Bloody Secrets by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera

Author:Carolina Garcia-Aguilera [Garcia-Aguilera, Carolina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-625674-36-4
Publisher: Jabberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.
Published: 2020-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

Driving to Coconut Grove, I found myself entirely preoccupied with what Lourdes had told me about pre- and post-exile Cuban society. I tried to reconcile this information with the de la Torres and their rise to prominence in Miami. All I had known about them was a pair of diametrically opposed viewpoints: Luis’s, as well as Mami’s and Sergio’s, version of them as evil and greedy, and their near-deification by the public-at-large. Miguel and Teresa de la Torre had been abstractions to me—vague stick figures instead of flesh-and-blood people. I needed some hard facts.

As soon as I got to the office, I placed a call to Nestor.

“How are you doing on the de la Torres’ financials?” I asked him.

“I haven’t really gotten that far yet,” he replied sheepishly. “I just started on the public records searches, and I was waiting to see what comes back. Today I was planning to go to the library to check out newspaper accounts.”

I wasn’t going to give Nestor trouble for starting late. He had earned my respect and I knew he’d come through for me.

“I’m glad I caught you,” I said. “In addition to the financial background, get me some more information on personal stuff as well. You know, newspaper-feature stuff. Tours of the house, soft-news articles—especially on Teresa.”

“God, I’ll be there for days,” Nestor groaned. “I’ll bet those two have had thousands of articles written about them.”

“Well, you’d better get started,” I said. “And keep track of your billable hours.”

Leonardo knocked on the door and announced in an agitated voice, “Joe Ryan’s on the phone. He says he has to talk to you right away.”

I told Nestor I had to go, then punched the other line.

“Lupe, I’m calling across the street from the target’s house,” Joe said. He was a pro and knew not to use his target’s name on a cell phone. “I’m here to relieve Mike, but he’s not here. Did you pull him off the job or something?”

“No, I didn’t. Hey, wait,” I said, puzzled, “don’t you have the afternoon shift?”

“Usually, but we switched schedules for today. Lucy’s kid is sick, so Mike and I split her shift. He took midnight to noon, and I took noon to midnight.”

This was nothing out of the ordinary; the three junior investigators had worked together before, and they always had been willing to help one another out.

What was unusual was for Mike not to be at his post. We all knew it was vital to keep someone on surveillance without interruption. I felt a little pang of anxiety in my stomach. “Did you try to call him?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Joe said. “I called his beeper, his cell phone, his house. Nothing. He’s not answering.”

I heard a slight buzzing in my ears. Something was wrong. “Meet me at Cocoplum Circle,” I said. “I’m leaving right now.”

I grabbed my purse and shot out of my office, stopping at Leonardo’s desk. “Mike’s missing,” I said. “He’s not at his surveillance post.”

“That’s not like him—” Leonardo began.

“I know.

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