Canelo’s eyes bugged as he took in Mary Jane’s ashen skin. Truth be told, the light that shone behind her brown eyes had waned long ago. But he hadn’t expected it to come to this. He’d been the same way the days following the horror of watching his entire family burn to death. He knew that the only thing left was hopelessness. He went to her body and lifted her up, arms around her hips, quickly pulling the rope from around her neck.

Canelo placed her on the bed and closed his eyes quickly to the tears beginning to burn. He then snatched the rope, mumbling profanity as he shoved it into the wastebasket. He turned back to the beautiful creature before him. Telling the story of his nightmares wasn’t meant to leave her feeling hopeless. He didn’t expect her to attempt suicide. An urge compelled him to grant her some type of sympathy. But to cross Soledad. Even more worse, to cross Hector.

Slowly, his hand went to her forehead. Canelo gingerly brushed the strands away from Mary Jane’s face. He sat at the head of the bed. Laying her head in his lap, he leaned back against the headboard as he serenaded the woman with a song his mother had once soothed him with. The Mexican melody wove through a cracked voice, sending tears streaming down his puffy pocked cheeks. After a few minutes he stopped. His head fell back, and he took a deep breath while still rubbing Mary Jane’s hair.

Eyes closed, Mary Jane gulped a few times. The tenderness of her throat made the job uncomfortable but being parched and bruised, she continued to gulp. Mary Jane kept very still as Canelo sang a melody. Her heart hardened as his heart bled for hers. The hate, the self-preservation she once thrived on while determining her identity began to stir within her abdomen.

What about my baby?

She felt her heart tremor within her chest. She almost killed herself and her unborn child. If her premonition of the past with Peter was correct, her husband had fed her birth control pills, while calling them “anxiety” meds during their time together to ensure she wouldn’t become pregnant. She had to believe it was true, though it didn’t make sense, given that he brainwashed her over more important matters.

Mary Jane set her thoughts aside, baby or not, blood veiled over her eyes. The death of Soledad and Canelo were inevitable. As if on cue, the man softly removed her head from his lap and got up. Still pretending to be unconscious, she felt his warm, callused hand go to her neck.

When he walked out of the room, she allowed sleep to claim her. She needed time to recuperate. She’d dream about the self-defense skills her father taught her and the lack of emotion she’d been gifted with while being brainwashed. The character, Agent Anya Randolph, had instilled in her a need to survive, and Mary Jane would survive.

Wulf was gone. Either he wasn’t aware that she was taken, or heck, he had returned to live his life. She did not need him. This time around, Mary Jane would save herself. And her baby. Fuck everyone else.

It was late in the evening when Canelo entered the bedroom with beans and rice. He pulled a spoon from his back pocket, took a big scoop, and ate. Noticing Mary Jane’s interest in the food, he set the plate on the bed along with another spoon.

“And the water.” She nudged her chin.

He grumbled before holding the cup a few inches above his mouth, he gulped it down. “No drugs.”

Canelo gave her a look of remorse, left the room, closing the door behind him.

While eating, Mary Jane concentrated on the fact that she hadn’t heard the lock click. Gulping down the food in her mouth, she rose from her bed and took off her tennis shoes then walked over to the door. It wasn’t locked.

Her thoughts rocketed. Is this a trick? He’s always locked me in. She stepped outside of the room to an arch-shaped hallway, the dim sun shone through the dark-wood framed windows on the left side of the hallway. There’d be no sneaking through a window. Besides, these two deserved to die. Even after Canelo saved her life. In doing so, he’d only condemned her to another hell. She still didn’t know their intentions, but whatever they had in mind, death had to be more pleasing.

Mary Jane slipped down the stairs, ears perked, certain that such a large villa would be teeming with house staff.

A vase of wildflowers was on an accent table in the foyer. She turned and walked down another set of stairs and a hallway even longer than the one above. Passing by a cream-colored living room, Mary Jane’s feet padded soundlessly against the clay tile. She stopped when the hallway turned into a sunroom of sorts. The entire area was encased with glass, and she could see Soledad swimming in a turquoise oasis outside.

With mermaid like skills, she glided back and forth. The greedy woman craved attention as she showed off to Canelo who sat on a patio chair near the door, his back to Mary Jane. His head down as if he were busy, Mary Jane inched along, fully exposed to see that he was fiddling with his cell phone.

“Canelo!” Soledad’s tantalizing voice echoed through the open sliding glass door.

Mary Jane’s eyes narrowed. The way Soledad spoke, they didn’t appear to be a couple.

“What?” Canelo barked.

“I need it,” she pleaded.

“Hector will be home tonight!”

“So!” Soledad snapped. Her body lunged up out of the water and onto a seated area in the pool. She leaned over the pool’s edge, folding her arms, staring at the man who gave her no attention. Mary Jane’s body shook in sheer repulsion.

“Come here, Canelo,” Soledad implored.

“What are we going to do with the girl?” he asked.

“Offer her to Hector. I’ve said it a thousand times.”

“But she’s not Lalina!”

“How do you know she’s not our enemy’s daughter?” Soledad had a playful grin on her face.

“This woman just isn’t her. I can feel it.” Canelo scoffed. Mary Jane listened intently.

“The bitch is playing you, so, who cares?” Soledad’s finger trailed in a figure eight, skimming the surface of water. “Canelo, listen to me, honey. Her father, Escobar, is fucking with our U.S. boarders. The Colombians have always claimed more airways, but we have our mules.”

Mary Jane listened to bits and pieces of Soledad’s argument since the wind carried her words.

“Sales have decreased in all the cities bordering Mexico,” Canelo said. “We both know that, Soledad. None of those fucking Colombianos are fessing up to trying to seize El Toro’s passageways. I’ve told Hector that they’re putting much of the blame on the Puerto Ricans.”

“So what? You could be right.” Soledad shrugged. “But the head honchos of a Colombian cartel are hiding in Cuba. One of those damned Colombian underdogs is helping Escobar, Lalina’s father. So we need her!”

“We don’t need her. Escobar is disgusting. He isn’t even a real threat! He’s a politician playing a game,” Canelo scoffed. “Five years ago, that cabron siphoned money from outreach programs in his homeland.”

She shook her head at him. “Doing so, he made enough money to play poker with the Colombianos, Canelo! Escobar wanted in. He got it. Since we can’t get to the Colombians, we will teach that hijo de puta what it means to be in the business.”

Mary Jane fumed at that. Canelo defended her when he shouted, “She isn’t Lalina!”

“If we can scare Escobar with the death of his daughter, then he will surely know that we mean business. We know how much you like to be the good lil’ dog for Hector. I’ll say this was your plan.”

Canelo took a deep breath as she got out of the pool and sauntered over to him.

Soledad straddled him, water dripping off her skin. “Hector will be so happy with you,” she purred in his ear.

Mary Jane put her ear to the glass door, as Soledad’s voice became softer.

“And if he finds out that this woman is not her?” Canelo asked as his hand snaked around Soledad’s neck.

“If he does?” Her voice quivered with each word. But Soledad’s eyes sparkled as she reveled in the tightening of his hand on her neck.

Mary Jane’s eyebrows rose together as she heard feminine laughter. When Canelo yanked Soledad’s head back and kissed her harshly along the jaw line, Mary Jane saw the crazy woman’s grin of satisfaction. His large hands seemed abrasive from Mary Jane’s line of view as he tore the string from Soledad’s shoulder. Disgusted by their barbaric display, Mary Jane walked away. Even when she and Wulf played dirty, it was never like this.

Taking a deep breath, she allowed her heart to calcify. No more thinking about him.

Canelo and Soledad would finish soon, so Mary Jane rushed around the house, feeling a lonely presence as she went door to door, opening each one. A smile lit her face as she opened the door to the cleaning supply room. Chemicals.

Mary Jane had a flashback of Dr. Kohl’s class in high school. She’d literally created a bomb. Her mom had built good rapport with the principal over the years, but Mom was on vacation. That meant her dad was going to murder her when he arrived. Only Dad didn’t get mad. He didn’t rigidly reprimand her at school. He ruined his daughter’s lives by making them spend half their waking time studying self-defense.

In the maintenance closet, Mary Jane found hydrochloric acid in the form of Lime-Away product. Her hand then skimmed over a more concentrated form of the chemical in Lysol disinfectant. She grabbed a few more bottles of bathroom cleaner that would make for a rather distracting explosion then headed for the kitchen.

She quickly surveyed the room for a refrigerator since the expansive room was surrounded with glass doors leading to a portico. She then went to custom-made cherry wood doors, opened the refrigerator, and grabbed a few bottles of soda. Quickly, she opened and drained them into the stainless-steel sink. Grabbing a bag from under the sink, she placed the empty bottles inside and picked up her cleaning supplies. Bypassing the stainless-steel cutlery on the counter, she sifted through drawers and found another set of knives scattered about. It wouldn’t do for anyone to notice a missing knife from the block. She grabbed the largest butcher knife. Picking up her bag of items, she paused at the sound of voices.

On her tippy toes, Mary Jane scurried for the kitchen archway. The exit was right in the line of the sun area near the pool. Reminding herself to breathe, Mary Jane peeked just outside of the kitchen to see Canelo buckling up his pants. Soledad was already at the door, fully naked. Her hair a modest cover to her tiny breasts, but Mary Jane saw more than enough. Eyes wide Mary Jane froze, knowing she’d been caught. Soledad turned around and shouted back at Canelo.

She slipped out of the kitchen a fragment of a second before Soledad’s head turned forward. Mary Jane ran up the stairs with her toes softly padding against the ceramic floors. Hearing Soledad heading up the stairs, she knew it would take too long to get back to her room. She slipped inside the first door.

Standing behind the cracked door, she slowed her breathing and listened to Soledad’s footsteps.

The echo seemed to stop right outside the door.

Seconds later, the footsteps continued. Leaning against the door, she inhaled a deep breath. The all-wood room had a two-monitor computer. More importantly, there was a printer. Eyes locked onto the HP Laser Jet and Mary Jane placed the bag onto the floor next to the desk.

She pressed the button and it started up. The sound made her grimace. Mary Jane pulled up the top and detached the imaging drum set. The aluminum in this product would be the perfect match to the hydrochloric acid in the cleaning supply. Closing the compartment, Mary Jane lifted her plastic bag. She pushed open the door slowly and with her back against the wall, she moved cautiously toward the office door.

When Mary Jane didn’t hear a peep, she stepped closer to the center of the large hallway and the corner of her eye noticed the top of Soledad’s head as the woman headed up the stairs. She dodged back into the office.

“Canelo! Canelo!”

“What the fuck, Soledad?”

“She-she’s, damn it!”

Mary Jane pulled the knife out of her bag.

“I told the chef to be home by now. She’s late. All the housekeepers are late!”

With a lump in her throat and heartbeat pounding in her ears, Mary Jane listened as Soledad mentioned a man named Hector would complain. Once the coast was clear, she finally left the office and went back to her room.

She considered her choices. Hector seemed important. She could try to kill the two of them now, but she’d have to hurry with her diversion.

The door opened. She plopped down onto the edge of the bed, sitting in front of her bag.

Canelo entered with a half-smile. “I’m going to help you, Mary Jane. I just spoke with someone who can help you.”

Mary Jane didn’t blink as he came closer. He usually sat on the bed next to her. She leaned back and deftly pushed the sheet up over the bag. After hoping it was fully masked by the rumpled covers, she rose as he placed the plate on the foot of the bed.

He sighed. “I know you’re not talking to me. When Hector arrives, I will speak with him about you. I know you’re not Lalina.”

“Huh?” Standing there feeling useless, Mary Jane’s nervous gaze found the tiny lump on the bed. She tried to concentrate on not being caught.

“I’m going to talk to the boss,” he said, starting to sit exactly where her bag was hidden.

“Thank you,” she said, coming to stand before him. She patted his shoulder. Canelo arose and the air in Mary Jane’s lungs evaporated as he towered over her.

“No more hurting yourself.” He reached over and brushed her hair over her shoulder.

Attempting to keep her concentration on Canelo and not the task at hand, she nodded, licking her lips. “Thanks for earlier,” she mumbled.

Canelo’s mouth descended on Mary Jane’s before her brain registered what he’d done. He completely misunderstood her appreciation.

Bile slammed up her throat at the thought of him just having sex. She gulped it down, pressing away from his chest. She forced herself to look at him with kindness when all she wanted to do was pull out her knife and defend herself.

“Thank you, thank you,” she said breathily.

The lust in Canelo’s eyes struck her hard, pinning her in place.

“I’m sleepy.” She yawned.

Canelo paused, then nodded as if realizing that he shouldn’t be touching her. He smiled and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. Mary Jane sank down onto the very spot of the sheet which was covering her bag and laughed at herself while hopping back up. She moved to a seated position next to her explosive chemicals. That moment taught her one thing. Canelo would be easy to trick; Soledad was another issue.