BRANDON
Getting into Mexico couldn’t have been easier. They practically opened their arms to us at the border. Except for the dirty look they gave Shark. It was the tattoos on his head; I warned him about those. My tats were pretty easy to cover up with sleeves. We just looked like two American guys headed down to Mexico for a week’s vacation. The border patrol never even questioned the need for such a large van for just two guys.
Getting back through to go home would be different. We knew that and still hadn’t figured out how to get across the border without being stopped. I hoped Eduardo would have some ideas. Spending a decade or two in prison was not on my bucket list of things to do. Lacy promised to kill Shark if anything happened to him on this trip.
“Shit.” Shark whistled as we turned down the last road toward Eduardo’s place. A fucking fortress was laid out before us. Two men stood outside a guard tower holding machine guns. Thankfully, Shark remembered enough Spanish from high school to tell him who we were and they let us through—after making a quick call to the house.
Several men stood at the front steps of the massive home watching us pull up the drive. Once I parked the van, two of them left the pack and headed to my door.
“Brandon Knox.” The man that opened my door did not look like any drug dealer or thug I’d ever seen. He sported a tailor made suit, with shoes that undoubtedly could pay my mom’s rent for a few months. His dark hair was slicked back, and not a single tooth was missing.
“That’s me.” I hopped out of the van and offered my hand. “That there is Shark.” I nodded toward Shark, who stood at the front of the van looking more uncomfortable than he had at the border.
“Shark?” the greeter asked, looking confused.
“Uh…yeah. It’s a nickname.” I shrugged. “When we were kids, he had a toothy grin, like a shark,” I explained, ignoring the daggers Shark’s glare shot at me. He hated when I explained the name to anyone, so probably more so that I was telling the cartel. “Long time ago.” I waved off the topic.
“The other men?”
“They should be here tomorrow. We spread out.” He seemed appeased by my explanation and guided us to the house.
“My name is Mateo, Eduardo’s brother. You’ll be spending the week with us. Please let me show you inside. Eduardo is out on business and will meet with you at dinner.” Shark and I exchanged a look then grabbed our bags from the van before following him up the stairs into the house.
Eduardo hadn’t given me the impression that he held much class, but by the look of his house the man had expensive tastes. Marble flooring covered the foyer. A crystal chandelier dangled from the vaulted ceiling, small rainbows playing on the walls from the sunlight peering in through the massive arched windows on the second floor.
“Yeah. Thanks.” Shark looked around the place and gave me a look that reminded me of when we were kids walking through the museum in the city. Our moms would take us on one of those free days they had a few times a year, and Shark would worry about breaking something because his mom told us that if we broke something we’d have to pay for it. And if we didn’t have the cash, we’d have to live there until we earned the money. As a kid, I’d thought it an empty threat, one we’d never have to face, but now as an adult I had a horrible feeling tracking my every thought. It was a reality for Hannah. I’d left her behind with Carter. I’d left her in his tortuous hands. I’d actually walked away, knowing he’d be using her body while I was gone. Could I have sunk any lower?
All for what? The club? For money? Fuck. I could have sent her and my mom away on a plane far away from Carter. Forcing Hannah would have been necessary, but at least then I would know his fucking hands wouldn’t be anywhere near her. Instead, I sent her back, told her to hold tight until I finished this last fucking run.
“Hey. Get your head out of your ass.” Shark gave me a shove as we headed up the winding staircase toward the second floor.
“You can use this room.” Mateo pushed the doors open to a room that looked like it belonged in a museum, not a house.
“Wow. You guys really make bank.” Shark whistled and walked into the room, tossing his duffle bag on the nearest loveseat.
Mateo gave a half grin. “My brother does well enough. His wife, Valentina, likes the finer things. If it were up to my brother, we’d all be living in a warehouse working ‘round the clock.” The way he said Valentina’s name struck me as different. Mateo spoke perfect English, with only a small hint of an accent. His polished look, his elegant mannerisms—at first I’d guess he was gay, but after seeing his eyes light up at the mention of Eduardo’s wife, I realized the truth of the situation.
“When did you say Eduardo will be back?” I slid the bag from my shoulder.
“Sometime tonight. We’ll have dinner when he returns. If you need anything just pick up the phone. It rings the kitchen and someone can bring you whatever you need.”
“Thanks.” Shark nodded and started looking around the room. I gave a nod and Mateo disappeared through the doors, closing them behind him. “Well, fuck, look at this place.” Shark held out his arms and nodded.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” I warned him. “We have shit to do. First we figure out how to get back through border patrol. I’m sure Eduardo will have a plan, we just need to make sure it’s safe. We aren’t going to have the firepower his men usually do.”
“Yeah. He has men to do this run over the border. Why drag our asses down here for it?” Shark asked for the third time, and for the third time I shook my head, unable to answer.
“I don’t know. I don’t like it, though, so keep your eyes open.” I eyed the bed in the next room. It had been a long drive down, and that bed looked almost as inviting as Hannah sitting a few feet away from me. “I’m getting a few Zs before Eduardo comes back,” I announced, and headed in that direction, already starting to kick off my boots.
I’d rather jump back in the van and head home to Hannah, but I’d have wait it out. Then I’d get to her as fast as possible and get her the fuck away from Carter. Good standing or not, we were gone as soon as I got back.
***
Eduardo never showed for dinner. Mateo made some excuse for him as we sat down in the expansive dining room. Wearing my usual shirt and jeans with my leather kutte, I felt underdressed among all of the crystal and silver being passed around the table. Even though Shark and I ate alone with Mateo, the full table had been set and utilized.
“Your president, Nathan.” Mateo wiped his napkin over his lips. “He’s a good man? Honest?”
I looked at Shark, wondering how to respond. Shark stuffed his mouth with a forkful of chicken dish we’d been served. “I don’t think you get to where he is in life without being at least a little dishonest, but yeah, I guess he’s an honest man.”
Mateo gave a slight nod and reached for his glass of wine. “But he’s not above stepping on people as he climbs the ladder, eh?”
What the fuck. I didn't do politics. “He was president when I joined the club, so I don't know about that.” It would be better not to be having the conversation at all, but if I had to answer the questions, I would have to tread lightly.
“Ah.” Mateo’s eyebrows raised. “And you?” He gave Shark a pointed look.
“Same here.” Shark shoveled in another mouthful of food and gave me a worried glance.
“My brother. He’s stepped, stomped, killed, whatever he thought necessary to get to where he is.”
“I can understand that. This business you're in, it’s not so safe.” I looked at the glass of wine in front of my plate and wished for a beer.
“To say the least.” Mateo snorted.
“Eduardo isn’t just away on business,” Shark finally chimed in, placing his silverware on his now empty plate. He rested his elbows on the table and covered his fist with his hand. His eyes focused and determined. “We aren't down here for a simple run over the border.” He nodded in my direction.
Mateo studied him silently, looking between him and myself. His expression didn’t give me any hints about his thoughts as the moments ticked by. “No,” he agreed, and sat back in his chair. He gave a wave and three men walked into the room. Each dressed as fine as himself and all armed with a machine gun slung over their shoulders.
“Mateo…” I started to stand, but he waved me back into my seat.
“Don't worry about them.” He said something to them in Spanish I couldn’t understand and they all nodded and each moved to stand in one of the three doorways of the room. “They keep others out.”
“What for?” The pleasantries were over.
“Nathan and I, we’ve been in discussions about your dealing with my brother and this other gang—”
“Club,” Shark interjected.
“Yes. Club.” Mateo waved. “My brother—he wants to pit you two against each other, see who’s the stronger and let that club keep the territory. He wants to expand farther and farther north, into territories that are already taken by other cartel leaders. This means there will be a war between them. It has taken decades to build these territory lines, these truces. It’s a delicate thing between these men. My brother wants to spit on all the work and all the blood that has gone into it because he is greedy.”
“What does this have to do with us?” I demanded. The sagging feeling in my stomach that I had when we climbed into the van nearly a day ago suddenly returned with more force.
“My brother is to be relieved of his duty.” Mateo folded his hands over his plate and delivered the news as though he were telling us that he wanted ice cream for dessert. “Nathan and I, we’ve come to an agreement. He’ll have full territory rights.”
“Why bring us down here for that? The Soldiers aren’t going to let that happen so quietly back home.”
“The Soldiers are a shitty group of men. I’ve been there, met with that Carter. I’ve also seen that whore house in the back of their club. Abused women being raped daily.” He paused for a moment, standing from his chair as a woman dressed in a short red dress walked into the room, brushing past the guard. Her chestnut hair swept up into a neat bun on the top of her head showed her long neck and glimmering earrings. She glided right to Mateo and placed her hands on his chest before reaching up on her tiptoes to place a chaste kiss to his cheek. “Valentina, you were to wait upstairs,” he chided quietly.
She responded softly in Spanish, but I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was giving him her excuse for disregarding his instructions. He raised an eyebrow at her and sighed. He turned to us then, his arm slipping around her waist. “As you can see, Valentina would like to join us. Obviously, you can see which side of this disagreement with my brother she is on.” He led her around his chair and pulled out the empty seat to his left, next to Shark.
“Eduardo doesn’t know his wife is with you?” Shark asked, keeping his eyes off of Valentina.
“My husband is a blind fool,” she spat.
I remembered at that moment her husband walking Hannah into the back rooms at the clubhouse. The urge to run across the room and rip out his throat for even looking at my girl. I had sat by and let him take her, let him put his hands on her. Another of my failings.
“He thinks I don’t know he fucks every woman he meets. He thinks I’m the fool. Mateo has told me of the sex trafficking those other men do. It is bad enough my husband allows drugs to be sold to children, but now he wants to do business with men who steal women and rape them, and allow others to rape them.” Her voice hardened as she spoke, though her eyes never left Mateo. He reached across to her and rested his hand on top of hers. “I won’t have it.”
“Of the two evils, we are the lesser?” I looked at Mateo.
He watched Valentina with love. The rage she showed in her voice echoed in his expression. “Everyone has evil in them, Brandon. I’m not an idiot. But your club, you deal some light drugs, you run guns for a few gangs. Nothing that hurts your community like the Soldiers. Community means a great deal to my Valentina.” He squeezed her hand and smiled. “Dealing with your club, that will continue to produce the profits we enjoy, and if at some future time we want to expand it will be done with not guns and blood, but with the help of the other cartels.”
Politics weren’t my thing. The lies, the games, it was all too much for me, and I knew Mateo was dreaming. There would always be spilled blood when it came to expansion of territories. There wasn’t wheeling and dealing to make that happen. At least not so far. Maybe he could do it, maybe he couldn't. To be honest, I didn’t give a fuck. I had a job to do and then I had to get home.
“That sounds all fine and dandy.” Shark sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “But that still doesn't explain why Brandon and I are sitting here.”
“Nathan has agreed to continue with the deal he made with my brother. Short runs through your two towns and up through the neighboring three. Providing safe travel for my men. The Soldiers will be gone. Closed down, wiped out—whatever the term is you Americans use.”
“Okay.” I leaned forward. “And what does all that cost Nathan? This big run?”
“Oh, there is no run.” He smiled. “I don’t need American boys coming down here to get my product over the border. No, your job is much easier.”
“What is it?” I chose to ignore the insults and just move forward with finding out what the hell was going on.
“You two are going to kill Eduardo.”