, and I’ll forever love him for it. But right now, he needs a reality check. One I’ll force on him if that’s what it takes to protect my family.
Focusing on my phone again, I go to my contacts and find the one person capable of helping me out. She picks up on the third tone.
“?Hola?”
“Paola?”
“Sí.”
“Soy yo. La mujer del partido de fútbol. Tengo otro favor que pedirte.”
I’m done playing defense. Becker has been on top of us over and over. Now’s the time to be as ruthless as he is. No one comes after my mom and gets away with it.
He wants to play? I’ll play.