“Which he is doing right now. We’ll talk more soon,” I stated. “Maybe you’ll have some answers on your end by then.”
“I hope one of us gets some answers for us, my friend, because I do not like the direction this is going.” His voice was low, but I could feel his anger.
“Neither do I, Alejandro,” I said, matching his intensity. “Neither do I.”
Orlando
28
The Van Wyck Expressway was crowded, and as I sat in traffic on the way back to the warehouse where Miguel was being held, I finally had some time to think about the events of last night. Before now, things had just been moving way too fast, and everything felt so fucking out of control. My father was on edge, and when he was stressed, everyone felt it. So, of course, we were all in panic mode, trying to figure out where the Roadster was and the quickest way to get it back.
The most logical answer was that Miguel had something to do with the hijacking, but something about that didn’t feel quite right. If Miguel was involved, why would he waste his time fucking around with Paris instead of getting the hell out of New York? Hell, he could have jumped a plane ten minutes after I dropped him off. I didn’t care how good looking or persuasive Paris could be; she wasn’t worth his life, which was now clearly on the line. I guess it was possible he was just that cocky and thought he could play us dumb-ass niggers, maybe even use Paris as an alibi. Or perhaps he was just plain stupid. But I’d spent a lot of time with the man while putting the finishing touches on this deal, and I never saw that. Then there was the possibility he was innocent and was being played by Alejandro. I didn’t know what the truth was, but I was damn sure going to get to the bottom of this mystery. By the time I finished pumping a couple hundred cc of sodium amytal into his system, he was going to tell me anything I wanted to hear.
Most people didn’t believe in truth serums, and that included my father, until he’d seen it work for himself. Now he had me keep enough of the stuff around to interrogate an army. I wondered what Ruby would think if she knew how I was really using my pharmaceutical degree.
Ruby. Believe it or not, even with all this crazy shit on my mind, I was still constantly thinking about Ruby. I didn’t like the way I’d left things with her. I just kept seeing that expression on her face when I snapped at her about turning off my phone. But what did she expect? His cell phone and his radio: every woman should know those are two things you don’t fuck with when it comes to a man’s stuff. Of course, the real reason I was so pissed off that night was that someone had dared to steal from the Duncans, but Ruby’s stunt with my phone made her the target for my anger. Still, I felt bad about hurting her feelings, and something inside of me just needed to make things right with her.
I took out my phone and hit one of the speed dial buttons.
“Remy. It’s Orlando.”
“Orlando. It’s always a pleasure. What can I do you for?” Remy said.
“I need something from you.”
“Well, you know I’ve got you covered. And your call is perfect timing. We have this new girl that—”
“No. I don’t want to meet a new girl. I want you to set up something with Ruby again.”
“Oh?” Remy sounded confused. “But after the way you left her at the restaurant, I thought—”
I interrupted him. “Can you do that for me?”
“I’m afraid not, my friend. Ruby has once again decided that she’s through working for us. Perhaps it is for the best, anyway. She was very emotional after your last date, and you and I both know that emotion is a no-no in this business.”
“Get her back. I’ll pay triple if I have to.”
“I don’t think you understand. She’s moved on. But there are others. I’ve got plenty of girls.”