Once inside the warehouse, Kayla marveled at how clean and well-kept it was. The space was large and brightly lit by multiple fluorescent lights. Kayla saw multiple doors and metal stairs that led to an upper platform. In the very center sat a long wooden desk and a black high back leather office chair. It was the type of chair you would expect to see in an executive’s office not an old warehouse. Two leather chairs were situated in front of the desk. This is where the guards told Kayla and her mother to sit.
After about ten minutes, a man entered the space through one of the side doors. Again Kayla was caught off guard. Escobar Valentino was surprisingly handsome. His skin was tan and smooth, the white of his eyes were so bright that they almost looked fake. His pupils were a rich brown. He had a thick chinstrap salt and pepper beard that extended evenly from the left jawline to the right straight through the chin. His moustache was not connected and slightly uneven with thick long sideburns. His wavy hair was also salt and pepper and was combed straight back. He was lean but muscular and although not extremely tall at about 6’, had the appearance of being much taller. He had a beautiful mahogany cane with an ornately carved handle that appeared to be made of 24KT gold. Kayla guessed that the cane was for show since he didn’t seem to have an apparent limp or any difficulties walking. He was not at all what Kayla was expecting.
“Ladies, welcome. I am Escobar Valentino. I am so pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Hello,” Mama Ann responded while Kayla continued to look him over.
Noticing Kayla’s intense gaze, Escobar asked, “Do I meet with your approval?”
Suddenly riled by his cavalier attitude, Kayla responded with way more anger than she intended. “Hardly.”
“Ohhhh! So you don’t approve?”
“My opinion of you is irrelevant. We’re here to discuss the money, that’s all.” Kayla met his stare. “We were told you wanted the properties mortgaged and the loan money given to you.”
Kayla had momentarily forgotten where they were and who they were meeting with. She inadvertently allowed her anger to control her and direct her tone and her words. Although Escobar appeared to be amused and delighted, he was anything but.
Escobar clapped his hands as he laughed, “Direct and no nonsense. I like that.” He circled around Kayla then placed his hands on the arms of the chair as he got right in her face. “But let’s not forget who’s in charge here. Let’s not forget that I set the date and time for you to come down here and let us not forget that not only am I holding all the cards, I am the only one holding any cards. You would do well not to insult me.”
Then he stepped back looking Kayla over before going to sit in his chair. He lit a cigar and leaned back. “I trust we have a complete understanding?”
“Yes,” Kayla’s voice was barely audible.
Escobar turned his attention to Mama Ann.
“Mrs. Richards, you’ve been awfully quiet. Is anything wrong?”
Mama Ann looked at Kayla. Any serenity she had found while at the house with Aunt Nat was gone. She was on edge and very agitated.
“No sir.” She looked nervously between Kayla and Escobar.
“Oh my goodness, where are my manners? Would you ladies like something to drink? Coffee, water? Something a little harder?”
“No thank you. May we please get down to business?”
“Of course. But first, there’s something I want to show you.” Escobar gave a signal to his men and they went through the wide door on the left side of the warehouse. They returned a couple of minutes later. Kayla and her mother gasped. Duck taped and bound to a chair was Detective Woods. There was blood on his forehead and all around his mouth. The front of his shirt was covered in blood, his head was slumped sideways and his feet were bare.
“Is he dead?” whispered Mama Ann.
“No, not yet anyway,” answered Escobar.
His men placed the chair a few feet away from where Kayla and her mother sat. Up close they could see that both his eyes were swollen and there was a huge gash on his forehead. Something about the side of his face appeared misshapen, but that could have been a trick of the light.
“Oh my God!” Mama Ann exclaimed.
Kayla stared in disbelief. When she found her voice, she asked “Why?”
“I don’t tolerate traitors or snitches and he was both. You must understand ladies, it’s not that I am a harsh man but there are some things that are simply not good for business. I have to run a tight ship or everything will fall apart. And for me, falling apart means that I end up doing a substantial amount of jail time that would not allow me to enjoy the riches and the lavish lifestyle that I have grown accustomed to. So you see, while unpleasant, this was necessary.”
Kayla reached for her mother’s hand. “Why would we need to see this?”
“You seem to be a smart girl. You mean you can’t figure it out?”
Kayla didn’t answer; tears streamed down her mother’s face.
“Luciano, get Mrs. Richards a tissue, she seems to be upset.”
“Sure boss,” he replied and left the room. Neither Escobar nor Kayla or her mother spoke while he was gone. When he returned, he handed the tissue box to Mama Ann who was too afraid to even say thank you.
“Now, where were we? Oh yes, Detective Woods betrayed me. He spoke to his Chief and he tried to play me for a fool when he lied and said that he hadn’t told you anything.”
“But we don’t know anything. Until we came in, we didn’t even know your name!” Kayla exclaimed.
“Oh but you knew something. You knew about the detectives’ involvement with my organization and you knew that I was responsible for your father’s death.”
Kayla looked away. Escobar smiled and nodded. He walked behind Kayla’s chair and placed his hands on her shoulders. She visibly cringed. Escobar stepped back in feigned offense. “Do I disgust you? Does my touch somehow upset you? I have been quite gracious and kind with both of you and you behave as though I’m repulsive. Miss Kayla, you have deeply hurt my feelings.”
Kayla turned to look at him. His face had hardened and belied the gentleness of his voice. All Kayla knew was that being touched by the man who had killed her father filled her with revulsion. Even though she had no love for Detective Woods, she was not without compassion. Seeing him unconscious and beaten bloody then put on display upset her greatly. Sure he deserved jail time for his role in her father’s death but this was just too much. She consciously softened her voice, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend. I’m just not used to being touched by strangers. You caught me off guard.”
Escobar laughed. “Oh, you are a smart one; but not nearly as smart as I am. I know that you despise me and everything I stand for. If it were left up to you, you would probably have killed me on sight.” Escobar casually shrugged. “I’m used to it. Family members of those I have had to punish are generally not fans of mine. But do not forget, my sweet Kayla that it was your father who prompted me to deal with him in the manner that I did. So if you’re going to be upset with someone, be upset with him.”
“He made a mistake. No one deserves to die for making a mistake.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. In this business, there are few mistakes of the magnitude that your father made that are punishable by anything other than death. Do you even know everything that he did?”
“He stole some money from you.”
Escobar sat back down in his chair. He looked back and forth between Kayla and her mother. “I’m going to make this short and sweet. Mrs. Richards you will have to forgive me for the information I am about to relay.” He then addressed Kayla.
“This all started because your father chose the wrong woman to cheat on your mother with. He got involved with my woman and when I found out; I almost killed him then but changed my mind. The only reason I let him live is because I realized that as a successful businessman, he could be quite useful to me. He was made an offer. Either launder my money or lose your life and that of your fa
mily’s also. He loved you so of course he chose to launder the money but then he got greedy. My other business owners get paid for their services but not your father. No. You don’t try to mess with or take what’s mine and still get paid. His life was his payment and he must have forgotten that because then he stole from me. Completely unacceptable.” Escobar looked down as he shook his head.
Kayla looked at her mother. Mama Ann looked horrified. “You mean all this is happening because he broke his promise to me?”
‘What promise would that be Mrs. Richards?”
“He cheated on me a long time ago but promised that he would never do it again. So he broke his promise?”
“It would seem so. Anyway between that and the stealing, well what could I do?”
Kayla spoke up. “What happened to your girlfriend?”
Escobar’s eyes narrowed, “She’s no longer with us.”
The full meaning of his words hit Kayla like a ton of bricks. Suddenly she was very uncertain as to whether or not she and her mother were going to walk out of there alive.
Chapter 21
Lawrence drove around the area near the warehouse looking for a good place to park unseen. After a few minutes, he saw a cluster of trees that appeared to be dense enough to provide them the coverage they needed while giving them a clear view of the warehouse. He parked the car and looked back at Aunt Nat who had not said a word during the whole car ride.
“Are you okay Aunt Nat?”
She looked at him with weary eyes and dipped her head in the affirmative. Then he turned to Anita and asked her the same question.
“Now that we’re here, my emotions are so mixed. On the one hand, I feel really confident that everything is going to work out just fine but then I’ll get this jolt, almost like a panic attack. I can feel my heart start racing and it’s all I can do to catch my breath.”
She looked at Lawrence. “The truth is I am scared to death.”
Lawrence reached for her hand in the dark and squeezed it softly. As much as he wanted to soothe and comfort the both of them he was struggling with his own feelings of anxiety. He barely knew Kayla or her mother but he knew that he would be devastated if something happened to either one of them. In that moment, Lawrence felt completely powerless. He also knew that he couldn’t show it much less acknowledge it out loud. Even though it might not seem like it, both Anita and Aunt Nat were watching him and depending on him to remain strong. With one final squeeze to his cousin’s hand, he turned and looked back out the window.
Some time passed before Anita asked, “How long have they been in there?”
Looking at his watch, Lawrence responded, “It’s been about 30 minutes,”
“Are you sure? Is your watch working? It seems so much longer.”
Lawrence looked at his cousin’s profile. Even in the dim light he could see just how worried she was. It would have been easy to get into a debate with her about the time but that would have been pointless. Instead he calmly told her, “I’m sure and yes my watch is working and I know it seems so much longer.”
Anita shot him a look. “Are you making fun of me?”
“No I’m not. Listen everybody’s worried and none of us is going to even come close to relaxing until they come out of that building safe and sound. But Anita, we don’t need to be sitting here arguing with each other over nothing. Under any other circumstances, the time would probably be flying but because of what’s going on and everybody’s nerves are jangling, time seems to have slowed to a crawl and you know that.” Lawrence purposely spoke in gentle tones hoping it would help to calm Anita.
“I’m sorry, you’re right. I just want everything to go right. I just want my phone to ring and hear Kayla on the other end telling me that everything’s good.”
Lawrence reached over and placed his hand on Anita’s shoulder and squeezed softly. “I know. Me too.”
Lawrence again looked in the rearview mirror at Aunt Nat. She was looking out the window; not really paying any attention to the exchange between Lawrence and Anita.
“You all right back there Aunt Nat?” he asked her. Slowly she swiveled her head in his direction. “I’m fine, just worried.” Then she turned and looked back out the window. Lawrence knew that her heart, her thoughts and her prayers were with Kayla and her mother. Every fiber of Aunt Nat’s being was focused on them and nothing else. She wouldn’t rest until they were safely out of that warehouse. Since there was really nothing that Lawrence could say to make her feel better, he turned back around and continued looking out the window.
***
“I know we were supposed to discuss repayment, however, circumstances beyond my control have forced me to change that.”
Kayla had to ask. “Changed it how?”
“As I said before, I’m not a harsh man but what I am is a businessman. Anything that is not going to be conducive to my business has to be dealt with appropriately. As the head of this operation, I decide what appropriate is.” Escobar got up and walked around the desk. He stopped directly in front of Kayla and her mother and looked at them thoughtfully. He looked at Kayla, but his comments were directed toward Mama Ann.
“Mrs. Richards, you took a very large amount of money from me. Now even though you had no idea who the money belonged to, you had a pretty good idea that the one person it did not belong to was your husband. Am I right?”
Mama Ann swallowed hard but managed to answer, “Yes.”
“So technically, you took money that did not belong to you and unfortunately for you, that money belonged to me which means you stole from me. Now I’m more than willing to hear any solutions you may have that will result in me getting the full amount owed by Friday.” Escobar’s eyes never left Kayla.
“By Friday? I have no way of getting that kind of money by Friday,” Mama Ann’s voice was shaking.
“No you don’t and I’m well aware of that. Let me explain my predicament to you. The DEA was informed of a very large shipment of cocaine that I was expecting on Saturday. As a result, I have had to change all of my plans even to the extent that I had to change the arrival date of the shipment. We will be long gone by the time the DEA arrive. If it were not for the fact that I have to leave so unexpectedly, I might have been willing to work with you but regrettably that is no longer possible.” He stopped talking and looked at Mama Ann. “Do you understand?”
Kayla could see that her mother had officially short-circuited. Her eyes were slightly glazed and one lone tear had streaked its way down her cheek. Her lips were pursed together tightly; her chest rose and fell erratically as she struggled to catch her breath. When she didn’t respond, Escobar planted himself in front of her. At that moment, he seemed much taller and way more intimidating than he had before. Kayla squeezed her mother’s hand in an attempt to reassure her. Her mother turned to look at her but was stopped by Escobar.
“Your daughter does not have the answers for you so there is no need to look at her. I asked you a question. Now either you answer me or I am going to have to assume you are ignoring me which of course I would be forced to view as disrespectful.”
With great effort, Mama Ann focused on his face and finally answered, “I understand.”
“Good. Now what do you think I should do with you?”
Before Mama Ann could speak, Detective Woods began to groan as he started to regain consciousness. All heads in the room swiveled in his direction. Escobar strolled over to Detective Woods. After looking him over, he said “Detective Woods, nice to have you back with us. Your eyes are not completely swollen shut so I trust you can see me. Guess what? We have guests. Look, detective, your friends Kayla and Mrs. Richards are here.”
If it weren’t for the fact that his eyes were so swollen, Woods would have opened them wide in surprise. He had forgotten they were supposed to be here. The last thing he remembered was Escobar ordering Luciano to knock some sense into him. He never saw what he had been hit with but he knew the damage was pretty severe. He could not move his mo
uth to speak and something in his face just felt broken. His mouth kept filling with blood which ran out of his mouth onto his shirt. He guessed that his jaw was broken but was unsure what other damage had been inflicted.
“I kept you alive detective to show these two lovely ladies what happens when I’m crossed.” Escobar suddenly lifted his head as he thought of something.
“Oh, that’s right. You’ve already seen what happens. I had forgotten just that quickly. But you know a little refresher never hurt anyone.”
As he spoke he pulled out the handle of his cane to reveal a sword. He held the sword up to the light. “She’s a beauty isn’t she?” He said then abruptly stabbed Detective Woods through his right thigh. With a smile on his face, he looked over at Kayla and her mother and proceeded to stab Woods through both of his feet. As Detective Woods groaned in pain Escobar side-stepped the blood that had begun to seep from the fresh wounds in his feet.
Chapter 22
Anita began to fidget in her seat. “This waiting is killing me.”
Lawrence didn’t respond. He thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. When he looked toward the stand of trees, he could have sworn that he saw someone hiding over there. It was dark and there were so many shadows, he couldn’t be sure. He blinked several times and tried to focus. After several minutes, he saw one of the shadows move. He grabbed Anita and pushed her down in the seat. He put his finger in front of his mouth to signal that she should be quiet. Anita nodded her understanding. He whispered to Aunt Nat to get down in her seat also which she swiftly did without question.
In the dark, Lawrence reached for his gun and waited.
At the same time that Lawrence realized that they were not alone in their little hidden stand of trees, inside the warehouse, several of Escobar’s men came running into the main room shouting as gunfire erupted outside. Escobar ordered his men to take Kayla and her mother to one of the back rooms. Before retreating to safety, Escobar pulled out a 24K Gold Desert Eagle and shot Detective Woods at point blank range sarcastically muttering, “Pleasure doing business with you Detective.” He ran up the metal stairs to the upper platform and disappeared from sight as chaos erupted throughout and all around the warehouse.
MY FATHER'S KILLER: Kayla's Story Page 16
