She stared up at the sky blankly for a few moments before she said, “What do you need from us?”

“I need to make sure you’re safe,” I said. “It’s all Luisa ever wanted. She cares more about you than she does her own life and her own happiness.” It’s actually infuriating, I wanted to add. But even I knew when to keep my mouth shut.

“I know,” she said, barely audible. Her eyes were watering. I really hoped she didn’t start crying in front of me because I would have no idea what to do.

“If you’re safe,” I told her, “both you and your husband, and away from here, away from where Salvador can find you, then I can go and get Luisa. I can bring her back.”

“That’s impossible,” she said. “Salvador Reyes is the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.”

“He is. And it won’t be easy. I’ll most likely die in the process. But there is a way to do it. There’s always a way.”

She seemed to take that in. She wiped away a tear with the back of her hand and nodded her head, as if agreeing to an internal conversation.

“Why are you doing this?” she eventually asked. “What is Luisa to you?”

“She’s a friend.” It wasn’t quite a lie.

“You’re in love with her,” she stated, a wide smile on her face.

I shot her a look she could not see. “I care about her very much,” I corrected her.

“Well,” she said, not put off, “if that’s good enough for you, that’s good enough for me.”

“Then you’ll let me help you,” I said cautiously, feeling like this had gone over easier than expected. I thought there would be a lot of protesting, a lot of yelling, a lot of doors slammed in my face or guns held to my head.

“Of course I will,” she said. “And Armand will too.”

“And you’re trusting me, just like that?”

“Yes. I am. I told you. My senses are sharp, and you, my boy, have a very good soul, even if you choose to believe otherwise.”

“I may not be as good as you think.”

She smiled and waved at me. “Oh, I don’t doubt it. I can smell the blood on you, after all.”

I looked down at my pants, at the few dark spots that stood out against the navy blue. “I had some business to take care of,” I tried to explain.

“I’m sure you did.” I wondered how much exactly this woman thought she knew about me. It was fascinating and troubling all at once. But as long as she was willing to help herself and her daughter, I couldn’t care.

“Will Penelope be an issue?” I asked, eying the house again.

“You’re not shooting her,” Raquel told me, “if that’s what you’re thinking.”

I frowned. She seemed to have a pretty good handle on me after all. “I wasn’t,” I lied. “But will you be needing her in the future, or will someone else do? I can hire you anyone you want on the other side, but it’s too risky to bring Penelope along with us. She’s on the cartel’s payroll, after all.”

“Anyone kind will do,” she said. “What do you mean the other side?”

“I can get you and your husband on a private ship leaving from San Jose’s marina in thirty minutes. You’ll go straight to Puerto Vallarta. There, I’ll have someone meet you and help you get settled. You can trust her.”

“Who is she?”

“My sister, Alana. She owes me more than a few favors.” At least, in my mind she did.

“All right,” Raquel said. “I trust you.”

I smiled. “Normally you shouldn’t, but in this case, I’m glad you do.”

I helped her up, even though she didn’t need it. Just before I was about to lead her to the door, she reached out and touched my face. She touched my forehead, my nose, my lips, my jaw, feeling delicately at each one.

“You’re a striking man, I bet,” she finally mused, looking satisfied. “All these parts that shouldn’t work together but do.”

I raised my brows and she gently took her hand away. “You could just call me handsome. Everyone else does.”

Once we were back in the house, I told her to go get Armand and pack up everything important. Penelope started asking questions, panicking. I knew she’d either shoot me or stop them, so I stopped her before she could. It was just a sleeper hold of sorts, something to knock her out long enough until Luisa’s parents were safe and on their way to Puerto Vallarta.

I quickly slid the body into the kitchen, making sure she wasn’t visible to anyone passing by, and left her a great wad of American hundred dollar bills, knowing that it was worth more than she’d get in a few month’s pay. It might buy her silence—there was no way Penelope wanted to own up to being the one who let Luisa’s parents escape. It also bought Raquel peace of mind.

Armand was a bit more cantankerous than I thought, and even though he drifted in and out of confusion, he was willing to go wherever Raquel was telling him. Soon I was driving them to the docks and helping them onto a fishing boat that one of my men operated. It paid to have my workers everywhere.

Once on board, Raquel looked up at me and smiled. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t creep me out a little, the way she knew where you were, the way she seemed to see into you without seeing you at all.

“Good luck,” she said. “I trust that you’ll do everything you can.”

I nodded. She was right about that.

After I watched them leave, and their ship faded on the horizon, I put in the call to Alana. If she wasn’t willing to help out, I had a few people on that end that would. Still, I didn’t trust them quite the way I trusted her.

“Hello?” she answered, sounding short of breath. “Javier?”

“Alana,” I said. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, no, I was just doing my workout video, it’s fine.”

I’d forgotten that Alana was a bit of a health nut. I hoped happy endorphins were running amok.

“Yes, well, so here is the thing.” I launched right into it, telling her only what she needed to know—mainly that she needed to take care of two ailing parents for a few days. She tried to get out of it, telling me she’d get fired from the airlines for taking time off. I told her I would ensure that not only would she not get fired, but that I’d pay her three times what she’d miss. She told me she wasn’t equipped to act as a nurse, and I told her I’d give her money to hire a short-term nurse if needed. I had an answer for everything, and I was very persuasive. I was also an expert in the art of guilt-tripping.

After she reluctantly conceded, she asked, “Who are these people, Javier? Why are you doing this?”

“Their daughter is important to me,” is all I said.

“In what way?” she asked suspiciously.

“In ways I don’t even understand. Thank you, Alana. I’ll be in touch.” Then before I almost hung up, I quickly said, “Oh wait. They’ll have a cooler with them. There’s what looks like a head of lettuce in there. Can you put in your freezer at home? I want it there for safe-keeping.”

“Is it a head of lettuce?”

“It’s something I promised to get.” I cleared my throat. “A gift. But for fuck’s sake, don’t peek at it.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” she said dryly, then hung up.

I sighed and put my phone back in my pocket. I walked away from the turquoise waves and the fishermen, back to the car, back to the airport, back to Mazatlan and back to The Devil’s Backbone. When I left again, there’d be no guarantee I was coming back.

Javier

“You’re fucking crazy,” Este spat at me, grabbing the ends of his hair and pulling on them. It was surprising to see him acting like a teenage girl, even for him.

“We all know I’m crazy,” I agreed. “This should not be new information. It takes crazy to run this business.”

“No, Javi,” he said, sitting down in his chair in a huff. “What you’re talking about isn’t running a business, it’s ruining a business.”

I gently pulled at the ends of my shirt, making sure they were even. “And it also has nothing to do with the business. I go in and get her. End of story.”