Page 13 of Cartel Cobra

The moment I touched her, I was done for.

She felt so damn right as I guided her to that storeroom. Then the way she felt against me. The way she tasted. The way?—

For fuck’s sake. You’re going to get hard in front of the woman’s brothers. How the fuck will you explain that without them thinking you’re a perve toward her or hot for one of them?

“I talked to her to keep her away from Paco, Chuy, and Cokie. I realized they’d spot her as she left the restroom since I’d gone in that direction to text you. I walked back into the dining area, looking like I was on the phone. I ended a pretend call and keptthem distracted while she went back to Domingo. The brothers didn’t notice them until they walked past the window on the way to Domingo’s car.”

Luis stares as me for a moment before he speaks. “Did they say anything about her?”

“No. I didn’t give them a chance to.”

“Grrmmmpphhrrr.”

Enrique, Luis, and I look down at the man bound and gagged on the deck. Luis kicks him in the ribs, but Enrique and I ignore his garbled sound. We’re near the center of the lake, and it’s overcast, so there are next to no stars shining. It’s far darker than it was the other night. I lower the anchor, then turn off the engine.

Enrique grabs the man’s hair and pulls him to his feet. He brings the tip of his blade to the corner of the guy’s right eye and trails it down his cheek, leaving a faint line but not breaking the skin. The man pisses himself when Enrique slips the knife beneath the gag. Enrique, Luis, and I laugh as Enrique cuts the gag in one slice.

“Now I’m going to have to scrub the fucking deck. I should make you do it before I keelhaul you.”

I’ll have to scrub more than just piss after we’re done with him. Enrique cuts through the zip ties securing the guy’s hands behind his back. Luis pulls a mini machete from his belt, and Enrique pushes our captive’s hands onto the boat’s rail.

“You like to wear a lot of jewelry. Perhaps we shall offer them as sacrifices toEl Dorado.”

Luis raises his knife as he speaks. He’s about to bring it down over the man’s left pinky when he squeals and tries to pull away. All that does is make him back into my pistol’s muzzle.

“We can’t leave without offering something to Chie. The water goddess won’t be ignored.” I push him forward until Enrique and Luis each have a hand pressed against the boat.

This guy—Miguel Rojas—is descended from the ancient Muisca people who inhabited this area. This lake is one of their most sacred spots. I’m not superstitious like Miguel, but I don’t like to linger here if I can help it. We’re using his fear to our advantage.

“Tell us what we want to know, and all you’ll lose are your rings, bracelets, and necklaces. Don’t answer, and I’ll cut off your fingers, your hands, and then your neck to make our offerings. Your jewels will sink to the bottom just like the parts of you I lop off.” Luis lifts the machete again.

“No! No! I’ll talk. I’ll give the offering, and I’ll talk.”

Whether it’s a healthy fear of the deity or us, the man’s made his first good choice since getting into bed with Humberto.

“What’s Humberto planning?”

Miguel looks at Enrique as he mulls over what to say. Luis presses the blade against his pinky, and Miguel trembles. He’s weak, but at least that means we won’t be out here long. The whole only-one-boat-out-here thing is making me anxious. No boats are supposed to be on the lake, and the few that come on here are usually little more than rafts or canoes. It’s why this is a good place to meet Enrique and Luis. No one’s going to overhear us. But none of us love being on sacred water. We might not believe in the goddess Chie because we’re all lapsed Catholics, but we have a healthy fear of desecrating any faith.

“He thinks he’s—” Miguel tilts his head toward me and looks over his shoulder. “—at home with his parents in Medellín. Humberto wanted him—” He jerks his head toward me this time. “—to kill your father, but now he’s ordered me to do it. I’m supposed to be at the airport, hiding just outside the hangar when your family arrives to meet you. Humberto knowsel jefewon’t let theseñoraorseñoritasout of the car before him. I’m to shoot him the moment he turns toward the plane as it taxis into the hangar. I have a driver to go with me to get me out of there.”

“He’s assuming our father gets out of the car before the plane enters the hangar. What if he waits until Luis and I get off the plane?”

Miguel’s already pissed himself. Now he looks like he’s going to shit himself.

“I’m to shoot all three of you.”

“You’re willing to die for ourtío?” Luis sounds skeptical.

“Do I have a choice?”

“Yes.” Enrique’s quick to answer, which makes Miguel shift his attention away from the machete pressing against his finger.

“Is it a choice of how I die? I don’t want to be keelhauled. Just cut my head off instead. I can’t hold my breath that long.”

I roll my eyes. For starters, I’m not keelhauling him in this lake. I still have limits beside not harming women and children, and we’re already pushing them being out here to torture the fucker. My boat isn’t even wide enough to do more than keep him under water for thirty seconds. I can’t do it lengthwise because of the outboard engines. The worst that would happen is he gets some water up his nose.

“You work for me now. You’re going to make your home inla alcantarilla.”

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