“Perhaps it’s one of our employees or colleagues’ partners, but I can’t think of anyone who I could tell you to suspect.”
Joaquin nods. “I’ll still investigate all of them. You never know who you might find during a game of leapfrog.”
A knock interrupts whatever Joaquin was going to say next. He’s slightly closer to the suite’s door, so he goes over and opens it. Where I’m sitting allows me to see there’s a package in the guard’s hands. I can’t believe we are going through this yet again.
What the fuck now?
I don’t want to look as he comes back to us. Nausea washes over me, but I know I have to. Joaquin looks at Jorge, who nods. Joaquin flips open the lid of the box and reaches inside. I think I might vomit. Fortunately, he pulls out a sheet of paper before handing it to me and closing the box. It’s in German, and I know Jorge is the only member of his family who speaks the language.
We hear everything just like we see everything.
So, it’s an ear. I can handle seeing that even though the thought turns my stomach over. I reach for the box, but Jorge takes it instead. He lifts the lid just enough for me to peek in. But immediately I’m questioning whether that could be my father’s. For starters, it looks too big to be his. I push the lid back, and Jorge allows it to open all the way.
“Can I touch it?” I can’t believe I just uttered those words, but I need a closer look.
“Let me,chiquita.”
He glances toward his cousin and brother. I don’t understand the warning expression he shoots them. He pulls the ear out, letting it rest flat on his palm. He brings it as close to me as he dares.
“What’s that mark on the lobe? It looks like it could be a scarred piercing. Can you turn it over?”
I take the box from him, so he can use both hands. There’s definitely a corresponding mark on the back of the ear, so itcould be the other healed hole. I look over at Alejandro and Joaquin before meeting Jorge’s gaze.
“My father’s never had a pierced ear. I don’t think this is his. Do you think they’re torturing someone else, or could this be from a cadaver or something?”
Jorge’s reluctant to answer that, but he shakes his head. “They might be torturing someone else, but since we don’t know who this is, I couldn’t say whether this is standard intimidation for them or just a one-off. It looks like it’s not as fresh as the hand.”
He clearly didn’t want to explain any of that to me, but I appreciate that he did. Maybe they cut this ear off Papa the very first day, or maybe this was somebody’s leftover corpse.
“Jorge, why would they send this and the pig’s eye with no new demands? The million euros we supposedly transferred seems to have bought us time. This is intimidating as much as it is revolting, but I’d think they’d want something from me. We haven’t progressed past this idle waiting and periodic threats.”
“It’s to keep you on edge, to wear you down through fear. That’d be when they make their demand. When you’re too emotionally exhausted to put up an argument. You’ll be so desperate to get your father back, you’ll agree to just about anything.”
“Is nowhere safe?” That desperation Jorge just mentioned feels like it’s about to take hold.
“We need to get Liesel somewhere else. It needs to be somewhere we can better control. There are too many variables here for us to know what everyone is up to.”
“I’ll make it happen.”
Alejandro pulls his phone out and steps over to the workspace. His voice is low, so it’s just a soft murmur to me. I can’t make out what he’s saying. Joaquin pulls out his laptop, and it’s only a couple minutes later that he’s turning it to showJorge and me what appears to be phone logs. The three of us move to the dining room table, and Jorge settles the laptop between us.
“I finally gained access to your father’s phone records. This is a list of phone numbers he’s called within the last two months. I have the actual records that show the dates and times. I wondered if you’d recognize any of these that I haven’t been able to identify. About half of them go to burners.”
I can see where he wrote that beside the phone number, but there’re still ten or so numbers with no information next to them. In this day and age, there aren’t too many phone numbers I have memorized anymore. Not when I have contact lists connected to my phone, email, and customer management records.
I shift and pull my phone from my pocket and unlock it. I start to search to see if I’ve called any of them before. None of them match my call history. I move over to my text messages and then my WhatsApp. It’s still coming up with nothing.
“Do you think he could have other phones? If he’s getting calls from all of these burners, perhaps he has some of his own that he’s using.”
“You know your father better than I do, Liesel. Does that seem probable to you?”
“Yes, it does. I never would’ve said that before this started. But now it seems highly probable. I don’t know that he’d keep them at the house. I doubt he’s said anything to my mom. We could ask her. My guess is they’re in his office, and she knows nothing. If I’m supposed to be out sick, I can’t easily slip in and poke around.”
Jorge’s hand covers mine, and he gives it a squeeze. “We’ll send men tonight disguised as cleaners or maintenance. They’ll go through the whole office looking for any other devices. They’llsearch everywhere, not just your father’s office. They’ll look in every employee’s cubicle or office.”
“I have a place lined up for us.”
Alejandro walks back over before Jorge and I decide whether to ask my mom. For right now, I’ll stick to keeping this among the four of us. I can’t believe Alejandro already has a place lined up for us. Who do they know here who can make a safe house appear in less than five minutes?
