I shook my head. “You don’t know?”
 
 She shrugged. “Know what?”
 
 Veronica looked at the floor.
 
 “Your fearless leader kidnapped my pregnant wife five years ago, and now I’m going to find her and my son.” I squeezed Veronica by the back of the neck. “Isn’t that right?” Veronica nodded.
 
 “I wanna go with you. Give me a minute.”
 
 I waited while she went into one of the other rooms. “Who else knows what you did?”
 
 Veronica threw up once again, and I stepped out of the way. “Only the people holding them captive. They were ordered not to harm either.”
 
 “You bet your entire fucking career this would work in your favor?”
 
 “We had a deal,” she said.
 
 I nodded. “You keep running your fucking drugs, Veronica. I just want my family and to take them back to the states. After that, I could give two shits about what happens next.”
 
 “I’m ready,” Stephanie said when she returned, a gun in her right hand. She handed me the gun and smiled. “I’m sure you know how to use one.”
 
 “He does,” Veronica said. “Trust me, I’ve seen him kill people.”
 
 “Yeah, and you should keep that in mind.” I nodded at Stephanie. “You know how to get to Tijuca National Park?”
 
 “Yeah, Chrissy and I go there every time we come down. That where your family is?”
 
 “So I’m told.”
 
 “Give me a minute,” I said.
 
 I returned to the couch and checked on each of the “women.” They were all out, sleeping like dogs that had been running around all day in heat. A fucking gangbang by a bunch of trannies. That was a story I would never share with my grandkids.
 
 Eloa opened her eyes and smiled at me. “That was pretty fucking awesome.”
 
 That’s when I realized they enjoyed what happened. It’s what they lived for. It’s what they wanted. “Live your best life, Eloa.”
 
 We walked out of the apartment, and I wished I could say everything was rainbows and unicorns after that. But then that wouldn’t be Veronica.