***TIJUANA, MEXICO***3 months later...“Now, to the left!”At her command, all the attendants reshuffled their feet and shifted their weights to their respective lefts.“Very good, now maintain this position for a minute before we go over to the right again,” she announced, moving in between the lines they'd formed by standing while being meticulously spaced apart.Three whole months had passed since she left Los Angeles for Mexico, and Ruby Hunter - ex FBI Agent now turned fitness instructor - was trying as much as possible to move away from the life she once had and now embrace the one she has.Clad in full-length leggings, a sleeveless top, half gloves, and sneakers with her hair firmly tied behind her, she was still looking as beautiful as ever and had channeled the military training she'd received before she joined the FBI and was making a respectable living here by helping undisciplined and obese people keep fit. And this Saturday morning was just another day of work for her.A
***LOS ANGELES***“Listen, Amy, it's not what it seems, alright?”“Then, what is it, Dad? What is it? My birthday came, and you didn't text or call... I don't expect any gifts from you or anybody because I wasn't born and)or raised in a happy home to begin with, was I? All I ask for is some visibility... Treat me like I exist! You stashed me here with Aunt Sarah so you could run off and go on your never-ending 'Save A Life’ missions and I'm supposed to just cope, just like that?”It was a shouting match going on between Snyder and his daughter, Amy, and currently, based on points and facts, he was losing. Heavily.Sarah was in the room but she'd chosen to say nothing and allow father and daughter banter and sort their shit out the way they saw fit.“Amy.. It's my job and I have to do it..”“Yes, it is... And yes, you do, but have you thought of me, how I fare? How much do I long for someone who knows me to talk to? How many questions about the world do I have? Have you ever thought of
Juan, still terrified, drove down instantly to his boss’ house to inform him that a member of the Uomini Marrone was now in town and on their side of Tijuana, for that matter.He was perplexed and distressed as he drove, and when he got there, he just walked through the guards at the gate and went into the house.He walked towards Don Dani's workroom and opened the door only to see the man screwing a woman who was none other than his girlfriend.“Zelina, you bitch!” He yelled.When she saw him, she didn't even flinch.She was Stark naked, bent over Don Dani's worktable and the man was drilling her from behind while grabbing onto one of her big breasts with one hand and pulling her hair with the other.“Get the fuck out of here, Juan!” Don Dani barked in response.Painfully, Juan walked out, shut the door, and sat down on one of the chairs outside the room, in an area that served as a low-budget waiting room.He should have known that sooner or later, she would leave him, and who could
“Gabi, I swear, I don't know what to wear. Nothing feels right for the occasion..”“Come on, Ruby, that excuse is not even going to work..”As she held the phone and listened to his reply from the other end of the line, Ruby smiled to herself: Gabi had caught her.She was nervous about this whole family meeting thing, and she would actually have preferred just meeting Gabi at his place that evening and having a nice, quiet, and PRIVATE time, but now the man was taking her to meet his entire family as though they'd already fixed a wedding date. It was stressful for her, and although she'd said ‘yes’ at the time of his asking, she hadn't been able to relax since then.She checked her watch and saw that it was almost 7 p.m., with just twenty-five minutes removed, and this increased her heart rate. She was nervously nervous.“You don't have to look like The Queen of England, Ruby... It's just dinner, and besides, my folks are cool; nobody's going to berate you or look at you weirdly even
“I know this is the seventy-one time I'm going to be saying this, Ruby, but... I'm so happy to finally meet you. I only just heard about you today, but Gabi won't let my ears rest since... You're very welcome.”Hearing the woman of the house, Mercedes, say these words with a smile on her face and excited gestures made Ruby feel very good and much more comfortable.“Thank you, Mercedes... I'm happy to meet you, too... I was nervous before coming because I didn't know what to expect, but... Yeah, I'm happy..”“You were nervous? Of what? We don't bite... Gabi, what did you tell her?” Mercedes turned to her cousin with surprise on her face.Ruby admired the woman. She was heavily pregnant and looking like she would go into labor any minute but she was still very pretty and agile, too, unlike some women Ruby had seen who would look bloated and inflated and as though they weighted the world inside them. Seeing her made Ruby ache for a family; well, she had seemingly found one, now. And hope
The family dinner at Gio's house had now turned into a full-blown table for the revelation of secrets.“I was told that there'd been a kidnapping at Tequila, and I went there with my partner to handle questioning and stuff... As it turned out, I met and questioned Mindi..”“You met Mindi..?” Mercedes asked, interrupting Ruby's expose.“Yes, I did,” Ruby replied, “And my partner, Snyder, spoke to the manager at the place... Andrej.. At the end of the day, we couldn't deduce any useful information from either of them... Mindi was too shaken to give me any valuable answers, and Andrej, well, I didn't talk to him, but my partner said he was being dodgy and looked very nervous. As though he knew something or even everything about your disappearance.”“He did..” Mercedes said bitterly.“Hold on... Agent Snyder? I know him!” Bonita exclaimed.“You do? How?” Ruby asked, surprised.“He was at Tequila, trying to spy on a meeting, and I saved him from getting killed because my boss had gotten wi
“It's getting crazy over here, Sensi..”“I knew it would... The US is not too far away from Mexico, so I'm not surprised that it still feels like you didn't go too far, with all these people popping up who know everything about you and Mercedes.”Gio, having been distressed all through the weekend, after the dinner, and up until this moment, a Monday evening after the close of work, at about 8 pm, was putting a call across to Sensi as he balanced books for the day and prepared to leave for his house.“So, what would you suggest? Or, what would you do, if it were you in this mess?” Gio asked.Whenever he was in trouble, 'What would Sensi do’ was the question that would pop up in his mind.Sensi exhaled heavily over the phone before saying, “Honestly... If it were me, I'd be leaving Mexico, first thing tomorrow morning.”“What?” Gio asked, stunned.“What do you mean 'What’? If it was so easy for all these people to come into your life who knew and still know so much about the past you'r
Ever since she realized that she hadn't escaped her past by fleeing Mexico, Mercedes had lost her peace. She was now extra cautious and fearful of being attacked at any time. Who knew who else was in Tijuana and was waiting to pop a surprise just like Ruby and Bonita had done?She was seated with Grandma Angelina and although nothing was being said, it was clear that something had to be said.“Mercedes..” Grandma started, “What's the matter?”Mercedes looked at her grandma with a look of surprise; was that a real question? Everything was the matter!“Grandma, I think the question should be, 'What's not the matter’..”Grandma Angelina smiled and asked her:“Where's Daniella?”“In her room, she's sleeping... Bonita is also in her room, she might not be sleeping but I know she's in there.”Bonita had stayed over after the dinner since she'd been told that she was free to stay for as long as she wanted; the apartment, a seven-bedroom home, was big enough to house them all.After making s
“Have you ever, at any time at all, and I mean any quantity at all, been involved in the sale of drugs to clients at the club?” “No, I haven't.” “Have you ever seen drug sales going down at the club?” “No, I have not..” “Have you ever been asked to transport drugs from any location to the other by the club management?” “No, I have not..” “Have you ever hidden any drugs in your underwear or-” “What kind of stupid question is that?” Mercedes had been taken from the airport, along with Ruby and Gabi, down to a local police station where she was being questioned by Freddy, the lackadaisical, lazy, and disinterested agent. She was distressed, and it seemed her baby could also feel her tension because he hadn't stopped crying since. She was trying to pat his back and calm him down while answering the questions she'd been asked when she'd gotten sick of it. “Listen, ma'am, I'm just doing my job.. I have to ask questions, even the uncomfortable ones, because you are a major
***LOS ANGELES, USA***“1..2..3.. Now!”The Los Angeles FBI, led by Mia and Riot, had surrounded Tequila for three long hours, watching the going-ins and coming-outs, working with the intel they had gotten from Frank, the insider snitch, and confirming the things he said. Today was supposed to be the meeting of the top distributors in the cartel, which Frank had said would be where they'd discuss the way forward for their organization.This, Frank had said, was the best time to bust them, because there was going to be too much evidence to nab them with illegal gun possession, cocaine possession, prison escapees, etc. Now, at exactly 8 am, Riot had sounded a call on her walkie-talkie to signal that they were to move in at that exact time, and all the agents had come out from their various places of hiding and disguise all over the surroundings of the strip club, with their guns drawn, and we're charging towards all the entrances to the club.Leading them were Riot and Mia, the ones wh
“Gabi, can you stop acting like a girl and be a man, for God's sake?”“Hey, I'm doing this for you, quit acting like you won't wince if I went any harder,” came the response.Ruby was sitting before Gabi as he tried to clean up her face which had been messed up by her fight with Les Latinas De La Muerte at the hospital, and her face was so fucked up that it scared Gabi to Ben touch it, even with the tissue, for fear that he would hurt her or further damage her. This fear had made him keep dabbing softly and inefficiently at her face instead of wiping the blood away, and Ruby had tolerated him enough.Mercedes, sitting in the same room as them, breastfeeding Junior, looked on and smiled at them, shaking her head.She'd gotten her joy back due to two major things; one, the birth of Junior, her long-awaited bundle of joy, and two, the promise her aunt, Aylla Pedro, had made to her when he said she would try to help Gio gain his freedom again.And so, feeling good again, she was able to c
***LOS ANGELES, USA***“Sign here, Frank..”Riot and Mia had pulled the necessary strings to get the documents that would exempt Frank Gallas from any investigations into Tequila when the people involved in the drug cartel were being arrested and rounded up.They had brought him to their office and he was now seated in an interrogation room which had a long table and a few chairs.They wanted to wrap up this case as soon as possible, nipping it in the bud before it would drag into weeks, months, and possibly, years... They had been briefed on how it had started as child's play under the original handlers, and how it had spiraled and developed into a dangerous, 'playing with fire’ situation because the previous handlers had failed to grab the situation by the scruff of the neck. It had resulted in deaths and many other eventualities which could have been avoided. And so, Mia and Riot were keen on avoiding the mistakes of their predecessors.“Well, hold on, I need to peruse the document
Upstairs at the hospital, there was chaos and fear; no one could leave, either with the elevators or the staircase, because the gunfire they'd been hearing had been going on downstairs and by the gate, in the same area where they were supposed to escape from. The gunfire had gone on for about thirty minutes and even when it ceased, they didn't dare to even attempt to step out.The only thing they could do was panic.The nurses and doctors who would normally be the ones telling patients to 'calm down’ were now the ones who were near tears. Everyone was now following their religious inclinations; the Pentecostals were praying to God/Jesus, the Catholics were praying to Mary, the Muslims were beseeching Allah, and the traditionalists were shedding tears of hopelessness to their gods.Gabi was probably the most panicky of the entire bunch, and not just because he had learned that Mercedes had given birth, but because he wasn't built for such high-pressure situations. He was sweaty and unc
***LOS ANGELES, USA***Mia Compton and Riot Langston were seated in Riot's Ford truck with the fellow who had accosted them at the coffee shop and listening to what he had to say.Mia was in the backseat, while Riot, who sat in the driver's seat, kept her full stare on the man in the front passenger seat as he spoke:“My name is Frank Gallas... I worked at Tequila for many years as one of their major distributors-”“Tequila doesn't deal in wholesaling drinks, so what the fuck are you talking about, 'major distributor’?” Mia impatiently cut in, not trusting this fellow one bit.As she said this, Riot touched her hand gently, as though to say 'Calm Down’. This singular action sent shivers down Mia's spine and made her obediently seal her lips. Riot had gained such a heavy influence over her in such a short period that even she couldn't explain or justify it.“When I say I was a distributor, ma'am,” Frank continued with a half smile on his face, “I didn't mean of drinks... I mean of drug
“Where is she, you traitorous bastard?”The stony silence from Gio further incensed Don Fabrizio and caused him to nod his head towards the man with the whip, and this enforcer duly thrashed down on Gio's back with the nail-embedded whip.“Arrghhhhhh!!!”The screams from Gio's lips filled the room as he felt his flesh being ripped into by the nails and thumbtacks that had been strategically fitted into the whip to make each stroke ten times as painful as it would have been with an ordinary whip.He was chained, his two hands high above his head, and his legs just above the ground, making it very difficult for him to breathe and increase the pain because his frame was overstretched.He had been whipped well over a hundred times, and his bloodied back was a testament to this.This torture had gone on for the past three hours, and it had continued because Gio had refused to disclose Mercedes’ location.“Why do you punish yourself so much, boy? This is a woman that means nothing to you! S
After Gio had willingly sacrificed his freedom for those of Mercedes, Gabi, and Ruby, to say that Mercedes was grieving for him was a massive understatement.She hadn't stopped crying for the past three days; not even for a minute. She'd wept to a point where there were no more tears to cry, and all she was doing was whimpering; she'd cried her eyes out, nearly literally. She'd rejected food, no matter how light or heavy, and she had sat in a corner of Ruby's house, unmoved. Whatever food was brought to her would remain untouched until Ruby or Gabi would have to come and take it away before insects surrounded it.Her hair was a shabby mess, her clothes were drenched with sweat, her face was swollen by the excessive tears, and she had lost a little weight. She hadn't spoken a word to either Gabi or Ruby since then.This had taken a massive toll on Gabi and Ruby, as they couldn't sleep for long or even enjoy any peace while having to hear Mercedes crying all day and all night.Currentl
The following morning, Omari, Snyder, Paz, and Selena were at the scene on the road where the clash had happened, and they couldn't believe their eyes.“So.. Hold on, let me get this straight... On one side, one side of the car, there's a lot of blood, broken glass, spent bullets, blah blah... And then, on the other side... There's not even a shard of glass... How the fuck es something like that even happen?”Paz was confused and trying to get answers from her compatriots, even though none of them had any for her.“It makes little sense, and there are no CCTV cameras around like at the restaurant... And even if there were, looking at the lighting system and pattern of this area, it would surely have been too dark to make out any faces or sense of the images we would have seen,” Selena added.“So.. What have we been able to get from the car?” Omari asked, determined to get something, at least, from, the entire outing.“Well... There's a wallet in the car... Probably belongs to whoever