AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why did you do it?” I ask again, gifting him the third and fourth before delivering the fifth over the back of his thigh. The sounds coming from the man’s throat are horror-filled and full of pain, loud and a little soothing to me. “If I have to ask again, I’m going to play the eye removal game. Count each strike across your face until I hit the orb at just the right angle to make you lose it. Your choice.”
“I’ll talk,” leaves him on a pathetic whimper.
“Then do so.” This time, the whip’s tip hits his injured shoulder. “Convince me you’re worth one more day.”
“Mauricio is in the Caribbean but moves around a lot. He has homes in Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. There’s also Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize. That’s just to name a few.” He swallows hard, his teeth chattering as the pain peaks. “H-he’s been a hitman since his early twenties and is smart, too smart to get caught easily.”
“When did you meet, and where?”
“I need water.” Each word is spoken between clenching teeth, but the way his body shakes is an indicator that he’s breaking. He’ll either pass out or lose control of his bodily functions. “My throat.”
And to keep him alert, I flick my wrist and the leather snaps across his right flank. “Answer the question, lad. Don’t test my patience.”
His head nods, legs shaking. “We met in Miami while I was on vacation. He was close to a trafficker there.”
“Who?”
“The Villegas, but they’re all dead. Killed by the reigning family now: the De Leon’s.”
“Okay.” Tilting my head toward Archie, I signal to the bottle at his feet. It’s hot, has been sitting in the sun all day prior to this, but it’s water. “Hold it up to his lips.” Archie does so, and when that first sip lands on his tongue, Felix gags. He tries to reject it, but I nod, and Archie lets the entire one-liter tip and pour onto his mouth or face. “Thank you.”
“Of course, sir.”
“Felix, thank you for the information so far.”
“I’ll do anything.”
“I’m sure you would, but finish answering my earlier question. Why?”
From the corner of my eye, I catch Casper move closer. In his hand, he has his favorite toy once more. He’s worse than I am with my whip. “Go ahead.”
Quietly, he gets behind Felix and waits. The man is unaware, or maybe he isn’t. Doesn’t matter as a few tense seconds later, he begins to speak. “They offered me a lot of money to do so. More than Mauricio and I have ever been offered for one job, and we took it without pause.”
“How much was your cut?” I ask, placing the whip down just long enough to take my vest off and crack my neck.
“Half a million.”
“And that was worth a woman’s life?”
“It was never supposed to be his mama. His father or uncle, but not his mother.”
“Then why protect Mauricio Hernandez?” Casper’s voice tone is cold. His muscles flex, coiling as if he were an animal ready to strike. “Answer me.”
“I didn’t—”
“Liar,” my cousin snaps, gripping the back of Felix’s head, hair in a tight grip while he digs the tip of his Karambit down his back in a long and straight line. Then, he creates a half circle on the top of the line, the corners touching and turning his mark into a large letter ‘P’—his mother’s initial. “You hid him. You bought his plane ticket out and brought in others to help him escape our wrath.”
“N-no. I-I swear…I-I didn’t.”
My cousin lets him go and steps back. “Enjoy yourself.”
“Thanks, brother.” A tsking sound escapes me while Felix blubbers and begs. His cries and pleas fall on deaf ears. “Liars never make it into the kingdom of heaven.”
I show no more mercy.
We knew his moves, motives, and connections.
We just wanted him to voice it out loud. To be a man and admit it.
