Page 112

“It isn’t fair if you have a gun,” he snaps.
“I don’t need a gun,” I seethe. “I’ll kick your ass the old fashioned way. Let’s see what you’re made of when my back isn’t turned, you coward.”
Damon lunges at me. But he’s too slow. I hit him on the forearm. The blow is hard, and he drops the knife. Now it’s a fair fight.
“Come on, you bastard! Come at me,” I taunt him.
Damon circles me a few times before he lunges at me. I grab him in a headlock and squeeze as hard as I can. Damon kicks and squirms to get out of my grip, but I hold on for dear life.
“This is for David, Emily, and all the women you’ve ever sold into slavery, you fuck!” I growl, throttling the life out of this terrible human being.
I’m not proud of myself for doing this, but sometimes life requires us to do terrible things in order to keep others safe. I won’t lose any sleep knowing that Damon is dead.
I stop when he stops struggling. Blood is pouring from the cut on my arm, turning my shirt crimson. I’ll have to make a plan to stop the bleeding before we attempt to leave Mexico, or the guards will be suspicious.
“You’re bleeding!” Emily cries when I get into the car.
“It’s alright, my love. It’s worse than it looks.”
“We’d better get that bleeding under control, Boss,” Andreas says as we speed away from the house.
The drive pulls into a side street when we're at a safe distance from the chaos.
“Are you okay? I ask a trembling Emily.
“I’m fine.”
Andreas pulls a clean shirt from the trunk of the car and fashions a bandage from pieces of the old shirt he rips free.
“Are you okay, Maria?” I ask the woman with Emily.
She nods. I imagine she’s too scared to speak. I would be too, I suppose. I'm just another stranger to her.
“Oh, Maria, this is Lucas,” Emily says. “Lucas, this is Maria. If it weren’t for her, I’d probably be dead by now.”
“It’s a pleasure meeting you, Maria. How can we ever thank you?”
“Maria needs money to get to her family, Lucas. I don’t have access to any cash right now. Could you help her?”
“Of course. Anything you need, Maria.”
“That’s so generous. Thank you,” Maria smiles.
“I could never repay you for your kindness, Maria,” Emily says, hugging her.
“Get me to the bus station and buy me a ticket. We’ll call it quits after that,” Maria smiles.
“Andreas, get us to a bus stop,” I instruct.
“Sure.”
We drive out of town to the nearest bus stop. There, Andreas buys Maria a ticket and gives her a wad of cash. I watch from a distance while Emily and Maria say a teary goodbye. I cannot imagine what these two women have been through together.
“We have to go, Lucas,” Andreas urges.
“I know. Let’s give them a few more minutes.
“Okay, but the sooner we cross the border back into the US, the better.”