by Paige Notaro
I washed up, took my bulging bag and hustled back out. I traced the lines of piping overhead as I walked passed, realizing I might never see it again. Dank and dark and hard, these halls had still been a place of power for me, these past two years.
Things could change though. Maybe one day when all this drug shit was over, and the cartels didn't run Juarez anymore, I could come back and see this place at peace. Hey, if we were dreaming, maybe it could even be a legitimate arena someday.
Thinking that far ahead just about messed up my chances for ever getting there. I was rounding up the stairs, when a voice called out. "Hey, Mr. Jones, a word?"
That accent registered deep in my core. The drawl, that wheezing rasp – I knew it was Tarly without even looking. The stairs ahead were flanked with the armed guards, but I doubted they would shoot if I ran. They worked for the Cartel, not for this pervert.
"Just a minute of your time," the so-called man said behind me.
The smoothness of his tone, the calm demand of it, sent my blood pumping. With any luck, this would be the last time seeing this fat asshole. No need to leave without a proper farewell.
I turned, flashing my trademark grin. He was standing near a bench on the opposite wall. "Randall Tarly," I said, walking up, hand out.
He winced a bit at my crushing grip. "You remember my name.”
"Oh, I remember you alright."
"Good, good. I just wanted to congratulate you on the win tonight. Slow but steady never fails to get the job done."
"I'm glad you think so." I squared off against him, straightening my back. He wasn't a small man, but he was still a good few inches shorter and down a whole lot of muscle.
"Listen," he nodded at a door to our right. "Could I ask you something?"
It was the woman's locker room. I’d …had reason to be in there before, but I had no idea what it held for me now. This seemed important enough to take chances.
"Sure."
He pushed in through the door and I followed carefully, doing a quick boxer's scan to scope out the space. Nothing other than blue lockers, towels and a few loose bras.
"Should have gotten here a bit early," Mr. Tarly said, looking around wistfully.
"Oh you'd like it," I said.
"I would?"
"All them girls in this little space with nowhere to go? Tell me that doesn't sound fine."
The pleasant act dropped, but not as much as I'd hoped. "That is a pretty picture you're painting."
I was blocking the door, but he didn't seem much bothered. Another look around still told me that there were no surprises here, but his calm made me uneasy.
"The door locks too," I said. "With a key." I dangled my key chain from the hand. It didn't have this particular key but the message got through fine enough to get his eyes to flare for a sec.
"Is that what you do when you have a girl?" he asked. "Put her in a little room and not let her out?"
"What? I don't lock girls up."
"You just implied you did, son." Mr. Tarly sat down on a bench. "And from what I hear, you lock ‘em up at your house too. Now that's your business, not mine. Except it seems that you may have unwittingly taken possession of the one girl I do care about."
Care about? His eyes were soft but they looked angry. Righteously angry. Was this guy so deluded as to think that he'd done right by Georgia, just cause he hadn't turned the key on the safehouse door?
"I don't know what you mean," I said, cause I truly couldn’t get that sort of mind.
"I know you do, so let's move past that, huh? You start hanging out with an American girl who just happens to fit the one under my care in all but colors? My hombre Hector confirmed her face nice and square - not once, but twice from memory."
"Hector's a piece of shit," I said. "He's got beef with me, that's all."
"Well, then that's just fine." Mr. Tarly stood. "Heck, I don't even mind if you've been holding her. How about we just go and make sure that everything is where it should be."
"I'm going home. That's all I'm planning to do."
"Perfect," Mr. Tarly said, beaming. "That's precisely where we're headed too."
His face spread out in an ugly smile. I balled my fists instinctively, but my brain threw a wrench into my bloodlust. "We?"
"Sure, Hector's waiting outside. He'll take us all to your place in the city, and we'll figure it out there. Do we have an agreement?"
He stuck out that hand, old and thick and veiny. He thought he was offering me a peace. Even if I didn't have Georgia to hide, it sounded like a shit deal to me.
I rolled my eyes, though and shook his hand. "Fine, whatever it takes to make you feel better. Let me just grab my things from the locker."
I lifted my gaze. Instinctively, he turned his head. I snapped my arms around his neck and locked him into a sleeper hold. His grubby arms flailed at my face, but they didn't have the reach or training to get anywhere that mattered. His mouth gurgled with useless words and his arms dropped to his side.
I dragged him to a corner hidden from the door and checked for a pulse. Small but strong - good. The last thing I needed was Cartel assassins after us, and besides I didn’t want even his tiny tattered soul weighing on me. I found a small burner phone in his pocket and there was no security on it – which gave me another idea. I called the last number in the history.
"Sí?" A voice asked.
"Hector?" I said.
"Señor Tarly, is he coming up yet?"
Atlanta hadn't equipped me with much of a tang in my voice but I'd had enough friends with southern accents to pull off something close. "I think Andre left."
"No, his car is still here."
"Well, is that all your goons have been watching? What if he knew you might be waiting for him?"
"That fucking mayate isn’t clever enough to see this coming."
"Maybe he got tipped off about us. All I know is he left, maybe with someone else. The guards say he went up 10 minutes ago. He’s probably gonna beat you to the city."
"Shit. Fuck." The other end was thwacked a few times. "Ok, fine, we will get there before him."
"See that you do, boys." I said and ended the call.
I pocketed the phone, gave it a minute, and then walked out. The guards nodded to me dumbly as I jogged up the stairs. The sun hid everything outside in a treasonous white glare, but I flipped on shades and saw no men waiting, so took my chance and hustled to my car. I screeched out onto the road, my phone already ringing.
"Hello," Georgia said, her voice pouring through like sweet tea.
"Baby," I said. "Listen very carefully. Get out of the apartment now. Don't grab anything, don’t change, don't go to the bathroom. Go hit the button on the elevator, and get out now."
"Ok," she said and her voice became straight. "I'm going."
The elevator chimed faintly through the phone. "Call me when you reach the bottom," I said.
The call clicked off. I jammed down the gas and raced through the desert, thinking about nothing but my destination. No traffic cops dared operate around these parts to stop me. There was a chance my car was bugged, but just cause Hector knew I was moving didn't mean he'd catch up. After a dozen enormously long seconds, the phone buzzed in my hand.
"I'm down," Georgia said. "Where am I going?"
"To the bar," I said. "Tell Maria that the Cartel is coming. Ask her to take you home. I'll meet you there."
"Ok, ok, I can do that."
"I know you can."
"I love you," she said, and my heart almost broke.
"I love you, too," I said. "I’m sorry."
"Sorry?"
"For getting you into this. For ordering you to run."
“I trust you,” she said. “If this keeps us together, then that’s all that matters.”
“I love you, baby,” I said again. “See you real soon.”
“Yes you will.”
I tossed the phone aside and sped up. The city grew like jagged glass around me. I had flown this pat
h so many times before, barely noticing, just waiting to get to the center where I belonged. But being at the center carried its own danger is a city run by the Cartel. If I was poor and threatened Hector I'd be dead and done. Now, I risked losing something a lot more valuable than my life.
That was never going to happen.
Maria's family lived a few kilometers out from the border, but I didn’t drive there directly. I parked the Escalade near my hotel, and left the keys in as I got out. There was time enough for a long last glance at the pearl white body. The ride had served me well, but it wasn’t the most inconspicuous vehicle to flee through Mexico with, even if it wasn’t bugged. The best thing would be for someone to take it and lead the Cartel off course.
Hotel Lucena was visible from here too, and I gave that another last look. It had all my worldly possessions except the one that mattered the most now. There were some sentimental pieces there too, but it was fine if I never got back in. Mom would be fine with that choice if it kept me and Dennis and Georgia safe.
I hailed a cab and took it close to Maria's house then legged it the last couple blocks. Her family lived in one of those middle class neighborhoods of walled compounds all pressed against each other. The stone didn't actually provide much safety, but it gave peace of mind and I was grateful for it as I walked up to the wrought iron gate. It flew open and like a divine revelation, Georgia stood in the gap. She beamed, her face soft and red and glowing and threw her lips at mine. I carried her in and shut the gate behind us.
Her scent suffocated thought from my brain, and when I finally pulled apart I realized that several other people were in the courtyard: Dennis and Maria, but her stepfather and uncle too. We knew each other and exchanged handshakes and hugs.
"It's ok," I said.
"Is it?" Dennis asked, arm tight around Maria. "Sounds like something went bad."
"Mr. Tarly knows Georgia's with me," I said. "Sick bastard thinks that she needs saving."
"Well, I need it now, for sure," Georgia said, pressed into my shoulder.
"They won’t stop hunting us," I said. “And this ain’t that big a city. Which means…we have to leave Juarez. Now, if not sooner."
I tensed, expecting the worst, but Dennis and Maria just gave solemn nods back. If my girl weren't clinging to me I might have wept. Sure I had provided a little comfort for my bro and his woman, but they had given me a family. Now, I was asking Maria to leave hers.
"You sure?" I asked her again specifically.
"Where you go, Dennis also goes," Maria said. "And I am not letting him go alone."
I lay a hand her shoulder, a meager gesture against the weight of this sacrifice.
"I guess I can tag along too."
We all turned to Georgia. She was the one with the most to fear. She knew what would happen if we got caught a whole lot better than I did. But the only thing on her face was a sweet smile.
I kissed her brow and held her tighter to me. The four of us exchanged looks. This might have started off with Georgia but all of us were in it now.
“We should go in,” I said. “And start planning out our next life.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Georgia
The bed Maria's family had for us was nothing like the soft luxury at the hotel, but I woke up early, saw Andre's face - calm and sexy even in sleep - and felt at ease. I held his hand and must have dozed off cause when my eyes opened again, the room was glowing with light and he was gone.
A flare of worry burned in my stomach, remembering the night before, and I shot up. I might have been the one they wanted, but Andre was the one the Cartel was looking for. Still in my T-shirt and dark panties, I rushed out. I sighed as I saw him right away, sitting on the living room couch alongside his brother.
"Morning, baby," he said, beckoning me with a smile. I owed it to him to freshen up, but the sight of that mouth worked like a magnet, pulling me to his lap. He gave me a quick peck and didn't even wrinkle his nose.
"Where were you?" I asked.
"Preparing," he said. "I went back to the hotel."
"What? Why would you take a risk like that?"
"It wasn't to get anything. I just wanted to talk with Rico at the door, ask him who had come by. Of course Hector and his boys had asked the same thing. He spilled the beans though cause he can’t tell which one of us ranks higher. It means this is still not Cartel level business - just between me and Hector and Mr. Tarly. He probably called Hector up the moment I turned my back, but I took a couple different taxis back to make sure I wasn't tailed."
"Can you just sort it out with them?" I asked.
"Sure, baby. I'll just hand you over and it'll be that." His eyes flashed hot.
"There's no way to save the life you have here?" I asked.
"You are my life," he said. "You’re all I care about saving."
I could only beam at that. I wagged my nose against his.
"Jesus, get a room." Dennis sighed. "In fact why don't we all get a room, somewhere far far away from here? That's what we were discussing remember? Then you guys can be disgustingly in love somewhere out of sight."
I slipped onto the couch and studied the giant map of Mexico they’d spread across the coffee table. A couple places had red Xs that marked treasure - the treasure, in this case, being a new home.
"Ciudad Mexico," I said, reading one. "That's the capital?"
"Eh," Andre said. "Yeah, but it's not really an option."
"It's the safest option he's open to," Dennis said to me.
"Come on," Andre murmured. "You know why we can't go."
"Why?"
"Mexico City?" Andre looked at me pained, and then heaved out a sigh. "It's too expensive to live in the decent parts."
"We got enough to last a few months," Dennis said. "We'll get something. You'll get something for sure."
"I'll get into a tournament that pays?" Andre asked. "Yeah, but it'll take longer than a couple months to work my way up to a decent paycheck."
"Wait," I said. "What about all the money you saved from the fights here?"
"I didn't get paid much direct," Andre said. "I get in for free almost anywhere in town and the apartment’s comped by the Cartel. The only actually money I get, though, is in the form of a credit card. Can’t keep using without being tracked. They gave me golden handcuffs. Nice ones, but still not much once you decide to quit."
I squeezed his arm. "That's ok, I like living closer to the ground. I can actually smell the flowers down here."
"Among other things," Andre said, but he looked relieved.
"Besides," I said. "You're gonna be huge one day. I can wait a little bit more for all the luxury I deserve."
I was surprised by how much fake confidence my voice could suddenly carry. Even Dennis arched an eyebrow. I laughed, and their faces broke in amusement.
"The other options are cheaper but they're all shit," Andre said. "There's no safety in 3 Americans suddenly rolling into a small town. The Juarez cartel's got no hold outside this part of Mexico but they’ve got informants in most cities a guy like Hector can access."
"It might be more that Hector looking for you once the Cartel realizes you've abandoned them," Dennis said.
"There's that, too."
"What will happen if they catch you?" I asked, regretting the words as they came out. I’d watched the parade of news here to know how the Cartel handed out punishments. They weren’t going to stick to imprisonment like Mr. Tarly.
Andre just looked me square in the eyes. "They will never get their hands on any of us. Don't worry."
"I'm not worried," I said. I could see he meant it, one way or another.
"Well, I’ll worry for all of us then," Dennis said, hunched over the map. "We gotta move soon. You never know how things will escalate with Cartel. You choked out a business partner. The whole town might be on the lookout soon enough."
"You choked Mr. Tarly?" I said.
"Just a little." He looked away almost shyly but I had never l
oved him more.
Screw Dennis. I planted a loud smacking kiss on him.
"Time for that later, niña," Maria's voice sailed through the air from behind.
"Please send them the message, babe," Dennis mumbled at the ground. Maria came around the couch, scuffed his hair and sat on the floor next to the table.
"You guys find a place yet?"
"You're really coming?" I asked.
Her eyes flashed and I worried I might have finally said the wrong thing with her, but it didn’t last. "The Cartel can find out I know you, so it is better if I leave the bar with one of the other girls for now.” She leaned in on Dennis. “Besides, I can't let this child run around the country without a translator."
"Yo hablas muy bueno," Dennis said. He glanced at Andre. "Though this does remind me…there's still that third option."
"Man..."Andre said. "Only if there's nothing else."
"Just send Georgia. Just for a little bit."
"Send me where?" I asked.
"North."
North? What place was north of Juarez?
Oh.
Andre looked crestfallen, but he nodded dimly. "It is the safest for you."
"I'm not leaving you," I said. "How could you even think that?"
“It would be temporary, just to keep you out of reach. We’d all be following you.”
“How? Maria can’t cross.”
"Not legally, anyways," Dennis said.
Maria and I turned to him. "You want to sneak over the border?"
"I, uh, was thinking of you and Andre sneaking over the border. I'll be waiting on the other side to pick you up - you know, since I’m American and not a fugitive. Georgia would come with me."
"I'm not leaving Andre.” I buried myself deeper into his thick hide. “If you’re going to sneak across, we all sneak across.”
I was shocked by how fierce the words sounded coming out. Was this what it was to be bound to someone by love? It felt nothing like being caged. Those words had poured of me more freely than anything else in my life.
