Chapter 36
thirty-six
Natalia
California, Four Years Ago
“Bolt the door!” Papa shouts, his face shining with perspiration. Matias and the rest of Papa’s men saunter through the cavernous room with easy steps, but my eyes can’t find a place to focus.
There’s a bunker under the house.
Well, maybe not a bunker. But it’s the only word I can think of to describe the makeshift sub-basement, stacked high with crates and illuminated with long rows of fluorescent lights.
It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the harsh light, and I think Sylvia has the same problem too, because she spins in the same spot twice before looking at me.
“What the fuck is this place?”
The question is punctured by the distant rip of a rifle. No one answers Sylvia. All of the men are too busy bursting through crates, arming themselves with rifles and handguns.
My hands start to tremble, and then the shaky movement sinks into my bones, threatening to shake my heart right out of my throat.
This wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
Outside, Ernesto and his men were cornered before they could follow us. I think Ramona was arrested, too. Is she ok?
A wave of guilt pushes up my stomach as I watch Matias assemble a rifle and Papa sling a bulletproof vest over his stomach. I wanted to put an end to Papa’s greed—to be free of his overbearing tendencies. It never occurred to me that he wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“Papa.” My voice shakes as I take a step towards him. “Maybe we should just put the guns down.”
He narrows his eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous.” He gives me his back, motioning at all of the crates in the sub basement. “We need to get as much out of here as possible. Stack up the trucks. These crates first!”
A throng of men are already moving, their shoes scuffing on the tiled floor. My heart races, blood rushing in my ears, as I turn to stand next to Sylvia, fading into the background.
It’s hard to focus on any one thing. Should I get out and leave Papa behind? Matias? No, he should come with me. Sylvia, too. We need to get out.
Is the FBI in the house, upstairs, right now? How long will it take for them to?—
“We should get the girls out of here first.” Matias’s voice calms me. He comes closer, standing a handful of feet away, the rifle slung over his shoulder gleaming under the lights.
“Fine. Pack one of the escalades with as much as it will fit, and then put them in the back.” Papa concedes, but it’s not good enough for Matias.
“If they have any suspicion there’s drugs in the back, they’re going to use deadly force to stop them.” Matias argues. Sylvia shudders behind me, coming to stand close enough to snatch my hand and squeeze it.
Another round of bullets echoes. It’s closer now, I’m sure of it.
“That’s just a risk we’ll have to take.” Papa says over his shoulder, his barrel chest heaving with exertion as he scrambles to move as much of product as possible. “They can ride with Paco. He knows what he’s doing.”
Matias shoulders his way forward, getting in Papa’s face until he’s forced to stop. The room grows deathly quiet, all movement seizing as the men stop and watch.
“That’s not good enough. They’re not getting killed to save a few kilos.” Matias rasps quietly, and even though there’s a terrifying edge in his voice, the words ground me.
“Who do you think you are?” Papa’s mouth works, red creeping up his throat. “They leave when I say they can leave.” His face turns into an angry shade of puce as he reaches for his gun.
Nausea slithers up my throat.
But Matias isn’t scared. He doesn’t even flinch, and I want to shake him.
“What are you gonna do? You gonna shoot me?”
“S-stop.” My legs feel like rubber as I take a step towards them.
“It’s okay, baby.” Matias reaches out without breaking eye contact with Papa, corralling me until I’m hiding behind him and he’s holding on firmly to my hand.
Papa follows the movement, his gaze flying between Matias and I, and then to our intertwined hands.
His movements steady. Papa swallows back a jagged breath, looking at me as an unstable jagged-tooth smile flourishes on his face.
“I should have known.” My cheeks heat as I avoid his gaze, hiding behind the bulk of Matias’s powerful back. I yank my hand away from Matias, trying to put some space between us, but he doesn’t budge.
“I should have known the moment you started arguing and saying no and getting all of these ideas...” Papa says, wagging his finger at me like he’s two seconds away from beating me. “I should have known it was because of a fucking boy.”
He heaves a breath and then moves in a burst of energy, crossing the handful of feet between until he’s close enough to see the fury shining in his eyes.
“Papa…” What am I going to say? The words die on my lips. I’m not sorry. I don’t feel bad. And I’m not leaving Matias.
“I hoped you’d be more like your mother. Turns out you like to whore yourself just like that one.” He seethes, his brows drawing as he jerks his chin in Sylvia’s direction. “I should have beat you into submission when I could. I should have?—”
I don’t hear the rest he’s got to say, because a quiet clicks cuts him off. He freezes, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple when he looks down. I crane my neck, following his gaze.
My mouth goes dry when I spot the gun Matias presses against his stomach.
“Matias. No.” I tug on his shirt.
“I’ve had enough of you.” Matias says darkly, looking over his shoulder at Sylvia. “All of you.”
The men around us all move at the same time, reaching for their guns. Panic clutches at my stomach, a cold bowling ball punching me in the stomach.
Three men point their guns at Matias.
But they’re outnumbered, their eyes flitting around the room when suddenly, all of the other guns in the bunker are aimed at them.
Papa sees this, his eyes faltering. Somehow, he’s been outnumbered in his own home.
“How stupid do you think I am?” Matias says quietly, pushing the barrel of his gun into Papa’s gut.
“You tried cutting me out with Ernesto, smiling in my face like you weren’t planning to play me?
But you forgot you’ve left me to run your little kingdom these past few months.
Who do you think hires your men? Trains your guns? ”
Papa swallows thickly, his eyes flashing to the gun pressed into his front and then to me.
“I hope you’re happy, you?—”
“Be careful what you say next.” Matias warns. “They may be your last words.”
Papa gives Matias a seething look. A hateful look that would corrode someone on the spot. And then he raises his hands, slowly, in surrender. An ache blooms in my chest when the man that helped me climb trees and spoiled me with ice cream as a girl refuses to look at me.
“Go get in one of the escalades, both of you.” Matias says, looking over his shoulder at Sylvia and I.
Nothing is ever going to be the same.
Mama died. And after today, I’m losing my father either way. It’s obvious now, that this is the price I have to pay to call the shots in my own life. To live and love however I want.
My eyes trail to Matias, and the tense standoff in the room. Slowly, Papa’s men lower their guns, and a silent agreement is made. He stands strong and tall and sure, protecting me. After today, he may be all I have left. I’m okay with that.
Sylvia takes a shuddered breath and then blinks hard, giving Papa a fleeting look before turning her back on him and heading for the big motor bay at the end of the basement.
My hands fist into the fabric of his shirt, warm and dampened with sweat.
“Come with me.” I say quietly, relaxing fractionally when his men start moving crates like nothing happened.
“We have to finish up here.” He says quietly, giving Papa a hard look. “You go ahead without me. I’ll be right behind you.”
But how could he be right behind us with the FBI on our tails? Even now, shouts echo in the distance. It won’t be long until they discover the entrance through the pantry in the kitchen. How long until they’re in the dirt path leading out of the motor bay?
I cock my head, silently begging him to leave all of this behind—for once.
He feels my gaze on the side of his face, the hard lines of his face softening. With his men taking control of the room, he finally relaxes enough to face me.
“We can walk out of this together. Let’s just leave this all behind.” I keep my voice quiet, but my eyes must give it all away.
“I told you this was going to happen.” Sylvia snorts, heading to the SUVs parked at the end of the motor court without me. “He only cares about one thing. They’re all the same.”
No. No. Matias isn’t like that. After all we’ve been through these past few months, we’re walking out of here together.
I open my mouth, my eyes flying between Sylvia’s smug look and Matias’s wordless reluctance, when a flurry of movement catches my attention.
A man kneeling in the opposite end of the room dives. Everything happens so quickly, I barely have time to duck when the first shot goes off.
Matias’s men drop the crates, reaching for their guns, but it’s too late. Papa dashes across the room, his men rattling shots as they move towards one of the cars in the motor bay.
A scream gets trapped in my throat. I hide behind a steel utility cart, frozen in place. A bullet whizzes past my ear, striking the concrete wall a few feet away, and my knees shake.
“Natalia, come on!” Sylvia screams, ducking behind a stack of crates at the end of the basement.
I look up, searching for Matias one last time.
My eyes focus just in time to catch one of his men take a bullet to the head.
Time slows. A scream rips from my throat.
I forgot what it was like to watch someone die.
Bile pushes up my stomach, my calves twitching with the primal need to escape. To run.
But I’m frozen in place, and every other detail fades to nothing, as I watch the pool of blood gathering around the body. In a blink, I’m no longer standing in the basement.
I step back in time.