by Matt Kincade
As he approached Alex, his thugs circled around. Alex leaned against the bar, grinning idiotically. “Well, thass fantastic! I wanna ask you a question’r two.” He waved his finger around. “Lemme boy you buys…buy you boys a drink.”
“You are a very stupid gringo,” said Lupe. He crossed his arms. “I don’t like it when stupid gringos come and ask questions about me.”
“Wanna ask you about a girl,” said Alex.
They sidled into position around him. One thug circled around behind; one got between Alex and the bar room; and one stayed next to Lupe.
At Lupe’s nod, the thug behind Alex seized him by the elbows and held him fast. At the same time, the one in front hauled back and threw a punch at Alex’s jaw.
Alex nonchalantly raised his foot. The pointed tip of his cowboy boot landed in the thug’s groin. The man screamed, high and reedy, then collapsed.
While the other two were still processing what had happened, Alex reached his left hand across and gripped the hand holding his right elbow. He twisted. Bone and cartilage snapped. The second thug toppled to the floor, screaming, as Alex kept the pressure on the man’s ruined wrist. He finished with a brutal kick to the thug’s neck. The man went limp.
The third thug reached frantically for his pistol. He found it and drew. The barrel swung up in Alex’s direction.
Alex sidestepped and grabbed the gun hand. He squeezed, trapping the gunman’s fingers against the hard steel of the trigger guard, and twisted. A gunshot rang out, and plaster rained from the ceiling. Somewhere in the bar, someone screamed. An instant later, the gun was in Alex’s hands. He casually pumped a round into the chest of the gun’s former owner, then another in each of his friends.
The three lay bleeding on the floor. Gun smoke hung heavily in the air. The bar’s patrons cowered behind booths and pool tables, their mouths hanging open in shock. Alex trained the pistol on Lupe.
“Now, hoss, I said I wanna ask you a couple questions.”
Lupe bolted for the door.
The coyote exploded from the bar’s front door, with Alex close behind. Boot soles slapped out a syncopated rhythm on pavement as Alex methodically gained on his prey. He breathed deeply but easily, falling into a runner’s rhythm, gaining by inches. Lupe threw down a metal trash can, which Alex easily dodged.
Lupe darted down an alleyway. He jinked around trash piles and stacks of pallets. A surprised kitchen boy yelled as Lupe crashed into him, knocking an overflowing trashcan out of his hands. Still, Alex gained. The distance closed. He reached a hand toward Lupe’s shirt collar.
They burst out onto the main street. Tires screamed, and Alex heard someone yell. A black Escalade lurched in front of him, cutting him off from Lupe. Doors opened. Four men jumped out. Men with guns.
“Well, shit, fellas,” said Alex. He grinned nervously and dropped the gun. “Can’t we talk about this?”
Lupe stood with his hands on his knees and wheezed, trying to catch his breath. “Now,” he gasped, “you’re coming with us, pinche fucking gringo. I’m going to have fun with you.”
The men fanned out and backed Alex against the wall. Lupe had composed himself somewhat. He stuck a cigarette into his mouth.
“Those things’ll kill you,” said Alex.
Lupe flicked his Zippo open and lit his smoke. “The fuck is wrong with you, vato?”
An engine roared. The gunmen looked to the right as Carmen piled the SUV onto the scene. One of the thugs tumbled over the hood with a meaty thump. Another flew into the wall. The other two gunmen stood shocked, still not understanding what just happened. Alex snatched the gun from one of the thugs and shot them both in the chest. For good measure, he shot out the Escalade’s tires.
Alex turned the gun toward Lupe. A thin smile crossed his face. “Now, motherfucker, you’re coming with me.”
He grabbed Lupe by the collar and heaved him into the backseat of the SUV before climbing in himself. Alex pounded on the car roof, screaming, “Go, go, go!” Carmen backed the SUV crazily, pulling a J-turn in a haze of burnt rubber.
Carmen whipped the SUV through the maze of narrow back streets. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“Out of town,” said Alex. “Out to the desert.”
Even with Alex’s pistol jammed into the hollow below his chin, Lupe growled, “Do you know who you’re fucking with? Do you know who the fuck I work for?”
“Matter of fact, I don’t.” Alex smiled evilly. “But I’d sure like to find out.”
The bustling city faded in a few miles. In its place came a trickle of shanties and sheds, then less, then only the desert. Lupe made blustering threats for a while, but Alex and Carmen ignored him. Alex leaned back against the door, his gun held loosely, still pointed at Lupe. A few miles down the empty highway, Alex pointed out an unmarked dirt road, and Carmen turned. A few more miles took them to complete desolation. Ragged scrub and low dunes stretched to the horizon in all directions.
“This’ll do,” said Alex. “Reckon we can get some privacy now.”
The SUV ground to a stop. Alex threw Lupe out the door, where he fell on his hands and knees in the dust. Alex climbed out from the backseat and kicked him for good measure. Lupe lay sprawled in the dirt.
The midday sun beat down from overhead, so hot the air shimmered. High above, a vulture dipped its wing and turned lazily.
Alex stood with his feet wide apart, the pistol held loosely at his side. “Now, like I been sayin’, I got some questions.”
“Fuck you, gringo.”
Another kick caught the coyote in the stomach with the rock-hard point of Alex’s snakeskin boot. Lupe rolled over and retched. “Wrong answer, pachuco.” He kicked him again. “Girl’s name is Mia Carranza.” Alex took the picture out of his pocket. “Ring any bells?”
Lupe spat into the dust. “Never saw the puta.”
Alex cocked his head and crossed his arms, trying to decide the best course of action.
A flash of movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He wheeled, hand flying to his gun.
—Carmen breezed past him, the tire iron from the SUV clutched in a two-handed grip. She wound back and swung, driving the steel bar into Lupe’s sneering mouth. Teeth shattered and blood sprayed onto the desert sand. Lupe screamed in agony and clapped his hands to his mouth.
“Where’s my sister, you son of a bitch!” She swung the tire iron at his arms and wrists, again and again, as he tried to shield himself from the blows.
“Hey, hey, okay!” Alex wrapped his hands around Carmen’s waist, hauling her back. “Easy. Shit, take it easy!”
Carmen got one last swing in, snapping Lupe’s left wrist like a dry twig. She spat on him. “Hijo de puta. Piece of shit.”
Alex dragged Carmen back a few yards and glared at her. “What the fuck do you think you’re doin’?”
“He knows!” Carmen was crying with rage. “That motherfucker knows what happened to her! I swear to God I’ll—”
Alex snatched the tire iron from her hands. “You’re gonna sit your pretty ass down, that’s what you’re going to do. I told you, I’m in charge here. I want you to bash his fuckin’ head in with a lug wrench, I’ll let you know. He ain’t gonna tell us nothin’ if you whack him in the brain so hard he forgets how to talk. So unless you want to walk your ass back to America, you need to rein in your goddamned horses. Comprende?” He pointedly handed the tire iron back.
Carmen glowered, but didn’t respond.
“Glad we got that worked out.” Alex walked back to Lupe. He leaned in, with his back to Carmen, and put a hand on the coyote’s shoulder. He smirked. “Shit, here I thought I was gonna be the bad cop! Goddamn, what a woman.” He glanced back at Carmen, then leaned in closer and lowered his voice. He pulled the blood-spattered sunglasses off of Lupe’s face and met his eyes. “Amigo, I hope for your sake your memory improves.”
Lupe spat out a mouthful of bloody tooth fragments. “Okay, okay. I saw the girl. She went to the north, a litt
le less than a week ago. That’s the last I saw of her.”
Alex shook his head. “Last anybody saw of her.”
Carmen slapped the tire iron against her palm. “Where did she go after that?”
“I don’t know,” Lupe said. His front teeth were only jagged stumps now, and blood ran freely down his chin. “They go over the border. They meet the contact, and that’s the last I see of them.”
Alex looked out towards the horizon. Wind whistled over the sand. High above, two more vultures had joined the first. They circled patiently. After a moment Alex turned back.
“You know you’re gonna die today, right?”
Lupe didn’t respond.
Alex continued, “I reckon you been on the other end of this here situation. You know how it ends. Ain’t no comin’ back from this. Know what I’m sayin’? Entiende?”
Lupe nodded, almost imperceptibly.
“So the only thing you can change right now is whether you die quick and clean, or whether you wanna do it the hard way. I used to know folks like you. Hell, I might have been folks like you once. You been right where I’m standin’ now. You know what comes next.”
Lupe still said nothing.
“Let me have a few more swings,” said Carmen.
Alex noticed something gleaming in the sun. Kneeling, he reached down into Lupe’s shirt and pulled out a gold crucifix on a chain. He let the cross lay in his palm. “You a good Catholic boy?” he said. He let the cross drop. “Your mama get you baptized, raise you up right? Yeah, I see it in your eyes. I’m gonna level with you, hoss.” Alex put a friendly arm around Lupe’s shoulder. “Thing is, I think you know who you work for. You know what you work for. Lemme hear you say it.”
“I don’t know,” Lupe said, his voice weak.
“Don’t gimme that shit. You know good ‘n’ well. You tell me, or I let my girl here beat on your head until it looks like a dish of salsa. Who you work for?”
“Them,” said Lupe. He wouldn’t meet Alex’s eyes.
“Them? Say it.”
“The…los vampiros.”
“Yeah, you know all right. Well, lemme ask you somethin’. What exactly do you think vampires are, hoss? Where you think they’re from?”
Lupe’s eyes followed a lizard skittering past them a few feet away. He still didn’t look up at Alex.
“I’ll tell you. They ain’t men. They’re monsters, demons straight from hell. And deep down you know it. And you’re helpin’ ’em out. I mean, there’s little sins—stealin’ and smugglin’ and such—but you’ve been climbin’ into bed with the Devil himself. For money. Money! How much was your soul worth, Guadalupe? Was it worth it?” Alex lifted Lupe’s chin with his gun barrel. “Listen, you still got a chance to make things right before you meet your maker. Think of this as one last confession. After all the evil, wicked things you’ve done in this life, I’m givin’ you one last chance to do the right thing. Wouldn’t it be nice if Saint Peter looked there in his book and said, “Well, at least this here fella tried, right there at the end.”
Lupe let out a shuddering breath. He stared at the ground. “I don’t know much. They go…to the factory.”
“Factory?”
“It’s… a gravel plant. Near Las Cruces. Consolidated Aggregates. They go there. They have a warehouse in the back.” He rattled off an address.
Carmen glared at their prisoner, still holding the tire iron.
Alex’s eyes narrowed. “And where do they go from there?”
“A lot of places. I swear to God I don’t know. They don’t tell me. I’ve only been there once.”
“Well, all right. Now we’re gettin’ somewhere. Next, I want you to tell me about your boss.”
“I only met him once. They call him the Don—Don Carlos. He came to the factory in a limousine. He was…just a normal guy. Spanish. He had a Spanish accent. I don’t know anything else about him.”
“All right.” Alex walked in a slow circle around Lupe.
Tears rolled down Lupe’s face. “That’s all I know. I swear that’s all I know.”
“That’s just fine,” said Alex. “You done good.”
In one fluid movement, Alex drew his pistol and shot Lupe in the back of the head.
The bullet sprayed the contents of Lupe’s skull across the sand. He sprawled forward and began a hesitant dead-animal twitch.
“Jesus,” said Carmen, reflexively holding one hand to her throat.
“You got something you wanna say?” said Alex. The jovial Alex was gone again. His face was that of a stone killer.
“No. I…no. I’m just not used to…executions.”
Alex wiped the gun down with his shirt, then tossed it far off into the desert. He turned back to Carmen. “Shit. That wasn’t no execution. It was an extermination. Pest control. If there’s one thing in the world I hate more than vampires, it’s collaborators. At least the vamps ain’t got a choice. This piece of shit did. He knew who he was working for. And he chose to. For nothin’ but greed. No better than a Nazi in a death camp. How many thousands did he send to their deaths? People just like your sister. Just like my…”
He paused and looked out toward the horizon. His eyes were invisible in the shade of his hat brim. “This asshole was guiltier than Judas Iscariot. And he can rot in hell right beside him.” Alex spat on the twitching corpse. “Him and all his kind. I’d kill a thousand of him and sleep like a baby.”
Alex turned and walked back to the SUV. Carmen stood where she was, staring at the corpse. It had all but stopped twitching now. The spurting blood had slowed to a trickle, leaking from the ruin that used to be a face.
“Well,” said Alex, “you comin’ or what?”
Carmen tore her eyes from the body and found her way to the SUV. She sat in the passenger seat. Alex stared at her for a moment before he started the engine. He scowled. “Well? Did you think it was gonna be easy?”
She delicately ran her fingers over the sutures on her neck. “I…I don’t know.”
“Did you think we was gonna ask real nice, and they’d give your sister back? This is war, darlin’. It’s a mean, ugly business, and there’s always gonna be killin’. Ain’t no way around it. You sure you’re up to this?”
Carmen stared at the dashboard. “It’s just a lot to digest. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m…glad he’s dead. I’m right with you there. But I’ve never seen…well, like I said. It’s a lot to process.”
Alex studied her, then asked, “So…how long you been a cop for?”
She hesitated, then said, “Six months.”
Alex sighed, with a hint of a smile. “I don’t suppose you ever shot nobody before.”
Carmen laughed. “No. No, I haven’t.”
The vehicle lurched into motion. “Well, like you just seen, it’s a right ugly business. You can still walk away from all this, you know.” He cranked the wheel around hard, circling around Lupe’s corpse, back the way they came. “But if you want to tag along, there’s gonna be more killin’. And you might have to do some of it.”
Carmen nodded. “I can get it done. For Mia.”
Alex smiled. “Lemme give you some advice. Killin’ ain’t somethin’ you can do halfway. Won’t do either of you no good. You just get it done. Just pull that trigger. Remember, they’d do the same to you.”
“Pull the trigger. Check.”
He laughed. “Atta girl. Now let’s get back to Los Estados Unidos and take a look at this factory.”
Chapter Six
The factory sat isolated from Las Cruces by a few miles, a solitary compound surrounded by a ten-foot cinder-block wall, the whole thing jutting out of the bare desert like a mirage. The outskirts of the city were barely visible on the horizon. A sign out front read consolidated aggregates.
It was a nondescript industrial site, dominated by a two-story building with an elevated conveyor belt leading to the top. The noise of the rock crusher was a low, constant rumble. Trucks came in. Trucks went out. Employee cars were par
ked along one side of one building. Forklifts ferried pallets of rock to and from loading docks in another. The sun sank low in the western sky, casting an orange glow onto the buildings.
The white SUV slowed as it drove by the front gate. “Well,” Alex said as he glanced out the window, “that’s the place.”
Carmen shrugged. “Looks normal enough.”
“Almost. But look at all the cameras. Don’t need that kind of security for a gravel plant. And check out that gate. Those cement planters, I betcha they’d stop a Mack truck.”
“Okay, now what?” Carmen craned her head around to watch the place as it slipped past.
Alex glanced in the rearview mirror. “I’d guess it’s about quitting time for the day crew. So we just need to find us someplace to hole up until the night shift shows up.”
“Why the night shift?”
“Place like this, all the real action goes on after dark.”
“Why don’t we go in now? What if Mia is in there?”
Alex shook his head. “Too close to sunset. We ain’t had no time to scout the place. We don’t know nothin’ about their schedule, or what we might find in there. If we was in there when some vampires showed up, we'd be about as cooked as a lobster in butter sauce. Besides, we ain’t got many supplies right this second.”
He drove a half mile past the factory and pulled off the pavement, then drove at a right angle to the road, out across the desert, until he reached a low rocky outcrop. He parked the SUV behind it. He slung a backpack over his shoulder and climbed onto the tallest of the boulders, where he lay down prone and took out his binoculars. Carmen crawled up beside him.
“Well, there now.” Alex scanned the compound with the binoculars. “Ain’t that somethin’? Look there.” He handed the binoculars to Carmen. “Lupe was right. They got the buildings arranged so you can’t even see a third of the property from the ground. The entire back area is totally cut off. You can only get in through that second gate.”
Tucked away between the rearmost building of the main business and the ten-foot back wall was a long, narrow warehouse with two roll-up loading doors on one end. The only point of ingress was a narrow alleyway where the front building didn’t quite touch the wall. The alley was blocked by a chain-link gate. In front of the hidden warehouse was a gravel apron, where a van and a pickup truck were parked.