Page 141 of Plunge into Obsession

I blinked up at her. “Mr. Cadorna or Mr. Mendez?”

She opened her mouth but didn’t say anything. A simple Google search had clarified it for me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Elena said.

“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about. Don’t you think I deserve to know who my husband is?”

She looked away from me before setting the food down on the table outside. “You should eat something. It’s not good for the baby to skip meals.”

Then she walked out without saying anything more, and I didn’t stop her.

I shouldn’t be surprised that she didn’t tell me.

I had expected it.

I looked back down at the picture.

For weeks—hell, even years—after Lucinda’s disappearance, I had scoured the internet for every bit of information on Luis Mendez. Unsurprisingly, the man was a mystery, but what had been written about him was mostly in reference to his father, Emanuel Mendez, the man who founded the Michoacán Cartel. He’d died young, barely fifty, from a weak heart.

Most references to Emanuel’s sons didn’t mention their names. Luis only managed to snag the spotlight because he had no qualms about causing trouble wherever he went.

But the oldest son…

Gabriel had kept it hidden from me for so long.

There was safety in being unknown, and Gabriel guarded his like his life depended on it because it probably did. He went so far as to change his last name.

I didn’t know where he had gottenCadornafrom.

His mom’s maiden name, perhaps?

But…

What happened to Luis, and why did the rest of the world still think he headed the Michoacán Cartel when it was obvious that Gabriel did?

Kingpin.

His friends had called him the kingpin of the Michoacán Cartel. So was Luis still alive?

And if he was, would that mean I could finally figure out what happened to Lucinda?

Maybe even save her if she—

Ifshe was still alive.

Suddenly, it felt urgent that I see Gabriel right away.

I pushed off my spot on the floor and moved out of the room.

I could hear Elena in the kitchen, but I ignored her, passing it and heading straight for Gabriel’s office.

I walked in without knocking.

Gabriel looked up at me, though his eyes showed no surprise.

I wondered if Elena had told him I found the pictures.

He was talking to someone on the phone, and his voice barely stuttered as he watched me. I closed the door behind me, but as soon as it clicked shut, I wondered if that was a mistake. I stayed close to the wall.

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