Whitewater (Rachel Hatch #6)

"You said, you wanted the recipe because I never come around enough to keep up with demand. Consider this box the first of many personal deliveries. It has been too long." Ayala's chuckle was joined by Cruz and his booming laugh which shook the tin in the roof above.

Cruz opened the box and inhaled deeply. Hatch found herself leaning in for another sniff of the sweet cake bread. Letty just stared into the kitchen at the sizzling food on the stove top. "I'll take this as a temporary concession. And only under one condition." Ernesto said.

"And what's that?" Ayala asked.

"You stop chewing on the end of that cigar."

"Now why would I go and do something like that?" Hatch watched the men in their strange yet familiar banter.

"Because your lips are going to fall off with cancer. I've told you this a thousand times."

"You smoke."

"That's different."

"How so?"

Cruz pawed his chin. "Because it's in and out of my mouth. Doesn't just hang off my lip like a wet dog turd."

"Ernesto Cruz! A child is present," Josefina barked from the kitchen.

"I said turd. Not shit." Cruz winked at Letty. A weak but genuine smile broke the girl's placidity.

Cruz chuckled and offered his closing remarks. "But you breathe it into your lungs."

"True."

Hatch watched the stalemate unfold before her eyes in what proved to be one of the most bizarre debates she'd seen in a while. Each man kind-heartedly at odds with the other.

"It is good to have you in my home again friend. And Josefina and I are overjoyed at the company you've brought." Cruz walked the group further into his quaint home.

"Enough of your talking. Ernesto will have you standing there all day. Now, grab yourself a seat. The food will be ready shortly."

Hatch pulled out the folding chair and sat. Letty took up next to her, staying on her right and keeping herself close enough that the hairs of her arm tickled the scar tissue of Hatch's. The girl was latched to Hatch like a newborn puppy to its mother. The contact didn't last. As soon as huevos rancheros hit her plate, Hatch went to work devouring the meal. She finished her plate quickly and washed it down with freshly brewed coffee made by Josefina. The air still held the hint of the fresh grinds used to make it, although the scent of the recently cooked breakfast overwhelmed it.

With bellies full, the conversation shifted to Letty and her circumstances. Letty ate slowly and quietly. By the time Hatch finished her plate, Letty still had barely eaten four, maybe five bites. Whatever drug they'd been giving her had begun to wear off and she was starting to feel the effects of its withdrawal.

Ayala began, "Ernesto here kind of runs what you call an underground railroad of sorts. He, and many like him, have formed a pact, an alliance, to work together, to use their skills and the resources at their disposal, to help victims ravaged by the cartels.

“Young girls like Letty aren't the only ones forced into servitude. Older men and women are used as mules to bring drugs across the border, oftentimes inside their bodies, hoping that their age and infirmity cause inspectors and border agents to pass a blind eye over them. At least those agents who haven’t already been bought and paid for.

“Whole families were often brought in to work their drug labs, often in some type of repayment for ferrying another family member across the border, their lives spent working off a debt they'll never be able to pay off.

“You see, slavery is still alive and well here, although people don't see it. All they see is the drugs and the money and the shootings. We fight against an enemy who is as powerful as it is extensive, but we do not stop.

“And every man, woman and child, like young Letty here, that we can return back to their family gives me hope that someday we can beat back the cartels, and take back Mexico, bring it back to the strong and vibrant country it once was, so that the strengths of its good people outshine the darkness of the few."

"How will you find her parents? She said her family's house was burned down. She was taken from one of the shelters where they displaced her. She doesn't know where her family went from there, and that was three years ago." Hatch asked.

Ernesto did not direct his answer toward Hatch, but instead toward Letty. "My dear, we are very capable of finding people. I don't want to bore you with what I did in my previous life, but don't let these frail old man's hands fool you. I used to be able to run with the best of them." Ernesto gave a playful wink. Hatch only guessed at the man's inference, maybe a reference to some type of military or paramilitary organization. Not relevant. What was, was his ability to get Letty home. "I can find anybody, given enough time. Speaking of time, I know you all have been on the go for a quite a while now. How about you get cleaned up and off to bed for a bit?" Ernesto said to Letty.

"If you go down that short hallway there, one door will lead you to a bathroom with a small shower. I've set out a stack of towels and a change of clothes. We keep a stockpile of clothes. You should find something that fits." Josefina eyed the clothes hanging off the younger, smaller girl's body, and then looked over at Hatch. "There should be something for you as well, if you need."

Hatch took stock of her Club de Fuego shirt and matching cargo pants, the benefit of its wearer’s unwilling donation. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm fine."

She felt the girl beside her tense up. Hatch leaned closer and said in a voice only Letty could her. "If it would make you feel safer, I can stand outside the door while you shower and change. Is that something you want?"

"You don't have to stand outside. I'll be fine." Her voice was even lower than Hatch's, a whisper of a whisper. "Thank you--for everything."

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