Page 23 of Unbound

Zack scrolled through a few candid photos of him in various places and then hit a button and the picture slideshow shrank and there was a small amount of text below with links.

The text visible read:

Alessandro Romero: AKA Alexander “Lex” Catelli, AKA Zander Roman. Born: September 18. Age 28. Morelia, Mexico.

Mother: Allegra Christina Catelli, born: March 18. Age 48. Born: Cagliari, Italy. Presumed deceased. Date unknown.

Father: Pablo Alejandro “Sandro” Romero, Born: date unknown, estimateD age: 55. Born: Mexico City. Presumed deceased. Date: Appx 3 years.

Knowledgebase:

Zack started talking. “Alessandro Romero’s father founded what would become one of the largest human trafficking rings in Mexico in the early eighties. It is still known that way and now Lex runs the show. His mother was the first girl Sandro Romero kept as personal property. He married her. She was an Italian student who had been kidnapped while on a vacation. He had her just over six years. She escaped with their son Alessandro when he was about six years old. They were found in the Spokane area and brought back when he was a teenager. At that point, his father completely entrenched him into the business as the heir. Lex is a complicated man. He’s also an ally, for reasons that are classified. Jesse Romero was his half-brother. Jesse moved to the states after their father disappeared, presumed dead. Jesse and Lex were estranged when Jesse died. Jesse was tight with the uncle, Juan Carlos. Lex was not tight with him. Sandro, the father, was known for his cruel streak. He’s the stuffnightmares are made of for girls. They tell stories about him to keep girls around there from straying after dark.”

“I know who Sandro Romero was. Heard plenty of stories; he was a sick fuck. And you know this guy, his son, well? An ally?”

“One of my guys went to high school with him for a couple years. I know him a little. A P.I. on my team knows him as well as Alessandro Romero allows anyone to know him. Which isn’t well.”

“And what are the chances he’ll change his mind about Holly?” I asked but already knew the answer.

“He’s put his foot down. Based on his history – doubt it.”

“Then he gets taken out,” I said.

“No. You don’t wanna try to do that.”

“You do it,” I said. “You want my help with Kruna, you help me with Holly.”

“I can’t do that, Dario. A lot of reasons why but bottom line, he has power and he has influence. And I’ve helped with Holly. I found her for you.”

“You’re a fucking Fed out to stop the sale of women into the sex trade. What the fuck? You’ll take down Kruna but not this guy? Biggest pussy dealer in Mexico and you say he’s untouchable?”

“I need the alliance I have with him. I can’t say anything further, but even if I didn’t need him, he’s untouchable and I’ll tell you again… I am a freelance special agent, my security and investigations business is my primary gig. They pay me well to be on call and two years ago I was put on your father’s scent as part of what I do for them. They aren’t my only client and that said, I try to veer to the side of the good guy. Is this a good guy? No. But is he a guy I don’t wanna fuck with? You bet your ass he is. I have strategic associations with a lot of people, Dario. Many are criminals; present company included. And all I’m gonna say is that there are a lot of complex things happeningrelated to the Kruna takedown as well as other ongoing projects. It’s a goddamn spider web with booby traps at every fucking intersection. I’m tryin’ to help you out here but you’re on a need-to-know basis. I will see what’s what and get more information for you. But Holly Mooney might be out of scope from here forward. You have to be prepared for that likelihood. At least we know what happened to her.”

I massaged my forehead, tried to tamp down my frustration, and asked. “This guy a confidential informant?”

“No. And I can’t tell you anything further about his association with me. I’m real sorry that it’s not better news. But she’s alive. He’s not one of the good guys, unfortunately. And sometimes we gotta work with the not-so-good guys to get shit done. I don’t know what else I can do other than to get Tessa back and then report Holly’s condition when I see her. All I’m doing with this is outside of scope beyond the project for Kruna. I’m doing this for you, using my network for you.”

“Is he a sick fuck like his old man was?” I asked, not acknowledging his words about him helping for me, suggesting our friendship was real rather than just whatever the fuck he was pretending in order to hook me into helping him with the Kruna takedown.

Zack didn’t answer me. He didn’t have to. His carefully blank expression said it all.

I had to play it smart here. Somehow, some way, I needed to get Angel’s sister back. And without pissing off one of the most powerful human traffickers in North America, maybe the world. Or, if he wasn’t willing, we’d have to find some way of getting rid of him so we could get her back. As if we didn’t already have enough bullshit on our plates.

Instead of calling, I needed to see my brother in person. This conversation had to take place in person so I could try to do some damage control.

My brother was the smartest fucker I knew, but to say he was hotheaded was a massive understatement. When he found out his counselor was a Fed and probably using whatever my brother’s confessions were to build a case against us so that we had to be their puppets… he was gonna snap.

I texted to ask if he was busy and told him I wanted to come by. He told me to head over so I drove to his house. Dex was there, handling security between Tommy’s and Pop’s houses. He was outside, conferring with two other guys, one of them my buddy, a local bookie Killian’s little brother Will, who was twenty-two and saving up to go back to school. Kill asked me to get him a job as a favor.

Will was a bodybuilder, knew how to fight, was licensed to carry, and he was reliable. I thought a lot of Killian, too, so while Will wouldn’t be a long-timer with us, he was trustworthy. And we needed that right now.

I waved to Will. “How is he?”

“Better.”

“Good, good. See ya later, bud.” I headed inside.

Kill had been jumped and we believed it was Denarda that’d arranged it, not knowing Kill was no longer bookmaking under us. Kill had a chain of off-betting clubs with our blessing and help and he’d been beat up pretty bad but no long-term damage, thankfully.

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