Chapter 58

10 a.m. Saturday

Rico had been surprised to receive a late-night call from Mariel Pena. She didn't divulge much, only telling him that Lupe hadn't done anything wrong, but asked him to visit the house to talk to her husband after the women left for a shopping trip the next morning.

As they'd done the night before, Rico and Tomas sat down the block in a nondescript sedan until the Penas drove away. Miguel opened the door as soon as they stepped onto the porch.

He ushered them into the living room and sat down opposite them.

"Is something wrong with Lupe?" Rico asked urgently.

"She's fine," Miguel said in a calming tone. "She seems to enjoy living here. This is a delicate subject and I'm not certain there is a good way to broach it. I'm just going to tell you what's been passed along to me."

He let out a long breath.

"Andy is concerned that Lupe might pose a danger to Regan," he continued. "He bases this on how things are done in your neighborhood."

Rico stared silently ahead, thinking the statements over.

"I didn't mean to offend you," Miguel said when the silence reached a full minute.

"No, that's not it," Rico replied.

"It's possible," Tomas said, looking at Rico.

"Yes," Rico agreed. "I have fallen into the trap of thinking of Lupe as a never-aging 10 year old. I forget that she is growing and learning the skills all women learn. I tend to think that she lacks the wiles for such machinations but that is no longer the case. Yes. As Tomas said, if she believes Regan has taken something that rightfully belongs to her she will fight."

"Andy's line of thinking was a little different," Miguel noted. "His main concern is that Lupe might view Regan as a rival — and that her actions will be more serious than a fight."

Again, Rico stared off into space.

"That is also a possibility," he said. "Personally, I don't see it. I know Lupe is naive but she is worldly enough to know that an attack on Regan will not produce the results she wishes."

"That doesn't mean she won't do it anyway," Tomas pointed out.

"True," Rico agreed with a grim nod. "That puts us in a difficult spot. Does it not?"

"No, it doesn't," Miguel said firmly. "I've heard about your codes of silence but they don't extend to me. If I think Lupe is going to try to harm anyone I'm going to do whatever I can to stop it — including involving the police if I have to."

"I believe I have given you the wrong impression," Rico said. "We certainly do not wish harm to come to any innocent person. That is not what I meant to convey. However, the truth is only slightly more palatable."

He glanced at Tomas who only nodded.

"Our activities are generally ignored by the local police," Rico explained, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees. "That's because we pay some of them to look the other way and because our business dealings — at least in this area — are relatively minor. I tell you this because you are housing family and because it is important that you understand.

"An attack on such a high-profile person as Rita Riley's daughter — even one with no connection to our neighborhood — will bring increased scrutiny to our operations. I believe it is safe to say that Mrs. Riley will exert considerable pressure on the police to find the assailant. The police will bring in federal agencies that they general avoid. We very soon could have the DEA, ICE and the ATF taking a hard look at our operations. That would go badly for everyone involved — and there is nothing we could do to prevent it.

"Even a man such as me has someone he answers to. The men at the top of our network are just as powerful and perhaps more ruthless than Mrs. Riley. If our network were to be disrupted, they would not act charitably. Quite simply, anyone who disrupts their business generally does not have a chance to do it a second time. If it is Lupe that causes the problem, they will not hesitate to eliminate anyone they believe responsible — me, Tomas, the others in our crew, your family, Andy Drayton himself. Depending upon how thoroughly their operation is compromised, the fallout could range from localized — the people I've mentioned — to widespread — us and everyone in the building."

"Jesus Christ," Miguel muttered. He could see that Rico was absolutely serious about the people he answered to. He mentioned the name of the most powerful Mexican cartel and Rico only nodded his head once in confirmation.

"Those people murder cops and prosecutors and get away with it!" Miguel said.

"Yes," Tomas said simply.

"Maybe Lupe is convinced that she can get away with it," Miguel posed, still reeling from the news Rico had imparted.

"I don't see it," Rico said immediately. "I have considered that possibility. Yes, she might have convinced herself that she could do it and no one would find out but that is not reality. There are men who could attack someone as prominent as Rita Riley's child and walk away without getting caught. Those men are rare and they are expensive. They are not the sort of person I could contact and my resources are vastly greater than Lupe's in this area. The people that she could find are not clever. They would leave a trail leading directly back to them.

"I believe we can all agree that the punishment for harming Regan would be far more severe than for harming, say, the occupants of this room. That fact alone would cause many to rethink their pledge of silence, particularly if they faced deportation to an area our network controls. Their deaths would be horrendous in that instance. They would give up Lupe in seconds. No, any attack — successful or not — would leave Lupe surrounded by wolves on all sides. She would have Rita Riley vowing vengeance — a threat not to be taken lightly from what I know. She would have the feds pressing for the maximum possible sentence. She would have my employers looking for payback for her stupidity. We would all be in grave danger from any action against Regan."

"Not to mention that it is a terrible thing for Lupe to think about," Tomas added. "Rico is not dismissing her safety. Please don't think that he is. He is simply laying out the scenario in his head. We would do anything in our power to prevent an attack regardless of whether we face retribution or not."

"I understand," Miguel said, although he probably didn't. "What should we do?"

"That is another difficult question," Rico admitted.

"If I had more than supposition and guesswork, I'd confront her," Miguel told him. "But, I'm not convinced Andy is right. He lived on the periphery of your world. He is only guessing at what Lupe might be thinking."

"Also very true," Rico said, nodding.

"If she hasn't considered the idea, I don't want to put it into her head," Miguel continued. "If she has, I'm not sure I know a way to broach the subject. She'd simply lie to me — or you or anyone else for that matter."

"I agree," Rico replied. "What do your wife and daughter think? I'm sure they have a better idea of the female mind that we do."

"They think Andy is overreacting," Miguel admitted. "That said, if he isn't and we do nothing..."

"We are in a no-win situation," Rico noted in a grave voice. "We are almost obligated to take no action until Lupe acts — in which case we might wait forever. I did not get the impression that she was particularly violent — but a person cannot grow up as she did without coming in contact with it. For now, I think we do as we have begun. We restrict her contact to people from the neighborhood. That will make it difficult for her to find anyone to assist her. We limit her Internet access and monitor her phone calls."

"That's not going to be easy," Miguel interrupted. "She already has an iPad we've given to her. She isn't permitted to use it without supervision right now but ... let's be honest, children her age have ways. My wife is picking her up a cell phone this afternoon. She'll need one at C-B. I hate to take things away from her after she's just gotten them. After all, we don't know for certain that she could put a plan into motion even if she wanted to."

"I will put word out that anyone speaking to Lupe should come to me immediately," Rico said. "I believe they would anyway but I will emphasize the point if necessary. I think we also let Andy know that we've heard his points and we're taking them seriously. But we let him know that he and Regan might need to be careful in the coming weeks. This infatuation with Andy isn't new. I'm afraid I have pointed him out to Lupe any number of times as an example of what her future could be like. I pictured him as a role model — not a potential mate. I should have considered the gender issue but, as I've told you, I tend to think of Lupe as a child, in spite of all evidence to that she was growing into a young woman."

He set his jaw and narrowed his eyes.

"It is not a mistake I will repeat," he declared.

4 p.m., Saturday

No one was surprised when Regan, Ruth and Joy were the first ones to arrive for the dinner party. Each girl carried what appeared to be a week's worth of clothing, makeup, shoes and accessories.

"Where can we put this?" Regan asked after she kissed Andy firmly on lips when she came in.

"Uh," Andy said, looking around desperately for help. He found only his grandmother sitting on the couch looking bemused. She considered letting her newly met grandson flounder for a moment but decided to throw him a lifeline.

"Come with me, dears," she said amiably. "We will appropriate Andy's room."

Regan stopped abruptly when she came face to face with the Dowager Countess Duffield. She suddenly wished she'd considered the others who might see her in her short, low-cut dress. Andy saw her face go white and gave Regan a quick kiss on the cheek as he took as much from the girls as he could carry.

His grandmother patted Andy's arm in appreciation of his chivalry — or perhaps she was trying to jostle him into dropping the items he was carrying. He wasn't certain.

Regan was still looking slightly ill when Andy exited the bedroom.

"What's the problem?" he asked in a whisper.

"My dress," Regan said, her eyes wide with fright.

"I hung it up," Andy told her.

"No!" Regan said. "It's ... I didn't even think of your father and grandmother seeing me in it. They are going to think I'm ... a slut."

"It can't be that bad," Andy said.

"It's tight and it's short and ... I can't wear anything under it," she said. "I ... I don't have anything else. God, I'm going to be so embarrassed!"

"I'm sure it's fine," Andy said. "Is it cut differently than the pictures you sent me?"

"No," Regan said. "I mean, yeah. It's cut differently. It's backless and has a V-neck in the front. It's short."

"Shorter than Ruth's?" Andy wondered.

"About the same," Regan told him.

"Then it's fine," Andy told her confidently. "I'm sure you'll look lovely."

"I hope," Regan said.

"Just relax," Andy said. "Why don't you go join Ruth and Joy in the living room? I'll get you a bottle of water. Just remember what we talked about last night. OK?"

Regan nodded her agreement and put on her best smile. The girls had come to the suite wearing shorts and T-shirts. They brought skirts and blouses for the dinner and then they would change into their cocktail dresses afterward.

They had spent the morning getting their hair done and shopping for certain items they thought they might need later.

Now Regan saw that Joy and Ruth also appeared to rethinking their dress choices. They had planned to change at Greengate Towers until Andy had pointed out that everyone would want pictures.

It had sounded fine until she realized that "everyone" included the Earl of Smithfield and the Dowager Countess of Smithfield.

She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry about last night, Anne," she said. "I got the wrong impression of the situation and I acted as I would around the people that view themselves as important. I know that isn't how you and Evan think of yourselves but it didn't stop me."