Malo - Page 24

I snap back to reality, to the moment in front of me, as the plane judders to a halt and Blue and Malo get to their feet. I do the same, stretching my arms above my head, trying to remind myself that I’m the one who wanted to come here in the first place. Even if, right now, it feels like the biggest mistake in the world.

I hesitate before I follow Malo and Blue out onto the steps that lead down to the runway outside. I know I can’t turn back now, but there’s a part of me protesting my presence here at all. I should have just stayed at the compound, where I knew I would be safe. What was I thinking, trying to come out here with them? What was I thinking relying on these men in the first place? I’ve gone from one criminal organization to another, and I’ve somehow convinced myself that this one is going to be different.

I force myself to follow them outside, and, though the air is warm, a cold shiver runs down my spine. I shouldn’t be here. I should get back on this plane, let it take me back to Houston. It’s not as though I feel entirely safe at the Kings’ compound, but out here, I feel as though I’m going to do more harm than good. One wrong move, and I could get myself killed. Not just myself, but my father, too. I know he’s relying on me to get him out of the nightmare he’s currently trapped in, but if my emotions get the better of me, we’re both done for.

Malo seems to clock the look on my face as I step off the plane and onto the tarmac below. He reaches for my hand and grabs it, catching me off-guard. His touch, though a surprise, is welcome. I need anything I can get to ground me right now, as I try to figure out what I’m going to do next.

“Hey,” he murmurs to me. I manage to make eye contact with him.

“You’re all right,” he assures me, giving my hand a squeeze. I squeeze it back. It’s not like I can talk right now, not with my mind rushing as fast as it is at this moment.

“Malo, Blue!”

A couple of men are waiting for us just outside the small airport building, and one of them calls out to the two Kings accompanying me. I can tell from the way Blue has been avoiding talking to me all this time that he’s not exactly thrilled that I’m here with them, but he hasn’t tried to kick me off this mission, and that’s all that matters. I can’t give him reason to worry about what kind of a liability I might be. I need to keep my focus, keep my head. It isn’t the same as it was before, when I was caught off-guard arriving back in Mexico. No, this time, I know what I’m walking into, and I have two Ruthless Kings by my side to get me through it.

I follow Malo over to greet the men, and I notice one of them eyeing me. Not in a creepy way, but more as though he’s trying to figure out what I’m doing here.

“This is Maria,” Malo introduces me, stepping out in front of me as though he’s protecting me from their gaze. “She’s here to help us take Las Rosas Negras down.”

“Good,” the man remarks. “We’re going to need all the help we can get. Come on, the car’s waiting. We need to go.”

CHAPTER 19

MALO

“This is Antonio,” Marquez introduces us. “And this is Chavez. They’ve been working on bringing down the cartel for….”

“The better part of ten years,” Antonio says, extending his hand to me and Blue to greet us. “Good to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about the Kings. If anyone’s going to be able to bring these fuckers down, it’s you.”

“We’ll need your help to do it,” I reply, as we’re led inside the large warehouse Los Desperados run out of. Los Desperados are a motorcycle club that run out of Monterrey, and they’ve got as many problems with Las Rosas Negras as we do. Sin made contact with them based on some interactions we’ve had with their men in Houston, and they were willing to welcome us to Monterrey and work with us to cause some problems for El Serpiente and his men.

I’m tired from the flight, but it’s not as though we have any time to waste. We need to get moving on all of this, and fast. As soon as Las Rosas realize that we have Rayo, and that Blue and I are out in Mexico, they’re going to start locking down their security, and we need to hit them before they have a chance to make that happen.

“This way,” Marquez, the man who met us at the airport, tells us, leading us through to a small room next to the main entrance. I’d forgotten how hot it was out here, the shafts of sunlight that cut through the large windows around us just adding to the heat. I pull off my jacket, tossing it over one shoulder, and Blue follows suit. I’m not sure if he’s ever been to Mexico before, and I bet the heat is already getting to him. It can cook your brain if you’re not careful, and I need him on top of his game.

I wonder if that’s what’s been bothering Maria. She’s been quiet since we arrived, keeping her head down, not even introducing herself to the other guys. Is she losing her nerve? That’s the last thing we need. I made the case for her to come here with us, and if she winds up making this tougher than it needs to be, then it’s going to blow back on me as a result.

“Let me cut to the chase,” Marquez says, once we’re sitting down around the table, beers in hand. “We’ve been trying to take ground from Las Rosas Negras for years now. They’ve been encroaching on our territory, causing more and more problems for us… but no matter how much we try and push back, they always seem to have more recruits to fight with.”

“How are they recruiting?” I ask, leaning forward with interest.

“Drugs,” Antonio cuts in, running a hand over his buzzcut. “They get people hooked on whatever product they’re peddling, and then they’ve got them dead to rights. They’ll do whatever they can to keep their next hit coming, even if that means fighting it out with us in the process.”

“How are they distributing the drugs?” Blue wonders aloud.

“We’ve identified a few warehouses around the city,” Marquez replies. “Heavily-guarded, but that seems to be where most of their dealers are getting their product from. I’d rather go after their suppliers, but this could be at least a way to cut off their product for a while.”

“How many do you know about?” Blue asks. I can see his eyes shining with excitement, as he starts to piece together the possibility of what he might be able to do. He’s always been into firepower, and taking down fully-fledged warehouses, that’s going to take some serious fireworks.

“Three, so far,” Antonio replies. “We’ve got our men tracking some of their dealers to get a better idea of where else they’re coming from, but it looks as though there are three main storage sites as it stands now.”

“Then we need to get rid of them,” I reply. “Create some chaos for them. If that’s how they’re keeping people loyal to them, some of their men are going to drop off when they realize they don’t have access like they did before.”

I don’t mention Jose, Maria’s father, to them, they just know we have beef with Las Rosas, and that’s enough. Scoping out this area is a chance for us to figure out where he is and potentially break him out, if we can hit fast enough.

“Agreed,” Marquez replies, with a nod. “It’s not going to be easy. They’re heavily-guarded, they know how important these places are to the future of their operation, but it would be a start.”

“Do you have a map?” Blue presses, leaning forward. “Show me where they are, and we can start planning how to take them all out in one hit. The last thing we need is for them to figure out the warehouses are being targeted, and then lock them down before we have a chance to raze them.”