Drug Lord

“I can’t believe you,” Emilio spat. “I tried to clean you up and send you to rehab…”

“And I didn’t follow your orders. What a shock.”

He reached for one of the baggies, poured the white powder out, and sniffed it.

“Is that…cocaine?” I’d never seen anybody do it before.

“You get a point.” His brother’s sarcasm washed right over me. I didn’t care if I seemed dumb. I couldn’t believe that he was snorting cocaine right in front of us.

I needed to get out of here. My dad’s company was one of the major contractors for the DEA. My dad and his partner, Brayden’s dad, hired a lot of ex-military guys to hunt down dangerous criminals, the kind who preyed on innocent people, getting them addicted to drugs until they either wasted away or were put in jail for stealing.

Suddenly, I understood why Alejandro was more slender than Emilio.

What was I doing here, in a dirty, opulent hotel room with a cocaine addict?

I looked at the door.

“Don’t let us keep you, little girl.”

I looked at Emilio, and he must have seen the worry and discomfort in my eyes.

“Listen, Ale, you can’t keep living like this. You’re a father now.”

“Bitch only wanted a meal ticket. She was happy enough to ditch the baby.”

“Where is she?”

“No clue.”

Emilio banged his fist on the table.

“You don’t know where your daughter is?”

“No, I don’t know where my ex-girlfriend is. My daughter is at home.”

I looked around the hotel, but there wasn’t any evidence of a baby, which was good considering the fine film of cocaine everywhere.

“Not the Quito house.”

“The Cotacachi one.”

Something passed between the two brothers.

“She’s fine,” Alejandro mumbled. “Our nanny is taking care of her.”

“Chabe?”

“Yes.”

Emilio sighed.

“At least you can do that much.”

“Great,” Alejandro said with false cheer. “Now get the fuck out.”

“I’ll be back,” Emilio said. I didn’t know if it was a threat or promise. “And we’ll have a real talk.”

“Good luck with that,” Alejandro said, opening another baggie and doing another line.