Punished (Calavera Hotels #1)

Chapter Thirty-Six Adrian

I didn’t have time to question Axel, and Bryan seemed a far less threat to us with Mireya missing. I pace Patricio’s home office. It’s been fourteen hours since I found out she was gone. Every emotion, from rage to worry, has surfaced since. My chest aches and my mind is slipping.

Eight hours ago, Alma messaged Thalia, worried about Mireya. We went straight to the apartment, and it had been destroyed. Thalia called Rocky, our cop on the inside, and he questioned all their neighbors, but no one had seen her. Four hours later, I received a text message from an anonymous number. It was a picture of Mireya, chained to a pole, her mascara running down her face, lying on the cement floor. I had zoomed in to try to pin a location, but only a cement wall could be seen behind her. Panic makes its way up my stomach, and I’m ready to kill whoever did this to her.

Adan traced the number back to Diana, but when we went to trace the location, it was a dupe. Instead of finding Diana, we found a box containing her phone, a pregnancy test, and a congratulations card.

“What the fuck does this mean?” I shove the box onto Patricio’s desk. I haven’t eaten or slept. Looking at Thalia, who is pacing around, I can tell she hasn’t either. The image of her plays over and over in my mind. Enrique took Alma to his house and is watching her until we can figure out where Diana is keeping Mireya.

“Either Mireya is pregnant or this is another weird baby threat towards Thalia,” Patricio says and frowns.

Thalia turns to face him. She tilts her head and narrows her swollen red eyes.

“What do you mean, another threat?” Her head turns quickly as she sends a hostile glare to me.

“I didn’t say shit about what you told me.” Whatever Patricio knows about the threat, it didn’t come from me, and we both know Conejo is loyal to a fault.

“There have been some… unusual threats sent to the hotel recently. All addressed to you. Sometimes it’s baby clothes, baby toys covered in blood, or distorted baby dolls. Do?a Clara found each of them, and Enrique and I have disregarded them until we locate the source,” Patricio explains.

“And you didn’t think it was important I know about this?”

“How did you find out?” His eyes widen when she explains to him what she saw the night our men were ambushed at the border. The night we thought we were attacked by Los Hermanos Bandoleros. Patricio goes quiet for a moment. His hands nervously scratch at the back of his neck.

“It doesn’t make sense. I don’t know who would do this. We hadn’t accepted the treaty with the Russians yet when we started receiving the threats, so it’s not Los Bandoleros.” He paces behind the desk. “Los Reyes wouldn’t hurt you because you’re Yeyo’s niece; they accepted Ivan’s death as payment, and they have nothing to gain from threatening our family.”

“It has to be Constance, then. She’s fucking with us,” I say.

“The messages are too personal. What would Constance gain from torturing me?” Thalia asks.

“Ivan killed the majority of the Macias family who attended the wedding. We need to gather a list of everyone who knows about you, and…” Patricio stops and looks at me, debating whether he can trust me.

“And the baby,” Thalia says as she looks at me. A confession. A secret she needs me to hear because she trusts me. Thalia trusts me because she knows I will protect her. The same way I would protect Mireya and go to war for her. Thalia is my blood, and she has proven to be my greatest confidante since I got out of prison. I nod in gratitude and watch as she swallows to hold down the tears. She turns from us and takes a moment. Before the silence consumes us, she rolls her shoulders back and readjusts herself so she is standing straight. When she faces us again, she has regained her composure. That unphased chingona look returns to calm her nerves, her badass alter ego that protects her from losing her footing in the male-dominated world she was thrown into.

“We need to find Mireya. Then we can figure out where the threats are coming from.”

I agree. Mireya is my top priority. I can’t let what happened to my mother happen to her. I can’t let them hurt her anymore than they already have.

“I’ve reached out to our allies to see if any of them have worked with Julian or knew about Constance. None of them did.”

Adan had hacked into Julian’s computer as soon as we found out they took Mireya and found money wired to a private investigator several years ago. Axel and Adan took off to Matamoros last night, as soon as they found out Mireya was missing, to find the man.

“What did they find out about the P.I.?”

“He was a member of Los Peregrinos Motorcycle Gang. He was providing Julian with false information to throw him off one of their members. It had nothing to do with you.”

I pour a shot out from Patricio’s bar and hand another glass to Thalia. Another dead end. I am trying to keep calm, but we are wasting time.

“We’re lucky they didn’t declare a war after Axel insulted them. After that, they were unwilling to cooperate.”

I down my shot, and Thalia rubs at her temples.

“What about the Claudia bitch Bryan mentioned?” He had mentioned the name, but none of us knew who she was. She could be the person helping Diana and Constance. The one calling the shots and behind everything going on here. Patricio scratches at the back of his neck, taking in the information, when we hear a knock on his office door.

“Sir, there is a woman out front looking for you.” Patricio’s housekeeper stands in the doorway. The three of us look at each other and then make our way down the stairs. When we get to the staircase, we see a woman standing at the entrance. She appears to be in her late 40s, but she’s clearly had work done to make her look that young. She’s dressed in a short, fitted black dress with wide sleeves, long black lace gloves, and a black straw hat with a mesh panel. Sunglasses cover her eyes. She smiles when she sees us walking toward her.

“Buenos días, se?ora. How can I help you?” Patricio says as we move towards the woman.

“Buenos días. My name is Victoria Robles. Your nephews were turned away from Los Peregrinos last night. They were not impressed with how disrespectful the one with the face tattoo was.” Her gloved finger runs across the top of her eyebrow. Like we would need a visual on Axel.

“However, had I known what the situation was, I would have convinced them to help. My apologies on their behalf, but I brought you something to make up for it.” She points behind her, and Thalia looks at me hesitantly. She makes her way out the door, to her Bentley parked outside, and we follow. Thalia pulls the gun from her waistband, and I do the same. The woman, Victoria, pops open the trunk, and we all take a step back when we see what she has inside.

“I’m sure you are all well acquainted with my dear ex-sister-in-law, Constance Torres.”

A terrified Constance stares at us as she fights against the restraints. The woman has her hog-tied, with duct tape covering her mouth .

“Now, you will lead us to Mireya, and in exchange, I will give you the information you seek about your son,” Victoria’s voice is polished, but also sounds like a villain from a Disney movie. Her smile is evil as she stares down at Constance. Constance fights the restraints and attempts to scream through the duct tape at the woman.

“You’re… you’re Mireya’s aunt. Her tia Vicky,” Thalia says, and I put it all together. I always pictured an older, soft woman who baked cookies and attended mass three times a week. I was not expecting a future version of Thalia, dripped in all black, with heels and a creepy smile. I’d question how she kidnapped and hog-tied Constance in seven-inch heels, but I’ve seen Thalia in action.

The woman removes the duct tape, and Constance begins a cycle of cursing and threatening, which fades to pleading and crying. The woman is unimpressed with her tears, as am I. She doesn’t have any solid information we can use, since she was also blindfolded during the transport, but she gives us the name Julian had used when purchasing property to use for his gambling rings. Patricio runs inside to call Adan. Once he runs the fake name, we are able to locate a vacant automobile repair shop an hour away on the outskirts of town.

Only sixty minutes stand between her and I. I have been through every form of punishment during this life I have been given, but these sixty minutes would be the cruelest form of punishment I’ve ever experienced.