Haunted

CHAPTER 44

IT’S MORE DIFFICULT THAN EVER TO WAIT. THE thought that Adelita is being used as slave labor makes me long to get her out of that church. I wish I could have gotten a message to her. She doesn’t know I’m here. She doesn’t know I’m watching her. She must be feeling such terror, such hopelessness. She came back to do one thing—make Ramon pay. Keep him from taking other innocents the way he took her. She’ll think she failed.

Did Ramon recognize Adelita when he caught her sneaking up on the village? Or has Ramon kidnapped so many girls, the faces blur in his memory? Did she tell him who she was?

I have to take a step back. I’m working myself into the kind of state that makes vampire want to claw and chew her way free. I have to keep her in check, at least until I’ve disposed of the truck and gotten Adelita to safety. When Culebra has Ramon and I have Luis is the time to allow vengeance and anger out to play.

At last, the door to the church opens and a man steps out, beckoning the guard inside. In a moment, there is a flurry of activity as the villagers begin moving pallets of small, wrapped parcels to the truck.

Culebra?

I’m here.

They’re loading the truck. When you hear the explosion, make your move.

His eagerness to attack comes through in a fiery wave of anticipation that sizzles in my head.

Meet you at the camp.

I wish I could watch Culebra shape-shift into a rattlesnake and see the guard’s expression when the snake attacks. But a bigger part of me is anxious to get into position to exact some retribution of my own.

I take both grenades from the duffel and secure them by hooking the handles over my belt. The irony that I’m wearing Gabriella’s clothes while plotting revenge against her father is not lost on me. I wonder what Gabriella would think if she knew what her father had done—the girls, some younger than she is, that he’s procured for his boss.

Shit. Maybe she already does.

I watch as the men load the truck. When there are fewer trips being made back and forth, I figure they’re close to being finished. I leave my hiding place and start out for the road. I’d been going over in my head the best place to attack. I tear across the desert floor.

Not far from where I found Adelita that first day, there’s a bend in the road. Two tall, bushy mesquite trees grow, one on each side, to form a canopy over the spot. I stash the duffel beside one of the trees and scramble like a monkey up the trunk to test the strength of branches intertwined in the middle, looking for one capable of supporting my weight. When I find the right spot, I stretch my body flat, like a cat hunting a bird, and peer down through the leaves to check it out.

Perfect. I won’t even have to lob the grenade. Just pull the pin and let it drop.

I’m ready. The sound of the truck engine cranking to life in the village sends my heart into overdrive. The only drawback to my plan is that I left before the last of the cocaine was loaded. I don’t know how many of Ramon’s men chose to leave with the truck.

Or how many Luis would allow to leave.

The sputter of the truck engine idling makes me feel the same thrill that I felt from Culebra when I told him it was almost time. Every nerve in my body tingles. I push my face down into the leaves to make sure I have a clear shot when the truck passes underneath. I grab one of the grenades off my belt and hold it ready.

I don’t know how fast the truck will be going and it occurs to me that the concussion from the explosion might dislodge me. No problem. I’m high enough not to be blown apart, and that’s the most important thing. A fall to the ground won’t kill me.

I focus on the sounds from the village. The truck engine idling, rough at first, then smoothing out. The clutch engages. I feel the vibration as the truck rolls onto the dirt road.

The truck picks up speed and my heart races with excitement. I allow a smile. I see a plume of dust draw closer, hear the wheels hum. It takes about five minutes before the truck rolls into view. Another two to approach the bend.

I gauge the trajectory, squeeze the handle, pull the grenade pin, wait for the canvas top of the truck bed to move into place directly underneath me.

I open my hand, let the grenade fall.