Chapter 330

“Still no progress with the stick?” I attacked Victoria the second I stepped into her car. At first, I thought she wanted to meet up to tell me something important, but her true goal was to visit Stevie Madden’s wife.

“None.” Victoria rolled her eyes, driving off immediately. “Whatever information Anya found, she did not want it to fall into the wrong hands.”

“Or maybe your guy is bad at his job and needs to retire,” I whispered just loud enough so she could hear.

Time was ticking, and I did not have the energy to wait around for a stick all day. Perhaps I should’ve taken care of it myself.

After a peaceful drive, we had finally arrived at Kate Maddens’ house. Back when Stevie was still alive, Alex and I used to visit pretty often to spend time with the kids.

Everything changed after Stevie’s death. Dad had turned cold and never healed, Alex was too busy working, and I led my own life.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked once we reached the front porch. The lawn, which had always been mowed and green, looked dull and abandoned. Also, Kate Maddens had never recovered from her husband’s death.

Even though at that time he was just a kid manipulated by Panther, knowing Tiago pulled the trigger and ended Stevie Maddens’ life left a bad taste in my mouth. The crazy thing was that if Marvin had done it, I would’ve gotten over it in a second.

Was that what love does to people?

Victoria knocked on the door, interrupting my thoughts. “We don’t have that much choice, now do we?” She spoke, overconfident.

Just as I was about to pull Victoria’s hand so we could get the hell away, the door got opened by none other than Kate Maddens.

As always, Kate carried the same forced smile on her lips, as if someone had forced her to be strong and happy. “Elena, hi, sweetheart!” The woman spoke enthusiastically, pulling me into a hug.

“And Victoria, isn’t it?”

“Yes, ma’am-I’m surprised you remember!” Victoria gasped as I stepped back awkwardly.

“How could I not when the two of you are practically married.” Kate joked as if things couldn’t get any more awkward. Victoria and I used to be inseparable. Who would’ve thought a man would eventually be the one to damage our friendship?

It was clear dad hadn’t visited for a while because if he did-Kate would’ve been aware of everything and wouldn’t have made these comments.

“So, what brings you here?” Kate asked, worried. “Is George okay?”

Yes, ma’am. I’m not here to visit you. I’m only here because I have some questions about your corrupt husband.

“We had some questions about your late husband and the Castillo’s!” Victoria took over the conversation, not being able to wait any longer.

The fake smile on Kate’s lips had vanished, and her hands trembled as she reached for the doorknob. “I can’t help you. I’m sorry-you need to go.” She spoke in a hurry. “I’ve already spoken to the cops and your dad about it.”

Just as she was about to shut the door, Victoria forced her foot in between. “Do George and the cops know your husband was corrupt?”

This was Victoria. She was determined to get to the bottom of things and always got what she wanted.

Poor Kate had a terrified expression on her face as she was clearly startled by Victoria’s accusation.

There was no point in denying it because her eyes had already spoken.

“Kate, we know about Stevie,” I spoke calmly.

Kate gulped. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t worry, dad doesn’t know, and I’m not planning on telling him either.”

Kate and I stared at each other until the woman finally released a defeated sigh. “Come in.” She spoke. “We’ll have to make it quick before the children get home.”

If anyone had told me that I would spend my afternoon sitting on Kate’s couch to talk about her corrupt husband-I wouldn’t have believed it. I guess that was why I could not sit still or drink the tea she prepared for us.

“How did you know about Stevie?” Kate asked, equally as nervous.

“That doesn’t matter.”

“And you said your dad doesn’t know?”

“No…” I paused for a second. “I don’t live at home anymore, and we’re not exactly on speaking terms.”

That should answer her question. There was no way I would even consider telling her I was living with the Castillo’s. Even though they had technically been cleared from Maddens death, it wouldn’t change anything.

“You’re right. My husband was corrupt.” Kate spoke. “He used to transfer drugs and money to places the Castillo’s couldn’t get to.”

“We were in debt, and we needed the money.” She said. “Stevie worked overtime, but even that wasn’t enough-so he did some things he would never even dream of doing, and I know he regretted it.”

“Did he work directly with the Castillo’s?” Victoria grabbed her notebook. That was a good question.

There was no way because if he did-someone as soft as Tiago would’ve been too emotionally attached to shoot him.

“I wish I could tell you, but I do not know.” Kate shrugged. “He didn’t tell me much…I remember finding stacks of cash in the basement, I demanded answers, but he only told me half the truth.”

Victoria cleared her throat. “And you haven’t told any of this to George Torres or the police?”

“For?” Kate scoffed. “All the agents have been nothing but supportive towards us, and once they find out the truth, all of that support will go away….Stevie’s pride will go away.” She ranted. “I also wouldn’t dare to piss off that family. The Castillo’s have already killed my husband. Who’s next-my children?”

“So you don’t believe the Hernandez are responsible but the Castillo’s.” Victoria wrote down. “What makes you say that?”

Kate had an angry look in her eyes. “What makes me say that?” She spoke furiously.

“They had that monster, Marvin Castillo, who confessed to killing my husband in cold blood in custody and only let him go after he lied about being framed by some other family.”

That monster, Marvin Castillo.

Who gave her the right to talk about Marvin? My Marvin?

Had I not been able to control myself, I would’ve given her a slap for calling the love of my life a monster —but I knew I had to be careful. All I could do was take a long breath.

“What makes you so sure the Castillo’s are behind all of this?”

“I’m sorry, what is it exactly that you’re doing?” Kate lost her temper. “Please don’t tell me you’re playing detective and solving my husband’s murder?”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing.” Victoria adjusted her jacket. “But don’t worry, I’ll keep your name out of it for now.”

“C-can you really do it?” Kate asked, tensing her shoulders.

“What, keep your name out of it?”

“No, throwing that monster back to his cage where he belongs.” Kate snapped. There it was again, that word.

Victoria, who had quickly observed the uncomfortable look on my face, patted my shoulder. “Marvin Castillo?”

Kate nodded.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I don’t believe Marvin Castillo is behind all of this.” Victoria surprised me. All the things she had mentioned about him hadn’t been good. “I do believe it’s a Castillo….but just not him.”

“No, no, it can’t be.” Kate rubbed her temples.

“If it’s not him, then why do I remember that guy he’s always with showing up at Stevie’s doorsteps”

Guy he’s always with?

“I know it’s him because George asked me if I’d ever seen him before.”

Could it be…

“Pedro Vidal?” My eyes widened. “Is it him?”

“How do you know that name?” Kate’s breaths quickened. Was she afraid of him?

“Did you forget to tell us something?” Victoria tapped her chin. “I feel like we’re missing something.

She stared straight into Kate’s eyes, forcing the woman to answer.

“Stevie wanted out…so they killed him.”

“What?” We spoke at the same time.

“I overheard him talking in the kitchen with that man and another woman.” Kate lowered her head.

“Stevie wanted out, threatened to expose them, and a week after, he got killed.”“”

Victoria furrowed her brows. “Expose what?”

“I’m telling you, I don’t know,” Kate spoke, frustrated.

It wasn’t that difficult to put two and two together. Panther must’ve recruited Stevie secretly in the hopes of building his own empire so years from now, he could give everything to Cisco. There was only one thing I failed to understand.

“What did the woman look like?”

Kate went into deep thoughts. “She wore a cap, and her face was covered, but there’s one thing I couldn’t forget.” She recalled. “She had long blonde hair…knee-length.”

I lost all hopes after hearing about long blonde hair. I didn’t know anyone fitting that description.

Victoria closed her notebook. “Thank you.”

With a smile on my lips, I reached for Kate’s hands. “Thank you so much for your help. We really appreciate it.”

“I should be thanking you…for not giving up on Stevie,” Kate said. “I didn’t want to tell George the full truth because I didn’t want him to remember Stevie as corrupt.”

“Even then, I can’t help but feel guilty knowing he got put on probation because he believes they locked up the wrong guy.”

Dad would be devastated if he found out the truth. Why did I even care? That man kicked me out without giving it a second thought.

“About my dad-”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell him you’re here.” Kate promised. “And I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but you should know that George loves you a lot.”

Of course. We could all tell when he decided to kick me out.

“I once asked him about his biggest achievement. I thought he would talk about his work-but he didn’t.” Kate continued. “He said his biggest achievement was raising you and your brother to be kindhearted.”

My heart sank. Kindhearted?

I was a hypocrite, a liar-anything but kind. Dad failed at his job, so I had no idea what achievement he was talking about.

“Should we focus on that woman with blonde hair?” I asked Victoria as we stepped inside the car, but she shook her head and drove off “We don’t know if all of this is true, so let’s just focus on Panther for now.” She spoke. “Just try to avoid him, at least until we know what’s on that stick.”

“Ah-yes, avoid.” I chuckled. “Because you asked so nicely. I’ll try to avoid my murderous housemate.”

Victoria rolled her eyes while I focused on the notification on my lock screen and read Marvin’s name. Just reading his name made me feel at ease.

Marvin:

Left early to be with you.

Where are you!?

Elena:

I’m on my way Marvin:

Time?

Elena:

Ten minutes.

Don’t go anywhere!

Marvin:

I miss you I love you I laughed at the unexpected emojis, thinking about how far we’d come. In the past, he used to make fun of my emojis and thought it was corny, only for him to change his mind after I told him it was a way of expressing ones love.

“Is that Marvin?” Victoria asked.

“Huh?” I put away my phone, afraid of her reaction. “Y-yes.”

Her lips curled into a smile. “You look happy.” She spoke. “You really love him, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“And he loves you too?”

I blushed. “Apparently.”

“So what will you do once the truth comes out.” Victoria pulled me out of my perfect fantasy. It was a question I still did not have the answer to.

My lies were destroying our relationship, but I was only doing it to keep him safe. I was only doing it because I loved him and wanted the best for him. I would rather have him lose me if that meant getting rid of Panther. My heart was willing to make that sacrifice.

“I don’t know.”