16.
The old bunkhouse smelled of beer and cigar smoke, tequila, and cigarettes. Despite these remnants of vice, the interior of the building appeared to be a place of health and preparedness. The room contained weights and exercise equipment, gym mats, and two heavy bags hanging from the ceiling. Footlockers and hard cases of weaponry and military gear were stacked against the wall and at the end of every bed.
The group of six men and women stood and cheered in mock revelry at Hunter’s return, quickly thrusting a cold beer in his and Taylor’s hand. Hunter cracked a few jokes about his absences and how he’d found Taylor living under a highway overpass with a sign asking for work then introduced him to the team. They were:
Mitch Pearce, a former G4S Secure Solutions Agent in his late 30s. He stood 6’2”, sported a five-inch-long bushy, black beard, and proudly wrapped his linebacker build in a skin-tight T-shirt that was cut to reveal his biceps the size of small hams. His khaki cargo shorts were baggy and frayed and looked like they had occasionally been used to clean the filth from the bottom of his long-worn flip-flops.
Tom Nickerson, a 5’10”, slim-built former DEA Agent from Arizona who, after realizing the folly and stupidity of the U.S. War on Drugs, joined the cartel to make money.
Sergio Agüera, a 5’9” Mexican National with the build of a professional soccer player, spent the last year working every hellhole Academi sent him to before coming home to join the Acuña Cartel.
Kerri Ruck, 5’3” of self-proclaimed, “100% Texas born and raised bull dyke that’ll rip you a new one and then some if you call me that and ain’t my friend.”
Marquis Jordan, an African-American from the mean streets of Chicago, who even at 40 years old still sent half his paycheck home to his “momma” while referring to her as his number one gal.
And Louise “Lou” Drake, who was 5’9” of steel-cut muscle poured into a feminine form of curves and dirty-blonde hair.
Taylor finished his beer, took a fresh one offered from Ruck then a cigar from Hunter, and listened to the team joke and share stories of times afield and of doing the cartel’s bidding. Everyone promised that the work was far and few between but the pay and benefits beyond compare. Taylor laughed and said that he was shocked a Mexican drug cartel had a Human Resources Officer and even more so at his explained his benefits. The team admitted that they too were shocked but that the cartel had lived up to each and every promise they made toward the team.
“I just hope taxidermy’s part of my benefits package,” Pearce said. “’Cause if I take out some cave monkeys tomorrow, you know I’m gonna get one mounted!”
The team laughed and Ruck added to the fun by saying that a monkey was about the only thing Pearce ever could mount. Pearce raised his beer in salute at the insult then accepted a huge bear hug from Ruck and laughed some more. The drinking and the camaraderie grew late into the evening and by the time they all retired, Taylor felt that he had made the right decision in finally accepting Hunter’s job offer.
17.
Dejah Lopez did her best to keep up with her mother and uncle, but they and the group they were a part of were moving too fast, weaving through the terribly difficult thorn scrub brush on narrow goat trails with only the moon and stars to light the way. Keeping up was made even more difficult given Dejah’s ill-fitting shoes. The sneakers had passed down through three older sisters before they got to Dejah and they consisted of nothing but paper-thin leather and slick rubber soles.
Dejah’s mother hurried her along once more with a quick snap of her wrist and Dejah felt her shoulder pull. She released a small cry of discomfort and was quickly shushed by her mother and those ahead of her. Dejah pouted at the instructions and grimaced but followed her mother through the tangles of mesquite and huisache trees to a small opening littered with plastic bags and water bottles, discarded clothing, and other sundries.
“We cross just over there,” the leader of the group whispered. “The water is only about two feet deep but the current’s pretty strong so stay alert.”
The group nodded and some took on looks of worry or concern.
“Crossing the river is when we’re out in the open and the most vulnerable so remember to hurry and keep as quiet as you can,” the leader continued.
Again, the group nodded.
The travelers tightened up their backpacks and cinched their belts and made sure their bags were tied tight over their shoulders. Some wore looks of excitement, others worry, and others crossed themselves and said prayers. Dejah’s mom crossed herself and asked God for protection and for him to lead her and Dejah to their family that was already established and waiting for them in Austin. Dejah listened to her mother’s prayers and crossed herself as well then tried one more time to tie her shoes so that they would be tight on her feet.
The frontrunner led the group of travelers out of the clearing and down a narrow path that wove through the scrub and onto the bank of the Rio Grande. The shore was muddy with a sprinkling of rocks and gravel that glowed in the moonlight. The group followed in a single-file line as they were led down the bank and into the river. Dejah held her mother’s hand tight but then broke free of her grip when her shoe became submerged in the mud at the river’s edge. Dejah leaned down and pulled the ratty sneaker back on her feet.
“Hurry, mija,” Dejah’s mother scolded in a deep whisper. She grabbed Dejah’s hand once more and led her into the river with a firm jerk.
The water was warm but considerably cooler than the air, and Dejah’s body shuddered as a shiver ran up her spine. She followed her mother the best she could but pushing through waist-high water—even while being pulled along—was difficult and the river was wider than she thought it would be. She was a third of the way across when her shoe slipped from her foot. She pulled her hand from her mother and leaned into the black water to grab it before it slid completely off. The current grabbed Dejah and pulled her forward and under. She spun over and came to the surface to breathe and to right herself, but the pull of the water wouldn’t allow her to plant her feet. She struggled to stand or to turn around, but the water became deeper and faster. She saw her mother and another from the group reaching out across the darkness, as if willing her to stop or to return. She tried to call to them but instead swallowed a mouthful of silt-heavy water.
The current threw her against a rock and the sudden pain in her back brought tears to boil in her eyes. She spun around and tried to grab the rock that had momentarily paused her race down the shallow water but wasn’t able to and slipped by it. She turned in the current over and over and fought to stand or at least to right herself so that she might swim. The current slammed Dejah into another rock and then another. She grabbed ahold of the next one and pulled herself up and partially out of the water. She thrust her legs underneath her and finally found the river bottom. She stood to realize that the water was now only to her upper thigh. She brushed her long black hair off her face, caught her breath, then studied her surroundings.
The moon and stars cast light down on a bank of large rocks and boulders. The treeline was high above a jumble of car-sized rocks. She looked for her mother and the group upstream but saw that the river curved and that she had been swept down and around at least one bend. She coughed, wadded toward the shore, and climbed out of the river. Both her shoes were gone, and she was suddenly cold.
“Don’t yell,” she told herself in a heavy whisper. “The man said not to make noise.”
She ambled gingerly up the steep bank on bare feet and away from the river. She serpentined through and over rocks, broken limbs, and damp vegetation. Dejah made it twenty yards from the river when the vegetation between two rocks she stepped upon gave way, and she plummeted downward and into a deep hole. She landed hard on her leg, and her ankle gave and twisted. Dejah looked up at the hole she fell through some twenty feet above her, rubbed her ankle, and wept.