Page 71 of High

He pursed his lips, eyes blazing, but he stepped back again.

I met Estován a few doors down and crossed my arms, leaning against the wall. “Antonio Méndez.”

“Of course it fucking was. I’ve always warned Luis about him. I told your papá that he was no good.” He shook his head, cursing more in Spanish, and dropped his face into his hands, running his palms over his cheeks. “Maldito pendejo.”

“Did Pasqual tell you that I took Manny from him?”

Pasqual, my cousin and his son, was always keeping his father up to date because I asked him to. It was best to keep Estován ready in case we ever needed his legal services or advice.

He nodded. “He told me. I thought Antonio would retaliate, but not like this. Fuck. What’s your next move?”

I glanced toward Mamá’s room, making sure Manny didn’t come out, and sighed. “Rafael has sicarios hired. I’ve asked them to bring him to me alive. If that bastard dies, it’ll be at my hand.”

“Hasn’t been successful, then?” he asked, mouth pursed. “Maybe it’s easier just to put a bullet in his head or blow him up. You know Pasqual is good at making things go boom.”

“I know, but I want him for myself.” I curled my hands into fists. “Especially after this. Attacking me is one thing, Tío Estován, but Mamá is a whole new ball game.”

“Sí, entiendo.” He stroked his black-and-silver beard in thought. “Well, you know what you have to do, sobrino.”

“Yes. Yes, I do.” I sighed and straightened, patting him on the shoulder. “Go see Mamá, I’ll be back soon.”

I didn’t wait for him to say anything before I turned and walked back down the hallway and to the nurses’ station. I asked for Tadeo’s room number and they gave it to me, a floor down from us. The elevator ride was shorter than before, and when I walked out onto the second floor, I found Rafael standing in the hallway, holding his mother and speaking quietly to her as she sobbed.

He paused when he saw me and said something to her. She looked up at me and smiled, rushing forward. I brought her into a hug and kissed her forehead.

“Hola, Tía Yolanda.”

“Hola chiquito. How’s your mamá?” She ran a hand over my face and brushed my hair back from my forehead. Tía Yolanda was my papá’s sister and she looked every bit like him, except feminine. She had the same round face and big blue eyes, with a wide mouth and narrow nose. In turn, I looked like her because of her likeness to my father. If someone didn’t know she was my aunt, they might have confused her for my mother.

“She’s doing okay. Manny and Arlo are with her.”

“Good, good.” She smiled and I felt a tenderness rush through me, a reminder that even though I’d been mad at him, I still missed Papá. Estován didn’t have that warmth to him. He’d broken away emotionally from his family long ago, and even his children had more of a closeness to us than he did.

“How’s Tadeo?” I asked.

“Sore and sorry for himself, but he’s fine.” She glanced between me and Rafael and chuckled quietly. “I don’t think it’s me you want to talk to. I really wish you’d visit more often, cariño. I miss you.”

“I know, Tía. I’ve been busy.”

She shook her head and her curls bounced with the movement. Patting me on the cheek again, she said, “I know,” before she walked into Tadeo’s room. I watched her go, and when she closed the door behind her, I stepped closer to Rafael.

“Estován is here. Arlo called him.”

Rafael frowned and crossed his arms. “Probably hoping she’d die and is here to see if he can get any money out of it, like he did when your papá died.”

I rolled my eyes. That was Estován. Money hungry even though he hadn’t done any real work, as though keeping our cartel secrets was enough. Luckily his children Pasqual, Felice, and Marcellino were a good bunch who worked hard for us, each with their own areas of expertise.

“I need you to contact the sicarios. Double the bounty. Tell them I will triple it if they bring me Antonio in the next month.”

He frowned. “Thiago, don’t get impatient. Your father taught us that.”

“I know, but this is different. This is not just personal, it’s a message I need to teach. He can’t come into my home and hurt my family and think he can get away with it.” Rage boiled in my guts and I clenched my jaw hard. “I’m going to cut off every one of his limbs while he’s alive and make him feel that pain.”

Rafael sighed. He knew when he could fight with me about something and when he couldn’t. “All right. I’ll let them know.”

I slapped him on the shoulder. “I’m going to get Arlo to take Manny home and spend some time here with Mamá. Do you want to go home?”

“No, I’ll stay here too. I called Joaquin and let him know what’s happened, told him not to come home because Tadeo’s fine.”