| |
Tino walked into the cantina in the Bohu distrio that he’d walked out of last night and apparently Cezar had not.
Garza had grilled him about where he’d gone last night. Being halfway truthful he said to find out about Hector’s death. Which is what had taken him to the Bohu cantina. When he told Garza he’d not learned anything yet, he’d also been given the task of finding Cezar.
He was pretty sure if he found Garza’s righthand man; Cezar wouldn’t be alive.
Luis stood at the bar talking with his flunkies. His gaze met Tino’s in the mirror behind the bar when he’d crossed half the nearly empty room.
“Now what do you want? You cause me nothing but trouble.” Luis turned to Tino as he walked up to the bar and pointed to the counter in front of him.
The bartender slid a shot glass into his hand. Tino downed the tequila and faced Luis.
“Garza can’t find his righthand man. Do you happen to know where I can find Cezar? The last I saw him was in here.”
Luis’s eyes narrowed. “Did you tell Garza?”
“Why would I do that? It would also tell him I was in here. I have no plan to rat out Hadda, but I do plan on taking Cezar’s place. I need to find him.”
Luis laughed. “You can find that bastard in an alley in the Alvarez distrio.”
“Dead?”
“Sí.” Luis snapped his fingers and a shot of tequila slid in front of him. “That bastard grabbed my sister and thought he could persuade me to tell him who my informant was inside Garza’s organization.” He looked Tino up and down. “I would have fed you to him if I had thought you would not turn Hadda in to save your skin.”
“Luis, by killing Cezar you did both of us a favor. I can control what Garza knows and keep Hadda safe, and you will have an inside man instead of a young woman, feeding you information.” Tino backed away. “Could you give me a street to start my search?”
“José Martí.”
“Gracias.”
Tino exited the cantina and on his way to the Alvarez distrio called Garza.
“Señor Garza, I have reason to believe the Alvarez brothers have Cezar. I will let you know what I find out.”
“Is he alive or dead?” The unemotional question told Tino he had a chance of becoming Garza’s new righthand man. Garza expected loyalty from his men but he did not return it.
“Word has it he is dead.”
Garza cursed and hung up the phone.
Tino smiled and dialed Rico. He filled him in and asked him to pay a couple prostitutas to keep the Alvarez boys busy until he located Cezar and retrieved his body. He really didn’t want to run into their thugs and have to battle his way out of the area with Cezar’s lifeless body slowing him down.
The fourth alley in the Alvarez distrio off José Martí, Tino found Cezar’s beaten body. He couldn’t tell if there were any bullet holes in him, he was so puffy and discolored. The only reason he knew it was Cezar was the clothing. The body had the same outfit the man had worn when he came into the cantina the night before.
He loaded the body into the back seat of his SUV and headed back to Garza’s. He punched in Rico’s number. “I have the body.”
“You know you should give it to the authorities.”
“Sí.”
“But you are not.”
“No, I am not. If I take this body back to Garza, I will be his new righthand man. I will know everything he is doing in his organization, and we will take him down.” For the first time in a very long time Tino felt he was finally going to seek the revenge he’d ate, slept, and breathed for so many years.
“As an officer of the law, you are sworn to turn that body in.” Rico’s voice didn’t condemn but it held a note of authority.
“Forget I talked to you today.” Tino pressed the end button on his phone and smiled as he swung the vehicle up to the compound gates. Soon, very soon he’d be out of Mexico and basking in the Arizona sun with Isabella.
He shot a glance at his watch. Three. She was probably still in the house somewhere. His gut clenched. He had to avoid her. They couldn’t chance a meeting with Garza around. He dissected everyone around him watching their actions and translating their motives.
Tino parked the SUV in the garage. Diego and Cruz walked up to the vehicle. The hesitation in their steps and fear in their eyes proved they’d been told what he brought back.
Opening the side door, Tino stepped back. “Did Jefe say what to do with the body?”
“Put him in his bed and the doctor will be here to examine him soon,” Diego said, making the sign of the cross over his chest.
“Then help me carry him up the stairs. He is not light.” Tino grabbed Cezar’s arm and pulled him out the door. His body dropped to the concrete floor. He didn’t see a need to be too careful with the man. His body was already badly bruised, and he hadn’t been a nice man while alive.
He picked up one arm and motioned with his head for the other two to grab something. They both cautiously closed the distance between them and the body. Diego took the other arm and Cruz took the feet. With a shuffling gait they packed the hefty Cezar up the stairs and dumped him onto his bed. He was the only one who had a separate room.
Tino scanned the room. This could be his as soon as the body was removed. Would they have another sit-in here at the compound until the burial?
“Did Cezar have family that should be notified?” he asked Diego.
“He never talked of any. But Garza will know.” Diego was edging his way to the door.
“Shouldn’t one of you sit with him?” Tino doubted the custom of sitting with the dead was ignored because the dead person was bad.
They both shook their heads.
“I have to report to Garza, so one of you needs to at least watch the outside door until the doctor arrives.”
Cruz nodded and stepped to the side, allowing Tino and Diego to exit.
Tino hurried down the stairs and into the main house. Purposeful strides took him through the atrium and down the hall to the office. He knocked and waited for a response.
“¿Si?” Garza’s gruff voice told of his unfavorable mood.
Tino entered the room, shut the door firmly behind him, and advanced to the front of Garza’s desk.
“You brought Cezar back?”
“Sí. He was in an alley in the Alvarez distrio.”
“Did you encounter any of their people?”
“No, it was not far enough in and I was cautious as I searched.”
Garza ran a hand over his tired face and slammed a fist onto his desk. “What was Cezar doing in their distrio? He would know going in there alone was stupid.”
“Perhaps he was the one who leaked information to the Alvarez and Bohu gangs. If the Alvarez brothers learned he had also been working with the Bohu’s, they would want him dead.” Tino didn’t know the truth and didn’t care the small gangs were stealing Garza’s product. He only wanted to stir the pot and get Garza so riled up he made mistakes. Ones the DEA could use to nab him.
As his suggestion rolled around in the drug lord’s mind, Garza’s eyes glazed over and his face reddened. “He and my wife are the only people, other than you the other day who have access to the business schedules.” He slammed his fist on the desk again. “How stupid I have been not to see his duplicity.”
His gaze smoldered as he peered at Tino. “You are my new righthand man, but be warned, I will not allow you as many privileges as Cezar had. I have learned foolishly that you can no longer depend on loyalty in a world of greed.”
Tino nodded solemnly as inside excitement flipped around in his stomach like a slippery fish. “Did Cezar have family that needs to be notified?”
“Once the doctor has examined him, we will call his family and they can take the body away.” Garza peered at him. “Could you tell the means of death?”
“His body was badly beaten and bloody. I could not see a bullet hole but his body was misshapen, so it was hard to tell.”
Garza smiled. “Then he received what he deserved for being a traitor.”
A chill chased down Tino’s back at the man’s perverse pleasure in Cezar’s painful death.
The drug lord shuffled papers on his desk. “We have a shipment coming in tonight. I want you and Diego to make sure it arrives without problems.”
Tino nodded and tried hard to listen as Garza filled him in on the latest shipment. After all these years, tonight could be the night he finally took down his family’s killer.
~*~
Isabella found Karyme’s excitement over her bits and pieces of the past to be contagious. She hadn’t realized the time until a young maid appeared at the door and said dinner would be served in ten minutes.
“You must stay for dinner. I know Paolo would not mind.” Karyme replaced the shard of a bowl back in the slot she’d extracted it from.
Isabella’s stomach twisted with dread at the thought of sitting through a meal with Garza watching her every move. “Thank you for the offer, but I really have to return to the hostel and type up the notes I made this morning for my research paper. I only have one more week, and I’ll return to the university. I need to have all my facts and information legible so I can write my paper.”
Karyme studied her. “My husband makes you nervous.”
She couldn’t lie about that. “Yes. He has such an intense stare it makes me nervous.”
Karyme laughed. “It was that intensity in his eyes that made me want to make him laugh. And when he did, it was like the angels had fallen from heaven and given me a gift.” Her eyes turned dreamy. “I hope that someday you find a man that makes you feel the same.”
Isabella thought of Tino and knew she had found her gift. “Me, too,” she said and slung her tote bag over her shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow. We need to get to the carvings.”
Karyme’s face stilled a moment before she smiled. “Sí. We will box up the carvings tomorrow.” Karyme followed her out the door and walked beside her as they descended the stairs.
At the bottom of the staircase, Karyme placed a hand on her arm. “Wait here, and I will find someone to drive you back to the hostel.”
“That’s not necessary. I can call a cab.” Isabella drew the phone Tino gave her from her pocket.
“No, I insist. You should not be spending money for a taxi when I have invited you here to help me. Wait. I will find someone quickly.”
Isabella returned the phone to her pocket and walked toward the door. Through a window alongside the door she noticed what looked like a black hearse backed up to the garage. Had Tino found Cezar dead? She moved closer and stared out the window, watching a covered body be slipped into the vehicle and several men including Tino talking to a man holding a doctor’s bag.
A shiver slithered up her spine, and she spun from the sight. Garza stood on the stairway watching her. His brows were drawn together and his lips formed a firm line. Was looking out the window a transgression in this house?
His silent observation annoyed and scared her.
Feeling a need to explain her presence at the door, she said, “Your wife went to find someone to give me a ride back to the hostel.” Her tone while not as strong as she’d have liked rang a bit on the confrontational side.
“I am surprised to see you here today. I thought Karyme called and canceled due to the death in her family.” Garza slowly descended the last three steps giving her the feeling he was a cat on the prowl of his next meal.
“I heard about the death at the hostel, but when Karyme didn’t call and cancel, I came and she was happy I did.” Isabella shored up her back and didn’t budge as he stopped nearly toe to toe with her. His mustache twitched like an animal testing the air.
“There you are, Paolo.” Karyme walked into the atrium. “I would like one of your men to take Isabella home. She refuses to stay for dinner, and I refuse to let her spend her money on a taxi.” She slipped her arm around her husband’s and smiled up at him.
“I am a bit short on men right now, Karyme. But I could take her back to her hostel.”
Isabella’s stomach nearly jumped up her throat at the thought of riding in a car alone with the man. Not to mention the chance Tino would go ballistic and ruin his cover.
“I really don’t want to be an inconvenience. I’ll call a taxi.” She pulled out the phone and tried to focus on the contacts. Rico had put in several numbers of places she might need. A taxi service was one of them. She punched the number as Karyme stepped toward her, reaching for the phone.
“No, it is not necessary.”
“I don’t mind. And I don’t want to interrupt your dinner.” She backed away as someone answered her call. “Sí, I would like a taxi to pick me up at señor Paolo Garza’s.”
The voice on the other end sounded familiar as it rattled off the address.
“Sí.” She kept her expression neutral as she turned the phone off. “They have someone only five minutes away. I’ll wait at the gates so I don’t further delay your meal.”
“That is not necessary.” Karyme waved toward the door. “The person at the gate will allow the taxi in. We will wait with you on the veranda. It is lovely this time of evening.”
Isabella wasn’t sure where the veranda was, but hoped the taxi she called came quickly.
“Splendid idea.” Garza started into the ballroom with Karyme on his arm and his wife, tugging on Isabella’s arm.
The girl named Hadda appeared.
“Hadda, bring sangría out to the veranda. We are going to sit with Dr. Mumphrey until her taxi arrives,” Karyme said as they continued through the room and out a door on the left side.
This was an area Isabella was unfamiliar with. But now remembered these doors and the doors across the room were open the night she’d visited for Karyme’s party. She’d sat and visited with the woman and not milled around, otherwise, she would have known where the veranda was located.
The tiled porch was shaded with a breeze blowing through a bush with fragrant magenta blooms. A patio table and four chairs sat in the middle of the shaded area.
Paolo held a chair for his wife and then moved to one by her side, indicating for Isabella to sit. She did, making sure she didn’t touch the man for fear he’d feel the nerves skittering up and down her skin.
Hadda returned with a pitcher of the fruity drink and three glasses.
“Gracias, Hadda.” Karyme filled one stemmed glass, straining the fruit, and handed it to Isabella. “Isabella is anxious to see the carvings we are to package for shipping.”
The matter of fact way she commented sent more chills up Isabella’s spine. Why had her mention of the carvings upset the woman? Was it because she showed more interest in the carvings than her bits and pieces?
Garza’s intense stare shot her heart up into her throat. “Did you tell her we were told they were from the Aztec Triple Alliance in the 1400’s?”
Isabella sat forward in her chair. “You have carvings of Itzcoatl, Nezahualcouotl, and Totoquilhauztli?” Vibrations of excitement shoved her jittering nerves to the side. “That was a historic period in Aztec history.”
Karyme chortled. “You are well educated in our history. Your enthusiasm is admirable. We are hoping you can tell us if what we have is truly the three kings.”
“Have you done carbon dating?”
“Sí. They are old enough, but we want to make sure the carvings are of the alliance and not some other historical event.” Karyme sipped her drink.
Isabella nodded. There would be a huge difference in the price and historical significance if the carvings depicted the alliance. She would need reference books to help her discover the truth about the carvings. A thought struck her.
“If I am helping you box them to send somewhere, why not have that museum authenticate the pieces?”
Señor Garza cleared his throat. “If they are more valuable than we first thought, I need to secure more insurance, and we may want to request higher security for them while they are on display.”
She agreed. If they were from the alliance, they would be worth millions and every archeologist and anthropologist interested in the Mesoamerican history would want to study them.
“I’ll bring books with me tomorrow to help research the authenticity.”
Hadda walked onto the veranda. “The taxi is here.”
Isabella stood. Her nerves had dissipated with her excitement. She smiled at her hosts. “Gracias. I will see you tomorrow at one.”
“We’ll send a car for you and make sure you have a ride back,” Karyme said.
“That isn’t—”
The woman scowled. “It is necessary.” The scowl softened and she smiled. “If you discover what we believe to be the truth, we will owe you considerable.”
The woman was showing more sides to her today than she had at their initial encounter. Was the stress of losing her nephew wearing on her? She’d shown more hard edges and not such a soft demeanor.
Isabella followed Hadda to the front door. Her step faltered when her gaze landed on Rico leaning against a cab. That was the voice she’d recognized. Did he sit in the neighborhood in a cab waiting for her to call?
He jumped to attention as she exited the house and opened the back passenger door.
“Gracias,” she said when she had so much more she wanted to ask. But she knew to show any sign of recognition, even though señor Garza was in the back of the house, could put them both in danger.
Rico sauntered around to the driver’s door and dropped into the seat as if he had all day. He started the car and pulled out of the driveway. The hearse was gone and the only person she saw was the man standing guard at the gate. Once they pulled onto the residential street, she let out a sigh of relief and peered into the rearview mirror. Rico’s chocolate brown eyes peered back at her.
“Did you have a nice time with the Garzas today?” The censure in his tone added to the anxiety that had washed over her during some of the conversations today.
“Not really. It’s hard to watch what I say and analyze their words and actions. It’s downright exhausting. I don’t know how Tino can live like that.”
“You get used to it. Did you learn anything to help you?”
He was prying to find out what she was here to discover.
“I’m not sure. How is it you happened to be the taxi on my phone?” She raised an accusing eyebrow.
He merely grinned a toothy, and any other time, charming smile. “I added that number so you would have a secure taxi. I figured Tino would owe me for keeping tabs on you.” He winked.
“I appreciate the fact you are looking out for me, and I’m glad I could feel safe on the ride home.” She shivered.
His eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“Señora Garza said she would send a car for me tomorrow and it would take me home as well.” She stared into his probing gaze. “I don’t like them having that much control over my activities.”
“I know the agency they use. I will get one of our men to be the driver, but you cannot talk to him as you are talking to me. He will know nothing of your connection to anything other than the museum.”
The relief of knowing she wouldn’t be in the hands of someone the Garza’s controlled gushed through her like a wave of warm air. “Gracias! I don’t like feeling watched all the time.”
He pulled to the curb at the hostel. “Be careful with those two. The wife has a reputation for being sweet, but it’s hard to believe a sweet woman would be married to that man.”
Isabella stared at him. “That’s my feelings. And today...a couple of times she dropped her cover, and I saw a more calculating side to her. I will not underestimate either one.”
Rico twisted, putting an arm across the seat and looking into her eyes. “You need to keep that attitude toward everyone you meet.”
His warning brought up someone she wanted to know about. “There has been a young man hanging around the hostel. His name is Alphonso. He’s the cousin to the desk clerk, Felix. I think he’s part of the Bohu gang and for some reason he’s always ready and willing to do errands for me.”
Rico nodded. “I will look into this man.” He spun to the door and exited, coming around to her door. He opened it and held out a hand to help her.
“Gracias. I have lots to do before I go back to the Garza’s tomorrow. I appreciate the ride and the visit.”
“De nada. If Tino trusts your instincts and you can help us take down the Garza Empire, then I will be at your service.” He closed the door and walked to the driver’s door.
Isabella didn’t watch him drive away. She would eat while she was here, then change and head to the museum. From her conversation with Karyme today, she believed she knew who was stealing the artifacts.