Entrusted: A Drug of Desire Novel

by Sidney Bristol

  “Mayday, mayday,” she said first in English, then Spanish. Her voice broke as she spouted her emergency message over and over again.

  She’d left Matías. She’d told him she wouldn’t, and yet, she had. Because he’d told her to. If he wasn’t worried about her, he could do something. Couldn’t he? Or had she just made the biggest mistake of her life? Shame clogged her throat, or maybe that was emotion. Her insides felt shattered, her heart ripped out.

  If she was going to die out here, she’d want to die with Matías, not in a shoddy bi-plane, alone, with no way to tell where the hell she was headed.

  “Mayday, mayday.”

  It was hopeless. It was over. Done with.

  chapter Nineteen

  Victor strode through the once-orderly headquarters of the Jiménez operation. Glass crunched underfoot and half the lights had been shot out.

  That had been a cluster fuck. It couldn’t possibly have gone worse.

  Fucking Paul.

  Victor hadn’t been convinced that José, of all the men he’d brought into his fold, was a problem, but he’d run. For that, Victor would have to treat him as the enemy.

  “Señor?” Alejandro leaned through the office door. Perfectly good men were now flinching and acting as if their balls hadn’t dropped yet. It was annoying.

  “Victor. My name is Victor.”

  “Victor, we found Paul Rojas in the garage.”

  “Bring him to me.”

  Victor turned toward the doors as Alejandro preceded two armed men with Paul between them. Victor glared at the man. Had he orchestrated this blood bath? Was it a play against him?

  “Señor, señor please,” Paul said, glancing around as if he might find an exit or a savior.

  “Shut up,” Victor snapped.

  Paul’s teeth clicked together.

  “Who told you about José?” Victor hadn’t told very many people about his buyer, for good reason.

  “N-no one.”

  “Then where did you meet him?”

  “At the Valdez headquarters. He worked there, I swear, but his name wasn’t José. I was about to tell you earlier, but Señor Jiménez, he suspected there was a rat in our ranks. What if it’s him? What if José isn’t who he says he is?”

  Victor grimaced. He’d always wanted to trust José, but neither could he deny that the man seemed to be blessed when it came to moving product.

  He sighed and pulled a pistol from the top drawer in the desk.

  “It’s too bad you caused this, Paul, we could have had a wonderful future together.” Victor pulled the hammer back.

  “What? No. No!” Paul held his arms up and tried to take a step back, but the men on either side of him wouldn’t let him escape.

  Victor stalked around the desk and pressed the pistol to Paul’s forehead.

  “The correct response should be, I’m sorry, Victor.” Victor pulled the trigger, the report blasting through the room, mingled with the sounds of splatter hitting the floor. He turned and set the gun on the desk, then wiped his hands on a napkin.

  This building would never lose the stench of blood. He needed a new place, a new space to conduct his business that was devoid of the stench of death. Good thing he’d taken over Señor Jiménez’s sister’s house. It was nearby, but had no direct access. It would be the perfect place to wait and watch, while peeling back the layers of just who José was.

  Raven paced the length of the ten-by-twelve room she’d been in since a couple of armed men had pulled her out of the bi-plane. She hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours and no one would give her any answers. By her estimation, it had to be mid-morning at least. She’d told them a hundred times that Matías was still out there, but they didn’t seem to care. If they hadn’t taken Matías’ cell phone, she’d have called Eddie until she got him, but even that was gone. At least they’d left her with her bra, though she didn’t know what she could do with that. Jab a soldier in the ribs with the underwire? It wouldn’t bring Matías back.

  A door opened behind her and she spun to face an older man who’d addressed her twice before. He had to have rank of some sort because he’d spoken with authority.

  “Did you get a hold of Eddie?” She needed someone to confirm her story so these people would believe her. Last night, she’d thought she’d been saved when someone answered her mayday in English. Now she wondered if she shouldn’t have just kept flying.

  “Yes, ma’am, we were able to make contact with Eddie Berlin. He is en route to advise us on how to proceed.” He stopped a few paces away, hands on his hips. He regarded her like he might a caged animal.

  “To advise you? What else do you need to know? Matías is out there, maybe even alive.” She gestured to what she thought was south. Her bearings were all messed up in this warren of hallways and no windows.

  “This is a sensitive operation. Now, we need you to tell us where the airstrip you took off from is located.”

  A second soldier produced a large map of the country.

  Raven stared at it blankly. She knew the coordinates for where they’d landed by heart. She’d been ready to give Eddie an estimate on where she thought they were. These guys? If she gave them an idea, they’d leave her behind, and she wasn’t going to do that to Matías. She’d made herself a promise to never leave him again, and some ass hole in fatigues wasn’t about to change that.

  “I flew using the stars. I don’t know where I am or how to tell you where I was.” She wiped her palms on her jeans and shifted her weight. “I could fly you back there. I know I could.”

  “I’m not taking a civilian into this.” The silver haired fox shook his head.

  “Uh, you realize I was hired to go into this, right?” She wasn’t technically DEA, but she’d been vetted enough to fly for them.

  “That might have been, on someone else’s watch, but what I say here goes, and you will not take my men into hostile territory. I’ll have one of our pilots bring some more charts to help you remember.” He gave her a sharp nod, and the trio did an about face and left her once more, with no hope, no chance of escape and no way to save Matías.

  She placed her palm against her chest and sucked in a deep, shuddering breath. Her heart hurt. She had to keep up the hope that Matías was alive, even if it wasn’t likely. If nothing else, she’d make sure they crushed Victor.

  Raven stared across the table at Eddie Berlin. How was such a man in charge of the lives of others? His damp brow and nervous gesturing did nothing to help her have faith that he and the men on this base were actually capable of rescuing Matías.

  “I told them I’m not sure where we took off from,” Raven reiterated.

  The soldiers behind Eddie seemed to make him nervous. He didn’t appear to be the type to ever leave an office.

  “Okay, but we know you landed here.” He tapped the map. Across the border in Venezuela.

  “No, we landed here.” She leaned over the map, following the lines of latitude and longitude until she found a little blip on the topographical map.

  The general leaned over the map.

  “Where’s the infrastructure map?” he asked.

  A soldier stepped forward and pulled a large map from out of the pile and put it on top. The general quickly found her spot and frowned.

  “That’s remote. There’s only one paved road out there,” he said.

  “We weren’t on paved roads.” At least they hadn’t been for the last quarter of their trip.

  The general stared at Eddie, who only seemed to sweat more. He leaned toward her.

  “We need you to remember where you were,” Eddie said.

  “Honestly? I don’t know. I know that we traveled for an hour by car. We left the paved road. In the span of time we left the road and got to the house, we passed the factory, an airstrip, and a small village. That’s it. I’m damn sure I could fly back there, but you aren’t going for that.”

  “He showed you were the factory was?” A man who hadn’t spoken yet stepped forward. He h
ad an accent, and judging by the mustache and skin tone, he wasn’t American.

  “Yes, I said that earlier.” She was frustrated with the lack of action by all parties. They knew Matías was out there, and yet wouldn’t go help him.

  “Did you see it?” The man asked, stepping forward.

  “Well, not the inside, but yeah. It was hard to miss. Smoke stacks, tall fence, lots of people.” Matías had explained before their trip that most of the factories were underground, leaving a very small portion to be seen from the air or roads. You had to be almost on top of them to see them for what they were.

  The general and the new speaker shared a look, communicating something she couldn’t understand. Well great. Whatever the fine general touched seemed to be bogged down in non-action, so she couldn’t rely on help from him.

  “What did it look like? Show me.” The general produced a pad of paper and pen.

  Raven was so done with these men. She could probably jump back in the bi-plane and do a better job on her own, except she didn’t even have a gun. She sighed and picked up the pen and drew. Three stacks of varying height. A few small, white buildings. Trees. The fence. And at least a dozen guards she tried to place as best she could.

  The second man glanced at Eddie and the general, then her. His gaze was hard, but there was a question deep inside.

  “You really think you can fly back there?” he asked.

  “Sir, I’ve been flying by the stars since I was a little girl. I can.” There was no fucking way these soldiers were about to trust her like this. Was there?

  “Judging by the fuel in the tank, you must have flown close to a hundred and fifty miles to get here,” the general said.

  “I flew straight north until your air control guided me in. I can find my way back.” Maybe… there was always the chance of it being overcast. That she’d get turned around and confused with such different stars above her.

  The second man said something in fast, liquid-like Spanish that she couldn’t understand. Damn these different dialects.

  “I don’t like this, but we’re going in. Sun sets in ninety minutes.” The general sighed and shook his head and stared at Eddie. “You say she’s trustworthy? This is on you, Berlin.”

  She stared at him, disbelief raising goose flesh on her arms. They were going back…

  Hold on, Matías.

  Raven leaned forward, peering through the thick glass of the helicopter. Her skin prickled and adrenaline made her vision exceptionally sharp. She kept her eyes on the trees, looking for the reflectors.

  Where are you?

  They were close. So close. She could feel it. Matías had to be alive.

  “I saw something,” the pilot said through the microphone head-set.

  Raven skimmed the trees until a flash caught her eye.

  “There! One o’ clock.” She pointed.

  “I see it.” The pilot brought the chopper in lower as more reflectors caught the spotlight.

  The trees opened up onto a rectangle of open space. The pilot landed close to the barn where she’d stolen her ride from. In hindsight, she’d probably stolen the very crop duster they used for the coca plants used in the making of cocaine. She didn’t feel quite so bad about the theft.

  The chopper touched down, and the soldiers spilled out, while the other helicopters split off into two groups. Half followed the road toward the compound, while the other half went for the factory. She only knew what was going on because she’d shamelessly listened in on the pilots.

  Raven’s small group was supposed to stay in reserve on the chance one of the other two groups needed backup.

  She took off the headset.

  “You should probably stay in here,” the pilot said.

  “I need to stretch my legs.” She slid out of the chopper, keeping her head low until she was away from the blades.

  The soldiers fanned out, their flashlights bouncing off the building, calling to each other.

  In the distance, on the road, she saw a beam of light glint off the SUV they’d crashed. Her breath caught in her throat, and she could see that moment all over again. Matías being led out of the jungle at gun point, his suit ripped and dirty.

  Had she made the right choice to go for help?

  Had she cost him his life?

  She pushed the thought away. Matías had to still be alive. He just had to be. She couldn’t wrap her head around a future without him in it. It was what kept her going. She was so tired, she could easily fall over, but Matías had continued to push on when he was exhausted, so would she.

  Raven made it all the way to the embankment. It was a little higher than the hood of the truck. If he’d turned four feet later, he’d have made it in the driveway cut into the earth. They’d really been driving blind.

  The back of the SUV was riddled with dents, and she could smell gasoline. Her door still stood open, as if she’d just left it that way. She crept closer and peered into the truck, but it was empty. She’d only hotwired an old car at the airport a few times when they lost the keys. Her father had shown her how. Last night, she hadn’t been sure she could do it.

  She turned and surveyed the area. The soldiers had stopped a hundred or so feet back from the road. Had she slipped by them? She found that unlikely, considering how closely she’d been observed. Besides, breathing outside their stifling ring of protection was easier. She was grateful for their support, but she wasn’t stupid. Matías was third on their list of priorities. First was shutting down the factory, second was taking Victor and his cronies into custody. If they found Matías—great. But she didn’t think they were going out of their way to look for him.

  Well, someone needed to.

  Raven stepped into the deeper shadows of the SUV and crept along it until she could see the airstrip above her. Still, no one seemed to realize she was missing. What she was thinking was dangerous, but she couldn’t sit here while they might or might not find him.

  The village was close by. Chances were they’d seen something. In a place this small, everyone would know everyone else, and a swanky dressed man would cause a stir. It’s what happened in her reservation town any time an outsider passed through.

  She hunched over and picked her way along the road until the trees and foliage enveloped her. It seemed they were in some kind of foothills, and the road hugged the side of the bluff. She couldn’t remember the view from her room well enough last night, but she’d guess the compound sat on top of the hill to give it a better view for what was coming.

  Under the cover of the trees the darkness was thick. She wished she had a flashlight, but everything in her pockets had been confiscated except for a couple receipts, some cash and a tube of lip balm. If she were Matías she could probably turn it into some kind of weapon, but she was just a crop duster. Her tools were WD40 and duct tape.

  After a few minutes she was able to make out light through the trees. This could be a horrible idea. If Victor was the only job in town, these people would want to protect him, so she couldn’t waltz into the center of the village and ask someone if they knew where he was.

  The faint sound of gunfire, almost like fireworks, drifted toward her.

  She was willing to bet they’d found the compound.

  Her heart ached. Could Matías be there? It made the most sense, but they hadn’t put him in a car last night, at least not that she’d seen.

  She pressed forward, and in less than ten minutes found herself on the edges of the village. A cluster of people were staring up the hill where the sounds of the fight were coming from. Ambivalent to what was going on, a few children played in an open space between the houses. A single teen lounged on a fallen tree, maybe keeping watch on them or maybe just bored.

  Raven dug the cash out of her pocket. It was a twenty dollar bill. She had no idea what the exchange rate was, or if it could even be traded here, but it was all she had.

  The teen didn’t notice her until she was almost right next to him. He flinched when she went to tap h
im on the shoulder and stared up at her, eyes wide.

  Well, shit, that wasn’t what she wanted.

  Raven knelt by his side. It was so hard to understand the Colombian dialect, but she could pick out words. If she spoke slowly, hopefully it would work.

  “Victor. Where is Victor?” she asked.

  The boy stared at her.

  She pulled out the twenty and repeated her question.

  The boy’s eye’s widened. He turned and pointed down the hill.

  Well, that was interesting.

  “Show me?”

  The teen nodded and stood, unfolding into a tall, lanky boy. He waved at her and said something that sounded like river, but she couldn’t be certain. They took a tiny path she’d never have noticed on her own and once more the utter darkness closed in around them. Every couple of steps, the boy turned and said something to her, but never the same thing.

  Was he warning her? Did he want her to do something? Damn dialects.

  After an even shorter trek, zigzagging back and forth as the ground began to slope precariously, she saw their destination. A small, walled in villa.

  She stopped her guide and thrust the twenty into his hands. There was no reason for him to get more involved in her crazy plan than he already was. He stared at the money, turning it over and holding it up to the light.

  “Go on. Get out of here.” She shooed him away, but he didn’t move.

  He looked at her and grinned, his white teeth standing out in the darkness. Once more he said something more long and involved than a simple, “Thank you.”

  Raven nodded and shooed him away again, and this time he turned and darted off, up the trail. She made the rest of the short trek without incident. The path was well-worn, with hardly a rock underfoot. Clearly the villagers came here often. Was that where the house staff in the compound was from?

  There wasn’t time to puzzle it out. The path ended at a wooden door set into the wall. Did she try it? What would Matías do?

  He’d probably have some idea for a front door entry, but she wasn’t that smooth. The back door it was.