22

Callahan
Moments after Antonio has taken Portia, my uncle and Heathcliff walk into the study. I stand, shoving my hands into my pockets.
Cerberus’s low growl comes from his place in the corner. I don’t comment as Heathcliff glances over at the hound.
“I don’t know why you keep that dog,” my uncle says.
“I like him,” I say. “Heathcliff.” I nod in greeting.
“Good to see you, Callahan,” Heathcliff says.
My uncle takes a seat and crosses his ankle over the opposite knee. He chooses the Chesterfield at the far end, away from Cerberus who lays his head back down but keeps that low growl going, eyes on my uncle.
I smile at Heathcliff. Well, it’s an attempt at a smile. I don’t like him. I don’t trust him. Not even after he killed his own nephews to prove his loyalty to me. He switches sides too often. One of those mercenaries Portia mentioned.
“Sit,” I tell him, gesturing to the chair beside the one Portia sat in, He does.
“I see my niece walking freely in your house.”
My uncle makes a sound, but I don’t turn to him. “Portia is none of your business.”
“Watch out for that one, Son.”
“I’m not your son. Never call me that again.”
“I’m just saying – ”
“Never call me that again,” I say slowly, wanting to be sure he understands.
He puts his hands up, palms to me. “All right, all right. No harm intended.” He turns to David and laughs, expecting my uncle to laugh with him I guess, but he doesn’t.
Instead, he just looks back at Heathcliff, eyes flat. Unimpressed.
I wait, silent too as he returns his attention to me. He clears his throat.
“Your son-in-law met with Fernando,” I tell him, studying his reaction carefully.
Jacob sided with me against Fernando. He sided with me against the Esmeralda brothers. He pulled the trigger to execute them. This is an important detail. I expect him to be number one on the cartel’s hit-list.
He’s a traitor to them.
Or he’s smarter than I give him credit for.
The only thing I know for certain in this life is how cockroaches like Heathcliff Esmeralda manage to crawl out of their holes unscathed when the rest of the world has been razed to the ground. He’s a survivor. And an opportunist.
“And I have some news from that meeting.”
“Well, isn’t that convenient.”
“My son-in-law and I are aligned. We always have been. I am now the most powerful man in the Esmeralda Cartel and since I only have daughters, he is next in line.”
“Are you now? By killing your brother and his wife along with your nephews and then executing those same nephews?”
He clears his throat.
“Italian families don’t quite work that way,” I say. “Do you mind explaining to me in clearer terms?”
“I was never on board with what Fernando did to your family and I have never been in support of human trafficking. Fernando duped Vincent and Gregory. They were the muscle, really. Not much in the way of brains.” He points to his head.
“Easily manipulated. But when they offered Portia up to Fernando to seal the cartel and the mafia’s union by marriage, they would have shut me out. You know this. You know what they planned for me. I was no longer useful to them. Only took a cut of the money,” he pauses to study me momentarily. I just look back flatly.
“I’ve been in touch with Felix who has kept communication open with the rest of the family. They all agreed that once Vincent and Gregory were out of the way, the cartel would reassemble under a new leader. Europe is a profitable route for us, after all. And with the connections and protections you and your uncle can guarantee us,
well, yours is the side I am on. I’m loyal to you, Callahan. As is Felix.”
“Then what was he doing meeting with Fernando?”
He seems momentarily taken aback but recovers quickly. “Fernando was attempting to re-negotiate his contract. Remember Portia would have been the glue to bind us to him.”
I knew this. I knew why the marriage between Portia and Fernando had to take place. But to hear it from this scum of the earth, to hear him talk about her life like it’s his to be played with, it makes my blood boil.
“But he no longer has possession of her. You do,” he tacks on.
Portia is a pawn. It’s all she ever was to them. It’s what she should be to me.
“Turns out you were right, Callahan,” he finishes, and I realize I’d tuned him out. He talks too much anyway.
“Right in what?”
“Keeping her alive,” my uncle says, standing now, joining us and making a point of not looking at Cerberus who raises his head and tracks him across the room.
“The Cartel wants her and Nathan back. Assuming the boy isn’t dead yet,” Heathcliff says.
I don’t confirm one way or another. “And why do they want them back, pray tell?”
“They’re blood.”
“So family is important to you after all? I’m confused.”
Heathcliff snorts, looks toward the bottle of whiskey. “My brother used to drink the same brand you know that?”
I glance over at it, remember how Portia always looks at it. “Did he?” I wonder if it reminds her of her father and I think about what Lenore said this morning. But I don’t care to discuss this detail with Heathcliff. I want the information he has. The information he is feeding me piecemeal.
“That meeting between Fernando and the cartel didn’t go as Fernando hoped. He thought he’d meet the next in charge. Pick up where Vincent and Gregory left off. But they know what happened. They know it was you who killed the brothers.”
“Do they know you pulled the trigger?” I ask, wanting to be sure he understands the mess he’s in and my power over the situation.
From the way his expression tightens, I know they don’t.
“Not to mention the money Fernando owes the cartel with the cocaine shipment at the bottom of the ocean and the human cargo intercepted,” he continues, not missing a beat. “All that matters is that my son-in-law is the one in charge now in Mexico and I’m in charge here.”
I feel my eyebrows rise on my head. “You’re in charge?”
“What I mean is that through me you have a path. The cartel knows Fernando is a longshot for the winning side. You hit them hard. He owes them a lot of money because it happened here. After delivery. They also know he has lost Portia.”
“And that you have her,” my uncle tacks on but I’ve done the math. I did it a few years ago.
“Make her your wife and you’ll have the cartel’s loyalty. Together, with the Cartel reinstated to nearly the numbers my brother had, you can crush Fernando under your foot and regain your position as the most powerful man in Italy. In all of Europe.”
“And what’s in it for you?” I ask Heathcliff.
“Me? Well, I will see my niece married. Her future secured.”
“You would have executed her just two days ago, Heathcliff. I was there,
remember?”
He smiles a smile that doesn’t touch his eyes. “I’ll be honest here. I don’t see myself going back to Mexico. I know there are those who still blame me for going along with Vincent and Gregory’s plans to overthrow my brother. As far as Fernando was concerned, I was never welcome. He had Vincent and Gregory. Why pay a third man? In exchange for my role in helping you secure your place with the cartel I would like to have what I need to retire comfortably. Disappear from the world so I don’t have to look over my shoulder at every turn.”
“You want out?” Why does that surprise me?
He nods. “I’m not young like you,
Callahan.”
“Hm.” I’m not sure I buy it.
“What about you, Uncle,” I ask, turning to my uncle. “Have you had a change of heart about the girl?”
“It is convenient, isn’t it? She’s not Italian of course but, well, you’ll have to settle.” I feel my jaw clench, but I keep my feelings to myself. “It’ll be in name alone anyway. You marry her, reinstate your original contract with the cartel. They’ll agree to your rules as far as flesh trade. You’ll have to make a few more examples, I’m sure, but they’ll agree, isn’t that right, Heathcliff?”
Heathcliff nods. “Yes. I have a list of the men who will oppose the end of the flesh trade. It’s very lucrative, as you know.” He takes an envelope out of his pocket and sets it on my desk.
I stand so Heathcliff is the only one still sitting. He slowly gets to his feet. “Shall I give my niece the good news, then?” He extends his hand for me to shake.
“Dante will take you back to the mainland,” I tell him, pushing a button under my desk. A soldier opens the door within moments.
“Oh, all right then. Thanks.” I nod.
Heathcliff awkwardly tucks his hand into his pocket, says goodbye to my uncle and leaves.
“You buy that crock of shit, Uncle?” I ask my uncle.
“I wouldn’t trust him as far as I can throw him, no, but the facts are the facts. Marry Portia and you’ll have sealed your deal with the cartel. It’ll leave Fernando wide open.”
“What time am I expected at the gala?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Eight. Bring the girl. Let them see her on your arm. Cause a scene.” he pauses.
“How did last night go by the way?” He means the older couple.
“Like it always does.”
“Without a hitch?”
“Has there ever been one before?”
He smiles. “Let’s focus on the cartel. Then we’ll hit Fernando.” He checks his watch. “I have to get back. Meeting in an hour.”
He walks to the door but stops. “Oh, one more thing.”
“Yeah.”
“I heard Lenore talking to Antonio about Mara.”
“Ah.”
“I didn’t realize he had anyone looking for her.”
“She’s Lenore’s granddaughter. It’s very understandable she needs closure,”
“You need to let any hope for Mara go. It’s a waste of effort and resources. She’s dead, Callahan. And better off, considering.”
“Dead is never better off.”
“You’ll drive yourself crazy if you don’t put this to rest.”
I check my watch. “I’ll see you tonight, Uncle,”