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And goodbye Eddy.
I’m not sure which one would be worse, but I won’t have to choose if I get caught with the drugs. The Cartel isn’t going to keep Eddy alive if I lose the drugs he stole from them. They’re mad enough already, and it was only by luck that they found my number in his phone and decided to try to get their drugs back.
About ten-thousand dollars’ worth. That’s what Diego told me, but the money isn’t what I’m concerned about. Eddy means more to me than anything. If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve been on the streets at the vulnerable age of fourteen.
I owe everything to Eddy and his life of crime, but karma has come to collect, and I’m the one who has to pay the price.
Lost in my thoughts again, I realize I’m going twenty miles over the speed limit just a second too late. Slowing down doesn’t stop the big white SUV from pulling out onto the road behind me.
And once those lights come on, I know it’s game over.
They found me.
And now I’m going to spend the rest of my life in prison.
2
Nikolai
Iknow a Cartel vehicle when I see one, and the one racing toward the border like they’re already being chased definitely belongs to them. I’m just surprised they pulled over when I flashed my lights.
I have to be careful. Impersonating a Border Patrol agent isn’t going to prevent me from getting shot in the gut should they realize I’m onto them. Pretending that I’m giving them a speeding ticket is going to be my best option until I figure out who’s in that car.
“Just one of us,” I say to Jasha as he unbuckles his seatbelt. “Do you want to go?”
He shrugs. “I thought we were busting their asses.”
“Just a speeding ticket until we figure out who they are,” I reply, pulling over behind the idling Cartel vehicle. “Maybe a warning if they turn out not to be from the Cartel, but I doubt it with a junker like that.”
“Ugly little thing,” he agrees.
Nobody in their right mind would be driving such a beat-up old car out here in the desert heat. One blown tire or oil leak, and you’re on your way to burn to a crisp in the blazing sun while waiting for assistance.
And they hardly ever come this close to the border. They’d sooner abandon you out here to die than risk getting mixed up with the Cartel.
Or the Russian Bratva.
“So I’ll go,” I say, putting our stolen police cruiser in park.
Jasha nods, but he’s not looking at me. He’s leaning forward and peering out the windshield, trying to analyze how much of a threat is contained in the car in front of us. It can’t be that much. The windows aren’t tinted, and it doesn’t appear that there’s anyone inside but the driver.
Plus, they pulled over, which isn’t something they would do if they thought they’d get caught.
Maybe it’s not Cartel after all, but then who the hell would be driving a car like that so quickly toward the border?
I’m about to find out.
I step out of the car, walking casually up to the side of the car as the occupant rolls their window down. I keep one hand rested on my holster, turning slightly to the side as I come up to the driver’s side.
I expect to see a man with leathery suntanned skin and shifty eyes, someone unmistakably neck-deep in Cartel operations. At the very least, it should be someone who very obviously is doing something they shouldn’t, but I’m stunned when I see someone who sidesteps my expectations entirely.
I’m looking into the bright blue eyes of a young woman, her face flushed and glistening with sweat, her expression wrought with a mixture of fear and surprise. She’s just as taken aback to see me as I am to see her.
I’m caught totally off-guard. If she were a Cartel member holding a gun against the inside of the door, I’d probably be dead by now, but she isn’t, and that means I need to figure out how to handle her without raising too much suspicion. I don’t need civilians calling the actual police on me for impersonating an officer.
“You were going a bit fast there,” I say, keeping my voice steady. My Russian accent is thick, but I’ve learned that confidence is everything when playing a role. “Can I see your license, please?”
The woman behind the wheel swallows hard, and her hands shake as she reaches for her purse. “Of course, officer. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how fast I was going.”
