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I stepped up next to Santino, who watched the guys manhandle her into the car. He nodded at me with a frown. “She’s as good as dead. Might as well get rid of her now and save ourselves the trouble and her the torture.”
In this world—the one I’d done everything to escape—a human life didn’t matter. But one line I hadn’t crossed yet was killing an innocent. I’d ordered executions, I’d cheated, I’d betrayed, and felt no remorse. After all, I deserved the hell I was currently living in.
What I couldn’t figure out was why she was different.
I trusted Santino, had known him for most of my life. But he was deeply entrenched in the cartel. His loyalty would always be with them. Something I was painfully aware of and had to navigate around.
I’d never find the redemption I so desperately longed for if I screwed up now. I was getting so close to being able to go back home.
My eyes were on the car she’d been put into, even though I was still talking to Santino. “She’s asking a lot of questions, and we need to know why. Let’s find out before we do anything.”
Santino sighed. It was the most he’d ever do to let me know he didn’t agree with me. “You’ve gotten too soft.”
I climbed into the passenger seat of one of the cars, careful not to pick the one the girl was in. Showing interest in her would get noticed, and I couldn’t screw up now that I’d almost found what I came here for. If I could keep it together for a little longer, I’d have a chance of getting out. And this time it would be for good.
My phone had been blowing up with messages, the person on the other end the last one I wanted to speak to. Unable to put it off any longer, I called him back.
“You lost your phone? Because that’s the only reason you should have to take so long to get back to me.”
I ground my molars together, knowing that responding to him would invite further reprimand. He had to finish his lecture first.
“You’re going to take over one day, and a boss can never ignore his phone. Or go off on an errand that he should have sent someone else to do. What are you doing leaving while we’re in the middle of negotiations?”
Indeed, what had I been thinking? But when I’d seen the latest report on the American, I knew I had to come myself or she was as good as dead.
Guess I must still have some of my humanity left.
I gritted my teeth. “I apologize, but something important came up.”
“It better be more important than this.”
His comment made me irrationally angry. But at the same time, he’d given me the perfect excuse for why I was here. “It is. You’ll be pleased to see what I found.”
“Fine. Now get your ass back here so we can finish this.”
By “this” he meant the negotiations with the Cartenas. We wanted to expand distribution, and they wanted a way in.
I’d worked on getting a meeting with them for nearly a year. But when Santino told me they were picking up the girl, I had to come along. There was only one thing saving her now, and I had to make sure she stayed in one piece until I spoke to Maurizio.
“I’ll be there in a few hours.”
3
EVERLEIGH
My whole body trembled. The only thing holding me up was the two big guys I was trapped in the back seat between.
The conversation flowed around me, but I didn’t understand a word. They were talking too fast, and their voices were low. I’d been ignorant in coming here without preparing myself better.
We traveled for hours. I didn’t have water, and nobody offered me any. Despite the breeze coming through the windows, the air was still humid. My head was pounding a staccato beat alongside the car’s loud engine, and my vision grew blurry.
We drove through fields and forests, the road barely recognizable, yet they seemed to know exactly where they were going. There were six cars total, each following the next in a perfect formation. My head lolled to the side a few times, landing on a hard shoulder. I immediately woke up and righted myself again.
The sky was pitch black when we finally slowed down. A small village similar to the one I’d stayed in came up ahead. We followed the narrow street past empty storefronts and a police station.
The thought of possibly having a way out of this mess perked me up.
We drove up a long pothole-filled road, leading us away from the village. A huge gate came up ahead, looming dark and foreboding in the inky-black night. Guards stood next to it and along the wall that ran into the darkness. Santino exchanged a few words with one of the guards, and they eyed the car with interest before waving everyone through.
