Page 63 of Run with Me

“I can’t let you kill. It’s wrong.”

“I hope you don’t need to be reminded who the Cortez familyis.”

No, I definitely didn’t need a reminder.

“You’re getting paid to get rid ofthem?”

“Whoa, hold on. That’s not what I said. My job doesn’t always involve murders or kidnappings. Someone needed information, and I got it tothem.”

“So the Cortez family has important enemies? That’s great.”

“Yeah. It’s a little difficult not to have enemies when you steal fifty million.”

I gasped. “Youknow?”

He looked at me funny. “Wait – you know aswell?”

“It depends if what I know is what youknow.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Ben Cortez has a bounty on his head, but only because his father and uncle are leading one of the most lucrative smuggling operations in the world. The government is looking for leads beyond the Cortez family. They want to find all the people who are connected, and that’s why I was there. Around the time you left Pace, a transaction for fifty million dollars was supposed to happen — money for drugs and weapons — but it never did. The police had the place staked out. They pretty much had an army ready to arrest four cartel families, but no one showed up. I wanted to ask you about Ben when you first came to New York, but you were so fragile and you were pregnant. I didn’t want to stress you. I guess it doesn’t matternow.

Oh, myGod!

I stole that money. I never planned to do anything with it. I was mad and in grief. I just wanted Ben to suffer. I wanted him to feel a fraction of my pain. But was I the reason he was still free? Was I the reason four crime families werefree?

“Now, what fifty million are you talking about?” Xavier pulled me out of my thoughts.

“I think we’re talking about the same fifty million. Before I left, I saw some duffle bags stuffed with cash in one of the back rooms. Mateo and Pablo were saying that it wasn’t even everything.”

“And thenwhat?”

“And then I left before anyone sawme.”

I wanted to tell Xavier the truth, but sometimes the truth was worse than keeping your mouth shut. The less anyone else knew, the less danger they’d be exposed to. I would never give up the spot where I hid that money and I’d be happy if it all rotted there.

I grasped the short grass at my sides, hoping that I could find a reason behind my actions. “So, the transaction didn’t happen for Alejandro and Juan Pablo, and they’re just walkingaway?”

“Far from it. Alejandro skipped out on a fifty-million-dollar obligation. No one closes their eyes to that kind of money. There’s been a lot of whispers about someone taking the brothers out. They’ve been able to stall for a couple of years, but with the recent trips out of town, I think they may be on themove.”

“Maybe they’re just smugglingmore?”

“That’s possible too. I guess we’ll have to wait andsee.”

Maybe I should tell Xavier about the money. Would he be upset? Would he think I’d kept the secret from him on purpose? Possibly, and maybe I would tell him soon, but at this moment I didn’t want to distract his attention away from the purpose of our trip. I had to tell John about Hope. Once we returned, I would tell Xavier about the money.

“So we’re leaving this evening?”

“In about an hour, actually. We’ll need to get closer to town first. I’m going to take a nap. You should do so as well. It’ll be a longday.”

I followed Xavier’s lead and went back to my tent, zipping it shut. I tried to sleep, but when real monsters from the past were within a few miles, I found it difficult to close myeyes.

*

The sun beganto scorch my skin by the time we reached the town’s edge. I huddled behind Xavier who seemed to be shielding me from anything and everything that was ahead. He had a broad presence about him that made me feel safe. About a mile out we descended down a hole that looked like a sewer.

“They transport the money through the tunnels.”

“What if they seeus?”

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