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As the buildings continued to be blown to pieces, they pushed the men from Perez’s gang back deeper into the heart of the barrio.
Londyn had been right about one thing, Perez had close to two hundred members, but more than half were inexperienced kids between the ages of seventeen and twenty-two. Most had never actually fired their weapons before, nor had they charged a full-grown man with a knife. One after another was easily taken down as the buildings around them crumbled.
At the end of the road sat a warehouse with fifteen young men prepared to die for it.
“I suspect we’re going to find all sorts of lovely things in there,” said Bone.
“Throw down your weapons and leave,” said Luke. “This is our territory now.”
“You’re fucking crazy!” yelled one of the men. “Your territory? You just fucking blew it all up! Who are you?”
“No one important,” said Luke. “I won’t ask again. Throw down your weapons, or we will kill each of you. Slowly.”
“He’ll kill us,” said the young man.
“Not if he doesn’t know where you are. Leave here. Leave this state.” Several of the men lay their weapons on the ground and ran toward the side streets.
“Cowards!” he screamed. Only four men remained at his side.
“You don’t want to do this,” said Luke. “You don’t want to give your life for a man that couldn’t give a shit about you. A psycho who enjoys abusing animals, women, and children. That’s not a leader you want to follow.”
The man in front of Luke was nervous, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, waiting for his escape. He made the wrong choice, lifting his weapon. Thirty men answered with a barrage of bullets cutting through his body. The other men immediately dropped their weapons and ran.
“Damn,” muttered Luke.
“You didn’t have a choice, brother,” said Cam. “Let’s find out what the fuck is in that warehouse.”
Bodhi pushed the big doors wide, letting the men enter, searching behind crates and boxes. When he heard whimpering, he knew this wasn’t going to be good. Opening one of the massive crates, the smell of urine and feces hit him with an overpowering odor. He stepped back, covering his mouth and nose. Cade shone his light into the space, seeing a dozen young girls lying in their own waste.
“Fuck,” muttered Bodhi. “Cruz! Torro!” Cruz ran toward the two men, staring into the crate.
“Va a estar bien. Estás a salvo ahora,” he said softly.It’s going to be alright. You’re safe now.The women barely moved, barely acknowledged the man.
“Luke! We need medical care for these women. Open those crates. Carefully.” The men moved quickly, opening the dozens of crates in the warehouse. Some were filled with weapons; some were filled with drugs. But seven were filled with humans.
Most of them dead.
The women and children had been promised safe passage to the U.S., but Perez had other ideas for them. The women who were able to speak said that he’d taken several of them out of the crates, and they never saw them again.
Many of them had been living in the boxes for almost two weeks. Others, just a few days. Using school buses, they transported the women and children to local hospitals, letting the feds know what was happening.
With the evidence removed from the warehouse, Cade and the others were happy to blow it to pieces.
Turning to see the neighborhood slowly coming out of hiding, most were grateful and shaking the hands of the men.
“Your insurance should pay for the replacement of your business. If it doesn’t, contact this number, and we’ll help,” said Cam. Luke stared at one of the business owners who had refused to help them. Gripping him by the neck, he shoved him toward the others.
“Don’t hurt me,” he pleaded.
“Don’t hurt you? You mean like those women and children weren’t hurt?” asked Bone. “You fucking let them rot in those crates. You knew what he was doing.”
“H-he’s a very crazy man,” said the man. “You can’t go against him, or he’ll kill you. What were we supposed to do?”
“Well, guess what? We went against him, and his barrio is destroyed,” said Bone. “Call him.”
“What? No, no, senór, I can’t.”
“Call him, or I will gut you right here,” said Bone. The man’s hands were shaking as he pulled out his cell phone. He hit the number, letting it ring more than a dozen times before Cisco answered.
