The Cartel

by A. K. Alexander

  *****

  Stunned by the scene witnessed on television, Miguel cried aloud, seeing his sister lying on the ground, not moving. Paramedics reached her quickly, soon followed by Javier, Antonio, and Jean Luc. The broadcast went to a commercial.

  Susanna wanted to comfort Father Miguel. But she did not know how as she sat in her own state of silent anxiety. She had seen the faces of the men who had rushed to Isabella’s side.

  When the broadcast returned, the commentator announced that Isabella had been taken to St. Michael’s Hospital by ambulance. There was no indication of the extent of her injuries, only that she remained unconscious.

  “It is a truly terrible tragedy,” the British reporter commented.

  Miguel left his quarters at once. Susanna found him inside the church lighting several candles and repeating the rosary. She joined him, lighting candles for Father Miguel and Isabella, and one for herself. Then she knelt before the statue of the Virgin Mary. Her heart heavy at the knowledge that Father Miguel’s presence at the convent had rendered her safe haven no longer safe. She would have to leave. Her perfect priest had ties into a not-so-perfect family. She shivered at the thought of seeing Antonio’s face on the television screen.

  “Are you cold?” Miguel asked.

  “No, upset. I’m sorry about the accident.”

  “I must go. I have to be with her.”

  “Of course. I’ll go tell Mother Superior and Father Juan what has happened. I’m sure they’ll make the arrangements for you, unless you’d like me to.”

  “Thank you, Susanna. I would be grateful.”

  Back in her small living quarters, Susanna picked up her phone to dial the airlines.

  She made Miguel’s reservation and then made one for herself on a separate flight. She’d saved enough money from her meager wages over the years to afford this one extravagance.

  Her thoughts were confused about how to break the news to the church elders, so she decided to leave a note on her bed, as if she didn’t know that Miguel was also leaving. She directed the note to Father Juan, Father Miguel, and Mother Superior:

  I have heard some very disturbing news concerning my family. They need me now. Thank you for all of your kindness. The information about your trip to Italy is on your desk, Father. God bless. I will not be returning.

  Susanna

  The woman the nuns had named Susanna left quietly and walked to the bus station for the ride into Mexico City where she would wait for tomorrow’s trip to come. Like Father Miguel, she too, was going to Italy. What Father Miguel didn’t know was that he’d made an impact on her. Lately he’d been speaking to her about family and familial love and although she wanted to put the past behind her, a part of her ached for what had been stolen from her, and today on that television screen when she had seen Antonio Espinoza’s face, she knew it was a sign from God. No longer would she hide behind a name that didn’t belong to her. She was going to Italy to see if her daughters were there as well. Lydia Espinoza was alive and ready to take back what was rightfully hers and to execute her revenge on the man she once called husband. The one she believed who had tossed her into a whorehouse so many years ago to rot amongst the rats and mongrels, and suffer the poison shot into her veins. He would pay dearly for all she’d lost and she thanked God for sending her this sign as she closed her eyes, falling asleep on the bus. For the first time in years, Lydia didn’t have any haunting nightmares.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  By two o’clock in the morning Bella still hadn’t responded to treatment, a full twelve hours following the accident. Javier sat in a chair in the corner of her hospital room, with Pedro close beside him. Antonio and his daughters, as well as Jean Luc and his partner Pierre, waited in a room down the hall.

  Upon completion of the surgical procedure for internal bleeding, the doctors indicated that it might be a day or so before Bella would wake up. She did not appear to be in a coma. However, her left leg had been crushed pretty badly by the horse’s fall. When she did wake up, she would have to go back into surgery so that they could try to repair it.

  “Will she be all right?” Javier heard himself ask.

  “We believe so,” the doctor replied pensively.

  “What does that mean?”

  “We’re not sure if Isabella will have the use of her left leg.”

  Javier sank back into the chair next to her bed. The doctor told him that he was sorry, but that he would do everything possible for her.

  When Pedro heard the news, he talked it over with Antonio, who immediately made phone calls to find the best orthopedic surgeon for the procedure, and to have him flown in. Pedro knew better than anyone that the loss of her leg would amount to killing her. Horses and riding were her life. Javier was too immobilized by despair to think clearly, and so Pedro and Antonio took it upon themselves to do what was necessary to keep from breaking Bella’s heart.

  “I’ve found an excellent orthopedic surgeon,” Antonio told Pedro as they walked down the hall to get coffee.

  “Where?”

  “Not far. He’s in Holland. He’ll be here first thing in the morning.”

  “Thank God. What does he think?”

  “He doesn’t know without seeing the X rays first, and talking to the doctors here. But I’m told he’s the best.”

  “I hope so. Otherwise, Bella will never ride again. We both know what that’ll do to her.”

  Antonio nodded in agreement. Sipping their coffee, the men huddled together in silence, knowing that the next few days would be some of the toughest they and their families would ever endure.

  *****

  When Bella woke from the surgery, the first person she called out for was Miguel.

  Miguel shifted from one foot to the other. He didn’t want to be the one to tell her about her leg.

  “You must tell me, Miguel. Am I all right?” She looked tiny amongst all the tubes and the medical apparatus, her face wan from loss of blood. Miguel had arrived at the hospital shortly before she was taken in for her second operation, with only minutes to hold her hand and pray.

  It was the duty of the priest to comfort those who lay in hospital beds and, at times, to advise them of their condition. But here was the friend who’d become his baby sister. Telling her the one thing that could break her heart would take more courage than he thought he possessed.

  “Bella,” he picked up her hand. A silent prayer spun in his mind over and over again. He was looking for strength from God.

  “What is it? I know something is wrong.”

  He rubbed his forehead and sighed. “Your left leg has been badly injured. It appears that Delilah fell directly on top of the femur, and severed some nerves as well.”

  Bella stared at him, her eyes wide. In the doorway stood her father and Pedro. They entered the room.

  “You’re awake,” her father exclaimed, shooting a glance at Miguel.

  “Papa, what’s wrong with my leg?”

  “Nothing. The doctors fixed you up. You’ll be fine.”

  “You’re lying to me. I know it.”

  “It’s the drugs that are making you feel that way,” Pedro interrupted.

  “No, it’s not. Is it, Miguel?” She looked at the one man in her life that would never lie to her.

  He painstakingly shook his head.

  “Get out!” she cried. “All of you get out!”

  “Please, let me tell you what the doctor said...” Javier tried to reason with her.

  “I know what he said. He said that I’ll never ride again, didn’t he?”

  “Bella, listen to your father,” Pedro urged her.

  “Get out,” Bella shouted in the strongest voice she could muster in her weakened state.

  She lay there, angry and tormented by the fate that had befallen her, a sense of loneliness overwhelming her. She might never ride again. No one had to tell her that. She knew it the minute she woke up.

  Bella went over and over what had happened at the trials. What had
gone wrong? She wondered how Delilah was. Luc would know. He’d be taking care of Delilah. Thoughts finally drifted into dreams as a drugged sleep took hold of her.

  When she awoke, Bella saw Rosa sitting in the chair next to her bed, sketching.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Well, hello, sleepy-head. I decided to come visit you, but you’ve been out for quite some time. It’s a good thing I brought my pad and charcoal with me.”

  “What are you drawing?”

  Rosa paused, hesitant to show her friend. She finally picked up the pad and turned it around to face Bella.

  Bella stared at the drawing, tears forming. “It’s beautiful.”

  “I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s only that you look so perfect when you were riding, that I thought you should have this.”

  The drawing was of Bella mounted on Delilah, sailing over an oxer. Rosa had captured their images perfectly.

  She set the pad down and took Bella’s hands. “You have always been there when I needed you, Bella. Now it’s my turn. When my mother died, you were the only one who didn’t chide me or ask me to speak. You accepted my silence for what it was. I think you would’ve been the only one to accept it for the rest of my life, if that’s what I’d chosen to do. You will ride again, Bella. I know you will. Not only will you ride again, but you will also go on to be the best.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, I do. Life throws challenges our way to see if we can overcome them. We may not know why. There is no explanation for some of the things God allows to happen to us.”

  “What are you talking about?” Bella asked, knowing there was some personal meaning to Rosa’s statement.

  “Nothing,” she answered, rubbing Bella’s arm. “But I promise that no matter what life challenges us with, we can make it through. We can, my dear friend, we really can.” Rosa looked away and stared out the window, trying to believe her own words. The painful memory of what had been done to her as a child confronted her each day. She made vain attempts to deal with that memory, but she knew that her life’s challenge would never disappear until she made sure that the demon who had done such criminal acts to her had been fully repaid for his cruelty.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Javier was enraged at Miguel for his betrayal. “How dare you tell Bella about her condition.”

  “I am Bella’s friend and brother. I will not lie to her.”

  “Lie? Is that what you think I’m doing? Pardon me, priest, but I was protecting her. She is too fragile right now to be told anything about her condition.”

  “Do you consider your daughter an imbecile? She knew something was wrong the minute she woke up and she wanted someone to clarify it for her. She deserves that much after what she’s been through.”

  “What she deserves is to rest and to be told only when she can handle it.”

  “My goodness, Papa, she is not so fragile that she’s going to fall apart.”

  Javier held up his hand. “Do not call me Papa. I am not your father. Understand?”

  “Yes,” Miguel whispered. He stared at the only man who’d actually treated him well as a child, who seemed proud of him for his accomplishments. The only father he had ever known.

  “Good, because you are nothing more than the bastard son I took on after being fool enough to fall in love with your whore of a mother.”

  Disbelieving, hurt beyond measure, Miguel stood up, shaking his fist at Javier. “You will regret saying that one day. I promise you. ”

  “Is God going to strike me dead?”

  *****

  The drizzle chilled Lydia as she wrapped the cheap sweater around herself. She caught a glimpse of her newly blonde hair in the hotel room’s small mirror, and rather liked the change. It hadn’t been too difficult to find out the name of the hospital in which Isabella was being treated. All she had to do was scavenge through the papers from a few days ago.

  She stationed herself in a café across the street from the private hospital, as she knew she could spot her family undetected from there. Just that morning she’d seen Antonio enter the hospital, and the rage she’d felt alarmed and surprised her. She thought her anger at him had dissipated after living so many years with the nuns. He hadn’t changed much over the years—a little heavier, a little less hair. Otherwise, there was no mistaking him. She had yet to see Emilio, and wondered why she hadn’t. She was curious about how he’d responded to her disappearance. Was Antonio so stupid that he thought she’d never come back for her revenge? Perhaps he assumed that she died in the fire at the brothel. Or maybe he’d intended to have her killed initially but his henchmen didn’t have the heart to carry through with his plan. Then it hit her. The reason she hadn’t seen Emilio was because Antonio had done away with him, too.

  As she stared at the front doors of the hospital, she saw a pretty young woman walk out. Her head was down, her shoulder-length dark hair falling across her face. Lydia gasped. She knew that this was her daughter.

  Rosa looked up as the drizzle turned into rain, pulling an umbrella from her tote bag. Tears ran down Lydia’s face as she realized what she’d lost. Was destiny so cruel as to keep her from her own children? Even during those years when she could have returned to them, her fear of Antonio had kept her away. She watched Rosa walk down the street, and Lydia swore that fear would no longer conquer her need. To be with her children once again was more important than the fears for her own safety. Soon, Antonio would know she was alive, and her children would understand what an evil man their father was.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  It was nearly a month before Bella could leave the hospital. Severely depressed, she left Europe, leaving her dreams behind. Her father and the doctors had finally owned up to her fate, but what was worse was when she’d learned from Jean Luc the fate of Delilah.

  He’d taken her hand in his. “I am so, so sorry, chérie.” A tear slid down his face.

  Bella couldn’t cry or speak. She didn’t want to believe the words Jean Luc spoke. She shook her head vehemently.

  Jean Luc squeezed her hands. “She was a beautiful creature. One of God’s finest, and God blessed you and me with her. I know it is painful, Bella, but I promise she didn’t suffer.”

  Bella knew this couldn’t be true. Her horse would’ve suffered greatly from the broken leg she’d suffered. The irony of it. They were both rendered paralyzed in a moment, in a second, and Bella would give anything at that moment to be put in the ground with her horse—her sweet, sweet big girl. Life held no meaning for her if she couldn’t have Delilah and if she couldn’t ride. Bella finally spoke. “Where is she?”

  “I had her flown home to France and buried on my property. When you feel better, you can come and say goodbye to her.”

  Bella nodded. Still no tears. Jean Luc stood and kissed her on the cheek as the doctor came in to see her. “I will be in touch, ma chérie. I love you. You will be happy again. I promise you.”

  Bella kissed him back, knowing his promise was said with only good intent, but she knew she would never be happy again.

  Since that day a couple of weeks ago, when Jean Luc told her of Delilah’s fate, Bella had become even more despondent, saddened that she could not ever again ride her beautiful mare, never again hear her whinny as approached her stall. And when she’d received a letter from Miguel explaining that he needed to return to his parishioners, she became even more withdrawn.

  She knew that there was more to Miguel’s story than he had told her. But what was it? When she asked her father why Miguel had left so abruptly, he said nothing, but the sourness of his face told her everything. Once again, her father had exerted his power—this time, over the one person in the world she trusted.

  He’d sent away her best friend—her brother—and expected her to understand. The last place she wanted to be now was in her father’s home. France was her real home. Being in Mexico with her father and Pedro would be lonely. She prayed to a God she no longer believed in for
someone to put an end to her misery.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  “I only told you to check on him, to make sure that he was doing all right. For God's sakes, his mother just died, and you go giving him money, setting him up as our main West Coast distributor? My God, Emilio, have you gone out of your mind? I don’t want him involved in our business. The boy has a chance to go straight, and you mess around with his life." Antonio rubbed his temples and paced back and forth in his office, the pounding of a migraine headache beginning to seize his mind.