I use my fingertips to press against the screen, allowing it to read my prints. We hear the lock mechanism slide free, and Javi opens the door. I don’t know what he expected to jump out at us, but he’s pointing his gun at the safe as he eases it open. There’s a stack of handguns and knives like the last time I explored, but there’re even more drugs than I realized. There’re blocks of cocaine and bags of pot and pills. I push Javi back and slam the door shut.
“I don’t know what those are.”
My fear is they’re carfentanil. The kind that’s even more powerful than regular fentanyl, which can be used as a prescribed narcotic. Carfentanil is the type where you even breathe in a speck of it, and it could kill you. It’s a hundred time stronger than fentanyl and ten thousand times stronger than morphine.
“Chiquita, it’s all right. I recognize the markings on the pills and the bags. You’re right to be cautious. Those are ecstasy.”
“Are you sure? I didn’t think they came in pills that look like those.”
“Yeah, I know exactly which family they bought these from, and it wasn’t anyone north of the border, and it sure as fuck wasn’t the O’Rourkes.”
Javi reaches in and pulls out a baggie, holding it up so Alejandro and Enrique can see. None of them name a syndicate. Since they don’t volunteer, I don’t ask. Javi empties the safe into several duffel bags. I move on to the one the other guys uncovered. I open that, and Alejandro does the same thing Javi did, a gun ready to fire if needed. I peer around Enrique’s shoulder.
I stand gawking at the safe, trying to value the stash I see in front of me. This one is full of bricks of cocaine and marijuana. I’ve never seen so much in my life. This was far more than he ever made me run. I can’t help but be practically irate knowingall this stuff was in the house while I lived here. Yeah, sure, he had a cousin in the DEA to distract them and keep the target off the O’Sheehans, but that wasn’t a guarantee. A different law enforcement agency could’ve raided the house while I was here.
Even though we weren’t married, my name is on the deed. It was one of my stipulations to moving in with him. I refused to have no stake in the house in case we broke up. I wanted to be protected. New York is an equitable division of property state, so if and when we married and then divorced, it wouldn’t have automatically been fifty-fifty. More would’ve gone to Drew than me since he paid cash for the house, but I still would’ve gotten something.
Not being married meant I would’ve been shit out of luck without my name on it. I wasn’t prepared to do that. I wanted to know I could get some equity out of it if we went our separate ways. Now, I get all of it.
I know his mom and dad gave him shit about putting me on the deed since they claimed I would live rent-free and get something for nothing, but putting up with Drew should’ve been payment enough. He handled the household bills, but I still did my part when it came to things like groceries and incidentals. I cleaned the whole place every single week.
It wasn’t like I was the queen of the castle with minions to take care of me. That was fucking Drew, and I was one of those minions. There’s so fucking much I regret now, even though I try to tell myself regrets are pointless.
I look up at Javi, my eyebrows raised. He’s staring at the contents. When his gaze shifts to me, he answers my unspoken question.
“There’s close to a million dollars’ worth of product in there.”
“Holy sh—smokes.”
I catch myself before I swear in front of Enrique. It still feels wrong.
“It surprises me no one has emptied out these safes. I assumed someone over the years figured out they existed, or he let it slip or confided in someone, but I guess not.”
They’re secrets he took to the grave, and now they’re ones that benefit the Diazes. I can’t think of a better ending to all of this. I notice the bricks have the same marking on them that the bags of pills had. Curiosity gets the better of me.
“Whose branding is that?”
“It’s not branding so much as a tracking system. I know you figured out we recognized it. It’s better if I don’t say who it belongs to.”
“Is it Maks?”
“I can tell you this much. No, it’s not.”
That makes me wonder if it’s the O’Rourkes or Mancinellis. Nothing on the packaging gives me any hints, but then I don’t truly know what to look for. It takes them no time to empty this safe as well. Once again, I follow Javier upstairs. Except this time Alejandro and Enrique go ahead of me.
I’m certain it’s to protect me in case anyone should attack and go after the duffel bags. This way no one can trap me in between. Jorge and Joaquin are in the dining room with the lockboxes on the table. I’m quick to have those open, and Javi and Joaquin rummage through the contents. There are stacks of fake passports for Drew and even a few for me. There’re more for his mother than me.
Of course, it shouldn’t shock me. Weak ass, little bitch, mama’s boy.
There’s also a stack of envelopes. I’m not sure what they contain. Javi thumbs through them, and it turns out a few are fake birth certificates. Others are what I’m sure are forged or fraudulent customs declarations. They’re in a variety of languages. I look among the men, and I sense they want to discuss something I can’t be around for.
“Is it okay if I go up to my room and gather things I left behind that I still want?”
I watch Javi hesitate, but he winds up agreeing, knowing the others have already swept the house. No one is reaching me without going through them first.
“I won’t take long.”
“Take as long as you need,chiquita.”
