Just a Kiss (14 page)

Rafael let out a loud laugh, and then blew out some smoke from his cigar. “You want a hit?” he gestured to a silver tray that was on his Mahogany desk.

Pancho looked at the white powdery substance, shook his head and stared back.
You fucker
you know I don't touch that shit
.

“Oh, that's right. You've always been Mr. Goody Two Shoes.” Rafael lowered his head and inhaled a line of cocaine. Seconds later, he brought his head up, taking deep breaths, wiping his nose, and shaking his head. He sank back into his chair, and stared at Pancho, waiting for the substance to take effect.

Pancho felt the hairs at the back of his neck lift and rubbed at them in irritation. “Like I said earlier, Rafael, I'm ready to leave, and take the girl with me.”
His
jaw
was
set
firm
.
             

“Ha, ha-ha,
no te hagas
güey
.
Look, let's stop playing around, and get down to business. This way, I don't waste
your
time,
and
you
don't waste mine.” His lips thinned, and he waved his hand in the air. “You know fucking well that the girl is going nowhere today, until I get what I want,
and
…” he paused, slamming his hand on his desk and tilting his head to one side. “If I don't, she will stay here with me. And I will make her my personal sex slave for
awhile
.” He took a deep
breath and regained his composure. “Then afterwards, after I've had my fill, I will make a shitload of money, putting her out there with the others.” 

Rafael noticed Pancho gripping the armrest of the chair and knew he had struck a chord. Celina was Pancho's weakness. “After weeks of trying to break you, I now know that this mystery girl is your weakness. The girl is going to be my bargaining chip.” Rafael’s tone was stern.

“Okay, have it your way.” He ran his fingers over the brass tacks on the armchair.  “I'll do it, but nothing better happen to her while she's here, or all hell will break loose.”

“Well, there is one more thing,” he said, taking a long puff of his cigar.

“Now what?” he asked, in frustration. “We're not little kids anymore, to be playing games.” His voice was heavy, his chest still tightening.

“Calm down.” He gave him a sarcastic smile. “Since you had me wait, things sometimes come with big penalties.”

“Don't give me that bullshit,
Rafa
.
No
mames
.” His fingers curled into a fist, and fury spiked hard and hot inside him.

“The same job still stands that I had asked you for before, but now something else has come up, and I need for you to do this other job, after you get the kid for me.”

“Tell me first.” He wanted to howl at the unfairness of this so-called business deal.

“United States is going to back up Mexico in the war against drugs, because that bitch H
elen
Clinton says it's intolerable. She came over here to Mexico, moving her pie hole, and the big man wants her to shut the fuck up, and you're going to do that for me.”

“Are you serious? You want me to kill
her
for you?” he leaned forward opening his eyes wide.
I can't believe these sick fuckers.

“Yes, they want to make an example of her, and her daughter. So the order
is that you will kill Helen
with a bullet between her eyes. You can do that.” He looked at him with a serious look, the same way he would look at a rabid animal. “Am I right? I did tell them you were the best, and you will place a bomb under her daughter's car.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “This is crazy, Rafael.” He could feel the burning anger in his gut. The idea of hurting a woman or a child made him physically sick.

“No, it's not, this is
just
business. We want it known that no one will fuck around with our drug cartel. The U.S. needs to stay clear and stay away.” He then leaned forward and did another line of cocaine. “So, are you ready for your assignment?” he snorted, then rubbed his nose. “Or let's just say… are you ready to get your girl back? Because that’s what it's going to take.” He looked deep into his eyes, through his soul.

Pancho sat back in the chair and knew that his cousin was serious. Dead serious. Every move always had a purpose, and this was serious business in the drug world. This was the spookier side of life.  Even though these people didn't have a college education, they still made do with their dropout one, and they did very well.

He rose to his feet and said, “I'll be here tomorrow. So have my money ready and my plane ticket too.” His face was flushed, fury pulsing and raging through him.

“Good. I'm happy you agree,” he extended his hand to shake Pancho's.

Instead Pancho walked away to the door and turned around. “You know, I'm not happy about this,” he stood with his hand on the doorknob.

“I know Mr. War hero, but there will be some money in it for you too.” He ran a hand over his face before staring back at Pancho. “But if you don't want it, hell, I'll take it.”

“Fuck you, Rafael.” Pure fury was burning in his brain, staring back at him.

Chapter
21

Reported missing

By the following morning, Xavier had managed to get copies of the mall's surveillance tapes and had his sister drive down to his office. He had worked all through the day and into the night and was still at it the following day.

Dressed casually in warm-ups, Valeria walked into his office, and placed her oversized purse on his desk. “What have you found out, Xavier? I see you are still wearing the same clothes from yesterday.” Her eyes were swollen from crying.

He looked up to see her, a
nd rubbed the back of his neck.

“Is it Homer? That son of a bitch.” Her tone and her look were somber.

He didn’t acknowledge her comment. Instead he glanced back at her and said, “Come around here so you can see the monitor. Okay, now let me hit this replay button.”

She pulled a chair out and sat down. Valeria looked closer at the monitor, and she gasped. “I saw those guys.”

Xavier looked up at her. “Where did you see them?” he asked, tersely.

She shook her head, then froze.

Frustration set in. “Valeria, please, every second counts,” he insisted, and stood up, clinching his fists at his side.

“I'm so sorry. I just can't believe that this is happening.” She wiped her nose with a tissue.

“Again, where did you see these guys?” he snapped impatiently.

Her eyes were glued to the monitor. “I saw them at Danny's Restaurant, the same day that we saw you, the same day she disappeared. Rebecca was the one that noticed them first.”

“Keep going, please remember.” He forced himself away from the desk, paced to the other side of the room, then turned back to her.

She didn’t move, but her gaze followed him. “He was wearing a black shirt, and gold necklace, and he wouldn't stop staring at Celina, until I looked up and gave him a mean stare. Then when Celina left the restaurant, he walked up to her out in the parking lot, and they talked, but I don't know what about.”

“Where were they talking again?” his jaw clenched.

“Out in the parking lot, at Danny’s, when she went to open the car door, he approached her. I was waiting for her to get to the salon, so I could ask her, but I'll never know now.”

“Is this the same guy?” he pointed to the monitor.

She nodded her head, with tears rolling down her cheeks. She tried to swallow and felt as though she would choke from the tightness in her throat.

“Please don't cry. You know I'm going to do all I can to find her. She's top priority right now, and everyone here knows it.” He reassured her. And Celina was, especially after the moment they shared at the barn. He had hoped that he could win her over and claim her as his girl.

“Were you able to get any information, on the license plates to the vehicle they were driving?” She asked, with optimism in her voice.

“Just that those plates are stolen ones, so more than likely, in looking at the vehicle, because its style… a black Escalade, tinted windows and stolen plates, points to drug cartel. That’s what my gut is telling me.” He frowned at her with concern, his eyes dark.

“What?” she sat up straight in the chair. There was wetness under her eyes and on her cheeks. “Drug cartel?” Goose bumps covered her body. “Shit Xavier, people fear the drug cartels, for their merciless kidnappings and killings. Very inhumane shit what they do. They have no mercy for their victims, children or elderly. They beat, rape and kill you like an animal to build their reputation as tough guys.” She began to weep again. “Oh dear God, poor Celina.”

His eyes were wide and cautious. “
Val,
has anyone asked you girls to launder money through the salon?” he stood next to her and fished the keys out of his pocket.

“Of course not.
  Do you think that's what this is about?”

He remained quiet for a second, and then looked at her, “Can you think of anything else. Maybe one of these guys got a bad haircut from her.” He rubbed his hands over his face in frustration then over his unruly hair.

Valeria let out a loud chuckle, “Please Xavier, are you serious?”

He jerked his head back to look at his sister then shrugged his shoulders. “At this point we need to consider anything, so yeah, I am serious. Maybe one of these guys got turned down from a date.” He snorted.

“No,” she shook her head hard. “Celina and I share lots of secrets, and she would have told me. But when I go back to the salon, I'll ask the girls to see if one of them might have seen or heard something. Just in case I missed something, been too busy, too self-involved to see something.”

“You call me the moment you hear anything, Valeria.” His lips quivered.

“Yes, of course,” she promised him. “So what's next?” She looked at her brother for a hopeful answer.

“I'm going to drive down to the bridges and see if I can review their surveillance tapes, to see if I can spot this vehicle crossing into Nuevo Laredo.” He jerked his cowboy hat from his desk where he’d tossed it and clenched it in his fingers.

“Do you think this has something to do with Homer, too?”

He stopped in his stride and turned to face his sister. “I don't think so, because they found him dead… swinging naked from a bridge in Juarez last night.”

Consequences
 

Early in the morning, the bedroom door swung open, waking Celina up. A deep, demanding voice said, “Get up. The boss wants to see you.”

She tried to clear her vision, blinking her eyes constantly to see who was in the room. She recognized the big guy she scratched up, when they injected her to cross into Reynosa, Mexico.

“Let me tell you something.” He gave an intimidating stare. “You scratch me again, and I'll beat the shit out of you, or fuck you here on this bed, maybe both, so behave yourself.” He pointed with his finger and then wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

Celina said nothing. She stared back at him, silently slid down the high poster bed, and followed him.

The office where he took her was a few feet away, and when they walked in, Celina's eyes immediately glanced over to a tall, black statue of
La Santa
Muerte
.
It was an intimidating sight to see, a scary statue of death. A skull face smiling right at you, dressed in a long, black robe, and holding a long, wooden handle with a curved, single-edged blade. The statue was centered and surrounded by tall, beautiful red roses. In the middle of the altar, was a bowl of fruit, and a bottle of tequila to one side.
             

“
Good morning, please take a seat,
”
said Rafael, motioning to the chairs in front
of his desk.

“No, thank you. I prefer to stand.” She stared coldly and remained standing.

The big guy who had escorted her gripped her shoulder with his heavy hand, and pushed her into the chair.

“Okay,
Chuy
.
Calmala
,” smiled the boss man. “So you got a little mustang in you. Well, just to let you know, I'm an expert at breaking mustangs, so I suggest you start following orders.” He sat back in his chair and stared with a hard look.

Celina sat in the chair, giving
Chuy
a mean stare, with narrowing eyes.
I can't stand that fat bastard.
She then turned to look at the man sitting in front of her
.
If she had seen this man at a restaurant or at the mall, she would never have guessed he was a drug cartel boss. There sat a handsome man in his late twenties, possibly early thirties, dressed in well-pressed jeans and a white shirt, boots on his feet.
So this is the so
-
called boss man. He looks like nobody. He looks harmless.
I know he’s trying to intimidate me with that look he’s giving me.