Page 7 of Savage Sin

Two. I swallow back the lump of jitters vibrating along my nerves.

Everyone is down at the pool house. I let out the air in my lungs and move deeper into my step-father’s office. Inside, two lamps offer enough light that I won’t stumble into anything.

Like any other office, there are shelves of books, a couch and a bar. A few chairs. I single out the silver computer on the edge of the desk and rush across the room, my leather boots silent on the tiled floor.

My fingers shake and I can’t get a good purchase on the edge of the lid to open the computer. I throw a nervous look at the door. My thoughts race and it’s hard to get my brain back on track. A large window overlooks the direction of the pool house. It’s risky to close the curtains, so I drop to my knees and keep low.

“Okay, Persi. You can do this.”

I slam my eyes shut and block out all the rambling worries, like the fact I will can die a million different ways if I am caught and focus on what matters.

Get it together, Persi.

I mentally tick off the steps of my grandiose plan for taking down the notorious drug lord married to my mother.

One: Get all the proof and digital files. Super obvious fucking step.

Two: Get sister and mother. Get sister and mother, but keep in mind that one of them is seven months pregnant, and the other is in huge denial. This leads me to my go bag. It took weeks to collect and put together, with no one noticing the missing weapons. Three guns, four cans of pepper spray and a couple of grenades are all I could manage. It will have to do.

Three: Escape while everyone is too drunk to stop us. I stole a set of spare keys to an SUV in the garage, provided we get that far.

It’s a simple plan. Once we are on the outside, I will reveal the horrors we’ve lived, and the crimes committed under my family’s name. I will attach the proof to back up my claims and send it to the journalist promising to publish my truths. And then my sister, mom and I can fade away to some small town far, far away from Nowhere, Texas.

I stop shaking long enough to flip open Cortes’ laptop. Something black falls to the floor and I pick it up, immediately recognizing the baggie. I’ve seen them handed out to the guards ever since that Russian arrived with his crew of dead-faced asshole enforcers. Not for the Cortes’ guards to use. My step-father isn’t stupid enough to hook his help on drugs. No. He wants the guards’ cousins, siblings and anyone else recruited as pushers to move the merchandise hidden in the basement courtesy ofel Ruso, I’m sure.

My heart hurts so badly for the little kids who will get their hands on this that I feel sick to my stomach.

I flip the small bag over. There’s a large “E” on the front. I’m not a pusher, but I do have other reasons for wanting a bag for myself. I stuff it in my front pocket and turn back to the screen. A white box pops up, and I put in the eight-digit password.

“I’m in.” Another glance around and I slip a thumb drive into a port. A few clicks and the stream of damning information flows.

I check the window. Everyone is still at the party. I gnaw on the edge of my nail and keep below the windowsill.

“Come on, damn it.” Tonight is not the end of the world, just my world. If I fail… “No!” I chastise myself. “I can’t fail.”

Goosebumps sprinkle over my heated skin. I scrub my clammy hand down the front of my jeans. “Come on, hurry.” No matter how hard I will it to go faster, the green bar creeps across the screen. “Cool your jets. Keep calm,” I tell myself. By this time tomorrow, we will all be free of the terror of this place and I will finally end Cortes’ reign once and for all.

I used to love Texas summers at my family’shacienda. Now I loathe everything about this place. The high perimeter walls that used to protect me, keep me locked inside. The gates on the doors and bars on the windows complete the vision of hell. Guards and guns are everywhere. Sure, the fine food and silk drapery make it nice, but it’s still a prison, and I plan on ruining its warden.

Kill,my demons whisper. But I can’t be that hopeful or lucky.

I spin to my right when a secondary door flies open. A woman draped in creamy silk and a bright orange chiffon burst through in a flare of fear.

“Mija, he’s coming! I told you this was a bad idea!” my mother gasps, hand to her mouth. Large diamond teardrop earrings swing madly as she tries to drag me back the way she came through.

I dig my heels in. “Mamá!” My heart lurches into my throat. I clutch a hand to my chest and tell myself to breathe. “Stop! I’m doing this for you. For Gabriella.”

Her eyes latch onto me in the dimly lit room and I physically see one of her lives leave her body when she sees me standing over her husband’s laptop.

Then her eyes drop the flash drive and for a second I legit think she’s going to pass out.

Hair dark as midnight weaves around a once beautiful heart-shaped face that is now marred by twenty-five years as a wife to two drug lords–first my father and then his best friend. Her horrors and pain reflect in the depths of her hazel eyes and serve as a reminder of why I’m risking my life tonight. I want to see her smile again.

“Mija, you foolish girl. I told you this was a bad idea. And now…” she condones me, like we didn’t discuss these exact plans step by step just hours ago. She bites at her knuckles before she crosses the room and grabs either side of my face. “Now he’s going to kill you. Run,mija. Run! Get out of here and save yourself! He knows!” Desperation saturates her aura and drips from her words.

I shake off her hands and I jerk the flash drive from the port and stuff it into my front pocket the second it reaches completion. My face scrunches with disbelief and hurt. “Me foolish? I didn’t marry a psychotic killer out of fear of losing my position in society.”

I fight the knee jerk reaction to pull back my words when her face morphs with shock. I don’t want to hurt her, but someone has to tell the truth at some point.

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