21. Grace
21
Grace
I swiped at the bead of sweat dripping down my forehead, the painted ceiling my source of entertainment in the middle of the night.
The soft mattress cushioned me in a sweet embrace, yet it couldn't put my mind at ease—to stop the intrusive thoughts—and lull me to sleep.
He's getting married.
His kindness comes with strings.
I sighed, my fists pounding the bed at my sides. Huffing, I plopped to my good side, tucking my hand beneath my pillow.
One-thirty-four…
"Ugh."
My upper lip curled as I stared at the looming clock beside my bed.
A haunting scream pitched into my room like a catapult for the stars.
My legs froze, the restlessness vanishing, and my lungs caught in my chest as I strained my hearing.
Was that a scream?
Feet shifted at my door.
My pulse thumped in my neck.
Another scream erupted, its guttural cries reverberating with a depth that betrayed a man's voice.
"Please. I do everything you ask of me."
Daniel's voice lifts to the rafters, the fists belting him in the face, turning his skin into a glistening, crimson mess, his flesh like he's been run through a meat tenderizer.
I leaped from my sweat-soaked sheets and scrambled beneath the bed. My knees pressed against my chest. I huddled in the darkness as the shadows under the doorway remained still.
Who's there?
Why aren't my guards helping?
Another howl of pain tore through the air, violating the once-silent space around me.
What's happening out there?
I gasped, my blood pooling in my temples with a thundering thump.
Did he come for me?
Was that Elias' cries?
Was he hurt?
My chest compressed as I hyperventilated, my lungs wheezing under the constricting grip.
Andrés is here.
He found me.
I covered my ears with my hands, focusing on the rhythmic thumping of my heartbeat. The whoosh in my ears transformed into a comforting echo, reminiscent of the seaside villa my parents once took me to.
Seagulls weave intricate patterns in the vast canvas of the sky, their raucous calls an exuberant melody seeking the promise of a quick feast.
Cool grains of sand dance between my toes, with whispers welcoming a chill into my core.
The ocean's gentle waves reach out to touch the shore. Salt tinges the air within the mist, spraying off the waters.
"Grace, come see this."
Another guttural cry pierced through my sanctuary, my eyes shooting open into darkness.
This wasn't right.
This doesn't feel right.
I pulled myself out from beneath the bed, my fingers trembling as they curled around the edge of the mattress, sliding my body across the cool, marbled floor. My gaze flickered towards the door shrouded in darkness.
Antonio's feet—or whoever the guard was tonight—remained still, casting a foreboding serenity upon the room.
I turned my ear towards the muted sounds, waiting for that inevitable plea for mercy to cut through the silence again. Tense moments stretched into an agonizing pause.
He screamed.
The shriek assaulted my senses, a visceral cry that transcended the realm of mortal suffering. My head snapped to the side.
A vent?
I inched across the floor as if a sniper lurked just outside the window, ready to blow my head off if I dared to stand. I dragged myself towards the vent, every movement calculated and cautious.
" No lo diré de nuevo." I won't say it again.
Elias?
Concentrated lines creased my brows as I pushed myself up from the floor and cracked the door open.
Antonio sat beside my door in a wooden chair with a small, flowered cushion billowing out from the sides of his thighs, his shoulder-length hair veiling his face as his head hung low. The unsettling rise and fall of his shoulders accompanied a snore that mimicked the growl of a discontented bear.
I shifted my gaze to the right, the flushing toilet like nails on a chalkboard in a quiet room. The light burned from the door frame's edges, and the sink squeaked as the second guard turned it on.
Stepping into the hallway, I closed the door behind me with the quietest snick, then hurried down the steps before the second guard could return.
Disquieting wails charged the air, leading me through the house, my feet gliding in silence upon the marbled floors.
My breath burst through my lips, my cheeks and ears burning hot as though I'd stuck my head in an oven.
The rich and hearty Pepián that the chef Alphonse crafted for dinner lingered in the air, infused with swirls of onions and cinnamon—a Guatemalan dish rivaling any stew my mother had ever made.
I stood at the top of the stairs leading down into the basement. The muffled voices reverberated through the shadows like a macabre symphony.
My feet moved as though something had lured me down the straight staircase.
Marble continued to weave its pattern throughout the basement.
A room to the right unveiled an entertainment haven featuring a movie screen as wide as the wall it graced and a U-shaped sofa decorated with throw pillows. Adjoining it, a full bar beckoned its half wall with shimmering lights that mimicked diamonds twinkling in the sun .
Yet, with the closed door, the room at the end concealed the agonizing cries.
A vile acid climbed up my throat, my stomach pitching and tumbling, my heart wild and chaotic.
What would Elias do if he caught me?
"Soy solo un distribuidor. I've never met him ."
A distributor?
Andrés spoke to each of his distributors before they joined his ranks. It was his way of maintaining control over who had access to his product.
" Please, I beg you . No sé nada."
A chilling shiver raced through me, the air thickening. My hand pressed against my mouth, my fingers trembling against clammy skin.
That voice…
Where have I heard that voice?
My perspiring hand wrapped around the frigid metal knob, a shock of cold that bit into my skin.
I gulped, steeled my spine, cracked it open, and then peered inside.
Air hissed through my nose as I sucked in a breath and sealed my lips shut. Iron flooded my mouth as I gnawed on my inner lip.
Elias loomed over Carlos, a small distributor, a knife pressing against his throat. A trickle of blood meandered down his neck, merging with the slashes across his bare chest. The left side of Carlos's face was swollen, and the absence of his two front teeth marred his once-intact smile.
Despite his affiliation with Andrés, Carlos was a kind man—always treating the women he encountered with kindness. Yet, it didn't hold much significance now, given that they were all deceased.
Javier stood beside Elias, his bleeding knuckles clutching a ball-peen hammer.
Five other men loitered off to the side, their faces devoid of emotion as if they were robots, mechanically taping up the walls with plastic sheets.
Javier raised the hammer above his head.
My feet moved inside the room, my brain short-circuiting. "He's telling the truth."
Seven men turned their attention toward me, two of them drawing pistols and aiming them at my skull. My hands shot up into the air with a mouse-like squeak.
"Baja las armas, pendejos." Elias raised his hand to his men .
The two men complied, tucking their silver-crusted guns back into their waistbands, their stances wide like Ringo or Billy the Kid—ready to draw at any time.
My head swam, and bile bit at the back of my throat.
"What are you doing down here?" Elias' eyes darkened and narrowed, and his brows snapped together as he glanced behind me. "Where are your guards?"
I lowered my hands to my sides, swallowing the golf ball-sized lump in my throat. My gaze drifted past Elias, taking in the sight of Carlos' battered and abused body.
"They're—"
"Grace?" Carlos squinted his one eye, his split lip hanging with inflammation. "Run. You shouldn't be here."
A shaky smile quirked my lips. " Hola , Carlos."
Elias raised a brow. "What are you doing down here?" Elias growled, his teeth clenched, the knife tight in his grip, causing my knees to wobble. He pointed the sharp end towards me.
"I…" My mouth dried, and my hand twitched, searching for the rosary.
Shit.
It's upstairs.
"I thought you were hurt."
His taut expression softened for a fleeting moment, only to revert to stone. "Wanted to watch me take my last breath?"
My stomach twisted as if he had struck me with a two-by-four to the gut, the tears stinging my unwilling eyes. I cleared my throat. "Carlos doesn't have the answers you want." I rolled my lips, my lungs rapid and aching. "He's telling you the truth."
Javier dropped the hammer onto the table behind him with a metallic clang, making the other objects shudder, then wiped his hands on a towel at his waist. "And what truth is that?"
"He can't help you locate Andrés." I tucked my hands behind my back, my muscles shaking like I'd stepped out of Icelandic waters. "He hasn't been around Andrés since we moved about two years ago."
"Is that right, Carlos?" Elias lifted his chin and adjusted the knife in his hand. "Are you no longer useful to me?"
Carlos' eyes expanded, darting back and forth between Elias and me. His lips quivered.
A sinking ache punctured my belly.
What's happening?
Why does Carlos look so scared?
I lifted my trembling hand into the air, and my heart lodged in my throat. "You can—you can let him go now."
Elias turned back to me and cocked his head to the side. "That's not how this works."
"What? What do you…"
Elias rotated the pointed end of the blade down his forearm. With a swift motion, he lifted his arm and pushed backward, driving the knife through the underside of Carlos' chin—his gaze fixated on mine.
A scream, raw and unbridled, tore from the depths of my throat, shattering the oppressive silence. My heart froze within my chest, its rhythmic pulse replaced by a suffocating stillness.
The world blurred around me, and I crumpled to the floor, shock coursing through every fiber of my being.
Carlos' mouth fell open, revealing the blood-soaked blade passing through his tongue and into his palate.
Bile clawed at the back of my throat, the world spinning in disorienting chaos.
Elias' shoes parked in front of me, my hand clasped over my mouth as he sank onto his haunches, his fingers wiped clean by the towel he held. He tossed it aside. "Thank you for saving my precious time."
Hot tears paved a burning path down my cheeks, and my cries muffled.
He… he killed him.
"What did you think would happen, Grace?" He tipped his head, his blurry features flooding my vision. "Did you think I'd let him go on his merry way and tell Andrés what a good little soldier he was?" He scoffed, his head shaking. "This is war. This is how things are done." His hands wrapped around my wrists, pulling my hands away from my mouth. "Speak to me, Grace."
My mouth moved like a fish out of water, the words escaping into silence. A high-pitched ringing pierced my ears.
"Perhaps that was too harsh." He raised me to my feet and pulled me into his embrace. "I recall the first time my papa killed a man in front of me." He let out a soft sigh. "I suffered nightmares for weeks." His hand traced through my hair, cascading over my spine, and lingered at my lower back. "But the more he exposed me to death, the more the dreams lost their reality. Soon enough, it meant nothing to me anymore." He shrugged.
I shuddered and buried my face into his warm chest, his spicy, amber scent lulling me beyond the blood-red room.
He was dangerous, but he was my salvation.
"Do you understand?"
"He was a nice man." I wiped my tears on his shirt. "You didn't have to kill him."
"Just because he seemed kind, doesn't mean he was. He was just as vile as the rest of those men."
His hand trailed down my hair, repeating the process until my hair crackled with static.
"Like you?"
He sighed, and a faint chuckle resonated behind us. "I'm no exception to the rule. I've done and will continue to do things that society deems evil. But this is the way life unfolds in the cartel."
I shook my head, my jaw tight. "I just want to go home."
Elias walked us backward into the hall, then dislodged my tight grip from his waist. "Tell me where I can find Andrés, and you can see your family again."
My heart ached as though he'd stabbed the knife into my chest. Wincing, I ripped myself from his hold. "Next, I'm sure you'll tell me his death was my fault."
Elias slipped his hand into his pocket and retreated into the room, where blood pooled, a slight smile curling one side of his mouth. "Those words never left my lips." He paused, his other hand resting on the door. "Go back to bed, Grace. And never set foot down here again."
He closed the door, leaving my tears to curl beneath my chin and my shaking hands swiping at my wild hair.
Carlos' wide, frightened eyes lingered like haunting specters as my feet hit the first step. The vivid memory transformed into something more sinister as I ascended to the top, my hands tangled in my hair.
He killed him.
I glanced up the stairs towards my bedroom, my chest heavy and suffocating.
He wants me back in there?
Complacent.
How can I sleep?
I need air.
Turning on my heel, I sprinted through the back door and stopped by the poolside. I slumped down on my butt, dipping my toes into the heated water, wafts of steam rising as though it were a sauna in the cool night air.
I swiped at the unrelenting tears and sniffled, letting my legs hang in the pool's placid water.
Had it been four years since touching a pool?
A guard dressed in black cargo pants and a bulletproof vest walked the far end of the pool, his rifle crossed over his chest, the strap on his shoulder holding the weight of the death machine.
He looked at me before he rounded the corner, his gaze cold and empty, sending shivers down my spine.
I hung my head and squeezed my eyelids closed, my hands rubbing my arms, the warm water luring me in like a worm to a fish.
Glancing behind me, I raised my rear and slid over the edge, casting a single ripple out into the middle of the rectangular pool.
I exhaled, my teeth nibbling my inner lip as the water tickled my chin, my feet moving me closer to the center of the pool.
Sucking in rapid breaths, I built oxygen in my lungs as my high school swim coach taught me.
I'm in control.
I slipped beneath the pool's placid surface, the water enveloping me like a gentle embrace as I settled on the bottom with an eerie calmness.
Refracted light of the distant mosaic world cast a serene glow on the underwater realm. My nightclothes billowed around me, and tendrils of hair floated, creating an ethereal dance in the liquid sanctuary.
My ears filled with liquid, and bubbles tickled my nose.
Time suspended, my arms floating at my sides, and I embraced the solace the quiet depths of water offered.
Peace.
Ba-bump. Ba-bump.
Silence roared.
I closed my eyes and let the water take my burdens off my shoulders.