News of Andre’s demise deeply disturbed Carly, and she didn’t know what to do with the burning emotions inside her. On Sunday, she tried her best not to let them show in front of the McDonells and her sister. However, when she finally went up to her room and locked the door, she broke down and wept silently. Her heart couldn’t take it anymore, and she needed to let it all out. Still, it remained heavy in her heart, and it would stay that way for a long time. Andre is dead, and there was no denying that she helped Red Lion in killing him. Before watching the television that day, she had received a call from Veronica, who told her to check what was on the news. Red Lion finally got what he wanted, Carly thought as she remembered the burning mansion on the screen.
In the few days that followed, Carly would sometimes check on her phone for any news regarding the fire. The Mexican authorities have been very discreet, giving as little information as they could. They reported a number of casualties, and it seems no one in the mansion had survived. It would also take some time for them to identify the bodies and to be certain that Andre happened to be one of them.
Carly also had a hard time falling asleep after that. She barely concentrated in class due to the lack of sleep. Many of her close friends at college could tell something was wrong with her. Whenever they tried to ask, she would brush them off, saying she hadn’t been feeling well. When Robin met her on campus that week, he couldn’t help but feel worried as she looked like she hadn’t slept in days. She assured him she was fine and carried on with her activities.
It also didn’t take long for Angel to notice Carly’s sudden change. Now that Angel was feeling much better and going back to work, she would check up on her sister every now and then to see how she was doing. It annoyed Carly because Angel would sometimes call twice in a day. If only Carly could let her sister know that inside, she was grieving for someone she knew her sister wouldn’t care about.
Now more than ever, Angel was convinced that there was indeed something wrong with Carly. Moreover, the only way Angel could try and figure out what could be the problem is with the news that they had watched on Sunday. Angel also started to do some digging over the burnt mansion in Mexico. Starting on a Monday when she got to work, she would read news articles online concerning the incident. She soon discovered that the notorious drug lord who might have died in the fire was Andre Cortez, who was to be the heir of the drug empire after his father. The news also reported that his father, mother, and sister had also been in the mansion when the fire started. Andre’s name rang in Angel’s mind as she remembered that the message Carly had received before she left for Mexico happened to come from a man also named Andre. That left Angel’s mind buzzing with questions. Could the Andre Carly had been texting be the same Andre Cortez who might have died in the fire?
There was still so much Angel didn’t know that she wondered whether all of this even made sense. There were many Mexicans with such a name, and it could be anyone. However, if Carly was involved with this drug lord, then that spelled trouble.
Angel knew the only way she would get some of her answers was if she were to get hold of Carly’s other phone Andre had texted her on. That was going to be difficult to do, and Carly shouldn’t get a whiff that her sister was all up in her business. With the way Carly has been acting lately, any sign of Angel or anyone, for that matter, crossing her boundaries would only blow her fuse. Angel didn’t want that.
As much as Angel was planning to do this alone, she felt she should tell someone about this. For now, she had to be sure before she could involve anybody like Eric or Leo. Involving Leo would make things worse, Angel thought. It meant telling him that Carly might as well have been cheating on him with someone else. A drug lord believed to be dead, for that matter. No, involving Leo would be too risky, Angel concluded. Eric would prove to be a good ally, but knowing how close he is to Leo, keeping quiet will be difficult for him. Angel shook her head. Until she was fully certain about her assumptions, she was on her own.
Leo also noticed Carly’s behavior, and at times when they would be alone, Carly wouldn’t open up to him whenever Leo asked what was wrong. He also thought she would bring up the issue about announcing to the world about her and Leo being in a relationship. But for most nights, they barely even talked at all and sometimes sat in silence. On other occasions, Carly was so tired that she would retire to bed early and go to sleep in her room. It was clear to see that Carly was acting so cold and distant. But there was also no denying that she wasn’t looking good either. Leo really wanted to know what could be going on, but Carly wasn’t letting him in. It worried Leo a lot because the last thing he wanted was for their relationship to take a turn for the worse. He needed to know what was going on. And for some reason, he felt Angel might know what’s going on.
After a week had passed, Carly realized that she had to pick herself up and rest more often. People bombarding her with questions every day got to her. Even the McDonells were worried and thought that maybe she had gotten ill because of her trip to Mexico. She didn’t want anyone up in her business, for she didn’t want anyone making assumptions. Not to mention that Mrs. McDonell knew Carly might as well be seeing someone else. The last thing Carly wanted was for Leo or her sister to know about it if Mrs. McDonell started asking questions.
Carly resorted to taking as much rest as possible, and within a few days, she was finally finding her strength little by little. She also knew she needed to come up with a reasonable explanation for Leo over her recent actions. Leo was innocent, and Carly knew what she was doing to him wasn’t fair. With Andre gone, it made things a whole lot easier for her to settle for Leo, as it should be. At a reasonable pace, she and Leo started talking again. She actually apologized, telling him that she simply hadn’t been feeling too well. Leo understood her, as always, but this time around, he wasn’t going to let it go that easily. He didn’t air out his suspicions but decided that when the right time came, he would surely make himself heard.
Even after the incident in Mexico, Carly still wasn’t quite free from Red Lion’s clutches. The week Carly knew about Andre’s demise, Red Lion had been calling her, but she never answered. At the time, she simply hid her other phone away. She also blocked him on her old phone. She didn’t want anything to do with the man ever again. It has almost been two weeks since she last looked at the other phone, and she knew she was going to get in trouble for not answering him. Moreover, the note that she found under her pillows meant she still had a lot of work to do.
One Friday evening, Carly had just come back from her classes. She entered her room, and after closing the door behind her, she went for her wardrobe to change out of her clothes. It was when she heard a phone vibrating in her clothes that she decided to bring it out. When she checked who was calling, she wasn’t at all surprised. Rolling her eyes, she answered the call.
“You finally answer at last,” came Red Lion’s voice at the other end. “I was starting to worry that you might be ignoring me.”
“I was ignoring you,” Carly answered. She really felt like crashing the phone in her hand so as to never hear his voice again. “Aren’t you happy that you got what you wanted? Andre is dead, and your mission was successful.”
“Well, the first time the news came out, I wanted you to come over and celebrate. But it seems you were grieving.”
“I wasn’t grieving,” said Carly, coldly. Despite saying that, her heart ached for Andre.
“If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have been avoiding my calls.”
“The reason for that is because I’m done with you. You already got what you wanted with Andre.”
Red Lion hissed over the phone. “I knew you would say that. But that’s why I had Chang leave that note for you. To remind you and put you in your place.”
Carly’s free hand turned into a fist. She wished she were talking with the man physically to give him a punch in the face.
“You and I are not done, Carly,” Red Lion continued to say. “I realize there’s a lot you and I can do together. Don’t you want to see how far we can go with all this?”
Carly chewed at her lip. She was getting irritated with all this. She might as well have killed Andre, and who knows just how many others, just because of Red Lion.
“You’re quiet, Carly,” said Red Lion. “I hope it’s a good silence, meaning you would want to continue working for me.”
A knock soon came at the door, and Carly turned to look at it. She wondered who it could be.
“I’ll call you later,” said Carly in a whisper. “There’s someone at the door.”
“We’ll talk soon,” said Red Lion. “And this time, please answer my calls. I wouldn’t want to come storming to that house looking for you.”
“I’ve gotten your message loud and clear,” said Carly. She soon cut the call and hid her phone under her clothes again.
She closed the door to the closet, and the knock at her door came again. “Coming,” she announced as she headed towards it. When she got to the door and opened it, standing there was Angel. She looked stunning in a black dress and jacket that had a silver brooch on the side of her chest.
“Hi, Carly,” said Angel, smiling at her sister.
“Hi, Angel,” said Carly. “How was work?”
“Tiring as always. What about you? How was class?”
“Good. Boring as ever.”
Angel suddenly gave Carly a thin-lipped smile. “Mm, do you mind if I come in? I would really want to talk to you about something.”
Carly could tell Angel sounded serious. “Sure.” She stood aside, and Angel entered the room. Carly closed the door. When she turned to look at her sister, Angel stood in the middle of the room, looking back at her.
“Carly, I know I’m going to be invading your personal space with what I’m about to ask you,” started Angel. “But I’m deeply worried.”
Carly raised an eyebrow at Angel. “What is it?” she asked.
Angel deeply breathed out. This was getting a lot harder for her to say than she had hoped, but she had to say it. “Did anything happen to you while you were on your trip? Ever since you came back, you’ve been acting different.”
Carly swallowed as she quickly shook her head. “What do you mean?” she asked. “I just haven’t been feeling well lately. Not to mention that immediately I came back, you got sick, and I have been receiving assignments like crazy the past week.”
Angel scrutinized her sister with her eyes. “Are you sure about that?”
Carly scoffed. “Of course, I’m sure. Aren’t I looking a little better now? I’ll admit, the other week I wasn’t getting enough sleep because I had a ton of work to do. Now that the pressure has eased off a bit, I can finally relax.”
“If that’s the case, then I think there’s nothing to worry about.”
“I know all you care about is my well-being, Angel, and I thank you for that,” said Carly. “You really are the best sister I can ever ask for.”
Angel tried to smile, but it fell apart lamentably. “You know if you’re ever in trouble, Carly, you can always talk about whatever it is with me, right? Be it with school or about Leo, anything.”
“Of course, Angel. There’s simply nothing to worry about.”
“Okay, then. I’ll go and get changed for supper.” Angel started to make her way out of the room, but she stopped herself and turned back to look at Carly. “Before I forget, did you and Leo ever get to talk about that issue?”
Carly knew exactly what Angel was talking about. She nervously laughed as she scratched her left arm. “No, we haven’t had that talk yet. It’s been a rough two weeks. I bet he understands that.”
Angel sighed. “Well, the sooner you two come up with a solution, the better. But just know there will be consequences if you decide to let everyone know about the two of you.”
“I know. Don’t worry, the two of us will talk about it soon, I promise.”
Angel gave Carly a comforting smile, and she wanted to ask one last thing, but she stopped herself. She quickly made her way out of the room, closing the door behind her.
As Carly stood there in silence, she couldn’t help but wonder why Angel had asked her all of these questions. I bet she is just worried about me, like always, Carly thought. It’s typical of her to feel that way.
Carly sat down on her bed and realized that she really did need to have that talk with Leo. She was going to remain firm on her decision on letting the world know about the two of them. It annoyed her that, up until now, people still talked about Leo dating her sister. With Andre out of the way, all this is a good thing. She can now solely focus on building her relationship with Leo, and nothing was going to stop her, not even Red Lion.
***
Miranda walked up the steps, heading to Mr. Walters’ office. It felt like she had been away for months when she had only stayed a week in Mexico and came back on Sunday. She had asked for a few days off from work, but now she was ready to get back in business. The evening was still young, and it won’t be long until the club gets a full house since it’s a Friday. She thought of seeing Mr. Walters to announce her arrival before going straight to work.
When she reached the door to her office, she knocked. The gruff voice of Mr. Walters told her to come in. She swung the door open and found him seated behind his desk, looking down at sheets of paper. He was obviously going through the club’s finances. A glass of whiskey sat beside the ruffled papers on the desk. When he looked up and saw Miranda, a surprised look came on his face.
“Ah, you’re back,” said Walters as he gestured with his hand for Miranda to take a seat in front of him. “I didn’t expect you to come in tonight. I thought it would be better for you to come back to work next week.”
“Oh, I got bored sitting at home,” said Miranda after she sat. “You don’t look at all happy to see me.”
“I am, believe me.” Walters sighed as he pushed his papers aside. “Life hasn’t been kind to me lately. Apart from running this club, I also have to help with Red Lion’s affairs.”
“Speaking of that man’s affairs,” said Miranda with a wide smile on her face as she leaned forward, “what did he say about the aftermath that happened at Andre’s mansion?”
Walters smiled, leaning back in his chair. “He was very happy. You should’ve seen the look on his face when he received the news. We almost celebrated the whole night, but he had to cut it short so as not to draw attention. You and Carly did well in Mexico. Andre’s house isn’t such an easy place to infiltrate. And let’s say we’ve greatly benefited from destroying his house and his base of operations.”
Miranda stuck out her tongue in disgust. “I had no choice but to work with her only because Red Lion scared the hell out of me with his threats.”
“Oh, he very well would’ve followed through with it. If it comes to being infamous, he is worse than Andre, believe me.”
Miranda leaned back in her seat. “Now that this whole Andre business is over, does this mean I’m done working for him? The last thing I want is to be working along with that two-faced tramp.”
“Once you get into Red Lion’s circles, it isn’t that easy to get out. With the exceptional job that you did back in Mexico, he might call upon you again.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Then it was clearly nice knowing you,” said Walters as he took his glass of whiskey and toasted with the air. “Word of advice, don’t refuse. That’s if you love your life that much.”
“He must really be bossy, huh?”
“Oh, he is, and that gets on my nerves.” Walters quickly took a swing of his drink. “He’s a smart man; I give him credit for that. But he walks all over people whenever he pleases and because he can. Sometimes he forgets that he also started out a lowlife like the rest of us. If it weren’t for any of us helping him, he wouldn’t be where he is now.”
Miranda was finding the story very interesting as a smile came across her face. “Ah, that’s new. He doesn’t look like the type who started out all the way from the bottom.”
“Trust me, he did.” Walter set down his now empty glass. “He used to live here in New York. Back then, he was the worst of the lot. As for me, I was just trying to start out my business.” Walters gestured with his eyes, looking around the room. “The two of us bonded over a drink one night, and we became very good friends. We always talked about fast ways to make money. When we thought of going into the drug business, we used this club as a base of operations. Things went well thereafter, but it came along with its consequences. He soon started to think big and thought of expanding our little empire. I thought he was way over his head.” Walter sighed as he clasped his fingers together. “With little of my help, he expanded his business, and quite well over the years. He even gave himself the title “Red Lion.” He rarely used his real name anymore. It’s been quite beneficial for him, because the local authorities haven’t been able to make heads or tails of who Red Lion really is. Some are starting to think he’s nothing but a myth. He doesn’t expose himself so easily to people, so not everyone can know it’s him.”
“Interesting story,” said Miranda. “What is his real name?”
Walters shook his head. “That’s for you to ask him.”
“No way! The man will cut my tongue out.”
“And he’ll do the same thing to me once he realizes that I told you. The man will do anything to cover his tracks, and he isn’t ashamed to do it unnecessarily.”
“Don’t tell me, then. I like my tongue, thank you very much. And it would scare the customers away.”
Walters chuckled. “You got that right. I’m glad you came back safely, though. It would’ve been a shame to lose you if anything had happened back in Mexico.”
“Andre would’ve flown me to the ocean to have me eaten by sharks,” Miranda joked as she stood up from her seat. “I have a question, though. If Carly and I had failed to carry out his plans, what do you think he would’ve done to us as punishment?”
“Chop you into pieces and fly your remains into the ocean to be eaten by sharks,” answered Walters with a smile. “I’m joking. If it wasn’t as bad as he thinks, he wouldn’t want to kill you both.”
“Really? I think he would punish me more than he would Carly.”
“Why do you think that?” Mr. Walters asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I feel he favors her. Highly. Maybe it’s just me.”
“No. He does hold Carly in high regard. She was the key to getting close to Andre, and he knew she would pull it off. I thought he was better off choosing any of you girls. But in the end, he was right for choosing Carly.”
“Wait a minute.” Miranda folded her arms, looking down at Walters. “You’re saying he could’ve picked any of us but didn’t?”
“Yeah. And in the end, he chose Carly.”
Miranda bit her lower lip. This couldn’t get any worse for her just hearing this little bit of information. She felt she would’ve done a much better job as Loren than Carly. But it seemed Carly had surpassed her in that aspect. It got on Miranda’s nerves.
“Well, it was nice chatting with you,” said Miranda, feeling glad to be ending the conversation. “I’ll be downstairs, getting ready.”
“Sure, thing.” Miranda turned around and started heading for the door when Walters called out to her. “Before you go, Miranda, I just want to let you know something.”
“What is it?” Miranda asked as she turned to look at Walters. She had already reached the door, her hand on the doorknob.
“I know you sometimes like to gossip with the other girls. Now that you’re back, they would want to know where you’ve been. Don’t mention that you went to Mexico and you happen to be with Carly as well. You know how they love to gossip to their customers when they have the chance. We might never know who the enemy is.”
Miranda scoffed. “That secret is safe with me,” she said as she opened the door. “No one will know about what Carly and I were doing in Mexico.”
Miranda walked out of the office and closed the door behind her. She made her way down the hall, heading for the stairs. She had no clue that down the other end of the hall, a few doors after Mr. Walters’ office, stood Robin. He happened to have come up to one of the private lounges to bring in the bottles for the night for an important client and his small group of friends. He had been standing in the dark corner of the hall, closing the door to the lounge when Miranda had opened the door. To make matters worse, he heard what she had said, loud and clear.
He stood frozen on the spot as he now started to replay the events that had gone on when he and Carly were in Mexico. The last few days when he thought she had disappeared, the school authorities informed him that she and a few students had left for a special field trip assignment. After hearing Miranda say all that, he started to put all the pieces together. He just couldn’t believe it.
What could the two of them have been up to in Mexico? Robin asked himself, disturbed that whatever might have happened wasn’t good.
***
Pictures of the burnt bodies, along with other burnt items found in Andre’s house, lay about on the long, grey metal table. The person looking at each of the pictures felt like they were going nowhere with this. Whatever evidence they were going to find in this disaster wasn’t going to show itself. The fire had completely burned everything. Some of the bodies found on site were close to ashes, making it even harder for the forensics to tell who was who.
Agent Angela walked round the table to look at the other pictures when the door to the room soon flew open. She looked to see her supervisor, Mr. Blanco, in his grey suit and white shirt, walk in. He was a short, sturdy man, and he had black, glossy hair and a neatly combed beard. Many people in the DEA always made fun of his hair that had a wet look, calling him a wet head sometimes. At first, Angela didn’t like the joke. But with each passing moment that she met her supervisor, the more it caught on with her.
Her supervisor approached the table, and Angela, who stood on the other end, studied him. He had also gone through the pictures a week ago, and Angela knew what he was going to say when he looked up at her.
“Whatever evidence you’re trying to find here, Angela, you aren’t going to find it,” he said.
Angela scoffed. “I know,” she answered, brushing aside her straight, long black hair from her shoulder.
“You read the report,” said Blanco as he looked down at the pictures. “Explosives were set up in well-hidden spots on almost every part of the house. But the explosives in the kitchen sped everything up, with that gas cylinder and everything.”
“I know. What I don’t understand is how Andre and his men could’ve allowed someone in the mansion without noticing the explosives being planted there. That place is supposed to be like a fortress. How could they have slipped up that easily?”
“Whoever planted them was smart enough to find themselves in that house. Andre had complete trust in the person for him or her to be there.”
“Yeah, we’ve been through that already, and we suspect it’s that woman Andre was dating.” Angela was getting irritated now. “Where are we with her?”
“Still nothing yet,” said Blanco as he slid his hands into the pockets. “After she left the place, her tracks had been completely wiped out. The only footage we have was of her at traffic lights on the highway heading back into the city. We tried looking for any video feed of her for the past weeks, but nothing. It’s like she vanished off the face of the earth. We tried running her face through the system, but we never had a clear shot of her face, I’m afraid.”
“She must be working for someone powerful who is trying to keep themselves hidden.” Angela bit her lower lip as she folded her arms. “The woman must have left the country by now.”
Blanco looked up at Angela. “We’re still trying to narrow down which drug cartels could have carried out a plan. But so far, nothing has turned up. Andre and his father had enemies, but even those smaller drug cartels can never pull off such a stunt as this one.”
“We can narrow down all our options as much as we want. One thing is for sure, if we find out who that woman is, the easier it will be to find out who she might be working for.” An idea soon clicked in her mind. “Tell every officer with a CI to press them and ask for any information regarding who might have done this. There must be some sort of gossip or rumor around town that we ourselves haven’t heard yet.”
“I’ll send word right away.” Blanco said, before turning around. “And it would be wise to relay the message to those also undercover in some of these cartels. They might have heard a thing or two.”
“That’s perfect, thanks,” said Angela.
“And may you please stop looking at those photos? There will be a short briefing in thirty minutes. We’ll meet in the boardroom.”
“Sure. Let me pack these up first.”
Blanco smiled with his eyes and finally turned around to leave. Angela started to pack up the photos into large envelopes. Her supervisor was right, though. The house was burnt to a crisp, leaving nothing to chance. Many bodies at the morgue were still being examined. So far, they were able to identify a few bodies. There was still a lot to uncover. Whoever did this was smart to pull one off on Andre and his entire cartel. They never saw it coming.
After she finished packing the envelopes, her phone beeped in the pocket of her trousers. It was an update from the forensic lab saying they had just identified three other bodies; none of them was Andre. Angela scoffed. We should have identified his body by now, she thought. But they all knew this would probably take weeks. As much as she knew Andre was among the dead, knowing that his body was surely there and lifeless would let her rest with ease.
For years, Angela and the rest of the DEA have been trying to arrest Andre and his father for crimes of violence, drug trafficking, murder, and many other criminal offenses. However, they seemed to slip away from her fingers all the time. To add the icing on the cake, Angela lost a close friend of hers on a mission in one of Mexico’s seaports. They were to intercept Andre and his men, who were transporting drugs across the Atlantic to Brazil. Apparently, the whole operation was an ambush, and her friend, also an agent, was caught in the crossfire. Many good men and women died that night. So when news of Andre’s burnt house woke her up in the middle of the night, she was shocked at the news. But at the same time, she was relieved that someone like him would never walk the face of the earth again. Yet there was an unsettling feeling that she personally would’ve loved to bring him down herself.
With Andre gone, it didn’t mark the end of her never-ending hunt for other drug lords. She still had more to take down, and one that keeps dodging authorities in mysterious ways. Red Lion. A man who seems almost non-existent but has had a massive impact on the drug world. Now that she thought about it, Red Lion wasn’t listed as a prime suspect. It’s believed that he and Andre were working together. It’s always those who are closest to you that stab you in the back, she thought to herself. She made sure to take a mental note and bring up his name during the meeting.
Soon the door to the room flew open, and a woman with thick, black, wavy hair poked her head in. Upon seeing Angela in the room, her eyes lit up, and there came an apologetic smile on her face.
“I’m sorry, Angela,” said the woman. “Were you using the room?”
“Oh, no, I’m just about done,” said Angela as she carried the envelopes. “I hear there will be a meeting soon in the boardroom.”
“Yes, it’s why I came to get you. The officials from the Attorney General have arrived a little early, I’m afraid. We might start the meeting very soon.”
Angela rolled her eyes. “Leave it to the Attorney General to set the rules. We better get going then.”
The woman at the door gave a nod of her head and fully opened the door and stood in the hall, making way for Angela to pass through with the envelopes in her hands. The two women walked side by side in the grey hall of the DEA foreign offices in Mexico.
“This must be inconvenient for you,” said Angela as she turned to the woman beside her. “Considering that you had to come all the way from home.”
“Yeah,” the woman said, looking at Angela. “And I just happen to settle down into our new home. But when duty calls, you have to answer.”
“True,” said Angela. “Andre’s house catching fire has had everyone running up and down. I bet you already heard word that they still haven’t discovered his body.”
They had just bypassed a set of offices and found themselves turning round the corner and entering the main pool area of the building. Even in the early hours of the evening, the support staff and officials were moving about, making the whole place look busy.
“Yeah, I have,” said the woman as the two women walked across the busy room to the other side. “I really wish I were home right now, with my little boy.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask how the little man is doing,” said Angela. “I hope he isn’t upset with you for leaving him alone with his father.”
“He has a nanny now, so I’m not worried. I just hope Miguel won’t be such a handful. His father has work to do nowadays, so hiring a nanny was a good call.”
“Yeah, it is.” Matilda looked ahead towards the boardroom they were heading to. The door to the room stood open, and she noticed movement. “We better hurry in there, Matilda. I don’t want to always be the one deemed late.”
Matilda giggled. “You’re the main star of the show, so of course you’ll always get the spotlight.”
The two women hurried towards the boardroom, and Angela went in first. Matilda stood at the door and studied the room. Angela went in to take her seat next to Mr. Blanco at the long oval table with officials from the Attorney General seated on the other side. After realizing that everyone needed for the meeting was present, Matilda went in and closed the door behind her.
ns216.73.216.8da2
