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Anda had her fists clenched, ready to fight when Mingo rushed past her and into the close-grouped mass of thugs, darting and ducking among them, striking a throat on one, the eyes on another. His moves were so fast. Hunter once saw Jet Li perform a martial arts demonstration, and Mingo was that fast, but where Li’s demonstration was graceful, Mingo was brutal. Single blows were meant to kill or maim, to end things swiftly with maximum damage. There was no defense, only offense.
Hunter vaulted over the wraparound counter and landed in the kitchen. A butcher knife lay on the counter, and Hunter grasped it. She reached Anda as Godoy and his men entered the living room.
Hunter held the knife low, cutting edge up. She closed on a man swinging a long club at the little Tarahumara. The knife caught him as he raised the club, and the man grunted as steel pierced his side. He jerked away and the blade pulled out of Hunter’s hand. She watched him stagger back as others crowded forward. Hunter picked up the dropped club, a polished axe handle, and stood beside Anda like a batter at the plate.
Mingo put five men on the floor before Godoy shot him. The explosion was so loud in the closed space that everyone stopped for a second. Anda screamed as Mingo fell. The men with clubs took their attention off Hunter.
Hunter stepped into them and swung her club at the face of the first one. The man dropped hard, and knocked-out teeth clicked and bounced across the floor all the way to the Barbosas. Jesse first thought they were white Chiclets when they stopped against his boot. “Damn,” he said, and looked up to see Hunter swing again, cracking another man across the head with a glancing blow and making him stagger rubber-legged across the room.
She flailed at them and drove the men back, leaving a clear area around Mingo. Anda started forward, but Pepper was back to her feet and pulled the girl to her.
Hunter circled Mingo’s body, keeping the men away, when Anda yelled, “He’s alive!” Hunter glanced down and saw Mingo moving an arm.
Godoy watched with some amusement, but when he saw Mingo move, it took away his good humor. The orange-haired man was too quick, and Felipe’s shot, aimed for the spine, hit wide. But that, too allowed possibilities. He raised the pistol and said in English, “Kincaid!”
Hunter looked at him, and when Felipe knew he had her attention, he pointed the pistol at Anda. “I kill her now, if you want.”
Hunter took a step toward him, “You’re going to anyhow, but when you do, I’ll be on you.”
Godoy said, “Think about what you say. I want to kill her, why wait like this? Use your head, woman.” He saw Hunter hesitate. “I need to make sure she- and now the rest of you, cannot go to the authorities before we leave the country.” Jesse and Johnny looked at each other.
Hunter said, “Keep talking.”
“She has seen us do some…bad things, no? If she tells someone in high authority, we could be in prison for a long time. And now you and the redheaded woman have involved yourselves as well. So has Mingo.” Felipe nodded his head at the downed man. “Look at him. On purpose, I did not kill him. I am not a killer. What we need is time. We have tickets to fly out of the country, and by tonight we will be safe. Until that time, we cannot allow you to roam free. Do you see it?”
“So let us go. I give you my word we won’t talk.”
Godoy shook his head, “I am afraid I cannot trust you to do that. Surrender to me and I will have my men tie you up and keep you safe until tomorrow morning. At that time you will be allowed to go free.”
“No strings?” Pepper asked.
“Why would there be? We would be gone, safe. None of you would matter to us.”
“Hunter, I think we should do it.”
Hunter tried to ignore her. “Offer something else.”
Godoy sighed and took aim at Anda. “With regret, I will kill her. It is my freedom against your lives, and I have the gun. Now, I have no more time for talk. Drop your stick and surrender or I will shoot the girl.”
Hunter waited a long second, then tossed the axe handle to the side. Felipe said, “Tie them up, and get Cruz off the floor.” Felipe watched as the men passed the rope forward and tied the women’s hands behind their backs. Two of the men lifted Mingo. “Follow me,” Godoy said, and led the group out through the front door, his long black Armani coat flowing around his legs.
A crowd gathered in the street. Residents of Outlaw Road had heard the shot. When they saw the people emerge from El Longbranch, word spread fast and a dozen ran off to call others. Godoy watched them coming, and he took his time leading the prisoners. He would play the crowd, and the bigger the better. Jesse said, “They’re curious now, but don’t let on who you are or they’ll eat us alive.”
“They won’t bother us. We’re going to entertain them,” he smiled as the crowd opened around them and followed along. Felipe stopped by the largest of the few mesquite trees on the street. “Bring them here,” he said to the men, and they pushed the women forward. They carried Mingo and dropped him beside the women. He groaned when he hit.
The town crowd grew, and while Felipe waited, he took out a pocketknife and cut a small twig from the tree. He sharpened it and used it as a toothpick.
Hunter felt a flush of heat go through her. She looked at the tracks near his feet. “You,” she said.
Godoy looked at her, pulled the whittled toothpick from his mouth and said, “What?”
“You. You’re the one who killed the two girls and the baby.”
“That?” He shrugged. “After Cleto finished with them they were of no value.”
The crowd formed a rough semi-circle around Godoy and his men. A few went to the edge of town and moved cars across the road so no one could enter. It was easy to tell they’d done things like this before.
Felipe addressed the group like an announcer in a circus. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention.” He pointed at the women and said, “These women were here to destroy your town.”
