Ryan
Every time life has thrown crap my way, I’ve dealt with it. It’s been nonstop my entire existence.
The fact that my mother’s husband wants me dead is chilling. I look back at Dalila, who’s staring at me, wide-eyed. “We’ll figure this out,” she says. “I’ll think of something.” She sounds so determined and sure of herself. I’d love to be able to tell her that everything will be okay, but I can’t.
I swear under my breath. While I can’t say my mother has been a loving parent, I still can’t leave her to be manipulated by her crook of a husband. “I’m going to the US to bring him down,” I tell them. “Mateo will take you to the safe house. I’ll go to Loveland and—”
She shakes her head. “No. You’re not leaving me.”
“I can’t let him get away with what he’s doing.” Max Trieger wouldn’t hide out in some safe house if he knew that an officer was dirty. He’d fight for what was right, no matter what. I’m tired of running.
Dalila shakes her head again. “You’re not leaving me.”
Driving through the now-familiar landscape, I’m careful to shield myself so nobody can recognize me as one of the most wanted men in Mexico. I’m finding it hard to wrap my brain around all the players and what their motives are.
All I know for sure is that I’m caught in the middle of it.
“So here’s the plan,” Mateo says as we get close to Sevilla. “We’ll wait at Mamacita’s until ten tonight, then I’ll drive you to the safe house. It’s better to travel in the dark.”
I turn around. “You okay with the plan?”
Dalila, still in shock from the turn of events, nods. “You’re staying with me, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll be with you,” I tell her. At least until I figure out a plan.
I think she’s in survival mode, just breathing to live. I squeeze her hand to let her know I’m here. I’ll be here for her as long as I can.
After we pull around to the parking lot in the back of the bar, Mateo and I rush Dalila through the back door and up to the second-floor apartment. Mateo sits at the kitchen table and starts making phone calls to his buddies who can help us when I remember I left my duffel in the car with a big stash of cash inside. I don’t want to leave it alone for one second. “I have to get my stuff from the car,” I tell Dalila. I grab the keys Mateo left on the counter. “I’ll be right back.”
“Hurry,” Dalila calls out as I rush to the parking lot.
My duffel is in the front seat where I left it. As I grab it, I remember the little heart-shaped rock Dalila gave me for good luck the last time we drove this truck. I open the glove compartment to retrieve it, but when I reach inside something sharp slices through my finger. Rummaging inside, I notice a bloodstained cloth. As I pull it out, a knife falls into my hand.
Abuela Carmela’s jewel-encrusted, one-of-a-kind heirloom knife with her great-grandfather’s initials carved into it. A gun is hidden inside the glove compartment as well.
The only explanation I can come up with makes my entire body fire up. Don Sandoval didn’t instigate this war between Las Calaveras and Los Reyes del Norte.
Mateo did.
He killed Abuela Carmela. But why?
With adrenaline running through my body, I quickly pull out the cell phone he gave me and call Officer Matthews.
“Matthews,” he answers.
“This is Ryan Hess, Paul Blackburn’s stepson.”
“Where are you?”
“Mexico.” I hesitate, because I’m not 100 percent I can trust him. “Something’s going down here and I need help. Oscar Sandoval is involved with some guy named Santiago Vega and I think they’re part of Los Reyes del Norte. Mateo Rodriguez killed Oscar’s mother for revenge, but I don’t know why. My stepfather is connected to Francisco Cruz and Las Calaveras. I think they were involved in Max Trieger’s death.”
“Whoa, slow down.”
“I can’t. I don’t have much time to talk.” I look over my shoulder at the bar, hoping that Mateo is still preoccupied.
“Oscar Sandoval is working with us,” Officer Matthews tells me. “His client Santiago Vega has been an informant. They’re on our side, Ryan. We just don’t have confessions or evidence.”
Dalila’s father is helping Vega bring down the cartels. He isn’t one of them. Her dad is one of the good guys. A sense of relief rushes through me.
“Meet me at the boxing gym tonight in Sevilla,” I tell him. “Ten o’clock. I’ll make sure everyone is there. I’ll bring evidence and try to lure out confessions.”
“Don’t try to be a hero, Ryan. Stay out of it. They’re dangerous people who kill for a living.”
“It’s too late for that. I’m already involved,” I tell him, then hang up.
I call my one-man crew and tell him what’s going down. I instruct him to call Camacho and make sure the old man stays clear of the boxing gym tonight. I don’t want him getting caught in the crossfire.
“I got you. Be safe,” Pablo says before hanging up.
Afterward I make my last call.
“Sheriff Blackburn,” he answers.
“It’s Ryan.”
“Where are you, Ryan?”
“I’m in Mexico. I have the money but there are people after me,” I say in a shaky voice so he thinks I’m scared. “Can you come get me?”
He hesitates. I can hear his labored breathing on the other end. “Yeah, I can come get you. Tell me where you are.”
After I tell him I’ll be at the boxing gym in Sevilla at ten, I hang up and pray I haven’t just signed my own death sentence. I’m bringing all the players together to one location. If I can get them to confess in front of Officer Matthews, this nightmare will be over.
I need to go back in the apartment and pretend I didn’t find the knife and gun. Play it cool, Ryan. The only way to save Dalila is to play it cool. I was such a fool thinking Don Sandoval was the one who killed Rico. It was Mateo. I remember what he looked like when he picked us up after the shooting. His eyes were wide and he was too hyped up afterward, like he got a high from the kill.
“Hey,” I say as I walk back into the small apartment.
Mateo ends his phone call and looks at me suspiciously. “Why’d you go outside?”
I hold up my duffel. “It’s the only thing I’ve got left, bro.” I toss the keys to him.
Mateo smiles warmly, but now I can see through that facade to the blackness of his soul. How many times did he say he had my back? Too many to count. I wanted to believe him, so I did.
I want to fight him so damn bad, but I can’t. Not now, at least.
Dalila is anticipating going to a safe house. I feel like the biggest asshole for bringing her to this place. This is the opposite of a safe house and I need to get her out of here. I’ve only got one play left to get the upper hand.
“You okay?” Mateo asks her.
“Now I am.” Dalila looks up at him and breathes a sigh of relief. Damn, she has no clue we just walked into a trap. “Thanks for being such a good friend to Ryan.”
“I always have Ryan’s back.” He pats me on the back. “Right, bro?”
My hands ball into fists at his words. No, he doesn’t have my back. “Right,” I say with very little emotion. “Listen, I need to tell you somethin’. It’s really important.”
Mateo raises a curious brow. “What’s up?”
I pull Mateo aside. “I hid the money at the gym and need to go get it.”
“The two mil?” He almost chokes on the words.
“Two point two. I’m gonna give it to you for helpin’ us out.” I pat him on the back. “Listen, without you I’d probably be dead.”
He chuckles. “That’s for sure.”
There’s hidden meaning behind those words that I only now understand. I have to sweeten the pot, because I need to make sure this works. If he’s who I suspect he is, two million isn’t a lot of money to him. “I’ve also got a list of the people Paul has been working with. I figure if you could give that list to the police, they could bring down Las Calaveras.”
Mateo agrees. When it gets dark he drives us back to the gym, but it’s still too early. Nobody is here. “Why don’t we spar one last time, Mateo?” I say. “For old times’ sake.”
Dalila shakes her head in confusion and grabs my elbow. “What are you doing, Ryan? You can’t fight now. We have to leave.”
“I’m good,” I tell her. “Boxing is my life. You know that, baby.” I turn to Mateo. “Our little mission can wait, can’t it?”
He checks his watch, then shrugs. “I guess.”
Standing beside Dalila, I get into gear. “You need to get out of here,” I whisper to her. “Now.”
“What are you talking about? No. I won’t leave you,” she says.
I lean in to kiss her. “Save yourself, baby. This fight is for you,” I say in a quiet whisper so only she can hear, then kiss her tenderly. With a last glance hoping she’ll understand, I turn and face my fate.
She backs toward the exit as Mateo and I get into the ring, but she doesn’t leave. We spar and I let him get in some shots. I’m just trying to kill time, but as he starts getting aggressive, I start pounding on him.
Mateo puts his hands in an X. “Time-out!”
“No. No time-outs today, Mateo.” I punch him again and again. I can feel myself losing control. “This is for Rico, for Abuela Carmela . . . for me and Dalila.”
He holds his hands in front of his face, shielding my target. “You don’t get it, Ryan.”
I throw down my gloves. “Why did you do it, huh?”
“Venganza. Revenge.” His mouth twists into a wicked grin. “Las Calaveras killed my cousin two years ago and I vowed revenge, so I started Los Reyes del Norte, the new movement. I needed you to rely on me so you could lure Paul onto my turf to bring him and Las Calaveras down. You’ve got to admit my brilliance. Disabling Demi’s car, lending you my truck.” He looks cocky when he says, “Have you heard of a remote-control shutoff? Genius, right?” He winks at us then stands in the middle of the ring as if he’s the champion. “I made the car stall knowing Dalila’s Papá would want to kill you. Rico beating your ass was just a bonus, Ryan, but he ruined my plans when he dumped you back in Loveland. We got even with him, though, didn’t we?”
“You didn’t have to kill him,” I say.
“Hell yeah. I smoked his ass. Bonus when Don Sandoval found the body and saw you first. He didn’t frame you, bro. I did. I’m El Fuego, Ryan. Not Don Sandoval. In the end, I always win.”
“You’ll never win this one, Mateo,” Camacho says as he appears from the back room.
Suddenly a barbell is flying through the air. It hits a surprised Mateo in the arm. “You’re done,” Dalila says, appearing from the shadows.
Mateo laughs, a maniacal laugh that echoes in the gym. He pulls out a gun from his pocket. “I’ve got a gun, puta. I can smoke all three of you.”
“You mean four of us,” Pablo says, popping up from behind the front desk with a nine millimeter in one hand. He points the gun at Mateo.
Mateo sneers at Pablo. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”
“I’m Ryan’s crew, pendejo. There’s no way out of this.”
Where’s Officer Matthews? If he doesn’t come through, we’re all dead.
“Just so you know, I’ve got backup,” Mateo warns. “A truckload of guys from Los Reyes del Norte are on their way here with instructions to shoot up this place and everybody in it.” Mateo flashes a sick grin. “Besides me, of course.”
“How does Santiago fit in with all of this?” I ask.
“Santiago Vega is a snitch. I kill snitches and everyone associated with them. You think your stepfather is any different? Blackburn killed that border patrol guy. Shot him right in the face and got two mil for the hit because the border cop was about to expose him.”
“Yeah, but nobody will ever know because we’re going to blow this place up,” Paul says, suddenly appearing from the back room with Francisco Cruz right behind him. “Ryan, where’s the money?”
I eye my duffel in the middle of the gym. “That’s not all of it,” I tell him.
Paul walks toward the duffel while Cruz blocks the entrance. Pablo points to a cell phone that he rigged in the corner of the room and signals to me that he’s been secretly recording everything this entire time. It’s all the evidence Officer Matthews will need to take them down.
“Where is the rest of the cash, Ryan?” Paul pulls a gun out and points it at me.
Cruz is pointing a gun at Pablo, then at Camacho.
Mateo points his gun at Dalila.
Helicopters are flying overhead now and the sound of sirens can be heard in the distance. We’re about to be surrounded. I can tell by the fire in Mateo’s eyes that he’s not ready to be taken down. Not by a long shot.
In the ring, desperate men do desperate things. We’re all feeling desperate. If I don’t move quickly, it’s either my crew or me.
It’s time to take one for my team.
I walk over to the cell phone and pick it up. “This has been recording the entire time,” I tell them. “All I have to do is send it to the authorities. Put the guns down and I won’t do it.”
All guns are now pointed at me.
As I press Send, Mateo curses at me and I see the fire flash out of the barrel of his gun. I’m not surprised I hear the loud pop before I actually feel anything. Something cold pierces my gut and my shoulder. I know I’ve been hit.
Paul and Cruz attempt to escape, but more shots ring out as the doors burst open. US and Mexican forces fill the gym. They’re finally here. I breathe in, but a sharp pain makes me wince.
Dalila is suddenly next to me. I can tell by her gasp when she moves my hand away from the wound that it’s bad. “Why did you do that?” she says through uncontrollable sobs.
“I had to. He was gonna shoot you. All of you.” I reach out for her hand and tell her what I should have said a long time ago. “I love you, Dalila.”
My girl, her eyes glazed over with fury, stands in front of me as if she’s some shield. I try to pull her back, but my energy is waning fast and I’m starting to have trouble hearing. It’s like I’m in a fog.
“I’ll kill you,” Dalila growls at Mateo.
Mateo grabs her and attempts to run out with her as his shield, but Don Sandoval walks in and growls. “Step away from my daughter or the authorities have orders to shoot.”
“Not if I’ve got faster reflexes, old man,” Mateo warns. I hear shots ring out. Mateo falls to the ground, his body riddled with bullets. He’s dead.
Everything is so foggy and distant, as if I’m not even here. All I know is that Dalila is safe now. My own mind is fading fast. This isn’t how it’s supposed to end . . . when I feel like my life just began.
I hear Dalila crying as she clutches me.
“I’ll always go where you go . . .” I manage to say. I want to say more, but I feel like I’m slipping away into nothingness.
“Stay with me, Ryan! Please!” she pleads.
“I can’t.”
“No! Don’t leave me. I need you!”
“I wish . . .” I try to get out the words but I’m feeling so weak right now. I know I don’t have much time. “Live for me . . .”
“I can’t,” she sobs, her tears falling on our entwined fingers.
“You’re the strongest girl I know, baby . . . the strongest . . .”
The last thing I hear is her voice telling me she’s with me and she’s never letting me go. The last thing I feel is her touch, her love . . . finally giving me a sense of peace.