by Karina Halle
Violetta puffed nervously on her cigarette and looked to Javier. “This true? You wanted her to kill her own parents?”
Javier swallowed hard but didn’t say anything.
“I’m afraid your brother is sick in the head,” I told her, half apologetic.
She snorted. “This much I know.”
Javier cleared his throat. “Ellie,” he spoke softly and folded his hands on the table, “you’re neglecting to tell her the part where I rescued both you and Camden at Travis’s party, saving you from certain death.”
Yes. That part.
I smiled weakly. “I almost forgot. That was after you let them take Gus.”
“Gus isn’t my problem. I never asked for him and Camden to come down here.”
Violetta nodded to Camden. “And why did you come down here?”
“Why do you think?” Camden asked, his voice clipped.
“To get the girl?” She smiled at the two of us. “Which would be very romantic if it weren’t for my brother sitting right here, correct?”
Romantic. I looked at Camden, feeling my face growing hot. I found it romantic. I found it sexy. I found it brave, honest, noble, even dangerous. I found Camden’s devotion to me to fill my soul with a warmth I’d never, ever felt before.
But how could it be romantic, when I could see the hurt and anger in his eyes, his disappointment in me and what I’d done to him. How easily I tossed away his accountability. This wasn’t romantic anymore, this was tragic and it was all my fault.
I didn’t need to say that to Violetta though. She only stubbed out her smoke on the table and said, “Oh, but I forgot, you aren’t with him.”
Camden looked at me sharply.
She went on, “And you’re not with my brother. And yet here you all are. Together.”
“He’s helping us get Gus back,” I said.
She looked at him. “So you keep saying. And me. I’m assuming Javi was too afraid to come and get me on his own.”
Javier sighed and leaned back in the booth. Though her cigarette was out, there was a still a layer of smoke that hung above our heads in the muggy air, the overhead fans doing nothing to disperse it. “I knew you’d be angry with me, Violetta. I thought maybe if you heard the danger from someone else, why you need to leave, you’d listen. You can leave with us, even. We’ll take you where you need to go.”
Okay, that was a new one. As much as I wanted to help her, once again we didn’t have time to drive her around the country, not with Gus’s life on the line.
She looked down at her slender hands. “Do you really think that I’m in danger?”
“Tell us about your friends in the Zetas,” Javier said by way of answering. “Do they know about me?”
She shot him a wry smile. “Javi. You’re not exactly big news down here. I’m sorry. You’ve got the Zetas, the Sinoloa, the Baja, the Gulf. The big boys. The big balls. Then you have a bunch of little ones that no one cares about. You’re one of the little ones that no one cares about.”
“Except for Travis,” I said.
She nodded. “Si. Except for him. Who is now with the Zetas. But even Travis isn’t at the top of the food chain. Maybe in Veracruz he is. But it’s Morales and his family in Nuevo Laredo who really run it. Not many people can take a gringo seriously, no matter how many men he tortured and killed to get to the top.” She cocked her head at Javier. “I’m a bit surprised that you’re not in Travis’s position. I’m sure the cartel would rather have you there than a white man.”
“I have loyalty,” Javier said simply. “To our family. As should you, you who is hanging out with these men like it’s no big deal.”
She shook her head. “Oh, relax. I’m just friends with two guys who do the deliveries, the transporting of the money.” She shrugged. “It’s a good job for them. And no, of course they don’t know who you are or that I even have a brother. You make it easy to pretend you don’t exist.”
He looked grim. “And that may have helped you before, but you can’t afford to take that chance now. I have no doubt that there’s been word about me traveling down the Zeta chain. My cartel might be small, but when it comes to Travis, I’m as big as it gets.”
She raised her hand in the air and snapped her fingers for the waiter, who until now had been ignoring our table. “I can’t talk about this anymore without food.”
The waiter came by and we promptly ordered coffee, beer and food. Though my stomach was growling, I had zero appetite, so just munched the tortilla chips and fresh salsa that came with our drinks. Javier spent the rest of the time trying to figure out a plan for Violetta. Though she was too busy stuffing her face to talk back, I could still see she was going to try and evade this idea for as long as she could. Like her brother, she was stubborn, even in the face of imminent danger.
CHAPTER FOUR
It wasn’t until we were done with our meal – Javier taking care of the check, much to Violetta’s delight – and were walking back to her apartment that he finally wore her down.
“Fine,” she said, wiping the sweat from her brow and giving him an exasperated glance. “I’ll go pack a bag. But I’m only going for a few days. I have a job here, a life, I have no intentions of leaving it for good because of you, Javi.”
I was going to ask her where she was planning on going, if she had friends she could stay with, but thought better of it. Though we were steps from going into her building, we were still in a public place and I was starting to feel the slightest bit uneasy. As she fumbled in her purse for her keys, I paused on the curb and did a quick sweep of the area, shielding my eyes with my hand.
Jose was parked across the street, looking like a mangled wreck but two cars down there was another mangled wreck, so at least the car didn’t attract any attention here. The sun was damn strong, the air even thicker and browner than before, like hot soup. There were a few squalid looking apartment buildings across the street, white stucco like Violetta’s place, but stained with green sludge. Beside them were tiny, colorful houses in bright greens and yellows. On the balcony of the yellow house, an older woman sat in the sun, sorting through her basket of laundry. In the yard of another house, a skinny dog lapped up a bucket of water.
“Something wrong?” Camden asked quietly as Javier berated Violetta for being disorganized.
I looked up at him and gave a small shake of my head. “I don’t think so. Just had a weird feeling.”
He pursed his lips and looked around at all the things I was just surveying. Finally he nodded at Violetta who brought out her keys with a whoop of joy. “Worried for her? Or about her?” he whispered.
Though I guess I had a right to be suspicious about Violetta herself, I wasn’t for some reason. She wasn’t like her brother. Maybe that’s why I liked her. Or maybe she was like her brother and that’s why I liked her too.
“I just want to get moving again,” I said and we walked up to the door that Violetta was proudly holding open for us.
The weird feeling didn’t leave, even as we went inside the elevator and up to her apartment, Violetta protesting it was always too hot to take the stairs. Outside her door, I kneeled down and made sure my Ka-Bar knife and gun were still secure in my boots. When I straightened up, Javier was staring at me with an air of approval.
Violetta went to put the key in the lock but Javier quickly grabbed her wrist, his eyes burning into hers with warning. He nodded to the door then pushed her out of the way, grabbing his gun from his waistband and holding it loosely to his side. Camden and I took a step back.
Swiftly, Javier kicked open the door and sprung into the room, his gun drawn. I grabbed my gun from my boot and followed after him, heart racing in my throat as we quickly searched the rooms.
When it was all clear, he waved at Violetta to come inside.
She crossed her arms and huffed her way into the middle of the apartment.
“My landlord is going to kill me,” she scowled and waved her hand at the broken lock on the door.
Javier didn’t smile. “That shouldn’t have been so easy. You need to be more careful.”
“Well, I’m taking off for a few days, isn’t that careful enough?”
He grunted and told her to go pack her bag. She sighed and disappeared into her room, muttering obscenities under her breath.
“Did you think you heard something?” Javier asked me.
“Why, because I was checking my gun and knife?”
He nodded.
“I was just being cautious, Javier,” I told him, slipping my gun back into my boot. “I have learned something from my line of work, you know.”
He raised his brows in disbelief and I knew he was close to bringing up the foolish mistakes I’d made that allowed him catch me in the first place. I didn’t need the reminder that I wasn’t as good of a con artist as I thought I was.
I guess he could see the warning in my eyes because a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and he turned around.
Camden cleared his throat and I looked behind me at him. He was leaning his good shoulder against the wall near the door, observing us. I couldn’t read his eyes, though he was swallowing hard and his jaw looked tense. One hand was on his shot shoulder, pressing down lightly. I wondered if he was in pain or had been taking the pills when I wasn’t looking.
I was about to ask him when a god awful sound buzzed through the room, causing me to jump.
Javier whipped around. “What the hell was that?”
It sounded again, coming from the intercom. Violetta came out of her room, wiping her hands. She looked at our expressions and said, “Don’t worry, it’s probably just a friend” and went for the intercom. She pressed the button and asked, “Hola?”
There was no response.
That wicked feeling was sweeping through me again, causing all the hairs on my arms and neck to stand at attention. This was bad.
While Violetta tried the buzzer again, I ran to the window and looked out. The glare from the sun and the dirt on the glass made it hard to see through so I quickly went into Violetta’s room and out to her balcony.
There was a sea of roofs spreading out before us, the one right next to the building one story below. I craned my neck to look up at the building. I didn’t even know what I was looking for, someone who didn’t belong, I guess.
“What is it?” Camden asked, standing in the doorway.
“That feeling I had?” I asked. “I think we have to get out of here. Now.”
Suddenly the apartment erupted in gunfire and I heard Violetta scream. Instinctively, I ducked, pulling down Camden, and brought out my gun again. Violetta burst into the room as another round of gunfire went off and I quickly motioned for her to come onto the balcony.
“What happened?” I asked her frantically.
She was shaking her head and screamed again when more shots went off. The window in the living room exploded into a storm of shattered glass and then seconds later, a tall man went flying out of it. He landed on the roof below, only a ten foot drop, and then staggered to his feet. The minute he looked up at us on the balcony, he yelled something and pulled out his gun.
I was faster. I aimed, said a prayer, and squeezed the trigger. The gun roared in my hands and the bullet hit the man in his chest, causing him to fly backward. My first thought was, thank god I was better shot this time.
Then Violetta let out a small sob and it hit me.
It was a good shot.
And I’d actually killed a man.
Me.
Suddenly I heard Javier’s voice ring out from the apartment amid the gunshots.
“Run!” Javier yelled.
Right. I quickly shook my head, trying to focus. There’s was only one place for us to go.
Camden was already climbing over the railing and helping Violetta over.
It was only a twelve foot drop or so. It wouldn’t kill us but it wouldn’t feel good either.
“Ellie,” Camden yelled, “come on!”
I nodded absently, still dazed, and brought my legs over the side of the railing just as Camden and Violetta dropped to the roof. Camden’s large frame landed with ease, sending the terracotta tiles of the roof flying, while Violetta quickly crumpled to her knees, her flip flops providing no traction. Within seconds Camden was helping her up.
The roof was almost totally flat, just peaking a bit at the spine, but I still had to be careful how I landed.
“Jump!” Camden yelled up at me as a bullet whizzed past my shoulder.
I turned to look in time to see Javier bursting through Violetta’s bedroom, simultaneously running toward me and shooting at someone who was in pursuit, the assailant’s gun aimed at me. Javier shot them in the shoulder and in seconds he was beside me, yelling “What the fuck are you waiting for, the circus?”
I stared at him for a moment, wondering why I felt relief coursing through me at the sight of him.
Then he put his hand on my back and pushed me off the balcony.
I screamed in surprise but managed to land in the right spot, my shins taking a beating but I still remained on my feet. Gunshots followed and Javier landed beside me seconds later.
“You ass!” I yelled at him.
“Keep running!” he yelled back and started sprinting past me.
Another bullet went screaming past my ear. Too many close calls and too soon. Too dangerous to even think about it.
I started running, the tiles sliding under my boots, following behind him. Camden and Violetta were a few paces ahead, slowing down as they came to the edge of the roof. Luckily the next building was the same height and there was no gap in between them. In fact, the sea of roofs on the block all seemed to be together, like one giant, distorted house.
Another gun shot rang out and beyond the thudding of my heart in my ears, I could hear the assailants landing on the tiles behind us. Motherfucking shit, they were persistent whoever they were.
We kept running and I willed my legs to move faster as we went from tile, to shingles, to gravel, to stucco, roof to roof to roof. Somewhere in our retreat, Camden and Javier got ahead of us and Violetta started to stagger, her flip flops causing her to stumble so often. I grabbed her by the arm and kept her upright and ran alongside her.
But I knew the men were gaining on us. And I knew we would run out of luck.
I squeezed her arm and told her to keep going and then I stopped and spun around.
A few yards behind us was a lean, dark-complexioned man with an eye patch, ready to take a shot at us. I pulled my trigger before he could, getting him in the stomach by accident.
The man went down with a scream, his gun shooting at nothing. Fucking Mexican pirate.
Unfortunately there were three more men behind him, albeit further back. I didn’t have much time to try my luck. I tried to take in a deep breath, my lungs burning from the air pollution and the exertion, and aimed at them. I fired off three rounds and hit only one of them. The remaining too kept coming.
Time to move.
I turned around and started running again, surprised to see that not only were Camden and Javier further away but that Violetta had stopped and was looking down at something. I booked it up to her and saw what made her pause. There was a large gap between this roof and the next, though it fortunately was half a story shorter. We could make it if we had a running start, a running start we’d both just lost.
“Fuck!” I yelled then whipped behind me to see how much time we had before our pursuers were at us. Not much. I grabbed Violetta’s arm and started running with her back a few steps.
“Ready?” I asked her.
She nodded, her eyes welling with fear.
We both started running, as fast as we could, my hand holding hers until we both launched off of the roof and into the air.
I landed on the roof below, my ankles shuddering in pain from the impact. Thanks to my scarring, they didn’t always hold up after a lot of wear and tear, and I immediately fell to my knees, my legs getting scratched up by the
tar shingles.
Violetta’s scream came through a second later.
She had hit the roof, scrambled to hold on then disappeared, falling down the gap to the ground below.
I looked over the edge and saw her lying in a heap on the dirt alley, holding her arm in pain and crying out.
Another shot came dangerously close. The men were coming closer. There was no time to think.
I ran along the roof for a few steps, then jumped down onto a rickety iron balcony that swung with my weight, then launched off of that to the ground below.
I ignored my throbbing ankles and hurried over to her just as one of the men appeared at the rooftop. I aimed and fired, all instinct, and got him right in the head. When he pitched off the roof and fell with a thud to the ground beside us, I dragged Violetta up to her feet. There was no time to be gentle. Her arm was probably broken and it was going to hurt like a bitch, but it was better to be hurt than dead.
“We have to run, okay?” I told her and she cried in response. I had no idea if Camden or Javier even noticed we weren’t behind them but that couldn’t be my concern. We had to get us safe then we’d get to them.
And then, then maybe I’d have a moment to think about the people I’d killed.
Together we scampered down the narrow alley, dirt flying from our feet, just as a bullet ricocheted from the wall. We yelped but kept going, zig-zagging our way toward the street, knowing the last asshole standing was firing at us from the roof.
As soon as we hit the street that ran along the block of buildings, we were a tiny bit safer. At least I figured since there was light traffic on the roads and people going to and fro. However, despite the fact that I was running across the street and darting between the cars with Violetta in tow, both of us bruised, scratched and bleeding, my gun visible in one of my hands, no one really seemed to bat an eye. I wondered how bad Mexico City was for crime then decided it didn’t matter.
We ran up the sidewalk until I saw another alley then brought Violetta down that one and around the corner. I stopped us beside a dumpster that sat behind a café, a couple of stray cats sleeping in the shade.