The Cartel (38 page)

“Right. You love seeing him with your precious Isabella. You’re hoping the two of them will marry.”

“Bella’s interest in the boy is over with. Besides, she is like my baby sister. I’m seeing someone else, anyway.”

“I’m dubious that she’s lost interest in Alejandro so quickly. In six months time those two have gotten quite close. And you may have another woman in your bed, but I also know you covet Isabella Rodriguez as your own. And, that boy will not go away easily.”

“Fuck you.”

“No, fuck you, because if you were a real man, you’d admit that what I’m saying is true. You can’t stand Alex. You can’t stand him being near Bella. The thought of him touching her fills you with rage.”

“Shut up.”

“You wouldn’t be so angry if what I’m saying weren’t true.”

“I don’t have to listen to anymore of this.” Pedro stormed toward the door.

“No, you don’t. But if I were you, I’d reconsider. Your secret is safe with me. I also know how to get rid of Alejandro for good. On top of that, I know how to wipe him from Bella’s memory.” Pedro spun around. “I thought that would get your attention.”

“Why? What’s your motive?” Pedro asked.

“Let’s say, it’s personal and necessary.”

“I think you’re setting me up.”

“Think what you want, but I’m telling you, if we work together, we can eliminate that little thorn in our side. Why don’t you take the time to listen to what I have to say? If it makes sense to you, we can pull that thorn free. If not, we’ll have a troublesome sore for the rest of our lives.”

Pedro reached for the door, but something stopped him as he turned the handle. Maybe it was the image of that thorn constantly sticking into his flesh, infecting him from the inside out. Or maybe it was the image of Bella in Alex’s bed. He stopped and turned around.

*****

Julio spotted her behind the bar. He never forgot a
face, and there was something special about the woman who was filling up the blender of margaritas. He sat waiting for his DEA contact, who was late, as usual. Julio smiled at the bartender as she poured his margarita. After his meeting with the agent was over, he’d work on her for a while, to see if he could convince her to spend the evening with him.

An hour passed. No DEA contact. The pretty bartender came over. “Can I get you another drink?”

She didn’t look him in the eye.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, you can.” It suddenly hit him who she was. She’d aged somewhat. But since he was a man who never forgot a face, he knew when and where he’d seen this one, years ago. He was trained to remember faces.

Luck had struck him like a club on the head. He was looking at the face of Lydia Espinoza. He’d seen her in the society columns, had even met her at a party where he parked cars when he first started working with the DEA. It had been his first assignment to scope out the cars the money men drove. He came up with a few tidbits, but more than anything, he’d remembered Lydia Espinoza’s long legs stepping out of a black Mercedes.

He couldn’t believe it. When he’d read of her death, he actually felt a sense of sadness, along with horror at the fact that someone so young and beautiful should suffer such a tragic death. But she hadn’t died. Here she was in the flesh. It had to be her. And thus, the false reports of her death had to be the doing of Antonio.

He wasn’t sure how he was going to approach her, but he knew that she was Lydia Espinoza and that he could pump a lot of information out of her. When she brought the drink over, Julio forgot all about the agent who’d stood him up. Instead, he concentrated on his newfound gold mine.

“Why don’t you sit down and join me for a drink?”

“No, thank you. I’ve got to work anyway.”

“When do you get off?”

“I don’t know.”

She was curt and cold and he wasn’t sure how he’d break her, but he would. He took notice of the cross around her neck.

“I’ll wait.”

“No. I’m not interested.” She wiped down the counter and turned her back to him.

“You go to church?”

She didn’t answer.

“Catholic?”

No response.

“My uncle was a priest. Good man. I miss him. I loved the church. I still do. I travel a lot though, and so I go when I can.”

She turned around and this time looked at him. “What do you do?”

“I actually do some work for the government and the church. I’m involved with Father Miguel Diaz. You may have heard of him.”

There was a hint of recognition in her eyes and a pained look on her face. She immediately regained her composure and nodded.

“We’re on a crusade to save this country from the filth that has invaded it. The drugs, those in power with all the wealth, the violence. I’m certain you know what I speak of.”

She turned away from him again. “I live a simple life.”

“Most of us do or try to, but with the greedy and evil amongst us, it’s all we can do to maintain a simple life. Many of us never seem to get our fair share.”

“I wouldn’t know about that. I keep to myself.”

“Yes. Well, I must be going. If you’re interested, I’ll be at mass this evening at Our Lady of Guadalupe. I would love to see you there.”

She didn’t respond and Julio walked out of the bar, knowing that even if Lydia didn’t show up at mass tonight, he’d gotten under her skin and in the days to come she would prove to be a wonderful ally.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

It was Christmas Eve day and soon Bella would receive
Regala
. The mare had been delivered in the early hours of the morning from a nearby stable where she’d been cared for a day until her unveiling. Javier had picked Alex up, and together they’d gone to inspect the new horse. Javier seemed duly impressed“Quite a job you’ve done, my boy.”

“Thank you,” Alex replied. “I looked at a lot of horses,
Señor
Rodriguez.
A lot
of horses, but the minute I saw her, I knew she was the one for Bella.”

“Did you get the saddle to go along with her?”

Alex nodded. Not only had he bought Bella a saddle, but the saleswoman in the tack shop had also sold him every conceivable accessory.
Regala
had new day sheets, winter blankets, fly masks, bridles, and halters—anything and everything that a horse and rider might need. Alex had spent a good portion of his recent earnings on these gifts for Bella. But she was worth it.

Before the others arrived for the evening, Javier urged Alex to go and see Isabella. She was seated in the courtyard, wrapped in a shawl. A breeze tousled her hair. She was reading a book when he came upon her.

She flinched as he surprised her. “Hello,” she said coolly.

“Hi. I want to tell you again how…”

She held her hand up. “I know that you’re sorry, and you were right. Everything you said to me that day was right. And, I’m sorry that I wouldn’t try and that I said those things to you.”

Alex placed a finger on her lips. “No more apologies. Let’s move on.”

She nodded. “Let’s move on.”

Alex kissed her hand and then her cheek. He wiped the tears from her face. “Come on, the rest of the family should be arriving soon.”

“Family?” Pedro asked, walking up behind them. “Who are you calling family? If I remember correctly, this is not your family. You work for the family, but this isn’t your family.”

“Pedro,” Bella scolded. “Don’t speak to him like that.”

“Bella, can’t you see what he’s trying to do to you? You wanted no part of him two weeks ago and now he manipulates his way back into your life. Are you blind that all this man wants is to be a part of this family for the wealth and the power? He doesn’t care about you.”

Alex clenched his fists. “You son of a bitch. That is a lie.”

“Alex,” Bella pleaded.

“That’s enough,” Javier had come into the courtyard upon hearing the men’s raised voices.

Pedro glared at Alex and pointing at him said, “He’s a weasel, a rotten weasel and he will ruin this family. If he is staying here for Christmas, I’m leaving until he’s gone.”

Javier crossed his arms and glared at Pedro. “Then, I suppose you better go ahead and leave.”

Pedro stormed away. Javier put an arm around Alex. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know he felt threatened by you. I’ll speak to him. Now leave this bad business behind and come inside. I can see that you two have done away with your problems. That’s wonderful.”

With Pedro gone, and the welcoming arms of Javier and Isabella that received him, Christmas Eve was perfect. The house was decorated in traditional Christmas colors, candles lit throughout the rooms, and the scent of pine and holly rod filled the air. Antonio, Rosa, and Felicia had flown in to join them for the holidays. This pleased Alex. He felt he really had a family.

Shortly after dinner, Antonio asked Alex if he’d like to take a walk with him. Alex looked at Bella, who was seated on the couch, gossiping with Rosa. Felicia had gone to her room to watch television. She was sullen and unhappy for some reason. Javier, who truly loved the magic of the holidays, was off in the kitchen, making preparations for the next day’s feast. He always cooked Christmas dinner. It was customary for him to allow the servants time off, and he worked nearly twenty-four hours to see that his grand presentation turned out perfectly—a ritual that had always endeared him to Cynthia.

Alex and Antonio headed out for a walk through the gardens.

“You’re a good man, Alejandro.”

“Thank you.”

“Next week after the holidays Javier and I have some business to take care of. We are going to Germany. There’s some interesting business prospects there. I’ll fill you in upon our return if it all works in our favor. We’re sending Pedro to Guatemala to set up some new business. As you know, we need Emilio in Los Angeles, but we also need someone we can trust to stay here and oversee our interests from this end. We discussed it today. Javier and I trust you. We think it would be a good idea for you to fill this spot while we’re away.”

“Thank you. Of course I’ll do it.”

“Good. You’ll stay here in Mexico and oversee things. I’ll have Emilio keep you informed of what is happening in both Colombia and Los Angeles.”

“Fine.”

“There’s a catch.” Alex looked at him quizzically. “You’ll have to play baby sitter.”

“Baby sitter?”

“To Bella. You’ll also have to promise me not to touch her, or else there’ll be hell to pay.” Antonio winked at the boy. “But then again, what her father and Godfather don’t know won’t hurt them.”

“I wouldn’t think of touching her,” Alex replied.

“You say that now, but wait until you’re alone with her.”

*****

The next morning, presents were passed around and
opened. Alex loved the hunting knife Bella gave him. She’d had it specially made for him with turquoise—his birth stone adorning the handle and his initials inserted within the turquoise in red coral.

“Thank you,” he said, handling the knife, truly touched by the gesture.

“I saw you one day down near the stables whittling a piece of wood and I thought that maybe you would like to have a special knife to do that with.”

He came over to her and kissed her on the cheek. It was sweet of her to notice the little things about him. He felt himself blushing. Something about this girl did that to him. When he didn’t hand her a present, he knew that she had to be wondering where her gift from him and her father was.

When everything had been opened, Javier got up from the sofa and walked over to Bella. “I suppose you’re wondering what we’ve gotten for you?” He pointed in Alex’s direction. Bella didn’t answer, but smiled, knowing that something big was coming. “You see, Alex and I collaborated on a gift.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Alex said. He got up and brought Bella’s wheelchair into the room. “Get in,” he said.

“What?”

“You heard him,” her father said.

They went down the path heading to the stables. Upon reaching the stables there, in the cross ties next to the head groom, stood the new mare.

“Bella, this is your new mare,
Regala
,” Alex announced proudly.

“What?” She looked back and forth between Alex and her father. “What do you mean this is my new horse? Why are you doing this to me? What do you expect from me?”

“What’s the problem?” Javier asked. “We thought you’d be pleased with her.”

“Is she the wrong color?” Alex asked.

“Are you a fool? Can’t you see that I can’t ride? I can’t walk! What are you two trying to do? Drive me mad? Because if so, it’s working. I don’t want this horse. Send her back. The only horse I want is buried in the ground in France where I can’t even visit her grave.”

Alex placed a hand on her shoulder. “I know that she isn’t Delilah, but in time you’ll love her. I’m certain of it. Come on, pet her. She’s very kind, very sweet—like you.” Alex walked over to the mare and patted her on the neck. She turned her head and nuzzled him.