“Are you sure about this, Mr. Sierra?”
“I said now, goddamn it, I don’t pay you to think.”
A look of anger flashed across the man’s face, but afterward, he said, “Yes sir,” and he and the other men laid their weapons upon the top step.
“Now, walk away,” he said.
As Sierra’s men moved slowly away, he loosened his grip on the man’s neck, but an instant later, he yanked the gun from the shoulder holster Sierra was wearing.
Sierra turned around fully and stared into his eyes.
“I promised Reina that I wouldn’t harm Jimmy. I said nothing about you.”
“I know that.”
Sierra took two steps and reached down to grope at the side pants pocket of his unconscious driver, when he straightened back up, he was holding a cell phone, which he handed to him.
“Put Jimmy on a plane and then give me a call. When you do, I’ll name a time and a place where the two of us can settle things. Try to run, attempt to hide, and I’ll track you down and murder you and your entire family.”
He smirked at Sierra.
“When you say that you’ll kill my entire family, you mean with the exception of Jimmy I take it?”
Sierra smiled.
“Of course, I promised Reina that I wouldn’t hurt him, and after all, a promise is a promise.”
“You’ll get that call as soon as Jimmy is safely on a plane.”
“I eagerly await it.”
Jimmy came around with the truck and after removing the clip and checking the chamber, he handed Sierra back his gun.
“I’ll see you later,” he said, then he got in the truck, told Jimmy, “Drive!” and watched as Sierra and his men receded in the side view mirror.
CHAPTER 11
As Jimmy drove away from the farmhouse, he kept looking up into the rearview mirror.
“I don’t think they’re following us.”
“They won’t be; Sierra has other plans.”
“How’d you find me? How long have you been here? Did Jessie send you?”
He reached over and placed a hand atop of Jimmy’s.
“Slow down, you’re doing over sixty.”
Jimmy looked down at the speedometer and his face registered shock. He eased off the pedal and the truck slowed to the speed limit.
“I’m sorry, that was dangerous; I’m just a little keyed up.”
“I understand, and to answer your questions, I arrived this morning, your friend Sean O’Neil helped me to find you, and Jessica and I both agreed that I should come help you.”
Jimmy stared at him for a moment.
“I think you saved my life, but where’d you get the gun?”
“I got it off one of Sierra’s men earlier.”
“What? They came after you too?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I dissuaded them.”
“Dissuaded? What’s that mean?”
“Tell me about Reina.”
A look of pain crossed Jimmy’s face, but a moment later, he smiled.
“I met Reina when I was working for Sierra.”
“You worked for Sierra, doing what?”
“I installed all the TV’s in his bar. He owns a sports bar and when they decided to upgrade their audio-visual system with new giant flat screens, my company got the job.”
“You own a company?”
“I’ve owned dozens. I hired a bunch of college kids who knew what they were doing and let them do it. My job was to drum up business. Hell, it beats working a nine to five.”
“So, you met Reina at the bar?”
“Yeah, oh good God, Bro, it was love at first sight, you know? And not just me, she felt it too, for the first time in my life I felt whole.”
“Back at the farmhouse, you said that Sierra treats her like property, what did you mean by that?”
“I meant that literally. When Reina was just sixteen, Sierra bought her from her parents.”
“What?”
“It’s true! They were both addicts and Reina says that they gave her to Sierra for what amounted to about a thousand dollars’ worth of heroin. It was more than they’d ever seen and a few days after Reina went to live with Sierra, both her parents died of a drug overdose.”
“And so she’s been with him ever since?”
“Yes, the funny thing is, I think he cares for her, but it’s the way you or I would care for a pet. I don’t think he even sees her as being a person, she’s just something he owns.”
“If she really loves you, then she’s sacrificing everything to keep you safe.”
“I know, and I know we were fools to try to get away. The only way we would have been free was if I had killed him.”
“Could you do that?”
Jimmy didn’t answer and another mile of road went by before he spoke again.
“The night before we ran away, I was alone with Sierra in his office. We were the only two there. I had a gun and I was going to kill him but... I couldn’t do it.”
“If you had killed him, how did you expect to get away with it?”
“I assumed that the police would have blamed it on one of his enemies.”
“Did Reina know that you were going to kill him?”
“No, but I told her afterwards, after I failed.”
“And what did she say?”
“She said she loved me all the more because I couldn’t do it, that it separated me that much more from Sierra.”
“You’re not a killer, Jimmy.”
“And because of that, I’ve lost Reina forever.”
***
“Hello?” Jessica said, sounding breathless,
“It’s me, Jimmy and I are both fine and he’ll be on a plane in an hour.”
“Oh thank God, let me speak to him.”
He passed the phone to Jimmy. They were back in his hotel room. Outside, the blue sky began to mix with clouds as a storm approached. The rain would be welcomed, as it had been weeks since the last storm, and its appearance brought with it the promise of lower humidity.
“Hi Sis,”
“Jimmy, are you all right?”
“I wasn’t harmed and I’m sorry that I scared you. If I’d known that you heard the shots being fired at me, I would have called you back.”
“This woman, Reina? Is she with you?”
“...No.”
“Well talk when you get here.”
“Yes, and thank you, Jessie,”
Jimmy let loose a sigh and handed the phone back to him; afterwards, he went into the bathroom and shut the door.
“I’m back,” he said.
“Is he really safe?”
“No, he won’t be safe until Sierra is dead.”
“And we’ll face that, but not tonight, tonight I want the two of you to come home, and I can’t tell you how much I hate the fact that you’re facing this without me.”
“I miss you, too. How are you feeling?”
“About the same, but when will your flight be landing?”
He gave her the details and she said that she would be there to greet them.
“I’m so happy that you found him, now hurry home.”
“Yes.”
There was silence on the line, but then Jessica said, “You’re thinking of staying, aren’t you?”
“This isn’t over, and leaving now would only prolong it.”
“Listen to me, I know who and what you are and I know that it goes against every fiber of your being to walk away from something like this, but you are vastly outnumbered there. This man Sierra, he has an entire organization to send against you and as good as you are, you’re just one man.”
“I’ll get on a plane.”
“Thank you, and when you get back, we’ll plan our next move.”
“Right, now Jimmy and I had better get to the airport.”
“I love you, and I’ll see you soon.”
“I love you too, goodbye.”
He hung up, and moments later, Jimmy exited the bathroom with eyes red from crying.
“Are you ready to go?”
Jimmy gestured out the window at the city.
“I feel like I’m abandoning her.”
“You’re doing the best you can right now.”
“It doesn’t feel that way.”
“I know.”
“I feel so unworthy of her, of her love for me; do you know what I mean?”
He nodded in understanding, for in truth, he lived with that feeling every moment of every day.
CHAPTER 12
Reina watched, with her head slightly bowed, as Sierra paced back and forth in front of her in his office.
When he stopped pacing, he grabbed her by the chin and jerked her head up until their eyes met.
“I pulled you out of the gutter, and you repaid me by running off with another man.”
“I never meant to hurt you, Donato.”
“Fuck that! That’s exactly what you did, and on top of that, you’re making me look weak before my men. Every breath you’ve taken since you betrayed me weakens me in their eyes.”
Reina blinked rapidly at those words.
“Are you going to kill me?”
Sierra released her, but then placed his hands on the arms of the chair she was sitting in, and stared down at her with glee in his eyes.
“No, I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to kill Jimmy.”
“You gave your word!”
“Oh really, do you really want to talk about broken vows, such as love, honor and obey, hmm?”
“Please don’t harm him. He’s no threat to you, you know that.”
“I’ll tell you what I know. I know that by this time tomorrow night, Jimmy and his entire family will be dead, and I’m going to make sure that they suffer before they die.”
“No, Donato... I beg you, don’t—”
Sierra slapped her with an open hand that brought a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of her mouth.
“The next time you see me, Jimmy will be dead.”
Reina began crying as her head hung in despair.
Sierra bellowed towards the door. “Simmons! Jackson!”
Two men entered the room, both were muscular and both had weapons secured in shoulder rigs.
“Yes, Mr. Sierra?” the two men chimed at once.
Sierra pointed to his wife.
“Make sure this bitch doesn’t leave the room.”
“Yes sir,” both men answered.
Sierra took three steps towards the door, but then turned and walked over to the desk. He picked up his landline phone, raised it over his head, and flung it against the wall by the bathroom. The plastic phone shattered into pieces, and Sierra turned and spoke to his men once more.
“No phone calls!”
As Sierra left the room, Reina let out a shriek of despair, before sliding to the floor, engulfed in hopelessness.
***
He had rented a private jet. It cost dearly, but he didn’t want to take a risk that one of Jimmy’s fellow passengers would turn out to be employed by Sierra.
Reina might have fallen for Sierra’s pledge, but he knew that his brother-in-law’s only hope for survival lay in Sierra’s extinction, and he was going to make that happen as soon as possible.
Jimmy stared in surprise at the small jet.
“Wow, you went all out, didn’t you?”
“Yes, and you’ll have it all to yourself.”
“What?”
He laid a hand on Jimmy’s shoulder as he handed him an envelope. The envelope was marked with Jessica’s name, along with a word underlined and written in red ink: Urgent!
“Give that to Jessica as soon as you see her.”
“Why?”
“Everything is explained in the letter, but it’s for her eyes only.”
“You’re staying?”
“Yes.”
“Bro, I know that you’re a tough guy. I know that you’re a hell of a fighter, that you know how to use a gun and that you aren’t afraid to use it, but Donato, he’s the real deal. If you go after him you’ll die.”
“He’ll be coming for me anyway, Jimmy. I held a gun to his head in front of his men. He’ll keep coming.”
“Then go to the police. Have them protect you.”
“Sierra owns the police, or at least one of them, a cop named Simon Miller.”
“I know Miller, he’s the reason why I used the phone at the gas station instead of my own, I was afraid that he might trace my call.”
“Miller’s a dirty cop and he might not be the only one. The only way out of this is through it. I’m going to walk through Sierra and come out the other side.”
Jimmy wiped at his eyes.
“This is all my fault. Goddamn it I’m such a screw up.”
“It’s not your fault. You simply fell in love.”
He guided Jimmy towards the plane and after greeting the flight crew, he put out his hand.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Jimmy couldn’t hide the doubt in his eyes, but he gripped his hand anyway.
“Tomorrow,”
***
He watched from inside the terminal as the plane took off, and for a moment, he felt more alone than he had in years.
Once the jet disappeared from sight, he took out the phone he’d been given, and after a short search of its contacts list, he pushed the call button on the name that simply said, Boss.
The phone was answered by Sierra after three rings.
“Mr. Brother-in-law, I can’t wait to see you again.”
“Where and when?”
“Two a.m., the where is an abandoned motel that’s scheduled for demolition. I’ll send you a text with the name and location.”
“Fine,”
“And ah, hey?”
“Yeah?”
“Come alone.”
“And you’ll do the same of course.”
“Absolutely, you have my word on it.”
“Two a.m.,” he said, and ended the call.
A few moments later, he received the text with directions to the motel, which lay just outside the city limits. With no further use for the phone, he tossed it into a wastebasket and strode out of the terminal.
It was time to prepare for war.
CHAPTER 13
Matamoros, Mexico
Steve Szabo walked into the crowded bar on Avenida Marte R. Gómez and weaved his way to a door at the end of a narrow hallway, where two men stood guard.
He spoke to them in Spanish without a trace of an accent.
“I’m here to see Jinx. Tell him it’s Carmine Rios.”
The two men straightened at the sound of the name, “Jinx”, very few people called their boss by his nickname.
“Un momento,” said the man on the left, who then turned and gave six distinct knocks on the door.
“Entrar en,” came the reply to the knocking, and the man disappeared into the room.
A few moments later, he reappeared, followed by a man wearing a suit. The man was forty, in good shape and handsome. He stared at Szabo with an expression consisting of surprise, suspicion, and joy.
“Hello Jinx, it’s been a long time,” Szabo said.
“Follow me,” the man said, and led him inside the office.
Szabo looked around. It was an average room with a desk on one side and a long couch against the other, before the desk sat two chairs, and atop it, a laptop computer. Nothing ostentatious, nothing superfluous, it was simply an office for work.
Once the door was shut, Cesar De La Rosa gave Szabo an appraising look.
“You look good, Szabo. Old age agrees with you.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself you son of a bitch.”
The two men smiled at each other and clasped hands warmly, and although they hadn’t seen each other in person for well over a decade, the affection between them was that of brothers.
***
On Szabo’s first un
dercover assignment, he met a young drug dealer nicknamed Jinx. It was his assignment to get in good with Jinx, and have Jinx lead him deeper into the organization he was a part of,
Szabo, known then as Carmine Rios, had an instant affinity with Jinx, and the two became best friends, and had even saved each other’s lives at the risk of their own.
Two years later, Szabo was minutes away from busting the head of Jinx’s organization, and bringing down Jinx along with it.
Szabo had taken his friend aside and pointed towards a window.
“Jinx... I’m a DEA agent. My real name is Szabo and this whole place will be swarming with Feds any second.”
Jinx broke out in a smile at his friend’s joke, but then he saw the truth in Szabo’s eyes and backed away from him in disbelief.
“Fuck... oh fuck... oh, you lying son of a bitch,” Jinx said.
“Hate me later, brother, but right now you have to get the hell out of here. Use that window; it’s a blind spot. I made sure of it.”
“God damn you, Carmine.”
“I know, but now go, go now or I won’t be able to help you.”
Jinx disappeared out the window, and Szabo never saw him again, until now.
***
The two men sat on the sofa and drank from bottles of beer.
Szabo smiled at his friend.
“Mr. De La Rosa, you’ve moved up the ladder quite a few rungs since the last time I saw you.”
“I hear through the grapevine that you’re a bit of a living legend in the DEA as well.”
Szabo looked into Jinx’s eyes.
“Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to receive several anonymous tips about the activities of your competitors. They’ve helped me a great deal. I also avoided being assassinated once, thanks to the timely intervention of one of your men.”
“Is that so?” Jinx said, while staring back at him. “What a coincidence, I myself have avoided being involved in legal difficulties due to the occasional word of warning from a guardian angel.”
Szabo clinked his bottle against Jinx’s.
“Some ties run deeper than duty.”
Jinx smiled at him.
“What brings you here? Why now?”
“I have another friend. He has caused a man named Donato Sierra much grief today and I think I will need your help to keep him alive.”
Jinx made a face of disgust.
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