I took hold of Xavier’s arm as he smiled, and we followed Ben inside the Bistro, the town’s only bar and motel, to the locals known as the doorway to hell.
“Don’t worry. You’re safe with me,” Xavier whispered, when we were out of earshot. Safety was definitely on my mind, but not as much as walking out of here alive. Someone like Xavier, whose confidence and fearlessness it seemed had no limits, came from a different world. He might have been brave, but he didn’t know Ben the way I did. The man was a monster.
All right, so he was traveling across the country, on his own, for a friend’s wedding. Then he picked up a scorpion with his fingers and just tossed it out the window. And now, he didn’t seem to worry about Ben. He was either very brave or very stupid. No matter how many times I tried to use my body language to caution him, he ignored my warnings, despite acknowledging them.
“Xavier, we should leave. He’s… he’s a very bad guy.” I tugged on his arm for the second time today, wishing John were here. He’d know what to do, and most importantly, he’d never allow Xavier to go inside the Bistro.
The wooden door behind us slammed closed, its echo reverberating in my ears. We followed Ben inside the old western-style bar, with swinging candle chandeliers, a wooden staircase to the side, and a balcony with tables and chairs. Upstairs, eight doors that led straight into bug-infested motel rooms were locked. The Cortez boys, Ben, his brother and their two cousins with their respectful families, had been living here for two years now, ever since the youngest, Mateo, turned twenty-one, despite each one having a house nearby. I didn’t know a single person who actually slept up there, though, other than Ben and whichever woman he chose for the night. There were rumors around town that sometimes the girls didn’t even have a choice. The thought made my skin crawl.
Most of the décor was wooden. An overpowering range of brown and gold tones in the room blended into one, making it difficult to concentrate on just one piece of furniture, most of which had been imported from Mexico. When my gaze caught a new decoration hanging on one of the walls, a human skeleton, I almost choked on my own breath. I bet it was real, too, and made a mental note to pray for the poor soul.
“A very bad guy,” I repeated, squeezing Xavier’s arm.
“I’m not doubting you, but I have a feeling if we don’t comply, the price will be greater.”
Maybe Xavier wasn’t stupid after all.
Handsome and smart.
As I looked at him from the side, I saw a special spark to his deceptively youthful appearance that made him seem as if he really knew what he was doing. Did he?
“Have a seat.” Ben pointed to the table before calling out, “Hey, Mateo! A couple of cold ones for our guests.”
Ben’s brother reached over the counter from behind the bar and poured beer into ginormous mugs while Ben pulled out a chair. The last thing I wanted was to sit down in this horrid place, infested with the Cortez family. I wanted to hate the motel with every last bone in my body, but Ben was right. The Bistro did look nice. He must have had it renovated in the past few years. The wood was sanded and polished, and the curtains in the four front windows appeared white from the inside, but I guessed the continuous dust outside must have dirtied the glass, making everything appear in bronze and copper tones.
The candle wax had been scraped off the floors and the tables weren’t full of beer bottles. It looked too good to be true; and my mother had always taught me that if something seemed too good to be true, it probably was.
Had Ben staged this? Had we both fallen into his trap?
“Nice place.” Xavier looked around the room, sliding a chair back for me. He didn’t appear nervous at all; but then again, he didn’t know Ben.
“I’m glad someone knows how to appreciate it.”
Mateo set the pints of beer on the table. I didn’t want to drink anything offered, but I’d been at the chapel since dawn, and the world around me was beginning to spin. The adrenaline I felt pumping through my veins wasn’t helping either.
“You’ve got a room available?” Xavier asked.
No! No, no, no.
I reached underneath the table and squeezed his thigh, as if we were a couple and it was one of our signals. He didn’t even flinch.
What’s wrong with him?
“He’s staying at the parish,” I interjected, before putting the glass of beer to my lips. I wanted to get my cracked lips wet, but it was so cold that when my mouth touched the foam, I thought I’d gone straight to heaven, so I sipped some more to quench my thirst.
“That old place? Nonsense. You’ll stay here. We’ve got two free rooms upstairs, and because it’s the fiesta, they’re at half price. A hundred bucks will buy you a room and a breakfast.”
I almost spat out the beer I had sipped. I couldn’t think of anyone from our town occupying a room here and wondered why Ben had said that. And a hundred bucks? He was crazy!
“Anna here is just jealous of the hospitality. All you have to do, chiquita, is say the word, and a room will be yours.”
The way he looked at me with his predatory eyes made my skin crawl. Shooting daggers through my eyes at Ben, I leaned over to the side. “You better sleep with your eyes open, Xavier. This town has a history of burning down buildings with people in them.”
Xavier didn’t even flinch. He kept his gaze on Ben and was more relaxed than anyone I’d ever seen around one of the Cortez members. He didn’t know their danger. He didn’t know what he was dealing with, and I had to look out for him.
“How about a game of chess?” Ben asked.
“We’re not staying,” I said firmly.
“Actually, I’d love to, but I don’t like playing without stakes,” Xavier replied.
What?
He folded his hands together, resting his elbows on the table.
“That’s what I’m talking about, Xavier. I knew I found a kindred spirit when I saw you.”
From the way Ben was eyeing Xavier’s Rolex, the only thing that Ben saw was an opportunity to rip him off.
“What are we playing for?” Ben asked, his gaze fixed on Xavier’s wrist.
“How about if you win, you get this Rolex?” Xavier unfastened his sleeve and pulled it up, luring Ben in. There was a heart with a knife speared through its center tattooed on his forearm. I thought I’d seen it somewhere before, but I couldn’t remember where.
“And if you win? How about a free night at our motel?” Ben grinned.
“Why? So that Xavier can lose his Rolex while he’s sleeping?” I mumbled, but no one seemed to hear me. Xavier’s gaze was fixed on Ben and Ben’s on Xavier. It was like they were going to determine the winner through a staring contest. At this moment, I couldn’t have guessed because Xavier surprised me more with each passing moment.
“If I win, you’ll stop bugging Anna. From what I hear, she has pies to bake for the fiesta.”
What pies?
Ben frowned and once again, chills invaded my body. After a long moment of silence, he agreed. “All right. You have a deal.”
The men shook their hands and began setting up the chessboard.
“Do you even know how to play?” I whispered.
“My friend, the guy who’s getting married, was a world champion.”
“But he’s not here.”
“I taught him everything he knows.” Xavier winked as Ben waved down his cousin, Pablo, to join us.
The next hour was spent in silence. I knew a little bit about chess, enough to know whether someone was good and strategic. Xavier was better than good. He was making Ben sweat. Ben was calculating, but Xavier was logical. He thought a few moves ahead, all the time. I would have felt happy for him, except I knew that Ben didn’t give up that easily. When they each had a handful of pieces left, I felt my bladder fill. I pushed the chair back, its legs scraping against the wooden floor. “Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom.”
“Shall we wait for you?” Xavier asked.
“No, you keep going. I won’t be long.”
They nodded, and their concentration returned to the board. I went to the back of the bar, where I knew the washrooms were located. The last time I’d been here, my parents were still alive. The further back I went, the more the place morphed to the grungy motel I remembered. I pushed the washroom door open with my elbow and skipped over a small puddle that looked like pee. Dead flies were stuck to the green paint on the walls, a few bullet holes punctured the concrete – God only knew from which shootout, and patches of paint had peeled away here and there. I did my business in what seemed like five seconds, because honestly, who could stay in a stinky bathroom that never got cleaned, and stepped back outside. Someone grabbed me from behind and covered my mouth. I threw my elbow in his ribcage and heard a grunt.
“It’s okay, it’s me,” Xavier said.
“What are you doing here? I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.”
“I don’t have a lot of time. There’s a door out back. Go home.”
“Did you win?”
“Not yet, but I will.”
“Then let’s go. I want to see it.”
“Anna, when I win, Ben will be pissed. Do you want to be here for that?”
I watched as his green eyes darkened. Xavier looked like someone else now, someone much more dangerous than a doctor. He’d told me he was a doctor when we drove into town. Was he really?
“You can’t stay here on your own. He’ll… Xavier, he’s a murderer. He killed my parents, and he won’t hesitate to kill you too. I bet it was his guy who guided you off 10 straight into Pace. No one comes here without a reason, and when they do, it’s because Ben wants them to.”
“Believe me, Anna – I didn’t come here without a reason. Don’t worry about me. I can handle Ben, but I can’t do so while worrying about you. Just get out of here and go home. Better yet, pack a suitcase, and let me take you with me.”
I laughed as quietly as possible. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m not. This town is not for a girl like you. You should be thriving, not trying to outrun these thugs.”
Unfortunately, the Cortez family was much more than thugs. They were evil.
“Pace used to be a town full of good people. We stay here because we still believe that it can become that once again.”
I stay here for love. I stay here because my heart is here.
“You’re hoping for a miracle.”
“Sometimes, hope is the only thing that keeps us alive.”
He frowned, quoting the inscription on my parents’ crypt: “Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow. If you’ve learned anything from the past, you’ll leave right now.”
I swallowed through my tight throat and shook my head. On the verge of a tearful breakdown, I searched for the right words to say to him so that he’d stay safe, but didn’t get a chance to voice my concern. That was when Xavier grabbed me by my arm, opened a back door, and pushed me outside. I stumbled forward and turned around, fury and confusion raging out of my ears.
“How could you do that?” I asked.
“If this were a different time, I would kidnap you and take you away from here. Unfortunately, it’s bad timing; but one day, when my life is not a mess, I’ll come back for you. In the meantime, stay away from Ben. Go home, Anna,” he said, before closing the door in front of my face, his emerald eyes disappearing into the darkness.
I stood there, gawking and shaking my head. Minutes later, a gunshot echoed from the inside, and I jumped up. Around the corner, I saw Pablo and Dante, Ben and Mateo’s cousins, working on an old car. It had backfired again, apparently, and I felt myself relax a little. Walking backward so as not to draw attention, I tripped on a rock and fell. They didn’t notice me, though. It felt like it took me forever to get up again, but once I did, I ran as fast as my feet would take me, without looking back.