Sizzle (21 page)

And tell her that she has a granddaughter.

Alex

ALL I CAN DO
is be thankful that Gabriella takes over with Kiley. When Gabriella walked into the kitchen, I was doing my best to wipe juice off Kiley’s face and fingers. In Spanish Gabriella let me know exactly what I was doing wrong. Apparently I needed more water on the paper towel that is now stuck to the child’s fingers. I made my escape as soon as possible.

Then, things went from bad to worse. I received a call from the men I sent to Antigua. Manuel is dead and Danita nowhere to be found. I have Cal using his computer skills and checking airline manifests. Thankfully, the flights out of Antigua are limited to only a handful of airlines. Of course, there’s always the ocean. That escape route will be harder to track. Danita isn’t stupid, so I expect none of this to be easy.

With Kiley in Gabriella’s capable hands, I drive to Manuel’s wife and inform her of his death. They’d been married for ten years and don’t have any children. Giving her the news is bad enough and I shouldn’t be relieved she has no children to fall back on but I am. I call in reinforcements and several of the women associated with the men who work for us stay with her. They are wives and girlfriends and this isn’t the first time they’ve comforted a new widow. In the world we live in, it won’t be the last.

I spend the remainder of the day dealing with the team in Antiqua. After dinner, Kiley goes to bed with Gabriella. Moon and I sit down to discuss the situation. We make phone calls and organize everyone. The team in Antigua will stay there over the next few days in case Danita surfaces. I put two extra men on Celina and her mom with Rack leading the team.

Madison joins us after she returns from a short visit with Manuel’s widow. She doesn’t ask that we handle Danita with kid gloves. She’s angry that Manuel is dead because Danita is alive. Moon and I knew Danita was a ticking time bomb and we could have quietly taken care of the problem months ago. Manuel’s death is on all three of us. When we find Danita, she’ll be taken care of. The bitch has had it coming for a long time.

Moon and I are up until the early morning hours. I go to bed and for the first time in three days, the images come at me full force. I need Celina to chase them away. I ache for her and what she’s going through. I let the slideshow play and grit my teeth against the memories.

I sleep little and wake up in a sour mood with little or no patience. The only bright spot in the early part of the day is a quick conversation with Celina. When I checked my phone and saw it was her calling, I gave a heavy sigh of relief. Her sadness is evident but her voice lifts my spirits. She’s safe and that’s what matters most right now. I hit the gym after the call ends and relieve some more stress.

Not that I can tell now. In a few minutes, the meeting between Corbin and Moon goes down. The restaurant is a sushi bar in Scottsdale. Moon reserved a private room. Corbin will have three men and so will Moon. All of us are armed. It’s one of the benefits about Arizona. If the meeting took place in Cali, it would be a different story. Oh, we’d be armed. It would just be more subtle. Most states aren’t as accommodating to concealed carry as Arizona. California is on the opposite end of the “guns are our Constitutional right” spectrum and permits are required and not especially easy to obtain.

As we leave the vehicle, there’s no question that the bulk beneath our suit jackets is firepower. A concealed carry permit isn’t required in Arizona. Corbin’s men carry the same bulk. Corbin’s enforcer, Austin, opens the car door for Corbin as we wait beside our vehicle. Austin and I go back a ways. He’s been with Corbin about the same length of time Moon has held Arizona. Corbin himself has been around longer than all of us combined. It says a lot about what we’re facing if this turns to war.

Taking out
Manuel Estephon, the previous head of New Mexico’s syndicate was easy in comparison to the hell this will be if we face Corbin. Most of Estephon’s men hated him. After his death, they were easily persuaded to work for Moon. The exceptions were swiftly eliminated. Corbin, like Moon, has the respect of those in his employ. Persuasion won’t be in the cards and a long bloodbath on both sides will be the outcome.

Austin gives no indication of his mood as we follow Moon and Corbin into the restaurant and out of the heat. We’ve used this place before. It sits on the corner of a busy intersection. We’re shown to the private room immediately. Moon and Corbin sit at opposite ends of the table. Corbin’s men are on one side and Moon’s on the other. I’m closest to Moon and Austin is closest to Corbin. Moon orders a bottle of wine and stilted small talk takes place as we wait for the wine to arrive. Colby, Moon’s driver, fills our glasses after Moon informs the waiter we’ll notify him when needed. I won’t be drinking the wine and neither will my men, but a lot of this is about protocol, especially when dealing with an old-time syndicate boss like Corbin.

Corbin is of medium build with gray hair and green eyes. He has a grandfatherly appearance that doesn’t fool me at all. He didn’t get where he is today without shedding plenty of blood. Our relationship with him has been solid for years. He backed Moon taking over Estephon’s territory. Corbin takes a sip of his wine and Moon waits. The tension in the room is palpable. I’m watching the nuances and paying close attention to Austin. He’s a few inches shorter than me and thinner. That’s never fooled me. He’s quick and deadly or he wouldn’t be number two to Corbin. He’s not happy with the situation. It’s apparent by the absence of his easygoing manner, or at least the one he usually shows. It’s his disguise much like mine. I have no problem smiling as I kill someone and neither does Austin.

Moon waits for Corbin to broach the subject of why we’re here. It happens as soon as we all have a glass of wine in front of us.

“I owe you an apology, my friend.” Corbin takes a sip of wine without removing his eyes from Moon’s. Austin is like me and we watch everyone and everything around us. Corbin continues, “As you know, I’m not good in this type of situation and it doesn’t happen often. Ramon was one of my men and my responsibility. He acted without my sanction, and if he’d asked about tailing your wife, he would have died by my own hand.” Corbin turns to me and nods before giving his attention to Moon again. “From what little we’ve found, he knew Danita and spent time with a few of your women. A large amount of money transferred into his bank account two weeks ago. We’ve been unable to locate his cell phone or email records to substantiate the communications and I fear they used… what is the term? Throw aways?” He lifts his hands and makes a small waving gesture. “I’m an old man and keeping up with the new technology is beyond me.” His right hand, covered by a collection of large gold rings with varying large stones, goes flat on the table. “My men are good and if communications were trackable, they would find them. I’m hoping to move past these unfortunate events and continue our relationship as friends.”

I’m unsurprised that Ramon was lying about Corbin. He gave up his name more quickly than Danita’s. Austin meets my gaze and I read something there. He doesn’t like his boss apologizing, but he knows it’s necessary. At least that’s my take on his expression. I lift my water glass two inches from the table and tip it to Austin before bringing it to my mouth. He does the same with his. He and I are good, but the game is still in full swing.

“We’ve been friends for a long time, Victor,” Moon says. “It’s been highly advantageous for both of us.” He nods at the older man. “I value your friendship and guidance. As you said, though, Ramon was your man.”

To anyone else it might seem that Moon is pushing Corbin. He is in a way, but we live in a dog-eat-dog world and the last thing Moon will do is roll over. Moon’s good at this and I’m good at what I do. Moon can keep the politics.

“Yes, his actions reflect my own and I’ve prepared compensation,” Corbin replies.

This is also expected.

“I have two hundred and fifty clean FN SCAR assault rifles ready for delivery. I sweeten the pot by offering to deliver to the vigilantes you support in Mexico. I can make it happen in the next forty-eight hours if you choose this route.”

It’s hard not to whistle. Corbin is letting Moon know by the generosity of the gift that he values their friendship. I expel the bad air from my lungs and then fill them with good air. This was a war no one wanted. Austin actually winks at me as I take another drink of water.

There are people fighting the good fight deep in Mexico and Moon has funneled guns there for years. They fight the cartels and it takes a giant set of balls to do it. These guns will help them tremendously. The FN SCAR assault rifles are used by the U.S. Special Forces and are hard to come by in large quantities. They fetch a pretty penny on the black market.

Moon makes the deal.

Now we need to find Moon’s aunt and take care of her mess. I’m at the point that I don’t care what Madison thinks of me. I need to put a bullet in Danita’s head myself. I’m not usually keen on killing women, but she embezzled from Moon for years and put the nail in her coffin when she orchestrated behind the scenes and had Madison kidnapped last year. The only way to end the guilt Madison, Moon and I feel about Manuel’s death is to take her out.

The bitch will die as soon as we find her.

Celina

IF NOT FOR THE
frequent conversations with Alex, I would be crazy. I haven’t seen him or Kiley in three days. Yesterday, Gabriella called and said she had arranged for two women to provide food at my mom’s house after the funeral. I couldn’t question her about Kiley because I hadn’t found the chance to tell my mom about her or Lee. I feel like the worst person on the planet and guilt eats at me.

When my mother and I arrived at the funeral home to meet with the director, we found out that Alex had covered the expenses. I should have done something to stop him from covering the bill. In reality, I’m too indebted to Alex already, but I have no idea how to stop him from spending his money on me. I’ll save that for another day.

It’s now the day of the funeral. I woke up early, showered, and prepared coffee. It’s time for the honest talk with my mother that I’ve been running from. I have no more excuses and can no longer put off the additional heartbreak. I’m a coward for letting it continue this long. My problem is the lies I’ll be telling. It’s not easy.

We’re at the kitchen table with a box of tissues between us.

“Lee has been dead for over a month,” my mother cries. She asked me about him the night my father died and I lied and said I had no idea where he was. Now I’m coming clean on this at least.

“Yes and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. My concern was Kiley and getting her away from the club.” I knew this would be hard and a lot for my mother to take. I’ve told her so many lies mixed with truths and she doesn’t deserve any of them.

“That poor baby. She’s our grandchild and we never knew. Your father never knew.” She wipes her tears and says softly, “She would have made him so happy.”

“She’s been through a lot, Mom, and she will need a lot of care. I need your help.”

She stands up and takes the coffee carafe from the counter and refills our cups. “She’s my grandchild. Of course I’ll help. You say this man Alex is the one who took her from those bad men?”

“Yes, he did. I owe him so much.” My heart included. This conversation is killing me because I know Alex and I will never really be a couple. My mom won’t understand that. Right now, in her eyes, Alex is a saint. Hell, even I think he’s pretty close.