I shook my head. “No way in hell will I ever be ready for this.”
We all gathered around the open trunk as Derek and Dom started distributing stuff. They handed me a backpack which I had already crammed with some of my belongings, another gun, a change of clothes. Then they handed out miniscule walkie talkies that resembled a Bluetooth earpiece to each of us and made sure that I was carrying the first aid kit.
Dom slapped the car affectionately and I felt a funny little pang in my gut for the loss of Jose. I know it was just a car and it was Violetta who died, but Jose had been with me for the last six years. He’d almost become a friend when I didn’t have any.
“If we see this car again,” Dom said, “you’ll know we’ve done good.”
“That said,” Javier added, “if you do get back here without anyone else, my advice is to take the car and go. It’s every man for himself out there, I hope you know that. You don’t win wars by saving each other. You only get killed that way.”
Well that wasn’t exactly the encouragement we needed before we started hiking off into the jungle on a rescue mission. I looked across at Camden, dust motes dancing in the barn light that shone between us. He looked right back. We were the only people here who would risk life and limb for each other.
I was forever on his team.
“Javier has never been one for speeches,” Este said, shaking his head in amusement. “But all I’ll say is, we can get in and get out. We can make this happen. Travis Raines is ours. What he has is ours.”
“You mean Gus,” I spoke up quickly.
Javier grinned. “Gus, sure. And the cartel.”
I frowned, feeling a rush of nerves down my back. “You said you were doing this for me.”
He let out a laugh to which only Este joined in.
“Dom is doing this for you,” Javier said, gesturing to him with his gun. “And, if you’re lucky, Camden is doing this for you. Derek just wants his paycheck, the gringo doesn’t care who does what, fucks what, gets what. But me, Ellie, angel, dearest, I’m going in and I’m taking over.”
“This wasn’t supposed to be a coup,” I said.
Suddenly Javier was in my face, the veins pulsing in his head, spittle flying out of his mouth as he screamed at me, “And they weren’t supposed to kill my sister!”
Camden was at my side in a second, ready to push Javier back but the barn filled with the sound of three guns being drawn and I didn’t have to look around to know that Dom, Este and Derek all had guns trained on Camden.
The madness in Javier’s eyes was quickly reined in and he stepped back. He wiped his mouth and smiled. “As you can see, Travis has hit yet another nerve. You’ll get your Gus back, your mother back, whatever you want and whatever is left is mine. And if you step in my way, I won’t hesitate to kill you. Both of you.” He turned around and clapped his hands together, the sound giving me a jolt. “Now, let’s head off into the jungle, shall we?”
Camden and I stayed behind for a moment while they all walked out of the barn and into the last remaining sunlight. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it and I was warmed where my insides had turned cold.
“Just focus on Gus,” Camden said.
I nodded. Squeezed his hand back. And followed the drug lords out into the light.
CHAPTER NINE
The journey started off easy enough. The six of us, backpacks in tow, walked down lonely, dusty streets that wound their way through fallow fields and past shanty houses. Eventually the last signs of humanity gave way to the jungles of the Sierra de Agalta National Park, an imposing wall of vegetation and darkness.
We paused right before the foliage swallowed us, hesitating before the belly of the beast.
I looked up at the sky, now bruised purple from the twilight. “Are you sure we shouldn’t camp out here for now?” I said, my arm sweeping out the valley below us. “You know, while there’s still light and shit.”
“I never thought you’d be afraid of a little jungle,” Javier said, though his tone was flat. “We’re moving through the night.” He brought out a flashlight from his pocket and flicked it on. He looked at Este who had his iPad raised up to his eyes. “How’s your battery on that thing?”
Este smiled. “It’ll last throughout the night until I can get the sun to charge it tomorrow. I have my compass just in case anything goes wrong. We’re good.”
Javier slid a formidable machete out of his backpack and toyed with his grip on the handle. “Very well. I’ll clear our path when needed. You just tell me where to go.”
Este nodded. “Shouldn’t be a problem at this level. Just head straight for a few kilometers. I’ll correct us along the way.”