Jitter nodded towards a patio door. The arcadia glass was slid to an open position. The screen was the only hindrance between them and their entry. Sage moved quick and low towards the door. Jitter protectively pulled her behind him. She followed his lead.
The screen was locked. Jitter took out a switchblade and cut the screen near the handle, slipped his hand inside and unlatched the lock. They moved inside. It was dark but the light over the stove illuminated the kitchen enough to see it was empty. Beer bottles and half eaten plates of food were strewn across the enormous table. They looked at one another. Quietly, they padded down a hallway towards the family room. Empty. Sage opened doors as they moved through the house, the barrel of her gun aimed and ready. They climbed the stairs, moving against the wall. Jitter watched their front while Sage secured the rear. A colossal window at the top of the first landing cast an eerie beam of moonlight, almost guiding them to their final destination.
Once they reached the landing of the second floor, Sage suddenly stopped. Jitter looked at her closely and mouthed, “What’s wrong?”
Sage’s face twisted. She wandered up the hall, her gun dropped to her side. She opened the multiple doors in her path. The rooms were all empty. Every single one. She went back to the stairwell and took them two at a time to the third level. All empty. She walked over to the wet bar directly in front of her. As she expected, it was still wet. The tang of cigar smoke still lingered in the air.
“They knew we were coming,” Sage announced. She closed her eyes and massaged the bridge of her nose. “How? I didn’t tell anyone my plan. Except…you.”
Sage narrowed her eyes and slowly took a step back, separating herself from Jitter.
“Sage, you’re being crazy. You’re sleep deprived. You know me.” Jitter kept his gun low and reached out for her with an open hand.
She shook her head mechanically. “The girl you shot, Harvey and the Vegas bus, the cartel always being one step ahead of me. It’s you.” She raised her weapon, pointing at Jitter’s chest. “Drop it. Now!”
Jitter’s eyes shifted and all at once he aimed his gun and pulled the trigger.
Sage spun around and was stunned at the sight of a man sprawled out with a gunshot to the head. She fell against the wall and slid down.
“I’m sorry, Jitter. I am being crazy. I just, I just want my brother back. I feel like I can’t win this thing. No matter how hard I try.”
Jitter moved to her side and wrapped an arm around her. “We’ll find him. I promise you.” He kissed the top of her head. “It’s okay.”
Sage looked at the body a few feet away from her. She recognized the necklace the man was wearing. It was Silas’. She scrambled over to the man on all fours and snatched the necklace from his neck. She jumped to her feet and darted down the hallway at full speed. She burst into to every door as Jitter followed closely.
She remembered San Miguel’s sophisticated homes from the Phoenix raid and recalled seeing an out of place door on the first level. She took off, full throttle, back down the stairs. “There’s four levels, not three!”
They reached the peculiar door near the kitchen and found it dead bolted. Sage kicked it with all her might but it didn’t budge. She kicked it a second time. The door was unaffected.
Jitter pushed her gently out of the way. “Let me try.” He aimed his pistol at the lock and fired. He kicked it and it fell open, inviting them in.
Sage darted past him, her gun aimed in front of her. She couldn’t see anything. There was no light. Keeping her gun pointed in the dark, she took out her cell phone and activated the flashlight. A stink she knew all too well ravaged her nostrils. It was the stink of rotting flesh. Her legs locked beneath her.
She heard the click of a light switch and the room was bathed in a red light from overhead. A chair sat several feet in front of her with a body duct taped to it in a seated position. The forearms were strapped down to steel armrests.
The slumped over body had an old style potato bag over its head that was cinched at the neck with a rope. Blood stains coated most of it. She knew without moving any closer, it was Silas. Paralysis kept her planted as she wept. Her gun clanked as it hit the cement floor.
A drain was at the feet of the body and remnants of blood painted a picture of ongoing torture and torment. Through the blur of her tears, she could now see the hands were missing all their fingers.
It was Silas.
“Fuck!!!!” Jitter screamed behind her. He punched at the air repeatedly, then dropped into a squat, rubbing his head as if to wipe out what he was seeing.
South of the Border
The sun was beginning to rise as Sage’s foot crew made their way to the first cooling station. With a three-day trek still ahead of them, they had successfully made it to their scheduled stop. Little Sammy turned on the generator from the outside of the makeshift house and the swamp cooler whirred into action.
The cooling stations were equipped with sleeping bags for the women and crew to rest during the day. The crew passed out water and food to the women before situating themselves in folding chairs near the door. They usually rested in shifts and waited for the women to fall asleep.
The crew gathered around Danny, as his phone seemed to be the only one that received reception during their desert runs. They scrolled through pictures and posts on Facebook, laughing and joking. At Little Sammy’s suggestion, Danny toggled to the Facebook screen that gave a listing of the trending events across the world.
A FaceTime call came in.
“It’s Harvey. Yoooo!!!” Little Sammy belted into the phone after swiping the screen to answer the call. “Ya’ll make it to Sin City? Living the good life?”
Harvey looked terrible; unshaven and worn out. “Hardly. I’m in jail. Picked up for possession.”
The guys huddled up and looked closely at his background. “Fuck outta’ here! For real, Harv?”
“I just wanted to warn you young bucks. Something isn’t right. Lay as low as possible. I don’t have proof yet, but I was set up. They’re trying to pin some heavy shit on me. Watch Jitter. That’s all I can say right now. I’m positive he had something to do with me getting arrested. He was asking all these questions and hanging all close before I left for Vegas.”
Suddenly, Harvey tucked the phone behind his back and said something they couldn’t hear to someone they couldn’t see.
The screen on their end reflected a jailhouse bunk bed but no Harvey. Without warning, the phone dropped from Harvey’s hand and hit the ground. The next thing they saw was his body drop next to it. The call was ended. Danny tried to FaceTime him back but the call failed repeatedly.
“What the hell just happened?” Little Sammy shouted, holding the top of his head. “Is Harvey dead?”
“You think Jitter could be dirty? That’s Sage’s right hand,” another crew member said.
“Chill with the names, damn!” Danny ordered. He shook his head and rolled his eyes at the blatant disregard for the rules. He glanced at the women sitting on their bags, looking disheveled. None seemed to be tuned into their conversation.
Danny motioned for the guys to step outside and they closed the door with the women inside.
In disbelief, they tried to sort out what happened to Harvey right in front of them. They collectively agreed that Jitter was shady and his double-crossing Sage was a possibility. Danny called Sage and got her voicemail. He sent a text 911. He tried TJ and was sent straight to voicemail. He sent the same 911 text to his phone as well, even though it seemed to be powered off.
Inside, one of the women hid under the shelter of her sleeping bag and retrieved a small cell phone from her bra. Out of view from the others, she sent a text.
They know.
She replaced the cell phone in its hiding place and pretended to be asleep.
*****
Sage hadn’t spoken a word since they left Hermosillo. Jitter drove as she stared out the window in her own personal hell and wept for her twin. There was no sol
ace he could offer her. All they’d done had been in vain. He would occasionally reach over and squeeze her thigh or softly touch the side of her face.
Jitter’s cell phone vibrated. He surreptitiously read the text.
They know.
With a quick glance at the distracted Sage, he responded immediately.
Go!
He laid the phone face down on his lap. He was still some hours away from the border. He looked at Sage; she was dozing off. She had no idea what was still in store for her. He almost felt bad for what he had to do but his love for money quickly soothed his discomfort. He composed a quick text.
I have her. Make the call.
When they arrived at the border, Sage, her face puffy with sleep and despair, automatically flashed her badge at the officer that appeared at her window. She hardly looked at him.
“Agent, may I see your identification?”
Sage absentmindedly handed her picture ID to the guard, still not paying attention to anything but the physical ache moving through her chest. From the driver’s seat, Jitter was also providing his picture ID to a patrol guard.
“Ma’am, please step out of the car,” the officer commanded.
“What?” Startled out of her painful thoughts, Sage asked, “Are you kidding me? I’m Special Agent Sage Wright . You have my credentials right there. Why do I need to get out?”
Jitter touched her arm. “Maybe you should just do what they’re asking. We are in Mexico, Sage.”
Her sorrow fused with the frustration of the request sent her sent her into a rage. She snatched the door handle and pushed the door open with fury.
She lunged out of the car and yelled at the top of her voice, “What the fuck else do I have to lose? My brother was tortured and murdered back you there and you want to see ID!?!” Her arms swung midair as she directed her question to the armed guards quickly surrounding them. She now had ten guns aimed at her. Disbelieving, she dropped her arms to her sides, trying to make sense of what was happening to her.
A man with a baseball cap worn low, dangling handcuffs, moved towards her. She recognized him. It was the despised Agent Chapman from her office. Another man was bringing up his rear, his cap also pulled down low. Sage knew the walk. She knew the build. Dirk? Now she was confused.
Agent Chapman planted himself directly in front of her. “Sage Wright, you are under arrest for tampering and misappropriation of evidence, theft, obstruction and finally, the whopper, accessory to murder. Please place your hands behind your back, Agent.”
“Chapman, kill the gloating,” Dirk commanded. He looked at Sage sorrowfully. “Sage, we need you to get into the cuffs.”
Fresh tears spilled down Sage’s cheeks as she turned her back to her two colleagues. She glanced toward Jitter, who was sitting behind the wheel looking down at something.
Dirk gently took her by her arm and led her to an unmarked car. “You need to call a lawyer as soon as you’re permitted, Sage.”
“I’m so sorry, Dirk,” she said, shaking with sobs.
“I’m sorry you didn’t trust me to help you,” Dirk said quietly. “You have the right to remain silent…” He cited the remainder of her Miranda rights, then closed the car door. He touched the window before walking away.
Sage watched him climb into another cruiser.
In her peripheral, she noticed an interaction between Chapman and Jitter. Chapman was leaned into the driver’s window. It didn’t appear to be police business – they seemed to know one another. Jitter handed Agent Chapman something that he stuffed in his pants’ pocket. He left Jitter’s window and hopped in the driver’s seat of the car Sage was being held in. She continued to watch Jitter.
When Jitter shouted to her that he’d be right behind her and not to worry, she simply nodded passively, trying mightily to mask her sudden and violent mistrust.
Epiphany
TJ was stirred into consciousness by a smack to the face. “Wake up, youngster!”
He recognized the voice right away. His head throbbing, he attempted to reach for the source of the pain but his hands were restrained.
“What the fuck, Jitter!” He squirmed furiously but his restraints did not give.
“Calm down. We won’t be here long if you just cooperate,” Jitter advised.
Their eyes met and TJ knew exactly what was unfolding in front of hm. He cocked his head back and spit at Jitter.
Jitter answered with a right hook to TJ’s jaw. “Now. Let’s play nice, shall we? All you have to do is listen, then tell me what I need to know, so we can all go home.”
He pulled a stool up to where TJ was seated. He explained that Sage had been arrested and was going to prison for a very long time, and then casually told him Harvey was dead.
TJ jeered, “You set him up, you son of a bitch! You had us pulled over. You’re the reason we didn’t make the last delivery. Do you have any idea what that could mean for my uncle?”
Jitter laughed heartily. “Who, Silas? You just don’t get it, do you. You don’t burn the cartel and live to tell about it. Silas was never coming home.”
TJ clenched his jaws. “They trusted you.”
Jitter lit a blunt. He pulled deeply from it and blew the smoke in TJ’s face. He spoke clearly and deliberately as he examined his blunt. “Where are the money and drugs Silas took from the cartel?”
“You’re working with the cartel?” He looked away in disgust. “We made that money back for them tenfold!”
“You’re not hearing me, baby boy. This part has nothing to do with the cartel. I’m ready the new coyote. Not the cartel. Not Sage. Not Silas. Me and San Miguel already have our arrangement set. The Compound, the desert routes, that’s all me! I’ll be more powerful than Sage and Silas ever were. Now, I want the money and bricks Silas stole and I want ‘em now. Where is it?”
“I don’t know. Ask Silas,” TJ said smugly.
Jitter grabbed a handful of TJ’s face and squeezed. “You think I’m playing? Let me show you how much I’m not.”
Jitter took out his phone and brought up a photo. He put it in front of TJ’s face. TJ looked away. It was a picture of Sage’s crew that had made the last Mexico run. Little Sammy, Danny, Enrique and Mikey. They’d all been shot, execution style, and were lying face down in the dirt in front of one of Sage’s cooling stations. Spatters of blood and brain matter were on the ground and on their clothing.
“So you see, it’s best you stay on my good side and tell me what I need to know.”
TJ stared at Jitter. Silent.
Jitter stood up, walked around to the side of TJ’s chair and kicked him over. TJ fell hard, banging his head on the ground. Blood pooled under face.
“I don’t fucking know anything. Just kill me...”
“Don’t tempt me! Either way you are fucked. You can die here or you can really suffer. What I have waiting for you is something you’ll probably want to miss.”
TJ grimaced and mumbled, “Greedy bastard…that’s all you ever cared about. Money and power.”
“That’s all there is to care about. That’s your problem, TJ. You’re satisfied with being a ‘yes’ man. Being told what to do. How to move.”
Jitter kicked TJ in the stomach as he lay on the floor with his head leaking blood. “Tell me! Where is his stash?” he croaked.
Through the pain, TJ wondered how he got in his predicament. Six months ago, he’d begged to be a part of the crew. Now, he just wanted to be as far away from this terrible life as possible. How had he found glamor in what he saw from his uncle and Jitter? His mother had tried to deter him from this road but he fought her hard on the subject and she eventually relented. He was sorry for his choices.
TJ looked up at his one-time partner in the field and asked, “Just tell me one thing. Did you have anything to do with the cartel taking Silas?”
Jitter took his seat on the stool once again. He still had his blunt. “Okay, so you want to have a Maury moment, huh?” Jitter took a long pull of the marijuana stick
. “Silas screwed himself. Yeah, I knew he was going to rob the cartel but he cut me out. Now, I want what’s due to me. I know he told Sage and if Sage knows, you know.”
“You honestly think we would be going through all this if we had the money?” TJ mustered through grunts of pain.
“You always were useless. So be it.” Jitter pulled a pistol from his waist and aimed it TJ’s head.
TJ squeezed his eyes shut. He heard the gun cock and began to pray silently. Footsteps in the distance caused his eyes to pop open. He saw women’s shoes in the distance and relief washed over him.
Another familiar voice asked, “What the hell is going on?”
The shoes moved closer and he realized it was Coco. He wasn’t sure if she was armed but she was definitely a witness. Jitter had been known to make a body disappear.
“Coco, get help!” TJ yelped, weakly lifting his head out of the puddle of blood he was lying in.
She came into view, walking casually. She had Pebbles cradled in her arms. She looked at Jitter and spoke. “You said we were getting him out of the way, not killing him. What the hell? Did he at least tell you where Silas’ stash was?”
TJ’s shut his eyes in despair. He began to make sense of Coco’s questions about Silas back at the Compound.
“He hasn’t said shit!” Jitter sneered. He kicked TJ in the face to emphasize his frustration.
A tooth tumbled around in TJ’s mouth. “I can show you. It’s buried out near one of the paths my mom set up.”
Jitter kept his pistol on TJ. “I don’t need you to show me. Just tell me where.”
“The coordinates aren’t written; I only know by sight.”
Jitter handed his gun to Coco. “You shoot his ass if he tries anything.”
Coyote: Sometimes the wrong way is the only way Page 6
