AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If you need anything, feel free to come forth.” The Captain flips the switch back on while I head back toward the body of the plane, stopping at the bar to pour myself a shot of whiskey. The pain killers had finally started to dull the ache; this will settle my nerves.
Neve’s soft snores are the perfect cover to call my father. The more I make him wait, the angrier he will be.
The pilot gives me a new phone. “It’s clean.”
“Thank you,” I say, turning it on and scrolling through all the fake numbers until I find the one labeled “E.I. Electrical Company.” The EI stands forEl Inmortal.
It rings three times before my father picks up. “Como estás, mijo?” He speaks in Spanish which means he’s likely with people who don’t speak it.
“I’m okay, Dad. Bullet hurt like a bitch and almost died.”
“Pues si, mi contarony ya supe de tu madre.Me alegro que este bien,pero tardaste en llamarme.No volvera a suceder, verdad?”
For once, I almost believe he cares for me more than he cares for the drugs, but there’s a menace to his voice that leaves me on edge. My father’s never straightforward, everything he says is strategic.
I glance up at the girl I rescued, the one I promised myself I’d keep safe.
“No, it won’t happen again,” I retort. “It’s kind of hard to get back to you when I’m unconscious on a hospital bed, trying not to die, so you’re going to have to forgive me on the lack of communication. I got back to you as soon as I could.”
“Si, mijito, claro que te perdono. Ya hasta comence el traslado de Rosalinda a los Estados Unidos, donde ambos podriamos vigilarla mejor.”
I didn’t miss the threat. He’s moving my mom to the US, so we canbothkeep an eye on her. I don’t like that. It means he can get to her faster, and she hated being under his thumb.
“Where are you moving her to?”
“New York,” he answers. “Pero, tu y yo, necesitamos de hablar. Mi mercadería?”
“Stolen,” I offer as an explanation to the drugs. The pilot checked our bags, I’m sure the report has been given that they are not on board.
“Si, por una muñeca.” The fact that he’s calm freaks me out. He knows Neve and what went down. That doesn’t surprise me. The only option I have is to come clean—with some minor details.
“Yes, and no.” I run my fingers through my hair and lean against the emergency door. Lying to this asshole is going to cause so many problems, but I don’t have a choice.
For Neve. For Mom. For me.
“When I was shot, I asked Neve to keep my drugs safe and told her what to do in case I died. The hospital ended up making an error, and the girl thought I wasn’t in the picture anymore. She had my ashes in Mom’s Suspiro Room.”
The sound of a car door slamming shut comes through the line; the wind cutting stops. “I enjoyed that room very much,” he hums, which stirs up my gag reflex. “I helped her make those shelves, pick those books, make you in that room.”
Great. He’s nostalgic.That means he’s in a trigger-happy mood.
“Neve followed my instructions.” I purposely leave out Officer Beyer. She wasn’t doing anything wrong, and I owed her some protection for keeping me alive. She’s probably going to wonder where I went, why I left in ashes, but she’ll be happy that mass death she’s waiting for won’t happen.
“This was your idea?” Dad had switched over to English, which means he’s alone. “Giving away my money?” Not so calm anymore. “Your mother raised an idiot.”
At the sound of my teeth grinding, I pull my phone away from my ear. He knows my weaknesses, and he has one too: his pride. And sometimes, my mother. “I did it to clear your name, so it wouldn’t come back to you.”
“Nothing comes back to me.”There it is.He thinks he’s untouchable because, for the most part, he is.
“People take precautions to keep you safe, Dad, which is what I did. I incriminated the Portuguese Mafia by putting the drugs in their possession. It shouldn’t be that hard to get them back, or are you going to tell me you’re afraid to confront a few assholes?” Both of us know he can take down one arm, but there will be more to retaliate. That’s how the Portuguese mob works, by factions. This recovery will cost him men, money, and if the mob is smart, something he’s not willing to do—share.
He doesn’t dignify my jab with a response. It got to him, but he’s not willing to admit the challenge. “And the thirty grand? She didn’t give it away, she profited from being a thief.”
“Well, she was an idiot.”
My father grunts in approval.
“I told her to sell for at least fifty, to take care ofAmá, but don’t worry, I have the money.”
