Chapter 22. The Midnight Gala

On the day of the Gala, Carlos was able to see the Man in Black. Throughout his training, the Man in Black made sure that they got to have some father-son time. They tried archery, revisited the racetrack, went horseback riding, played golf, and more chess. Carlos had never won a game of chess against the Man in Black, but he loved every game.

They played chess again before Carlos got ready for the Gala. He asked the Man in Black if he’d ever gotten any of the Del Rosa paintings.

“Of course I have,” the man chuckled. “How do you think I got where I am in the underworld?”

“But how can a painting be some great secret? How do you translate art to trade lines or some generational family secret?”

“Every piece is a puzzle; you have to decipher it to find out the secret you’re looking for. Some are an actual treasure map hidden in plain sight; for some, you’ll have to take the painting apart. The brains in the consortium love the whole mystery to it. They think of i