Then we’re edging onwards, but come across no more guards. Presumably it doesn’t take too many to keep the women secure when they’re locked up.
We come to another door. There’s a woman crying out inside.In English.Mariana? I put my shaking hand on the latch and open it, Drummer right at my back. My gun ready to fire, I don’t allow myself to take in more than the man with his hand on my woman’s face, and another standing grinning to the side.
“I said, no interruptions!”
Fuck me, intent on what they’re doing, they haven’t noticed us. A quick shot and the man watching goes down. A bullet’s too good for the man touching my future wife. Before my target has hit the ground, Drummer’s weapon’s pointing at Mariana’s tormentor. Blade’s fast, intuitively knowing I’ll want payback for this one, he’s disarmed him and fastened his hands behind his back with a zip tie.
Once the room’s secured, I take my first look at Mariana. As soon as she sees me, she starts screaming.
Chapter 33
Mariana
My stomach already feels full to bursting, yet apparently, my torture’s only half way done. I try to fight Miguel, but the next drug filled condom goes down when he holds my nose, forcing me to open my mouth. If his count was right, that’s number sixty-one. Only,only, fifty-nine more to go. I don’t think I’m going to survive this. The thought of the alien substance inside me makes me feel ill. My belly wasn’t meant to hold latex and whatever drugs he’s forcing me to swallow.
I want to die.I’m sure I’ll get my wish granted. Surely what he’s doing is killing me? And even if he gets me over the border, what if I’m caught? Caught smuggling drugs into the US? What fate is worse? Being sold to a cruel pervert, or being taken into custody? Becoming a statistic, proof people like me can’t be trusted—being deported and coming back carrying drugs. What a cliché.
My protests are in vain. Miguel’s got no sympathy. Instead, the opposite, seeming to delight in my distress.
I don’t hear the door opening. My first warning is a loud shot, and in my peripheral vision, seeing Miguel’s helper going down. It happens so quickly, one second Miguel is there, the next men are surrounding him.
Then my eyes fall on the tall man who’s entered, recognising him in a flash. It takes my brain a moment to process that he’s not a vision I’ve summoned up.Tse’s here. He’s really here. He’s come to save me.
A scream comes out of my mouth, and then another. I’m struggling, fighting the bindings that hold me secure. A knife flicks in his hand, and then I’m free. He tries to hold me; all I do is flail with my arms.
“Get them out of me!” I scream loudly. “Get them out of me!” His strong arms come around me, but I try to push him away. “Tse! Get them out!”
“Shush, shush.” He tries to calm me, his eyes going dark as he takes in the bowl of un-swallowed latex wrappers and immediately knows what’s going on. “Shush. Tell me, how many have you taken?”
“None. I took none. He forced me…”
“Shush, darlin’, shush. I know that. How fuckin’ many?”
“Sixty-one!” I’m screeching again. He lets go of me, and my arms wrap around my stomach. “Tse, help me, please.”
“Jesus.” A new voice, another man entering. He looks at me, and at the bowl. Tse turns to look at him, a helpless expression on his face. “This changes our plans.”
“El Procurador?” another man asks.
“Can’t find him, Drummer. But we’re still looking. Who’s this?”
They’re after my father?I’m sobbing, scared stiff. Worried now Tse has found me, I’ll die anyway if one of the condoms bursts. But I raise a shaking hand and point to my tormentor. “He’s Miguel Rojas, he’s one of my father’s lieutenants.”
“Do you know where your father is?” The scary looking man with a scar running across his face turns his attention to me, startling me into giving him an answer.
“No. He gave me to him.” I nod toward Miguel. “He’s his second-in-command.”
The scarred man nods. “How many lieutenants has he got?”
Miguel roars, but he’s restrained tightly, and doesn’t alter my response. “Three more.”
“They’re somewhere in this fucking house.” The man turns to the heavily armed men who’ve followed him in. “Take this Rojas and get some answers.”
I’m still trembling, my breathing shallow and fast, but something eases inside me when Miguel’s taken out of my sight. When the scarred man takes a step toward me, panic rises again, and I step back, coming up against Tse’s hard body. Now I take comfort from the warmth behind me.
Only one side of his face moves, as he attempts to smile. “My name’s Devil,” he says softly. “No need to worry, Mariana. You’re going to be okay.”
“They forced me to swallow…” Even my voice shakes.
