“Oh.” He wiped his lips again, nervous now. “Well, I don’t know how to tell you this or even if you care but your wife … she’s not doing well.”
Everything inside me flinched. “What do you mean?” I asked, even though I didn’t want to know. I wanted to pretend that I didn’t care, to save face again, but I knew that was impossible.
“Well, she’s with Esteban now, so what do you think?”
“I think she wanted to be with Este,” I told him.
“If that was true then, it can’t be true now. He’s a sick fuck, did you know that too?”
I had my suspicions. Then again, how could he be any worse than me? Suddenly images of what I had done, the barbed wire, the machete, came at me and I realized if I had the power and nerve and rage to do that to them, he had the same ammo to do it to my wife.
“Is she alive?” I was barely audible.
“I said she wasn’t doing well. If she was dead, she would be doing better, my friend. Esteban is trying to prove how tough he is and, well, unfortunately he’s using her to do it. There are pictures … on the internet. He leaked them or someone from the cartel – well, his followers – did. I wouldn’t look if I were you.”
“I won’t,” I said. I didn’t want to. I couldn’t bear it. Just knowing what was happening, the humiliation, the retaliation was enough to cloud my judgement. I cleared my throat, trying to shake it all away. I needed a drink, badly. “Listen,” I said. “I need Diego.”
“I see that. I’ll see what can do for you. And you better hurry too or there won’t be much left of her.”
“She’s pretty much dead to me as it is,” I said. “She wasn’t faithful. She brought this on herself.”
“I know,” he said and leaned forward to look me square in the eye. “But would you rather inflict your own revenge on her or let Esteban do it for you?”
I let his words sink in. There’s no way I would let Esteban take away what was still mine.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Javier
A week passed in the prison without word from the outside world and for the first time since I was brought in there, I was starting to fear that I may never get out. I was still treated like a King, but even though Hiberto, Emilio and the warden were all on my payroll and under my control, they weren’t really part of the cartel. That wasn’t their trade. They helped me the best they could but getting intelligence in and out was harder than it seemed. It was akin to sending a flea-ridden passenger pigeon into the sky and hoping for the best.
I had no doubts, of course, that they would help me escape but I also knew it had to be planned just so and I didn’t want to leave the safety of the prison before I knew the plan that was in place. Everything had to be just right this time.
Finally though, on a hot humid night that sent moths to my window, just before I fell asleep, there was a knock at my door. I shuffled over to it in the dark and opened it.
Out in the hallway was Diego, backlit by a dim light. Behind him was Emilio who gave me a quick nod and then shuffled back down the hall.
“Javier,” Diego said, his voice gruff. “I came as soon as I was able to.”
“I have a hard time believing that. Did you expect me to shit where I sleep forever?”
His expression didn’t change. He wasn’t in a humorous mood, but then again when was he?
I gestured him inside the room and flicked on the lights. He looked around, nodding at the set-up.
“It’s not half bad.”
I closed the door behind us. “For an ape, perhaps. Now, what the fuck happened to you?”
He shook his head and sat down on the bed. “It’s a long story,” he said, almost sighing. “I managed to escape when the federales came.”
“What about Evaristo?”
“He went with them,” he said hesitantly.
“And then?”
“And then when I was headed over here, I was apprehended.”
“By whom?”
“Evaristo.”
Fuck. So then what the hell did this mean? Diego had been compromised? I mean, he was here wasn’t he.
“You wearing a wire?” I asked him. “Because I’m already in prison, I have no problems in slicing your clothes open and finding out. If I hit an artery, it will be an accident.”
He glared at me. “Calm down. What kind of idiot do you think I take you for?”
I shrugged. “Everyone seems to think I’m an idiot lately. Take off your clothes.”
The expression on his face was almost comical. “You want me to what?”
“I’m not stupid and I have to make sure, so take them off. I won’t stare too long, I promise.”
Diego grunted and got up, shucking off his denim shirt. “I don’t know what fucking games you were playing in your bedroom when this all went to shit, but you better not have anything kinky in mind.”
“I was only playing mind games, the best kind.”
Reluctantly Diego got down to his tighty whities and when I was satisfied that there was no wire on him, he redressed.
“All right then, get me up to speed and then get me out of here,” I said impatiently.