My cell vibrated on the desk in front of me. I saw Jax’s name on the screen and put him on speaker. ‘Please tell me you have some fucking leads for me, amigo.’
‘Maybe. I’m not sure.’
‘Go on,’ I said as I leaned forward in my chair.
‘I still got nothing on who might want Lucia dead. I think we’ve dealt with that threat effectively, amigo. So, that got me thinking, who would want her alive?’
‘And?’
‘I didn’t even know where to start, but I spoke to a few of the people from her old neighborhood. The ones I’d spoken with when you first had me look into her.’
‘Yeah?’
‘You remember that hooker I mentioned. Crystal? The one who made me buy her four cheeseburgers and kept me talking in her apartment for three hours?’
‘Yes,’ I snapped, wishing he would get to the fucking point.
‘Well, she was stoned off her ass, and she talked a lot of shit. At least I thought she did. But, something stood out among her ramblings. She mentioned something about Lucia not being a real Ramos. I thought she was referring to her being different to her brothers, but, fuck, amigo, I had no other leads to follow. So, I went back to speak to her just now. It took me a hell of a lot more than four cheeseburgers, but she admitted that Lucia was not Miguel Ramos’s kid.’
‘How the fuck would she know that?’
‘Seemed she was friends with Lucia’s mom. That was why Ramos hated the girl so much. He always suspected but it was never proven. He never wanted it to get out that his wife had fucked someone else behind his back. Imagine what that would have done to an ego like that? So, he made his wife’s life a misery and punished her daughter for her mother’s sins.’
‘And you believe this Crystal?’
‘I’m not sure why she’d lie about it now. I gave her the money upfront so she had no reason to lie to me. She never told anyone while Ramos was alive because she knew he would kill her. And then Lucia disappeared and she had no-one left to tell. Seemed like she was telling the truth to me anyway, amigo.’
I sat back in my chair. I didn’t know who or what to believe any more. Jax stayed silent while the cogs in my brain ticked over as I tried to slot this new piece of the puzzle into place.
‘Did Crystal say anything about who Lucia’s father was?’ I asked.
‘Lucia’s mom told her he was Spanish. Handsome. And even more powerful than her husband.’
Lucia was born seventeen years ago. In September 2004. It was a summer that my family never spoke of. I swallowed the bile as it rose in my throat.
‘Fuck, Jax!’ I hissed.
‘What?’
‘Get your ass on a fucking plane right now because if I’m right, I’m going to need you by my side.’
‘The jet is at O’Hare. I’ll be back by tonight, amigo.’
‘Good. You’d better be ready for a fucking bloodbath, amigo.’
