Chapter 32

MAX MOVES ALMOST AS SILENTLY AS I DO through the brush. In a minute, all I hear are the approaching footsteps of what I guess to be a dozen men. I grab Max's duffel and head back toward the rocks and the burned-out truck.

I do nothing to hide my tracks. I want whoever is coming to find an easy trail to follow. One set of footprints. I want them to come after me.

It takes me far less time to reach the rocks than it will for those following. Gives me time to find a vantage point to use as lookout. While I wait, I open Max's bag of tricks.

I was wrong. He doesn't have a small arsenal inside, he has a big arsenal inside. Grenades, flares, a couple of handguns, a small case with a disassembled rifle and a sniper's scope.

Boy Scout, indeed. Prepared to earn a murder badge.

In the side pouches are several more of those protein bars and the last two bottles of water.

I chug half of one, splash water onto the handkerchief and try again to scrub at my face. I can't imagine how I appeared to Adelita... my face and clothes so soaked in blood.

Maybe the fact that it was one of her tormentor's blood made it less horrific.

From what I gather from the sounds, the men have reached the place where Ramon, Culebra and Max stayed the night. I listen intently but the men don't appear to be talking. They must be a well-trained gang of thugs, not wanting to give away their location. I imagine them searching the ground, finding the discarded wrappers and the empty water bottles. Now comes the tricky part.

Will they see where Max and I found Adelita hiding in the thicket, or will my more obvious tracks draw them away?

In a moment, I have my answer. They start in my direction.

Good.

A glance at my watch.

All I have to do now is keep them occupied for eight hours.

I wait until they reach the side of the road. I want to see who is leading the hunting party. They gather and stop in the cover of brush, whispering and pointing toward the rocks, the beams of a half dozen LED flashlights crisscrossing in front of them.

Then they step into the road.

It's no surprise when I recognize the man in front, or when I hear his familiar voice call out.

"Come on out, Max," Ramon says. "We have Culebra. It will go easier on both of you if you come out now."

He doesn't mention me. Either he hasn't yet been in contact with Maria or he doesn't want to let Max know that I've followed.

I consider my options. I could pick them off one by one with the rifle in Max's bag.

No. Better to lead them on a merry chase away from the village, give Max more time to get away.

One thing I can do, though. Finish the job I started this morning.

I grab one of the grenades. Pull the pin. Toss it onto the burned-out bed of the truck.

The flash of the grenade flying through the air is caught by the searching flashlights. The men dive back into the brush.

The grenade explodes, flinging bits of wood from the truck's side panels and charred bodies in a wide arc and reigniting the fuel that was left in the gas tank.

Now not even Horatio Caine could piece together what's left.

A cry goes up from the group. Excited exclamations in Spanish. Evidently a piece of wood from the truck flew straight into one of the men. He staggers out into the road, flanked on either side by two buddies trying to drag him back into the brush. He's fighting them. There's a long, slender splinter no wider than an arrow projecting from his chest in front and out his back. The two trying to get him out of the road give up quickly and leave him to take cover again. The wounded man makes it no more than three or four steps before he collapses.

I don't know how he keeps going but he raises himself onto his knees, grasps the wooden spear with two hands and pulls.

His scream hangs in the air longer than it takes the blood to drain from his body.

I watch the man die, feeling nothing, my mind a blank slate. No. That isn't entirely true. I do have a thought.

One down...

Chapter 33

THERE'S MORE MURMURING GOING ON BEHIND the cover of brush at the side of the road. The gist seems to be an argument between the men who want to continue after Max (or who they think is Max) and the ones who think they should go back for reinforcements.

Ramon is clear what he wants to do. I hear him arguing that it's only one man for god's sake. But the counterargument is pretty compelling.

It's one of their own lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the road.

I don't wait to see who's going to win. I grab the duffel and start running away from the rocks and in a direction away from the village. If Ramon wins the argument, I want to leave a trail for him to follow. Tracks and when the ground gets rocky, small branches scattered along the way. I want it to look like a man running for his life.

After about fifteen minutes, I stop to listen.

I don't hear anything.

Shit.

They aren't following. My plan to get them going in the wrong direction so I could double back to the village isn't working. I guess the fear that Max had more grenades in that duffel convinced them they needed to amp up the firepower, too.

Damn it. At least it gives Max and Adelita more time to get away.

I backtrack along my own trail, this time not crossing back into the brush, but continuing along the road, careful to keep out of sight. It doesn't take long to overtake Ramon and his gang. Ramon is once more in the lead but he walks like a man rigid with anger that he couldn't convince the others to follow him after Max.

They're moving along the road, on the opposite side from me. To a man, they keep swiveling their heads and flashlights back the way they've come, on alert for an ambush from behind.

I pick up speed. I can easily beat them to the village. If I'm lucky, I can reach out to Culebra, find out where they're holding him, cut him loose before Ramon makes it back. One vampire can outrun an army of men.

And I do. I reach the outskirts of the village in minutes. It's very quiet, though something is different from the first time I approached the village. A lookout is posted near the well. He's in the shadows, but the glowing tip of a cigarette gives him away. I make my way around him soundlessly to the shack where I saw Adelita and the girls.

There's a guard here now, too. Squatting down with his back against the wall of the shack, rifle resting on his lap. I send out a mental probe.

Culebra?

I'm here.

He doesn't sound hurt or scared. He sounds pissed. What happened?

Fucking Ramon. Coldcocked me as soon as we got to the village.

How'd he do that? I thought you were suspicious of him?

Not suspicious enough, obviously. Or on my guard the way I should have been. Where are you?

About fifty feet from the shack, in some bushes.

Is Max with you? He didn't get Max, too, did he?

No. I give him a Reader's Digest version of what happened. About how I sent him away with Adelita so she would be safe. He's going to come back, but it will be eight hours at least.

I let a minute go by before asking. I know there are more girls. Are they with you?

No. The anger is back, radiating through his thoughts. They moved them to another shack. He's with them.

Santiago?

Not the Santiago we're after. His bastard brother, Luis.

Who the hell is Luis?

A decoy. Culebra's mind radiates dark anger. A trap set by Ramon.

Why? What happened to protecting his family?

He is protecting his family. Santiago made him a deal he couldn't refuse. Me in exchange for the life of his wife and daughter.

Santiago wants you? After all this time? You must have really pissed him off.

When Culebra doesn't answer right away, I get the feeling there's something more he's hiding about his past. Something he wants to keep hidden. There'll be time to find out what it is later.

So, shape-shift. Get yourself out of there. The men heading back for the village will leave again to go after Max. I've laid a false trail. When Max gets back, we'll go in after the girls. I'm not leaving them. I saw what they did to Adelita.

Culebra remains shut down. Whether he's considering what I said or coming up with his own plan isn't coming through. Finally he says, I'm staying put. At least for the time being. I might pick up something from Luis or the guards that gives us an idea where his brother is. We've got nothing but time until Max gets back anyway. May as well see if I can learn something useful.

What if Ramon comes back and decides to kill you?

Culebra's dry chuckle resonates in his head, transmits itself to me.

Then I shape-shift and bite his ass.

* * *

NOTHING FOR ME TO DO NOW BUT WAIT. I TRUDGE back to the same spot I occupied this morning  - well, yesterday morning actually -  and crawl back inside my little burrow. In thirty minutes I hear Ramon and his troops come into the village. The men disperse, Ramon barking a sharp order that they have fifteen minutes to get supplies and get their asses back to the well. I watch to see if he's going to the shack where Culebra is being held, but he goes instead to where Culebra said Luis Santiago and the girls were hiding.

The guard snaps to attention when Ramon approaches. Ramon ignores him and pushes open the door to stalk inside. His anger is apparent and the guard doesn't challenge or question him... in fact he doesn't even greet him, just ducks out of Ramon's way.

I can't hear what's being said behind the door Ramon slammed on his way inside. Gives me a chance to decide what I'm doing next.

Culebra?

Yes.

When the men start out again, I'm going to follow them for a while. Make sure they pick the trail I laid and not Max's. He's gotten a pretty good head start but hopefully they're not adding a bloodhound to their posse.

Culebra's rasping chuckle comes through once again. Haven't seen any bloodhounds around.

Ramon appears just then and heads for Culebra's shack.

Uh-oh, I say. Ramon is on the way.

I feel it as Culebra's thoughts turn dark and dangerous. Stay tuned in, he says. I'll try to find out what he has planned.

Ramon heads for the shack, his gait as stiff and angry as it was before. He greets this guard with as much arrogance as he did the other, too.

"Mueve el culo," he barks. Move your ass.

The guard jumps to his feet, stands at attention. But he needn't have bothered. Ramon whips past him without a backward glance.

In a moment, Culebra has opened a mental conduit that allows me to hear what is going on. Ramon must have struck Culebra because a wave of pain colors his thoughts bloodred. Ramon and he are talking in Spanish, but Culebra's interpretation comes through to me in English. It's a trick of this telepathy thing. No language barriers.

I don't know where Max would go. Or why he left.

You are lying.

Another gasp from Culebra. And another. Ramon keeps hitting him until I feel Culebra's thoughts grow dim. I'm just about to jump up and pull him out of there when Culebra sends me a message.

Don't. Make sure they follow the false trail. Ramon won't kill me. He has orders to bring me to his brother alive.

The beating goes on.

Let me stop this, Culebra. I can kill all these motherfuckers and we'll leave with the girls.

No. Culebra's answer is quick and heated. We need to find Santiago or I'll never be safe. Go. Please.

Vampire stirs, feeling Culebra's pain, not understanding why I don't unleash her to save our friend.

But the human Anna understands.

I fight my way out of my bramble hiding place and take off down the trail to the rocks. Culebra's pain follows me but I know he's right. It's the only way. I'll lay the false trail farther and farther from the village. By the time Ramon and his thugs realize they're chasing a ghost, I will have Culebra and the girls to safety.

Chapter 34

MY THOUGHTS ARE FOCUSED ON ONE THING... take this trail deeper and deeper into the desert and farther and farther away from the village. If Ramon wonders why Max would come this way instead of heading back toward the road, I'm hoping he attributes it to Max being disoriented. He heard Max say in the Jeep that he'd never been in this part of Mexico before.

I run, fast, leaving as much damage as I can in my wake. Environmentalists would rank me with off-road vehicles and dirt bikes on the list of forces destructive to the Earth's gentle crust. I kick, pull and crush whatever is underfoot.

When I gauge I've gone ten miles or so, I stop and look back. The meandering path of destruction looks good. A little obvious, maybe, but I'm hoping Ramon either isn't smart enough or is too angry to make that distinction. And it's dark. Ramon will only see what his flashlights allow.

Now to get back. This time, I make a wide arc away from the trail I just laid and run like a light-footed cat instead of a charging rhinoceros. I doubt Ramon will be able to tell anything except that the trail suddenly stops. Let him waste time trying to figure it out.

I almost get caught. I hear Ramon and his party as they arrive across the road from the rocks and burned-out truck. I have to dive for cover in some brush. I end up sharing the space with a startled rattlesnake that curls and hisses at me.

Culebra? I ask hopefully.

The snake's only response is to rattle threateningly and slither backward away from me.

Away from me.

Vampire is smiling. Not Culebra.

Ramon leads his gang toward the rocks and has soon picked up "Max's" trail. I wait until they are well on their way to leave my hiding place and take off for the village.

As soon as I'm in communications range with Culebra, I open my thoughts, hoping Ramon didn't do any permanent damage.

His reply is weak but coherent. You're back.

Are you all right?

Depends on your description of all right. But maybe you should check with Ramon. I think I broke his knuckles with my face.

The husky sound of Culebra's labored breathing as he attempts to laugh wipes the urge to smile off my face. You don't sound well. I'm coming in to get you.

No. As quick as before. Adamant. I'm in no danger now. Luis and his guards will be coming here to eat at daybreak. They might let something slip that will give away his brother's location.

Are you sure you'll be all right?

Yes. I told you. They have orders not to kill me.

But it's all right to beat him senseless. Reluctantly, I settle back into my den. By this time, I've actually made a nice little indentation for myself. Max's duffel is secure behind me. A glance at my watch shows there's still three hours until dawn, four until Max is due to call. I'm glad I had time to tell Max about Maria. She may be waiting in ambush on the path to the Jeep. If she and Gabriella were able to get out through that damaged door, that is.

I scoot down, curling into a ball, and rest my head against the duffel. Stephen's face pops into my head. I've been gone how long? He's probably in Washington already. I can't call him. I have no idea how much battery power I have left in my cell. I can't waste any to check. Besides, what would I say? Hadn't I already come to the conclusion that going to Washington was out of the question for me?

Can't dwell on something I can do nothing about. Four hours. This may be the last time I have to question Culebra about his past. I reach out to him.

I'm here, he replies with an echo of sarcasm that asks, where else would I be?

Tell me why Santiago still has it out for you?

At first, I think he's not going to answer. Or he's ignoring me. There's no open communication link between us. All I can do is wait for him to make up his mind.

At last he does.

I did more than kill for Santiago. His tone is heavy with recrimination and regret. I told you I was hungry for money and power. So an opportunity came along  - one Julio found out about -  and I jumped at the chance to participate.

Another pause. I feel Culebra steeling himself to go on. At last he does.

It was a gun deal. Julio had a contact in the ATF. An extremely well-paid contact. A cache of guns that was to go to another government organization was hijacked with this mole's help and brought across the border. Eighteen hundred automatic rifles and handguns. And we delivered them into Santiago's hands.

Julio was a hero. Until it was discovered that Julio's "mole" was an undercover agent. The deal was a sting to track the guns to Santiago and the other cartel heads. We started getting hit with raids on our homes, on our businesses. The ATF came looking for the guns.

They underestimated how quickly we were able to distribute and hide those guns. They found nothing. But the ATF interference caused a serious setback to the drug operation. For months, we were stopped from using our normal supply routes for fear of being raided. The Federales increased patrols, closed down the money houses, followed us night and day. Even our families were harassed.

Santiago blamed Julio. A whisper campaign started. Rumors that Julio knew the guns would be traced. That he'd made a deal with the ATF... safe passage to the U.S. for him and his family if he ratted on Santiago. And collect a huge bounty.

There is so much sadness, so much regret in Culebra's tone that it hurts my heart. His mind closes for an instant. I ask, What happened to Julio?

Another long moment of silence. Santiago had him killed. I was spared because Julio never gave up my part in the operation. He was tortured, but he never gave me up. In spite of it, Santiago had his suspicions. Julio and I were so close. But he decided he couldn't lose two of his best executioners, so he chose to let me live. That time.

He pauses another long moment. I wait for him to continue, wondering how I could have condemned him on Christmas Eve without hearing the whole story.

Sorry that I did.

How does Ramon figure into all this? I ask finally.

Ramon was from my village. My only friend. Remember my sister? The one I said was murdered? It happened right before I decided to leave my village. It was a gang of local thugs. They picked her up on her way home from school. Took her to an abandoned building. Tortured her, raped her. We found her body a week later in a pile of garbage.

The words stop abruptly. Culebra goes still and silent. Then, I vowed revenge. Ramon said he would help me. We set out to find the gang. It wasn't hard. We simply hung around the schoolyard waiting for another innocent girl to be targeted. We didn't have long to wait.

Less than a week after my sister was murdered, they went after another girl. Ramon and I followed them to an old barn on a piece of property long deserted. There were three of them.

It wasn't hard to kill them. Ramon and I called them out of the barn, said we were Federales. They were kids, not more than sixteen. The idiot cabrones came out with their hands up! Ramon and I shot them where they stood. We let the girl go. She had no problem promising to keep our secret. Ramon and I waited until she had run away, then we dragged the bodies inside the barn. I found my sister's locket and trophies the boys had taken from other girls. There were six trophies. For six girls. I realized then the villagers had to have known what was going on. And yet they did nothing to protect their children. They kept the secret because of shame or guilt or pride.

It made me sick to live among such cowards. My parents had already made it clear I was a freak, un bestia. I now held them in contempt, too. I left soon after that.

His voice leaves an echo in my mind as the words stop. So helping you avenge your sister is why you felt you owed Ramon a debt?

Yes. And because I brought him into Santiago's operation when he, too, fled the village. I took him under my wing the way Julio did me.

Do you know why he's turned on you now?

Another empty silence. I wait.

I believe he is trying to save his own skin, Culebra says. He made a mistake killing that minister's son. Money is more important to Santiago than blood. There is a bounty on Ramon's head now, and on the heads of his wife and daughter. It couldn't have been a hard decision for him to make... trading my life for theirs. I would have done the same thing.

I don't believe it. But I make no comment. Instead, I'm not sure I understand. What could Ramon offer Santiago?

Knowledge that I'm alive. That I was involved in the gun operation. Ramon was the only other person who knew of my involvement with Julio and the ATF sting. One of the first things I did when I recovered from being shot was to give Max the locations of the hidden guns. They were able to recover some of them and round up a few of Santiago's lieutenants.

But not Santiago or the big boss?

A sharp laugh. They were too smart. They've always been too smart.

So you did a good thing, right? You saved a lot of innocent lives by getting those guns back.

A sound like a small sob makes the hair stir on my arms.

Not good enough. They didn't find all the guns. I am haunted by the ghosts of those who have been raped, robbed and killed with the weapons they didn't find.

You did what you could.

I didn't do enough.

The link between us closes abruptly. Through my lacy curtain of leaves, I see why. Men are moving toward his shack, talking softly among themselves. I see two guards I recognize from before and in the lead, someone I don't. A short, fat man I can only guess is Luis Santiago.