I tensed up as Chase stepped out behind me. I could tell it was him because his expensive cologne wrapped around my senses in the evening air.
“Are you ready, Mack?”
I shook my head. “Hell no. I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for this.” I wanted him to reassure me, tell me that I could do this. But from what I knew of him, there was no way he would.
“You’ll deal with it. We all do.”
And there it was. Mr Compassionate. I flicked my cigarette into the darkness and followed him back inside. He was going out on a different mission tonight, with Gabe. The team had decided to eliminate the bigger fish first, so that when the cartel realised that a hit had been taken out on their people, they would have a harder time hiding the others. So while we dealt with Regina, Chase and Gabe were taking out Regina’s boss.
Half an hour later, River pulled the car up in a dark alleyway, and the nerves hit me hard. Not only were my palms sweating, I was also perspiring in all sorts of unimaginable places. Strapped to my inner leg was a small sheathed dagger River had given me. How on earth I was going to reach it in a hurry in this dress was beyond me. I’d probably fall over in these bloody six-inch heels trying to get it out.
“Stop fidgeting,” River muttered, as he helped me out of the truck.
“I shouldn’t be here,” I whispered, shaking.
River pushed me against the truck, firmly gripping my bare arms, and leaned towards me. His gaze locked with mine, and I stilled. “You can do this, Mack. You can. You just need to suck up all those feelings you have right now, and project them away from you. You will do this with me. You’re not going to die. I’ll make sure of that, okay? Now, you’re going to act like my lover in there tonight, and we’re going to pull this off. We’re a team.”
As I looked up at him through the darkness I could see a little grin playing on his mouth, and I smiled, exhaling my pent up breath. “Okay, I can do this.”
“You can have one drink when we get inside to calm your nerves – then we get down to business,” he said as he put his hand at the small of my back and manoeuvred me towards the club.
My skin tingled under his touch and heat perfused my cheeks. I was so pleased it was dark and no one could see me. It was awkward enough for me to play River’s girlfriend, but I did what he said and tried to channel my nervousness toward a positive light to relax into my role. When we got out to the street, I was amazed at how many people were milling about drinking and dancing, and seemingly having a jolly good time.
River smiled at me, linking his fingers between mine as we entered the club. “Welcome to the life, baby.”
His hand felt steady in mine as he guided me through throngs of people. I had always imagined that after the Middle-Eastern terrorist attacks in the USA that the Tijuana nightlife had basically shut down because everyone was lying low. How wrong I was. This was a niche market. There were hundreds of people in the dimly lit club, all having a fabulous time, but I knew that one gunshot would turn the place into an all-out killing spree.
We made our way to the bar where the alcohol and God only knew what else flowed freely. River ordered us a margarita each, and we found ourselves a seat in a booth.
“There are a number of exclusive back rooms in this place. That’s where she’ll be.”
River didn’t have to tell me who ‘she’ was. Regina Navarro, the target. Regina is one of the few females in charge of logistics for the El Diablo Cartel. Apparently she’s considered anally-retentive about details and coordinating people, and was generally a hellish bitch.
I curled my leg around River’s, playing the part of his girlfriend. I wondered where on earth Carmen was tonight. No doubt, she would have checked the same manifesto as Gabe, and realised that I hadn’t been on that plane. It was only a matter of time before she made her next move. The music in the club electrified something within me, and I felt like some sort of secret agent, waiting and watching. I shivered with anticipation as the adrenaline started to kick in while I scanned the crowd. When I glanced at River, I saw him subtly doing the same. This was a game, and it was thrilling to see it starting to unfold.
He leaned towards me, pretending to nuzzle my neck. “I’ve spotted her already,” he whispered into my ear. He patted my leg. “Come on, it’s time for you to follow her to the bathroom.” He stood, and extended his hand towards to me. I threw back my margarita, hoping it would give me some Dutch courage. I adjusted my dress, and took off through the crowd towards the bathroom.
The former beauty queen was talking to two people outside the bathroom, and I waited discretely until I saw her walk through the door. The bathrooms were disgusting. Well, they were okay looking in the décor sense, but the mess was horrific. There were women everywhere.
I angled my way towards the shared vanity, and rummaged around my clutch for some lippy and eyeliner, taking my time reapplying it, and checking it over. Regina came out of one of the stalls, sniffing. I almost forgot myself and asked her if she was alright, until I saw the dusting of white powder against her nose. She was stunning, better than the grainy photo I’d seen in her file. That photo really didn’t do her justice. She washed her hands, and started to reapply her own makeup wiping away the remnants of the cocaine as she went. She caught my gaze in the reflection, eyes amused and eyebrow raised, and I immediately thought I’d been made. I knew I was just being overly sensitive. There was no way this woman would know who I was. Not looking the way I did, anyway.
Another stunning looking woman sidled up to her, speaking quietly into her ear, Regina just nodded silently, continuing her business, and I pretended to ignore her. As soon as I heard Regina snap her compact shut, I scrambled to casually get the contents of my clutch back together again, and followed her out of the bathroom.
River’s eyes latched on me as I exited the bathroom, and I brushed my forehead with one finger to indicate to him that there was only one person accompanying her. I didn’t see him, but I knew he saw me. I made my way back to the bar, and asked for a glass of water. My heart pounded in time with the bass in the club. I leaned against the bar, and watched the rest of the crowd.
That’s when I saw River dancing with Regina, and I narrowed my eyes towards them. I was supposed to act like the jealous girlfriend and cause a disturbance, but to my disgust, I actually was feeling jealous. It wasn’t because she was with River. It was the way she was so open about her sexiness, and her desire for him. It created intensity in the way they danced together. Regina was truly enjoying him with her hip grinding Latino dance moves. If we were back in England, that sort of dirty, raw dancing would be totally unacceptable. But here… it was magical. I think it was the way he held her, or maybe the sensual way they moved in sync together. Seeing them like that woke something up within me. I wished someone would move with me like that. Anyone. I put my water glass back on the bar, and I made my way towards River.
I knew that her dance moves and attraction to River were probably amplified by the cocaine in her system, but I still needed to act like River’s pissed off girlfriend in public. River caught my eye, and I could see the amusement in them. The next thing I knew, I’d been swept into the arms of an awfully buff and good-looking Mexican man, part of Regina’s security detail from outside the bathroom.
“You speak English, yes?” he whispered into my ear, clutching me close. I felt myself fall into step with him, and nod. “Good.” He smiled. “Your boyfriend is a very good looking man, no?”
I smiled and nodded, trying to keep up with him while also watching Regina with River. This was a deliberate intercept so that Regina could get her hands on my supposed boyfriend. He had seen me making a beeline towards them, and had interrupted me. Shit. Talk about fucking up my plans.
“I’m sure you could get a good looking man like him any day though.” The security guy swung me out into the dance floor, and I laughed, playing along with him.
“Flattery will get you everywhere.” I smiled up at him. “You aren’t so bad
yourself.” I laughed coyly. “Not a bad dancer, either.” I winked.
He slowly smiled down at me. “Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
He dipped me towards the floor, and I wondered how the hell my wish had just come true. I mean, I had wanted a man to dance with me like that, I just hadn’t expected it to be so soon. And even though I was in a crap-load of danger, and technically on a mission, I was enjoying it.
Alarm streaked through me as I felt him slide his hand up my leg. I straightened, and shook my head. “Oh no you don’t, mister. That sort of hand action is strictly reserved for the ‘boyfriend’.” I lightly pushed him away. Something caught my eye behind him, and I saw River getting pulled away from the dance floor. “Fuck,” I breathed. I looked up at the security guy, and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you for the dance, Amigo. I have to go.” I patted his chest affectionately and turned away to make my way through the crowd, following River’s path.
“Wait,” he said grabbing my arm gently, he raised eyebrow at me, expectant. “How about a drink?”
I shook my head. “I’ve already had too much tonight as it is. I think I need to go home.”
“Another time, perhaps,” he smiled with a wink, and disappeared into the crowd.
I turned to try and see if I could spot either River or Regina, but they had disappeared. I racked my brain. The last time I had seen them, they were moving towards the back of the club. As I made my way closer, I passed another security guy who was distracted by something on his phone and therefore didn’t give me a second glance, and found a long hallway with a number of doors leading off.
I was sure that they would be behind one of them. I just had to find the right one. Regina, the saucy bitch. I walked along the corridor wondering which one to choose first when I saw River’s leather jacket hanging on the outside of one. I breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the gods that I didn’t have to go barging through every single one trying to find them.
I lifted River’s jacket, checked the corridor to make sure I was all clear, and then stepped into the darkened room. I could see them writhing on the settee, and I felt an empty pit of nausea well within my stomach. This was it. This is what River was waiting for. The air was thick and smelled sort of sweet from whatever air-freshener they used, making me feel faint. My mouth ran dry as I mentally flicked through all the potential scenarios of how to approach this. They weren’t having sex yet, that I could tell, but damn, Regina was close to having her way with him.
She spoke Spanish in undertones, and he responded just as quickly. I hardly understood a word of it. It was actually the second most awkward situation I have ever been in, coming in close behind catching Luke sleeping with my best friend. I knew that now was the time to cause the distraction, and I would do it the same way I did with Luke. I walked towards them, my heels clacking against the wooden floor, and ripped Regina off River. “What the fuck?!” I shouted.
Regina’s eyes sparked with anger. The Spanish rolling off her tongue completely baffled me, but I understood precisely what she said. I saw and heard much of the same thing when I ripped Nicole away from Luke that fateful day.
Regina started advancing on me, and my hand twitched against my thigh, itching for the dagger. She was just about to take a swing at me, when I saw something silvery flash behind her. River came up at her shoulder, looked me in the eyes, and wrapped a wire around her neck. Her body was drawn against him as he tightened the wire.
I couldn’t look away.
She struggled and thrashed, her bulging eyes locked accusingly on mine. Her movements were jerky as she tried her hardest to get out of River’s steady hold. She was panicking. I could see it in her wild eyes. River heaved against the wire, and they both crashed to the floor. Moments later, her eyes closed, and she was still. I let out a long breath I hadn’t realised I still held. I felt mentally numb, and I uncurled my clenched fists, only then realising that my nails had been digging into my palms. I rubbed my hands as I watched River stand up, brush himself off, and take a photo of Regina’s body on his phone. So calm, so cool.
I had literally just watched the life drain out of somebody. I couldn’t believe how quickly it had all happened. I scrambled to sort out my thoughts and to try understand how River could do that so ruthlessly to someone he’d just been getting intimate with.
River grabbed my arm, pulling me towards him. “Come on, Mack. We need to go. Now.”
Even as we walked towards the ensuite attached to the room to escape out the window, I couldn’t help but glance back half a dozen times at Regina’s lifeless body.
4
“I’m heading over to the States today. There are two targets there that we need to hit,” Chase said to us over brunch the next day. His words reminded me that he and Gabe went out on a hit last night too. I thought about asking them how it went, but on reflection of my own night, I just really didn’t want to know.
I didn’t feel like eating, but I could feel River’s eyes on me, which forced me to have a few bites of my huevos con chorizo. Actually, it was delicious, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about Regina’s eyes on me as she died. I had dreamt about her all night, and when I wasn’t dreaming, I was awake analysing every moment of it.
“Who are they?” I asked Chase.
“Osiel Ramirez, the main US distributer, and his right hand man, Alicio Mendoza. They’re all going to be on high alert now that Regina has been eliminated as well. Alicio is a nasty piece of work. It’s going to take a couple of days to recon both jobs, and then get it done.”
“Aren’t they all nasty?”
Chase shrugged. “There are different levels of nastiness. Both Osiel and Alicio are very bad men. Alicio, in particular. He’s in charge of body disposal across the border. He has a huge team of people, and a million different ways to kill and hide the evidence.”
“Acid,” River mumbled between bites. “His favourite disposal method is acid.”
Acid? I wondered if he meant that he gets them high on LSD first or if he actually meant real acid. Chase burst into laughter at my expression. “What?”
“Years ago, before Alicio climbed the ranks of the El Diablo Cartel, he used to be known as the ‘acid-man’. He’s been on our radar for years…there was a time when I considered recruiting him into our operation. In the end I decided I probably couldn’t pay him enough.”
“Thank God.” River grimaced. “He’s a loose canon. We would have all been dead by lunchtime if he didn’t like the way we did things.”
Yeah… not exactly the polite conversation I was used to having over breakfast. But not exactly normal circumstances either. I didn’t want to think about bodies in acid any more than I wanted to think about Regina. I was already having a hard enough time talking to River this morning.
“So… Mack, how did you go last night?” Gabe asked.
I studied my cup of coffee for a moment or two before answering him. How did I go? I shrugged. “Me? I don’t know. River did all the work.”
River reached over and rested his hand on my forearm “She was brilliant, actually. Didn’t miss a beat.” I met his latte-coloured eyes, and he smiled. “She played her role perfectly. Even when she was diverted by one of Regina’s security guards she just played along. It was a stellar performance.” He patted my arm reassuringly. “She may need some more training climbing out bathroom windows though.”
“I was wearing high-heels!” I said indignantly. “For God’s sake, you should try it some time.”
Chase laughed. “Oh believe me – he has.”
“You what? Really?” I turned to River. “Are you for real? High-heels?”
Chase shook with laughter as River stared daggers at him.
“It was for a job,” he said through gritted teeth. “I was playing a transvestite to get to a mark who happened to have a little fetish for them.”
I actually felt my jaw drop, and River blushed. “You hooked up with a tranny?”
Gabe burst out
laughing. “Oh yes he did. And then he garrotted him.”
Garrotted… “That’s what you did last night, wasn’t it?”
River nodded. “Yes. I was sorely tempted to shoot her, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to use a gun because blood goes everywhere. Garrotting is a much tidier way to kill. She got a bit personal with me.”
I raised my eyebrow. “Personal? I’ll say. Was that before or after you almost shagged her?”
Chase choked on his coffee with a splutter, and shook his head with amusement. “Boy do you have a lot to learn, cupcake,” he said. “We get close to our marks, and then we take them out. Long range kills have less risk, but there is always a chance that you could miss or fail to kill. Getting in closer to our marks ensures that we do our job properly… I guess it’s also a point of pride in our line of work. We’re contracted for jobs because they know that we get in close, use our skills, and get out. That is the nature of this business.”
“Sometimes we just shoot them long range though,” Gabe said with a hint of a smile. “I mean, I don’t, but they do.”
River lifted his napkin to his mouth, and then placed it down beside his plate. “Speaking of which… Mack. You and I are going to take out Filipo Olivas today.”
The name rang a bell from our planning session the other night. “He’s the finance guy, right?”
Chase nodded. “Yeah, that’s him. Shady fuck.” When Chase swore he sounded rather eloquent. I wanted to learn to swear with the same finesse.
Gabe brought up a photo of Filipo on his iPad, and slid it across the dining table to me.
For some reason I imagined that Filipo would be like any other finance person out there in the world. Suited up, narcissistic personality, you know, the usual type. After all, I had lived with Luke who was in Finance for seven years. But Filipo looked different. He was slick, in his thirties, but not only that – judging from the glint in his eye, he was dangerous. “He’s not a normal finance geek, is he?”
Tijuana Nights (The Nights Series Book 1) Page 3
