Page 6 of Love Above Law

"Do we have a problem here?" Santino asks in a bored tone striding up behind me. I'm just about to answer and tell him to keep his goon in check, but before I can get the words out of my mouth, my hair is grabbed from behind. Seeing a meaty hand coming at me from the corner of my eye, I brace myself for the blow. "No!" Santino orders just before palm meets face. "No marks. She's worth nothing to me if you mess up her pretty face, Hugo." He says, and I'm left wondering what the hell he means when he says I'm worth nothing to him if I'm roughed up. My questioning thoughts must be written all over my face because the man Santino calls Hugo gives me a knowing smirk; one that says he knows exactly what his boss is talking about. Masking my features, I return a smile of my own. One that says fuck you, I win this round.

Stepping inside the cabin of the plane with Santino leading the way and Hugo looming behind me, I take in my surroundings. This will be my first time flying. Peering over his shoulder at me Santino barks, "sit." I do as he says taking the seat furthest away from the door and away from Hugo. Just as I'm buckling my safety belt, a man appears through a door at the front of the airplane. "We take-off in five and will refuel in Miami before heading to Montana." At the mention of Montana; my brothers home state, I perk up. I try to listen to the low murmurs of Santino and Hugo's voices, but I'm unable to make out a word they are saying.

I'm not stupid enough to think these men will willingly hand me over to Gabriel once he agrees to do as they ask. I don't know much of how the world works, but I do know it's not that simple. Men like Santino don't play fair. And they don't live by the code of honoring their word. My only hope is my brother will be able to outsmart Santino. I have faith in Gabriel. It's that same faith that is keeping me calm now. I have to look at the bigger picture and hold on to the possibility of what the future may hold and not focus on the what ifs, or what may happen if Gabriel fails. The moment you lose faith and stop believing is the moment negative energy seeps in and takes over. There is no amount of distance or years between me and my brother that could make me lose my faith in him. I believe without a shadow of a doubt, Gabriel will come out on top.

Roughly ten hours later, we land in Montana. When we step off the plane, a gust of cold air hits my face, and I am not at all prepared for the climate change. My shorts and tank top do little to keep me warm. The weather in Montana is a far cry from the tropics of Cuba. I grit my teeth as a man steps out of a black SUV and offers both Santino and Hugo jackets yet doesn't spare me a second glance. But then again why would he. Why would any of these men care about my comfort? I'm merely a means to an end; a nobody. On the car ride to wherever our destination is, I take in what little I can as the sun begins to set behind the mountains. From what I can tell, Montana is beautiful. Once we pass a sign marked Polson City Limits, we come upon a small town.

In an instant, it dawns on me how close I am to my brother. Close yet so far away. Polson is his home and where his club is. All too quickly we pass the small town and are now driving down a winding road surrounded by nothing but trees. About a mile in we come upon a sizeable two-story cabin and the SUV parks in front of the home where there are three men perched at the front entrance. One of the men breaks away from his group and makes his way to my side of the car, opening the door. "Let's go," is all he says, and I comply by sliding out of the backseat. "I'll take her to her room," Hugo says stepping into my space but is swiftly cut off by his boss. "No. Mateo will handle the girl. You come with me, Hugo." I see irritation mare Hugo's face, and I release a sigh of relief as he does as he's told and walks off in the opposite direction with Santino.

Once inside, I cut my eyes around the house and do my best to take in the layout. To my left is a living room with large double doors that lead out to a patio; that's one exit. To my right, I see a kitchen. In there is a sliding glass door. That's exit number two. Exit three is the front entrance in which I just walked through. "Don't even think about getting any bright ideas, bitch." The man leading me through the house says as if he's reading my thoughts. "Even if you were lucky enough to make it outside, you wouldn't get five feet from this house before one of us was to put a bullet in you."

"Better dead than go through whatever your boss has planned for me," I retort.

"Hmmm," he hums. "Pretty and smart. Such a damn waste," the man states and confirms my suspicion that Santino's plans do not include handing me over to my brother and the thought causes dread to settle in my stomach.

Continuing down the hallway toward a set of stairs, I hear the voices of Santino and Hugo. "Don't make me remind you again, Hugo. You will keep your dick in your pants and your hands off the girl. If my suspicions are correct that she is pure, then she's going to be worth something."

"But you said," Hugo goes to protest.

"I know what the hell I said. But my plans for her have changed. Are you questioning my order, Hugo?"

"No, sir."

"Good. Now do as your told and don't forget what I said. The shipment goes out in a few weeks. I need to make arrangements for the lovely Ms. Martinez."

My heart feels like it's going to pound out of my chest at the little bit of conversation I just overheard. My body moves strictly on autopilot as I'm led up the stairs and into a bedroom. I faintly recall the door being shut behind me and locked from the outside. So many emotions come over me at this moment. But most of all I feel numb. I want to say I don't know what the conversation Santino had with Hugo meant, but I do. The words pure, arrangements, and worth play out in my mind. I also recall Santino not wanting Hugo to hit me. He didn't want me marked.

Several minutes pass before I finally take in the bedroom I'm currently standing in. There is a queen size bed along with an end table and lamps on either side. On the other end of the room is a dresser with an attached mirror. There is also an en-suite bathroom.

A couple of hours have passed, and though I'm incredibly sleepy, I pace the bedroom willing myself to stay awake. I'm scared to let my guard down. Suddenly, I hear someone turn the lock on the door just before it swings open and filling the space is Hugo. With a scowl on his ugly face, he tosses a bag onto the bed. Then without a word turns on his heel and leaves. Seconds later the smell of food hits my nose and my stomach grumbles. I hate accepting anything by these assholes, but I'm also no idiot.

* * *

It's been three days since I was taken from my home and held up behind the four walls of this bedroom. The only human interaction I've had is with Santino's men when they come by three times a day to bring me food. Each time it's the same song and dance. The door opens, the food tossed in—thrown at me like I'm some animal and then I am left alone once again. The only other time I've seen Santino was yesterday afternoon. He strolled into my room, held out a phone and ordered me to say hello to my brother. My hopes were short lived when I barely got a whole sentence out of my mouth before the phone was snatched away from my ear and Santino strolled back out of the room.

The only thing keeping me going right now is the fact that my brother now knows where I am. I know that much because as Santino was leaving my room, I heard him tell Gabriel he had me here in Polson. The bedroom door was then slammed shut and locked before I had the chance to overhear anything else.

I'm so lost in my thoughts I don't realize I'm no longer alone; that someone has come into my room—Hugo. "Let's go. You have a visitor." He spits the word 'visitor' out like it leaves a bad taste in his mouth. I want to ask questions, but I don't. I stand from where I'm sitting on the edge of the bed, hold my head high, and follow behind Hugo as he leads me downstairs.

When we come upon a closed door, he opens it then steps aside. When he does, I come face to face with someone I haven't seen since I was a little girl. Someone who no matter how much time has passed I would recognize his dark, yet warm eyes anywhere. "Hermano!" I sob and throw myself into Gabriel's strong arms.

Placing his finger under my chin, bringing my eyes to his, Gabriel questions, "have they touched or hurt you in any way?"

I shake my head. "No, they have been good to me. Did you come to take me home with you?"

"No, Hermana not today but soon. I need to handle some business for Santino first. Until then you have to stay here," he tells me, and my shoulders slump in disappointment. Gabriel then turns to a man standing to his left. A man with a bushy beard and blue eyes. He's wearing a vest like Gabriel's with a patch that says PREZ.

This man is not as tall as my brother but carries a fierce presence, and he says, "my men will make sure the shipment gets to where it needs to go. You make sure nothing happens to this girl," he points to me, "and that she is allowed to stay in contact with myself or her brother every day."

Just as Hugo goes to grab me, I hear a growl escape my brother's mouth. The warning causes Hugo to drop his meaty paw. Before I am led out of the room, my brother delivers a promise. "I promise I'll be back to get you soon." With his parting words, a sense of calm washes over me. My brother never breaks a promise.

5

Lex

We've been in Miami for less than twenty-four hours, and we've turned up no other leads. My palm presses against the cold tiled wall of the shower stall as the hot water cascades over the top of my head and down my back. Today we are hoping the judge will sign off on the search warrant so we can make a trip out to Santino's estate. Stamos isn't banking on it and neither am I. Mackey informed us yesterday that the last couple of times they've tried to search his home they were denied the warrant based on lack of evidence. From studying all the files, it doesn't surprise me, and I'm more than confident we won't come across anything useful today that will help us in the efforts.

Santino hasn't survived multiple attempts by law enforcement trying to take him down by being stupid. The man is very calculated with every move he makes and uses people under his employment as pawns. Each one is expendable. I'm not the only one that feels this way; we all do. We know who the brains of all the operations are, but without direct evidence, we can't touch the bastard, and that's what pisses me off. If you put a list together of the top five criminal masterminds behind hundreds of missing women, drug imports, black market weapons and many lifeless bodies, Santino ranks number three. Recently, those stats have started to climb. The number of women and even men and children missing has doubled.