Chapter Five
Selena
“Who?” I asked him.
“I cannot speak their names. Not unless I have their permission.”
I shook my head. “Mierda…That doesn’t help me to know if they are good or bad. Trustable or creeps.”
“They do have code names,” he said.
“Code names?”
“Si, Selena. This world has two kinds of people in it. Ones who wish to do harm and they only care about power. You and I have known people like that. I even had one of them as a parent. Then there are people who seem to be bad, but they aren’t. Like me.” He grinned.
I rolled my eyes. “Maldito Carlos, I’m a grown woman. I work for a deadly cartel. So I do not need a school of crime lesson.”
He laughed. “I did not know there was a school of crime?”
I stared at him. “Do you need some rest?” I felt like with the way he was talking that he might be feeling dizzy or something.
He shook his head as he laughed hardily. “I rested for seven months, senorita. I think I’ve had plenty of siesta time. Now where was I?”
“The crime lesson,” I quipped.
“Oh, yes. You interrupted me. The same with fakers that appear to be good people. Underneath they are bad and they operate like that only to fool you. There are people who pretend to be bad as well. Yet underneath, they are good hearted and they secretly help people that need it.”
“Like who?”
At my repeat of who, he said, “We just came around full circle.” He again gave me that smile of his. “Like the two men I will call to aid us.”
I kept staring at him. “You are serious?”
He sighed and said, “I am.”
I cocked my head at him. “And why would they help us?”
“I would like to make them out to be pure shining heroes, but the truth is…they both owe me.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Ok that, I can understand. So can you tell me these code names?”
“I can but I need to call them first. Explain what we need then when they agree…I will tell you their code names.”
“When they agree?” I asked.
“Yes, when as in they will agree.”
“They owe you that much?”
“They owe me their lives, Selena.”
“I would love to hear that story or stories,” I commented.
“And here I thought you were sick of me talking so much.”
I laughed this time.
“So, do you have a like…burner phone?” he asked.
I paused. “I have a couple.”
“I knew it. No cartel worth their salt would forget the burners.”
He was right. I always had a couple with me. I went over to my pack, dug out one of my phones and came back over to the bed. “I advise you to not use my name with these men. They may not come if you tell them. Quanto is not a popular man.”
Carlos snorted a laugh. “No, he isn’t. I will have to explain who you are when they arrive.”
“Is it safe to tell them where you are?” I asked as this idea now alarmed me a bit.
“Is there someone here that will report their arrival?” he asked.
I paused and then let out a sigh. “No. I am trusting you now by telling you that there is only me here. I even sent the doctor and nurse away.”
“Uno momento.” Carlos stared at me. “You mean you are alone here? We are alone?” He looked shocked.
“I couldn’t have anyone here,” I explained. “I had to ask you about my family members and reveal why I captured you. Do you think I trust any of Quanto’s men upon hearing that? To allow them to know my motives?”
Carlos stared at me. “Bien, I admit you are scary enough to make me behave anyway. All by yourself, La Espada.”
I raised a brow at him as I felt some surprise that I did not show on my face. “You know that name?”
“Si, I do. People in our business have code names as I said. In the cartel especially. Often it is to instil fear. I realize this. El Padrino, El Chapo and so on. But you are called The Blade for a damn good reason. So of course, I know about it.”
I studied him, not knowing if he was kidding or not.
The man jumped back and forth between darkness and happiness at random times.
It could be because of the long coma. Or it could be other factors.
Like he was happy about Santiago being gone.
And now, he could go and get the kids. The second reason was he was free from having to be in the cartel as he had explained already.
He didn’t have to be part of the dark life anymore as I called it.
Yes, I felt the same way he did at times.
While living this existence had been exciting and challenging, there were parts that made me sick to my stomach.
Though I never once showed how disgusted I felt when around other members. That would do nothing to help me.
“So can I have the phone?” he asked.
His question cut into my thoughts. I knew the second I handed him this cell phone that there would be no turning back.
This would seal our fate. We would have a team and go after Alex’s kids.
I stepped close to the bed and gave it to him.
Our fingers touched and I jolted. What the fuck was that?
I actually felt a spark of… Shaking my head I ignored it and sat down in the chair.
I couldn’t allow myself to feel attracted to this man.
It would be a huge mistake at this point.
Carlos swiped the screen then he paused.
“Did you have their numbers memorized?” I asked.
Nodding, he smiled. “I did just that. Had them in my head for a while now. Hell, it’s a good thing I didn’t lose my memory in that accident. Ok, for the first man. I just need to take a minute to think of what the phrases were.”
“Phrases?” I asked curiously.
“Yes. I mean there’s no decoder ring here, ya know? But there is a sort of test to pass. The men both have a key word then a few questions to answer.”
“Like a safe word?” I asked.
Pausing, Carlos snickered. “Oh Selena, you are wicked.”
I scoffed.
He laughed at my reaction. Then he tapped in a number. “And please do not speak,” he instructed me as his gaze met mine for a few seconds. “They might bolt on me if you do.” He tapped ‘call.’ Then he placed it on speaker.
After two rings, a voice answered, “Yes?”
“I seek Hotspur,” Carlos said.
I blinked at him. That was an odd name.
“For how long have you sought?” the voice asked.
“A hundred years,” Carlos replied.
“And what of the code?’
Carlos met my eyes as he shook his head then said, “Bound by bravery, loyalty, honor, and the defense of the weak.”
“Well damn, Carlos!” the British accented voice on the phone exclaimed. “I thought you died, mate!”
Carlos laughed. “Reports of…”
“…my death are exaggerated,” they both quoted at the same time. Then they laughed together.
I rolled my eyes.
With a chuckle in his voice, the man on the cell asked, “Is it time?”
“It is,” Carlos replied. “The roses have bloomed.”
“Tell me when and where,” the brit voice asked from the speaker.
Carlos looked up at me.
I froze. He had told me not to speak.
He motioned his hand at me and nodded his head rapidly.
I grabbed my pack at my feet and then took out the hotel keycard. I showed it to Carlos.
Leaning forward, he read it aloud, “The Executor Hotel in San Diego.” He raised his gaze to me as he looked a bit startled by the fact that he was so far away from New Orleans. Then he spoke again, “Call this number when you arrive.”
“I gotta get a flight out. But I will be there as soon as I can.” The call ended.
Carlos tapped the screen and looked up at me.
“Boy, do I have questions,” I told him.
“Me too,” he replied.
“Yes, you were flown here in a private plane,” I answered his question before he asked it. “And yes, you are about eighteen hundred miles from the Crescent.”
“And why?”
I scoffed as if he should know that answer.
“Oh, si.” He nodded. “We are closest to Mexico here.”
I nodded. “That and we are hidden from your family in New Orleans. As best as I could.”
“The answers to your questions about the phone call.” He stared at me and explained, “It’s a sort of complicated yet simple answer.
The code was for the Knights Of Valor. It is the actual Chivalric Code: bravery, loyalty, honor, and the defense of the weak.
His real name I think is actually Henry but he calls himself after an English nobleman who was a knight in the 14th century.
Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy. An English nobleman and military commander famous for his fiery temperament and combat skills.
And I have to agree that this Henry is a skilled fighter and bodyguard.
His temper flares up quite a bit too.” He chuckled.
“Ok, don’t look at me like I’m insane, Selena. He made all of this up, not me.
I stared at him. “órale and this is the secret code he uses?”
“Yes, as far as I know.”
I shook my head as I smiled. “So, this guy is a bodyguard?”
“Yes, hence the knight story. Man, he owns the whole outfit of armor and chainmail. Like the heavy stuff and totally real. He showed it to me once. Actually, he wore it to show me.”
“Is he sane?”
Carlos stared at me and tilted his head back to laugh.
I blinked at his reaction and argued, “It is a legitimate question.”
He was still chuckling as he replied, “Selena, none of us are sane. Not the ones in this business anyway. You and I are in what is considered to be the Mexican Mafia. We direct shipments of drugs and guns. We send men out to kill. What the hell is sane about that?”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right.” I shrugged. “The Wasp was a great teacher but she was loco too. She wore disguises like I’d never seen before. And she could change her accent to five others to help the disguise. She told me that many people either wanted her dead or they wanted to challenge her.”
“Yes, see? But I do admit that Henry does live by that code of chivalry. I mean you’ve heard the joke that chivalry is dead?” He shook his head. “To this guy it is alive and kicking. At least for him it is.”
“So, how does he kill then?”
Carlos shrugged his shoulders. “He doesn't as far as he told me. He might beat them within an inch of their lives, but he refuses to kill.
“Well, my mentor had no such rule. I don’t think she even knows how many she has killed.”