That’s why he stood at the window with his back to the door when Juan Martinez was escorted into his home office by three of his men.
Abundio didn’t turn, at first. “Thank you for accepting my invitation and joining me tonight,” he said.
“Y-yes, sir.”
Abundio finally turned and saw two of his men had the guy by each arm. They’d given him a robe to wear and the third man stood by the office door with a garbage bag in hand containing the man’s things.
“I will get right to the point—you worked for my nephew, Manuel Segura, and his brother Raul. Did you not?”
The man nodded. “For four years, sir.”
“And you were at the wedding where Raul was murdered?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Were you a witness to Raul’s murder?”
“Not directly, sir. I was stationed at the other end of the house. By the time I reached the room where it happened, the shooter was gone.”
“Did you see video footage of the shooting?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you think you could identify the man?”
“I am not certain, sir. It happened very quickly and the room wasn’t well-lit. It was his daughter’s wedding and she’d wished to be married by candlelight.”
“And what did he say to Raul when he shot him?”
“Based on what others told me, he said his name was Joaquin Carlomarles, and that he was taking blood for their family because of what Raul had…” He now looked terrified to continue.
“Because of the barbarism my nephew unleashed on an innocent girl?”
The man nodded.
“Did he use the word ‘family’ when he shot Raul?”
The man thought about it. “No, I believe he used the word ‘pack.’ But he spoke so quickly and low that I could be wrong.”
“I want your honest opinion of Raul.”
“Sir?”
“I mean it.”
Martinez went pale. “I did not know him very well. I worked for Manuel, and he seemed to love his brother. But Raul… I heard things. Disturbing things. Such as this was not the first girl he’d abducted, raped, and murdered. Manuel’s men who had been with him far longer than I had, who knew those things, were growing tired of Manuel permitting his brother to get away with it. I will not say I’m sorry Raul’s gone, because that would be a lie. I have a daughter and there’s no way I would have let her anywhere near Raul.”
Abundio slowly nodded. “That is understandable,” Abundio finally said. “Do you believe it’s possible Manuel killed his men? The ones who disappeared when they went to the United States with him?”
He already knew Manuel’s story, that the group of people whose compound they tried to infiltrate in Idaho captured and killed them.
And that those people were capable of turning into wolves, but Abundio still believedthatwas bullshit.
Mostly.
“I-I don’t know, sir. That is what people are saying. Not even the pilot returned. If Manuel ever returned, there are many families who want a piece of him for not telling them the truth about where their loved ones are or what happened to them.”
And this was the other reason Abundio wanted to speak with the man. Abundio had worried that people might come after him since he was the men’s uncle. Believing that he might know what was going on.
