The Loverboy (26 page)

Then he motioned to Kim to follow him. She hesitated and he
aimed the rifle at her threatening to shoot if she didn‟t
comply. Kim followed and Sandro led her to the North East corner
of the plantation. As they ran the gun fire was further away.
The helicopter was still overhead but it was hanging out where
the action was and with the flurry of activity from the farmers
and the concealment of the plants and black netting nobody
noticed them. When they got to the end of the fields Sandro
stopped and checked to make sure the coast was clear. Then he
motioned for her to follow and he headed toward a large stack of
rocks. The stack had looked like it was part of the landscape
and the mountains beyond it looked impenetrable. They climbed
over the rocks and to Kim‟s surprise behind the rocks was a path
that looked like it snaked through the mountains that had looked
impenetrable. This must have been the path that Gabriella‟s
father had used.
They walked for two hours at a steady pace and gunfire grew
more and more quiet. It was still possible to hear though but it
was clearly far away. Sandro kept a close eye on the sky for the
helicopter but it didn‟t show. Then the gunfire stopped. It was
quiet for a few minutes and then a few more shots and then it
was quiet again. The military must have captured the plantation
and Kim couldn‟t help but think about the farmers and she prayed
they would not have been harmed. She thought about running back
and surrendering but Sandro wouldn‟t let her go and especially
now while she had the money and the laptop. After the two hours
they came to the top of a ridge and beyond the ridge was a small
town. There were many military vehicles in the town and Sandro
decided to avoid it.
They turned and walked in the other direction into another
mountain ridge and walked for a few more hours before taking a
rest. After a twenty minute rest they walked further and took
another rest. They walked until late afternoon when they reached
another small village. There too was a military presence but it
was only a lone jeep. Since they had no cover and nowhere to go
Sandro decided they should lay low till night fall then they
would sneak into town and steal a vehicle.
Kim put the bags down and sat. She was exhausted, had
blisters on her feet and her shoulders hurt from carrying the
bags. Sandro sat down too.
After they sat for fifteen minutes and finally caught their
breath she looked at Sandro and asked “Why did you kill him?”
Sandro didn‟t look at her and with no sign of any emotion
he responded “He was the head of the cartel. If they didn‟t find
him, they would keep looking and we would have been caught for
sure. Now I can get away.”
Bored he opened the gym bag and looked through it. First he
saw the papers from the shoebox. He looked through them quickly
and then threw them out of the bag. In between the papers were a
few blue passports. One stood out a little she looked at it. It
was a slightly different shade of blue and instead of “MEXICO
Pasaporte” the front read “Passport United States of America”.
Sandro gave her a stare as she picked it up as if to accuse her
of stealing but then he realized that he had no use for the
papers or passports and ignored her. She opened the passport and
her eyes started to water. The passport was Gabriella‟s and Kim
thought of her lost friend and the monster that had killed her.
The same monster that she was with now and desperately wanted to
get away from, but he had the guns and there was no way he would
let her get away and risk her telling the authorities about him.
She put the passport in her pocket as if it was a priceless
treasure. Eagerly he started taking the stacks of money out of
the bag. There were ten small stacks with a paper wrapper. The
stacks looked to be one hundred dollar bills and the paper
wrappers said $20,000 on them. That was $200,000 dollars. Sandro
didn‟t seem too phased by the amount and actually cursed that it
was way too little. Then he put everything back in the bag. Next
he took the laptop and tried to open the file with the bank
codes but was blocked by the password. He tried a few and then
gave up frustrated and put the laptop back in the bag and tossed
it aside.
They sat in silence for a few more minutes. The sun was
setting already but it would probably be a few more hours before
it was safe to head to the town. When she looked at Sandro she
noticed he was staring at her. He was looking at her in the same
way he had many times that had made her so uncomfortable. This
time it was worse, Fernando was no longer there to protect her
from this animal. He put the rifle aside and pulled a large
knife out from behind his back and got up. Kim looked in horror
as he started toward her. She scurried backward but he ran and
grabbed her by the head pointing the knife at her throat. She
froze and thought she would rather die than let this monster
have his way with her. He forced her to the ground and lay on
top of her pinning her body down with his. She struggled but he
was too strong. One hand held the knife on her throat while the
other was grabbing at her and trying to remove clothing. She
could not look at him and turned her head to the side.
Then she saw a fist size rock just within arm‟s reach. She
stretched her arm out and her fingertips could just scrape it.
She tried to grab the rock and with her fingers she was able to
get it close enough to grab it in her hand. Then with one fell
swoop she swung the rock toward his head. It had taken him
totally by surprise and he flew off her as the rock hit him
square in the temple. He rolled on the ground and dropped the
knife now clutching the side of his head. Blood gushed through
his fingers from the wound on his head.
It took him a few seconds to collect himself and Kim used
this time to grab the knife that was lying next to him. Still on
the ground clutching his head with one hand, he grabbed her arm
with the knife and pulled her down. Without thinking she
switched the knife to the other hand and plunged it deep in his
side. He howled in pain as blood started streaming out of the
wound. She let go of the knife still imbedded in his side and
scampered back. Sandro sat up and looked at the knife sticking
out of his side and with a grimaced face he pulled it out. When
he pulled it out he howled in pain again and the blood started
flowing even faster. With a mighty effort he got up and limped
toward her.
“You bitch!” he said as he raised the knife.
She cowered and tried to protect herself with her arms.
Then she closed her eyes and braced for impact. There was no
impact only the thud of a body hitting the ground. She opened
her eyes and Sandro had collapsed not five feet away from her
with a wide trail of blood behind him. She must have struck some
vital organ she thought and he bled to death.
Quickly she got up and grabbed both bags and moved as far
away around the ridge as she could without getting out in the
open. As she walked away she tried to make sense of her
emotions. She had just taken a life. That was something she had
never thought she would have been capable of but she had done
it. She had seen Sandro do it with ease but she had been sure
she could never do it. Now she had but what scared her the most
was that she felt good about it. She took out Gabriella‟s
passport and looked at it. She felt sorrow for her friend and
was happy to feel the emotion. It had been self defense and
nobody had deserved it more than Sandro she justified.
Chapter 31:
Kim hiked for about an hour, mainly to get as far away from
Sandro‟s body as possible. After an hour she sat down and looked
at the two bags. She couldn‟t avoid people and needed to blend
in. She needed new clothes and the laptop bag looked out of
place. She took everything out of the laptop bag and put the
power cord and the laptop into the gym bag. The rest of the
laptop bag and its content she hid under a rock. Then she
started downhill toward the village.
When she got to the bottom of the hill it had gotten dark
but most of the houses still had the lights on. She didn‟t know
what time it was but guessed it was just after eight. She was
getting hungry and tired but there was no time to rest or eat
and she didn‟t have any food. When she got to the bottom of the
mountain she looked around and a house fifty yards to the right
had its laundry hanging out on a line. She sneaked to the
laundry and checked it. It was no longer damp and there was a
collection of men‟s and women‟s clothes and a few baby clothes.
The women‟s clothes looked like they would fit and quietly she
grabbed three pairs of jeans, a couple of t-shirts and a few
pairs of socks. Then she grabbed a sweater which seemed to be
men‟s size and way too large for her but she grabbed it anyway.
If she couldn‟t find a place to stay the night she would have to
stay warm and this could do the job. When she had the stack of
clothes she took out ten of the hundred dollar bills and stuffed
them into one of the other jean‟s pockets and quickly retreated
back to some bushes behind the house as a dog started barking.
A man appeared in the house next door, looked around and
retreated back inside. Kim ran off back towards the mountain and
found some cover. Behind the cover she changed into the new
clothes and put the rest into the gym bag covering up the money.
Then she took out three one hundred dollar bills which she stuck
into her pocket and she left her hiding spot. She walked back
into the town and found a small cantina. There she asked if they
had change for a hundred dollar bill.
The waitress looked at her wearily and examined the bill.
Then she took it in back to where the kitchen staff was and they
all looked at the bill and decided that it looked real enough.
When the waitress returned she looked much friendlier. Kim
ordered a soda and a burrito with beans. When it arrived the
burrito was huge but she was very hungry. It took little time
for her to finish the whole thing and she washed it down with
the soda that was refilled twice. Nothing had ever tasted this
good. When the burrito was gone the waitress picked up her plate
and refilled the soda once more.
“What‟s your name?” she asked in English which Kim was
surprised about and then realized it was due to her American
appearance.
“Gabriella” she responded quickly not wanting to give her
own name.
“What are you doing here in Las Estrellas?” the waitress
asked.
Kim shrugged trying to seem as casual as possible. How was
she going to explain what she was doing in the middle of
nowhere?
She quickly thought something up and said “I was on
vacation with my boyfriend and we got lost in the mountains.
Then we got into this big fight about the directions and it got
a little out of hand. Before long we found this town and I told
him to stop the car and let me out. After some hesitation he did
and I got out and told him to shove off.”
The waitress looked shocked and Kim tried to look a little
sad but still trying to be brave like she had just ended a
relationship with her long time boyfriend. The waitress fell for
it hook, line and sinker.
“Oh my poor dear” she finally said when the shock sunk in.
“He was a jerk” Kim said, “I should have dumped him a long
time ago. I just need to figure out how to get back home.”
The waitress nodded and thought for a minute, and then she
said “My husband is going to Licenciado Adolfo Lopez Mateos in
the morning for supplies. He can give you a ride. From there you
can catch a bus to Chihuahua.”
“Great, I‟d really appreciate it” Kim responded, “Is there
a place to stay in town for the night?”
“No, but you can stay here till we close at eleven. Then
you can come with me and you can sleep on the couch. You look
harmless enough. My husband leaves at five in the morning
though. So you won‟t get much sleep.”
Kim happily accepted and made herself comfortable until
eleven when they would go. It wouldn‟t take her long to fall
asleep she figured. At that moment the door opened and a pair of
police officers walked in. Kim startled and she was suddenly
wide awake. They were talking loudly and the waitress greeted
them heartily. They ordered coffee and when she poured it for
them she asked what was going on. They told her in great detail
how the army had assisted in raiding a huge plantation just a
few miles north in a valley. The drug lord had been found dead
at the plantation but they were still looking for his second in
command. “Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?” they
asked. She looked at Kim who did her best trying to pretend to
be asleep in the booth. The officers looked at her too for a
long moment as the waitress explained that Kim had been the only
one from out of town that she had seen and how Kim had been
abandoned by her boyfriend while on a trip. The officers lost
interest in Kim and told the waitress they were looking for a
man.
The description they gave was one that exactly matched
Sandro and Kim shuddered but kept trying to pretend to be
asleep. They stayed for a second cup and after that they paid up
and left. After they left Kim finally fell asleep. A few hours
later she was awoken by the waitress. The cantina was dark by
now and the waitress was ready to go home. The waitress gave her
five twenty dollar bills for the bill she had given her earlier.
Kim argued but the woman would have none of it and told her she
might need the money to get home. Kim accepted knowing that she
had plenty but revealing that would arise suspicion. Also it
would help to have some bills smaller than a hundred dollars.
They walked to the house and Kim was glad it was on the
other side of town from the house where she has stolen the
clothes. It was a fifteen minute walk and they got in just
before midnight. The woman explained that her husband would be
asleep already. She got a blanket and a sheet for the couch and
Kim lay down for the night. The house was small and simple.
There were no toys around so Kim figured the couple didn‟t have
any children. It took only moments for her to fall asleep again