When Diego stirred and Evaristo came by for his morning debrief, the both of us were pumped up with bloodlust. Our bags were packed, knives were sharp and we were ready to go fuck shit up.
It didn’t take long before we got the army up to speed. They were like a bunch of caged animals, nearly foaming at the mouth once they realized they finally had the chance to run free again. After seeing them in action before, I had no doubt that they were going to lose their minds during the ambush, but my only rule again and again was that no one was to touch Esteban except for me or Luisa.
The drive to the park took seven hours, our convoys crossing the border into Honduras with no problems. With a fake priest – Father fucking Armando – in the car and our false passports, we were undetected. I did a lot of business in Honduras but with me on the most wanted list all over again, you never knew where the federales or even the DEA were or who was on what payroll.
“Did you know there’s a town called San Esteban near where we’re going?” Luisa asked from beside me, studying a map.
“Must be fate,” I remarked, adjusting my bullet-proof vest. I’d made sure we all had them on. It saved my life last time I was there.
We didn’t end up going as far as San Esteban, but we did drive into a rural town bordered by steep terrain laced with thick vegetation. Just on the outskirts was an abandoned barn that I had used once before to hide our vehicles. The field around also made for a great helicopter landing sight, if we were lucky enough to return that way. If we didn’t, then it would be a long hike back, though at least we’d be heading downhill.
After we parked the SUVs in the barn, I gave everyone a run down about the trail and the property and what to expect. We were a motley crew but at least we all had blood and vengeance on our minds. While the dust motes danced around in the barn, lit up by the setting sun, I had flashbacks to the last time I was there, when I had another motley crew of my own, bound by another form of revenge. Funny how life could come full circle like that.
Thank god I didn’t have to deal with any gringos this time around. They were only good for ruining things and maybe a good fuck.
When we were ready, armed with packs and ammo, we set off down the long dirt road until we approached the outskirts of the Sierra de Agalta national park. I led them into the forest, Diego behind me, then Luisa and Evaristo, Paolo at the end and all the crazy fuckers in between.
It was a long, laborious climb into the night, with only small flashlights shining the way. Even without the sun, it was hot as fuck, the thick canopy seeming to keep in the heat. Sweat poured down my face that I didn’t bother to wipe away. Every so often I would ask if Luisa was okay and she always said she was. She wouldn’t let me think for a second that she was tired or needed a rest.
Still, I knew she was stubborn and made sure we stopped often enough, even though it made everyone more restless and anxious, including me.
Finally at around one am, we came across a small clearing beneath a few banyan trees and decided we should rest for the night. Just a few hours – none of us would be able to perform our best if we didn’t have some sleep.
There was only one sleeping bag between Luisa and I and even though I had so much anticipation thrumming through my veins and needed to get off something fierce, I knew it was best if I didn’t share it with her. She would balk at my touch and I wouldn’t be able to stop touching her once I started.
“Take it,” I told her, leaning up right against the tree while she spread it out on the leaf-covered forest floor.
She didn’t argue. “Are you sure you’re all right sleeping like that?”
I nodded. “I probably won’t sleep anyway. I’ll be watching over you.”
She gave me a small smile and crawled into the bag. True to my word I did stay up most of the night, sharping my knives and stabbing any large bugs or reptiles that came our way. It was satisfying to pin the snakes to the ground, even more so when I pretended they were Este.
We set out again just before dawn, walking faster and faster the closer we came. Finally the jungle seemed to glow, the trees opened up, and the outer wall of the compound appeared, spotlights shining from the top of the wall.
“You must rack up quite the power bill out here,” Luisa said but I immediately put my finger to my mouth to shush her. This was the last chance we had to go over everything before we were too close to the house and within earshot. I didn’t know who was here, let alone if Esteban was here at all, but we couldn’t be too careful, not now.
I quickly went over the plan again. Similar to the raid on the compound in Sinaloa, we would all split up, with Diego, Luisa and I going in from the back while the rest flushed Esteban out. There were no tunnels here, so there was no place for him to go but the jungle, with the easiest route heading back from the pool and pool house.
That’s where we would be waiting.
“Good luck,” Evaristo said, shaking my hand.