Book 2 of Los Carnales
After going M.I.A. for months without a single word, Lauren returns to Miami only to find that she isn't the only person who has changed; the city she once knew as hers is no more. Candy has taken over her share of Miami-Dade...
A/N: Another calm chapter. Y'all are gonna look back from future chapters of pure anxiety and appreciate these normal moments and calm waters.
Some names you keep reading but might've forgotten the FCs of:
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"What the fuck do you mean you don't know what happened?! You didn't check the bodies either?? Didn't think to stay behind and call a standout number on their phone and speak directly to the one who ordered this hit?!" Lauren slams her fist on the dining table, rattling the vases and glass of water Candy drinks out of, vibrating with dangerous rage she directs at both Wandel and Orion.
"The cleanup crew always checks the bodies. My mission was to get the boss out as soon as possible and THEN ask questions. There was no telling if more would show up," explains Wandel, standing with his arms tightly folded behind Candy.
"Candy had a family member of the Flores Cartel killed. It's likely Flores or the father of the boy is the one who order this hit," says Orion, speaking for the first time since entering the villa—the magnificent villa he cannot stop gawking at like he's never witnessed anything glorious before. "They look like cartel men from Mexico. Arrive in big cars with assault rifles, Norteño clothes, ruthless attack in the open like that. I don't know," he frowns as he raises his shoulders and then his open palm, like he doesn't want to be blamed for being wrong.
Lauren, hunched over the table, slowly picks up her head and glares at Orion standing directly across from her. "You don't know?" She returns to her normal height, flexing her jaw. "Let me ask you something, starboy. How did you know Flores knew that one of his got taken out? How did Flores know?"
Orion looks at her like he's not sure why she's asking that question. "There is talk among some immigrants from Mexico who know about José. The talk made it back to Flores, more talking happen, I hear this talk, and I report back to Candy minutes before the attack."
"It's true," Candy chimes in tiredly from her seat, still holding her head in her hands as she nurses a bleeding headache with darkness over her eyes. "We have snitches—most likely those who work in one of my stores in the Red Light Quarter."
Lauren ambles around the long, heavy, dark wooden table, locking her cold green eyes on Orion's unchanging face. "Why didn't you call Candy with the news as soon as you heard it? Why not send a bigger squad than four guys to follow her around and be on lookout?"
"Because there was—"
"If there are snitches, you left them breathing. I didn't hear a single thing about you taking their names and delivering them to Candy as well as their heads. And if you knew those snitches knew the feelings Flores had, you'd have been smart enough to get more information about an attack. You might've thought they could be in on it," Lauren slowly approaches him, swiftly taking one of her pistols out and aiming it at him until the barrel is touching his forehead. She tilts her head with squinted eyes. "So answer the fucking questions. Was it incompetence and bad decision making skills or are you one of them?"
