“Seriously, what the hell are you talking about?” This time, he had a lilt in his voice, as if I was the stupid one.
I smacked him again, nodding at my soldiers to get him on his feet. “We’re going to try this one more time. If you don’t answer my question directly, then everything that occurs to you in the next several hours is going to be painful. By the end, you’ll beg to die. And you know what? That isn’t going to happen. I’m going to keep you alive and on ice for one hell of a long time.”
Swallowing, he blinked several times, finally nodding to give me a sign of respect. “I’ll answer you if I know what you’re talking about.”
There was a damn ring of sincerity in his voice. “Why were you at the fashion show?”
“I had a mark.”
“Yeah, that much I know.”
His quizzical look wasn’t contrived. The man had zero idea what I was talking about.
“It was an enemy of a client of mine.”
“An enemy,” I said, laughing. “We all have them.”
“The dude didn’t show. I’m still on the hunt. He’s South American scum who killed my client’s mistress. Satisfied?” Castillo glanced around the room, no doubt intent on escaping. “Who the hell are you talking about?”
I debated telling him anything; however, the easiest way to find out the truth was throwing out a bone. “The innocent daughter of a very prominent businessman. What I want to know is the name of the man who hired you.”
“What the fuck?” he exclaimed. When I remained quiet, he swallowed again. “And you know I can’t divulge my client, Miguel,” he said, flinching in anticipation of my retaliation. “Look, I’ve killed women before. You know that, but only the kind who deserved to die. Killing innocent women is not something I’m going to sink to the level of doing.”
I sucked in my breath, playing the evidence through in my mind. “You actually expect me to buy that it was coincidence that you were at the fashion show?”
“So help me God on my daughter’s life,” he half whispered. This time, he was exasperated.
I pulled out my Beretta, merely holding it in my hand. “Your daughter. Ah, yes, you have an eight-year-old little girl. If I remember correctly, she attends a very posh private school.”
“You bastard. If you dare try and lay a finger on my daughter!” he snarked.
I held up my hand, shaking my head. “Like you, I’m not into violence against women or children; however, I’m certain that Ashley would like to see her father again.”
“Fuck, Miguel. Fine. Whatever is going on, I’ll find out information. There has to be some shit on the street about a hit. You know the players.”
Castillo was right on certain levels, although there were always new players attempting to take a piece of the pie. I walked away, rubbing my forehead. “Then this is what we’re going to do. It’s your lucky day. I will allow you to live at least for the moment but given my kindness, you’re going to do something for me.”
He eyed me warily. “All right.”
“Put word out on the street that I’m pissed. Then you’re going to find the two motherfuckers who attempted to assassinate Valencia Rivera.”
He narrowed his eyes. “The daughter of Santiago Rivera?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s right. She was at the show. Fascinating, Miguel. Isn’t she the lovely young lady you spent time with during your visit to Cuba?” Castillo’s eyes twinkled. “Yes, I’ve paid attention to your… career.”
As I knew he would. “So it would seem,” I stated without any emotion.
“Whoever the asshole is has balls attempting to take out the daughter. Rivera is a powerful man with very influential friends. Anyone fool enough to attack one of his family members has a death wish.”
“So it would seem.” I kept my tone even. “If you didn’t attempt to assassinate her, someone else has moved in on your turf, my friend. My guess is that you’re not pleased that shit is happening.”
“What do you want me to do with that information if I find out this asshole’s identity?” he asked.
Either he was a better liar than I knew him to be or he had no idea who she was.
“You come to me. If you do that, your daughter will get to enjoy her father’s next birthday. If not, I will hunt you down.” I gave him another hard glare, inching even closer. “And Castillo? You know my reputation. You fuck with me, you die. You attempt to run, you die. You as much as lay a hand on Valencia’s beautiful body, I will cut you to ribbons.” The ring of a cell phone drew my attention as Cordero yanked his phone into his hand.
“Yeah, okay. I can do that. What’s this girl to you? Develop feelings for her, Miguel? You know that’s a dangerous path,” Castillo stated.
He knew better than to ask or insinuate anything. “She means nothing other than leverage. I want this information in twenty-four hours. Enrique, let him go.”
Enrique half smiled before moving to untie him.
Castillo shifted and I shoved the barrel of my weapon under his chin. “Shit, Miguel. I’m not your enemy here.”
“I’m not fucking with you on this, Castillo.”
“Boss, we have another problem,” Cordero said, grumbling under his breath.
I backed away, finally turning toward my soldier. “What now?”
“Another shipment has been hijacked.”
There were two things I couldn’t handle in life: lying sacks of shit and those attempting to cut into my business. At this point, I had no way of knowing whether the hijack had anything to do with Santiago, but in my mind, I knew the asshole was fucking with me.
Granted, taking his daughter certainly held a high probability of revenge, but destruction on this level seemed beneath the man. Then again, what lengths would a father go to in order to free his little girl? Maybe I’d underestimated the man. If so, other decisions would need to be made, including helping Santiago understand that enraging me wasn’t in his best interest. That would mean an escalation of other business practices.