“Am I going to have to park you somewhere safe while I go for a walk?” I ask her quietly as I turn right and try to find the main road.
“Why would you need to do that?” she asks in confusion.
“Because something tells me that once you point this guy out to me, you’re going to be a pain in the ass,” I shoot back, dryly.
She scoffs as she leans forward and rests her arms on the dashboard. “This is not your fight, Gringo. You’re just helping me do this because Papa doesn’t want me to. It’ll put his life’s work in too much danger if I make a move on Omar.”
“So I guess you should consider this a pre-wedding gift then,” I growl.
She looks over at me and I grit my teeth.
Don’t get angry.
I repeat it to myself over and over until I finally start to feel myself starting to calm down. If I get angry, this will get unnecessarily messy and draw way too much attention to us.
Especially since I’m only supposed to be scouting him for now.
“Pull in over there,” she says, nodding toward a semi-empty street. It makes me curious as to why it’s so damn vacant because the town centers are usually bustling with people and cars.
Chalking it up to random luck, I find a space and maneuver my car in, then turn off the engine and reach for the keys.
“Listen,” I begin as I run a hand back through my hair, “Maybe you could just give me a general description and stay here?”
“Fine,” she responds curtly, “he looks like a Mexican.”
I grind my teeth as I look at her sharply. Clearly, Sofi has plans of her own and staying in the car isn’t one of them.
“Look,” I bark as patiently as I can, “you may not realize it, but I’m trying to take you back to your father in one piece. Getting you shot up or worse on our first solo outing isn’t going to win me any favors with his little murder squad. Now, you can either tell me what the fuck this Omar looks like, or I can turn this car around and head back to Culiacán.”
She tilts her head for a moment, a smile playing at the corner of her lips. I grunt as I slam a hand against the wheel knowing full well that she has every intention of fighting this one out.
“Tell me something, Gringo,” Sofi says slowly, “is this how you really are, or is this the animal that’s locked in that cage inside of you, slowly starving to death that I’m hoping to see?”
I turn my face away because I don’t know how to answer that question. I’d like to think that I’m stronger than any addiction I’ve ever found myself on the receiving end of, but she wants a monster more than she wants a regular man.
Do I want to go back into the darkness again? Is it a place I’ll be able to claw my way out of one final time?
As she pushes her door open and steps out, I tell myself that I am stronger than any fucking drug she can wave in my face.
I just don’t know if I’ll be strong enough to resist it when she doesn’t want me to anymore.
Chapter Thirteen
I blow out a breath as we walk side by side down the street. Sofi keeps trying to make headway and put distance between us, though I catch up each and every time. She may not notice the way that some of the people around here are looking at her, but I do and it’s starting to put me on edge.
I reach forward and grab her hand. As expected, she tries to wrestle it away, but when she sees the look in my eyes, she stops walking and relents.
“What?” she asks me quietly.
“Ever get the feeling that you’re in danger?” I question, licking my lips nervously.
“That a new feeling for you?” she asks with a short laugh. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”
I shake my head, “No, this is different, Sofi. It’s not just me that I’m worried about.” I glance over my shoulder for a moment and take in the emptying streets behind us, then turn to look at her again, “It’s almost as if the entire town was expecting us today.”
She pulls her hand from mine and puts her hands on her hips. I’m hoping that what I’m saying is starting to sink in somehow, though I realize it isn’t when she shrugs.
“Let them come. If you’re not man enough to take care of it, then stand back and learn.”
I throw my hands up in the air in exasperation before I let them slap my legs.
Looks like we’re back to finding out who’s dick is bigger even though I’m the only one with the full set.
“Just follow my lead, Ana Sofia,” I instruct her through grit teeth as I turn away and start walking again.
“Listen pendejo, you’re not the—”
I stop walking when she catches up to me and glare down at her. I already know what she’s going to say. I’m not the boss of her; fine, I’m not, however, in this fucking town, I think the only boss we need to be worried about is the one we can’t see.
By some miracle, the stare down I give her is enough to get her to shut her mouth and give in to not being the one in command for once in her life.
I crack my neck and nod once I’m satisfied that she’s willing to fall into line and begin walking again.
Suddenly the sound of rapid gunfire rings out. The people who are left on the streets with us start screaming and I reach for Sofi instinctively. I pick her up and carry her into the alleyway next to us, shoving her into the open door of the dilapidated building and then block the entrance.
“What the fuck!” she shouts, punching me in the back.
I roll my eyes as I peek my head out and wait to see who the fuck just shot at us.
“Shut up and hold on for a second. I don’t think your father will be too amused if I take you back full of holes.”
“Well, at least I know you’re fast enough,” she grumbles as she attempts to peek past me. I put a hand on her forehead and shove her back behind me. Not in a way that will hurt her, but in a way that will get her to stop being so goddamn nosy.
“Stay,” I bark at her before I take a step into the alley. Her face goes crimson, and the outrage would normally be enough to make me laugh, but this is too serious of a situation to even crack a smile right now.
I glance over my shoulder to make sure that Sofi is where I left her before I continue toward the sidewalk.
Once I’m close enough to look around the side of the building, I flatten my back against it, take a deep breath, and have a quick look-see.
Three men are running down the street right past me. One of them is damn near tripping over his pants from how far down they’ve slid and he’s struggling to keep them up while he hauls ass, attempting to catch up to his buddies.
“Deja de corer!” a voice booms out, and I turn my attention back toward the end of the street where the men more than likely appeared from before they blew by me.
I slip back into the alley a little when I see the shiny badges hanging around the necks of the crew giving chase. Turning my eyes toward the sky, I count to ten before I lean out again.
Holy shit, they must have fucked up big time.
The crew chasing the three men looks like a small militia of some kind. They’re obviously official and stupid as hell if they think that they won’t be taken out if they run by the wrong house.
But they don’t seem to give a shit and I guess I shouldn’t be bothered either. Since my curiosity has been satiated and I know the bullets that rang out weren’t meant for Sofi, I turn slightly to go get her when I startle so goddamn hard that I have to bend over to catch my breath.
“You don’t know how to listen do you?” I snap at her, placing a hand on my chest.
Sofi doesn’t answer me with words; not right away. She leans down and grabs me roughly by the arms, stands me up, and pushes me back against the wall, holding me upright with a hand to my chest.
“That one.”
“Huh?” I ask in confusion.
She steps out from the solace of the alleyway when the back of the militia starts to run by us.
Her eyes are hard, her demeanor is deadly, and when she
puts her hands to her mouth like a megaphone and shouts the one thing I think I knew deep down in my gut, I can feel my heart sink down into my goddamn feet.
“Federales!”
A few of the men stumble over their feet at the sound of Sofi’s voice, but most keep running.
One however, tall, mean looking as hell with eyes as hard as the cartel princess standing in front of me, comes to a dead halt at the greeting.
“Omar Rodriguez,” she says evenly under her breath before she steps out into the street to square off with him.
I’m standing in the middle of a tense standoff between a Mexican federal agent and the daughter of a cartel boss.
Not exactly how I thought I’d be spending the day, but I guess it could be worse.
She could be dead or in jail, and I’d have to leave the country. Though this time, I don’t think there would be a place where I couldn’t be found, and I don’t know how to get into space.
For me, running has always been a cowardly thing to do, but necessity dictates it sometimes, no matter how much I hate doing it.
Luckily for Sofi, I don’t plan on running this time. Not because I wouldn’t if I could; I just think she’s lost enough people in her life, to not need another person abandoning her.
“Do you have any idea who I was chasing?” he asks her in a gruff tone.
She scoffs and rolls her eyes, so he takes a step closer, and I hold a hand up to let him know that he’s gotten close enough. He looks me up and down briefly before he smirks, “Got a boyfriend, Ana Sofia?”
I narrow my eyes and glance at her. I’m curious as to what she’ll say and why it is that Omar finds it so amusing.
“Jealous, Omar?” she snipes back at him, a sinister smile creeping across her lips. “Wish you were him?”
“Not for all the money in the fucking world,” he shoots back immediately, turning his gaze toward me. “You’ll be lucky to see your next birthday if you keep hanging with this one and her crew. And you’ll be even luckier to stay on this side of a prison wall if you join them.”
“Is that a dare or a double dare?” I ask him with a grin.
I don’t like being threatened and while this is something I’m starting to get used to, I still have no reason to let it slide. I don’t give a fuck if he’s a Federale or the president of the fucking country—he’s gonna learn that not everyone is afraid of his badge.
“What did I tell you the last time you were here?” he barks at Sofi as he crosses his arms over his chest.
“No one is that fucking stupid, Omar. Not even you,” she shoots back evenly.
“Has your girlfriend told you what she’s known as?” he asks me, his eyes still on Sofi. “Or why?”
I shrug, completely uninterested in anything he’s going to try to sell me. All I know about Sofi is that her father has to be ruthless to have an empire the size he does, the apple didn’t fall from the tree here—even if it came from a different orchard, and that I’ll probably do the rest of my life in federal prison after I take care of him.
“Can’t say I care if I’m being honest,” I answer in a bored tone.
“La Carnicera,” he offers in an even tone. “Do you understand? Do you even know what I’m saying? It means The Butcher. Ask her why—if you survive being around her long enough. Men have a habit of going missing around this one.”
Before I have a chance to tell him that I’m a big boy and can handle myself, he turns on his heel and goes off like a shot after the guys he had been chasing.
I glance down at Sofi curiously, who’s eyes are more narrowed than they’ve ever been before and decide not to ask her about the butcher thing just yet.
If anything, I think this may be the part where I “forget” that I even heard that, and I’ll go with my gut.
It’s never let me down yet.
Hopefully, she lets me keep it.
“Alright, well,” I say conversationally as I stand in front of her to block the moving target from view, “I clearly know what he looks like now. And him being a federal agent thing is a nice touch, but don’t worry about it. I’ll get it done.”
She looks up at me slowly, holds my eyes for a moment, then nods.
“Let’s get back to my place and pick up your bodyguard so I can take you both back home.”
“What?” she asks incredulously.
“This is kind of where the group thing ends, Sofi. I can’t do what you need me to if you’re going to be screeching at him every time you see him,” I explain with an eye roll. “That’ll give up the ghost on the entire thing before I have a chance to grab him.”
She turns her face away for a moment, stubbornly jutting out her chin, before she shakes her head.
“You’re going to need me. Santiago can go home, but you can’t do this without me.”
I swallow the sigh that’s threatening to blow down the buildings around us from how frustrated I’m getting.
“Let me just take you home and we can talk about it there, okay? Besides, this place is giving me the creeps with the damn silence and lack of people.”
She nods, relenting, and begins to walk down the street toward where I left the car parked.
I knew this wasn’t going to be easy when I agreed to it.
There were signs.
A name.
A hit.
And nothing else.
Sofi purposely kept from me that the man she wants dead is a Federale, but before I do the job I promised her, I’m gonna need some answers as to why.
Maybe then we’ll restore some of the trust she knows she lost when my eyes landed on that fucking badge.
Chapter Fourteen
The ride back to Sofi’s place was silent, which was actually kind of comforting. I wasn’t sure I would have been able to do any cheerful banter knowing that the girl next to me is as handy with sharp objects as I pegged her for.
Men have a habit of going missing around this one.
While I can’t say that it surprises me, I’m honestly more interested in if it’s her that does it or if she lets someone else get their hands dirty.
I don’t know.
I guess I can’t see her being as brutal as she’s desperately trying to make herself out to be, although if she weren’t, what would be the point in having a small army of men to command?
Too many fucking questions again and I’m not liking how it makes me feel.
“Hey, you’re going to miss the exit,” Sofi suddenly says as she reaches over to nudge me.
“Sorry,” I reply quietly.
I don’t meet her eyes when I feel them lingering curiously on me. I want nothing more than to dump her back at her father’s house with her busted buddy and find a good enough reason to renege on the entire thing.
It’s not that Omar is at the top of the food chain—I couldn’t care less about that. It’s more knowing that Sofi seems to be playing a game with everyone around her and I happen to be the newest rook on her board.
I’m not used to being at the bottom of the totem pole. Hell, I’m not even used to being at the top, but I’ve always been at least solidly in the middle, regardless of the situation.
And because of that fact, I’m still trying to figure out if I’m going to tell Pops what the hell has been going on behind his back.
It would be a betrayal to Sofi, but I think she’s way in over her head by targeting a Federale—even she’s not going after him personally.
“Hey, pay attention,” she says loudly, reaching over to nudge my arm.
I glance over at her curiously and let out a heavy sigh when I realize that I’ve driven past the gate of the murder squad’s estate. I check my sideview mirror before doing a U-turn and crack my neck to ease some of the tension that’s been building up since we left Bachimeto.
“What’s wrong?” she asks me when I inch up to the gate and wait for the guard to let us through.
“Nothing,” I respond in a quiet tone, which prompts her to reach over and lay a hand on my th
igh.
“Is it because of who he is?”
“No, I don’t care about that,” I say as I nod at the guard and begin to roll through the gate and up the driveway. “He could be the President and that wouldn’t stop me.”
I clear my throat as I swat her hand away and begin to grind my teeth thoughtfully. Suicide missions have never been a big deal to me. Dying is always something to be anticipated, and while I’d like to live at least another ten years, I wouldn’t say no to checking out early either.
I just hope it’s in a blaze of glory and not because I got clipped jaywalking or something embarrassing like that.
“Gringo,” Sofi begins as I park the car and cut the engine. I run a hand over my face before I pull the keys out of the ignition and turn my face to look at her. “Do not tell my father where we were.”
I suck my teeth, lean my head against the headrest and stare at the interior roof of the car. Everyone in this goddamn place wants to bark orders, yet no one seems to know how to take them.
If they did, I would still be in Bachimeto and she’d be hiding some place safe.
“Or else?” I ask sarcastically.
Before Sofi has the chance to hand over another order, I open the car door and step out. I’m instantly greeted by three bulldogs who all make a show of ensuring that I know they’re armed.
I roll my eyes as I walk by them and go inside. I’m not in the mood to pretend I’m scared of anyone here, and they sure as hell wouldn’t be in the mood to find out where I’d like to shove those fucking guns and pull the trigger.
I make my way to the opulent kitchen and walk over to the fridge. I’m feeling slightly peckish, so I hope there’s some good sandwich material lying around somewhere because I’m getting sick of eating fruit and drinking water.
I’m not in prison, but they’re giving me chow hall gourmet.
It’s a fucking joke and somehow, I keep ending up being the goddamn punch line each and every time.
“Can I make you something, Señor?”
“Frank,” I correct irritably as I glance over the top of the refrigerator door. I sigh, instantly feeling like shit when I realize that it’s just Anabella being her useful, merry maid self. “No, thank you though,” I say in a softer tone, forcing a small smile onto my face for her sake. “Do you ever take a break around here?”
El Gringo (The Sicarios of Navolato Book 3) Page 10