"How big is the shipment?" 

He holds his cigar between two fingers, taking a big puff. The soft breeze blows over his dress shirt. Miami was warm, even in December. 

Mateo's right hand man didn't hesitate, "It's bigger than expected. Over 200 kilos."

Grunting softly he straightens his tie. "Good. Get it in and make sure it goes out tomorrow. We don't need cops discovering this."

The veranda doors shut as he's left alone. He sees armed men below walking the perimeter of the yard. They have enough fire power to kill an army of police. It's never come to that though. He bribes all the chiefs in the metropolitan area, the DA too. They wouldn't come after him. As long as he stays in his locality they don't give a shit. Taking another puff and holding it in briefly before exhaling, he hears his phone chirp. 

Valencia. She texted him again. 'Uncle, can I come see you tomorrow? I have some news!'. His niece was like a daughter to him and he looked after her. His only sister wasn't around much for her growing up, leaving him no choice but to step in. She was 21 and enjoyed the club scene in Miami Beach. His lips briefly turn up into a smile as he texts her back. 'Yes. I'll be here. Be careful tonight. I don't want you around any dipshits.'. 

He was interrupted. "Boss. Sorry to disturb you.....we've got a problem with one of your dealers." 

Mateo slips his phone in his pocket and silently follows him downstairs. In the large living room stands a bloodied man. He's being held onto by two of his guards. 

"Mateo....I.....I didn't mean it!" The man cries. 

Pacing in front of him Mateo wets his lips then stops to look into his eyes. 

"You decide to hide my product. My product. Then you decide to lie about it. You stole from me. I don't tolerate stealing. You know what needs to happen." 

The man cries more but Mateo waves his hand lightly in the air. He will pay the price. He runs his empire the same today as he did when he first started. There are rules and no exceptions. Brutality is only warranted when someone refuses to listen. 

"Take care of it." He tells his right hand man, who was watching from the couch. 

He walks away and up the large winding staircase, back to his private office. The day wasn't done yet.

________

Ring! 

Mateo woke to his cell going off, over and over. Morning was barely breaking, the sun hadn't even begun it's advance over the horizon yet. He curses and half sits up in his bed. Valencia's cell. 

"Valencia?" He answers. 

There was a pause on the other end. "Hello. This is detective Romos. Who am I speaking to?" 

Mateos heart starts pounding. Who the fuck is calling on his nieces cell? 

"Detective? Is this a game? Where is Valencia?" 

Again there is a pause. "Sir. I need you to identify yourself."

He was growing furious. People didn't talk to him this way. "I'm Mateo Madera. You are on my nieces cell."

The detective clears his throat. Shit. Madera was on the drug task force list. This might not go down well. 

"Mr. Madera..." 

"Call me Mateo," he says with obvious agitation.

"Mateo, your niece was found unresponsive outside of a club a few hours ago in South Beach. We believe she overdosed on cocaine."

His heart completely stops beating. He can't formulate a thought. Her face is all he sees, Valencia's beautiful face. The silence grows on the line until the detective speaks again. 

"If you will, please meet me at precinct 40, downtown. We have her body and belongings. We need you to identify her and we'd like to ask you a few questions, you were the last person she'd called."

He hung up and threw his phone across the room. He must have shouted because two armed men burst in through his doors. They were talking to him but he doesn't hear anything. His beautiful niece. She was gone. 

________

"It could be Gomez. The labs are verifying the type exactly boss. We'll know soon, within the hour."

Mateo was meeting with his top leaders. Trying to find out who supplied Valencia with cocaine. He was in no mood to fuck around. Someone would pay, dearly. 

"When was the last time he sold in South Beach?! Someone better fucking find out!" 

He slams his hands down, hard, on top of his desk. They'd be able to match the cocaine from the scene to a supplier via genetics and purity tests. Paying off half the city has its perks. The labs all happily obliged when slipped the confiscated substance. All that was left to do was to wait. 

Mateo stands. "Im going to the precinct. I need to visit her." 

His leaders start to protest but stop themselves. They know better than to tell him what to do. His driver and bodyguards escort him to the police station. Once outside they stay with the car, scanning for threats. He will be relatively safe inside without them. 

"Detective. Where is she?" 

Mateos eyes are red from crying on the drive over, though they are dry now. 

Detective Romos ushers him down some stairs to the morgue. The room was dingy and drab. This angered him. His princess shouldn't be in such a disgusting place. He follows the detective in and over to a long tray where she lays. A thin sheet covering her. He places his hand over his mouth, swallowing back emotion. 

Clenching his jaw he straightens up. "It's her, my niece Valencia. I want her transferred out of her as soon as possible. To this funeral home."

He hands detective Romos a business card. The detective watches as Mateo leaves the room. He wasn't going to get any answers from him today. He needed to talk to his boss, get a better idea of how to go about this. Mateo had been on their radar for years but he always eluded arrest. 

Back in his town car he pulls out his vibrating cell phone. His right hand man was calling. 

"Boss. Confirmed. It is Gomez's supply." 

Mateo hangs up and grips the phone tightly. Fuck. He knew it. 

________

The up armored Cadillac SUV pulled over at the side of a road by a warehouse. Mateo was in the back seat, ready to go pay his rival a visit.  He wanted to kill him, quite frankly, but he knew that would set off a war. 

"Let's get closer, right next to the outer doors. Have the men hit it hard. Find me a higher level manager and bring him out." He orders. 

His men are loyal and will do anything he asks. They drive closer and park. Watching about 10 of them storm the warehouse he plots what his next move will be. They'll have one of Gomez's guys and take away a few parts from him, or possibly more if he knows anything about Valencia. This should enrage the rival just enough to encourage a face to face meeting. 

"Let's go!" His driver exclaims. 

They shoved a tied up heavy set man into the back of the SUV. 

"He's Gomez's next in command." One of the men say.

Perfect.

The ride back to his house was quiet. They arrived in the front and Mateo got out first. He told his men to tie their captor up downstairs in the basement. He had a sound proof room that he had built years ago, for interrogations and such. It would do nicely for this. 

The news was on in the living room and it showed a breaking story of a string of overdoses in South Beach. Valencia's name was mentioned as one of the victims. He gripped the back of the couch with tight fists as he listened. There were over a dozen dead. The police linked the drugs together and he knew that his rival was responsible for it. 

As he walked away, headed to the basement, he hears a few small children on the show crying. They lost their mom and now were orphaned. He actually likes kids and this made him feel broken. The last thought nagging at his brain as he descended the stairs was 'how many more need to die?'. 

________

Mateo sat at his desk. He had just washed all the blood off of his hands from the interrogation. Retribution was messy and he didn't love nor hate it. It was necessary. He was staring into space thinking of Valencia and the children from the tv when a knock came from the door. 

"Yes?" He boomed.

The door opened to reveal one of his men and the detective from earlier. 

"Mateo. I hope I'm not disturbing you." Detective Romos says. 

He motions for him to have a seat across from him. 

"What can I do for you detective?" He asks wearily.

"You left the morgue in such a hurry I wasn't able to really ask you anything. We are trying to track down who was responsible for your nieces death.  Not only hers but others that we have a direct link to." 

Mateo nods. He shifts in his chair. He feels something changing in himself, he can't fully understand it. What he does for a living, this drug empire, suddenly feels horrible. To have lost her. His princess and only family that mattered, he felt sick. 

"I'm willing to help.....what do you need?"

The detective was taken aback by his cooperation but didn't show it. How the hell could he look away from this gift horse that just appeared? 

"I need to know if your operation was involved." He asked Mateo. 

He knows that by answering questions from the police, he could be killed. By his own men or a rival that saw weakness. Hesitating he shakes his head.

"Fortunately, no. We were not."

________

The nightmare played over and over. She was walking fast, through the club. Mateo tries stopping her but can't reach her. When he finally catches up he sees her laying face down, her skin turning ash grey. Others were by her, also dead. 

"Valencia!!" He cries out. 

Waking, he notices he's covered in sweat and sitting up in the bed. The silk sheets are damp around him. 

"Fuck," he mutters. 

It was just a dream. Until he realizes it wasn't. This was real. His beautiful niece was gone. She was what he'd lived for. Ever since she was a baby and his sister left her with him. Now she ceased to exist. He rubs his face from his eyebrows down to the side of his cheeks. What was there now? 

He felt like he was losing it. Shit, maybe he was. He picked up his cell and dialed the detective. 

"I'm in. I'll help. What can I do?" 

________

Detective Romos had brought in his boss and a few fellow trusted detectives from the drug task force. They sat around a table at a high end restaurant downtown, the only ones there. Mateo had called the owner and arranged the meeting with privacy. His men guarded the exits. 

"This won't look good for you should someone see us here." The lead detective says. 

Mateo grunts. "No shit. Let's get down to it."

They break down what evidence they need to bust Gomez. It's a long list. In fact, the more they talk the more he's convinced that there was nothing they could do. There was no way they would be able to get everything on tape. Not in any kind of good timeline. He was going to get away with killing his niece. 

"Detectives.....this isn't going to work." 

He begins to stand up when he hears gun shots ring out from outside. Then automatic rifle fire comes from the back. Shit! 

"Get down!" Detective Romos shouts. 

Mateo isn't going to cower. He pulls out his Beretta and screws on the silencer. He's got to get out of here. 

"Mateo!!" 

His right hand man had made it back inside the building and was looking for him. Glass explodes all around him and bullet holes begin dotted everything inside. They run for the kitchen. 

"Is the car still there?" He shouts. 

Seeing his guy nod he runs for the side exit. 

________

"Get me to Gomez's place!" Mateo says.

His pulse was racing. He knew what he had to do. He was done with his business. He didn't care if he lived or died. He could do something about the drug trade in Miami, hell, he was the drug trade. The immense pain from losing her was all that drove him. 

The car sped along the freeway until it reached the exit. Mateo grabbed the M4. It was kitted out with a high tech scope. He didn't actually care what it had on it, it just needed rounds. There were plenty of those. He also grabs a few grenades. 

"Here it is boss. I'm going in with you."

"No. You stay outside. I don't want you to follow me." He cared for the man, despite his capability and willingness to kill. 

"Boss!" 

"Stay. Outside. It's an order!"

Mateo runs from the car and scales the front security fence. He's met by men with guns. He opens fire on burst, mowing them down. Advancing further into the property he kills more men. His mind is in some kind of psychosis. The objective is the leader. Entering the main doors of the house he sees him. First he shoots his guards and a few more who come pouring in from another room. The M4 feels warm from all the use. 

"Mateo! Shit! What the fuck are you doing?!" 

Of course he'd caught Gomez off guard. Completely. 

He stops moving and grabs a grenade. Then the second. 

"We can't keep doing this. We can't. It's wrong." He says to his rival. 

Not understanding, Gomez tries to back away. Mateo walks forward closing the gap between them.

"Tell me, would you kill to save a life?" 

He pulls the pins. Releasing the grenades into the air, in between them. 

Explosions rock the house, and with it the drug trade in Miami was eliminated.