Page 106 of Cartel Rose (Jorge)

“Papa, they sent a box to the office that day.”

The words burn my ears as I hear the pain in Leisel’s voice.

“I know,mein Honigbienchen.”

Liesel looks up at me then at my relatives before she explains. “My little honeybee. He’s been calling me that since I was a toddler. He said I would buzz about, chattering to everyone but never stopping anywhere for long. Definitely not my personality once I got into school, but the name stuck.”

She looks lovingly at her father before she nudges her chin and looks down at his hand.

“They took your ring. Did they tell you why or did you guess?”

“They forced me to see them put the ring on a stranger’s hand, then place that in the box. I don’t know if it came from a corpse or some other hostage somewhere. I didn’t ask, and they didn’t offer. I’m fine with never knowing.”

From the way Gretel and Heidi nod along with Liesel, I think they’re fine with ignorance is—maybe not bliss—fine.

“They forced me to log into the office security, so I watched you come back from lunch. Then I saw Jorge arrive. They didn’t expect that. It made a couple of them panic, but it was a massive relief to me. Jorge, while you and your family were always one step behind them, you were stepping on their heels. I suspect their arguing amongst themselves is why you found them. They couldn’t agree about whether they should move me to another location. They got careless.”

Liesel squeeze my hand. “How’d you find him? Joaquin mentioned the CCTV earlier but didn’t really explain.”

I smile but tilt my chin toward Joaquin, the pride clear in my voice. “My brother did it.”

“With Anneliese not in the office working long hours or to recognize anything out of the ordinary, I suspected they’d go back at some point. If they were watching the office, they knew we had your computers. But I knew there was the possibility—especially after we?—”

Joaquin glances at me, unsure howmygirlfriend—I’ve never been more excited about those two words—wants to proceed with confessing we bugged the office. Gunter’s gaze swings to me, and the scowl speaks louder than any verbal threats he could issue. Liesel glances up at me and sees I’m taking it in stride. My expression’s neutral without appearing disinterested. I hear how she breathes easier when Joaquin continues.

“I figured if there was still anything at the office, they’d get desperate to find it before anyone else could. I kept monitoring the CCTV around the office building and what I could see in the lobby and hallway. I didn’t watch it as a live feed the entire time, so I’m lucky I happened to be on my computer when I was.”

“We’re so lucky.” Liesel’s gratitude shows in her voice and expression as she looks at the man I hope will one day be her brother-in-law.

“Once I knew who to watch, I followed them through the city on the security feed.”

“Should I ask how you got into the city’s police system?”

“You should not,HerrSchlossberg.” Joaquin’s answer is clipped but not rude.

“I’m grateful you did. I nearly had a heart attack when you burst in. I didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t orders given in Spanish. I was dazed from the percussion grenade. They’re louder than you think from the movies. It took me a moment to piece together that it must’ve been Jorge or another Diaz.”

Liesel leans her head against my shoulder, and I rest mine on top of hers.

“What about the other boxes? Did you know they sent more things to us?” Gretel’s voice wobbles, and I know she’s fighting back tears.

“No. What else did they send?”

“A pig’s eye and someone’s ear.” Heidi looks almost green when she shares that.

“A pig’s eye?”

“It looks very similar to a human one if you don’t know what to look for.” I’m softer spoken with that explanation than I usually am.

“Ah.”

We wait for Gunter to say more, but he looks too disgusted to add anything. Who knows what else they did to him? Perhaps that was revolting enough to turn his stomach over, or maybe it was the least of the kidnappers’ tricks. There’s still something we need to know, but he hasn’t shared.

“Papa, who were they?”

I’m eager to hear Gunter’s answer to that question because we didn’t learn much while we were at the abandoned building that was little more than a flop house.

“I don’t know, Anne. They got a call from someone, but the conversation was too vague for me to guess who or what it was about.”