Carlos: A Zambrano Family Novel

by Deici, Olivia

  On the head.

  Manny fell to the hard floor in a loud thump. Raising the almost broken cane, I brought it down hard on his chest. Screaming, I raised my arms again, in a rage nothing could stop, and arched my arms down when he opened his eyes and gripped the cane.

  “I'm going to kill you!” He growled, wrestling the cane away from me. He was stronger than me and managed to remove the damn thing from my hands.

  Slowly, he began to stand.

  “I'm going to fuck you until you’re raw. I'm going to kick you until blood is coming out of both ends and that spawn is exorcized from you. I'm going to make you scream, puta. And then I'm going to enjoy killing you slowly, pendeja bitch.”

  Izzy had always said to throw your attacker off.

  By whatever means.

  I stepped forward a small measure and yelled in his face. The surprise of my actions momentarily stunned him and I took those few seconds to kick him twice in the balls. In quick succession as she’d taught me, I used my forearm to chop his throat, used my elbow to hit his solar plexus as he groaned over, and kneed his groin again.

  I had to run.

  “BITCH!”

  If I was going to save me, my baby, and Luis, I needed to run away from him and get hell out.

  I sprinted out of the office but hadn't even reached the end of the hallway to the reception area when I heard movement behind me. The damn bastard was a cockroach. He wouldn't stay down. I saw him fighting to keep his balance and struggling out of my office.

  I ground my teeth and bit my lips to prevent me from screaming in anger.

  It wouldn't do any good other than lead him quicker to me. Our practice had the entire floor of this building.

  I booked it to the right before he could see me. It was the medical director’s office, Dr. Woodrow. I slowly and quietly closed the door and locked it. It was hard running to the desk because I hurt all over. I tried the phone.

  “Damn it,” I whispered. Still fucking out.

  “Carry Carry!!! Come out, come out, wherever you are, you fucking cunt!”

  His laugh was so goddamned evil. I'd always hated it, even as a child. It had a cackling quality to it, and was borderline demonic in hoarseness.

  But now it also had a painful huff, and that gave me some measure of satisfaction.

  I should’ve fucking hit his dick harder.

  I looked down at my watch. It was late but not too late as to cause Carlos to worry.

  I looked behind me at the window. We were on the seventh floor up and there were no balconies.

  There were only two exits out of my practice. One was at the back where my office is where there were stairs, and one at the front near where I now am, where it led to the floor’s lobby for the elevators. I'd have to try and leave once I thought it was safe.

  I moved under the desk and brought the chair forward so that it didn't look moved if he managed to come in.

  “Carry, Carry!!”

  He was banging something hard against the walls every few seconds. My guess was that it was his damn cane.

  I'd managed to tear through his skin with it. He was experiencing blood loss in his upper chest area.

  My head was throbbing. I touched it and the right front side was beyond tender. When I brought my hand down, I noticed the blood.

  The doorknob to this office was tried. The metal clicking sound as he tried to turn the knob was like a bomb had gone off in the silent room, as far as my racing heart was concerned. I tried to calm my breathing but then the knob began jiggling.

  On instinct, I brought my knees up against my chest and hid my face between my knees.

  It reminded me of when I was a child and did the same. Tears welled in my eyes at the memory.

  “Another door locked. Which one are you behind, Carry Carry?”

  Thank god some of my colleagues were in the habit of locking theirs. It made this office seem less suspicious if there were other locked doors.

  Silence again as I heard him limping and dragging a foot as he moved on to another door.

  I thought about Luis and fresh tears sprang to my eyes. When I’d left my office, his breathing had been shallow. I hoped that he could hold on.

  I thought about my baby.

  I was 100% sure that if given the opportunity, Manny would beat the baby out of me- in other words, cause me to miscarry. I had to hide until I thought of something better.

  Rising to my knees, I popped my head out, looked at the desk, and saw a pair of scissors. Grabbing them, I hurried under the desk again, positioning the chair back.

  I warred with myself about whether to push something against the door. If he managed to jimmy the lock, I didn't want to cause further suspicion that I was in here if it as harder to come inside. If he managed to unlock the door, maybe he would just open it, see the empty and undisturbed room, and move on.

  But if he encountered a barricade of some sort, my location would be discovered.

  Back and forth the arguments went on in my head for and against a barricade. I tried the phone again and it was still down.

  Looking at my watch for the tenth time, I noted that it had been seven minutes since he last screamed.

  What was he doing?

  The silence was killing me.

  I wasn't sure whether it was better to have him scream profanities at me or whether it was better for him to be quiet.

  Just as I got to my feet having decided to push the filing cabinet to block the door, I heard the front entrance door open.

  Was he leaving?

  Or had he called reinforcements to come and help him?

  I settled underneath the desk again, and pulled the chair towards the desk. I gripped the scissors in my hands. Knuckles white, I tried to calm my breathing.

  I heard footsteps.

  No, not just one or two.

  There were multiple footsteps.

  Oh God.

  They’d stopped outside my current office.

  55

  Carlos

  “Hey man, what are you doing here?”

  I saw Emiliano walk towards me and we fist bumped a greeting. We were in the main lobby of her building.

  “Bloodwork. You?”

  “Surprising your sister.”

  “She here this late?”

  Laughing, I slapped his back.

  “Hermano, this isn't late for her. If she left now, it would be early.”

  “Workaholic, huh?”

  “You know it. Some days I think I'll need a S.W.A.T. team to extricate her. But tonight? I want to spend time with my fiancé. I'll carry her over my shoulder if I have to.”

  Chuckling, he looked at his watch. “I have about ten minutes to kill. Mind if I go with you?”

  “Naw. She'd love to see you.”

  Smirking, he followed me to the elevator. It took a few minutes before it arrived and we entered, pushing button for the seventh floor to ascend. Once we arrived, we walked passed the reception desk and through the doors that led to offices and examination rooms.

  “What is it?”

  I shook my head, looking at him.

  “I always tell her to keep the damn doors locked when she works late,” I answered. “She never listens.”

  We came in but I stopped just behind the reception area, looking down the main corridor.

  I don't know what it was, but something seemed off. Carry’s office was never this quiet. I always heard her making phone calls, typing, and opening drawers and medical cabinets.

  But nothing.

  I looked at Emiliano and held my palm down to signal him to keep quiet. He nodded.

  I didn't want to alert anyone that we were here. Surprise was a great weapon.

  Leaving reception, we turned down the main long hallway where her office was.

  Emiliano and I stopped immediately. Her office door was open, but that wasn't what had caught our attention.

  Blood.

  Someone had been bleeding as they’d moved down this hallw
ay.

  Emiliano and I ran to her office and stopped when we saw Luis on the floor.

  “Who is that?” he whispered.

  I squatted down and felt for a pulse.

  “Her physician’s assistant. He's still alive but the beat is faint. Call 911.”

  Where the fuck was my Cari? I couldn't just leave him bleeding, but my instinct was roaring to run and look for her.

  Fuck.

  It took everything not to give in to the need to find her.

  But I knew she'd have my ass if I let Luis die so that I can search for her.

  I started taking off my belt and grabbed one of her cardigans hanging on the coat rack. I wasn't going to scavenge the office looking for supplies. I needed to stop his bleeding.

  And find my woman.

  Her perfume wafted up to my nose from her cardigan and it struck a longing in me.

  That, and a frantic desperation to get to her.

  Emiliano had taken his phone out as I checked out Luis’ wound. It was high on his shoulder, but the guy also had a nasty head wound. I folded her blue cardigan into a square, rested it on top of the wound, and slipped my belt underneath his arm and shoulder. Inserting the end of the belt through the buckle, I tightened it as far as it would go.

  The bleeding stopped.

  There.

  It would be as if I was applying pressure with my hands, until help came. Now I was free to look for Cari.

  I spared a quick look at her office, grabbing my piece from the holster on my shoulder inside my suit jacket. I didn't have to check the rounds.

  It was always loaded.

  Her office was in a complete disarray. Her purse was still on her desk. She must have run without a chance to get anything.

  Or was she taken?

  Did she have her cell phone?

  I walked to the front side of her desk as Emiliano spoke to the dispatcher on the phone. Could she be held in one of the offices?

  I hurriedly left her office to take inventory of the others.

  There were doors that were both locked and unlocked. The doors that were unlocked, I opened, went in, and searched.

  Empty.

  I returned to her office and entered as Emiliano hung up.

  “They’ll be here in five minutes. It helps that we're on the hospital’s campus.”

  I nodded. “All open offices are empty. There are three locked doors I haven't tried.”

  “Do you think she could be in them?”

  “Maybe. And maybe someone could be in there with her. We need to be careful.”

  He took out his gun from his back holster. I nodded at him. As I was walking towards her office door to leave, my eyes caught on the part of the floor that was hidden by shadows from the lip of her desk. Bending down I grabbed the contents that had spilled from a yellow box and haphazardly stuffed them back in. I looked at her phone and threw it on the desk.

  “Crushed.”

  The fist of my palms matched the pressure of my jaw as it clenched. I slammed my hand down on desktop causing it to crack.

  I looked to Emiliano and his face mirrored my fury. Turning to leave, something clicked in my head, and the box caught my eyes again. Reaching in I took out a plastic stick and a small piece of fabric.

  The air was sucked out of the room and vacuumed out of my lungs. I gripped the edge of the desk to keep standing.

  “Hey, Los. You ok?”

  The rage was overwhelming. I don't know how I managed not to crush the plastic stick, or destroy everything in my line of vision, but when I held it before me and saw a pink plus sign, I nearly lost it.

  And the scrap of fabric was a baby’s onesie. When I read it, I almost fell to my knees.

  “She's pregnant.”

  My voice was more growl than human.

  “I didn't hear you right. You said my sister is-”

  “Pregnant. She's fucking pregnant.”

  I showed him the test and the onesie and held it up to my chest for a moment. My eyes began to water.

  Fuck.

  Where was she?

  What happened?

  Who took her?

  I looked at my watch. It felt like forever since we came in, but only five minutes had gone by. The paramedics would be here in a few.

  My breathing was shallow and I felt the veins in my neck and arms expand with my fury as I tried to contain it.

  “Keep it together, Los. We don't know what or who is behind those locked doors.”

  The violent storm swarmed inside me without outlet. I wanted to destroy everything I saw. I wanted to leave nothing standing in the office.

  Where was Caridad?

  And my baby.

  I gripped the desk so hard, a piece along the fracture broke away.

  My jaw worked trying to control the inferno inside.

  The brave man next to me slapped my shoulder. I was rarely this apoplectic, but when I was like this, my family knew to keep away.

  This man was completely ignorant of my temper, so I tried to keep it in check.

  “We’ll find them. They're ok.”

  Them.

  They.

  The woman I will make my wife.

  And the baby we made out of love.

  My nod was curt and we moved to the hallway.

  “Ready?” His tone was hushed.

  We stood before two of the three locked doors. We each would tackle one and then it would leave one to open.

  I signaled.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  We kicked the doors down, and looked inside for signs of Cari. Less than thirty seconds later, we stood before the last locked door.

  “I'll do it. I need to destroy right now before I blow up.”

  Emiliano nodded. I breathed deeply and kicked the door in.

  Empty.

  Nothing disturbed.

  Walking towards the desk, no one was behind it.

  Clear.

  I closed my eyes for a second to try and regain some control.

  If I didn't, I'd be on a war path and everything and everyone in my way would be obliterated.

  I looked at Emiliano and shook my head.

  But that's when I heard it.

  A sniff?

  A light breath?

  I looked at him and his eyebrows were furled, hearing it too. I signaled to the door and then under the desk. He got my idea.

  He closed the door loudly and we stood silently for a moment. Slowly, I walked towards the desk, off to the side so that I couldn't be seen. Emiliano lifted his gun, waiting. Gun in my hand, I lifted one, two, and three fingers before pulling back the desk chair and aiming underneath the desk.

  “Oh, God. Fuck. Cari? Baby?”

  56

  Carlos

  My voice was hoarse as I dropped to my knees afraid to approach her. Relief swept through my veins. I looked up at Heaven and then down in prayer.

  “Thank you, God.”

  She was curled around her knees, face hidden in between. Her shoulders shook quietly.

  In one hand, she gripped scissors.

  “Cari, baby. I'm here. Look at me, my love.”

  Her body was trembling but she didn't acknowledge my words. I looked at Emiliano. We heard the front office door open and shouting for help locating the victim. At my nod, he walked out to help them while I remained in the office with Cari.

  “Hey, baby. It's me, sweetheart. You can come out. It's safe.”

  Her body was trembling but she still didn't move. Nothing indicated that she'd heard me. Emiliano returned and stood behind me.

  “Is she in shock?”

  I shook my head. “I think she's in a panic attack and trying to control it. She's claustrophobic.”

  “Yea?”

  My jaw tightened as I recalled her heartbreaking childhood story.

  “She was often locked into small closets or spaces.”

  “Orozco?”

  I looked up at him and saw the rage on his f
ace.

  “Yes. And her foster father after him.”

  His eyes had a feral light in them.

  I was glad he was her brother.

  If I failed to get justice, I knew he would.

  Turning back to Cari, I moved slowly forward. When my hand touched her, she jerked. Her head lifted and panicked eyes met mine as she brought the hand with the scissors down on me. The terror on her face undid me.

  I quickly, but gently, stopped its descent.

  “Baby, it's me. Come here.”

  I saw her distant gaze sharpen as she recognized me. Her face showed pain as she moved her limbs. Then from one moment to the next, she was in my arms quietly crying.

  No sound came from her.

  I could just picture her being the same way as a child who feared making too much noise because it would result in a beating.

  Or worse.

  “I'm sorry.”

  My voice broke. Seeing her like this caused dueling tumultuous emotions.

  One part of me wanted to hug and comfort her forever. To enclose her under a cloche where she'd be safe. To wrap my arms around her and never let go.

  The other part wanted to maim, kill, and destroy. I wanted whoever was responsible, and there was no doubt in my mind that it was Orozco, and I wanted him to pay with his flesh.

  “I'm so relieved you're ok, baby.” I whispered into her hair just enjoying the feel of her in my arms. “Thank God. But you’re bleeding.”

  She felt the area where she bled. “It’s ok. Just a cut.”

  Her head pulled away. “Luis.”

  I kissed her forehead. “He was ok a few minutes ago. I used one of your sweaters and tightened my belt around his shoulder.”

  “Shoulder? Not chest?”

  I shook my head. “Shoulder wound.”

  She looked relieved.

  “The paramedics took him. I heard them say he was critical.”

  She pulled back further, surprised to find her brother there. She began wiping her eyes with shaking hands, her breathing still labored.

  “Sorry…”

  She continued to fix herself before my hands gently stayed hers.

  “You don't have to do that for me, Cari. It doesn't change how I feel about you. If you'd prefer me to leave, I can.”