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“How will that story fly if I touched the doorknob in the closet?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Miguel is part of a large crime family in Dallas. They intimidate witnesses. Some even disappear. The more they don’t know about you, the better. Look, don’t worry,” he said quickly when my eyes grew larger than his pickup truck. “Let me get more information from the team. If there’s no trace of your presence in the house, we will be good. I’ll explain everything to the DA’s office, and we’ll go from there.”
“If I left fingerprints?”
“Then Plan B, we put you in protective custody.”
I groaned and leaned against the side of the truck. “This is going to suck.”
“Yeah, it is.”
I gave him a withering look. “Gee, thanks.” I mumbled sarcastically.
“Hey, I won’t sugarcoat this for you. I’m laying it out on the line for you. The Santos family are ruthless and deadly.”
The Santos family. I heard Lock mention them before, but it didn’t register how much I was in trouble until now. I knew who they were, what they were capable of. I had no clue Ansley’s boyfriend was a Santos; I never asked. So many regrets, and they keep piling up. I tried not to let the panic take hold, but you know the way panic was set up, it was truly a bitch who didn’t listen to reason.
“Hey, look at me. Don’t worry.”
“How can you say that? You just said that the Santos family are ruthless and deadly, not that you weren’t telling me something I didn’t already know. How could I not worry?”
“Because I can be just as ruthless and deadly. Trust me. I got you. Nothing will happen to you. Let me find out what the forensic team has discovered in the house. After that, we’ll go from there. Okay?”
I nodded, but sadly I didn’t feel relieved at all. Things were so messed up in so many ways. On one hand, I had Lock on my side. I knew he would protect me. On the other side, I just brought a world of hurt to my life. The Santos family? The same family Noelle was hiding from.
I needed to think of an out and quick. I wouldn’t put my friends, my family, in jeopardy. I’d disappear first. And maybe that was the best thing to do. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect the people that I love. If it meant leaving them forever, then that’s what I’d do. It would suck, but it was better than the alternative.
I truly hate my life…
INTERLUDE 1: TROUBLE
Luis Santos ran his fingers over his hair and let out a quiet sigh. He leaned back in his chair, listening to his men argue back and forth on ways to take down their opposition.
For the past six months, shit hasn’t been running as smoothly as they should, and he had his nephew to blame.
A year and a half ago, Miguel Santos had joined his organization after his father was killed in Mexico. Miguel had reached out to Santos, asking for help seeking revenge on behalf of his father, Santos’s brother. Santos agreed, despite the family feud between he and his brother. They werefamilia, family. No one fucked with the Santos family and lived to talk about it.
Miguel was crucial in the takedown and dismantling of the rival cartel, providing necessary details on the family responsible for where they were in Mexico, and how best to destroy them. They had been successful and because of this, Santos thought it wise to bring his nephew into the fold. He believed that Miguel would benefit his business in the end, and for a while, his arrival had been very beneficial. Santos was able to broaden his market in Mexico, creating more connections within the drug and flesh trade.
However, as of late his nephew had started fucking up. Word has gotten to him that the connections he’d established across the border were drying up. He had learned that the boy hadn’t been pulling his weight. He started sampling the merchandise, both women and drugs, which was something Santos didn’t tolerate. He also didn’t tolerate his shipments arriving late to his customers, or the merchandise being…damagedupon delivery. That wasn’t how Santos operated, his customers new that. In hearing that this had occurred, it put a dent in his reputation and his pocket, which only angered him even more.
The latest shit he had heard was the last straw. He had gotten word that Miguel was attending secret meetings with his rival Carlito Muñoz. Muñoz was a new player to the area. He had relocated from Houston and was looking for a new place to expand his empire. Santos had no problems with the man when he kept his dealings in south Dallas. But now there were rumors he was looking to branch out into Santos’s territory. The question he had was did his nephew betray him. Was he helping Muñoz behind his back?
Santos didn’t do well with betrayal. Before the streets got word of this bullshit, he had to get to the bottom of it now before it got messy.
“I say we take in a meeting with Muñoz and ask him out right,” offered one of his lieutenants, Geraldo. He glanced around the table, seeing that he had everyone’s attention and went on. “We approach with the information we have and ask him if he is trying to take over areas that don’t belong to him.”
“And what will we do when he says yes?” another one of his lieutenants, Caesar, asked.
Geraldo straightened his spine. “Then we kill him right where he sits.”
“Then we start a war we are not ready for,” Caesar retorted. “The Boss just said to come up with a way to settle this without bloodshed. Besides, we don’t have any proof this is happening. It is only rumors.”
Geraldo glanced at his boss before looking at everyone at the table.
“War is inevitable if the rumors are true. We cannot afford to wait around. We have to strike first or appear weak.”
“And what do we do about thegringo?” That was asked by Diego.
