Page 11 of Colombian Chemistry

I remembered John’s words and remained silent.

“You think you’re too good for us, pretty lady?” he taunted, then spit on the ground.

I shook my head gently.

“Es bonita?” one of the men perched on the Jeep called.

I didn’t speak much Spanish, but I knew enough to know it was about me and my looks.

“Si,” he answered back with a crooked smile. “Muy bonita.”

The men at the Jeep started making whistling noises and catcalling in our direction. John remained relaxed beside me, but I saw his sly movement in lifting his shirt a little to expose the butt of his gun.

“Here you go. Two thousand pesos.” John handed the man the money.

One of the men from the Jeep walked over to us, his assault rifle clutched tightly in his hands. He got to my side of the car and leaned his elbows onto the Jeep door.

“Muy bonita.” He reached out and touched a tendril of my hair.

The bile rose higher in my throat.

“Why you hide such beauty underneath this hat?”

Before I could respond, he slipped the hat off my head. I noticed John’s hand drifting toward the gun at his hip.

“Wait,” the man on John’s side said as he looked at my unsheathed face. “She looks like the woman El Jefe told us to keep an eye out for.”

Crap.

The man at my window lifted my chin and tipped my face toward his. His eyes narrowed. “You do look like her.”

“Mateo! Pull up that photo on your phone of the woman we’re looking for and bring it to me!” the man at John’s door called to someone at the Jeep.

“There must be some mistake,” John said with a casual smile. “We’re just a couple of American tourists.”

“Don’t move,” the man commanded. “Hurry up!” he then called to his friend, who fumbled with his phone.

I saw the sideways glance from John, and the look in his eyes warned me to be ready. My stomach dropped knowing something was about to go down.

“Got it!” the man called and started our way.

When he got to us, he showed the phone to the man on John’s side. They both looked at the phone and then at me. A sinister sneer lifted the leader’s lip, revealing a large gap between his teeth. “Well, well. It’s her!” he called to his group of waiting men, who cheered. “Two-hundred-thousand pesos just dropped in our laps! I don’t know why he wants her so bad, but El Jefe is going to be very pleased!”

Ten grand just to find me? But why? Why are they hunting me?

“Gentlemen,” John started. “I’m telling you that you’re making a mistake.”

“No mistake,” the leader said, turning the phone to reveal my social media profile photo. “This is her, and she’s coming with us. El Jefe has every man looking for her and a big reward for finding her. She’s very valuable to us.”

“Well, in that case,” John said, “then I guess you can take her. I’m not going to try to fight six armed men.”

“What?” I gasped and spun in my seat to face him. “Are you serious? You’re just going to let them take me?”

He shrugged. “I tried. But there isn’t any way I’m walking out of here alive if I put up a fight. Sorry, Irene. I wish you the best of luck.”

Rage collided with the terror coursing through my body. He was handing me over? Just like that, the man I’d put my trust in was going to feed me to the wolves.

“Smart man,” the leader said as he gestured for the man at my door to take me. “You made a good decision.”