Free The House of Wolfe by James Carlos Blake Page A

unspeakable . You will never be able to rid them from your memory. Or to forget that you were the cause of them.
    Both women are weeping, struggling to contain themselves, but a moan escapes from Mrs Sosa.
    Calm yourselves, ladies, Galán says. There is no need for such mortification. I’m sure nothing bad will happen to anyone. Your husbands will not permit it. They will do exactly as I have asked and all will be well. You will see. Your children will be back in your arms by suppertime tomorrow.
    The four parents nod and nod.
    Very well, Galán says. I believe that covers everything. Each of you gentlemen may now ask one question. Mr. Sosa?
    Sosa is so surprised by the opportunity to pose a question that he has a mental blank and shakes his head.
    Mr. Belmonte?
    Do you promise not to hurt my children? I just want—
    I have answered that question. They will not be harmed so long as you do as we instruct you. Now I bid all of you good evening and expect your call tomorrow at four. Be strong and be wise. My associate will drive you home.
    The captives hear both of the front doors open and shut. A long minute passes and they hear a nearby vehicle start up and drive away. Now someone enters on the driver’s side, and then the voice of the dark-glassed man tells them he’s going to remove their masks and cuffs but they must then sit on their hands and remain silent if they don’t wish to be hurt. He asks if they understand, and they all nod. One at a time, he has each of them lean forward and half turn and he slips off their masks and takes off the flex-cuffs.
    Shed of their restraints, they sit back again, hands under butts, and stare at each other with a mixture of fear and relief. Huerta is no longer among them.
    The dark-glassed man shoves the masks and cuffs into one of the plastic bags holding the other captives’ possessions and replaces the bag under the seat.
    All right, ladies and gentlemen, he says, starting up the Town Car, let’s get you home.
    6 — ESPANTO
    The drive back to the Belmonte residence is fast and smooth, though to the four parents it seems interminable. Nodding his head in time to the radio rock music, Espanto might be alone in the car, so oblivious of the others does he seem, so disregardful of any possibility of being attacked from behind.
    When they arrive at the street fronting the Belmonte residence, there are only a few vehicles still parked along the sides, their drivers lolling behind the wheel or smoking and chatting on the sidewalks. Espanto stops the car in the shadows alongside the driveway gate and permits the parents to free their hands from under their buttocks. They flap and massage them to restore circulation. He hands Mr. Sosa a shopping bag holding the parents’ belongings and the two special phones Mr. X spoke of, then passes to Mr. Belmonte a larger bag containing the four gymnasium bags in which they will put the money. He tells Belmonte to inform the two Angeles men in the house that Huerta said for them to come out to the car for instructions.
    There are still two of—? Belmonte stifles himself, unsure if the man’s order to keep their mouths shut is still in effect.
    Just tell them Huerta said to get out here. Don’t say anything else to them. Understand?
    Yes, yes. I will not say anything else.
    Espanto watches them walk up the curving driveway, then removes the dark glasses and phones Rubio, in charge of the Alpha crew and its hold house in the distant southwest outskirts, who tells him in coded terms that his bunch is on the way to the house and all is well.
    Excellent, Espanto says. If there’s any problem with the invoice, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll talk to you in the morning.
    They click off, Espanto wishing he’d had the time to ask how the new man worked out, the ponytailed guy called Apache. Espanto had recruited him only three weeks ago to replace Chisto, who had been murdered in his sleep when a jealous