The Sacrifice

by Peg Brantley

  Excited about shopping with Pilar, the sweet bread, the ceremony, and the idea of talking to VV tomorrow, Dia pranced off to the bathroom where she sampled the different scents Pilar had left for her to choose from.

  She couldn’t remember being this happy since her mamá died.

  While she was soaking in the tub, she heard Hector and everyone get back. From the sound of things, they’d been successful in finding whatever it was they were looking for.

  Tonight was going to be special.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Mex, Darius and Cade met up for lunch at the sports bar in the hotel. Mex missed the casual homegrown feel of La Pines Cafe, but the food was good here and they had more privacy. They didn’t stand out in a hotel filled with strangers.

  Today was the day. He felt it in his bones. If they didn’t rescue Dia tonight, alive and well, he feared they’d lose this battle. And he’d lose Sedona. He’d called Vicente Vega earlier to let him know what was going on. His message had gone to voicemail.

  Mex noticed everyone was paying attention to the television. A weather reporter stood in front of a map of the gulf coast showing a storm and its potential paths.

  “Please tell me this is the

  anniversary of Katrina,” Mex said to the others. Darius and Cade turned in their seats to see what Mex was talking about.

  Oh no. None of them had been paying any attention to the news. How long had this weather threat been happening? All three of them moved closer to the television just as the program broke for commercials.

  “Commercials,” Darius said. “Can’t be too serious if they’re still running commercials. Right?”

  Cade waded into the group that had been watching. “What’s going on?”

  A man wearing pressed jeans and a designer shirt looked her over before answering. “Tropical Storm Claudette is now a hurricane. Landfall is expected sometime in the next eight to twenty-four hours.”

  “Landfall? Here?”

  “Yeah. Hotel says we’re safe. At least for now.” A woman with blazing white teeth and a wedding ring set that dripped diamonds up to her knuckle appeared at his side. Her smile was huge but her eyes said, “Keep away, Bitch.”

  Cade almost laughed, but felt too sorry for her to make a desperate situation worse. The poor woman was in an impossible relationship that had probably been doomed from the

  beginning.

  The three friends regrouped at their table. Darius had his laptop out and was Googling weather information.

  Mex didn’t like the idea of riding out a hurricane anywhere but especially not in a swamp. “Do we need to do anything different because of the storm? Do we need to head out there now?”

  This time Cade did laugh. “Most of our weather is stuff we can work around. You guys just hear about the big ones that drive us to our knees, or worse. That doesn’t happen with every bit of wind we get.”

  Darius looked up from his

  computer. “This one is gaining strength and could be a big one, according to the National Hurricane Center.”

  “They have to say that. Standard cover your ass stuff.” Cade signaled their waiter. “Another beer, boys?”

  Mex and Darius both shifted in their chairs. “Are you sure?” Mex asked.

  “Look, we’ll take some good rain gear and tactical flashlights, and we’ll stay in touch with the best local weather guy I know.”

  “Don’t know that I like someone else having a clue what we’re doing,” Mex said.

  “You know him,” Cade said. “Besides, we don’t need to tell him what we’re doing.”

  “Who are you talking about?”

  “Boudreaux. He knows his ’canes. If he tells us we gotta move to shelter, we’ll move to shelter. If he doesn’t, we’re good.”

  “What if he can’t?”

  “Then none of us will need to worry about tomorrow.”

  * * * Vicente Vega listened to Sedona’s story. As she spoke, the heaviness and cold feeling he’d had since learning of his son’s death left, replaced by muscle tension and heat that flowed like lava through his veins. How dare VV? How dare his son go behind his back and take this brazen action? He’d exposed them all to attention they didn’t need.

  Sedona seemed to sense his anger. “So you’ll let me call my brother—let him know I’m okay?”

  That’s when Vega considered the reason why VV had orchestrated the abduction of a woman with ties to their past and with ties to their current situation.

  He suddenly felt stronger. His son, his flesh and blood, while not exactly defying him, had taken action that would risk his father’s wrath. VV was well aware that legend had it that Vega could issue a death warrant with one twitch of an eye, but he’d stepped up to protect his sister. Vicente Vega couldn’t remember when he’d felt more proud.

  Carlos Garcia, VV’s longest lasting bodyguard, had betrayed his son. Twenty-thousand dollars was all it took. Garcia would be found by tomorrow and his death would not be so swift.

  His gut clenched. Dia was all he had left—if she was still alive. VV had applied extra pressure to Mex Anderson by taking Sedona as collateral. Maybe not the way Vicente would have

  operated, but all in all, not a bad move.

  “I don’t think so, Sedona. We will contact your brother, but not at this moment.” He stood and walked toward the door. “Are you hungry? I know of an elegant French restaurant not far from here. Well, actually, it’s in New Orleans.”

  * * * Dia wore her new dress. It was white and lacy with blue, pink, and yellow ribbons sliding through the lace at intervals and forming bows. The underneath part was also white. She felt special when she wore it. Plus, it twirled when she spun and even moved when she walked. She loved this dress. Though her father had paid for nice dresses before, he’d never actually helped her pick one out like Pilar had. She’d even bought Dia a new pair of shoes. Tonight’s ceremony was going to be great.

  Hector, Luis, and the guests had all returned. Everyone seemed happy so Dia figured they’d found the plant stuff they needed. Since no one mentioned a monster, she knew she hadn’t missed out on anything special.

  She’d actually taken a second bath when they got home from shopping. The muggy air made her feel dirty all over again and another bath seemed like the right thing to do. Now, in her new dress, she felt like a princess.

  Soon she’d be able to talk with VV. Dia had a hard time deciding what she looked forward to the most… talking with her brother tomorrow or attending the special ceremony tonight. She decided to take one thing at a time. Tonight would be wonderful. Tomorrow would be even better.

  Dia walked through the stilt house and onto the back deck. Everyone was talking in what sounded to her like scary whispers. She thought something must be going on. When they all suddenly fell silent, she knew for sure something was up.

  She knew better than to interrupt an adult conversation, so she stood there waiting for something to happen.

  The Diviner was the first to speak. “Dia, you look lovely. Won’t you join us?”

  She sent a grateful look to the woman and moved toward the table where they were all seated. “Thank you.”

  Luis was his usual silent self. She pretty much knew they’d never be friends. Fine with her. He reminded her a little too much of her father.

  But Hector made room for her. She squeezed in next to him.

  The Client spoke. “We were just talking about alternative sites for our ceremony tonight.”

  Dia didn’t feel like she should actually say anything so she just looked at the man and nodded.

  “A storm is coming and it could get quite bad, but this ceremony is imperative to me.”

  A storm? “What kind of storm?”

  Pilar reached for her hand. “A hurricane might or might not make landfall near us. Even if it doesn’t, we’re in for some strong winds and rain.”

  Dia felt a pang of disappointment. “What about the ceremony? Can we have it now?”

  The Diviner
straightened her shoulders. “We need to begin the ritual at the right moment. Now is much too soon. I cannot be responsible for the results if we don’t adhere strictly to the timeline I’ve been given.”

  Pilar squeezed her hand. “We have an option. It’s not optimal because we’d much rather be in our private open space, but it could work.”

  Dia remained silent. Her stomach knotted.

  The Client slapped the table. “We’re moving to the alternate location. We need the ceremony to happen. We also need to be safe. My decision is final.”

  Dia wanted to trust the Client because he reminded her a little of her father. He seemed strong and decisive. But she also thought he might be very cruel. She thought he didn’t really care about any of them, including her.

  She pumped up her courage. “Alternate location?” What she really didn’t want to do was get in the car again for hours and hours.

  The Client didn’t look at her. Neither did the Diviner. Finally Pilar spoke. “The storm could very likely wipe out this house even though it’s managed to survive all of the storms that have come before. We have a place that’s safer. It’s been recently built and meets the hurricane codes.”

  “Hurricane? Like Katrina?” Suddenly her father’s home in Monterrey sounded like a good place to wake up tomorrow. Even if he were there.

  “Probably not like Katrina,” Pilar said. “People like to embellish.

  Especially news people.”

  Dia believed her. But she still had a question. “Where is the safe place?”

  The man guest started to say something but the Diviner waved him silent.

  “Do you trust me?” Pilar asked.

  “You know I do.” Dia hated that her voice sounded so tiny and young.

  “Do you want, with all your heart, to attend the ceremony we have planned for tonight?”

  Dia cleared her throat. “Of course. I’ve been looking forward to this since you first told me about it.”

  “Then you need to trust me that we will be moving to a safe place where we can hold the ceremony, even in a

  hurricane. Do you trust me?”

  She thought about all the times Pilar had comforted her when her father had berated her for being a girl—or worse—ignored her. Other than Pilar, no one had hugged her since her mother died. Only Pilar…

  “Yes. I trust you.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  The skies were dark with threats of what was to come. Menacing winds bounced from every surface they touched. Mex understood the emotion of the weather better than most. It matched his internal battle.

  Right after lunch, Mex and Darius headed off to search for the house in Honey Island Swamp while Cade made a court appearance on another case. It took the two of them almost an hour to find the property once they were in the slow and sticky, but they did. The GPS in the Navigator was useless for finding anything in this area. They parked about a half-mile past the turnoff and hiked back.

  They found a vantage point that obscured them from both the road and the house and settled in. Within minutes, they’d observed five adults, three men and two women, at the tiny stilt house. There was no sign of a girl, but Mex knew in his gut she was there. All the pieces fit.

  He figured out which one was Pilar and that made it easy to spot Luis. They were the only couple. The other woman was older and dressed in priestess garb. The youngest man seemed set apart from the others, almost like he didn’t belong.

  Then Mex saw the older man in the sunlight. He sucked in a breath and pulled out his field binoculars. No doubt about it. It was Benito Chavez, head of the La Familia cartel. Whatever was going to happen would happen soon. He couldn’t imagine Chavez spending much time without the luxuries he’d become used to. The lack of bodyguards

  underscored the tight wraps the cartel head was operating under.

  Mex and Darius then paced off the property, assessing the best access points to get in without being noticed. Their options were limited but not beyond the realm of possibility.

  Especially if there was a

  hurricane in the neighborhood. Mex shuddered. What he wouldn’t give for a good old Colorado blizzard.

  He called Vicente to give him an update. Better he should interrupt him than the other way around. Again, like his last call, his message went to voicemail. That was fine with him. The less contact with Vicente Vega the better. Mex left the new information, then called VV and did the same.

  Now back at the hotel, Mex waited for Darius to finish one more phone call with Pamela, and for Cade to show up. He refocused on the task at hand and tamped down his anxiety. He did his best to separate his internal demons from the true dangers they faced. The whole operation was proceeding more on a wing and a prayer than the way he liked to operate. Especially when both his sister’s and a young girl’s life were at stake.

  He wasn’t feeling good about any of this. Worse, he didn’t know if he was being rational or if the depression crap was feeding into his data.

  A sudden blast of wind pounded the hotel window. His chest tightened. Where the hell was Cade?

  A knock on the door brought him to his feet. Damn time. He pulled the door open and Cade walked in, on a phone call of her own.

  The tightness in his chest

  intensified. He reminded himself that Cade and Darius were here to help. They had the same goal and yet he was getting the bigger payoff all the way around. After this was over, he’d make sure they were both well compensated from the Vega cash deposit.

  After this was over… His jaw clenched and his hands formed tight fists. He had to be successful. That was the only way this could end. He couldn’t lose Sedona.

  Mex turned and walked back into the room. Counted to ten. Slow. He cleared his throat.

  Darius mumbled something to Pamela and clicked off his phone. Cade was slower to react. She squinted in his direction and waited.

  “Thanks for being here with me. I’m sorry if I’ve been short tempered and hope you can forgive me. I’m a little on edge. I appreciate that you both have personal lives, but we have a job to do. We’re at the end now and need to be ready to act.”

  Cade took a breath. Two. Then she sat her purse down on the coffee table and turned her back to end her call.

  When she turned back to Mex her face was set. Her hands dug into her hips, knuckles white. “It sounds like you’re questioning my professionalism. That you’re concerned I might be distracted with my personal life. Is that what you’re suggesting?”

  Before he could respond, Cade continued. “I’m a little on edge too, Mr. Anderson. Don’t you ever—ever— question my focus or professionalism again. Don’t you ever—ever—be so wild-ass needy that you make

  assumptions and mess up something I’m involved in. Am I clear?”

  Mex heard his own heavy, rapid breathing. His stomach tightened. He concentrated on his breaths. In and out. In and out. Slower now, in and then out. In and then out. The tightness in his chest subsided and the darkness lifted, if only a little. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. No excuses.”

  Cade didn’t take her eyes off him. “Are you able to be with us on this? Or would we be better off if you stayed here?” She stood right in front of him. “I need to know.”

  Mex nodded. Swallowed. “I’m good.”

  He watched as she seemed to come to a decision. “Fine.” She turned back into the room. “That phone call was from Boudreaux. He’s pretty sure Claudette is gonna make landfall near New Orleans. He also thinks we have a few hours before it happens.”

  “How many hours?” Darius seemed willing to give up his online research in favor of a local who knew his way around these things.

  “At the least? Two or three. At the most? Four.”

  * * * Dia was placing a few of her favorite things in her replacement backpack when Hector walked in. He never said much but it seemed to Dia that he’d been even quieter lately—sadder than usual too.

  “You okay, Hector?”

 
“Yeah. Just want to know if you need anything.” His tone was soft, like you’d use in a hospital room. Was Hector sick? She hoped not. He’d been so kind to her. The thought occurred to her that VV would like him.

  She shook her head. “I’m excited about tonight. Are you?”

  “I, um… you…”

  Pilar hurried in to the room. “Hector, go see if Luis needs any help.” She watched as the young man left the room, then put an arm around Dia. “Are you about ready? We need to leave before the storm makes it impossible for us to travel.”

  “I’m ready.”

  “Good. I need your help. We need to move as many things as possible to the tops of the counters and up high on the shelves.”

  “How come?”

  “Flooding.” Dia followed Pilar into the main living area, surprised at how everything looked in the shuttered window dimness. Pilar handed Dia a stack of plastic bags. “Use these until they run out.”

  Luis and Hector began hauling in the furniture from the deck. As usual, they ignored Dia.

  “Where are our guests?” Dia asked.

  “They’ve gone to prepare the new location for our ceremony tonight.”

  “Where’s the new location?”

  Pilar stopped and turned to look at her. “Are you familiar with crypts?”

  Dia’s stomach fluttered and she heard a roaring in her ears. She squinted at Pilar. “You mean a place where they put dead people?”

  “Well, yes. Except there are no dead people in this one. It’s brand new and is designed to hold up against hurricanes. It’s the best place for us, and it’s pretty big. We’ll be close together but not on top of each other.”

  “Is it yours? You have a crypt?”

  “It belongs to my cousin’s family. The same people who own this stilt house.”

  “Has there ever been a dead body in it?”

  “No, Dia. I told you, it’s new.”

  “How long will we have to be there? Inside? Will we have to sleep there?”

  Pilar’s jaw tightened. “You’re asking way too many questions. We have work to do. And I don’t think you want to be stuck alone in this house when the hurricane hits and the water rises.”