Sweet Collateral

I force myself to walk further into the eucalyptus grove, to feel the dry grass beneath my toes and the sun on my skin. I make my way to the very end of the grove, where the low wall separates the grass from the sheer drop of the hillside beyond. Resting my elbows on it, I stare out at the rocky desert stretching far below us. The flat expanse runs for miles before it meets a rock formation that seems to reach high into the sky, creating a mountainous ridge. It’s vast and beautiful. There’s no sign of life anywhere, for as far as the eye can see.

In my periphery, I see Lucas move beside me, resting his back against the wall.

“It’s hot as fuck out here,” he mumbles.

“Why do you Mexicans keep complaining about the heat?”

He snorts. “We may live here, but there is such a thing as air conditioning. Why do you like the sun so much, Russian?”

I glance at him. “I didn’t see it for a very long time.”

He instantly looks mortified. “Oh, yeah. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Do you want me to go back inside?”

He swipes a hand over the back of his neck. “No, it’s okay.”

“Did Carlos go with Rafael?”

Lucas shakes his head. “No, the boss made him stay here. He’s pissed. He’s not used to staying in the expensive houses, you know? He prefers the streets.”

I nod. “He feels out of place.”

“Yeah. We were raised poor. Sometimes you almost feel guilty for having more. Especially when you earn your money doing this.” He kicks at the grass with his scuffed converse.

I glance out over the desert again. “We all do what we have to in order to survive, Lucas. There’s no shame in that.” Lucas, Carlos, Rafael…they’re not good men, but they aren’t bad men either. They’re just taking the only opportunities handed to them.

“Thanks.” I glance at the wide gawky grin on his face. A bang splits the air, and it sounds almost like the cracking of a whip. The smile falls from Lucas’ face, his skin instantly washing white as he clutches his stomach. A red spot is slowly spreading beneath his fingers, staining his white t-shirt.

“Lucas!” He drops to the ground, landing on his back on the grass. His mouth opens and closes like he’s trying to speak but can’t. “Lucas!” He’s been shot. I press my hands over his stomach where warm blood pools between my fingers. Where the hell are these other guards? I glance around, but I can’t see anyone. In a panic, I pat Lucas’s pocket and find his phone. With trembling fingers, I manage to dial Carlos’ number and put it on speakerphone so I can press both hands over Lucas’ stomach.

“Little bro,” Carlos answers.

“Carlos,” I sob. “He’s been shot. I can’t…there’s so much blood.”

“Where are you?”

“The –”

Something covers my mouth, and I thrash wildly as a horrible chemical smell makes my eyes water. My vision blurs, my mind swirls, and the last thing I see before everything goes black is Lucas’ bleeding form lying in the grass.

35

Rafael

My phone vibrates in my pocket, but I ignore it, staring across the table in the middle of the deserted little café. A fan lazily whirs above us, blending with the tinkling of traditional music crackling over the speakers.

“Twenty-five percent,” Jimmy’s replacement says.

I glance at Samuel beside me. His lips twitch, and I laugh. “The balls on this little fucker.” These street gangs. Honestly, they run a few drugs, make some money, kill a few guys, and they think they’re the shit. Irritatingly, this particular gang makes up fifty percent of my Juarez revenue. Hence why I’m dealing with this shit myself.

Sam shrugs. “No respect, boss.”

My phone vibrates again, pissing me off. I look at the kid sitting across from me, the shitty tattoos up the side of his face, some crap scrawled illegibly over his forehead. “You’ll get fifteen, the same as I agreed with Jimmy, and if I get any shit on your patch, you’re out.” He frowns, eyeing me up and down before he reluctantly nods his head. “Good. I now own you.”

Samuel turns away from us, taking his phone from his pocket and glancing at the screen. “Boss, we have to go.” There’s an urgency to his voice, an undertone of panic that no one else would hear, but I know him.

“We’ll be in touch,” I say to the kid, pushing to my feet. I don’t wait for a response before I’m striding from the shitty little bar, fastening the buttons on my jacket. Samuel falls into step beside me.

“Anna’s been taken.” My heart seizes in my chest, and everything around me fades to nothing more than a low hum. Anna’s been taken. A fear unlike anything I’ve ever felt grips me in its clutches, squeezing the air from my lungs. I force the impending panic down and close the lid on it. In its place is nothing but icy focus, and that’s exactly what I need. My heart rattles against my ribs like a caged animal hammering at the bars I’ve just erected around it. I can’t think with anything other than my head right now.