Natalia stifles a gasp when she sees what her father is doing. Harrison grins. “That’s what he’s going to do to lover boy here when I tell him what I just heard. You’re supposed to take me away from this place,” he snaps, mimicking Natalia is a high-pitched voice. “How long has he kept you here for, little Natalia? How hard has he worked to ensure you never leave? And now this cunt shows up and he plans on taking you away from him? Oh, no. No, no, no. He’s not going to like that one bit.”
Natalia looks like she’s about to fly at the bastard. I want to stop her from trying to scratch his eyes out, but I still have eight rifles aimed at my head, and one false move will get me killed. “Natalia. Stay calm. He’s not going to say anything to Fernando.”
Harrison wears a look of mock surprise. “I’m not? Why the fuck would I sit on a juicy piece of information like that? You’ve embarrassed me. Made a fool out of me. You just tried to strangle me to death. Hasn’t done much to cement a brotherly camaraderie between us, Garrett.”
“If you think you can get the words out of your mouth and order your men to shoot me before I kill you, then by all means, go ahead. But ask yourself…while you were sitting around on your ass, wearing those J Crew khakis of yours in Afghanistan, what do you think I was doing? Was I sipping motherfucking mai tais and relaxing by the pool? Or was I killing countless motherfuckers with my bare hands?”
“Kechu! Natalia! I was beginning to wonder where you had both gotten to! You missed all of the fun.” Fernando arrives at Harrison’s side, still holding on to his ball hammer. His face is splattered with blood, his hair standing on end, and his shirt is ripped at the collar. I can picture all too well Persephone struggling with him as he dragged her across the lawn. He wouldn’t have cared. He wouldn’t have blinked an eyelid as he hauled her out in front of everyone toward her death.
“My, my, Kechu. You have guns pointed at your head again. You have a real knack for getting yourself into trouble, it would seem. Might I ask, Harrison, what our guest has done to warrant such unfriendly behavior this time?” He sounds so civilized, so reasonable, his voice calm and even, and yet it looks like he’s just crawled out of hell.
Harrison shoots me a quick glance out of the corner of his eye. He wants to tell Fernando what he just heard Natalia say, but he’s also considering what I just said to him as well. I’ll fucking kill him if he opens his mouth. Fernando will keep me chained on the lawn until tomorrow, when the wolves return hungry again, but it’s the potential repercussions Natalia might have to endure that are bothering me most. Harrison must see the look on my face. He must see that I fucking meant what I said, and he must be pretty confident in my abilities to carry about my promise. He grinds his teeth together, scowling. “I was trying to punish this little punk, and he came out of nowhere. He prevented me from carrying out your justice.”
Fernando frowns. “Why would you do that, Kechu? This man belongs to me,” he says, pointing to Plato. He interfered when I brought that treacherous bitch out here. He tried to assault me in order to set her free. Surely you don’t think I can tolerate that kind of behavior? If I did, the fragile ecosystem here would quickly fall into disarray. My business would not operate anymore. I would no longer be able to provide comfort and security for my daughter.”
He sounds legitimately hurt, like he can’t understand why I might possibly consider doing such a thing to him. “He’s a human being,” I snarl. “And you were about to kill his friend. He can’t help caring. He can’t help wanting to save her.”
Fernando considers this. He looks down at his hammer, and I can already see him taking it to me in my mind. He spins the weapon around in his hand, looking perplexed. “What is it you Americans say all the time? You are walking a fine line? You are skating on thin ice? One of those things. Here in Orellana, we say, ‘you are dangerously close to angering Fernando Villalobos.’ It’s simpler, I feel. More to the point. Please do not get in the way of my employees again, Kechu. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to take action. It’s only my respect for you, and for the deal that we have made, that stays my hand here.”