The warehouse door creaked open. Every gun in the room was drawn and focused on Orlando as he walked into the room.
“Hold your fire! Hold your fire! That’s my son!” I shouted, my heart in my mouth at the thought that one trigger-happy finger could have lost me my son. “Orlando, where the hell have you been? I texted you almost two hours ago.”
“Sorry, Pop, but some stuff came up that I had to deal with,” he answered, seeming a little distracted. As he took in the bloody scene around him, he turned to me and said, “Jesus Christ. So, what’s the verdict? Are these Alejandro’s men?”
“They sure as hell are,” Junior answered.
Orlando acknowledged his brother’s words but turned to me for verification.
“It’s his men.” I nodded. “Johnny confirmed it.”
Orlando looked at the bodies again, and then at the truck. “You know, Pop, I’ve been thinking about something the entire ride up here. If these men hijacked the truck, then who shot them and stole the car?”
All heads turned to the first people on the scene: Carlos and his men. A few of Junior’s people even drew their guns.
“Put your damn guns away!” I shouted. “They didn’t have anything to do with this. They’re on our side. Can’t you see these men have been dead for at least a day?”
After a few seconds of silence, during which everyone got their tempers under control, Carlos spoke. “LC, I think my part here is done. We will leave you and your men to take care of your business.”
“Will you be there tonight?”
Carlos looked over at Junior and my men, then shook his head. “No, but when this war starts, I want you to know that as many of my men as you need are at your disposal. Just say the word.”
“I appreciate that and all you’ve done, Carlos.” I shook his hand before he and his men exited.
Junior turned to me and said, “I’ll put a team together, and we’ll be on the red-eye tonight, Pop. We’re gonna need all the intel we can get on Alejandro and his people. I’d like to take Paris, if you don’t mind. With her skills, she might be able to take out Alejandro with one shot.”
I still didn’t know how the hell I was going to tell their mother about Rio. Last thing I needed was more of my family on Alejandro’s turf.
“No, you’re staying here. I’ve already got a man on the ground out there.”
Orlando and Junior exchanged glances before they said in unison, “You do?”
“Yes, I do.” I didn’t elaborate, and they knew enough not to ask for more explanation. “Orlando,” I said, “I’m not totally convinced, but there might be some merit to what you said. These men didn’t shoot themselves, so what the hell happened here? Now, it could have been Alejandro trying to cover up his tracks. Or it could be there’s a third player in this little game that we don’t know about. What you two need to do is find out who killed these men, and that should lead us to the Roadster and my heroin.”
I turned to my men and instructed them to start removing the bodies.
“Ahh, Pop,” Orlando said, sounding nervous. “I know it’s not a good time to discuss it, but we have another problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
Orlando washed his hands down his face. He clearly did not want to speak up, and I knew that whatever it was, it was big.
“I asked you a question. What kind of problem?”
“Miguel.” He said it in a whisper, but to my ears it sounded like he was screaming at the top of his lungs. “He’s dead.”
His words almost brought me to my knees. “What?”
“I said Miguel is dead.”
My mind immediately went to Rio. I had sent him out to California, into the hands of a man who would undoubtedly kill him now. As if I had no control over them, my hands went right around Orlando’s throat. “What the hell did you do to him? Why did you kill that boy?” I was screaming like a madman.