House of Secrets by D.F. Hart & K.W. Branzell

Author:D.F. Hart & K.W. Branzell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: murder, FBI, Greed, betrayal, serial killer
Publisher: 2 of Harts Publishing
Published: 2021-12-21T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Esteban Cortinas walked out onto the second-floor veranda of his expansive home in Reynosa, Mexico with the day’s first cup of coffee in hand. Sitting and greeting the sunrise in this manner was a ritual he’d long favored to ease into his day – particularly when meetings were scheduled by his father at ridiculously early hours – because the pre-dawn stillness gave him a chance to clear the cobwebs from his mind.

But it wasn’t lost on him that his subtle practice of gradually coming to full alertness was now completely at odds with the two massive lines of coke he relied on to jump-start his system each morning.

His lips curled downward at that bit of irony before he pursed them to blow softly across the surface of his drink and cool it just a bit. Then he sat and sipped, adding in richly brewed caffeine to underpin his chemically induced adrenaline rush, and frowned as his cell phone’s ringtone disturbed his purposefully quiet routine.

“Yes?” he snapped once he had lifted the device to his ear.

The individual on the other end of the call spoke rapidly, and as Estoban listened a slow, steady smile crept its way across his lips.

“And where does this agent reside?” Estoban asked, then listened further.

“Interesting,” he finally purred in approval. “I give you leave to act upon this information. Nothing violent, however – at least, not yet. Let’s see if a warning is sufficient to motivate him and his team members to cooperate.”

He ended the call and returned to his morning ritual with satisfaction as his servant approached with his breakfast.

***

In Fort Worth, a still-waking Lizzie sat on the edge of her bed and put her socks and boots on an hour and ten minutes earlier than she normally did.

“You’re going to be careful, right?” Donny asked from the doorway before he strode over to her and handed her a travel mug of coffee.

“Always,” she replied, then breathed in the aroma of the beverage he’d brought her and grinned at him. “It’s a simple reconnaissance mission today, nothing more. Go in, look around as much as I can without being obvious about it, and leave again.”

“All right. I’ve got some client meetings scheduled today, but I should be home by three,” he told her, and she nodded before she kissed him goodbye and left for work, clutching the portable mug that contained her morning nectar.

***

Meanwhile, in Corpus Christi a bleary-eyed Susan woke suddenly at ten minutes past six. She sat upright and yawned and stretched before she threw back the covers, then padded on bare feet into the kitchen to start the coffeepot before she retreated to the shower.

Twenty minutes later she was wide awake, toweled dry, dressed, and ready to officially start her day. Susan returned to the kitchen and poured herself an oversized cup of her freshly brewed coffee, then grabbed her cell phone and a little pad and pen to take with her to her kitchen table.

After taking a long sip from it, she set her mug down.

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