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It all moved pretty fast. I heard a lot of yelling, Angela’s gun was taken out of her hands and she was handcuffed. A cop took her away and Castro gently led me out of the cave. His behavior was a massive change, so I guessed he must no longer want to hurt me. Or he’d been ordered not to.
I came blinking into the sun, the two lucies trailing behind. Ronnie gave his beloved a glorious wave as she was shoved unceremoniously into a waiting car.
‘I hope you get shanked and die of infection!’ he called lovingly, smiling and looking freer than I’d ever seen him.
I refrained from adding to that as Castro moved closer to me and sighed heavily.
‘I don’t like you, and I still think you’re a liar,’ he said conversationally, arms folded.
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I kept quiet. Instead, we both watched Angela’s sedan drive away.
‘But,’ he eventually went on, ‘you stuck to your story. And that’s more than I can say for a lot of witnesses. And cops, come to that.’
‘Okay...’
He looked at me suspiciously out the corner of his eye.
‘You have a lot of friends in high places. I still think you ought to be in jail right now, but my chief disagrees. He believes there’s something in what you say. Of course, he also believes in reiki, so I won’t be changing my mind soon. Not that he cares about that.’
Maybe we wouldn’t be coffee buddies, but we had a truce, I guess. It’s what I had with a lot of cops and authority figures. Plenty of distrust from all parties, but we kept it to ourselves. Until I did something stupid, of course.
‘I’ve also been informed that you won’t let go of this unless you know exactly what happened, and I’d rather you were far, far away from me. So,’ he sighed, peering at me, ‘what do you want to know?’
That was a turn for the books. With Ronnie still here, I probably would’ve had to break into the police station to get rid of him. I had to thank my lawyer.
‘Angela was involved in a cartel?’ I asked first. I only had the bare bones of her story, and I wanted to get at the juicy meat.
‘That’s right. Her husband’s boss got into drugs, she had an affair, wanted the drugs for herself. Ended up kicking her lover out and going up a few ranks herself. She was almost to the top when she killed Ronnie. It wasn’t one of the big cartels, but big enough.’
‘And where do you fit in to this?’ I probed.
‘I work vice.’
I waited. He groaned.
‘We’ve been operating undercover in this cartel for years now. It’s not easy to get to the top, but at least I can say I’ve never killed a man. Can you?’
I presumed he was talking about Jorge. I let it slide. The man was grieving.
‘George was a good guy, but he struggled a lot with the work,’ he continued, confirming my suspicions. ‘He was higher in the ranking than me, and it made him anxious. He knew what these people were capable of. He was afraid of them; we all were. They were already mistrusting. They wouldn’t have survived in that business if they weren’t. And that day you shouted out the name “George,” you condemned him to death.’
‘How did you know that?’
‘They told me.’
I knew he blamed me for it, but since my justification hadn’t worked out too well with Ronnie and George, I didn’t bother trying with his friend. I let the awkward moment pass, giving him time to mourn or whatever.
‘How did you know where I was?’ I asked, nodding at the cave.
‘We tailed your dad. He seemed like a soft sort, and I guessed he’d be wrapped around your little finger. I suggested the tail. We got here in time to tape her confession and save your life. You’re welcome, by the way,’ he sneered.
‘Ask him what’ll happen to Gelly. There better be enough evidence against her or I will never leave you alone, I swear,’ Ronnie threatened. Well, I couldn’t let that happen.
‘Is Angela going to jail? Like for definite, I mean. There’s no way she can be free after this, right?’
‘Scared?’ he grinned, finding real pleasure in that. ‘Yeah, she’s going away. Even if we hadn’t gotten her confession over killing her husband and her desire to kill you, we still had the suitcase of drugs. That alone would be enough to put her in jail for life.’
‘Woo! Thank God for-’ Ronnie managed to cheer before disappearing for good. George staggered back in alarm.
‘Yeah, that happens,’ I mumbled. Wish granted, adios amigo.
‘And there’s no doubt that she’ll crack under pressure and dish the dirt on her colleagues, too,’ Castro went on, oblivious. ‘She could meet them in the prison yard. She may not live to see her court date. They don’t like snitches.’
He seemed full of glee, which surprised me.
‘I thought you were dating?’
He shuddered, full of disgust.
‘God, no. I was her handler, that’s all. I was supposed to watch her, since my employers didn’t trust her. It was my job to ensure she gave us the money she’d promised, and the cocaine she’d supposedly misplaced. She hid that right under my nose. I didn’t think to check her suitcase twice. More fool me. Gotta say, I’m glad she never found the cash.’
My ears perked up. Thankfully he couldn’t see George, since he was jumping up and down like a yo-yo.
‘What do you think happened to it?’ I asked as casually as possible.
He shrugged.
‘I’ve heard a bit about her husband. If it’s all true, he probably tossed it in the ocean.’
‘That sounds like Ronnie,’ I agreed. I wondered why he didn’t do that in the first place.
Castro rolled his eyes.
‘I’ve read your file, you know. It’s pretty big for a kid who hasn’t been formally charged. I’m almost impressed. Plenty of destruction and robbery. Harassment. Not to mention the cartel you broke up only a week or so ago. Seems like it’s a recurring theme for you. What was the death toll? Four, and half of those cops?’
‘You shouldn’t have been able to do that. I’m underage, it’s locked,’ I said automatically.
‘Your lawyer let me read it. Part of my gagging order. I wanted to see what type of person I was dealing with.’
That pissed me off. Ken was supposed to be helping me, not my enemy. I was going to tell my dad to cut his wages.
‘And?’
‘I don’t know. You’re a hard girl to work out, Miss Brianna Mendes.’
‘I’m not like most girls,’ I said sarcastically.
‘You seem to be,’ he retorted. ‘Angry, emotional, “nobody understands me.” You got all that. But it’s this whole ghost-seeing thing I don’t get. You seem to have a happy home life, so it can’t be anything psychological. You seem to want to put yourself in danger, but why? And why aren’t you going for the big cases? This is local news at best.’
‘Maybe because I’m telling the truth?’ I countered.
‘Maybe that’s what you want people to think. No, I don’t know about you,’ he said again.
Join the club, I wanted to yell. A life spent helping out the cops to be called a misunderstood freak. Yeah, awesome. Thanks. You’re welcome, by the way. I solved this damn case.
‘So, it all worked out,’ I sighed, pointing out my amazing work.
Immediately, he glared at me, veins popping out of his forehead in rage.
‘You mean apart from the fact that an innocent man was tortured and killed?’
‘I already said I was sorry for that,’ I said, backing away in fear.
‘You think a simple apology would ever be enough? What the hell is wrong with you?’
How long you got, buddy? Turns out, not long enough. He stormed off in a huff, with nary a goodbye. And he called me angry and emotional? Puh-lease.
I turned to George to talk to my only friend in Miami, but he shook his head.
‘He’s coming back, shush,’ he warned me.
I awaited another barrage of insults from a grown man who should’ve known better.
I didn’t get it.
‘Lisa’s 32, with two kids,’ he began unexpectedly. Maybe he was a believer after all, and wanted my services. No, wait, I didn’t believe that. Something’s fishy. ‘She gave up her job in daycare to look after them full-time. She’s a good mom, really good. I know a lot of people say that, but I mean it. She’s never short with them, and she’d never stick them in front of the TV and do her own stuff. She dotes on them. She’s an astonishing woman.’
‘Go on,’ I indulged. I tilted my head, giving him my full attention. He seemed uncertain, and a little nervous, but he got into it.
‘She doesn’t have a big house, or many savings. Her parents are dead, and didn’t leave her much, anyway. But she never needed much. She had her family, which is what she always wanted. Sasha, the oldest, is starting school in the fall. She’s already super smart, counting up everything on her little colored abacus. She’s going to be a great mathematician one day.’
‘I’m sure she will,’ I cooed, busy wondering which one was dead.
‘And the little one, Jakey? Man, he’s a little ball of happiness. He’s hysterical. He laughs at anything, and his giggle brightens up everyone’s day,’ he chuckled dreamily.
That about described every toddler I’d ever met, so I simpered and waited.
‘You wanna see them?’ he asked.
As I hastily searched for an excuse not to, his hands started shuffling about in his pockets. He rustled up a battered photo and handed it to me. It was a family of four, typical photo. Cheery smiles from all as they stared into the camera. It looked to have been taken in a garden or something, because the background was green and shady and was decorated with roses.
Except the roses were... sticky. And weren’t flowers.
I shrieked and dropped the photo. He picked it up reverently, as if a bloodied photograph was a completely normal thing to give to someone.
‘You’ll notice that there’s another person there that I haven’t mentioned. Can you guess who it is?’
I could. He told me anyway.
‘That’s George Hernandez. AKA Jorge Garcia, you know? The guy whose life you snatched away? His wife is distraught, and she can’t even find the words to tell her children. Jakey hasn’t even said his first word yet. His daddy will never hear the word “daddy.” Does that mean anything to you?’
Thank you, Debbie Downer. Okay, I made a mistake. It’s not the first time, it won’t be the last. But he already said apologizing would be pointless. What exactly was I supposed to do here?
‘I can’t change the past,’ I told him.
He scoffed, and put the photo back in his jeans. He walked away, and this time didn’t come back.
‘Get the hell out of Miami,’ he called over his shoulder.
I was going to. It seemed like a hell of a good idea.
I just had one thing to do first.