by Liliana Hart
“What? Why not finish the deal right then and there?”
“They will grab you up once they see that the sample data is real. And yes, they will probably check inside your…”
“Don’t say it,” Elena gasped.
“Okay, but please be ready for this. Once they’re done and you’re royally pissed off, you tell them to put your niece on a plane to the United States tonight. Give them these coordinates and this phone for her to call you after they land.”
“Will they do that?”
“Isn’t it worth a shot?”
“Yeah, because I’m going to be so freaking angry after that bullshit that they’d better do what I say or else I’ll feed that flash drive to an iguana until he shits out Cobalt code.”
“That’s my girl,” Brady cheered.
“You have got to keep that attitude. I know you’re going to be scared and maybe even want to do things to be friendly in hopes that Toro will help you or play by some contrived set of rules. Trust me, he will kill you,” Audrey said.
Elena blinked back tears in the adrenaline-filled moment. She clasped her hands until her fingers tinted purple.
“I will. I promise.”
“Best case is they allow you to leave after that. If so, we’ve secured a safe spot to bunk down for the night so we can all get some rest,” Audrey said.
“What’s the worst case?”
“Archer has to knock you out.”
“I need you on and focused.”
“Roger that, Brady.”
“What happened to Lieutenant Hottie?”
“That was the scared-of-you Willa. I’m the let’s-kick-ass Willa now.”
Audrey broke mic. “How about you just be the stay-awake Willa?”
“Yes, Aunt Audrey.”
Elena’s feet felt bolted to the floor. It was about nineteen fifteen hours and her cell phone hadn’t stopped buzzing. She pulled it out from an external battery pack where it was recharging. The cartel was relentless in their effort.
Where the fuck are you
Driving to that stupid town. Got lost
You have 5 minutes or else
I am lost. Not my fault
Elena tried her best to be brave. It was always easy when it was just a text message, but she knew that just outside of her third story rat-hole hotel room, there waited a man called Toro. Translated as “bull” in Spanish, Toro was notorious. He was also an enigma within the cartel because, while he looked like the typical techno-computer geek, he was a seething, ruthless murderer.
“Radio check,” Willa called out.
“I’m on,” Brady called.
“Hear you loud and sweet, baby.”
“Thanks, Uncle Archer,” Willa giggled.
“Your aunt hears you too.”
“Hi, team. I’m monitoring, just silently.”
“Oh, umm…hello, Mr. Declan,” Willa stuttered.
“He doesn’t bite, Willa.” Elena laughed. “Much.”
The kidding around was a great stress relief. It helped Elena forget, if but for a moment, what was about to go down. She wasn’t as concerned about the back and forth bartering with Toro as she was the reality that at some point, he was going to physically accost her for the main flash drive. The thought of his hands on her made her skin crawl.
Tucked away in the northwest corner of her room, she held the loaded pistol in her right palm. Each bump or the scrape of something crawling along the floor or across a wall made her breath hitch, but she kept her eyes and her focus on the door. Brady, Archer, and Audrey were already in the town’s square, so she was under orders to shoot anyone who came through the door.
Her orders were simple. Stay put until directed down. There would be risk once she left the room. The other three had to maintain their positions in a triangular formation to ensure she would be safe during the meeting. That meant Elena had to exit her room and traverse three floors alone—in the dark.
Audrey had created a diversion to coincide with Elena’s movement. She’d rigged the decoy golf cart parked across town so that Archer could activate its headlamps. The ploy was to make Toro think she’d just driven in, and that they’d now know where she had parked. Of course, the decoy cart was across town from where the actual extraction vehicle was staged.
“Anytime you’re ready,” Archer radioed. “We’ve got you covered.”
“Thanks. Just one second.”
“You can do this,” came across Brady’s radio. His voice was very strained but had improved.
Elena grinned at his effort. She glared through her room’s window one last time. She clearly saw the cantina located directly in the center of the town’s square. The tables had been cleared of the few locals. Only one man was there, and although she didn’t personally know Toro, she had to assume it was him. His laptop computer was already set on the small round tabletop. The device set on the ground by his right foot looked like a remote wireless Internet router, or a hotspot, as she liked to call it.
He wasn’t big or an imposing man from where she looked, but what was unmistakable was the rifle he had laid next to the laptop computer and his sinister reputation. Dressed in a starched white cotton button-down shirt and khaki pants, his wiry frame looked comfortable in the July heat of the early evening.
Elena stuffed the dummy flash drive in her bra and debated whether to carry the pistol or not. She figured it best to leave the weapon out of the equation. If one of her three cover team members couldn’t shoot him, she’d be of no use. She padded around in a small circle and also debated using the bathroom, but between the toilet filled with old refuse and new creepy crawlies, she figured she’d just hold it.
“I’m ready to go,” she said.
“You got the flash drive?” Audrey asked.
“Check.”
“You got the cell phone for Marguerite?”
Elena’s fingers flashed across the table’s top until she found the cell phone Audrey had given her earlier.
“Check.”
“You feel like being a hard nose negotiator no matter what that prick Toro says?”
“Check.”
“Good, then let me count down from sixty before you actually walk out to meet Toro. I need to fire up the decoy golf cart.”
“Check. On your count.”
“Team, I know I said I was riding this one on mute, but just to let you know that Cade has rerouted and is arriving in Guatemala any time now. He’ll connect with Darcy, Brant, Max, and Jade. They’ll all rally just across the border from Campeche.”
“Great news. Thanks, Dec,” Archer whispered.
“Shane and I will touch down within the half hour to round out the team.”
“I thought Cade got shut down at the customs crossing. How did he get across Mexico and into Guatemala?” Audrey asked.
“Officially he’s not in Guatemala. He’s actually back in Dallas, but his parachute and possibly a human life form strapped to said parachute jumped from an escort flight without authorization.”
“No shit. Go, Cade,” said Brady.
“You know he’s got a debt to pay,” Declan said. “Get this done.”
“Roger that.”
“On my mark. Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight…”
Elena tried to turn to walk out of the room, but her feet wouldn’t move. She was scared stiff. She struggled—nothing. She considered yanking each leg with her hands until they bent. Finally, she looked up and asked God to give her the courage to do this. She needed to honor her father, whom the cartel murdered. She needed to save her niece, whom the cartel would try to break, and she needed to reclaim herself for the life she now wanted to live and share with Brady Scott.
“You can do this,” she mouthed and then she smiled with resolve.
“Thirty-three, thirty-two…” Audrey’s countdown continued.
Her eyes grew big to capture any available light. Her ears were tuned in for sounds uncommon or sudden. She heard the rumble of the decoy golf cart in the dista
nce and knew she had to hustle to make her mark.
“Twenty-two, twenty-one, twenty…”
Elena reached the stairs at the far end of the balcony and eased out her right foot to feel for the landing of the first step. She’d forgotten about her sprained left ankle, suffered during her fall early that morning. Her mouth drew back against her teeth because it was sure hurting. She bit back a moan and quietly gimped down the top flight of stairs. She landed safely onto the second floor landing.
So far, so good.
She slipped her hand gently over the railing and took the first step onto the rickety staircase. Her heart stuttered. There was a figure in the shadow. Big and hunched. It pressed into the corner with anticipation. She was again unable to move. It felt like the bones had melted inside of her legs.
“Sixteen, fifteen, fourteen…”
“Where are you, Elena? I should be seeing you by now,” Archer asked.
“Big man in dark. Bottom of stair.” Her voice quivered.
“Maintenance man,” Brady said.
“You sure?”
“Think so. Saw him on the way down earlier.”
“Think it’s okay to go down there?” She sounded almost childish.
“Yeah, it will be fine. Now move. You broke my count. Ten, nine, eight…”
Let’s do this.
Elena inhaled as her swollen ankle crunched on the ground floor landing. Her eyes felt big and wide as she eased past the lump of clothes and heavy snoring. She exhaled to clear her thoughts once past. It was time to get her attitude on.
“Four, three, two, one,” Audrey counted.
Elena entered the streets void of light and emerged beneath the soft wash of a dull yellow cantina bulb.
“Hello, Toro. I’m Elena.”
Chapter Fourteen
Toro stood to greet her.
He was shorter than Elena’s five feet eight inches, but he carried himself much larger in standing than stature. There was no cordialness in his tone, but it seemed he wanted to appear as a refined gentleman. She knew the truth was he was nothing of the sort.
“I’d like to say my pleasure, but you’ve compromised your niece’s safety by this unfortunate delay.” His dirty fingernails lingered across the top of Elena’s knuckles. A scowl slashed beneath his pencil-thin mustache.
Elena patted his shoulder.
“How about we cut the bullshit? I’m here, so if you want to deal, let’s deal, but please, stop pouting like a little girl. It’s unbecoming.”
Elena’s mind exploded after hearing those words come out of her very own mouth. She knew she had it in her, but she hadn’t realized how strong she’d become through everything that led up to this.
It’s game time.
Toro’s black eyes peered into the distant night. She knew he had watchers, but she was confident her watchers were better than his. It was time to start talking deals. She anticipated his resistant nature, but she had hoped that once face to face, she’d convince him to play it for a straight-up exchange.
“I can assure you I’m no little girl. Do you have the disk?” He held out his open hand as if he expected her to drop the flash drive into it right then.
“Proof of life, Toro.”
Toro pressed his thumb and index finger against the center of his top lip, and spread them out to run along the narrow black line of coarse hair below his pointed nose. His sneer looked as though he enjoyed the contact.
“So, you want proof of life? Show me the flash drive first.”
“Listen to me, you little puta. I flew and then drove all the way to this fucking hellhole for my niece. Do you really think I’d come without the data?”
“I’d suggest you…”
Elena stood tall and raised a finger to quiet Toro.
“Do not insult me. I’m not the little girl your thugs raped seven years ago. I will honor my side of the agreement, but you will honor yours too.”
Audrey whispered into Elena’s concealed earpiece, “Whoa, sister. Calling him a bitch might be going a bit too far. More negotiating. Less agitating.”
Elena nodded her head to acknowledge Audrey’s instructions. She eased back into the wooden chair.
Toro craned his body over the edge of the table.
“I must say, I was not expecting you to behave in such a hostile manner. Obviously, you do not understand the process nor the respect owed our organization.” His voice never rose but it slid to sinister in tone. “I was prepared to trade you one asset for another asset, but your insolence has caused me to decide otherwise.”
Toro slammed his hand against the round-top table. His laptop wobbled and the glass bottle of soda rocked back and forth before tumbling over and rolling off onto the dirt floor.
Elena’s intuitive response was to recoil and apologize, but she steeled herself and refused to be victimized by the cartel ever again.
“Toro. What you do is ultimately up to you. If you want to move forward, then get my niece on the phone. If not, then I’ve got a long way to travel to get back home.”
Toro tapped his uncut fingernail on his front tooth. His eyes shifted back and forth across the empty streets. She knew he was within the highest circle of the cartel, so he wouldn’t have to consult with bosses. This was completely his decision to make or deny. His sinewy muscles twitched like guitar strings as he seemed to externalize his thought processes.
“You have the disk?”
“Yes, it’s in Xpujil.”
“Ah, I see.”
More silence.
Elena began to move, but then she heard what sounded like Archer instruct her to just wait him out. She relaxed her arms and her body rested back into the chair.
“Voice only.”
“Video. I want to see how you’ve treated her.”
Elena wanted to see the chamber as much as she wanted to see Marguerite. She needed to gain as much intel about her niece’s location as possible in case they needed to plan a rescue raid.
“That’s a tough one. For my troubles, what shall I receive in return?”
“Data.”
“All of it?” His lazy eyelids popped to life.
“No, naughty boy, but enough to keep you busy tonight.”
Toro grinned at her reference to naughty boy. He really was delusional.
“What else do you have to keep me busy tonight?”
Archer croaked, “Ewwww.”
“Radio silence,” snapped Declan.
Elena wanted to laugh, but felt the same as Archer.
She feigned a sly giggle. “I’m sure the amount of data on this flash drive will be plenty for now.”
“Oh, so it’s here, with you?” he asked sharply.
She shoved back into her seat and realized that he wasn’t a love-sick flirt. Toro processed every word of their conversation with only one goal in mind—securing their data.
“I didn’t say that, Toro.”
She tried to reaffirm her position, but she realized her adversarial act of defiance had been compromised because she’d fallen for his soft-sale tactic.
Damn, he’s good. Just like the serpent in the garden.
His eyes bathed her from head to toe. “Where are you hiding it, then?”
“Well, it’s not up my hoo-ha.”
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s an American expression. Let’s make that call to Marguerite.”
“Voice?”
“Video.”
Elena fidgeted while Toro pretended to have difficulties making a connection with the cartel’s base. She wanted to look around but knew that he would interpret that as her giving away the location of her backup. Eyes forward, Elena looked only at Toro.
“I seem to be out of service. Maybe we can relocate to a higher location?”
“No.”
“No?”
“I thought we’d cut through the crap. Video call in exchange for the data sample.”
“We did, indeed.”
“Then stop thinking with
your little head and get this done. I know there is cell service here. I also know you’re sitting next to a wireless router and signal booster.”
“You’re a smart lady. I admire that.”
“You must not really admire that, otherwise you’d stop trying to bullshit me and play it straight. Now, please connect us via video.”
She mashed her hiking boots against the hard-packed dirt floor as the chirping sound of Toro’s phone began to ring. The dull ache in her left ankle helped her remain centered. She told herself to be calm. Of course she was expected to love her niece, but an overexpression of emotion would signal weakness. It would place Toro back in charge in their role-playing charade.
The screen burst to light, and an unknown man’s gnarly face was plopped right in the center of it. Toro spoke in hushed tones and secret phrases before the man disappeared from view. He was careful to prevent Elena from seeing the blank screen that only showed an empty room. Suddenly, Marguerite’s face appeared as close to the screen as the man who answered the video call.
“Remember what I told you,” Toro threatened Marguerite in a low murmur.
“Yes, sir,” she cried.
Elena was sickened to watch the interaction.
“Here. Make it fast.” He shoved the phone against Elena’s chest. She fumbled it but quickly recovered and focused her attention on the screen.
“Marguerite?”
“Hello, Aunt Elena. I’m fine.”
Her face had makeup that looked like a man had hurriedly smashed powder and colors against her almond-colored skin.
“I love you.” Elena sniffled.
Stay strong.
“I’m fine,” she repeated robotically.
“I’m coming for you, baby. Hold on.”
Anger wrapped itself around Elena as she assured her beloved niece of something she wasn’t sure she’d deliver—safety.
“I’m fine.”
“Enough,” Toro barked before he grabbed the cell and mashed the end button to again blacken the screen.
Elena dropped her head as if it had come unhinged. Her hands began to cross and uncross in her lap, but she knew it wasn’t the time to unravel.
“Stay strong, baby,” whispered Brady.
