Invasion USA by William W. Johnstone Page B

Cipriano’s iron control slipped slightly and he told Montoya what he and Leobardo had done to their parents. Then and there, Montoya knew he had made the right decision. With two such able assistants, he would rise quickly in the criminal ranks. With two such segundos , he would go far.
    It was a dream that had come true. Montoya was now the unquestioned leader of Mara Salvatrucha , a gang the likes of which had never before been seen. And Cipriano and Leobardo were his avenging angels, the tools of his righteous wrath. None dared stand against them.
    Least of all some weak, pathetic gringos. If they knew what was good for them, they would leave the place called Little Tucson. If not, Mara Salvatrucha would scour them from the face of the earth.
    Cipriano had passed along Señor Montoya’s orders to a gunner named Humberto Rojas. Rojas was to take as many men with him as he wanted and go north from Nogales to Little Tucson, where he would confront the woman who had caused all the trouble for Porfirio and Enrique. Only Porfirio was still alive, and he was in the Sierrita County jail, having been released from the hospital late that afternoon. M-15 had an informant who worked at the hospital, a nurse with family south of the border. She had proven to be very cooperative once some of the gang had paid a visit to her mamá and chopped off a couple of the old lady’s fingers. She had called a number in Nogales and passed along the information as soon as Porfirio was moved from the hospital to the jail.
    It was a shame they had not been able to move more quickly. If a raid on the hospital could have been put together in time, that would have been the simplest solution. Just take Porfirio out of there and bring him back across the border. While Montoya could muster a large enough force to attack the jail itself, that was an extreme measure. It would be better to secure Porfirio’s release through legal means, once all the witnesses had either recanted or disappeared. Mara Salvatrucha had several attorneys on the U.S. side who worked for the gang.
    Humberto Rojas was confident in his ability to handle any problem, especially where gringos were concerned. They were all foolish and lacked cojones . He took only two men with him as he crossed the border at Nogales and headed northwest toward Little Tucson.
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    Doris Stevens had brassy blond hair, a big chest, a three-pack-a-day cigarette habit, a whiskey drawl, and four ex-husbands. She’d made plenty of mistakes in her life, God knew that was true, but she had learned a lot, too, and she wasn’t shy about passing along that acquired wisdom to her daughter.
    â€œDidn’t I tell you you could do better?” she said to Carla. “Didn’t I say that Danny Willard was a no-account troublemaker?”
    â€œYes, Mama,” Carla said with a bored, hostile edge to her voice. She had been listening to this same shit ever since her mother had gotten there.
    Doris pointed at her daughter with the two fingers that held her cigarette. “Your problem is you do too much of your thinkin’ with what’s between your legs.”
    â€œMama!” Carla hissed, jerking her head toward the dining room, where Andy and Emily were finishing up their supper of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches Doris had made for them. Carla hoped her mother hadn’t dropped too many cigarette ashes in the peanut butter. “The kids’ll hear.”
    Doris waved a hand as she sat in one of the living room chairs, across from where Carla perched on the sofa with her legs drawn up underneath her. “Oh, hell, they don’t know what I’m talkin’ about. That kinda stuff just goes right over their heads. I’m just sayin’, you saw Danny as a big, strappin’, handsome boy and got the urge to lay down on your back. And you just don’t do your best thinkin’ on your back, darlin’.”
    Carla wondered briefly just how