The Nephew Read online

  “And you’ve got this information on your ex at home?” said Danilo, seeming doubtful. “Why?”

  “Because I never knew if the bastard might try to screw me over somehow,” Donna replied, “So I kept a file on him of anything which might be useful, just in case.”

  Danilo nodded. “Makes sense. I always knew you were smart, certainly smarter than Fernando.”

  “I’ll give it all to you, Dani,” said Donna. “Just take me home and leave me and my son alone.”

  “I’ll tell you what,” said Danilo. “I’ll send one of my boys to your place to get this stuff. Once we get our hands on Fernando, we’ll take you home and we’ll leave you alone.”

  “That’s not the deal,” Donna argued. “I’m giving you all I’ve got to find him. You don’t need me anymore.”

  “You’re leverage,” said Danilo. “Like I mentioned, Fernando still cares about you. Now, where exactly is this stuff at you place?”

  “Fuck you, asshole,” Donna screamed.

  “If you tell me, we won’t have to trash your place,” said Danilo. “Up to you.”

  Donna glared at him for a moment then said, “There’s a small desk in the living room with a file drawer down on the right side. There’s a folder in there called Fernando with everything I have about him. Leave the rest of my shit alone and I hope you rot in hell.”

  * * * *

  Scarborough, Ontario, 9:07 p.m.

  “We’re here,” Carlos announced, pointing to an apartment complex as he turned onto a side street off Kingston Road.

  “Good,” said Leslie, “Because I need to use the bathroom.”

  “It won’t be long,” Carlos promised. “Thanks for letting me drive some.”

  “No problem,” said Leslie, “And you didn’t even get a ticket.”

  Carlos grinned. “I only opened it up a couple of times. Not my fault you have a sweet ride.”

  Seconds later, he turned into a driveway between two of the multiple four storey buildings and pulled Leslie’s Lexus RC F into a slot in the centralized parking lot.

  “This is mom’s parking spot even though she doesn’t have a car,” he explained. “It’s great because finding a spot on the street is a pain plus there’s less chance of getting your car broken into in here.”

  “A bit more light wouldn’t do any harm,” Leslie commented, noting over half the outside fixtures were dark.

  “Maintenance isn’t the building management’s strong point,” Carlos agreed as he cut the engine. “The place is a bit run down but mom can afford the rent and it’s pretty safe so she can’t complain.”

  “Damned landlords,” said Leslie. “Anyhow, can we get going because I really need to pee?”

  “Oops, sorry,” Carlos replied. “Let’s go.”

  They left the car and Leslie followed Carlos into one of the buildings and up to his mother’s third floor apartment. He unlocked and opened the door then gestured Leslie in, flicking on the lights and closing the door behind them.

  “The bathroom’s there to your right,” said Carlos, pointing as they moved into the small living room.

  “Thanks,” said Leslie. “I’ll be right back.”

  True to her word, she returned to the living room a minute or two later to find Carlos standing immobile and looking angry, likely due to the man gripping him from behind and holding a knife to his throat.

  “Uh, what going on here?” Leslie asked, freezing in her tracks.

  “I wasn’t expecting company,” Edwin replied, maintaining his grip on Carlos as he eyed her. “You screwed up my plans.”

  “We didn’t mean to,” said Leslie. “Who are you?”

  “A friend of his mama,” replied Edwin.

  “I see,” said Leslie “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to get something. Now, shut up with the questions already,” Edwin snapped. “We have a problem here.”

  “Obviously,” Leslie agreed. “How do you suggest we fix it?”

  “I don’t want to hurt you two,” said Edwin, “But I will if I have to.”

  “We don’t want that either,” said Leslie. “Do you want us to leave?”

  “Are you stupid or what?” Edwin retorted. “I let you leave and you call the cops.”

  “We won’t,” said Leslie. “I promise.”

  Edwin sneered. “I guess you are stupid. No, you’re not leaving. I need something I can tie you up with.”

  Leslie looked around and pointed. “How about that extension cord?”

  Edwin glanced over and said, “Get it, and don’t try anything dumb or I’ll cut him.”

  Leslie took the two steps needed and crouched down to unplug the six foot cord, first from the wall outlet and then from a table lamp.

  “That won’t be enough but it’s a start,” said Edwin. “Down on all fours, babe, and come over and tie his ankles. Remember, he dies if you’re stupid.”

  Leslie complied and had soon trussed Carlo’s ankles together. Backing away, she returned to her feet and asked, “Now what?”

  “Find something to tie his hands,” Edwin ordered, “And I’ll need something to tie you up too.”

  “There are towels in the bathroom,” Leslie suggested. “We could tear one up in strips.”

  “That’s good,” Edwin agreed. “Go get them.”

  Leslie headed to the bathroom and returned seconds later with a large bath towel.

  “I can’t tear this,” she announced. “I need something to cut it.”

  “Toss it over here,” said Edwin, pointing to the floor nearby, “And sit your pretty ass down.”

  Leslie did as she was told and Edwin stepped away from Carlos.

  “You move and I’ll stick you,” he warned as he slowly reached down to pick up the towel.

  He quickly sliced into one end of the towel three times at three inch intervals then tossed it back to Leslie who ripped off the three strips.

  “Good,” said Edwin. “Now, come over here and tie his hands behind his back.”

  Leslie approached with a towel strip under Edwin’s watchful eye and, as she reached Carlos, she glanced at the sliding door leading to a small balcony, stiffened and screamed, “Oh my GOD!”

  Instinctively, Edwin turned toward the sliding door and, a second later, felt an incredible choking pressure as Leslie whipped the towel strip over his head, around his neck and yanked on both ends, hard. He dropped the knife and clawed at his neck as Leslie kneed him from behind then violently jerked him backward and sideways. His face hit the floor and he felt an explosion of pain as Leslie dropped onto his lower back with both knees.

  Panic turned to terror as Edwin realized he was at death’s door. He tried to struggle but his opponent straddled him, effectively pinning his arms on either side as she maintained the brutal pressure around his neck. A vicious blow to the side of his head caused a dazzling array of stars and then everything went black.

  “Did you kill him?” Carlos asked in awe as he sat on the floor and started untying his ankles.

  “Not quite,” Leslie replied, yanking the towel strip from the gangbanger’s neck and quickly binding his wrists together behind his back.

  “That was awesome,” Carlos exclaimed, working at the extension cord. “You really took him out fast.”

  “It’s never a good idea to drag these things out,” said Leslie, watching him as he undid the last knots. “Give me that.”

  “I was looking for an opening to swing at him,” said Carlos as he handed her the extension cord.

  “Not always easy with a knife at your throat,” Leslie replied, binding their prisoner’s ankles before checking his pulse.

  “He’s not dead,” she reconfirmed.

  “You should gag him,” Carlos suggested. “He’ll start screaming when he wakes up.”

  “His breathing is a bit ragged,” said Leslie, pulling a small leather case from an inside pocket of her jean jacket, “But I’ll make sure he stays quiet for a while.”

  He watched as s
he extracted a small pen-like device, removed the end-cap then crouched by their uninvited visitor and jabbed him in the thigh.

  “What was that?” Carlos asked.

  “Something to help him sleep for a while,” said Leslie.

  “You just carry stuff like that around?” Carlos questioned, further impressed.

  “Good thing, eh?” Leslie replied. “You never know when you’ll need it.”

  “I guess,” said Carlos. “What are we going to do with him? Should we call the police?”

  Leslie shook her head. “They told you no cops. If we turn him in, he’ll be out tomorrow and whining to his buddies which may not bode well for your mother.”

  “We can’t just leave him here,” said Carlos. “Someone from Mara will come looking for him if he doesn’t show up. He said he came here to get something.”

  “I’m guessing it’s the same thing we came here for,” said Leslie. “Any useful information.”

  “Mom keeps files in that desk in the corner,” said Carlos, pointing. “That’s how I tracked down my uncle.”

  “Grab everything in there,” said Leslie, “And look around in her room and the kitchen if she has anything else. We’ll sort through it after.”

  “And him?” Carlos asked again.

  “I’ll call Chris or Jonathan,” Leslie replied, flipping her victim over and taking his photo. “They’ll send someone to pick him up. Give me the address here and then get busy. If someone does come looking for him, I don’t want us to be around.”

  Chapter 3 – Sunday, August 6, 2017

  Sheraton Centre, Toronto, Ontario, 7:35 a.m.

  “Good morning,” said Carlos from the doorway connecting the adjoining rooms. “Can I come in?”

  “That’s why the door’s open,” Leslie replied from the table covered with the files they had recouped the previous evening. “Did you sleep okay?”

  Carlos nodded. “I thought I was having a hard time falling asleep and then it was seven. I hadn’t slept much since Thursday.”

  “Get yourself some coffee,” Leslie invited, pointing to a serving cart.

  “Thanks,” said Carlos, pouring himself a cup before joining her at the table. “So, what’s up?”

  “To start, we did good to get out of your mother’s place quick last night,” Leslie replied. “Jonathan had a couple of associates there by ten-thirty and our friend was gone.”

  “Do you think he got loose and left?” asked Carlos.

  “Impossible,” Leslie replied. “He’s likely still knocked out from that shot I gave him. Someone got him out of there.”

  “Maybe someone was waiting for him outside,” Carlos suggested.

  “It’s possible but I doubt it,” said Leslie. “Going to search your mother’s place wasn’t a high-risk job and, if there had been two of them, they would have both gone up. Remember when his phone buzzed when we were on our way here?”

  “Yeah, you said it was locked,” Carlos replied, “Then you turned it off.”

  “Right,” said Leslie. “I’m guessing when he didn’t answer, someone went looking for him.”

  “So now they know we were there last night,” said Carlos.

  “They know someone was there,” Leslie agreed. “They’ll know it was us once their man wakes up.”

  “They might take it out on my mother,” added Carlos with concern.

  “They might,” Leslie admitted, choosing her words carefully, “But she is their bargaining chip so –”

  “So they might just hurt her,” Carlos interrupted. “Not kill her, for now.”

  “I’m sorry, Carlos,” said Leslie. “Let’s hope none of that happens. In the meantime, we have to concentrate on finding her.”

  “How?” Carlos demanded. “Where?”

  “We don’t know where yet but we’ll find it,” Leslie replied. “We’re already monitoring your phone and your mother’s and once we crack the one I grabbed last night we’ll track its call history too. We now also have your mother’s file on Fernando which they tried to get last night. I went through it before and there are potential leads to finding him as well.”

  “And how are we going to do this?” asked Carlos.

  “Chris, Jon and Dave, another colleague, will be here sometime this morning,” said Leslie. “I can’t go into detail so don’t bother asking but I can tell you one thing. Going to your uncle with this was, without a doubt, the best decision you could make.”

  * * * *

  Jane & Finch neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario, 8:55 a.m.

  Edwin opened his eyes and squinted at the daylight pouring in through the dirty, unshaded window.

  “What the hell?” he muttered as he propped himself up on one elbow on the old, bare mattress on which he lay.

  Groggy, it took him a few seconds to recognize where he was, one of several apartments the gang kept in Toronto’s Jane and Finch neighbourhood. He had no clue why he was there and tried to remember what he had done the previous evening, but his mind was in a fog and any recollection evaded him.

  He became aware of a need to use the bathroom and rose first to a seated position then gingerly stood, uncertain of how steady he would be. His legs supported him and he noted no dizziness so he moved to the door and opened it.

  “It’s about fucking time,” was Danilo’s greeting as Edwin stepped out of the room. “What the hell happened last night?”

  “Give me a minute,” Edwin muttered as he headed to the bathroom.

  “You know how long I’ve been waiting?” Danilo snapped.

  “You want me to piss and shit myself?” Edwin retorted before slamming the bathroom door shut.

  He returned a few minutes later and dropped onto a chair across the kitchen table from Danilo.

  “Fuck, man,” he said, rubbing his face with both hands. “What am I doing here?”

  “Julio brought you here,” Danilo replied. “What the hell happened?”

  “I don’t know,” said Edwin. “My head’s like in a cloud. Right now, I don’t remember anything. Where was I before Julio brought me here?”

  “Jesus, dude,” said Danilo, shaking his head. “You went to Donna’s place to get the information she has about Fernando.”

  Edwin stared at Danilo for a few seconds then nodded. “Right. I was in Maynooth and you sent me to her place.”

  “So, what happened?” Danilo repeated.

  “Let me think,” Edwin replied. “My head’s not right, like I got doped up.”

  “You were out for more than ten hours,” said Danilo. “Yeah, you got doped up. Tied up too.”

  “What?” Edwin exclaimed. “I was tied up?”

  “Let me tell you what I know,” Danilo suggested. “Maybe you’ll remember something.”

  “Do it,” Edwin agreed.

  “You left Maynooth around six so you should have got to Scarborough by about nine,” said Danilo.

  Edwin nodded. “That’s about right. I remember that now.”

  “You were supposed to get this file she had on Fernando,” Danilo continued, “And you were supposed to call me once you had it or if you didn’t find it. When you hadn’t called by close to ten, I called you and got no answer so I called Julio to go check what was up. He found you out cold, tied up on the floor in the living room. He untied you, brought you out and over here. End of story.”

  “Wait,” said Edwin, as if a light came on. “Things are coming back to me. Her kid showed up.”

  “Carlos?” said Danilo.

  “Yeah,” Edwin confirmed. “I recognized him from the pics you showed me on her phone. Anyhow, I heard the door unlocking and I ducked into the kitchen and he came in with some broad.”

  “His girlfriend?” asked Danilo.

  Edwin shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. Older than him but really hot. Anyway, they came in and she went to the can while he went into the living room and, uh…”

  “And, uh, what?” Danilo urged.

  “Let, uh, let me think,” Edwin stammered as his fac
e reddened. “Uh, she came out of the can and I got her from behind and put my knife to her throat. Then, uh, I told him to get something to tie her up. He tied her ankles and, uh, when he stood up, he pushed her aside and clocked me one, completely by surprise. I dropped my knife and he hit me some more and I guess I blacked out.”

  Danilo gazed at him, noting Edwin’s apparent discomfort growing with each passing second.

  “Are you bullshitting me?” he asked after a moment.

  “Bullshitting you about what?” Edwin retorted. “That’s all I remember.”

  “What happened to your neck?” asked Danilo.

  “What’s with my neck?” said Edwin, wincing as he touched a chafed and bruised area. “I don’t know. Maybe he hit me there.”

  “Lean your head back,” said Danilo, rising from his seat.

  “What? Why?” Edwin argued, clearly uncomfortable. “What do you want from me?”

  Danilo moved to Edwin’s side of the table and cuffed him on the side of the head. “I want to look at your neck, asshole.”

  He placed his hand, none too gently, on the top of Edwin’s head and leaned it to one side then forward then to the other side as he examined his subordinate’s neck.

  “I don’t know how the fucker hit you,” said Danilo, “But you’ve got a straight-line bruise all around your neck. Scratches too, on both sides near the front.”

  “Don’t know what that’s about,” Edwin mumbled. “Maybe he tried to choke me after he knocked me out.”

  “Yep, that looks like someone choked you,” Danilo agreed as he returned to his seat. “Wrapped something around your neck and pulled hard. A couple of things I don’t understand though.”

  “Like what?” asked Edwin.

  “Well, one is, why didn’t he finish you off?” said Danilo.

  “I don’t know,” Edwin replied. “Maybe he stopped when he saw I was out.”

  Danilo shook his head. “Nope. You said you were out because he hit you.”

  “Maybe he didn’t notice at first,” Edwin suggested.

  “Kinda weird if you ask me,” said Danilo, clearly not buying it. “The other thing I don’t get is the scratch marks on your neck. What’s that about?”