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Kathleen sighed. “One other thing my instructor told me was that you never wanted to get in the crosshairs of the organization because they’re highly dangerous.”
“Understood. Did this instructor give them a name?”
“I don’t know if he was making it up or not, but he called them the Death Squad.”
“Catchy. Push the results on the bloodwork.” Why was it that hearing the warning from my colleague and friend had even more of an effect than when Diego had said basically the same thing? Maybe I’d also stop by the house where the first murder had occurred to see if I could find anything else that might prove to be useful.
“I will. So you know, the owner of the cliff house is pushing to have his cleaning crew come in. They tried to call you before getting to me.”
I laughed. “Everybody and their brother-in-law want to get ahold of me. I’ll release it after I make another pass inside.”
“Okay. Are you certain you’re not in some kind of trouble?”
“Right now, I’m not certain of a lot of things.”
Except for one.
I’d fallen into the dark abyss, just as I’d been terrified of doing for twenty years.
Into the hands of a monster.
CHAPTER 16
Diego
Dangerous.
Merciless.
Unforgiving.
Monsters.
The way of the Santos family.
We’d descended from generations of powerful men, our ancestors farming sugarcane in the early days. My great-grandfather had been considered a brutal man, raising his two sons to follow in his footsteps. He’d arrived in the country illegally with his family in tow, longing for a better life. Then one of his only two children had become ill from tainted water, leaving my grandmother in a catatonic state. I’d heard she’d died of sadness, a story told by my father years before but after I’d lost my mother due to his savagery.
It was an event I never remembered. I did know the death of his own mother had shaped him much like the loss of mine had for me. My grandfather had finally arrived in LA, working his way in restaurants, developing a plan for gaining power through hard work, diligence, and violence.
Xavier had barely been fifteen when he’d been indoctrinated into the regime my grandfather had built, merely one loyal soldier out of a couple hundred at that point.
Or so I’d been told.
Every tale had been tall, bloody, and violent, but at least enough of it was true to provide me with the very posh life Sabrina had accused me of being born into. Once my father had turned twenty-one, things started to change, their power growing. That much I knew to be true.
The family’s control over the city had erupted in violence more than once, several enemies learning early on that they were no match for my great-grandfather’s influence.
He’d learned the art of collecting allies, utilizing threats as well as promises. Fortunately, my father and his father before him had perfected the art, passing down their lessons learned.
Xavier had a biological son, a man who’d betrayed Dante when he was pretending to be me years ago. That had led to his arrest and imprisonment at our insistence. I hadn’t added him to the mix of possible suspects, although Cartero Santos hadn’t been treated well by his fellow prisoners in the maximum security penitentiary he’d been sent to. However much I loathed Xavier, he’d taught me never to leave any stone unturned because it could be used to bash my head in.
I made mental note to find out what Cartero was up to.
Why I was going through my family’s history at this point was interesting, the nagging feeling I’d had after leaving Sabrina’s home never leaving.
Was it possible she was the girl from all those years ago?
Even with what Ivan had discovered, there was no way to know for certain unless I asked her. I wasn’t certain that was a wise decision. However, I was curious as to whether or not she’d take me up on my offer to board the ship. The ship had arrived in port early. Now I sat in the office I’d claimed as my own.
