“This is sweet and all,” Max says, “but we need to get out of here before we’re spotted. So can you please get in the van?”
Gavin and I climb into the van and buckle up. The driver hops on Euclid Ave and drives away from campus.
“You did great, Slugger,” Max says. “Perfect actually. I know agents who have been at this for decades who couldn’t be as smooth as you were. I’m expecting a call from him any minute.”
I rub my wrist where Rafa was squeezing too tightly.
“What’s the matter?” Gavin pulls my sleeve back and sees the red fingermarks. His eyes go wide with fury. “He touched you?”
“I’m fine. He was just trying to rattle me, and he didn’t.”
Gavin doesn’t look at all comforted by that fact.
I put my arm around his and lay my head on his shoulder. “All of the horrible things you were thinking he could have done to me didn’t happen. It went really well. A little bruise is nothing.”
Max claps and says, “This is it!” He points at his ear piece. “Nigel.”
I nod and wait while he listens.
“Rafa’s been calling all of the drivers,” Max says. “Nigel’s allowed one of them to answer to report that this is serious.”
I pick up my cell and text D’ante. Time to huff and puff.
Gavin looks at my phone. “What does that mean?”
“It’s D’ante’s cue to put the pressure on,” I reply. “Remind him who he’s messing with. If Rafa’s having any doubts about trying to get his drugs back, this should properly motivate him.”
D’ante texts back a thumbs-up sign.
I look at the guys. “Any minute now…”
We sit in awkward silence for ten minutes. Max plays with the radio, changing the station every two seconds, Peter plays some silly game that makes the most annoying sounds on his phone, and Gavin taps his thumbs on his thighs.
“Stop it! All of you!” I shout. “You’re driving me—” My phone rings. “Moment of truth.” I push talk. “Why hello, Rafa. How’s it hanging? If the pictures Suzie Klein posted of you at the Alpha Chi house are any indication, small and in need of antibiotics. Hope whatever it was cleared up.”
“You bitch,” he snarls.
I give him my best evil dictator laugh. “I take it you’ve decided I’m serious. Do we have a deal?”
He growls. “You’d better have my drugs. Every last fucking gram.”
“It’s all there, marinating in shit. Once you bring me the kid, you and your shitty drugs can be on your way. This is the last time I’m going to ask. Do we have a deal?”
“Yes, we have a fucking deal,” he snaps. “Two hours at the—”
I tsk. “Um, sorry, sweetheart. This is my show, and you’ll have to come to me. Eight o’clock.” I give him the address for the trucks and the address where I’ll be.
“You’d better be careful, little girl,” he warns. “I don’t know how you pulled this shit off, but if you fuck me, you’re dead.”
I laugh again. “Don’t you worry, the last thing in the world I would ever do is fuck you. We could be the last two people on Earth, and I still wouldn’t fuck you. Eight o’clock. The trucks for the boy, and we never have to see each other again. Don’t be late.” I hang up.
“Must you bait him?” Gavin sneers. Sweat beads have formed at his hairline, and he looks green. “It’s like you’re begging him to come after you. Do you want him to kill you?”
“Of course not.” I sigh. “I don’t know how to explain it. You know I’m snarky by nature. When I’m acting tough, it goes into hyper drive. It’s like snark on steroids. The more scared I am, the more bravado I throw out. As you can tell, I’m pretty fucking scared.”
He whispers, “I thought you were confident in this plan? We can still back out.”
I shake my head. “I haven’t changed my mind, but it still scares the piss out of me.”
He pulls me close, and unsaid words lay heavy between us. I’m sure he wants to tell me we can abort the mission. I want to tell him no chance in hell. We’ve said all this before. Enacting the rerun will only stir up trouble.
For the rest of the drive back, Max and Peter bark orders and remind everyone of procedure. I’m the one doing all the talking, so I should be paying attention, but I’ve checked out. While plans are important, every interaction like this that I’ve had has been pure instinct, knowing which buttons to push and when to push them. I’m sure the people at Quantico would tell me I’m doing it all wrong and that I’m reckless, but it hasn’t gotten me killed yet. That has to count for something.
When we arrive at the site, everyone hurries about doing this and that. I’m actually not sure what they’re doing because I know for certain everything was triple-checked when we were here this morning. But the agents look busy and purposeful, so I stay out of their way. I find a hiding spot between two vans and camp out, playing some mind-numbing game on my phone. I get a whole hour to myself before the crunch of footsteps on gravel puts me on guard.
“Here you are,” Gavin says, sitting on the dirt next to me.
“Since everyone else gets to hide later, I figured I’d try it out now. See how the other half lives,” I joke.
He kisses the side of my head. “I was worried, but I thought you might need some space.”
I nod toward all the action. “How goes it out there?”
“Chronic over-preparation,” he says with a smile.
I run my hands down my jeans. “Good. I didn’t miss anything.”
He looks at his watch then stands. “You have about another hour before you need to get your vest on and get into position. If you’d like some more time to yourself, I’ll come back and check on you later.”
I tug on his arm to get him to come back, but he doesn’t budge. “Stay.”
He crouches in front of me. “If I stay, I’m going to say things I shouldn’t, so it’s better if I go.”
I smirk. “You can’t drop that bomb then leave. Don’t open doors you’re not prepared to walk through.”
“Don’t mix metaphors,” he says with a grin.
I put my hands on his knees. “Say what you have to say.”
He takes a deep breath in through his nose then sits. “When you were gone last time, I was so angry about all the things I never said that I should have. I’m so scared something’s going to go wrong. I know everyone swears this will be smooth as silk, and I want to be as positive as I can for you, but I’m afraid I’m going to lose you again. When you were gone, I had all these nightmares that you were in danger. I’d get centimeters from saving you, but you’d always slip through my grasp. I can’t let that happen.”
“Gavin—”
He holds up his hand. “You asked, so let me finish.” I nod, and he continues. “I love you. I would do anything for you, including support you in this insane plan because I know how much it matters to you to see this through. You are more vital to me than the air I breathe, the sun in the sky, the blood in my body. You are everything to me. Before you, I existed, but now that I have you, I’m truly living.” He lets his head fall onto my knee. “Which is why you have to be smart and come out of this, because I’ve seen what the world looks like without you in it, and it’s no world I want to be a part of.” He holds my hands and looks me in the eye. “I know you need this. Do what you have to do, but please play this safe. Finish this, then come back to me.”
I sniff back tears threatening to fall. “Of course I’m coming back. You promised a month of sleeping in. Just you and me. No phones, no computers, no wake-up calls.”
“No clothes,” he finishes.
“Gavin,” Max shouts, “everyone needs to get suited up. Let’s go.”
I stand and hold my hand out to help him. “Let’s go get Kevlar-ed.” Once he gets to his feet, I kiss him with more passion and fervor than I’ve ever kissed anyone. When I pull away, I say, “I love you too.”
Chapter Forty
Lily
�
�This is it, people,” Max yells. “They’ve been spotted a mile down the road. Everyone in your positions!” He walks up to me. “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be. Piece of cake, right?”
He pulls me in for a tight hug. “Go get ‘em, Slugger. Today we’re making history.” He lets me go then points at a dumpster about fifty feet away. “I’ll be right there. If he so much as moves in your direction, I’ll take him out.”
“He won’t. There’s no upside to killing me,” I reply, trying to convince myself. Gavin steps toward me, and I stop him. “I just fixed my makeup again. No more making me cry. We don’t have to worry about saying everything there’s left to say because I’m not going anywhere. You can tell me later. Okay?”
“All right.” He points at his hiding place. “I’ll be right there.”
“I know. I’ll be fine.”
About ten minutes later, a black Escalade pulls up, the windows shaking from the bumping rap music within. Could he be any more cliché?
The SUV comes to a stop, and six huge guys pile out. Oh good, he brought friends. I guess it’s a good thing I did too. I lean against the crumbling wall of the truck stop with my arms crossed, watching these big oafs encircle the vehicle as though they’re protecting the president. I’m sure this is supposed to be intimidating, but this whole show of self-importance feels as though he’s trying too hard.
Rafa gets out of the car then opens the door to the backseat. Arrow climbs out wearing headphones, his attention focused on the iPad in his hands. Rafa talks to him for a second then points at me. The boy looks at me then back at the iPad. Rafa puts one hand on Arrow’s back and guides him toward me. Arrow’s so consumed by what’s on his screen that he doesn’t notice the gun held to his head. Rafa’s five buddies pull guns as well.
Once he gets closer, I get a good look at Rafa. His pupils are so big, his eyes look black. Fantastic. Dealing with Rafa is bad enough. Dealing with strung-out Rafa is much worse. I look over my shoulder at Gavin and subtly nod. I don’t want him running out just because Rafa has a gun. I think I can talk him into releasing the kid without botching the plan.
I hold up my hands, hopefully showing I’m not a threat. “Whoa, Rafa. This is a friendly exchange, okay? No need for guns or the league of assassins here. You give me the kid, and I’ll give my boys the go-ahead to release your trucks and your men.”
He laughs, pushing the gun flush against the boy’s head. “You expect me to believe that?”
The little boy looks up at me, and I get chills. It’s as though I’m looking at Ash. Arrow looks exactly as I thought our hypothetical kids would look. I try to send him a reassuring smile, but he’s three, and I doubt his telepathy is working.
I step toward them. “All I care about is Arrow. I don’t want your drugs. I actually want nothing to do with you. I was hoping after all this, we could call it a truce. You tried to kill me three times, I stole two hundred kilos. All water under the bridge, right?”
“That’s not how it works on the street, holmes.”
I rub my temple. Does this “I’m just a kid from the street” shit actually work on anyone? I can’t take it anymore! “Oh my god, who do you think you’re kidding? Lose the freaking accent! You’re not from the barrio, esé. You grew up in Paradise Valley. The only people that speak with an accent in the mansions on Camelback Mountain are the help! This ghetto act may work on your minions, but not on me. So cut the shit.”
He laughs. “It’s all about the image, you know,” he says in his regular voice. He coughs then hocks up some phlegm and spits. “Gives me a sore throat though.”
Disgusting. “Poor baby. Now back to the dissolution of our relationship. I’m going to take the kid, and you’re going to take your drugs, and we will never, ever hear from each other again.”
He shakes his head and makes a show of pressing the gun harder against Arrow’s head. “There’s only one way out, and that’s in a body bag.”
I sure hope those are noise-canceling headphones. The kid does not need to hear this. “Then what’s your solution? Are you going to kill the kid? What does that get you? If you kill me, I promise you’ll never see your drugs. You going to walk away from ten million dollars’ worth of smack? What’s your play, Rafa? Because the sun’s going down, and the desert in March is freaking freezing at night.”
“I just need to think!” he screams.
“Think about what? I’ve offered you a perfect solution. All you have to do is take it. The kid for ten million dollars. It’s as easy as that.” I laugh. “That’s twice as much as Ash stole from you! Seems like a pretty good deal if you ask me.” I tap my chin. “While we’re on the subject, I’ve always been curious about this. What were you thinking trusting Ash with five mil? Did you really think you would get it back? The man couldn’t be trusted to return a Netflix movie.”
Rafa growls. I notice his hands start to shake. Between the tremors, the way he keeps sniffing and touching his nose, and the slightly punchy way he’s speaking, I bet he’s jonesing for a hit real bad, and I don’t think I’m the only one who’s noticed. His motley crew steps forward, watching their boss carefully.
“You. Always the fucking thorn in my side,” Rafa says. “It was all your fucking fault!”
“Oh, this is my fault?” I throw my hands in the air. “How do you figure? Because I knew nothing about what Ash was doing. Not a goddamn thing. When you showed up at Ash’s funeral, Em had to remind me who you were and that your real name wasn’t ‘Ash’s dipshit friend we used to see at the club’!”
I shouldn’t bait him. I should be trying to calm him down and push for a smooth exchange, but he came here looking for a fight. It’s clear to me he needs to get something off his chest, so perhaps if I poke the bear a little, he’ll do the evil-villain-monologue thing long enough for me to get the kid out of harm’s way. Once Arrow’s out of danger, the agents will move in.
“Ash and I had it all planned out,” he says with wild eyes. “Then you had to come along and fuck it all up.” He moves the gun away from Arrow and points it at me.
I hold up my hands and take a tiny step back. “What are you talking about? I’d known Ash longer than you. If anyone came along and fucked shit up, it’s you.”
“After his old man went down, Ash got all that cash, and we made some big moves. Moves that no one else in Morelia had the balls to make. I went from being the little nephew nobody’d ever heard of to being a player. With Ash’s cash and my intel, I was finally getting somewhere. I had enough clout to impress the chief. But then Ash got other ideas. He wanted to get out, whining about how he wanted to do better by you. The fucker started getting greedy. Working on his ‘retirement fund,’ he called it. He had his hand in so many pies, and he was stealing from all of them. Then he went and died, owing a lot of people a lot of money.”
“Again I ask you, you trusted him with five million dollars? The way I see it, you got what you deserved. You should have known better.” I take another step toward them. “Just give me the kid, Rafa.”
He looks around. “This is a fucking trick, I can feel it.”
I throw my hands in the air. “Jesus, are there any brain cells left in there? How could this be a trick? You own the FBI and DEA, so there’s no way this is entrapment. What reason would I have to trick you? I’m trying to get off your radar, not bump myself to the top of the most-wanted list. Use that peanut in your brain and think about it for a second, and you’ll see that this is a simple exchange. The kid for the trucks.”
He nods, and his eyes light up as though a light bulb just went off. “I’m going to call my guys. If they say everything’s on the up and up, I’ll give you the kid. But if they smell anything hinky, you’re eating a fucking bullet.”
His gun lowers when he reaches into his pocket to pull out his cell phone. Seizing the moment, I pull the kid behind me. Once Rafa catches on, he raises his gun. The sound of gunfire echoes in the warehouse.
Gavin tackles me and Arrow to
the ground. Chaos erupts all around us as the agents come out of hiding. From under Gavin, I can’t see anything.
After a few seconds that feel like an eternity, I hear Max scream, “Put your guns down, motherfuckers. There’s no way out of this but in cuffs or in a body bag. The choice is yours.”
Screaming goes back and forth. Between the ringing in my ears and the echoes, it’s hard to decipher what’s being said. Everyone’s talking over each other. More shots ring out, more shouting. I wish I could see what the hell’s going on.
“Gavin? Can you see?” I ask, but he doesn’t respond.
Sully screams, “Clear. Lil, you can come out now.”
My body is arched so I don’t smother the kid with my weight. Gavin’s protectively covering me, but his weight is bearing down on me, making it hard for me not to smoosh the kid. “All right, Oxford, I think it’s safe.”
I hear the agents cheering and congratulating each other. It’s really over, but still Gavin’s not moving.
I elbow him gently. “Come on. I think we’re in the clear.” My arms start to give out, and the kid squirms underneath me. “Seriously, Gavin, get up!”
When he still doesn’t move, I push up with all my might, rolling Gavin off of me. When I see the crimson circle on his chest, it takes me a second to register what’s happening. I scream at the top of my lungs. A litany of curses and prayers leave my lips as I throw myself over him, pleading for him to be okay.
One of the female agents picks Arrow off the ground and rushes him behind one of the shipping crates.
Peter rushes over and pushes me out of the way. “You need to move so I can check him out. We’ll have an ambulance here in just a few minutes. We need to put pressure on the wound.”
Max carries me away as several agents swarm around Gavin. “Let them work, Slugger.”
“He’s wearing Kevlar. He can’t be shot! The vest is supposed to protect him. He has to be fine,” I scream as though this is something I can argue my way out of.
“Kevlar-piercing bullets,” Sully shouts as he tears off Gavin’s shirt. “Fucking cartel sons o’ bitches.”
When Fates Align Page 33