12. Grace
12
Grace
D roplets of water seeped down the wrong tube, and red-hot pokers burned my lungs.
The men's garbled laughter slid across my skin like icicles forming on my flesh.
This couldn't be how I died.
What did I do to deserve this?
The men's chaotic shouts had my lips pressing tighter against the grate.
Javier leaned over the top, his blurred and wavering frame hovering above me, causing my pulse to thud in my ears.
Oh my god.
Would he smother me? Was I not dying fast enough?
The lid popped off, and I bolted to my feet. Javier tucked his hands under my armpits and lifted.
My shoulder throbbed as my feet grazed the top of the barrel.
" Oof ."
The cold, hard cement created a dull thud on impact.
My rib screamed, the air knocked from my lungs as I hacked up inhaled liquid.
"Get up." Javier nudged me in the hip with his shoe, his phone pressed to his ear.
I grunted—the words unable to form from my burning throat. I rolled to my knees and hacked some more, holding my ribcage.
"I said get up."
Javier's boot hit my thigh, knocking my knee out from under me. My face dropped to the floor, and my cheek scraped against the rough cement, adding to the overwhelming amount of bruising and cuts.
Warmth curled over my temple and into my eyebrow.
Shit.
Blood dripped onto the wet cement, my stitches opened.
I let out another barking cough and stood to my feet, my palm pressed to my hairline.
Javier turned to the man standing back and watching. "Get a blanket from downstairs."
The man bared his teeth in a snarl before disappearing into the hatch, then reemerging a few moments later, tossing the blanket to Javier.
He kept his distance as Javier wrapped the blanket around my shoulders, his behavior a whiplash I didn't need.
I pulled my palm away from my stitches and stared at the small blood stain in the center of my hand as he led me to the vehicle we'd arrived in. "I don't understand what's happening. Why aren't I dead?"
Javier opened the door and shoved me inside.
I turned on him. "What's going on?"
The door slammed in my face.
My body trembled as he pointed to each man and then a vehicle.
Where was the boss?
I glanced around the car, looking out through each window.
He's not here.
Is that why they let me out?
I slid across the seat and pulled on the handle.
Nothing.
I pulled again and again, desperation clawing at my insides, my fingers slicked with blood and now coating the handle.
The front door and the one in the back opened. Javier jumped into the seat beside me and another man in the driver's seat.
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, my body stiff as he branched his long, muscular arm across the back of the seats.
Long strands of hair stuck to my neck, and my skin pebbled with chills.
"Sit back."
"Where are you taking me?"
My back hit the seat with a sharp tug on my hair.
I groaned and rocked to the side.
"I said, sit back."
The liquid in my mouth evaporated, leaving my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.
Time dragged on as the vehicle moved through endless miles of road .
The rosary in my pocket pressed against my tight jeans, the suffocating material squeezing like a cinch over my thighs.
Tires whirred on the road as Javier typed away on his phone, his eye coming up to stare at me every so often, and a Mexican DJ spoke in Spanish so fast I could make out a singular word throughout his sentences.
A large adobe mansion with arches and curves towered into the sky as he drove the vehicle to a large black gate, which stood in stark contrast to the tan-colored house.
I pulled the blanket tighter over my shoulders and tucked it under my chin.
Why are they bringing me here?
Six armed men stood at the gate as it swung open, allowing our vehicle to pass through, their large rifles hanging over their bodies, the end of the barrel resting at mid-thigh.
The vehicle stopped in the round driveway, and Javier climbed out, dragging me along.
"Out."
"Here?"
My neck cranked backward as I looked up to the second floor.
The manor overpowered Andrés' compound on size and luxury.
Wooden beams stood tall with turquoise and cobalt tiles fixed into them. Matching terracotta walls surrounded the building where men stood with their rifles.
Javier led me toward the front door, my fist tight in the blanket tucked under my chin, my wet jeans weighing me down.
"Where are we going?"
"Wherever Elias wants you."
"Elias?"
He opened the door with a glare and maneuvered me through.
The cooler air inside penetrated my blanket, causing my teeth to chatter and my feet to refuse to venture forward.
"I told you. I'm not here to babysit your mamá . You have staff to do that."
A woman with a Guatemalan accent stood face-to-face with Elias.
Her legs were long and lean with a bronze sheen as though she'd polished them with lotion before we arrived. Her thick black hair hung down her back, and her brown eyes narrowed.
"Nadia, you press my patience…"
Javier jerked me in the opposite direction as Elias stepped into the woman's face, her defensive stance unwavering.
Is she his wife?
He allowed people to speak to him that way?
Andrés would've made an example out of her by now.
Javier jerked me to a chair as an elderly woman stepped into the room with a banana, her eyes flashing down my damp frame with wide eyes. She strode toward us, determination on her brow.
"?Fuera de mi vista, muchacho!"
A smile quirked my chattering lips as she pushed the boy off.
I tamped down my smirk, a slight giggle stifled in my throat.
Javier was a grown, handsome man with tattoos adorning his body.
He was far from a boy.
"What's your name, little one?" The woman bent down and bit into her banana, her eyes flashing with irritation as Javier moved toward me.
"Leave her, Se?ora Hernández."
"Are you telling me what to do, Javier? I wiped your ass as a babe. "
My spine grew rigid as the woman reached for her flip-flop.
Hernández? Elias Hernández.
Andrés spoke about this man more times than I could count.
He wasn't good enough to take his father's place.
He changed the rules of the cartel .
But one thing he'd always make his men understand… Elias was a powerful man, a powerful El Jefe, and he wasn't to be underestimated.
The man who put a tremble on Andrés’ men stood in the same room as me, berating a woman for not paying more attention to his mother.
"What's your name, little one?" she asked again, her hand outstretched as she pushed Javier out of the way.
"Grace."
"What a special name. I'm Rosa." She glared at Javier as he moved to intercept my hand, reaching for hers. "You're shivering. Let's get you into something warm."
I swallowed and nodded, daring a glance at Javier, who threatened me with his eyes.
A ball of knots formed in my belly.
"I don't think I'm supposed to move from this chair."
She smiled and gripped my hand. "I make the decisions in this house. Don't let them fool you. "
Mrs. Hernández tugged on my hand, and I gave Javier another glance, his jaw ticking as he placed his hands on his hips.
"Why are you soaking wet, mi hija ?" Her gentle voice soothed the quake in my belly as she led me down a hall with a wide expanse of windows overlooking a courtyard with a large pool and a bar.
My heart thundered.
What if I told her Elias held me captive?
Would she help me?
"I-um…went for a swim."
She took another bite of her banana and then discarded it in the trash as we entered the kitchen. "In those clothes? You're spinning tales."
I swallowed, my stomach tightening as a sharp pang cinched my chest.
"Come, let me show you my garden." She weaved me through the hall and out through a side door.
What about a change of clothes?
"Look at these tomatoes." She plucked a large, juicy red tomato off the vine and handed it to me. "Try it. You need a little something on your bones."
My belly growled as I sunk my teeth into the meaty flesh. My toes curled.
The acidity danced in my mouth as the juice ran down my chin.
"Good, right? I plan on making salsa with these." She leaned in a little closer. "A secret recipe mi mamá passed on. Don't tell Elias. He'll want it for himself."
I forced a smile and glanced behind us.
They'd come for me any minute, and the gentlest moment I'd had in three years would be over.
Rosa's kind voice swirled around me, her caring touch a painful reminder of something I could never have again.
"Mamá."
A hand slipped around my elbow and jerked me away from Rosa and into a broad chest, his fingertips digging into my bony flesh.
I winced, and Rosa's eyes widened. "I raised you better than to handle a lady like that."
"You're a sacred heart, Mamá."
He yanked me away as I handed her the half-eaten tomato, my feet stumbling over each other. " Thank you."
"Who told you to speak to anyone?" Elias' kind-hearted demeanor dissolved like bones in acid as he pulled me away, passing Javier, who refused to look at me.
Nadia, the woman he'd argued with, stood in a doorway, her gaze a fiery hot inferno on my skin as we passed by.
The air in my lungs burned as my feet slipped over the slick, marbled floors and scraped across the cemented driveway.
"What are you going to do with me?"
"That remains to be seen."
His spicy scent caressed my senses, setting me at ease for a split moment until he opened a heavy door to an outbuilding at the furthest side of his property.
My heart thundered in my chest, my pulse drowning out our shuffling steps.
He shoved me, my shoulders tipping toward the ground. I crashed to my knees on the hard cement. Sharp pain spliced across my torn skin, my bruises developing bruises.
Dim yellow light seeped into the square room, its reach not quite touching the walls as it swung from the ceiling.
"Where is Andrés?"
The notorious cartel boss stepped toward me, his hand wrapping around my ankle, and then dragged me to the wall.
I squealed, my nails digging into the floor, each chipping and tearing.
Chains clinked together behind me, and a hard shackle snapped around the ankle he held.
"Where is Andrés?"
He stepped back, his hands tucked into his pockets.
Bleach stung my nose as I stared at his boots, the small metal drain in the floor shining as though it'd just been polished.
Panic clawed at my chest, my throat closing.
"I can't…" I shook my head. A tear slipped down my cheek as I pulled on the shackle.
"You can. Just tell me." His voice softened. "End all of this now."
My body trembled against the cold floor, my breaths ragged as my heart panged against my ribcage in a desperate attempt to stay conscious, my head shaking side to side.
I'm trapped…again.
Darkness envelops me, filled with men’s laughter—their hands grope at my breasts and pull on my pants.
A sickness lines my belly, and I vomit all over the floor beside me.
The acrid stench of stomach acid and half-digested food remains in the air.
My mind dissolves into fragments as they have their way with me.
"Then you'll stay here until you do."
Elias pulled the string on the light, drawing me back into the here and now, then slammed the heavy door shut, drowning me in pitch-black darkness.
I let loose a cry, my throat hoarse, my newfound chains rattling.
I was a ghost bemoaning my existence—a captive of my own making.