Matias’handachedfromclenching the gun he held in his hand. The sweat dripped down his palm as he gripped the hard plastic and pressed the barrel against the piece of shit’s head tied to the chair in front of him.
“Last chance, Gringo. Tell us where it is.”
Matias watched as his brother, Bastian, gripped the man’s throat and squeezed. “Answer us, you piece ofshit.”
“Easy, Bastian. We can’t kill him yet. Not until he tells us where the lithium is.”
Bastian eased his hold on the man, allowing him to take a pained breath. Leaning into the man, Matias let the gun dig further into the tender flesh of his scalp.
“Who helped you move the goods?”
“I... I...” the man stuttered. “Can’t tell you. I'm as good as dead if I do.”
“You’re as good as dead now. Help yourself by telling me who took my shipment.”
Two weeks ago, a large shipment of lithium was stolen from the Silva brother’s shipping yard. Whoever was responsible, sliced thenight guard’s throat, and then the security system, leaving one of their own bleeding out on the cement floor. The thieves loaded the crates onto an awaiting boat, making off with nearly 25,000 pounds of mined lithium.
The idiot strapped to the chair had driven the car the night their lithium had been stolen. Someone on the Silva payroll had turned him in. Most people didn’t cross the Silva Family. They knew the brothers had no problem getting their hands dirty to protect or take what they wanted. The Silva’s had enough people in their pocket that flushing out information wasn’t hard.
“Please,” he begged, “don’t do this. I have a family.”
“You weren’t thinking about your family when you stole from us. Did you know you were taking from the Silva family when you dropped off your accomplice?”
“No. I swear!” His voice cracked. “They only told me they were taking back what was theirs. I did not know it belonged to you.”
“Everything in this town belongs to us. You and your friend stole three hundred and fifty thousand dollars from me. I want it back.” Matias spat at his feet, the gun itching against his palm to be fired. Killing was part of his job.As the head of the family organization, it was nothing for him to put a bullet in a traitor's head.
“We’re wasting our time.” Bastian forced him to his feet, causing the gun to pull Matias’ arm down. He stumbled forward. Bastian slammed the man against the metal wall and pulled a knife from his belt. “Tell us while you can still talk.” His fingers dug into his flesh as he gripped him in place. The knife pressed into the hollow of his throat, drawing a trickle of blood where the tip pierced the skin.
“No. I’d rather die by your hands, then risk my family’s life by theirs.”
Matias nodded to Bastian. “Go ahead. He isn’t going to be useful to us.” Bastian pushed the metal blade into his neck. Matias watched as blood covered his brother’s hands. “You could have spared yourself.”
The man flailed against Bastian’s hold, choking and gagging as he struggled for air. Bastian let go and watched as the man fell to the ground at his feet.
“I’ll call Marco to clean this up.” Matias slipped the gun back into the holster on his hip. “We need to dig into this bastard's past and see who he was connected to. Obviously,we are dealing with a major player if he will die for them.”
“Cristian seems to think it’s the Americans.”
“No. This doesn’t smell like them. We need to see who winds up with a shitload of lithium over the next few weeks. Chances are, it’ll be ours. I’m going to make a few phone calls, put some feelers out, and get this missing shipment on some friend’s radar. If it shows up in the states, we’ll know. I have a feeling it won’t, though.”
Bastian wiped the blade off on his pant leg. “You go on ahead. I’ll wait for Marco and meet up with you and Cristian later.”
“Fine. I’ll see you soon, Brother.”
Walking out of the metal building, Matias scanned the property. He was at one of several buildings they owned along the water. His family owned most of the land in San Pedro, making it easy to control the trade of lithium with other countries. Mostly, their business was legit. Well, except for the occasional killing.
Their father died a year ago from cancer, leaving Matias and his two brothers in charge of the family business. On the surface the business looked legal, but behind the scenes,they were selling lithium to whoever had the fattest wallet. The Silva’s controlled every mine from San Pedro to Sewell Mining Town where they mined copper. The mining had allowed their family to become the richest family in Chile.
And with money comes power.
With power comes enemies.
Matias didn’t think it was his father's intent to become a powerful syndicate in South America, but they were. Part of his father’s drive to be successful came from the loss of his mother. She died from sepsis not long after giving birth to his brother Bastian. The lack of money prevented them from getting her adequate care.
His father’s grief made him throw his life savings into the mining industry. It worked out well for them. Now they were one of the most feared and sought-after families. They controlled everyone and everything in Chile.
Matias climbed into his Audi SUV and gripped the steering wheel as he thought about the thief. When he found the scum who stole from them, hellfire would rain down on them. He eased the car into drive and headed away from the shipping yard toward his brother’s house. Security had been beefed up since thebreak-in to ensure no more thefts. Matias wasn’t about to lose anymore lithium—the dozen armed guards now lining the property would make sure of that.
