He went for the door and I climbed off of Camden and said, “Not without him. I’m not doing this without Camden.”
Javier looked to the ceiling and mouthed something to the heavens, like he was arguing in Spanish with God. He exhaled long and slow through his nose. “Fine, bring the ape with you, as long as he can keep himself under control. Other people might not be as forgiving as I am.”
Camden stiffened under my fingers and I willed him to calm down, even though I had to bite my own tongue to keep from saying something. The penny-taste of blood filled my mouth but I only nodded and said, “Come on, Camden. We need to think about the big picture.”
“The picture is bigger than you know,” he muttered.
I was about to ask him what he meant when he brushed me aside and threw his shoulders back, walking up to Javier, looking large and in charge.
“We’re ready,” he said loudly, standing right behind him, his eyes bearing down. I watched their silent exchange for a moment, the complexity in their eyes as they matched against each other in a visual war. The snake and the bear, the man of stealth and lies, the man of soul and strength.
Both men who had a stake in my heart at some point in the game.
This ever-changing game.
Javier finally stepped back, flourishing the act with his arm. “After you,” he said, his words dripping with venom. He looked to me. “Come on, angel.”
I grabbed my purse and headed to the door. I was halfway out of it when Javier’s hand slipped around my waist and he whispered, “You look beautiful.”
I twisted away from his touch and quickened my steps so I was walking beside Camden. He didn’t look at me but his temples were twitching as he tried to keep his temper under control. I felt like we kept on taking one step forward together, two steps back, and Gus kept slipping away all the same.
The bar was dark but not dingy, small but not cramped. It looked like a good mix of locals and vacationing Mexicans who were staying at the hotel. Camden and I were the only gringos in the whole place but no one seemed to notice. They were all too busy laughing and drinking, having a good time.
In the corner of the bar, closest to an old pool table, was Dom. He was sitting with someone now and I could hear Javier mutter, “Fucking animal,” under his breath. I turned to look at him, to gauge his reaction, but Javier pushed past me and went up the table with open arms.
“Esteban, you bastard!” Javier exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.
The man, Esteban, got up and the two of them embraced. Once I got to the table, smiling politely at Dom, I got a better look at Esteban.
He was around six feet, medium-build, light olive skin and bright hazel eyes, hair done up like a surfer, all shoulder-length straggles, dark brown with sun-bleached strands. He looked to be about our age, late twenties, and could have been a Matthew McConaughey’s Doppelganger if it wasn’t for the fact that he had a swath of lacerations on the left side of his face. It was weird to see someone so beautiful and ugly at the same time. He was scarred just like me, only his were visible for all the world to see.
And yet here he was, smiling and greeting Javier like old chums, not making any apologies for himself, for what had happened to him, for the scars he had to bear. He embraced it. Like, f**k it, this is me.
After the two embraced, Esteban sat back down and immediately looked to me. He didn’t say anything though, just pressed his pretty lips together into a small smile. His eyes did most of the talking. He knew who I was. He eyed Dom and a similar look was exchanged.
Javier looked to Dom. It was odd to see him so genuinely happy to see someone. “Why didn’t you tell me he was coming?”
Dom smiled. “I wanted to show you that I too have a few surprises up my sleeve.” He nodded at Camden and I. “Please sit down, Ellie. And you must be Camden.”
Introductions were quickly made by me since Javier wasn’t stepping up to the plate.
“Got something on your lip there?” Esteban pointed at Javier.
Javier dabbed his bruised lip, a spot of blood coming away. He smiled quickly. “It’s a tough business.”
Camden quietly snorted beside me but thankfully kept his mouth shut.
I leaned on the table, my hands clasped under my chin and eyed Esteban and Dom. “Before we start getting into the real reason we’re all sitting here, Esteban, why don’t you tell me how you come into all of this.”
Dom let out an amused gasp and sat back in his chair. He watched Javier for his reaction, knowing he was going to be slighted from me taking the reins of this whole thing, of his cartel. But f**k it. This was my mission more than anything. And if I was going to risk our lives to get Gus, I had to know exactly who everyone was and how they were playing into it.
Esteban raised his brows and said, in near-perfect English, “Well, Miss Watt. My brother used to work for Javi–”
“He still does,” Javier interjected.
Esteban gave him a look. “Yes. But I haven’t heard from him in a while and I am sure you haven’t either. Anyway, I joined in after Travis. I’m part of the new and improved cartel. The younger one. The stronger one.” He grinned. “Of course, things don’t always go as planned. I got into a, well, a scuffle down here with another cartel. I should say, the police that the cartel was paying off. Not the Zetas, the Gulf. But what does it matter what cartel it is, right? Alliances mean nothing these days. So in this scuffle, I had a load of shrapnel to my face and was presumed dead. I wasn’t, hey. But let them think that.”
“You let me think that,” Javier said. “You let Alex think that.”
“It was for the best,” Esteban said.
“Alex is your brother?” I asked him, remembering all too well the other henchman of Javier’s.
He nodded. “I saw all the fine ladies he was pulling in with his new cars and suits and wanted in.” He winked at me then waved over the waitress.
We all shut up while she came by and took our orders (more beer, naturally), then as soon as she was gone, I launched into more questions.
“So why are you here now?” I asked him.
He gave Javier a look, as if saying ain’t she the eager beaver. Then Esteban gazed me directly in the eye, unblinking, piercing. Suddenly, terribly serious. “Because Javier and Dom cannot do this on their own. You cannot do this on your own. Travis’s compound is in the east of the Honduras. Right in the heart of the jungle. Not even accessible by road. They chopper in and out. We can’t do that. We have to hike it and it takes several days. Then when you get whoever you’ve come to get, it won’t be so easy to leave.” He took a swig of his beer. My limbs felt leaden at the news. I had imagined him being in a house similar to the one in Veracruz, not a fortress in the middle of a jungle, not some place we’d have to hike to. “Speaking of, this man that you say Travis has, Gus? There’s a woman too.”