Page 2 of Embedded
I heard the leather on her chair hiss as she leaned forward and took my hand. “Cariño, I need you to fix this. Do whatever is necessary to get me that Canos baby and kill that reporter.”
“I will, I promise.” I had no intention of killing Nicole, at least not right away. She would be mine to enjoy, until I was done with her. No woman would walk away from me without repercussions.
“She’s smart, Bruno.” Her gaze went cold, and the temperature in the room dropped. My foot throbbed even more as my blood pressure went up. “So, I need to know you understand what will happen if that woman discovers even a fraction of what we’re up to. She has a reputation. She’s like a dog with a bone and will be relentless until she discovers the truth.” Her phone rang, and she glanced down at it. “He can wait,” she murmured and silenced it. I knew it was Papa. He wouldn’t like that, but Mama was not a woman who backed down from anyone. She was the one who was changing the Cartel game, and Papa would have to wait for her to call him back. “Do you hear me, son?”
“Yes.” I hated how small I felt.
“I need to hear you say it.”
I licked my dry mouth and swallowed my pride. “I wouldn’t jeopardize our empire. Especially not after the death of Uncle Martin.” I hoped the mention of the death of her brother, Martin Castillo, would turn her anger elsewhere.
Mama studied my face again with her eyes in slits. I felt her effort to instill in me that her position in the family was way above me. “Get that looked at.” She pointed to my foot. “I won’t have you getting an infection. We have enough eyes and ears out there, so you can take a few hours to go see a doctor.” She stood, and Rio popped out of nowhere as she crossed the room. She stopped at the door and said over her shoulder, “I want them all dead, Bruno, every last one of them. There is no room to spare a single soul this time around.”
“Understood.”
TWO
Mexico/Texas Border
NICOLE
“Nicole Winter?” The man who looked like Rip from Yellowstone loomed over me with his eyes shaded behind a pair of dark sunglasses. He didn’t smile or show any warmth as his head lifted to look over mine. I knew he’d be looking for any trouble I might have brought to the border. If I was about to get into a stranger’s car, I was glad that Jack, my best friend at the Washington Post, knew what was going on. I looked over my shoulder and spotted a Canos soldier getting closer. Rip was my only hope.
“Yes.”
“Put this on.” He handed me an oversized coat. “Up over your head too.” I followed his instructions, as I knew it was my only option.
“Thank you so much, Lucy, all of you.” I beamed at the ladies.
“Only too happy to help, dear. Be safe, now.” Lucy smiled back. “Look after these two.” She gave the stranger a stern look, but he didn’t react.
“You ready?” He looked at me, and I nodded. “Good. Now, follow me and keep your head down.” I did but scanned the area like it was my next breath, maybe because it kind of was. We weaved through the sea of people, and I had to use my arms to create a protective shield around Chase and hoped to God he wouldn’t start to cry again. The man kept a few paces in front of me with his head constantly on a swivel.
He took me around a corner away from the hustle of the car lanes. Then he stopped at a blue eighteen-wheeler. He opened the huge rolling door at the back and nodded. “I can get you across if you hide in here.”
“There?” I repeated and looked inside the long, dark box as I lowered the coat from my head.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Wait! Can I at least know your name since you know mine?”
Suddenly, something moved inside the box, and I locked eyes with… My heart dropped straight to the ground, and I turned back to him with my mouth open. What the hell?
“My name’s Chili.” He waited for me to weigh my options. He saw the fear that had taken hold of me and tilted his head to one side then offered me a hand to help me step up inside. “You either get in, or you both will die waiting for another ride.” He pointed to poor little Chase, whose flushed face could just be seen from where he lay in the makeshift sling.
“Are you really going to help us?” I pleaded as I looked into the dark container. The young woman I had locked eyes with gave me a slow nod as if to say it was okay.
“Yeah.” I took his hand and let him help us both up into the massive truck. Once my eyes adjusted, I could see there were boxes and boxes filled with avocados. “Chili?” I turned to look at him as I felt a sense of panic rip through me. “I don’t care what happens to me, but can you promise to get this little guy to safety?”
He didn’t say anything as he studied me with a face like granite, but I thought I caught a small nod as he reached up and pulled the giant door closed to leave us in total darkness.
Oh, my God.
“Put your hands out and come toward me.” The woman’s voice made me jump right out of my skin. At least I wasn’t completely alone. “Move toward the sound of my voice,” she called again.
“Yeah, okay.” My voice outed my nerves, and I felt my way around the crates until I found her hands.
“Good,” she coached me. “Now, there’s a fake wall here, you need to take a step to your right to get around it. Feel the side of it here.” She moved my hand, and I felt what she referred to as Chase gave a nasty cough that vibrated through me. I instinctively rubbed his back and talked to him in a soothing voice. “We’re okay, buddy. I got you.” I could feel the heat from his fever through my shirt and knew the poor little guy needed a doctor desperately.
