Anarchy (28 page)

“Please don’t tell Alfonzo, I’m begging you.”

He stretched and walked to the closet for some clothes. He’d think of something to tell his boss. “
Okay
.
”

“
Thanks, Emilio.
I
owe you one.
”

“You don’t owe me anything
.
”
He said –and he meant it. He was doing this out of duty, plain and simple!

Emilio’s shiny black hair glistened
under the heat of the Floridian sun when he emerged from the taxi. He walked
briskly to the rectangular
slate and granite façade
.
It’s
oversize
green
canopy
held white lettering which
identif
ied
the prestigious
hotel
.

There were several people in the lobby,
a couple checking in, a group of young men heading out for the day and an old man requesting another room on a lower floor. Emilio pressed the elevator button, it chimed open and he stepped inside, hit number four then waited for the door to close.
As the elevator
beg
a
n its ascent
, he patiently watched the numbers over the door panel illuminate as it passed each floor until finally
number
f
our lit up and the doors retracted
.

He tapped on room 405,
and Jessica appeared,
“Gosh that was fast
,
”
she
said.

Emilio stepped inside and closed the door. From the looks of it, the girls were definitely partying. Wine bottles filled the wasteb
asket
, frilly women’s clothes draped the twin beds and hair products lined the bureau. There was a suitcase
near the
front of the room
and another smaller traveling case open on the floor.

Jessica knelt over the open case, snatching clothes off the bed and stuffing them inside, “I’m almost done.”

“Is this all your shit?”

“Not everything. Hand me the blue make-up case on the dresser, please.” She asked.

He stepped over high heel shoes to get there and reached for the case then stopped. Next to Jessica’s bag of make-up was a clear box with several cylindrical pills inside.
E
tched
a
long
one
side
of the bi-colored capsule, one
word:
ANARCHY
.

Emilio
called Jessica over and pointed to his discovery, “
You fucking
lie
d
to me
!
”

“Emilio,
calmarse
!”

He scowled,
“Answer me or I’m leaving!”

“
Okay…” she grimaced, “
I’m sorry. I gave Beth the money. I didn’t know she was
using it to buy
drugs…
I swear on my uncle!
”

He
snatched
up the case and flushed the pills down the toilet, “
Get your shit, we’re going.”

Jessica hopped over the shoes and rushed to close her
suitcase
. He wanted to strangle her
. S
he lied
, s
he fucking lied. All bets were off, he dialed his boss.

“Hey boss it’
s me, I’m with your cousin.” He saw Jessica’s head snap
to attention and
ignored her pleading expression. “There’s a slight problem
.”

“
I know.
We’ll talk about it
later,
understand?”

This morning he’d told his boss he had an unexpected emergency, nothing more.
He should
’ve
known, Alfonzo had eyes everywhere.
“Yes.”

“Keep her away from New York and get her out of Miami.
”

“Yes.”

“-And Emilio?”

Emilio held his breath, waiting to hear the words
. His
heart
drummed
loudly in his chest.
“Yes, Mister Diaz.”

“
Keep her sequestered and
d
on’t call me
.
I’ll contact
you after I take care of it
–and you better
answer
,
comprende
?

The wild drums faded. Relief and oxygen filled his lungs. “Okay, I will.”

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

The news reporter pointed to the Miami
h
ospital
where Victoria
Liebowitz
, a Senator’s daughter
was
brought in
unconscious
a
long
with
another
unidentified young woman
.

             
          “
Sources
tell us,
toxicology
results
confirm
Victoria
Liebowitz
had a high concentration of drugs and alcohol in her system. The street drug Anarchy, police officials believe
may be the same drug responsible for
a total of sixteen fatalities
around the U.S.
The family is outraged and requesting law enforcement
investigates
the case
and
bring
the person
s
responsible
for selling these drugs
to justice.
Senator
Liebowitz
is inside the hospital
, we understand
and as soon as we have more information on this breaking story we’ll bring it to you live. This
is
M
adilyn
Quevas
,
reporting.”

Alfonzo gestured
with his hand
and
the l
arge screen went black.
He walked to the window to check if the police
car was still sitting across the street
. It hadn’t moved.
He cursed
. T
he cage bars were shut
ting
him in. “Fuck!”

The police were here since the wee hours of the morning,
tailing
him without making an effort to hide it.
S
hit
was
coming at him from every motherfucking
direction. He spoke with Anita this morning, gave her specific instructions and ordered her not to breathe a word to his wife.

“Sweetheart, you okay?”

He didn’t turn around. She’d see his distress. “I’m good.”

Selange was behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
The c
omforting
arms of a
loyal
and
perfect wife.
He couldn’t relax,
not
this time.
Danté
was dead, his wife shot at,
Jessica involved in some mess in Miami and
the police
were attached to his ass like a bad rash.
He should have listened to his gut and stayed the fuck in Puerto Rico!

“Where did you go last night?”

“Out.”

“Did something happen?”

“Babe,
I’m not in the mood for a
thousand questions
right now,
I got a lot of s
tuff going on
.
Give me a little space,
por
favor
.
”

Her hands dropped from his waist
. He could feel her anger, it was justified. He was shutting her out, again, this time for good reason. He needed to have a clear head, no distractions whatsoever and she was a distraction. When she exited without a word, he
considered
stopping her to apologize. Instead, he
flopped
down
on the sofa deep in thought. He’d gotten word ab
out the foiled hit on Giuseppe and became
perturbed. The attack came shortly aft
er the attempt on his life.
He
was
convinced s
omeone
orchestrated
a dual elimination.
As he pondered
it
, the more plausible it
became
.
Juan was a small-time hustler from the neighborhood
. H
e and h
is boys hung-out near the Polo Grounds, talking cars and smoking weed. They weren’t smart or bold enough to come after him without an incentive, he surmised.