Page 61 of Embedded
“You know the plan, Bruno. Don’t forget I’m the one who brought you into this world and I can take you out. This will be done my way.” She twisted harder, and my ear burned. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Mama.”
She let go and patted my shoulder. “Sometimes boys forget where they stand in the family,” she said. “Don’t let it happen again.”
“Mr. Perez.” Armondo walked up with a man who positively reeked of America. When he smiled, his teeth flashed so white, he reminded me of a toothpaste model. “Meet your new Nando.” The man flashed that smile again as he stepped forward.
“Archie Kidd,” he offered. “I’m honored to be working with you.”
Mama stared at him hard, and his smile instantly faded. Then she raised a brow at me as if to say, “See? He obeys.” She turned and left the room. I waited until the sound of her clicking heels faded, then I turned my attention to him.
I’d already checked the young man’s past. He had a less than savory military background and had been dishonorably discharged for fighting. Apparently, he had put his bunkmate in a coma. The US Army didn’t approve of such things. It was sure to be my gain.
“You will have only one chance with me,” I warned. I waved toward the window. “Can you see the property line?” I stepped forward and looked out.
“No, sir.”
“Exactly, because we own it all. Your family will never be able to find your body.”
He turned to look over at me. “Then I better behave.”
“Bruno.” Armondo’s voice sounded strange, so I turned my attention immediately to him. He rarely smiled, and the smile he wore in that moment was chilling. “We’re needed back home.”
FOURTEEN
NICOLE
My hands shook, and the thin cloth bag over my head kept being sucked in and out as I breathed. I struggled to calm my nerves. Tears burned down my cheeks and made the bag stick to my neck and sealed in the heat from my panic.
“Sorry you have to keep the bag on, but we can’t risk it. Dig your nails into this.” Chili stuck a tin of something between my legs, and I stuck my hand inside to feel something scratchy and damp. “It’s dirt. You need to look like I’ve put you through hell. You don’t want him to think we’ve been staying in some grand place with soap and fluffy, high-end towels, right?”
“Yeah, ha-ha.” I awkwardly did as he instructed and rubbed some on my legs and arms, then smeared a little around my neck below the hood. “Any sign of them?”
He didn’t answer right away, and I thought he ignored me. “Three cars back.”
“How much farther?” I just got the last word out when a loud crunch followed by a quick jerk of the wheel sent me flying into the door. I smashed my head into the glass, and the air was knocked out of my lungs. I hardly had time to react when the door was pulled open and something sharp pierced my skin. For the second time that day, everything went black.
***
My teeth chattered so hard my jaw ached, my head throbbed, and my mouth felt like the Sahara Desert. I blinked and saw things were sideways, or was I sideways? The bag that had been over my head lay next to me. I tried to focus on the small pieces of dirt in the grooves of the tile floor. Then a pair of shiny shoes stepped into view, and I was pulled upright so fast my world spun.
Colors and sounds morphed into one for a moment, then my eyes focused on a pair of cold, evil eyes.
“Welcome home, Nicole.” Bruno’s smile promised I’d never leave again. He held my arms and walked me backward on wobbly legs until I felt something hit the back of my knees. I fell into a chair and took in the familiar surroundings. I knew exactly where I was. Bruno’s living room. The TV was still on the far wall, the large sectional couch sat to my left, the entrance to the kitchen was to my right, and the front door faced me. I forced myself to notice these things to get my mind working.
Then a sudden thought. Chili?
I quickly looked around and found him. He sat in a chair and had a mean glare focused on me.
If I didn’t know the man the way I now did, I would have believed I was in deep shit. Chili had a way of holding himself that made one’s skin crawl.
Bruno grabbed my chin and brushed my hair back to get a good look at me. I drew my chin in and bit at his fingers. “She looks to be her normal self.”
“She’s got fire.” Chili spat chew into a tin can. “Sure put up a fight after she realized she was coming back here.”
Bruno traced the scar on my forehead while he thought. “She’s a little worse for wear.”
“Not my doing.” Chili shrugged. “I got ambushed by those fuckers in fatigues. I think they thought I had the soldier the Ruiz guys killed.”
