The Beasts of Juarez, R.B. Schow [books to read for self improvement .txt] 📗

“Who was your cousin with?” she asked.

“What does it matter?”

“I’m just curious.”

“It was a publicity stunt, Mrs. Fox. Your husband was playing with their lives for a photo opportunity.”

“He’s a politician. That’s like getting mad at a cat because it chases mice.”

“Well, in this case, ICE raided my cousin’s home and he was shot in the head three times. They ruled it a suicide but I managed to track down photos.” Santiago pointed to his face in three places and said, “This was where he was shot.”

“Who was your cousin with?” she asked again.

“As I said before, it does not matter.”

“Yes, it does.”

“MS-13,” he said reluctantly.

“Since when did MS-13 get into the resettlement business?”

“You don’t believe me?” he challenged.

“I know MS-13 well, Mr. Cardenas.”

“You don’t even know your asshole from next Tuesday.”

“I’m quiet,” she said, “but I listen to everything.”

“You may be listening now,” he said, “but are you learning?”

“What are you going to do with me?”

“First I’m going to violate you in the worst of ways because that’s what gets me off, and then I’m going to let anyone else who works for me make you theirs.”

“You’re not only revolting,” she said, “you’re unimaginative.”

He continued, undeterred. “When you’re all filled up inside, when your heart is battered, your will is crushed, and you want nothing more than a swift and permanent end, Jose will give you the ending you deserve.”

“You have a serious problem with femicide here in Juárez,” Sydney said.

“I don’t see it as a problem,” he replied with humor in his eyes.

“I never understood how you could just kill a woman because she was a woman.”

“Someone like you never would.”

“Why do it then?” she asked, point-blank.

“Guys like seeing women get hurt and killed because it helps them imagine that someone is killing their wives, their mothers, their bosses. It’s all very sick, I agree. But me? I’m different from those men. That doesn’t’ mean I don’t appreciate an aphrodisiac for those who dine on fear. Truthfully, it’s the fear and repulsion that gets me off.”

“What made you like this?” she asked. Just knowing there were entire societies who savored this sort of demonic mayhem made her want to vomit.

“I have everything I want, Sydney Fox. I have had it all for so long I’ve grown bored. To continue the high, you need to take new drugs, then more of those drugs, then stronger doses of those drugs.”

“Then, killing people is your addiction?”

“The complete indifference to life is my addiction. That is why we will mail your husband a video of you getting killed regardless of whether or not we receive the ransom money. And the man who paid for this whole soiree? He insisted on getting the original tape.”

“Someone paid for this?” she asked, tears leaking down her face.

“A man who saw your family as a means to an end.”

She wiped her face, her nose starting to stuff up. “And what was his end?”

“He hates someone very, very much,” the man said with deep laughter in his throat. “That someone is coming to save you. But he will not save you.”

“So we’re just no one to you, to this man?”

He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Beyond the role your husband played in getting my cousin killed, you and your girls are nothing but a dollar figure to me.”

She wanted to spit on him but Jose’s blade never left her neck. She contained herself but for how long? When would holding back cost her everything? Did she even have a chance? Was she already dead?

Turning to Jose, Santiago said, “Take her to my room, remove her clothes for me, then secure her to the bed. I want a limb tied to every post.”

“Yes, boss.”

Jose grabbed her by her shirt, hauled her up, and walked her down the hallway. The fear of what was to come grabbed hold of her and wouldn’t let go. It sank its fangs into her very soul and locked its jaw.

When they reached Santiago’s bedroom and he opened the door, Sydney saw the four-poster bed with big metal eyelets attached to each post.

Jose said, “Take off all of your clothes and get on the bed.”

“And if I don’t?”

“This will not be the first time Mr. Cardenas has had to throw away a bloody mattress.”

With nothing left for her to do but submit, she started to undress. When she was completely naked, Jose looked into her eyes and said, “For your sake, Mrs. Fox, I hope that you have made peace with God.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

ATLAS HARGROVE

After an unbearable trip to a small property near the sewage processing plant, Leopold traded the drugs for guns and ammo, then got back into the Audi and said, “We have guns now, and not a drop of sweat off my nuts.”

Kiera didn’t blink, Cira barely breathed, and Atlas sat back and marveled in the humor of it all. A block-chain multimillionaire working his ass off to be a part of the team he put together.

“You know, Leo,” Atlas said. “I’m kind of admiring your ingenuity right now. It’s not easy going from being a suit to doing this. It takes time, street smarts, and the right connections. But you’re doing it. Good job.”

They pulled up in front of the hotel where they were meeting Esty and Yergha. Leopold parked the car then looked in the rearview mirror at Atlas. He had that look like he wasn’t sure if the compliment was a dig or a genuine commendation.

“I’m being serious,” Atlas said.

“I appreciate that.”

“If you want to live in this world, though, sooner or later you’re going to have to get your hands dirty.”

“Are you saying that trafficking drugs over international borders to buy arms in a country that bans assault weapons with you problematic people isn’t getting my hands dirty?” he