Haunted (Anna Strong Chronicles #8)

Haunted (Anna Strong Chronicles #8) Page 14

Chapter 38

IT'S FULL DAYLIGHT NOW AND I LOOK AT MY WATCH. Ten minutes before I can turn on my cell and try to reach Max. A glance around at the girls looking to me for salvation makes my heart feel heavy in my chest. How long can we hide here before someone thinks to look more closely in the church?

At eight, I switch on the cell. The power indicator reads two bars. Less than half power. I pull up Max's number and press Send.

He picks up right away. "Are you all right?"

"Did you get Adelita to safety?"

There's just the slightest hesitation, but it's enough to jump start my heart. "Max? Where's Adelita?"

He snaps back. "Relax, Anna. She's okay. She's in a safe house on the U.S. side of the river."

I let out a breath. "Good. Here's the situation. I got four girls away from Santiago's brother, Luis, and we're hiding in a church building in the village. I don't know how much time we have before they look for us in the one place they haven't searched. It might not be long."

"Where's Culebra?"

I tell him quickly and succinctly what's happening to Culebra. What I don't tell him is that Ramon was one of the bastards that attacked him all those years ago. Some news is better left delivered in person. I finish up with, "How long before you get to us?"

"I'm already on the way. Do you have the duffel?"

"You mean the one with the arsenal inside? Yes. Nice thinking, by the way."

"I should reach you in four hours. I'll contact you when I get close."

"No Maria sightings?"

"No. You must have done a good job on that door. Shut your phone down now. Conserve power."

He says good-bye and disconnects. I do the same, noticing I'm down to just one bar now as I power the phone off.

The girls have been watching me whisper into the phone. They don't say a word when I shove it into my pocket, waiting, I guess, for me to give them some kind of signal that we can leave now.

Instead, I tell them something that makes their faces grow even tauter with concern. I have to leave them. I need to get the duffel. The weapons inside may be their best hope yet to making it out alive.

The older girl has assumed the role of protector. She listens to what I tell them I must do. My Spanish must be getting better, because she nods and pulls the others into a close circle. "We will be waiting for your return," she says. In English. "I will keep them quiet. Please hurry. We have been without food and water since yesterday morning. I don't know how much longer the little ones can last."

At fourteen or so, she is the oldest of the four by two or three years. She is the most physically developed, her sister and the others are barely into puberty. The tear-streaked faces of "the little ones" burn into my brain. Luis' appetite has not only grown, it's gotten more perverse. I look around the church, trying to understand how men can perpetuate such horror on children.

No answer comes.

This used to be a place of worship. My head spins at the paradox. God created men like Luis in his own image? Then maybe god created this vampire to be his retribution.

Chapter 39

IT'S GROWN VERY QUIET IN THE VILLAGE. THE WOMEN have taken their men back into their shacks. There is just the occasional muffled cry as a wound is being tended. I can only imagine the primitive tools they're using to extract those bullets.

Should I feel sympathy? I can't. Bastards let little girls be tortured under their noses. I hope it hurts like hell.

I look out the window. The body of Luis' dead henchman lies unattended in the dirt. Flies drone around like the corpse in a cloud. A pack of mangy dogs materialize from the brush around the village. They sniff the body, take tentative nips as if testing to see if there is any life left, any movement that could signal a threat. After a while, two of them work in concert, grabbing the ankles, yanking the body to the side of the well out of my view.

Away from the lone man standing outside the nearest shack.

Luis' guard, the only one not searching the perimeter for the girls, stands at attention beside the door to the shack. Trying to ignore the dogs. But he can't ignore the sound. He can hear as well as I the noise the dogs make as they tear into the flesh of Luis' victim. His eyes swivel back and forth. Sweat trickles down his face, stains the collar of his shirt. He doesn't try to wipe it away. He doesn't move at all, afraid maybe to incur Luis' wrath like the man being torn apart on the other side of the well... especially if the wrath takes the form of a bullet to the brain.

I'm glad the girls are huddled in back. They can't see or hear this.

When I think it's safe, I climb out of the back window and drop silently to the ground. I have only to make it a few feet before reaching cover. Then I'm scurrying through the brush like a desert coyote, eyes, ears and nose alert for the return of Ramon and his men or the approach of Luis' search party. Those cowards seem to have disappeared. Maybe the idea of facing repercussions for not being able to find the girls made running away a more favorable option.

The duffel remains where I left it. Culebra's shack is within sight, but I don't take time to reach out to him. I'll let him know that Max is on the way when I've gotten back to the girls.

I lift the duffel carefully, hold it against my chest to keep the guns inside from shifting around. It's so quiet around me, even the slightest sound might draw attention.

Then I'm racing back to the church. When I reach the back window, I lower the duffel silently to the floor and climb in after it.

The four girls are just where I left them, clinging to each other, breathless with fear. The older girl's eyes flicker with relief when she sees me.

I zip open the duffel to see if there are any more of the protein bars inside. There are only two left. I hand them to her. "este es todo. Tu tienes que compartirlos con las otras." When she's taken them and is dividing them, I ask, "¿Como se llama?"

She waits until the three have started to eat, before she answers, "Esmeralda." She points to each girl in turn, "Francisca, Dorotea, my sister, Peppi."

"Do any of the others speak English?"

Peppi alone looks up from her bar. She has been eating slowly, one tiny bite at a time. "Si. Yes. A little."

I rummage in the bag to see how much water is left. One bottle. Shit. I think back to a few hours ago when I used a bottle to wash the blood from my face. A stupid waste of water. Water these girls need. With a sigh of self-recrimination, I pull the last bottle out and hand it to Esmeralda. "This is all the water."

She understands and opens the bottle. She tells the girls in Spanish, "Take just a sip. We must make this last."

There are no groans of protest, just grateful smiles. Each in turn tips the bottle to parched lips and swallows a mouthful. When they pass it back to Esmeralda, she recaps the bottle without taking a drink herself. She hasn't eaten her bar, either, but has rewrapped it and slipped it into a pocket in her skirt.

She reads the question in my expression. "I don't need it. They might." Her eyes turn to the girls.

She is saving hers for the little ones. "You need to be strong for them. At least take some water."

"You haven't."

And there's a very good reason for that but telling her what it is might make going back to Luis seem a better bargain than staying here with a vampire.

"I drank a bottle earlier," I lie. "I'm fine. Please. At least take a sip."

She seems ready to argue but then, since I don't appear ready to give in, she opens the water bottle and brings it to her lips. As if I can't tell she's not really taking a drink. Then she carefully recaps the bottle, and stares at me until I give her a grudging nod.

She's stubborn. She reminds me of me.

I like her.

Nothing to do but hunker down and wait for Max and hope he gets here before any of the villagers realize no one has yet made a thorough search of the church for the missing girls. The fact that Luis' men couldn't move fast enough to get away from him is working in our favor. Hiding in plain sight does sometimes work.

Esmeralda has the three girls gathered around her like a mother chicken with her peeps. They are all so quiet, so withdrawn. Since they arrived less than twenty-four hours ago, and Luis has had other things to occupy his mind, maybe I'll be able to get them away before their nightmare becomes worse than being kidnapped and drugged.

And what Luis had planned for them is infinitely worse.

Chapter 40

I'VE NEVER SEEN CHILDREN SO CALM AND SILENT. I guess that's what happens when you're scared to death. I'm the one who has to remind myself not to keep checking my watch, not to get up and pace to the window. Luis' shack faces the church directly and if the guard sees a flicker of a shadow or a face at that window, he's sure to come investigate.

My whole body burns with the need to do something. Waiting has never been easy... not when I was human, especially not now as a vampire. David used to hate doing surveillance with me. I'd get so antsy, he'd say I was like a maggot in shit. Crude but accurate. I couldn't sit still.

What happens when Max gets here? As long as Ramon hasn't returned, the answer is easy. I "question" Luis about the whereabouts of his brother while Max frees Culebra. Then we get the hell out of here. Get the girls to safety, come back to mop up.

If what Culebra says is true about Ramon, he's as dead as the Santiago brothers.

I'm sure Culebra will insist. As will I.

Peppi is whispering something to her sister. Esmeralda looks over at me. "She has to go to the bathroom."

The little girl has a look of embarrassment on her face.

"It's okay, Peppi," I whisper. "Go behind the vestibule door."

Esmeralda helps her sister to her feet and points to the door. Peppi scoots around her, glancing back at us as if ashamed her body has betrayed her.

"What about the others?" I ask Esmeralda.

She asks, but the other girls shake their heads. I think they are afraid to move away from her protective arms.

"Are you all from the same place?" I ask Esmeralda when Peppi has returned and settled down once again near her sister.

"Yes. A village not far from here."

I think of Adelita's story. "Were you brought here with the promise of jobs?"

Esmeralda's face grows dark with anger. "Jobs? No. We were kidnapped from a schoolyard. In the middle of the day. In front of our teachers. They stood by and watched, too frightened of the narcos to fight to save us."

"Did you know the men who took you?"

"Yes. The men in our village grow amapolas... um, poppies. When the men came, we thought it was for the opio. The drugs. But they took us instead. For El Jefe."

She is quiet for a moment. "I begged them not to take the little ones. They laughed and said I could come along, too, if I wanted to take care of them. They didn't know Peppi was my sister. But the way they said I could come along, the way they laughed, I knew what they were going to do. I had to stay with the ninas. To try to protect them. But I failed."

"No. You were very brave. And we will get them out of here. Someone is coming soon to help us. We need only be patient for a little while longer."

As soon as I speak the words, the thought "from my lips to god's ear" leaps to mind. Must be the influence of our setting. The look of hope on Esmeralda's face burns like a torch. I hope my promise to her doesn't prove to be as empty as this forsaken church.

THE HOURS PASS WITH SLOW-MOTION AGONY. I CAN'T think of anything else to ask Esmeralda and she, too, stays silent. She doesn't ask me who I am or why I'm here. I glance down at my bloodstained shirt. Perhaps she's afraid of the answers. Her eyes follow me each time I walk to the back window and I feel her watching when I return my seat. She's put her trust in me, but that doesn't mean she's going to relax her vigilance. All that's important to her is that she and the girls are alive and unmolested. In her eyes, I read her resolve to fight for them. Against anyone.

The village is quiet, too. I keep expecting the search party to return or Ramon and his men to come back. I wonder what Luis is doing in his shack... probably devising ways to torture the men if they come back empty-handed. Or jerking off to mental images of four little girls.

Finally, finally, I hear footsteps approach. One set of footsteps. I jump up so fast, vampire fast, everyone gasps. I curse myself for the blunder, put a finger to my lips. Only I can hear the stealthy approach from outside. I want to be sure it's Max before the footsteps come any closer.

I move to the back door, open it a crack to test the wind.

Max's scent.

Relief washes over me like a tidal wave.

I look back at the girls. They know someone is outside. Fear is stark on their faces. "It's okay," I whisper. "It's my friend."

I wait for Max to get to the door, then push it open. He slips inside. He's dressed in camos, a large backpack over his shoulders, a rifle strapped across his chest.

He and I look at each other a moment. Then his eyes go to the girls. He takes off the backpack and opens it. This time there's a water bottle and protein bar for each girl.

The food and water are accepted eagerly. Even Esmeralda drinks this time and unwraps her bar gratefully.

We watch the girls eat and drink.

"I'm glad you're here," I say.

Max is quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry about what happened before. If you love Stephen, I hope it works out for you. I don't know why I did or said what I did."

God, that conversation seems so long ago. And so utterly irrelevant now. Not that I intend to let Max off so easily. I allow a smile. "Maybe you really are a prick. Ever thought of that?"

"Every minute of every day."

He has a wistful tone to his voice that makes me stare hard at him. "Who are you and what did you do with the real Max?"

His face reddens a little. A sound from outside cuts our conversation short. Once again, I've picked up what human ears cannot. I signal Max and the girls to be quiet.

After another second, though, it's unnecessary because the cacophony of cries and gunshots is explosive enough for us all to hear. We freeze.

I gather from the excited calls to Luis to come outside that Ramon and his men have returned.

I peek out the front window.

Ramon says he did not return empty-handed.

The shouts bring Luis to the door of his shack. Ramon and his men are gathered in a circle near the well.

"Para reemplazar a las muchachas," Ramon says. "Le trajimos una sorpresa. Un premio de consolacion."

He is offering a consolation prize for Luis' lost girls.

A consolation prize?

Luis steps forward. "Ensename," he says, hand on the gun at his waist.

Ramon steps aside and one of his men pushes a figure behind him to the front.

All the air rushes out of my body. My heart pounds so violently, I'm sure everyone can hear it. I whirl on Max with rage bubbling in white-hot fury to the surface.

"What the fuck have you done, Max?"

He shoulders me aside to look out.

He pales. "I don't know how she got here. You have to believe me, Anna. I don't know how she could have followed me."

I shove him away, back against the table, with such force, he stumbles and falls. The table scrapes loudly against the wooden floor. I don't care about the noise.

I whirl and look outside again.

One of Ramon's men has pushed her to the ground and Luis is circling her like a lion with wounded prey.

Ramon grabs her hair and yanks her face upward.

"Oh god, no." The words hiss out, my heart pounding. "Adelita."

Chapter 41

I WATCH LUIS. IF HIS HAND SO MUCH AS TWITCHES on that gun, I'm going out after Adelita. He's questioning his men, asking how they found her and where. He points to her clothes, clean jeans and a sweatshirt, asks her how she got away. How she could have escaped the burned-out truck. Why she came back.

His eyes search the perimeter of the village, asking is she alone?

He fires off one question after another, not waiting for answers. Ramon tries to interrupt, offering assurances that she is alone, that they found no one else. Just a dead-end trail that stopped so quickly, it was as if an angel had reached down and spirited Max away.

Luis doesn't look convinced. He approaches Ramon and draws his gun, putting the barrel against Ramon's forehead.

Kill him. I wish it so hard, the nails on my balled fists draw blood.

But Ramon pleads for his life, begs Luis to ask his men. They will confirm his story. There was no sign of Max. They found Adelita right outside the village.

Luis lowers the gun a fraction, asks if Ramon found any trace of the six men who went in search of the other girls... the ones spirited away from his shack like Max was evidently spirited away... "Por ningun angel," he spits. "Por el diablo mismo."

By the devil.

I let a smile touch my lips. I've been called worse.

Ramon looks around. He finds the body of the murdered guard, dragged away to the far side of the well, recoils at the sight and sound of the dogs ripping at it. He meets Luis' eyes. Shakes his head. "Lo juro. No vi a nadie."

Luis drops his gun hand. He fires off a rapid-fire directive that has Ramon and his men looking at each other with puzzled expressions.

Ramon frowns. He has been told that all of his men will be required to work the shipment arriving today. Not just the villagers. "¿Por que?" he asks.

Luis smiles. "Muy pronto lo sabras."

Max, too, has been listening. "Why would the villagers not be able to work?" he asks me. "What has Luis done to them?"

I watch as the men disperse, quietly, slinking away as if hoping Luis does not notice and call them back. Only Ramon, Luis and Adelita remain. I ignore Max, waiting to see what happens next. Luis reaches down and hauls Adelita to her feet. He pulls her close to him, clutches her chin in a pinch so hard, I think I see bruises start to form.

"Por suerte para ti, me faltan seis trabajadores," he says. "Ramon, atala aqui hasta que llegue el carro."

He is telling her she is lucky that he is down six workers. I allow a little relief to loosen some of the knots in my shoulders as Ramon ties her to a post near the well. Then he and Luis disappear into Luis' shack.

I draw a breath. It may be a temporary reprieve, but at least I can keep an eye on her. If Luis had dragged her inside his shack, it would have given us no time to formulate an escape plan. I shut my eyes in frustration and concern. Now we have five girls to protect.

I'm ready to face Max.

Once again, my nails bite into the palms of my hand. It's the only way I can keep my anger under control. Even my voice shakes with the effort when I ask, "How did she get here?"

Max can sense how close to rage I am. He closes his eyes for a minute, just as I did before, and passes a hand over his face. "There can be only one way. I didn't think to check."

"Check what?"

"I didn't take the Jeep back to the States. I took the Explorer. I picked it up at the airstrip. There is a tarp over the cargo space in back. Adelita begged me to bring her with me when I came back to get you. I said no. She may have hidden in the back."

"May have?"

"I thought I'd convinced her that we could take care of it. I promised her we would."

I feel the pressure building again, the need to rip something apart or scream. Instead, I center myself, focus on drawing strength from deep inside. "Care of what? What exactly did you promise, Max?"

"When we were in the border station, I showed her some pictures of cartel members, to see if she could identify who attacked her. She identified Luis. She also identified the man who came to her village. The one who kidnapped her."

I know before he says it.

"Ramon."

He nods. "She went crazy when she saw his picture. Said she had to stop him from kidnapping any more girls. I promised her that we would stop him... you and I. She agreed to stay at the border station until we got back."

"But she didn't. How could you have not known she was in the back of the car?"

Max releases a breath. "On the way here, I thought I heard something  - a noise -  from the back." He lowers his eyes. "I just figured something had shifted. You've seen the back of my truck. I keep tools in the back. And other stuff. When I didn't hear anything again, I forgot about it." He holds out his hands. "Anna, how could I have known she stowed away? She told me she'd wait for us."

My eyes drift out through the window to Adelita, tied like an animal to the well. I'm not ready to concede that Max was not to blame for her being here. Part of me admires her courage and determination. Part of me wants to shake her until her teeth rattle.

She has not uttered a sound since arriving at the village. Her face is turned toward the direction of the dogs, the sound of them worrying at the corpse and snapping at each other hangs heavy and grotesquely on the still morning air. She must be so scared.

"Anna?"

Max's voice pulls me back. I shift my gaze to him.

"Luis said they're expecting a shipment today. We have to get the girls out of here."

He's right.

Luis didn't say when the truck was due, but what if Ramon gathers the troops and directs them to the church to wait? Our luck is running out.

Esmeralda appears suddenly at our side. She, too, heard all that transpired outside and understood the conversation between Max and me. Her grasp of the situation is evident in the shadow of fear that darkens her eyes. "What are we going to do?" she asks.

I look up at Max. "You take the girls. Get as far away as you can." A tiny pause. "And you will make sure they stay put this time, right?"

A spark flares in Max's eyes. "I've already had one new asshole ripped today. Don't need another one." He jabs a finger in my direction. "And you?"

"I'm going to wait for the shipment to arrive. When the men are busy unloading the truck, I'll free Culebra. Then we take care of Ramon."

Max hefts the backpack. "What about Luis?"

"Get the girls to safety. Meet us back where you camped out that first night. We'll bring Luis there."

"Just you and Culebra? There must be twenty men in the village now that Ramon is back."

I allow a growl to erupt from the pit of my rage. I lean close so that only Max can hear. "Good thing I'm hungry."