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 nearly2:00 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.”
