Loving a Bad Boy (38 page)

“
Okay. But you do know we
don’t have permission to roam over the island, right? We could be
taken out if we go into town. You know I’m willing to trade a life
for a life, but I’m thinking you’re going to have one mad sistah on
your hands if I do.”

“
Damn, I forgot about
that.” Julio closed his eyes for a moment.
What to do
?

In a few hours, the traitors would be
exposed. The shipment completed and he would take the time off. He
smiled. Francisco might be pissed, but after all Julio had done to
make tonight happen, the old man would owe him.

Restarting the car, Julio spoke. “Give me a
few hours and I’ll call you back.”

“
You thought of
something?”

“
Maybe. I got a meeting in
ten. Talk to you later.” He disconnected the call and drove into
the garage. After parking, he took the elevator and was not
surprised to see Francisco waiting inside.

“
You’re late,” Francisco
fired at him.

Julio glanced at his watch. “I have four
more minutes.” He pushed the button to their floor. “Good to see
you, too.” He smiled as Francisco glared.

“
Bah. You call and tell me
men who I trust, have trusted, have betrayed the organization and
you want a smile, a handshake? No. You get none of those
things.”

Julio shrugged. “Glad you could make it on
short notice.”

“
You knew I was here in
Miami, do not insult me further.”

Julio nodded. He had known Francisco would
come to insure this shipment was not lost. Julio wasn’t offended by
the older man’s lack of trust in his abilities, he would have
reacted the same. Plus, having Francisco and his security team on
site today would come in handy.

The elevator opened and they stepped into
the hall, their footsteps echoing in the open space. A shiver of
excitement swept through Julio. He’d laid a trap and it had been
sprung. A security guard opened the door leading into a large wood
paneled room. The room was bare with the exception of a long table
and six chairs.

Roberto and Andre stood near a corner in the
rear. There were two other men lolling near the door. Julio
searched his memory for their names. The taller man was Pablo
Fuentes, he had handled the loading the merchandise on the ship.
The other shorter man was Javier Garcia, he’d been in charge of
security for the last job. Francisco had added them to the job
detail at the last minute, and if body language was an accurate
gauge, Roberto was pissed. He moved toward Francisco with a wary
smile.

“
Roberto, you are well I
see. Where is Carlos?” Francisco asked before Roberto reached
him.

A wild look of panic spread across Roberto’s
as he glanced at Julio and then at his boss. Red-faced, he released
a breath before speaking. “He is finishing an assignment and will
be here shortly.

Julio stood next to Francisco, observing the
room. There were four doors lining the wall. Francisco had told him
to go to the door marked two when he gave him the signal. Pulling
his jacket straight on his shoulders, Julio then ran a hand through
his hair. He wasn’t nervous, at least no more than usual when
Francisco conducted a cleaning exercise.

Things were about to get interesting, his
mentor was in rare form, which meant a wild card for the direction
the evening would take. On a good day, the older man did not suffer
fools or thieves. Today hadn’t been that good.

Francisco nodded and waved to the table. The
men sat. For a moment, Roberto looked confused. He hadn’t greeted
Francisco properly, but didn’t want to countermand the non-verbal
request. After glancing backward, he turned and walked stiffly
toward his seat. Julio lingered near the door a moment longer
before picking up his briefcase and joining the group.

Francisco nodded at him as he sat. “I have
concerns over this operation,” Francisco said, not bothering to
mince words. His eyebrows pulled down hard as he continued. “I have
gone over the plans and feel there are still some problems with
this next shipment that will cost us just as much this time as
before.”

All movement stopped. The tension in the
room ratcheted.

Roberto recoiled as if slapped.

The color leached from Andre’s face. Pablo
and Javier sat stoically, waiting for more information. The
differences in the reactions were telling.

As an opening statement, that had been a
powerful one. Julio crossed his legs, prepared to learn from a
master manipulator. Although he had provided Francisco with a large
portion of the information that would come out in this impromptu
trial, he knew Francisco had a bevy of sources to tap.

Roberto was the first to speak. “What have
you discovered?” His voice rose as he looked between Julio and
Francisco. “We have gone over every inch of this plan and have
found nothing. Is that not true, Julio?”

Julio shrugged, content to lay low as
Francisco took his pound of flesh. Later, he would explain the need
for secrecy to Roberto.

A look of stunned amazement covered
Roberto’s face as he leaned back in his chair. Moments later it was
replaced by wide-eyed fear. Julio was glad the man caught on so
quickly.

Someone was about to die.

“
I am aware that you have
tackled this plan in many ways, but there are some things that were
missed, overlooked – repeatedly,” Francisco said, his voice hard.
“First you sought to cover the activities of your son. Activities
that you knew would not be viewed kindly by most.”

Roberto blanched. “But we repaid the money.
He is young and—”

“
I know exactly what he
is.” Francisco snapped. His words derailed Roberto’s frantic
defense of his only child. “I am fully aware of the paltry amounts
that were taken and how they were replaced. Make no mistake, that
will be dealt with…after.”

Julio watched as Francisco masterfully
played with the men in the room. While talking, he gave them just
enough information to let them know he was comfortable with the
knowledge he had accumulated and that he would not be swayed from
his course of action. It was a beautiful head fuck designed to keep
everyone off balance.

Francisco nodded at one of his security men,
who walked to a door at the back of the room and knocked. Julio had
wondered how his godfather would play out this scene. According to
all, the instructions he’d received, even the top man in the
organization had certain protocols that had to be observed, lest
you have an all-out rebellion.

Knowing that, Julio was still surprised when
two older men walked in the room. One of the men was Senor Maderas,
Carlos’ father-in-law. He was in his late sixties, early seventies
and a high ranking Cartel member who dealt specifically with
assassinations.

The other man was another high ranking
official in the organization, Juan Suarez. Normally, he was called
in for heavy, controversial situations. His appearance solidified
the notion that a major deal was about to go down.

Suarez wasn’t as old as Maderas or
Francisco, but he had been in the organization for over thirty
years. He wanted the number one spot Francisco had targeted for
Julio. The man was as lethal as he was loyal. For now, he and Julio
avoided direct contact.

Although Julio hated to admit it, seeing
Suarez rattled him. It was one thing to not want the head position,
another to have someone challenge him for it. No question,
Francisco knew exactly what he was doing by having the man watch
the proceedings.

Maybe this was another type of test. A joint
training session on how to flush out a traitor, who the hell
knew.

A separate table with chairs was set up for
these men in the middle of the room. Shortly after, at least ten
security men entered the room and stood along the walls.

A chill pervaded the space as the scene
played out. Francisco had indeed been busy since their earlier
phone conversation. Based upon the fierce glower on the older man’s
face, things were about to get hot. Julio felt Roberto’s nervous
glare and ignored it. Instead he completed a mental search for
flaws over the information he had submitted to Francisco and found
none.

Once the stage was set, Francisco nodded to
him. Julio stood, buttoned his jacket, walked to a side door and
knocked once. Miguel walked out with Carlos in handcuffs. Next, a
small woman with blondish brown long hair, entered the room, with
Pete following. Julio had to give it to Carlos; Lisa Simmons was a
petite beauty. It was hard to believe what he knew to be true.

Julio motioned for them to stop in front of
the table where Francisco sat and returned to his seat.

The older man looked at the female. “What is
your name?”

Her eyes widened as she shook visibly. She
licked her lips before speaking. “Lisa. Lisa Simmons, Sir.” The
fear in her voice was palatable. It would get worse.

Francisco didn’t let up. “I will ask you
once again,” he said waving off her answer. “What is your name? And
before you think to lie, know that I will begin cutting things off
your body until you tell me the name you were given at birth.” His
voice never rose, which made the words more threatening.

No one in that room doubted the leader would
do exactly as he said.

Julio’s gaze flicked between the couple.
Carlos had grown pale at the initial question, however, now he was
frowning as he looked from the table to his lover.

The silence in the room stretched.

The woman straightened and looked down at
the table, into the faces of each man who sat in front of her. With
haughty disdain, she tossed back her hair, a tiny smirk on her
lips. “I am Ramon Fuentes.” His voice held a ring of pride.

Francisco slammed his fist on the table
gaining everyone’s attention. “Your whole name and do not toy with
me.” The words were spoken with such menace, the smile fell from
Ramon’s face.

“
Ramon Maderas-Fuentes,”
she whispered, speaking fast.

Senor Maderas jumped up. “You lie!” he
thundered, pointing a meaty finger at her.

Ramon’s chin hit her chest.

Julio felt a spurt of pity for the man now
living in a woman’s body. He had read the biographical data on this
man and knew how hard his life had been.

Carlos stared wide-eyed at the woman
standing next to him. “What?” he whispered.

“
Sit down,” Francisco
roared across the room at the older man who'd started to run
forward.

“
That…that thing is not
related to me. It lies.” Maderas spat in her direction as security
forcibly dragged him to his chair and stood behind him.

Thunderstruck, Carlos' mouth opened and
closed like a guppy out of water. Roberto wasn’t much better. The
air seemed to have left him.

As entertaining as the theatrics were, Julio
wondered how much longer Francisco planned to drag this out. The
wily old man loved drama, but hated deception when it walked in his
backyard.

Francisco raised his hand, stopping all
chatter. “You are wrong my friend, she is indeed your late
brother’s son. I have checked into this and I tell you it is
true.”

The elder Maderas face fell as he stared at
Ramon. “No…it cannot be.” His voice lowered in wonder. “How can
that be?”

Julio tensed, afraid Francisco would give
his sarcastic birds and bees talk.

“
I am saying this one is
of your blood. That will suffice for now.” Francisco turned his
piercing stare on Ramón. “Who helped you?”

Disgusted with the delay, Julio stared at
the wall. The old fox knew all the answers, but intended to draw
out the game. Inhaling, Julio reached for calm. Nothing would be
gained by allowing his frustration to show. Besides, Suarez watched
his every move in silent challenge.

As Francisco closed his web, Julio’s
thoughts returned to Pam. Was she okay? Had his enemies confronted
her? He should’ve come clean about his job in the organization.
He’d worked through every conceivable scenario and couldn’t quite
close the deal on not being completely honest with her. Not if they
were going to have any kind of future.

Another door opened. Ramon was openly
weeping. Carlos wore a look of revulsion on his face. Roberto’s
neck and cheeks were beet red as he peered down at the table. What
had he missed?

Pablo and Javier seemed disinterested in the
whole affair, but Julio knew that wasn’t the case. Everyone in that
room recognized someone in the room was guilty of betraying the
organization, and the inherent penalty.

Hog strolled in with Manuel, Maria’s brother
and a well-known assassin for the Cartel, in handcuffs. The two men
at the table gasped as they came closer.

“
No!” Senor Maderas
yelled, his face red with rage.

Following Hog was Miguel, and he held the
arm of Maria, Carlos’ angry wife. “No! No!” Senor Maderas called
out again; hurt and confusion riddled his voice.

Both, the man and the woman stopped in front
of the table. Manuel’s face held no emotion. Maria wore a curious
yet fearful façade. Francisco sighed as he looked at the four
people standing before him.

The drama unfolding in the room was
anticlimactic for Julio. He and Francisco knew the truth behind the
theft. Being a straight shooter, he wondered, not for the first
time, if he was capable of stepping into Francisco’s shoes. This
type of mock trial left him cold. He’d prefer to cut to the heart
of the matter, show the evidence, get the discussion out of the way
and pronounce judgment.

“
This is not good.”
Francisco steepled his fingers beneath his chin before continuing.
“Truly this saddens me. I do not know which is worst.” He pointed
at the woman. “Carlos is your husband, yet you deliberately became
a part of this plan to destroy him. You knew he was sleeping with
your male cousin. Or,” he pointed at the man beside her. “You gave
your cousin money for his operations in exchange for information
about the company so you could destroy your sister’s husband.”
Francisco, deep in his element, shook his head at the obvious
contradiction.