Sangre De Toro (Old Draft - Now Published!)

Chapter 22 - Sonia (part 1)

'You won't believe it, Rita. About 10 of Castella's thugs broke into my uncle's farm last night, tried to take your bull, got him into the back of the truck before Silvio stopped them,' Dominguez said, pulling up his chair the following day. He looked shaken up. Rita took in her breath sharply. Most of Castella's associates had convictions for violence, some had spent significant stretches inside and all were sadistic and brutal. It made her sick to picture how they'd have rewarded Pepelito's affectionate and inquisitive nature.

'Dios mio. How is Silvio?'

'Fine, supposedly, but I think he's pretty shaken up by it. I did find a room but I'll stay at his tonight. He's pretty lucky if you ask me. That prick really scraped the barrel hiring these morons,' Dominguez said, sitting down at his desk.

'I told him, he needs a good lawyer. I know Castella's going to try and take him to court to get the bull back if he can't steal him, and he'll probably get some bought judge to go along with it. Silvio's so stubborn, who knows if he'll listen. I've been telling him for years he needs to get a proper home security system, he's got quite a valuable tractor he's not sold as he 'hasn't found the right buyer'. You cannot believe the amount of burglaries in that village, stuff needs to be nailed down.'

'Malditos. The police round there won't be any help.' Rita felt shock and not a little responsibility. She doubted Silvio fully appreciated what he was up against when he took him on. She hadn't either.

Dominguez shook his head. 'Nah. Pity it's just outside our jurisdiction. The village cops showed up, remember we worked with them a few times. Nice but useless, even with something like this, supposedly their specialty.'

'I can picture it,' Rita sighed. It was true. They were undertrained, understaffed, had outdated equipment and were completely unprepared to deal with someone like Castella.

'Not sure they'll try again in a hurry. 2 of them died! Though Silvio only mentioned it at the end of the conversation as an 'Oh by the way'. One of them was Andres Mecano, Castella's picador.' Rita stared, trying not to laugh in shock, unable to summon any sympathy.

'That guy was a piece of work. Didn't he just get out of prison?'

'Yep, just did 3 years inside for a racist assault. That old girl of Silvio's. Maribel. Seems to have developed a vicious temper in her old age. She trampled him, or Pepelito did, or both, then she kicked him in the head, right into a water trough. As for the other one - fuck knows, it could just be another of my uncle's stories.' Dominguez shook his head, trying and failing to keep a straight face.

'Remember Jose Enrique de Ruiz? We did him for pimping a few years back, remember. Real scumbag. Silvio says - get this - two of his geese pecked the bastard to death.' Rita stared at him. It wasn't unbelievable. She remembered being at her colleague's uncle's a few years ago and getting on the wrong side of the gaggle, who strutted around the farm like mafia bosses and had names like 'Diablo' and 'Bruta'.

'Pepelito's fine by the way, I thought you might want to know. Silvio adores him by the way, thinks he's great and won't stop going on about what a lovely temperament he's got. He did gore one of them, though, mind.' Dominguez scoffed.

'Pobrecito, he must have been scared out of his mind.' Rita remembered how terrified he'd been of the men's voices. De Ruiz had been in trouble for pimping. Had Sonia got on the wrong side of him - or someone who knew him?

'He's OK. Apparently quite bruised and knocked about. Silvio said your fella's coming to take a look later?'

'Yeah, he is, I'd like to come too, after the grim first day back on I've got. No doubt apologising to Bonita Gutiérrez for not having found her daughter's killer after 11 years.' The thought filled her with anxiety and shame, even though she had never worked on the case. Why had nobody paid attention until now?