“I know.”
“Then why aren’t you happier?” Grim asked.
“Can we not talk about it?” I pulled into the parking lot, fed the meter and we both entered the hospital. I showed my badge at the front and someone escorted me to Jeffrey’s room. Outside the room, a uniformed officer stood guard. Once more, I flashed my badge, Grim gave the officer a bit of a break and I went in to speak with Jeffrey.
“Didn’t I tell you I don’t want to see you?” Jeffrey asked.
“I don’t care what you want.” I told him.
“I bet that’s what you said to my daughter.” Jeffrey pushed to his feet.
“Sit your ass down.” I snapped. “Or I’ll make you.”
Jeffrey paused but fell back onto the bed. He grunted but I ignored him.
“You’re the reason I’m here.” I told him. “You stole from a known drug cartel and didn’t think they would come for you?”
“I was careful.”
“Is that what you told your wife to make her stay?” I countered. “Is that what you’re going to say to your daughter when you have to explain to her why her mother’s dead? What about when Lilo grows up and wants to know why he doesn’t have a grandmother like a regular kid? Why his mother is in the ground and why he’s alone?”
“Wait—what do you mean my wife is dead.”
“They came looking for you, Jeffrey. These men don’t care. They slash and burn and destroy everything in their paths. That includes men, women, children.”
Jeffrey was visible shaken, but I couldn’t muster up enough fucks to give.
“I have some questions for you.” I pulled up a chair.
“Now?”
“Yes.” I replied. “I need to know where Otis held you—you may not know addresses but tell me every little thing—smells, sounds, voices…”
“There wasn’t anything special about the places.” Jeffrey’s voice was soft. “I was blindfolded and when I wasn’t my eyes were too swollen.”
“What did they want to know?”
“Um—”
“Now is not the time to lie or hide things from me.” I reminded him. “Because I will dig through your life, burning it to the ground if I have to. This guy will not come for Ellie or Lilo again.”
Jeffrey stared at me but said nothing.
“I’m not going to ask you again.”
“They wanted to know where I had the drugs.” Jeffrey admitted. “I lost it—all of it.”
“Lost it?”
“We were leaving the comuna and there was an accident.” He told me. “Rodrigo and I managed to get out, but the car burst into flames before we could grab anything from it.”
“So, let me get this straight.” I wanted to kick his ass for breathing. “You did all this, got your wife killed, your daughter shot, your son almost starved to dead for drugs that is unrecoverable?”
Jeffrey rose and walked over to the window. He folded his arms across his chest and stared out at the slowly waning day. “That wasn’t the plan.”
“No shit, Sherlock.” I rubbed my eyes. “You do know he won’t stop, right?”
“I gathered.”
