Haunted

CHAPTER 41

I WATCH LUIS. IF HIS HAND SO MUCH AS TWITCHES on that gun, I’m going out after Adelita. He’s questioning his men, asking how they found her and where. He points to her clothes, clean jeans and a sweatshirt, asks her how she got away. How she could have escaped the burned-out truck. Why she came back.

His eyes search the perimeter of the village, asking is she alone?

He fires off one question after another, not waiting for answers. Ramon tries to interrupt, offering assurances that she is alone, that they found no one else. Just a dead-end trail that stopped so quickly, it was as if an angel had reached down and spirited Max away.

Luis doesn’t look convinced. He approaches Ramon and draws his gun, putting the barrel against Ramon’s forehead.

Kill him. I wish it so hard, the nails on my balled fists draw blood.

But Ramon pleads for his life, begs Luis to ask his men. They will confirm his story. There was no sign of Max. They found Adelita right outside the village.

Luis lowers the gun a fraction, asks if Ramon found any trace of the six men who went in search of the other girls—the ones spirited away from his shack like Max was evidently spirited away—”No por ángel,” he spits. “Por el diablo mismo.”

By the devil.

I let a smile touch my lips. I’ve been called worse.

Ramon looks around. He finds the body of the murdered guard, dragged away to the far side of the well, recoils at the sight and sound of the dogs ripping at it. He meets Luis’ eyes. Shakes his head. “Lo juro. No vi a nadie.”

Luis drops his gun hand. He fires off a rapid-fire directive that has Ramon and his men looking at each other with puzzled expressions.

Ramon frowns. He has been told that all of his men will be required to work the shipment arriving today. Not just the villagers. “¿Por qué?” he asks.

Luis smiles. “Usted sabrá pronto bastante.”

Max, too, has been listening. “Why would the villagers not be able to work?” he asks me. “What has Luis done to them?”

I watch as the men disperse, quietly, slinking away as if hoping Luis does not notice and call them back. Only Ramon, Luis and Adelita remain. I ignore Max, waiting to see what happens next. Luis reaches down and hauls Adelita to her feet. He pulls her close to him, clutches her chin in a pinch so hard, I think I see bruises start to form.

“Afortunado para ti, estoy corto seis trabajadores,” he says. “Ramon, átala aquí hasta que llegue el carro.”

He is telling her she is lucky that he is down six workers. I allow a little relief to loosen some of the knots in my shoulders as Ramon ties her to a post near the well. Then he and Luis disappear into Luis’ shack.

I draw a breath. It may be a temporary reprieve, but at least I can keep an eye on her. If Luis had dragged her inside his shack, it would have given us no time to formulate an escape plan. I shut my eyes in frustration and concern. Now we have five girls to protect.

I’m ready to face Max.

Once again, my nails bite into the palms of my hand. It’s the only way I can keep my anger under control. Even my voice shakes with the effort when I ask, “How did she get here?”

Max can sense how close to rage I am. He closes his eyes for a minute, just as I did before, and passes a hand over his face. “There can be only one way. I didn’t think to check.”

“Check what?”

“I didn’t take the Jeep back to the States. I took the Explorer. I picked it up at the airstrip. There is a tarp over the cargo space in back. Adelita begged me to bring her with me when I came back to get you. I said no. She may have hidden in the back.”

“May have?”

“I thought I’d convinced her that we could take care of it. I promised her we would.”

I feel the pressure building again, the need to rip something apart or scream. Instead, I center myself, focus on drawing strength from deep inside. “Care of what? What exactly did you promise, Max?”

“When we were in the border station, I showed her some pictures of cartel members, to see if she could identify who attacked her. She identified Luis. She also identified the man who came to her village. The one who kidnapped her.”

I know before he says it.

“Ramon.”

He nods. “She went crazy when she saw his picture. Said she had to stop him from kidnapping any more girls. I promised her that we would stop him—you and I. She agreed to stay at the border station until we got back.”

“But she didn’t. How could you have not known she was in the back of the car?”

Max releases a breath. “On the way here, I thought I heard something—a noise—from the back.” He lowers his eyes. “I just figured something had shifted. You’ve seen the back of my truck. I keep tools in the back. And other stuff. When I didn’t hear anything again, I forgot about it.” He holds out his hands. “Anna, how could I have known she stowed away? She told me she’d wait for us.”

My eyes drift out through the window to Adelita, tied like an animal to the well. I’m not ready to concede that Max was not to blame for her being here. Part of me admires her courage and determination. Part of me wants to shake her until her teeth rattle.

She has not uttered a sound since arriving at the village. Her face is turned toward the direction of the dogs, the sound of them worrying at the corpse and snapping at each other hangs heavy and grotesquely on the still morning air. She must be so scared.

“Anna?”

Max’s voice pulls me back. I shift my gaze to him.

“Luis said they’re expecting a shipment today. We have to get the girls out of here.”

He’s right.

Luis didn’t say when the truck was due, but what if Ramon gathers the troops and directs them to the church to wait? Our luck is running out.

Esmeralda appears suddenly at our side. She, too, heard all that transpired outside and understood the conversation between Max and me. Her grasp of the situation is evident in the shadow of fear that darkens her eyes. “What are we going to do?” she asks.

I look up at Max. “You take the girls. Get as far away as you can.” A tiny pause. “And you will make sure they stay put this time, right?”

A spark flares in Max’s eyes. “I’ve already had one new asshole ripped today. Don’t need another one.” He jabs a finger in my direction. “And you?”

“I’m going to wait for the shipment to arrive. When the men are busy unloading the truck, I’ll free Culebra. Then we take care of Ramon.”

Max hefts the backpack. “What about Luis?”

“Get the girls to safety. Meet us back where you camped out that first night. We’ll bring Luis there.”

“Just you and Culebra? There must be twenty men in the village now that Ramon is back.”

I allow a growl to erupt from the pit of my rage. I lean close so that only Max can hear. “Good thing I’m hungry.”