by Helene Laval
“Yes. Somebody broke into his apartment last night and left a note that he had to come home to his wife. He was scared. He was scared, and I didn’t care because I flipped out about the wife thing. I ran away. Oh God guys, I ran away and now he’s gone!” My voice rose in desperation. “We have to find him.”
“Annie, I have no idea where to look or how to get started, but we’ll try. We have to find out who he was, or is, married to. Any other names he may have mentioned from El Paso?”
“There was a couple who looked after him as a teenager. They died a couple years ago, in a car accident. Although when Steve told me about it, he was haunted. Last night I started thinking that maybe the deaths weren’t an accident at all. I didn’t know their last names, but their first names were Carina and Matias. He said they were good people.”
There was a long pause as the three of us pondered what to do. I briefly thought about calling Lou Ortega, June’s husband, but I didn’t want to get the police involved with something that might be fishy. Even though Lou was an upstanding guy, my dad had drilled into me to never trust law enforcement. Ever.
Michael broke the silence. “I’m leaving to look for info.” He tossed his keys in his hand and turned toward his truck.
“Keep me posted!” Jesse yelled to his back. Michael gave him a thumbs up without stopping.
I raised an eyebrow at Jesse.
“Michael, he can find out anything,” Jesse said to me in explanation. “He can get us info. We just have to wait.”
“I hope so,” I said. “But I can’t stand around here and do nothing.” I leaned against the truck and started crying again. Jesse wrapped me in a hug. “We’ll find him, Annie. He’s one of ours. We’ll find him.”
After leaving Singer’s Garage, I went back to the bar. I was a wreck. Justin immediately ran over to me, making me sit while I relayed the entire situation to him just as I had earlier. Jimmy overheard my distress and brought out a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup. I noted the bread wasn’t smashed, and I promptly started crying again remembering Steve making the same for me just days ago.
Once I pulled myself together, I made myself busy at work waiting to hear from Michael. It was the longest day of my life. There’s only so much brass polishing one can do in a single day, and my bar was as shiny as it was the day it was installed. Anything to pass the time. It was torture.
Four hours later I received a text from Jesse:
Michael has info. Be at O’Dell’s in thirty minutes.
The tall handsome mechanic, Steve’s friend, came walking in with Rina right at that thirty-minute mark. Rina ran over and gave me a hug. I was most definitely not a hugger, but I didn’t resist and hugged her back.
“It’s going to be okay, Annie,” she said into my ear. “You’ve got people.”
When she released me, I nodded. I was too scared to speak, fearing I might start crying again. Rina seemed to know that and patted me on the shoulder with a reassuring smile.
Jesse, Rina, and Justin all sat down at one of the empty tables. Michael followed soon after, carrying a laptop. It was late afternoon, and the bar was practically empty. Justin told the two regulars at the bar to go ahead and fill their own beers if needed. I gave him the side eye. He gave me a “What’s the big deal?” gesture. I let it go. He was right, what was the big deal?
Jimmy was in the back prepping for the evening shift and Traci was filling condiments and salt and pepper shakers at the tables.
Michael opened his laptop, took a deep breath, and straightened in his seat. “Her name is Luciana Santiago, or currently Luciana Vega.”
Hearing Vega attached to another woman’s name made my stomach roil. Justin put a hand on my shoulder. Michael continued, “I’ll get to Luciana in a minute. Her father, that’s who we have to be concerned about. His name is Hector Santiago. Organized crime family. He should be in jail a hundred times over. Drugs, guns, human trafficking, you name it, Hector Santiago is knee deep in it. He’s brutal and unforgiving. There are so many murders and accidental deaths associated with him that the words ‘mass murder’ apply.” Michael relayed these facts like he was in an executive board meeting. I never heard him string more than a few words together. Who was this guy? Certainly not simply the quiet loner I had imagined.
“Are we talking burning bodies in the streets, and murder entire families? Like a cartel? Is that what Steve is messed up in?” Justin asked. We all turned to stare at him, a look of horror on all our faces. Being in Pennsylvania, that kind of sweeping drug violence is something that we associate with the news, an “other” place sort of thing. Even being somewhat involved with criminals myself, that type of brutality wasn’t on my radar at all. Imagining Steve—fun loving, crack a smile, smooth as ice Steve—involved in something so brutal was terrifying.
“Yes,” Michael said simply. While the rest of the table collectively leaned back in their chairs at that response, I leaned forward and put my head in my hands.
Finally, Jesse broke the silence. “Okay, so Steve’s maybe father-in-law is a bad ass, scary as fuck asshole. The real thing, like the Breaking Bad real thing.” Michael nodded, I tried not to think of my own father and what this group must think of him. My face burned with shame.
Jesse continued, “Where does Steve fall into this, and how do we get him out of it?”
It was exactly the question I wanted to ask.
“It’s going to take time. Time and planning,” Michael said. “Hector Santiago lives in a compound, heavily guarded. I doubt we can get near him. Scratch that, we do not want to get anywhere near him. His relationship with his daughter, Luciana, is well known. She’s a cartel princess, a well-known socialite. She doesn’t make the news per se, but her social media presence is notable.”
Michael turned his laptop toward us, and an image of an unimaginably beautiful woman graced the screen. She was tiny and petite, with naturally tanned skin and dark, nearly black eyes. She was smiling. Perfect straight white teeth, perfect bow shaped red lips. I burned with jealousy. It took me a moment to take my eyes off the woman in the photo to look at the person she was standing next to. Steve. My Steve. They were holding hands. He was smiling too, but not at the camera—he was smiling at her. He looked so relaxed and natural, and happy. He wore a button-down shirt and black slacks. His hair was shorter, and he had a little more weight in his face, but it was him. He looked just as stunning as Luciana. The caption on her social media picture said, “Esteban, my love.”
“When was this?” I asked unable to take my eyes off the photo.
“Four years ago. The page is full of photos of them together.” I snatched the laptop from Michael.
He was right, pages and pages of her and Steve. Captions that said, “My love,” or “The love of my life,” or “My pet” had my stomach twisted into knots the more I scrolled along.
As I scrolled through, the pictures started to change. Something didn’t seem right, and I realized there were photos of her with other men. Holding their hands, their arms around her waist. Strange captions that said things like “My number two,” or “My back-up when Esteban throws a fit,” or “When Esteban has to stay in the dungeon.” What the fuck?
“What’s this?” I asked turning the laptop toward him.
“I was getting to that,” Michael said taking the laptop back from me. “She isn’t stable.”
“What?” Jesse, Rina, and Justin all asked at once.
“I don’t know what happened with her and Steve, but from these posts it doesn’t look good. Years ago, things appeared normal enough, but then she started picking up other men, and flaunting them. She makes references to Steve being in trouble, and him in the dungeon. Her friends’ comments are equally troubling, making comments like ‘keep him in chains’ or ‘Daddy can fix that problem for you.’”
I looked over at Michael. The expression on my face must’ve been his signal to keep going. It occurred to me that this was the most I’ve ever heard Michael speak. I
didn’t even know he could be so verbose. People commented on my not smiling, but Michael took it to an entirely new level. I didn’t think he was capable of smiling. Now I wondered if he had some social issues around that. But what was immediately obvious? Put a problem in front of him, and he would solve it. For him, it was like working out a math problem, or a mystery. I remembered he was the guy that Jesse called when Rina was kidnapped a few months back. Interesting.
“Her marriage to Steve was big news six years ago. Apparently the two fell in love, and against her father’s wishes, they eloped.” I let out a gasp and Justin’s hand on my shoulder gave me a little squeeze. “Hector is, believe it or not, a devout catholic. He doesn’t believe in divorce. Why he didn’t just ‘off’ Steve when he found out his princess daughter married a grease monkey, I don’t understand. It’s what I’d do.” Jesse punched Michael in the shoulder.
“Come on, man, show some sensitivity here.”
Michael looked at my tear-streaked face again. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, Michael. I appreciate all of your help and insight,” I said. “So, what happened?”
“Her posts get even more erratic. Things like ‘Esteban, I’ll let you go for now. I’ll come and get you soon,’ ‘Esteban, my love, I hope you come back to me.’ Then nothing at all for more than a year. During that time there are photos of her with countless other men. About a month ago, she wrote this.”
He spun the laptop around again and we all leaned in. I took in a deep breath when I read the words, “We were meant to have a child, my love. It can only be you. I hope you come back to me soon so we can start this part of our life together.”
“Does this mean what I think it means?” I didn’t think things could get worse or weirder until I saw this. “What the fuck does this mean?” I raised my voice and stood up, my chair clattering to the floor. All eyes turned to me at my abrupt departure from the table. “Are you saying that she wants Steve back so they can have a baby? Oh fuck no! This is insane. She’s insane. Her father’s insane. Guys, my boyfriend is locked in a tower somewhere and we have to rescue him!”
“Hell yeah, we do!” Rina yelled and jumped up too.
“All right,” Jesse piped in. “How do we do this?”
27
Steve
Eduardo secured us a private plane in Newark. The flight took forever. All I could think about is what I left behind. But the threat was real, and I would not jeopardize my friends, and Annie, to these people. These were my poor choices and now I had to deal with the consequences.
We arrived at the airport, and I was promptly escorted into a limo. I assumed we’d head straight to Luciana’s home. It was never my home. It was made abundantly clear to me that I was a low life greaser that for some reason Luciana had taken a fancy to, and I owned absolutely nothing.
We drove directly to the main house in the compound. My chest tightened. I did not want to face Hector. He was completely blind to his daughter’s special brand of crazy. Whatever Luciana wanted, Luciana got. Armed and well-trained guards were posted throughout the grounds, and I was led directly into Hector’s study.
“Do not sit. Stand here.” Eduardo indicated a spot on what was a very expensive rug, in front of a very expensive desk.
I’d been here before, several times. The first was right after Luciana and I got married. I had no idea she was the daughter of Hector Santiago when we tore off in the night one weekend and got married. Looking back, it seemed like a game to her. A cruel ridiculous game.
When I saw Luciana in a bar one night, I could think of nothing else. At the time, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. I, full of swagger, and a couple shots of tequila, bravely approached her when other men didn’t dare. We danced and laughed that night. She gave me her number. I called.
We met for late nights, and afternoon kisses. I knew she was wealthy, as she always had a couple security guards following her at a distance. It didn’t occur to me that it had more to do with illegal activities than just plain wealth. I didn’t care about money, I never have. I was young and romantic and believed that love conquered all things. I asked her about the guards once, and Luciana said that she was almost kidnapped when she was sixteen and her father was overprotective ever since. My naive self didn’t question it. I should have.
I was thinking these thoughts when my father-in-law entered the room. He was not a tall man, but he was stocky and well built. Gray peppered the sides of his dark, well-groomed hair, and faint wrinkles lined his eyes. He didn’t smile as he walked around to his side of the desk and looked at me.
“Esteban. So Eduardo found you and brought you back to us.”
I didn’t say anything at all. I knew better.
“Luciana has been so worried about you recently.” Hector eyed me up and down.
“Where is she?” I managed to ask.
“She’ll be by later. I thought it best we have a chat first.” He sat deep into the leather chair and leaned back.
“If she missed me so much, why isn’t she here?” I couldn’t keep the venom out of my voice.
“You know my daughter, Esteban. She has varied interests. Like I told you all those years ago when you were standing here next to my daughter, wedding bands on your fingers. I gave a promise to my daughter that day that I wouldn’t hurt you. Do you recall?”
“I do.”
“And what else was promised that day?”
“That I would do as she said. That I would always be there for her.”
“Yes, yes you said that. Yet, you ran away from her. Why did you think you could do that, Esteban?”
I wanted to say she lost interest in me. That she fucked every man she came across and would tell me about it in detail. That she treated me like an animal. Locked me inside my own home. I did not say these things. Hector would not believe me.
“I didn’t run away. She told me to go,” I replied. It was the truth.
“That’s not what she said. I didn’t even know you were gone for six months. Six months my own daughter didn’t tell me that her husband ran off.” Hector pulled a stack of papers out of a manila folder. “She didn’t want to look for you at first, but when she finally came around, it took us another six months to track you down.”
I raised an eyebrow in surprise. They’ve been looking for me for more than six months? “I gave her divorce papers. She said she’d sign them,” I finally replied.
“We don’t believe in divorce, Esteban, you know this.”
“She said she would sign the papers. I thought we were divorced,” I repeated. Again, this was the truth.
“Well, she’s changed her mind.”
“Two years later!” I raised my voice, I couldn’t help myself. “You just thought it was okay for her to forget about her husband for two years?”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s two years or two days. You are her husband. You are to care for her. You are to give her children. She is ready for a child, so you will give that to her.”
Trying to come up with something that would convince Hector how insane this all sounded, I realized the futility of the conversation. I simply stared straight ahead, my mind slowly surrendering to my fate.
If I defied Hector, if I spoke a word against Luciana, somebody would get hurt. That’s how Hector Santiago operated. He promised Luciana he’d never hurt me, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t hurt the people I loved. He’d already proven that.
“What have you been doing out there in, where was it? Pennsylvania?”
“Working.”
“What is this about a woman?” I stilled. I knew Eduardo would’ve told him this, but hearing it from Hector chilled me to the core. So I said nothing. Hector opened up the folder sitting on his desk. “Annie O’Dell. Twenty-five years old, owns O’Dell’s Bar in Song, Pennsylvania. Song, what a quaint name for a town.” He dropped the paper he was reading and looked at me straight in the eyes. I swallowed. He looked down again and turned the page. “How about Jesse Sin
ger, owns Singer’s Garage? God these people have such original names for their establishments. This is where you were working, no?”
“Just stay away from them, Hector. They don’t know anything about me, or any of this. They are innocent.”
“I will decide who is innocent!” he thundered. In another breath his voice calmed when he said, “I do not like it when my daughter is upset. For both of our sakes, I will not tell her of this Annie and Jesse. That will be up to you. But let me warn you, Esteban, if you upset Luciana in any way, your friends are the ones who will hurt. Are we clear?”
“We are clear.” And I was. Upset Luciana, and my friends pay the price. Annie pays the price.
A text came through Hector’s cell phone, and he looked down. “She is coming up to the gate now.”
I held my breath and waited.
28
Steve
“Esteban! My love, I’ve missed you so much.” Luciana squealed when she came rushing into Hector’s office. She looked much like the last time I saw her. Long dark hair cascaded down her back as she rushed in, wobbling in on stiletto heels. A skintight yellow dress wrapped around her petite frame leaving nothing to the imagination. She threw her arms around me, and I stiffly returned the gesture.
“Luciana,” I said without feeling, gently unwrapping her from me.
“Why so cold, Esteban? I haven’t seen you in almost two years! This is no way to treat your wife.” She cupped my face in her hands, her dark eyes scanning mine, searching for an expression I wasn’t ready to give her.
I looked over at Hector who was watching me intently.
“Why didn’t you sign the papers, Luciana?” I asked, looking back at her, jaw clenched.
“What papers?” She blinked at me innocently.
“The divorce papers?”
“Oh, silly! Why would I do that? We got into a little fight. Husbands and wives do that, you know. I thought you’d need a little time.” This she said to her father who was now looking on adoringly at his daughter.
