Hide Away by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online

Walsh and keeping him from killing Cara. Now I need to know everything so that I can find a way to take Salazar and Castino down, so they can’t tear Cara into pieces.”
    â€œMay I remind you I’ve been trying to do that for years?” Manez asked dryly. “Where do you want me to start?”
    â€œTell me about Salazar.”
    â€œGrew up in the gangs on the streets. Worked his way up through murder and killing off everyone in his way. Finally killed off the head of the Mulez Cartel and took power. Since then he’s been fighting off other cartels and threats from within. Castino has been a constant headache to him. He hates his guts. Castino was starting to take over his territories, and Salazar scrambled to organize a coalition of other cartels in the area. Castino was forced to join or face a gang war that would have been very expensive. Salazar could never show publicly how he felt about Castino.” He paused. “But he was my first suspect when Castino’s daughters disappeared.”
    â€œSalazar’s personal life?”
    â€œHe has a wife, Manuela, he married when he was seventeen. He has three sons and a daughter. He appears to be a devoted family man. His father was a small-time drug runner and was killed and decapitated when Salazar was starting to run drugs himself. His mother died two years ago.”
    â€œAny weakness?”
    â€œAmbition. Other than that, you’ll have to tell me.”
    â€œWhat about Castino?”
    â€œHe inherited the cartel from his father, Jorge Castino, but he learned well from the bastard. He’s more vicious than his father ever dreamed of being. He grew up believing he should own the world, and he’s been trying to take it over since his father was killed. He’s got a gigantic ego that makes it impossible for him to admit he’s not perfect in every way. He hated the idea of the coalition, but he was smart enough not to try to fight it. The moment anyone tried to break it, the others would pounce like ravening wolves.”
    â€œPersonal?”
    â€œQuintessential macho. Something of a womanizer in his early years. He married Natalie Kaskov several years ago. She’s the daughter of Sergai Kaskov, one of the heads of the Russian Mafia. It might have been a marriage to meld the two Mafias or it might not. She’s a beautiful woman, and I can see Castino going a little crazy about her. They seem to be very compatible, and she appears to like the good life as much as he does. She gave birth to the two girls, and the word was that Castino was disappointed not to have a boy. Not that he would admit it, that would have been a failure. So he went to the other extreme and made much of them whenever they appeared in public with him or Natalie.”
    â€œAnd made them targets to all the people who hated him. Send me photos of everyone we’ve talked about. I want to be able to know them when I see them.”
    â€œHold on a minute.” He was gone from the phone and when he came back, he said, “The photos are on their way. I’m curious to know just when you intend to formally make Salazar’s and Castino’s acquaintance.”
    â€œI have no idea yet. I’m just looking for a hook. I want to see what Salazar saw that would lead him to take a chance that could get him gutted. He must have hated Castino big-time to kill his kids.”
    â€œSalazar didn’t look too closely at the situation, or he would have noticed that neither Castino nor Natalie paid the girls any attention when they weren’t on display. Of course, after the girls were kidnapped, they were both supposedly heartbroken. Natalie in constant tears and Castino threatening vengeance if his girls were not returned to him.”
    â€œJust the effect Salazar wanted.”
    â€œHe didn’t let it show,” Manez said. “Salazar’s been very understated for the last few years. No one suspected