“Isn’t that where they died?”
I only look at him, unable to respond with words, though the image of the carnage Zavala’s men tore me away from will be forever burned into my memories.
Maddox sighs. “You can buy her new things, brother.”
“There are things there that I can’t buy in a department store. Family heirlooms,” I say. “Rafael did well for himself, so she has a legacy. I want to be able to share it with her when she’s old enough. And Emilia was an artist. There are paintings. Sketchbooks. She’d have wanted Zoe to have them. I’m not just leaving them to rot, and I can’t trust Zavala won’t just burn everything. And . . . there’s a car.”
Mad’s eyebrows lift at that. “One you restored?”
I nod and manage to smile a little. My brother knows me well. “A ’69 Mustang convertible in Raven Black with a red stripe. Rafael and I started work on it before Emilia got pregnant and finished it just last month.” I grit my teeth when it hits me how recently the four of us were together.
Emilia and Rafael were both alive, and we were taking the car for a drive for the first time since completing the restoration. It was the afternoon of Christmas Day, with Zoe making her happy baby noises from beside me in the tiny back seat, bundled up against the chilly air because there was no way we were going to break the car in with the top up. Zoe had laughed through the first half of the drive, the wind turning her little nose pink. She’d eventually fallen asleep, but we enjoyed the ride together until then. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy in my life as I was in those moments, oblivious to the fact that they would be dead within hours. It seems like a lifetime has passed since that day.
“Fuck me,” I whisper under my breath, staring down at Zoe.
“Did they own the house outright?” Maddox asks.
I sigh. “Yeah. And Rafael was no dummy when it came to setting up legal and financial shelters for his family. He could’ve run the organization himself.”
“Then there’s bound to be a will, or at least some documentation that their property belongs to Zoe now. We can figure it out before we go.”
The SUV pulls through the driveway in front of the hotel and we get out. Maddox gives me his trademark scowl when I reach for Zoe’s carrier. “Brother, we’ve been over this already. I’m not too keen on answering to the doc if you fuck up your back.”
We have a short stare-off for the second time. When we left the convent, he insisted on carrying her, and I relented. The baby plus her car seat probably weigh about three times my limit, even if I feel more than strong enough to handle it myself.
Frustrated with even this small concession, I hold up my hands and step back. I haven’t even held her yet, and it’s killing me.
When we reach our floor, I swipe my keycard across the pad on the door, then push through. Maddox is right behind me and pauses in the shadowy entryway.
“Callie?” I call, not immediately seeing or hearing any sign of her. I peek into the bathroom, but there’s nothing but her cosmetics bag on the counter.
“Looks like she went shopping,” Maddox says. He sets Zoe’s carrier on the king-sized bed and peeks into one of several pastel shopping bags strewn across the bed. “They’re baby things.” He reaches into the bag and pulls out a swath of soft lavender fabric, holding it up to display a little outfit with a monkey embroidered on the front. His eyes crinkle and he shakes his head. “You found a keeper, that’s for sure.”
I pull out my phone and dial hers again.
From the center of the bed, a chirpy ring sounds, and Maddox’s head jerks up to stare at it.
My stomach drops like a stone and I rush over, pawing through the bags until I find Callie’s purse, her phone lit up from my call. I grab it and look around the room again, frantic, as if she could be hiding in a corner somewhere.
“Where the fuck is she?”
“Maybe she decided to go work out in the hotel gym or something,” Maddox offers.
I’m already shaking my head, the dark dread sinking in deeper with every second. “She was pissed enough that we weren’t taking her with us, because she knows what a big deal this trip was. She wouldn’t have left her phone behind.”
“Fucking hell,” Maddox mutters, and when I meet his gaze and see the stricken look, I know he’s come to the exact same conclusion I just did.
That’s when Callie’s phone begins to ring again. I stare at the screen like it’s a live grenade. The number displayed has a local area code, but that doesn’t mean anything since the man I’m sure is on the other end is likely calling from a burner anyway.
I swallow hard, then swipe the screen to answer and put the phone on speaker.
“Yeah,” I say by way of greeting.
“You didn’t think you could just slink off back to LA without a reckoning, did you, Santos?” Gustavo’s rough, accented voice sends a shiver down my spine.
“Where the fuck did you take her?” The phone case emits a slight cracking noise and I have to force myself to ease my grip on it. I deliberately keep my voice low and even to avoid waking Zoe, but my rage burns as hot as ever.
“She’s close, but if you don’t do what I say, her pretty face is getting a nice little makeover.”
“What the fuck do you want, Delgado? I’m out of your fucking life. There’s no goddamn point to you constantly hounding me. Does Amador even know you’re still after me?”
“Amador ordered me to kill you three years ago. I don’t like leaving jobs unfinished, so the deal is simple: your life for hers.”
“You mean Amador ordered you to
