Valentina thought out loud as she considered this newfound information. “So, Ricardo kidnapped you, fell in love with you, and built you an exotic petting zoo?”
“Yeah. The Ramirez men really know how to woo a girl, right, Roxanne?” Juanita said with a laugh. “It’s a wildlife refuge, but yeah, I do like to pet my babies when I can. When are you going to get it, chica, that’s how these men roll? Don’t get it twisted though: it’s family and cartel, they are one and the same.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll see. You’ll see exactly what I mean.” Juanita’s eyes were fixed on Valentina and her uncompromising stare made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Valentina looked away first and Juanita bit back a grin.
Valentina kept her thoughts to herself as they passed various habitats of animals such as monkeys, birds, and the llamas she’d seen earlier. But she knew the Ramirez family wouldn’t go to all this trouble for a simple petting zoo; she couldn’t help but wonder where the deadlier species were. She would find out soon enough.
They drove slowly through a wooded area before Juanita pulled up in front of what appeared to be a warehouse. This time when Juanita spoke, she turned around and faced Valentina.
“Shit’s getting ready to get real. Whatever you see here tonight will go with you to your grave in more ways than one: you’ll never forget it because you never forget your first time. If you don’t keep your mouth shut about what happens tonight, you’re as good as dead. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
Valentina nodded, at a loss for words. The air in the SUV was so thick with tension that Valentina didn’t notice Victor approaching until he opened her door and pulled her out. He leaned down long enough to tell his mother, “I need a minute.”
Juanita nodded, then she and Roxanne exited the vehicle in silence and entered the warehouse through a side door.
This time when her lover stood her against the SUV, there was no backing her into a corner in a threatening manner and no breathing in the scent of her hair while he told her all the dirty things he was going to do to her. In fact, the pained look in Victor’s eyes was somewhat jarring to her.
“Baby? I don’t think you’re going to want to be here for this. If you stay…it will change everything.”
She crossed her arms in front of her, trying to summon what bravado she could. “Be specific, Victor. Even I know the clock is ticking.”
“Okay…you want the good or the bad first?”
“The bad.”
“You’ll never forget this. You may never get over it. You’ll have sleepless nights. You’ll feel guilt over not trying to talk us out of it and then you’ll console yourself by saying it wouldn’t have worked anyway. After all, we’re Colombian cartel. What could you have possibly done to change our minds? You may even be tempted to tell someone about it, just to rid yourself of the guilt you’ll feel, and if you ever do…even I won’t be able to save you from my father and uncle.”
“Your mother, too,” she said, cocking her head to the side as she looked up at him.
“Now the good--”
“Well…I’m relieved to see there’s a silver lining to this new dose of reality I’m being gifted with.”
“—if you can see this side of my family and can deal with it mentally and emotionally, you’ll know you’re truly ready for this life – and so will they.” For the first time since she’d met him he showed her his playful side when he waggled his eyebrows and said, “Plus, if you stay and see what happens tonight, you’ll have no choice but to marry me.”
“Why?”
“It’ll ensure you can’t testify against me.”
“That’s only for crimes committed while we’re married—we’re not married yet,” she said as she waggled her finger in front of his face.
“So, if I like it I better put a ring on it, huh?”
“Oh, we both know you like it, and we both know you plan on putting a ring on it because you won’t take no for an answer.”
“Damn straight, I won’t. I’m glad you realize that. Acceptance is the first step, you know.”
“Hey! Are you two coming or not? No pun intended,” King barked out from the opened door.
“So… What’s it going to be, tatted lady? Are you staying or do you need a ride home?”
“I guess it’s ‘go time’,” Valentina said as she took the hand he held out to her. Right now, he was her only true friend and ally. If anybody was going to get her through the night, it would be him.
“Then after you,” Victor said as he gestured toward the warehouse. She entered the warehouse with Victor by her side – her head held high and her back ramrod straight, ready for anything.
Chapter Thirty Two
The coffee shop was quiet. The two FBI agents sat in the back, away from curious eyes and ears. They already drew enough attention with the standard, staid, dark suits. Each had a government-issued badge fastened at their waist and a shoulder holster that left no doubt in the minds of any onlookers of what the two did for a living. The last thing they needed was someone hearing their conversation. Enquiring minds always wanted to know. Always.
“How much do you already know, Rene?”
“Seriously!? I know you’ve been busy gathering Intel on all the organized crime organizations with a presence in Louisville. What I don’t know is why you’re gathering it for your own personal use, David.”
“Agent Turner, on the job.”
“Don’t fuck with me, David.”
“Okay…” He leaned back in his seat, settling in for what promised to be an unpleasant conversation. “To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure yet. Right now, I’m looking at it as an investment. Insurance, I guess.”
“Really. What all do you have, exactly?”
“I have a flash drive on Jericho Cage.”
“You kept a flash drive on one of our colleagues? What the hell?”
“Don’t you mean the Angel of Death team? Those two have got more twisted shit going on; they don’t need me to take them down. I have the flash drive so I can hold it over their heads if I need leverage. I know for a fact that Glazov already has something on them. I’m just getting in line. Which means…I may have a possible unexpected ally with the Russians. I’m not sure how I’m working that angle yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out.”
Rene was slack-jawed, her words coming slowly as she shook her head in disbelief. “Who are you, and what the hell have you done with my partner?”
He leaned in and took her hand in his on the table. “I’ve spent years doing the right thing, Rene. I’ve followed the rules. I’ve listened to the FBI’s bullshit when they don’t want to accept a profile I’ve given them, only for them to find out I was right -- and then some ass in brass comes in and takes credit for my work. Who’s to say they won’t turn on me? Who’s to say I won’t need help from the bad guys one day? You expect me to trust an organization that has repeatedly fucked me over for years? Well, I can’t. I won’t.”
The only thing she could do was squeeze his hand as a show of support. How the hell could she do anything but that, when everything he was saying was true? She patted his hand reassuringly, much as a mother might. “Okay, okay, I get it. Just no more secrets.”
“No more secrets,” he agreed, smiling. He had the support of the most important person in the world to him. That was all he needed to get through these turbulent times. Everything would work out. He’d make sure it did.
“What’s good for the gander is good for the goose, I suppose. So, I expect to have your support in what I’m about to tell you.”
“Oh, boy,” he exhaled heavily as he released her hand and leaned back in his seat.
“That would be ‘Oh, Mistress’ to you,” she couldn’t resist reminding him of the true nature of their relationship. Her look was clear and direct…and unsmiling. “You and I both know that Luis Jimenez followed Valentina Vargas here from Guatemala--”
“What
is this all about, anyway? It isn’t like you to fangirl like this,” he said uneasily.
“—let me finish! Luis following her that far got me thinking… There’s got to be more going on than she’s telling the Ramirez family. I did some homework on him and there have been allegations he’s gotten too close to some of his teenage clients.”
“Why hasn’t anyone pressed charges?” Turner’s face was grim as his instincts kicked into high gear, the way they always did when he felt a criminal case start to come alive.
“You know how it is with bribes and payoffs. Nobody can find Valentina’s mother. It’s like she disappeared.”
“What do you think happened?”
“I think Valentina has had to raise herself. He couldn’t manipulate her because she was more mature than her years. Maybe she stood up to the son of a bitch and it turned him on? Who knows? You know how child predators are—they groom their victims, for years sometimes. Valentina probably couldn’t be groomed because her mother stripped her of any innocence she may have ever had.”
“So, you’re thinking he’s making a habit of committing statutory rape? Maybe Valentina went to her mother and Mom swept it under the rug, but confronted Luis. Then Mom was paid off and now she’s on some island drinking Mai Tais?”
“I’m thinking I don’t know. All I know is something isn’t right with that talent agent and I have every intention of finding out what it is.”
“He forfeited a lot of future income when Victor brought her over here. Maybe he doesn’t want to let go of his cash cow,” Turner shrugged. “Or maybe he’s just plain stalkerish like the rest of the cartel men are.”
“Coming all the way from Guatemala for one client is a bit excessive. Doesn’t he have other clients?”
“Well, look at who she is. I mean, really, she was probably a major chunk of his income. I will say this, something’s off with the guy or he would know better than to follow Victor Ramirez’s woman anywhere. She’s under Ramirez family protection. Whether the allegations are true or not, that guy is going to get himself killed messing around with Victor’s woman.”
“I know that’s right,” Rene said. “So, what’s next?”
“Let’s do what we do best: investigate.”
“So, you’re backing me up on nailing this guy and protecting Valentina?”
“Sure. But should I be jealous?” When she looked at him with no answer and her poker face firmly in place, he figured it would be better to humor her—for now. “If you want me to be perfectly honest, my only concern is you and not having to keep secrets from you. On another note, this dovetails perfectly with the matter of the ‘insurance’ we discussed. If Victor thinks we rescued his woman from her evil, moneygrubbing agent, then we’ll have the Colombian cartel’s favor. And they may end up owing us a favor. If it doesn’t work out this time around, that’s okay. We’ll just bide our time. It’s not like they’re going anywhere. And I don’t care what the Ramirez boys say about going legit. They’re going to fuck up sometime. And we’ll be there waiting, to save the day.”
“You’re playing with fire, David.”
“Well, as Nina Simone says, it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, and I’m feelin’ good.”
It was the truth, too. He felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
Chapter Thirty Three
The warehouse was empty except for the bare necessities, including a couple of foldout aluminum chairs that had been placed in front of a wall. Tied to the chairs were the two gangbangers who had tried to bust into the SUV -- and would have tried to kidnap and rape the Ramirez women if given half a chance.
Victor and Tony stood next to a man with longish, tousled brown hair, who must be the infamous King. He was the first to speak, his voice a smooth baritone that echoed in the cavernous space.
“Hugo, Franco…I think you boys know why you’ve been brought here, but just in case there’s any confusion…I think you should hear from the man you’ve insulted. I’m a firm believer in allowing the person who has been wronged to explain the nature of the offense and the manner in which they’ve been disrespected. You boys already know all about what happens in the street when you disrespect the cartel—you two being gangbangers and all.”
The hair on the back of Valentina’s neck stood up as Victor approached Hugo and Franco, acknowledging her with a slight nod of his head as he passed. The gesture only amplified her feelings of uncertainty and fear. Though she was standing in the back of the room with Juanita and Roxanne, she felt like she was the one tied to a chair being interrogated. Her stomach coiled into a nauseated knot of stress in the moments that followed.
“Mom, Auntie Roxanne, and Valentina, come forward, please.”
Auntie Roxanne? Valentina guessed that he was making sure the two men knew they’d fucked with members of the Ramirez family. She couldn’t read him, though, and that only added a raw quality to the fear that was already thick in the air. She followed behind the other two women, using them as a type of emotional shield.
“Hey, wait…I know you--” Hugo sputtered. “You’re on that telenovela. Are those fake tattoos? Like, a disguise? That is so cool.”
It wasn’t Hugo’s statement that caused her mouth to drop open, it was the speed with which Victor attacked him, like a wild animal bearing down on its prey. He grabbed the man’s hair and yanked his head up with so much force that she wondered if he might have snapped the man’s neck.
“You think you know my wife!? Really. Interesting. Well, let me introduce you to my mother and my aunt.” Victor’s head jerked around until his wild eyes met Valentina’s, daring her to argue with his declaration of ownership. She swallowed hard but said nothing. When he was certain she wasn’t going to defy him, he turned back to Hugo and spat, “You don’t know shit about my family.”
Victor snapped his fingers as he reached his hand back to gesture in King’s direction, but never took his eyes off Hugo. King disappeared around a corner and returned moments later, wheeling a small table in front of him that held a glass case. The case appeared to be home to several scorpions.
“Oh, fuck, no, please.” Hugo’s face blanched, then flushed a deep red as he began to struggle against his restraints. Up until now, the drug-filled animal dart had been enough to dull his senses, but seeing the scorpions gave him a clear understanding of the agony that lay before him.
This time it was King who spoke. “Oh, don’t be such a big baby. You’re not allergic, are you?”
“How the fuck am I supposed to know?”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that. Now, most of the time, scorpion stings are just a nasty little inconvenience that can be handled with home remedies—but that’s not the case with the Arizona bark scorpion. And, well, as you might have guessed--”
“Is that an Arizona bark scorpion?” Hugo’s eyes were wide, his chest heaving with a mixture of fear and a small, useless sliver of hope. It was a look that brought King a lot of pleasure. There was power in dangling hope over a man’s head, only to snatch it away.
As far as King was concerned, any enemy of the Ramirez family was an enemy of his, and that made these two fuckers the enemy. With his casual, surfer-boy look, King didn’t exactly blend in with the cartel. But these two were about to find out that looks could be deceiving; he was devoted, heart and soul, to the Ramirez family. He lived for the cartel and he knew in the back of his mind what every cartel man knows: that he would probably die for it someday. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. They were words King lived by.
Making an example of Hugo and Franco was a necessary evil. The streets would ring with word of the brutality Victor and King were about to unleash on these two. When it came to torture, they almost enjoyed the planning and scheming more than the act itself.
“Yes, they are Arizona bark scorpions. Poisonous as fuck. Aren’t they beauties?” King said as he knelt down in front of the glass case up and studied its contents. Sure enough, both men began twisting and turning, pulling
frantically against their restraints, straining away from the spiders. Franco ended up overturning his chair and faceplanting on the concrete floor.
Victor leaned down and yanked Hugo up by the collar, gripping his jaw so hard it brought tears to the man’s eyes. “You little son of a bitch, I want some answers! What the fuck were you doing trying to break into their car?”
Both men were now fully awake, regarding Victor with wide-eyed fear. They knew all too well how easily torture would bring even the strongest of men to their knees, begging for death so the pain would stop.
“Yeah, that got your attention, Pendejo—estupido.”
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know, man.”
No one in the room saw the punch coming until Victor’s fist landed on Hugo’s jaw and Hugo’s head lurched to the side. His chair tumbled sideways, taking him down to the floor, knocked out. The same elegant hands that loved to caress his woman’s velvety skin were now responsible for crushing bone and spilling blood.
Valentina grabbed Juanita’s arm in an effort to keep from screaming. Juanita patted her hand, whispering, “Do you need to leave?” Valentina shook her head. She needed to see what she was marrying into, witness her soon-to-be-husband’s innate darkness. His brutality was as raw and real as it got, and she knew she would never forget tonight’s ordeal. This was the only way she could truly know if this was a lifestyle she could endure. But… would it even matter if she couldn’t? She knew Victor would never let her go.
Victor’s attention was now directed at Franco, who was more than willing to answer any questions to avoid this man’s wrath.
“I need some answers,” Victor growled. “What were you doing trying to break into my wife’s car?”
There it was again, that word: wife.
“It’s a gang initiation. We want in before that fucking Escondido starts cleaning house. He’s going to make it where you can’t have no side hustle. Fuck that.”
Old Hollywood (Colombian Cartel Book 4) Page 16