Miss Mafia

39 | Tapes

I shook my head in disgust. Jackson and my mother?! No way.

Victoria: Santos, you told me that you wouldn't speak of this again. It happened once. It's in the past now. It's never going to happen again.

Santos: So, if you don't want me to tell your daughter, do this.

Victoria: Fine. But you better keep your end of the deal.

--

"Whoa," Rosita gasped. "I was not expecting that."

"Me neither," I replied, my hands shaking. "She and Jackson kissed, and I'm pretty sure Santos caught them in the act."

"But then what did Santos want your mother to do?" Rosita asked, confused.

"I don't know. I don't know if she even did what she was meant to do."

Then Rosita took the tapes out and took a long, hard look at them.

"Look," Rosita showed me the tapes. "They have dates on it."

Then I noticed the dates. The tapes were recorded on the day before my wedding day.

"Isn't this the day that I saw Santos at the hospital when I was coming up to Sean's room?"

"Yeah, it is," I replied. "But what was he doing there? It's not like he was visiting anyone. Was he alone when you saw him?"

"Yeah, he looked like he was looking for someone. I don't know who, though. We barely even said hello."

Then I thought about this, hard. My mom had mentioned that whatever she was going to do would "hurt them", and then I thought about who "them" could be. Was it Nick and I?

"Rosita, I think I know what my mother did," I considered. "I don't think Nick and I are siblings. I think she might have rigged the test results or paid them to lie to us."

"Scarlett," Rosita placed her hands on my shoulders. "Are you sure about this?"

"No, no, I'm not sure but it's a possibility. My mom mentioned not wanting to hurt 'them' and I'm starting to think that 'them' is Nick and I. Santos recorded this on that same day we got the results back. You said that he looked like he was looking for someone. Maybe he was looking for my mom to get back after rigging those results. We need to go back to that hospital and find that same woman who told us those results."

"Okay, I'll get Victoria. Let's go."

We were waiting in a long line of people, and finally got to the end of the queue.

"Hi," I smiled, whilst bouncing Victoria around. The woman at the desk realized who I was and her face lit up and she suddenly became nervous. "Please, don't be nervous. I come in peace, I assure you."

"I'm sorry about your mother," she smiled sympathetically. "How can I help you, ma'am?"

"I need a favor," I inquired. "Do you mind showing me the list of the people that work here? Preferably with pictures."

"Yeah, sure. Just come with me out in the back."

I handed Victoria over to Rosita. I walked with the woman into an office. She brought out a huge folder and selected a piece of paper.

"These are the people that have worked here over the past year," she handed them over to me. "People have come and go so quickly, so you can never really remember their faces. Luckily we have this."

I smiled as I looked through the pictures. I looked through all the pictures, and I couldn't find that same woman. Then I noticed a name, but not a picture.

"Do you know who Alexis Thompson is?" I asked the woman. She rolled her eyes.

"Ahh, the runaway girl. It was her first day and from them on, we've never seen her again."

"Do you know the day when she worked here?"

"No, unfortunately. The amount of days that they work are confidential. It's all in the boss's office."

"And... who's the boss?" I asked, curious. She bit her lower lip.

"Someone named... Santos Garcia? I never really talk to him, he's kinda scary in my opinion."

Then suddenly, my jaw dropped. SANTOS was the boss? How? I mean, I'd never seen him at the hospital, with a uniform, or anything like that in that matter.

"Uhh, do you know where he is?" I asked, realizing that this woman didn't know that Santos was dead.

"Yeah, he's in his office. He's always been in his office."

"Like, right now? In his office?"

"Yeah, I said that twice," she laughed. "It's just upstairs. You'll see signs directing you there."

"Thanks for the help," I smiled. Then I ran out the back to meet Rosita. I told her everything this woman had said and we ran up to his office. There were people walking up and down the hallways, and Rosita and I tried to blend in. It was pretty difficult when you had a baby crying on your shoulder, but we had to stick together and not stand out.

We got to the office, and I looked around to make sure no one was looking. Then I reached out to turn the handle. The door was locked.

Shit! I thought to myself. Then all of a sudden, a note dropped as the latch was still undone.

I see you're trying to find answers. Let me just warn you that I can't give them to you from the grave. You'll have to get them yourself.. - SG

My heart stopped for a second. Half of me wanted to faint and the other half... well, wanted to faint. It was almost like Santos was speaking from the grave. I gave the note to Rosita to make sure I wasn't driving myself crazy.

"It's like he's telling us to do something," Rosita thought out loud. "He said he can't give us answers from the grave but we have to get them ourselves. Do you think he means we have to dig up his grave?"

"Rosita, he has no grave. Santos was never buried. Someone took his body and I don't know where it is."

"Do you think we could ask one of the ladies that work here?"

"The one I was speaking to in the back room doesn't even know that Santos is dead. If she doesn't know, then I don't think anyone else knows. Remember that no one knows that Santos is the one that shot my mother. When he died, some other men took care of his body. At the time, I didn't really care what they did with his body."

Then Rosita started to pant heavily.

"Do you think Santos is still alive?" she croaked.

"I don't know anymore," I replied with a high level of uncertainty. "It seems like my problems never end."

"Listen, I know this trip was a complete bust, but maybe we can calm ourselves down with some coffee?" asked Rosita. I smiled and we walked to the Bistro.