Hard Rider

“We found one of them,” he replied bitterly, turning his head. I could see the pain in his face as the clouds shifted, casting moonlight through the window. It seemed to only highlight his sense of failure. “But the other two were already gone. They were prepping the others – my sister included – for international travel.”

I wanted to cross the distance between us and soothe him with my cupped palm along his cheek, but he was such a tightly coiled ball of frustration that I feared his reaction.

“The cartel switched gears in the years after that. Maybe they thought it wasn’t worth the trouble if those operations could call down a surprise assault from beyond the border.”

“What did they do then?”

“Víboras Verde dabbled in other trades,” Hunter answered coolly. “But the other markets – drugs, murders, corruption, your other real moneymakers – they were already cornered by bigger, badder fish.”

“I’m guessing the other cartels?”

Hunter’s chuckle answered the question. “For a detective, you don’t seem to know very much about this. Your focus is domestic, I guess?”

I nodded, but my irritation was palatable.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Hunter corrected himself, seeing my annoyance. “Quick history lesson on the Mexican cartels: it’s a nest of fucking hydra down there. Even if – and that’s a very tentative if – you manage to sever the head of one, another pops up.”

“Are you talking about destroying a cartel, or toppling a leader?”

“Doesn’t matter. Kill a kingpin, and you cause a chaotic power vacuum. Sometimes, someone worse rises to take the mantle. If you knock out an entire organization, then congratulations – you just expanded operations for the others.”

“So how do you plan on getting rid of them?”

“I don’t,” Hunter admitted. “That’s a fight that’s not mine. It’s never gonna be mine. Víboras Verde is one of the smaller groups causing a ruckus, and they’re probably the largest force I’m willing to antagonize. I’ve got to pick my battles. If I lead my men into battle against the big cartels, my entire club would be snuffed out in a heartbeat… And that would just be the start… The cartels don’t fuck around. They would make sure we’re broken in every sense of the word. They go after your friends and your family, and then, they come for you.”

I shook my head in surprise. “You’re willing to risk that kind of thing for these girls? Do your men even know what they’re going up against?”

Hunter’s eyes darkened as he stared me down. “My men know exactly what they’re going up against…”

“And the ones that joined since then? They’ve heard stories so dark and twisted that it keeps them up at night.”

I didn’t understand.

“Why?” I asked. “Why would they risk it?”

Hunter’s gaze added a chilling layer to the sardonic grin that crossed his face. “Most of them know some poor girl that went missing down here. They join up because what the cartels do to those girls… what Víboras Verde alone does to them… I’m talking about pure concentrated fucking evil.”

My fingers absentmindedly slid along my forearm, and I realized that my skin was prickly with goosebumps.

“This is personal for me. It’s personal for all of us,” he continued darkly. “These people came for my sister, Sarah. They almost dragged her into a horrific life of heroin addiction, endlessly humiliating rape, and disgusting malnourishment. They took away her humanity.”

I, more than anyone, knew how affected he had been when she turned up missing. He had dropped everything to find her… He went straight to the toughest people he could find and pled his case…

And now, he led those men.

Hunter was going to lead them into battle against his old enemies once more, determined to stop them at every turn.

“What makes you so sure that it’s the same people?” I asked. When he stiffened up, I quickly added: “I’m just playing Devil’s advocate. You yourself said that there’s a ton of cartel activity beneath the border… why are you so convinced that it’s the same people who came for your family?”

Hunter exhaled sharply.

“We’ve got eyes on these guys,” he replied. “There’s something of an unspoken coalition that’s formed out here. Rival biker clubs, outlaws, even some gangs… there are some standing truces and understandings among us.

“Several unconnected sources – sources that I can trust – have been saying the same thing: Víboras Verde is back.”

“And you can trust them?”

“Absolutely.”

“But if they’re rivals of yours, or looking to muscle in on your territory…”

Hunter shook his head. “That’s not really the case anymore. Out here in the desert, it’s good to have people on your side of the law, perched in your corner and watching your back.”

I tilted my head curiously. This sounded interesting. “Hunter…”

"Call it whatever you want: honor among thieves, professional courtesy, or simple favor currying. But we all have an understanding…”

“An understanding?” I parroted curiously.

“That’s right. We have a closed ecosystem here… something of an equilibrium. We call ourselves the Outlaws Brigade… or just the Outlaws for short. When someone or something appears in our desert that is truly horrifying enough… we set aside our differences and take care of business.”

It was such a difficult concept to wrap my head around. I knew a little about the Devil’s Dragons when Hunter joined them – they were the local menace, as my father would put it.

Drug trafficking, shootouts, vandalism…

Hunter had been just the latest recruit, paying off his debt to the club for their service. But what kind of effect had he had on them? He’d ascended to take the helm of club president…

Was it possible that he’d united the bickering factions out here, right under the nose of the law?

It was too ridiculous a question to even ask.

Shaking my head, I glanced over at Hunter. His arms crossed again, he was watching me carefully, studying how the cogs turned in my head. He knew that I was figuring something out, and the cocky little smile that crossed his lips told me that there was more to this than met the eye…

“This cartel, Víboras Verde. Let’s assume it’s really them. Why the sudden interest in going after them now? Why are you looking for these girls?”

Hunter’s smile faded. “Because it’s not just those three pretty little white girls… There’s a dozen more you haven’t even fucking heard about.”

I poured myself another cup of coffee. “There was nothing in the case file about any other missing persons Hunter. If there were more kidnappings, I’d know about them.”

Hunter shook his head. “No… Take three white girls and the entire country goes on red alert. The cartel learned from that little mistake. They underestimated the media attention..”

“So, what was the lesson? Don’t kidnap from above the border?”

“If only.” His jaw tensed. “They learned the awful truth: kidnap three white girls, and they get all the news. So, they changed tactics… after all, why steal Tiffany, Samantha, and Karah when nobody bats an eye if you go for Valeria, Mariana, and Carmen?

I froze, the mug halfway to my lips again.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that my old friends have been targeting undocumented immigrants in kidnapping sprees for the last two months, because they know that the police don’t give a rat’s ass. No local heat, no media attention on either side of the border.”

I sat the mug down on the countertop.

“Are you trying to tell me that the local authorities aren’t hunting down any kidnappings in this area?”

Hunter scoffed. “I’m telling you that, from a particular perspective, the gradual and scattered removal of illegals from these parts is seen as a good thing…”

“You’re fucking kiddi

ng me.”

Hunter suppressed a laugh. “A sixteen-year-old girl from Guatemala was pulled out of her trailer a week ago right here in El Paso. Did you hear a fucking word about it?”

I crossed my arms bitterly. “Did I hear about the kidnapping of one girl? No, Hunter, I can’t exactly say that I did.”

Hunter slowly uncoiled his own. “What about the seventeen-year-old twins from Nicaragua? They were taken from a town less than thirty miles away. That one happened a couple of days ago… in broad daylight.”

I didn’t move.

“Did you hear about it?” He insisted.

Hesitantly, I shook my head.

“No, I thought not. You think those are the only ones? Not even close. In the last two weeks, do you want to guess how many undocumented girls have been abducted from these parts?”

My breath caught in my throat.

“How many, Hunter?”

He flattened his palms against the island countertop between us, his face glowering with anger in the dim lighting.

“Fifteen. That’s more than one abduction every single day, Sarah.”