Where Labyrinths End by Nick Padron

Author:Nick Padron [Padron, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: crime family don;mafia and gangster novels;mafia force captive;kidnapped by the mafia boss;cia fiction thrillers;where labyrinths end;suspenseful and intelligent;emotional terrorist books;mix of literary and popular fiction;family crime kidnapping;mobster father and daughter
Publisher: Vine Leaves Press
Published: 2021-12-13T23:00:00+00:00

T W E N T Y-F I V E

Mondragón

Baldo maneuvered his van into a parking space down the street from Café Donosti. “You can’t come with me,” he said to his brother, Gorka, sitting beside him. “They are waiting for me to talk about serious matters and you can’t be there—you shouldn’t even be here.”

“I can help you with the cooking for the prisoners but I cannot go sit with them?”

“You listen to me well.” Baldo grabbed him by the shirt. “You better not utter a word that you have seen the prisoners. If you do, you will get me and yourself killed. You tell your shadow about it, you tell Mother or Father, and I will kill you myself.”

Baldo and Gorka, their matching long hair sweeping angrily, jumped out of the van and marched off in opposite directions.

The café’s outside lights were off. Baldo knocked on the glass. The proprietor, apron over his round paunch, unlocked the door. “Pasa. They’re in back.”

Aitor and Patxi stopped talking and watched Baldo’s approach. They each had a tall cubata in hand and a relaxed, celebratory look in their eyes.

Baldo knew why. That morning the leadership had received Estrada-Uribe’s second ransom installment. Baldo didn’t think it befitting a celebration. Not after the loss of so many of their compeers and definitely not with the American matón still on the loose.

He pulled a chair. “Your pets have been fed. I washed everything so you do not have to do it tomorrow. But I have to confess I am getting very tired of doing everything myself. When is the iparralde coming back?”

Patxi grinned at Aitor.

Aitor offered Baldo a cigarette. He had always liked the boy, reminded him of himself at another time. Although at times, he could not remember why. “You took care of them well?”

“Yes. But Minot, where is he?”

“He is doing his duties, the same as all of us. What is the problem, are you dissatisfied with your chores?”

“These chores, as you call them, have always been carried out by two persons. But Minot is never here to help.”

“Ha!” Patxi let out. “As if you two get along so well.”

“Look who’s talking. Besides, we get along professionally.”

Patxi forced another laugh. “That iparralde does not get along with anyone.”

“Never mind that,” Aitor broke in. “He will be back when he is done with his assignment. For the time being, you have to continue doing the shopping and going to the plant twice a day.”

Baldo swung his arms up. “How about you two? I have done kitchen duties for three days in a row. Tomorrow is the baptism of my nephew. Am I expected to miss it?”

“Patxi and I have to go out of town tomorrow to see Pedro and Mertxe. The new zulo is not yet finished. There is no one else to relieve you.”

Baldo puffed hard on his cigarette. He wanted very much to protest but he knew the limits. “I cannot miss my nephew’s baptism.”

“So work it out around your schedule,” Aitor said.

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