Right now, all she knew was that he worked in an ice cream store. In this case, it was a perfect cover. He would put small amounts of the product in the bottom of the cones and his customers always overpaid for the ice cream in cash. He started getting greedy, keeping some to himself, and started falling behind in his payments to the cartel. Once he knew he was in over his head, he had skipped town.
She was parked outside the parlor but knew he wouldn’t be there. She thought of how she could possibly make one of the co-workers talk. She was just going to have to wing it once she went in.
She stepped out of the car and walked to the parlor. Inside was a man in his early twenties that seemed happy to see her. She was hoping she could use that to her advantage.
She smiled. “Hi,” she said as she looked at all the flavors.
“Hello. Can I offer you any samples?” Ria caught his eyes raking over her body.
“Actually, I was looking for an old friend, John. I heard he worked here. Do you know when he works again?” Ria asked.
“John quit over a week ago,” he stammered.
“Oh, that’s too bad. We’re old friends, and I’m only in town for a few days.” Ria pretended to pout. “Do you know where I can find him?”
“No, he took off,” the man replied, but Ria knew he had more information. He was acting anxious and nervous.
She had to figure out a way to make him talk. She had looked John up on the internet, but now that everyone had a cell phone, it wasn’t as easy to find someone’s address, and John Maxwell was a common name.
She had narrowed it down to a few possible addresses and took a chance. “Does he still live on Hillcrest?”
“That’s the street he grew up on,” the man replied. He seemed to relax, hopefully because now he believed they were truly old acquaintances.
Ria tried to hide her relief. “Oh, where does he live now?”
“Over on Meadows.”
That was another address she had seen associated with a John Maxwell.
“Oh, that’s right. I remember that now,” Ria said gratefully. “Did he say why he quit?”
The man leaned over the counter and spoke quietly. “I think he may have been in some trouble. He didn’t give any notice, just said he had to get away. I know he has family in Port City.”
“Yes, he does,” Ria agreed as if she knew all about this John Maxwell. “Thank you so much!”
Ria looked at the flavors again. “What do you recommend?”
The man mentioned the flavor of the month, and Ria paid for the ice cream then tossed it in the trash on the way back to her car. Her hands were shaking, but she had made some headway. She would start with his house on Meadows and see if she could find any clues that would help track him down. She assumed he was in Port City, or at least, she sure as hell hoped he was.
She looked up the directions to his house and passed by it once before parking a little way down the street. She had purposefully waited until it was dark so it would be easier to approach. She had dressed in exercise gear, hopefully giving the impression that she was merely out for a walk.
As she approached the house, she noticed all the lights were out, which was good; it would be difficult for anyone to see her at the door.
Walking casually to the door, she looked around the outside carefully. She was hoping he left in such a hurry that he would’ve put a key somewhere so a friend could get his stuff. Taking a chance, she raised the welcome mat, practically jumping up and down when she saw the key lying there.
She gave a silent thanks to John.
She put the key into the lock then slipped inside, locking the door behind her. She pulled out a small flashlight and started looking at mail and any papers that would provide any clues to his whereabouts. It was all normal, a mixture of bills and advertisements.
She went back to search through the bedrooms and started looking through drawers, but still nothing. She went through a desk and did find a birthday card addressed to him from Port City. She memorized the address and put the card back where she’d found it. It still wasn’t enough, though.
She started searching harder, lifting mattresses and looking through the closets; however, she couldn’t find anything. She was getting desperate until something caught her eye. One of the picture frames on the bedroom wall was just slightly crooked.
She held her breath as she walked up to it and pulled it off the wall, revealing a hole.
She looked through the stack of papers, which were invoices of how much product was given to him and the dollar amounts based on quantity. From what she could tell, he was making a good profit, so why he was taking more didn’t make sense to her. Why risk having members of a murdering cartel come after you?
She went through each piece of paper until she finally found one that had additional information. It was an address with a date and time. It was tomorrow afternoon at one p.m., outside of Port City.
Mitchell told her that, once she located him, to call him, and they would send their collector out immediately. But he warned her not to waste their time on false leads. Her job was to make it easy for the collector. She wanted to call and tell him the information she found, but if John wasn’t there tomorrow, Mitchell would tell Emiliano she had failed. She had to be sure before she called Mitchell.
Ria took all the paperwork John had kept about the drugs, shoving the papers under her top before letting herself out of the house. She made it back to her car without running.
Once home, she set the alarm so she would be there an hour before the meeting. Once she laid eyes on him, she would call Mitchell.
She lay on the bed, tossing and turning for the next several hours before she finally fell asleep. Her last thought was of Nicholas, craving his touch, but at the same time, glad he wasn’t here to witness her actions. She didn’t want him to think less of her. She was turning another man over to the cartel to release Nicholas.
Ria consoled herself that Nicholas was innocent while this man had worked for the cartel. He had known what he was getting involved in. Nevertheless, none of her thoughts eased her guilt.
Finally giving up on sleeping, she got out of bed and dressed.
* * *
Ria sat in her car across from the meeting place. She looked at John’s picture again. He was such a normal looking guy. He looked more like a surfer than someone who would steal money from a drug cartel. That was why he had probably never gotten caught dealing. She looked at the time again. He should be there in five minutes.
She was parked across the street with a newspaper in front of her; giving the appearance she was enjoying the breeze. Fortunately, the meeting place was outside of a restaurant and river walk; as a result, there were a lot of people around.
She held her breath when the clock turned to one. She looked around for any signs of John. A moment later, a man casually sat at a table outside of the restaurant with a hat and sunglasses on. Fuck, it looked like him, but she couldn’t be sure. She stared at the picture again, then at the man at the table. She focused on the nose and mouth. They looked the same. It had to be him. The next moment, another man joined him. The discussion seemed serious.
She dialed Mitchell’s number. “I see him.” Ria gave him the address.
“We’re sending someone now. He’ll be there in twenty minutes. Don’t let him out of your sight,” Mitchell commanded. “If he leaves, follow him. You’ll receive a phone call in twenty minutes to confirm location.” With that, Mitchell hung up without giving her a chance to respond.
Ria watched the two men. Their body language made it appear it was two friends catching up, but she knew there was more to their conversation. All she could do was hope John stayed there until the collector arrived
About ten minutes later, she watched John casually hand a small case to the other man. They shook hands and went in separate directions.
Ria watched John walk away, unsure if he’d walked or driven. She didn’t know if she should walk a distance behind him,
or follow in her car in case he was on the way to his. She decided she felt safer in the car.
She started it and slowly pulled out, keeping up with John. As he kept walking past all the cars, she assumed he’d walked from wherever he may have come from. She was getting anxious because she knew she would have to speed up once cars started backing up behind her.
She looked at the time. They should be calling in the next few minutes. She decided to park and walk.
She jerked her car over into a space on the side of the road and quickly got out.
Her phone finally rang, and she quickly answered it with a shaky hello.
“Location,” was all she heard on the other end.
Ria looked up to see the name of the street. “Waterway and Wilson.”
Her phone went silent. She looked at it to see what had happened and realized the man had hung up on her.
Ria didn’t know what to do now. All she recalled was Mitchell telling her not to allow him out of her sight, so she continued to follow until a sedan with darkly tinted windows pulled up next to John. The next thing she knew, he was getting pulled into the vehicle and the car was speeding away.
She stared in shock. Not one person had seen what happened. She started having second thoughts. She didn’t want to be a part of this. She wanted to cry at what she had just done.
John made the decision to steal the money and knew the consequences. If she hadn’t found him, someone else would have, she kept telling herself over and over.
She walked to her car and headed back to the apartment. Mitchell said the next file would be delivered to her. All she could do was wait.
* * *
“You look like hell,” Emiliano snapped.
It took everything she had not to tell him what she thought of him. She had glanced at the mirror in her bathroom before she had been summoned from her apartment and had to agree. She was tired and stressed.
“I haven’t been feeling well,” Ria told him. She was telling the truth. She had been sick at herself for turning someone over to the cartel.
“I have an image to maintain. Go fix your face.” His unsympathetic look had her turning on her heel and leaving his office.
Mitchell had called over an hour ago to tell her to be here and to dress appropriately. She had chosen a purple dress that was deceptively demure, but the way it clung to her body wasn’t. She had hoped she wouldn’t have to attend anymore of Emiliano’s parties. She was doing everything he asked and so was Nicholas.
She went into the spare bedroom she had been shown the first time she had to attend one of his get-togethers. Thankfully, it was empty; the other women must already be at the party.
She quickly fixed her face, adding blush then concealer to hide the dark circles under her eyes. Taking a steadying breath, she went out, going down the long hallway to a room with double doors where she felt Mitchell’s eyes go over her body critically before opening the door.
The large room had been lavishly decorated, sparing no expense to show Emiliano’s wealth and power. It was filled with six men and eleven women. The men had paid to be here with Emiliano as their host. Sometimes, they stayed anywhere from a night to as long as a week. During that time, he kept them entertained with a private, safe place to use his drugs and the women. The guests were allowed to choose the woman they wanted, more if they were willing to pay extra. She was only forced to attend when one of the guests wanted to go to a fight. She was never expected to go upstairs .
“Finally, Ariel.” Emiliano took her hand, pulling her down on the couch next to him. “You don’t seem so tired now,” he complimented.
“You look sexy to me,” she heard a voice say as a man approached her from behind the couch.
Ria turned, going pale as a face she would never forget sat down next to her.
“Every female that crosses your path looks sexy to you,” she smarted back to the man who had almost raped her.
“Remember me?” He sadistically grinned at her.
Chapter 16
“How could I ever forget you?” she said numbly.
“I knew you would.” The smug bastard stood, gloating down at her.
Emiliano’s hand went to her thigh, keeping her pinned by his side. “Henry is a valued customer of mine. He stops for a visit every couple of months. Last weekend, when he was here, he saw you leaving with Rafael. He explained his difficulties with you.”
“She stole from me.”
“I gave it back! The bartender didn’t credit it to your account. Then, when you tried to rape me, I gave you the cash back!”
“Calm yourself, Ariel. Henry explained all this to me. He wishes to make amends.” Emiliano’s voice was as cold as ice.
Ria went quiet. She knew she had broken his rules—to always be nice to the men—but she couldn’t help herself. Henry had tried to rape her. His eyes on her body made her skin crawl.
“I have decided to give him the opportunity.” Emiliano rose to his feet. Taking her hand, he pulled her up next to him.
His voice rose above the noise of the crowd. “If everyone will follow me, I have devised some entertainment for you all.”
Henry smirked as he walked beside them out into the hallway.
Ria didn’t know where they were going, but everyone else seemed to.
Henry lost his smug expression, his face filling with fear.
“Perhaps I was too harsh, Emiliano. Allow me to apologize…” Henry stopped walking, but Mitchell appeared by his side, taking his arm and forcing him forward with the crowd.
Ria followed as a door along the hallway opened and they went down a flight of steps that led to a series of corridors. Emiliano stopped at one door, opening it. The excitement of the people following was palpable.
The lights came on and they quickly took their seats. Ria sat, frightened at what she was about to witness. She was sitting in the front row seat that was elevated above a fighting pit. Mitchell forced Henry inside the pit, pulling out a gun.
Emiliano rose from his seat. “If you take one step outside of the pit, Mitchell will kill you. Take the beating you deserve and all will be forgiven,” Emiliano said magnanimously, despite the cruelly vindictive look he was giving the man that was about to piss on himself.
Ria sat frozen, wanting to run, screaming from the room.
“I want to introduce everyone to my newest fighter. Nicholas Brooks.”
Ria stiffened, leaning forward in her seat as Nicholas walked out of the shadows, walking into the pit and mercilessly facing Henry.
“He has asked to be the one to give Henry a lesson on how to treat a lady.” The crowd laughed, filled with excitement.
When a bell sounded in the room, Nicholas’s fist came out, striking Henry, who didn’t even try to fight back.
Ria had never seen Nicholas fight, and she didn’t want to see him do so now. The beating he gave Henry was severe. Ria turned her eyes away.
“Watch. Never show anyone your weakness,” Emiliano said by her side.
She turned back toward the pit. Henry was unconscious and Nicholas was standing over him. He hadn’t even broken a sweat.
Mitchel slung Henry over his shoulder carrying him from the pit.
Nicholas turned to face Emiliano as Ria stiffened in her seat.
“Sit still. There is another fight.”
She reluctantly remained seated, dreading to see who Emiliano would make fight next.
The spotlight went to the doorway again, and Ty walked out to loud cheers.
“Many of you know the new fighter that has everyone believing he will be the next Nicholas Brooks. Ty is an employee of mine, and he betrayed my trust.”
Boo’s sounded throughout the room.
“I am giving him a chance to redeem himself in my eyes. He mistakenly thought he was protecting someone else.” Emiliano turned to Ria, brushing a tear away with his thumb before turning back to his audience.
“I am going to be generous and let him prove his loyalty to me tonigh
t.”
Ty walked forward to the pit, stepping inside. Cheers brought her eyes back to the doorway to see Nicholas walking forward.
“Emiliano, please… please stop this!”
“Be quiet, Ria. Ty is going to prove to me where his loyalty lies: with me or Nicholas and Zane. Believe me, I am letting him off lightly.”
Ria looked at his inherently cruel face, not doubting it for a second.
Nicholas stepped back into the ring and both men began circling each other after Mitchell rang the bell. Ria wanted to scream at them to stop; instead, she sat paralyzed, waiting for one to make the first strike.
When Ty’s fist swung out, clipping Nicholas on the jaw, Nicholas returned with a swing of his own, connecting it to Ty’s cheekbone. After that, the two men didn’t try to hold back, each countering the other’s movements and returning each strike with one of their own.
Ria wanted to cry at the damage they were doing to each other on the outside and in. Emiliano was effectively placing a wedge between the two that would never be overcome, each seeing each other as opponents instead of friends.
Nicholas didn’t know how to lose. He had let Zane break his arm rather than submit. Ty was just beginning his fighting career and would not want to lose to someone he admired.
As Ty took a step forward, putting all his weight behind a punch, Nicholas effortlessly moved, using Ty’s forward momentum against him. His fist connected under Ty’s jawline, hitting the sweet spot. Ty crumpled to the ground.
Ria screamed, jumping to her feet and wanting to run to him.
Emiliano got to his feet, raising his hand to silence his friends. “Nicholas has proven the student is not ready to take on the master.”
Mitchell helped a groggy Ty to his feet.
Emiliano’s harsh features stared down at the pit. “Remember tonight, Ty. Betray my trust again, and you will have more to fear from me than the pit you’re standing in.”
Stand of Redemption Page 11