Ultimate Supernatural Horror Box Set by F. Paul Wilson, Blake Crouch, Scott Nicholson, Jeff Strand, Jack Kilborn, J. A. Konrath, Iain Rob Wright, Jordan Crouch

realized that at first.  The pudgy, brown-haired, blue-eyed boy had looked terribly young when he stumbled into The Blue Senorita that night ten years ago.  He’d been roaring drunk and obviously under age, but he’d flashed his money and spread it generously, and everyone had nudged each other when he bought doe-eyed José for an hour.
    When the maricon ’s time was up, Emilio had let him out a side door and stood watching to make sure he got good and far away from The Blue Senorita before he forgot about him.  But at the mouth of the alley the kid was jumped by three young malos .  Emilio hesitated.  Served the little maricon right to be beat up and robbed, but not on The Blue Senorita’s doorstep.  The local policia wouldn’t care—Orosco paid them plenty not to—but if the brat got killed there could be a shitstorm from the States and that might lead to trouble from the capital.
    Cursing under his breath, Emilio had pulled on his weighted leather gloves and charged up the alley.  By the time he waded into the fight, the kid was already down and being used as a soccer ball.  Emilio let loose on the malos .  He crushed noses, crunched ribs, cracked jaws, shattered teeth, and broke at least one arm.  He smashed them up and left them in a bleeding, crying, gagging, choking pile because it was his job to look out for The Blue Senorita’s interests, because he wanted to make sure these malos never prowled The Blue Senorita’s neighborhood again. 
    Because he liked it.
    He dragged the unconscious kid back to the side door and checked out his wallet.  He learned his name was Charles Crenshaw and that he was only fifteen.  Fifteen!  Hell to pay if he’d been kicked to death out here.  He shuffled through pictures of the boy with his parents, posed at different ages before different homes.  As the boy grew, so did the houses.  The most recent was a palace. 
    The little maricon was rich .
    And then Emilio came to a photo of the boy and his father standing before a building with a shiny CRENSOFT sign over the reflecting pool set in the front lawn.  CrenSoft...Crenshaw...the rich boy’s father owned a company.
    As he stared at the wallet, thoughts of blackmail, and even ransom tickled Emilio’s mind.  But those were just quick fixes.  They would change nothing.  Perhaps there was another way...
    And somewhere down the long, featureless corridor of his future , he saw a red EXIT sign begin to glow.
    Emilio threw Charlie over his shoulder and carried him back to his apartment.  He placed a call to the family, told the father where Charlie was, and said to come get him.  Then he sat back and waited.
    The father arrived at dawn.  He was taller than Emilio, and about ten years older.  Every move, every glance was wary and full of suspicion.  He had another man with him; Emilio later learned he was the father’s pilot.  When Emilio showed him Charlie’s battered, unconscious form, the father’s face went white.  He rushed to the bed and shook the boy’s shoulder.  When Charlie groaned and turned over, the father seemed satisfied that he was only sleeping it off.  Emilio noticed him checking to make sure his son’s watch and ring were still where they belonged.
    When the father spoke, his voice was tight and harsh.
    “Who did this?”
    “ Tres malos ,” Emilio said.  His English was not very good then.
    “Where are they?” the father said in fluent Spanish
    Emilio ground a fist into his palm.  “Worse off than your son.”
    The father looked at him.  “You helped him?  Why?”
    Emilio shrugged.  He’d been practicing that shrug all night.
    “They would have killed him.”
    “Why would they do that?”
    “He’s an Americano who looks rich.  Plus he’s a boy who likes boys.  They figure sure, he’s easy to kick over.”
    The father’s eyes turned to ice.  “And are you a man who likes boys?”
    Emilio laughed.  “Oh, no, senor.  I like the women.  If I want to play with