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“Yes, you can. You’re the future of the Carrillo family. I know that sounds like a load of bullshit, that you have a sister and brother, but they both show aptitude for other things, wish to do other things. You are going to head this family. You.”
Sel dropped his head as he understood. “I’m tired of being protected, like I’ll crack if I see the real world, Bennie.”
“Yeah, I know, believe me. I’m being honest with you, which is something I don’t think your family has been. Antonio and Dante will retire one day if they don’t get killed first.”
Sel’s head shot up and his hand reached for the bigger man’s throat, tightening the grip as he grunted, “Watch that talk.”
Bennie pulled off his hand easily. “I’m not saying that to hurt you. It’s the lives we all lead, Selestino. It could happen to any of us.”
He understood. He just hated it. “Sorry, Bennie. I…I know. I…I know.”
Bennie grabbed his arms gently and said, “Sel, you know they are counting on you, but they’re also worried about you, because they love you so much. It’s both, this concern.”
“Thanks, Bennie, and I’m sorry about…about how I’ve been acting. It wasn’t you, you know that, right?”
“Get your fucking hands off him,” Indio called to them and then rushed over to them, pushing Bennie away from Sel.
Sel was in total shock, but he watched Bennie’s smile spread, and it wasn’t a friendly smile. “You don’t want to do that again, Indio.”
“You think I’m afraid of you, ese?” Indio asked as he moved right in Bennie’s face.
Finally, Sel came out of his shock enough to intervene. “Indio, stop! We were…just talking and what the fuck do you care?”
Indio didn’t move. It was like he hadn’t heard a word.
“Back down now, Indio. I’m warning you.”
Before either could back down, suddenly the lights clicked off and the soft whirring of the air filters and fans stopped, leaving them in complete, eerie silence.
Indio turned from Bennie and grabbed the front of Sel’s shirt. “Come on. We need to get back in with the others.”
For once, he didn’t plan to argue.
Chapter Nineteen
They were all searching the area where the GPS tracker and tablet were found. Some were searching over the area where Indio had disappeared so inexplicably, and Lonnie felt his hair standing on his arms.
For most people, that meant something frightening, or the feeling of being watched. Perhaps he was being watched. The killer was out there somewhere, and Lonnie didn’t doubt a second that he was paying attention to all the men on the ranch hunting him.
But the hair standing on end for Lonnie was more about his instincts. He had a feeling crawling up his mind, trying to roost and let him know what was happening. Sometimes it only took a second or two. Other times, well, it could take days.
The one thing Lonnie Lane Walton knew beyond a doubt was that they didn’t have days.
Dante came over to him, frazzled. “My brother is on his way. He and his wife are on the plane now. I’d like to greet him with their firstborn.”
“I would like the same. Dante, this is all very strange. The trackers were all where the men were last seen, except for Indio’s.”
“That concerns me, and Eight is furious. He thinks the worst, I’m afraid. I’ll admit…so do I.”
Lonnie, however, didn’t. He felt Indio wasn’t dead. For one thing, no one had found any blood, and for another, Sel followed a direct trail. If he simply wanted to shoot the man, he had a gun. He could have ended it, and they would have found him and the dead body of Alex Brooks there, where the tracker he’d stolen was located.
It was all strange, but it made sense in a way that disturbed him.
Just then, Dante got a call from Bonita, who was at the location where Indio’s tracker had stopped. Dante placed his phone on speaker. “Go ahead, Bonita.”
“I’ll be damned if that mother fucker didn’t build a trap. There’s a hole dug here, and it’s filled with water. He’s got some heavy rubbery lining in the bottom to hold the water.”
“Pond liner,” Lonnie said.
