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I’m lying on my back, and it takes effort to roll onto my side. A few realizations sink in, adding a chilling backdrop to the danger I’ve already picked up on. The paramount concern—I’m in a cage. It’s crudely made of iron bars, clearly designed for a human. There is enough space to sit upright, but I doubt I could fully stand.
The second thing of note is that I’m not alone in this contraption. A row of iron bars separates me from a man lying on his side. I recognize him, and another pang of terror runs through me.
He’s the accountant.
“Ronaldo here was just explaining to me why he traded immunity for handing over my accounts to the feds on a silver platter. Immunity.” Jaguar laughs. “I don’t think that was anywhere near a fair trade.”
I still can’t see him, but his voice is coming from somewhere ahead of me. Others mingle with his, and I’m reminded of the cage-fighting arena. This has a similar barbaric feel to it.
Humiliation on display.
I imagine that Jaguar is seated in the front row with a clear view of whatever show he expects to see.
“I’ll give you the courtesy of seeing in action what happens to those who seek to betray me, Lupe,” he continues. “Then you’ll have to take your punishment as well for disappointing me, chica. I hope you can spin those pretty words to save your life. Gatita!”
A shrill whistle rings out, and the accountant springs into motion, gripping the bars of his cage. His glasses are askew, his suit jacket gone. A bloodied nose gives the impression that he had a private meeting with Jaguar before I woke up. “Please, Jaguar. I have a family. They threatened my wife. I had no choice! Please—”
“Family?” A figure steps from the shadows, his head cocked smugly, his eyes blazing. Jaguar. “We are all family here,” he snarls. “If you go against me, you go against us all. I am your family, and this is what happens to those who forsake that loyalty—” His eyes cut to somewhere behind us, and he smiles. “Let her in. Ah, there she is, my little Gatita. Come see what treats Daddy has brought you. Ah, my sweet baby. Come. Come.”
Terrifying noises erupt in the wake of his command. A door opening with a metal creak. Scratching sounds. A quiet thud. As the sounds grow louder, I note the concrete floor beneath me is damp with a dark substance. It’s the source of the smell, rancid and sticky. Something far thicker than water, and even in the dark, I can tell it’s red.
Numb with dread, I peek over my shoulder and discover the source of Jaguar’s excitement.
A large feline slinks from the shadows near the back of the room, strikingly similar to the one tattooed on his bicep. Anactualjaguar blacker than night. Despite his loving nickname of “kitty” in Spanish, this animal is anything but a juvenile. On powerful hind limbs, it bounds to the cage and bats the row of bars nearest to the cowering accountant.
Clang!
The man shrieks and scrambles toward my end, separated from me by another set of rigid bars. His eyes are so wide I see myself reflected in them. A stupid, foolish idiot who just gave her life away.
“My baby was sleeping in her private room, but she’s never too sleepy for a snack. Any last words, Ronaldo?” Jaguar asks above the former’s whimpering. “No? I guess you want to get better acquainted with my little girl, here. Who am I to stop you?” He raises his hand, revealing a remote in his fist. He must press a button because the metal grate on Ronaldo’s side of the cage begins to rise. Eagerly, the jaguar rakes its paws beneath the opening while the accountant shrieks and presses himself against the barrier between us.
It’s no use.
The second the grate is high enough, the beast lunges.
Oh, God.A desperate need to turn away starts to enter my mind, but I resist at the last minute. Diego used to parade his horrific actions in front of me from time to time. He shot a man once. Electrocuted one, too. For sport, he tortured plenty of dogs by making them fight in the ring. No matter the nature of the display, I quickly learned the best method to survive them all intact.
The most important lesson? Never shy from violence. To him, any show of fear was always taken as an invitation to increase his cruelty.
Second was to communicate with him. Speak. He wanted to lord his viciousness over me but talking to keep him tethered—made him less likely to escalate his actions.
So I talk now, fighting to raise my voice above the accountant’s screams. What I’m witnessing isn’t like in the movies. The animal doesn’t go for his jugular for a nice clean kill.
It latches those massive jaws onto his thigh instead. Then it begins to drag him…
I’ll be next if I don’t do something.Focus, Pita!
“What have I done to upset you, Jaguar?” I manage to croak. Somehow my voice doesn’t break. I sound too calm. Unfazed. “Tell me.”
He laughs, and I risk swiveling around to face him, looping one hand through the bars.
“Either you were too dumb to see his shoddy work, or you deliberately lied to me,” he says. “I’ve heard the rumors, Tiena. You’re supposed to be good with numbers. You should have spotted the mistakes. Why didn’t you?”
So, he knew of my sister’s trick after all.Damn it.I can’t think of a good lie in this moment. Though, trying to trick him at all could backfire. Left with no other option, I improvise.
“Tell you a hunch without evidence? Feed you a suspicion?”
My voice does break then. A crunching sound makes me glance over my shoulder, and I instantly regret it. It’s a scene that will haunt me for eternity. I can’t even describe it in full. Blood and crunching bone. Through it all, Ronaldo screams and screams.
