Page 83 of Crowned In Blood
While there were some checks deposited and large withdrawals, those were also around his campaign dates. Sorting through them would take forever.
Without evidence of a bribe, or some sort of inventory record, at most my father would lose the support of a couple of his followers and with a few months of apologetic behavior, it would all get swept under the rug.Like it always does.
I searched through the emails I'd gotten access to, his texts, everything, but there was nothing that jumped out at me. And even if I combed through each of them for days orweeks, I likely wouldn't find any damning evidence.
Simon Herrera had always been a monster, and a monster knew how to not get caught.
My head pounded. Spots danced behind my eyes, refusing to clear no matter how many times I blinked or shifted my gaze. But I couldn't stop. I needed more.
Maybe, just maybe, Felipe would have something I could use against my father.
I opened Felipe's text messages and my throat went dry.
The name was different, the number untraceable, but I knew from the text pattern it was my father. He had funded the drive-by.
Simon and Felipe planned to take my familia hostage at the event and force me to marry Felipe, giving him total control of my empire.
But when I read the rest of their messages, my body went cold. My bones froze and my blood turned to ice.Simon paid Felipe to kill Marco.
I began gasping for air. The shootout played through my mind, the man crawling toward the window.
I thought he'd simply been there to kill whoever he could. If he shot Marco, then me, it would cause complete pandemonium, giving Felipe's men the advantage.
But it never occurred to me his sole purpose was killing Marco.
If I hadn't seen him, if I'd missed,Marco would be dead right now.MyMarco would be completelygone.
My heartbeat thundered in my ears as I stood slowly, my legs shaking. I didn't know where I was going, but I needed to leave. Needed to do something, get everything out, release it all. I needed to kill. I needed to kill Simon, Felipe, anyone.Everyoneinvolved.
The doorbell rang, and I rushed toward it.
What if it was Marco?
I had to tell him. Had to warn him he had to go, run,hide, so he couldlive.
I pulled the door open to a courier.
"Catalina Salazar?"
I gripped the door frame, trying to stop the way my body trembled. "Y-yes?"
"This is for you. Sign here."
I squeezed the frame harder. "What is it?"
"We're not allowed to open packages, ma'am." He tried to hand it to me, but I backed away.
It could be anything. Hadn't I sent packages like this to bosses before with the leftover remains of their men?
It had been three hours since I'd heard from Marco. He was going into a meeting and promised to call me right after.
What if that's him? What if they've gotten to him already?
I locked my knees to keep from falling to the ground.
"Open it."
"I'm not allowed to do that, ma'am?—"
