The Butterfly Forest

ONE HUNDRED-THREE

I arose at the crack of dawn to the rumble of a trucker turning over his diesel just outside my motel room window. I squinted to read the time on my phone: 6:17 a.m. There was no text message from Dave. I showered, secured the Glock under my belt, packed my new toothbrush and headed out the door to the truck stop restaurant. I sat at a corner table, full view of the parking lot and entrance, and ordered a pot of black coffee, three eggs, grits, tomatoes, and rye toast.

During my second cup of coffee, the phone vibrated on the table. Dave texted:

I sipped the coffee and watched a black Cadillac SUV cruise slowly through the parking lot. The windows tinted dark. The Cadillac pulled up in front of the motel office and two men in sunglasses got out, both had steroid constructed blocky bodies. They waddled into the motel office. I dropped enough money on the table to take care of the bill and tip, left through a rear exit, got in the rental Ford and pulled out into the morning traffic.

I called Dave and received directions to the house. “Don’t know if there’s a tail on me, but two guys who spent far too much time in gyms walked into the motel office.”

“Gonzales has a lot of eyes and ears out there. From your present location, I’d estimate you’re about fifteen minutes away from Maria Fernandez’s place. It’s a long shot, Sean.”

“But at this point, it’s really the only shot we have. I’ll call you after I find her.”

On the way to the address, I drove around apartments that were tantamount to slum dwellings. The buildings looked painful, resembling tired old men trying to support extended families on their shoulders. The cinderblocks were visible behind years of neglected chalky bone-white paint. Brown-skinned kids played in barren yards under the partial shade of two scrawny and diseased elm trees.

A mile later the scenery changed into single family homes with neat yards and manicured shrubbery. The address on the freshly painted mailbox near the home at the end of the cul-de-sac was 1892. I parked in the drive and stood by the door and listened before knocking. I heard sounds of a Spanish language newscast on television. I knocked. Nothing. The curtain scarcely parted, enough for me to see a single brown eye. It simply stared a long moment, reminding me of the single eye on the back of a dollar bill. I waved. “Miss Fernandez, I was a friend of Luke Palmer. Your description of Izzy Gonzales helped get Mr. Palmer out of the Marion County Jail where he was being held on groundless charges. Can we talk?”

The curtain returned to its previous position, the brown eye gone. I waited for thirty seconds. There was no response. I spoke a little louder. “Please, Miss Fernandez, I need to talk with you. I know Pablo Gonzales did something to you or a member of your family. He won’t stop until he’s stopped. That’s what I‘m trying to do.” After another thirty seconds, the door opened the extent of the brass chain, giving me a six-inch view of a light brown faced filled with suspicion. “My name is Sean O’Brien. I know you called the sheriff’s office and identified the drawing as that of Izzy Gonzales. That was a brave and responsible thing to do. May I come in?”

She nodded, closed the door, slid the chain off and stood aside. I walked into a home where nothing seemed out of place. Architectural and home and garden magazines neatly displayed on the coffee table in the living room. Fresh-cut flowers filled the home with the scent of spring. The home was impeccably furnished. Telemundo flickered on the TV screen with the sound turned down.

Maria Fernandez was, without doubt, a striking woman. She had high cheekbones, eyes like liquid black onyx, full lips and thick dark hair. I guessed her to be about in her mid-thirties. She wore a business suit with a name tag that read Maria. In Spanish, I asked her if she was more comfortable speaking Spanish.

“I speak fluent English,” she said, her lips pursing once. “I only have a few minutes. I don’t want to be late for work.”

“I’ll be fast. Where do you work?”

“I’m in the concierge’s office at the Don Cesar Hotel.”

I smiled. “Something happened to you or someone in your family, something that involved the Gonzales family, didn’t it?”

“Yes, how do you know this?”

“Lucky guess. Tell me about it, please. What happened?”

She sat in a rocking chair opposite me, her eyes locked on a framed photograph of a pretty girl, a teenager with long black hair. Maria looked up at me. “The girl in the picture is my little sister. Izzy Gonzales took a liking to her, they dated then married. When Alondro tried to break it off, next I knew she was kidnapped by Pablo Gonzales’ men, the coyotes. They brought her to this country and kept her prisoner in Houston, Texas. Izzy was such a control freak. After a while, when she would no longer be the obedient wife, he forced her to do things with the men just to punish her… things that made her vomit. He said it was to teach her a lesson — to know her place. Then he accused her of being a whore. Bastard! She told me about it in a letter… a letter she managed to get out a few months before she died. I came to this country to take her back. But I was too late. Police found her body in a garbage dump outside the city. They say she died of aids and a beating, too. Alondro was a good girl, so if she had aids, those pigs gave it to her.” Her voice cracked, her dark eyes welled with tears. She blinked and looked away, reaching for a Kleenex.

“I’m very sorry. Izzy was cruel. And, Pablo Gonzales is a very sick man — like a dog filled with rabies. He rules a pretty demented empire and will continue to hurt people until he’s stopped. He’s killed people I knew, and he’ll kill again. I know he comes to Tampa. Where does he stay when he’s here?”

She was silent for a few seconds, glancing at the television and then back to me. “Izzy’s the reason I came to this area. Before her death, Alondro told me Izzy, using his uncle’s money, liked to throw parties in the Sarasota and Tampa area, and his favorite hotel was the Don Cesar. That’s why I got a job in concierge there. I was hoping to see him.”

I said nothing for a moment. “What were you going to do if you found him?”

“I was raised Catholic, and I’m a devout believer in Christ. But, God forgive me, I was going to do whatever I had to do if I found him asleep in his room.”

“Did you?”

“No. He checks in under aliases. The hotel has such a high occupancy it is difficult. But the law of averages will one day be on my side.”

“Not if you are trying to find Izzy. He’s dead. His uncle, though, is very much alive. And he’s the one I’m trying to find.”

“I might be able to help you.”

“How?”

“Because I speak Spanish well, I keep close communications with some maids working with the hotel’s housekeeping staff. One girl told me she knew Izzy had stayed in a penthouse suite for a weekend. He parties with expensive prostitutes. The maid found many condoms and evidence of cocaine use in the room after he left. I located an address the last time he was there, right before I saw his picture on the TV news. For whatever reason, he’d written it down on a piece of paper and put it in the phone book. The phone book was lying open near the bed. It was marking a page that advertises escort services.”

“What did you do with the address?”

“I copied it. And I’ve kept it in my purse for a while. I don’t know why.”

“May I see it?”

She nodded, opened her purse, digging and handing me a folded paper. Under the Don Caesar logo was written: 20001 Port Royal Lane, Siesta Key

I memorized the address and returned the paper. “Thank you, Miss Fernandez.” .

“You think this is the place where Pablo Gonzales stays when he comes here?”

“Might be. It’s a pretty exclusive area.”

“If you find him, what will you do?”

“I’ll do whatever I have to do.”

“And may God walk with you, Mr. O’Brien.” She lowered her eyes and made the sign of the cross.