A new wave of nausea churned my stomach.
Three o’clock.
I told my mother to meet me at three o’clock.
I focused on breathing and not the clock, so I had no idea if it’d been five or fifty minutes by the time the quiet knock finally came. Emilio opened it, stepping aside as my mother walked in, all business in a tailored cream-colored suit, heels, and pearls.
She stood just inside the doorway with her phone in her hand, her face expressionless. Even after all she’d done, some part of me still held out hope that the woman who gave birth to me still existed.
“Mother,” I begged, never taking my eyes off her. “Help me.”
Ignoring me, she turned toward Emilio. “Have you retrieved our stolen package?”
“Yes, and I’ve hidden her in a secure location.” Anger flared in Emilio’s eyes, and he kicked Sarah again. “This one followed me and tried to stop me. As you can see, she failed.”
My mother offered Sarah only a passing glance before turning her attention toward her phone. “Wonderful.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I yelled, jerking on my restraints again.
She glanced up, “Am I supposed to be shamed by a murdering whore?”
“It takes one to know one,” I shot back with ice in my voice. “You think I don’t know you set Daddy up? Alex called in the tip that the Carreras were moving shipments. What a coincidence Daddy was the only one to show up. Coincidences like that don’t just happen, Mother. Especially to ones whose wives were fucking important business men.”
“Watch your mouth,” she hissed.
“You knew Finn hurt me.”
“A wife stands by her husband.”
“A mother protects her child!” I yelled.
She smiled. “A woman ensures her own survival.”
“You have no idea how much.” I stared at her, letting the unsaid warning hang in the air. I should’ve left it at that, but the need for other answers gnawed at me. “Why do you want to hurt an innocent little girl?”
She laughed, and I felt it all the way to my soul. “I honestly had no idea the little bitch existed, so you can thank your brother for that. Obviously, running for governor with an illegitimate cartel grandchild wouldn’t have boded well for me.” Her indifference slipped, and she glared at me. “Then you had to fuck everything up by killing that moron boyfriend of yours.”
“Why involve Alex?”
“So many questions,” she groaned. “This is why you’re here—your damn need to know everything. I never trusted him,” she said, tossing a hand in Emilio’s direction. “And since I owned the good agent, I used him to ensure this one didn’t double-cross me.”
Keep her talking, Leighton. Just keep her talking and maybe someone will come.
“So why bother putting Stella in protective custody?”
“That wasn’t my idea. Although it was a brilliant move to intimidate you into infiltrating the cartel just to save his own ass.” She paused and leaned her hip against the door. “Poor bastard never realized I was one step ahead of him the whole time—of everyone, really.”
Emilio piped up. “What the hell does that mean?”
Smiling, she moved away from the doorway and flipped her phone around. A live broadcast streamed across her screen and right in the dead center was Emilio’s mugshot.
“What the fuck?” he shouted, lunging for the phone.
She laughed, pulling it away from him. “Did you think you were ever in charge? Getting rid of the brat would’ve been simple, but this is so much better. Think of the media coverage—the outrage and sympathy you’ve caused.” As the excitement in her eyes calmed, she offered me a twisted sympathetic smile. “I never wished you harm, Leighton. However, you’ve forced my hand.”
“I’m your family!”
She held my gaze for a moment. “So was your father.”
As she turned to leave, Emilio’s voice stopped her. “Hold up, bitch. I did my part. I found the kid and stopped her, but Cortes walked free. Where’s my revenge?”
All my mother did was shrug. “I can’t help that my son has pull. I certainly didn’t anticipate my daughter would marry that Mexican. I should’ve known better.”
“I agree.” Pulling a gun from his waistband, he aimed it at her chest.
My mother had the balls to look irritated. “Are we really doing this?”
“That’s up to you.”
“If you insist.” Reaching into her suit pocket, she pulled out her own gun. In Emilio’s shock, he didn’t react quickly enough, and my mother landed an impressive shot right between his eyes. “I guess he forgot I was a cop’s wife for fifteen years,” she offered with a wink.
I couldn’t speak. Emilio lay dead on the floor, shot by my own mother. This couldn’t be happening.
I must have closed my eyes because they opened the minute I felt her cold fingers on my skin. I choked out a sob as she jerked the gold pendant off my neck and dropped it in her pocket.
“You won’t be needing this,” she said, turning to walk away.
Stopping near the door, she dug inside her purse and pulled out a book of matches and a bottle of nail polish remover. After dumping the entire bottle of liquid around the only exit, she stepped over the mess and paused in the doorway.
“Oh, and you hung up before I could answer your question. You’re right. It is time to cut the crap and be who we are. Well said, darling.”
As she struck a match and tossed it behind her, I screamed for the only thing that mattered. “Where’s my baby, you bitch?”
The door closed, sucking all the air out with it. Still, I screamed the same words over and over as Sarah groaned on the floor beside me. Opening her eyes, she gurgled, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth.
“The circle of life...”
“What? What the hell does that mean?” I screamed, jerking so hard on my restraints the chair tipped over and sent me sprawling onto my side.
A whoosh preceded an explosion, sending up a cloud of smoke that filled my lungs and burned my eyes.
Sarah glanced at the flames, a sad smile on her lips just before she passed out again. “Twinkle, twinkle, little star.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Mateo
Picking up Brody’s phone, I threw it across the table, watching it as it skidded off the edge and bounced onto the floor. “I don’t care. Call somebody else.”
“There’s no one left to call, Mateo.” Brody sat at the table with his head in his hands, staring at his phone. “We’ve called everyone. Every soldier, sicario, and falcon is out looking for them right now. All we can do is wait.”
I had no idea how he could be so calm. Not only had I told him what Bright found out about Atwood and his father, I showed him the video of his mother and the man who had his sister. Still, he sat here acting like we’d been defeated.
Grabbing my keys off the table, I barreled across the apartment. Just as I reached the door, a shadow stepped in front of me.
“Detente!” Stop.
“Get out of my way, Val.”