Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 87(@200wpm)___ 70(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 87(@200wpm)___ 70(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
I run into my office, trailed by Bull, who might I add took, to Ano like a pit on beef for the last week. He didn’t even bat an eye or sound a single bark as we destroyed the house last night. I rub his head while my computer boots up. “So now you remember I’m your mama, huh, traitor.” He cocks his head and looks at me in his cute blue eyes before nudging my hand to keep stroking him. Giggling I tickle his ears. “Spoiled brat.”
I ignore the recordings. Those are going to take time to go through. I move from file to file, deleting things I believe to be irrelevant, and sidelining things that could be something. So far nothing life changing. It all seems to be blackmail stuff. That is when I see it. I see my father’s name. Heart pounding and mind spinning in circles, I open the manila envelope and acid begins rolling in my stomach. I am looking at proof my father burnt down the police station. Pictures of him in the act. There is one with the match in his hand and a gas can on the ground next to him. “Oh God, daddy. What did you do?” I move past the photos to the police report. There were ten people in the station that day according to the report. Mostly deputies, but there was one young girl, Ilina. She was 22 and pregnant. She was at station paying for a traffic ticket. She and her unborn child died. “Oh God.” Holding my stomach I lean over the garbage and release the little bit of food I had over our meeting.
He killed an innocent young girl and her baby. He’s a murderer. My father, the man who loved me more than anything in this world killed an innocent person. Two innocent persons. Did anyone pay her family? See her family? Of course not. Sitting up, I try to talk my stomach into calming itself. When I think I can handle it, I keep looking and find that her brother whose name is Jarek, is now raising her oldest child. He left that child orphaned. I don’t know how to handle this. Somehow I have to fix this. I think I’ll give it to Cat to handle.
TEN
TICIANO
ONE WEEK LATER
“Welcome, Cousins,” I say to Eco and Benicio who came all the way down from New Jersey to see how the operation is going. We hug and then get down to business.
“How much profit are you bringing in?” Eco asks,
“It’s here, outlined in red.”
“That amount isn’t bad for just six months here,” Benny says.
“I didn’t think so,” I reply.
“And you are utilizing the port for shipments?”
“Not yet. No shipments yet.”
“Are you telling me this amount is from the three clubs?”
“And the restaurant, clothing store franchise, and the cell phone repair shop.”
“Damn.”
“With nothing coming in from China, I can’t believe this profit.”
“Yeah, for the time being I am not going to worry about the port.”
“So it’s up for grabs?”
You’d have to deal with the Albanians, but I don’t see why not.”
After a quick tour of all our establishments, we stop for lunch. My phone keeps pinging. This is the most active Ana has been since I got the subcutaneous tracker implanted in her arm earlier this week. I see she’s at the mall, zooming around from store to store, maybe returning Christmas presents she didn’t like? I ignore that for now and turn my attention back to my cousins who are showing me pictures of their wives and children.
“They are adorable, guys,” I say, praying my lunch comes soon. Maybe I’m weird but kids freak me out. I have no desire to have any kids anytime soon.
“So what about you? A special lady in your life? Kids?”
“No kids, I say quickly, but I do have a girl. She’s in the DeSantis Crime Family.”
“She one of the ones who lost their father?”
“Yes. Her name is Ana, and I am bat shit crazy for her.”
Eco and Benny laugh.
“That seems to be a genetic trait of the Valladares men,” Benny says, still laughing.
“You should have seen some of the shit we got up to when we we’re claiming our wives.”
“Sorry I missed it,” I say. I haven’t seen these guys, in person since we came for a visit when I was six. Words were had between my father and uncles and some of those uncles split off from the rest of us. I refer to them as The Valladares Bandido. The bandits. They do shit we would never do. I still don’t fully understand happened back then, and I never really bothered to ask. I don’t think my dad would have talked about it even if I had. He’s just that kind of guy.
“What’s on your agenda for the rest of the day? Pilar and Eva are shopping but we’d love it you’d join us for dinner. Bring your girl.”